Making The Switch To Natural Beauty Products

Some of you may or may not know that I also work in the beauty industry. I love makeup. I

love beauty products. I have way too much of it, but that doesn’t stop me from buying more! I walk into a Sephora or down any beauty aisle, and I find new things that I didn’t know I needed. True story!

Over the past few years, my husband and I have been slowly switching over to using natural and organic beauty products. We have successfully found an amazing toothpaste, fabulous hand soaps, body washes, and gel for hubby’s hair. The hardest product for Jeff to find was deodorant. He had tried so many that didn’t work until he found Herban Cowboy’s Deodorant. BTW - love that name!

I have been making my own deodorant for about 2-3 years now. It really works! It’s simple, only has 3 ingredients and is cheaper than buying any store bought deodorant that I have found. Deodorant recipe is here.

According to Delicious Living, women use an average of 12 personal care products per day, which exposes them to up to 168 chemicals. That freaked me out. At first, I thought 12 products a day seemed a little over the top, but then I counted how many I use and, let’s just say that on a day where I am doing the works (washing hair, blowdrying hair, face, makeup, body care, etc.), it's way more than 12! YIKES!

Why is it that other countries around the world are banning terrible ingredients but the U.S. isn’t. In Europe there are 1300+ banned ingredients, but in the U.S. there are only 11. That makes me mad, but it also makes me want to do something about it - like write this blog to hopefully convince at least one of you to throw out your bad products and make the switch!

I talked to my doctor about the products that I use, and she said there are certain products that I should change immediately. Anything that you are putting directly onto your skin like serums, cleansers, lotions, deodorants or moisturizers sit on your skin and your body absorbs the chemicals. That isn’t good. She also said that a product like mascara, which sits on your lashes and doesn’t touch your skin, isn't the biggest concern. That's not to say that you shouldn’t make the switch eventually, but it’s a good idea to start with the big offenders!

I have found some amazing skincare products from Coco Kind Skin Care. Coco Kind is an organic superfood skincare line based in San Francisco. I think their Turmeric Spot Treatment stick is the best spot treatment that I have ever tried. It only has 5 ingredients, balances your skin tone, treats acne inflammation and dark spots and is all organic. Their My Matcha Moisture Stick has really been amazing at tackling my under eye “designer” bags - See what I did there? I roll it on my whole face, focusing on dry spots, and it really does wonders. It only has 3 ingredients.

Another skincare line that I recently found at Expo West is Derma-E. Derma-E is an eco-friendly, organic and natural skincare company. I have been using their Nourishing Rose Cleansing Oil every morning and every night. It leaves my skin feeling super clean, moisturized and very soft. Their products are all vegan, non-GMO and cruelty free. I have also been using their Vitamin C Renewing Moisturizer which is lightweight, supports collagen health and protects the skin from pollutants and impurities. I love this company so much that I already ordered some more products online and can’t wait to try them all out.

My favorite body butters that I have been obsessing over are from Ra Goods. They make incredible essential oils and oil blends that are all organic. I love that they care about each and every simple ingredient that they use to make sure it's the best of the best. I have tried so many body products over the years it’s not even funny! Being in the beauty industry, as well, it takes a lot to impress me with lotions and potions. Their body butters are phenomenal and leave my skin extra soft, plus they are organic and use natural ingredients.

I think it's easy to make the switch to healthier and good-for-you products when you find something that you like and that really works.

When it comes to cosmetics, there are some dangerous chemicals that you are most likely

using every single day. Delicious Living has a list for you. Next time you order makeup online or visit Sephora, check this list out. I need to be better with it myself. I get so excited about a product, I forget to check it’s ingredients. It happens with food, too. It even happened at Expo West las weekend. I saw a sample of something that looked amazing didn’t look like there was anything in it that I couldn’t have. After a sip I read the packaging and it contained soy. Thankfully I am not allergic to soy and just avoid it, but it was still a good reminder.

Growing up, I thought that if a face product didn’t burn or have a cooling sensation on your skin then it probably wasn’t working. That was terrible thinking, and I dried out my skin using toners and even rubbing alcohol to clean my skin after washing it with bad-for-you cleansers. I had acne and breakouts, but rather than trying to figure out how why I was breaking out - because I don’t believe that we are trained to think like that - I would buy the face products made for breakouts and acne.

As an adult, I know that was a terrible thought process. I wish I had known back then that I had PCOS and food allergies. I wish I cared more about the products that I used. We are a society that believes in covering up the problem rather than looking for the source.

Thankfully 8 in 10 consumers say that ingredient transparency is very important because companies see that and shift. If more and more people get educated on the dangers of chemicals in beauty products and stop buying certain products, I believe that a good company will do some research and work on figuring out why their sales are down and adjust. It worked with Costco. Costco now has tons of organic options available at their stores: vegetables, meats, olive oil, beans, mixes, coconut water, juices and more. They aren’t stopping. They are adding real products with real simple non-GMO or organic ingredients all the time. Costco is realizing that more and more people want to eat organic and want to make it accessible and affordable for everyone.

Do I still shop at Sephora? Yes. Do I shop the same way I used to at Sephora? No. I don’t buy just anything there anymore. I often purchase makeup tools there now or a dry shampoo that I really like (and now I need to go check the ingredients to make sure it’s still safe to use). I am a work in progress. I am actively making the switch with all of the products that we use in the house: everything from dryer sheets to dish soap to hand soap.

Did you know that there is a cool way to check to see if a product is considered GOOD or BAD to use? If you guessed that I would say “There is an APP for that!” then you win 1,000 points! Go to your App Store and search “EWG” or visit them online at www.ewg.org. You can search their database for over 69,000 products and see how a product rates as a Health Hazard Concern! I just checked to see if my foundation from Jouer Cosmetics was in their database and it is ranked a 3 (1 being the best and 10 being the worst for you). You can check food products on this on this app as well! (click here to go straight to their app on the app store.)

You can learn more about personal care from Delicious Living's infographic below: