Be a Natural Beauty

So, you’ve sworn off processed foods, shop at your farmers market, only eat organic and work out 4 times a week? You rock!

However, have you ever stopped to think about what you put on your face? Yep, I’m serious.

For example, I used to be a *huge* fan of Bliss’ skincare products. Bliss’ fabulous face wash (that’s what its called) was a personal favorite of mine… until I started reading the ingredients on the back. Here they are, to name a few:

Sodium Laureth Sulfate,  Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide DEA, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyethylene, Triethanolamine, PEG-12 Glyceryl Distearate, Glucosamine, Pentylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Parfum, Benzyl Benzoate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Methylisothiazolinone, CI 42090.

CI 42090? Not so fabulous. I don’t mean to pick on Bliss, most other products are just as bad (or worse).

I believe that you should be as careful about what you put on your skin as you are about what you put in your mouth – your skin is an organ after all – whatever you put on it will eventually end up in your blood stream. Did you know that the average woman who uses beauty products absorbs over 4 pounds of chemicals from beauty and skincare products? Scary stuff. You wouldn’t eat these chemicals (many of which are toxins), so we really should not be putting them on our skin.

The moral of the story: eating organic and working out is great, but I think there should be an increased awareness about the products we use everyday.

Don’t despair though, there is an increasing amount of natural beauty products available on the market. For example, a company called Be Well Stay Well (good name) has a great selection of natural beauty products (and they list all the ingredients so you can see for yourself). I am a big fan of this mascara – it works just as well as the Lancome mascara I used to use.

I’ve also fallen in love with a brand called the Body Deli – they carry a variety skincare products, some of which are so fresh that you have to refrigerate them! Their shampoo and conditioner are great (it takes some time getting used to — the shampoo wont later up as much, but your hair gets squeaky clean and stays super soft), and I love this rose euphoria scrub of theirs.

Another idea: raid your pantry! Just a little bit of coconut oil, sesame oil or even olive oil used on your skin or hair will leave you soft and glowing.

So before you “treat” yourself to that face mask, do yourself a favor and check out the ingredients on the back. If you cant pronounce them, then they have to business being on your face.