We always focus so much attention on cleaning out our insides, but it is equally important to clean out our homes, medicine and beauty cabinets of toxic products, too.
I could write a book about this and some people have, including Canadian author, Adria Vasil, who has written The Ecoholic Home & The Ecoholic Body, but today I will simply provide a list of my favorite beauty products.
I made a pact with myself a few years ago that I would clean out my home of everything that runs afoul to my clean living philosophy. Toxic products won’t be touching my skin!
P.S. I recommend ditching one product at at time and replacing it with something clean to make it less overwhelming.
What makes a product no good, you ask? Again, I could write a whole book about this! I’ve listed a few keys items below, but I recommend checking out the complete list with reasons why here: Obscene 13. My medical aesthetician friend, and Rise & Shine Naturals online shop owner, Lisa Morgan, put this list together. It’s downloadable and printable so you can keep it in your purse or bag and pull it out when you need reminding of the toxic ingredients in common cosmetics. You can also learn a lot by visiting the Environmental Working Group database.
- Triclosan
- Parabens
- Phthalates
- Fragrance, Perfume, or Parfum
- Siloxanes
- PEGs
- Oxybenzone
- DEA, MEA & TEA
- PPD
- DMDM Formaldehyde
- BHA & BHT
- Citronella
- Petrolatum
You may have noticed that a lot of those ingredients are hard to say. “If you can’t read it – don’t put it on your skin!” It’s not as catchy as: “if you can’t read it – don’t eat it!”, but it follows the same principle. Just as we avoid packaged foods with long lists of preservatives and additives, let’s try to avoid cosmetics products with the same issue.
Okay, onto the list.
Here are some of my favorite finds (for links to each company, please see the Resources list below):
Face:
Cleanser: Pure & Simple Cleansing Milk
Facial Moisturizer: Acure Day Cream
Eye Makeup Remover: coconut oil
Lip Balm: coconut oil or Hurraw Balm
Foundation: Pure & Simple Biscotti or Rise & Shine Naturals BB Cream
Powder: Pure Anada Pressed Powder
Blush: Pure Anada Blush
Eye Shadow: Jane Iredale
Eyeliner Pencil: 100% Pure or Pure & Simple
Eyeliner Gel: Pacifica Eyeliner Pots
Lip Liner: Jane Iredale
Lipstick: Red Apple
Mascara: I haven’t cracked this one yet! The natural ones are all still running down my face. The hunt is still on.
Body:
Soap: Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. We use this in foam dispensers in our bathrooms, too.
Shaving Lotion: Acure Foaming Shaving Gel
Moisturizer: Everyday Shae Lavender or coconut oil
Deodorant: Schmidt’s or Joy McCarthy’s Lovely Lavender Deodorant Cream
Perfume: LaVanila Laboratories Tahitian Vanilla (admittedly there are better options, but I can’t get over the smell of this one)
Toothpaste: Green Beaver Toothpaste
Heavy Duty Moisturizer: Weleda Skin Food
Nail Polish & Remover: Trust Fund
Hair:
Shampoo & Condition: Acure Organics Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner
Dry Shampoo: Acure Argan Stem Cell Dry Shampoo
Hair Oil: Leaves of Trees Argan Oil
Purely Perfect Cleansing Cream: For the “No-Poo” method
You may be feeling overwhelmed at this point wondering how you’ll make the switch without breaking the bank. My recommendation is to take it product by product. When something runs out, replace it with a much better option.
Let’s keep the conversation going. Please comment below with your favorite finds.
Resources:
- Rise & Shine Naturals: http://www.riseandshinenaturals.com
- Pure & Simple Spa & Online Shop: https://www.pureandsimple.ca
- Ecoholic: http://adriavasil.com
- EWG – Environmental Working Group database: http://www.ewg.org
- Acure Organics: http://www.acureorganics.com
- Hurraw: http://www.hurrawbalm.com
- Pure Anada: http://pureanada.ca
- Jane Iredale: https://janeiredale.com
- Dr. Bronner’s: https://www.drbronner.com
- Everyday Shae: https://www.everydayshea.com
- Schmidt’s: https://schmidtsdeodorant.com
- Joy McCarthy: http://shopjoyous.joyoushealth.com/product/lemon-fresh-lovely-lavender-deodorant-60ml-2/
- Leaves of Trees: http://leavesoftrees.com/collections/argan-oil
- Red Apple Lipstick: http://www.redapplelipstick.com
- LaVanila Laboratories: http://www.lavanila.com
- Weleda: http://usa.weleda.com/index.aspx
- Green Beaver: http://greenbeaver.com
- Trust Fund: http://trustfundbeauty.com
- Purely Perfect: http://purelyperfectproducts.com
- Pacifica: http://www.pacificabeauty.com