I’ve been a little MIA for the first half of February, and for good reason! I spent four lovely days in California at ShiftCon, a social media conference aimed towards bloggers, brands, and professionals in the wellness space. And immediately after that, my husband and I flew to Sydney, Australia for vacation. I’ve been dying to share the deets of the trip with you, including souvenirs, healthy eating spots, new brands I discovered, and more! Let’s do it.
This blog post is pretty jam-packed! So if you want to jump to a certain section, just click one of the links below:
- What I packed
- My experience at ShiftCon
- Healthy food in the SoCal area
- Blogger panel event at The Detox Market in LA
- Healthy food in Australia
- Green beauty and natural skincare finds in Australia
(Trying to) Pack Lightly 👜
Before we dive in, here’s a quick rundown of some of the items I packed for my trip to sunny California and down under:
- Airbiotics Probiotic Hand Sanitizer for the germy airports
- Alllllllll the sunscreens! The sun is a bit stronger in California and Australia, compared to winter in Wisconsin. And I wasn’t about to be sunburned on vacation. I packed these natural sunscreens ☀
- CocoFloss for my purse
- Dr. Brite travel size toothpaste and breath spray *code ORGANICALLYBECCA gets you a discount
- Green & Gorgeous Organics mini dry shampoo, because who has time to wash their hair on vacation?!
- Jarrow Formulas Sleep Optimizer supplements for the long plane rides 💤
- Kaia Naturals Bamboo Charcoal Deodorant which held up perfectly in the heat 💦
- Kosmatology Bug Repellant Balm
- Mad Hippie Antioxidant Serum which helps protect skin from sun damage
- TOMS Del Rey vegan sneakers because I knew I was going to be walking a TON in Australia and needed comfy shoes 👟
- My menstrual cup which makes traveling on your period 10x better
ShiftCon Social Media + Wellness Conference 🌱
I’ve never been to a conference like ShiftCon, so it was quite an experience! I’m more of a shy and reserved person, so lots of people can be really overwhelming to me, but I tried to make the best of it and meet lots of new faces and get the most of the conference.
About ShiftCon
ShiftCon is an eco-wellness influencer conference focusing on food, wellness, health, sustainability and platform growth. Shifters are part of an online influencer community that seek healthier and more sustainable lives, promote brands that mirror their values, and help causes that speak to their soul. Our influencers span between newbies, light, and deep green. Shift happens. Be part of it.
Bloggers I Met
- Reagan of Indie Beau
- Suzi of Gurl Gone Green
- Courtney of Pure + Radiant
- Nadia of Body Unburdened
- Janny of Janny Organically
- Kate of Root + Revel
- Lisa of This Organic Girl
- Molly of Maison Pur
- Amanda of The Organic Bunny
- Jessie of Hello My Love
- Caitlin of Be Healthy Mama
Brands I Met
- Ann Marie Skincare
- BeautyCounter
- Betsy’s Best Gourmet Nut Butters
- Clearly Filtered H20 Filters
- Earth Mama
- Goddess Garden Organics SPF + Skincare
- Health Ade Kombucha
- Leahlani Skincare
- Makeena Coupon App
- Mountain Rose Herbs
- Nutrigold Supplements
- Oral Essentials
- Seasnax
- Vital Proteins Collagen
The Swag Bag
You will not believe the amount of swag I was sent home with from ShiftCon! So much that I actually had to ship a box back home because it didn’t fit in my suitcase 😂 some of my favorites from the bag:
- Betsy’s Best Gourmet Nut Butter
- Goddess Garden Organics SPF 30
- Nutrigold Women’s Multi Gold Multivitamins
- Lumineux Teeth Whitening Strips
My Favorite Workshops
- Ditch the Box: Learn to Make Your Own Everyday Beauty Products–Head to Toe (by Mary Makes Good)
- The Pivot–How to Communicate Principals, Personal and Plant-Based Proteins on a Changing Landscape (by Robyn O’Brien)
- Five Ways to Monetize Your Influence (by The Organic Bunny, Body Unburdened, and Carron Coleman)
- Now Smell This: Exploring the Hidden World of Fragrance (by MadeSafe)
Overall, it was so awesome to finally meet a lot of brands and bloggers that I knew from Instagram and the online world. While ShiftCon provided a lot of organic, non-GMO meals, I had to venture out because SoCal has a lot of great healthy eating options. Some local spots I loved:
Healthy Food in the SoCal Area
- Mother’s Market: a cute little organic co-op
- Puesto: a modern Mexican restaurant, their coconut milk piña colada is AMAZING. Lots of organic, dairy-free, and gluten-free options.
- Sidecar Doughnuts: okay, these aren’t healthy necessarily, but they are hand-crafted and offer gluten-free doughnuts! 🍩
- Vibe Organic Kitchen + Juice: the breakfast buzz coffee smoothie was incredibly delectable ☕
Detox Market Trip to LA
A few ladies were speaking at The Detox Market in LA for a blogger Q+A panel, so some of us took a little detour from the conference to check it out.
It was cool to see Suzi, Janny, Molly, and Lisa speak about their experiences with blogging and navigating the world of clean beauty and non-toxic living. So inspiring! I left with a little goodie bag that included this new lip gloss that I’m totally loving.
Healthy Food + Green Beauty in Australia 🇦🇺
Alright, now let’s travel halfway across the globe to Australia! My husband and I have a friend from college that lives in Sydney and we stayed with him, he also served as our tour guide which was SO helpful! We also took a 3-day trip to Melbourne during our stay 🐨
Aside from all the touristy things like Sydney Opera House and seeing kangaroos, I want to focus on the healthy food options and green beauty brands I discovered in Australia! If you want a full list of everywhere we went, check out my FourSquare list.
Healthy + Organic Food in Australia
- About Life Natural Grocery Store (Sydney)
- Açai Brothers Superfood Bar (Sydney)
- Berry N’ Beans Bondi Brekky Bowl Bar (Sydney)
- Brick Lane/Rustica Sourdough (Melbourne)
- Famish’d Salads & Stuff (Melbourne)
- Feeling Fruity Juice Co. (Melbourne)
- Fruition (Sydney)
- Gopal’s Pure Vegetarian Restaurant (Melbourne)
- Grounds of Alexandria (Sydney)
- Joe & The Juice (Sydney)
- Madden’s Rise Organic Winery (Yarra Valley, Melbourne)
- My Daily Açai (Melbourne)
- Orchard St. Juice + Elixirs (Sydney)
- Shortstop Coffee & Donuts (Melbourne)
- Organic coffee and donuts made with organic, locally-sourced ingredients
- Tropicana Juice Bar (Melbourne)
- I highly recommend the Colombian Breakfast smoothie!
- Yulli’s Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant (Sydney)
- The sweet potato donuts are to die for!
Green Beauty + Natural Skincare in Australia
- Dr. Earth in Newtown (Sydney) is a natural grocer that also carries many natural skincare and makeup brands. Here’s what I bought:
- La Mav Organic BB Cream with SPF – I’m obsessed with this stuff!!
- Noosa Basics Organic Deodorant (unfortunately not available for purchase in the USA as far as I can tell)
- Scout Lipstick in shade Awaken
- WotNot Naturals Face Wipes
- Green Organics (Sydney)
- Natural makeup and skincare store that carries a ton of brands such as: Axiology, Dr. Bronner, Inika Organic, Juice Beauty, Kjaer Weis, La Mav, Lily Lolo, Orgaid, RMS, Tata Harper, Vapour Organic, and Weleda. It was SOOOOO hard to resist buying anything from here!
- Pure Botanicals (Sydney)
- A holistic clinic that offers services like naturopathy, massage, acupuncture, etc. but also makes its own skincare products. They also carry some natural retail brands like Antipodes (I purchased their Translucent Skin-Brightening Mineral Finishing Powder and love it!).
I sure hope you enjoyed the trip recap! 🌏 Have you been to a wellness conference before, or what about a trip to Australia? Let me know in the comments. Cheers, mates!
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