is your beauty routine toxic?
I try to take care of myself by limiting the amount of harmful foods I put into my body and exercising regularly. I practice yoga and eat organic, unprocessed foods, but have neglected to think of the things I place on my body. Research shows that the majority of what we place on our skin gets absorbed directly into our bloodstream. This means our grooming products and household cleaners expose us to the chemicals they are made of. Toxic chemicals absorbed from our beauty and cleaning routines can cause health problems, fertility issues, and contribute to cancer. Read more about this here. As a female, I began thinking of all of my makeup, skincare, deodorants, face wash, body wash, toothpaste, and cleaners that were potentially exposing me to toxins. I have converted to mainly natural lotions, shower, and cleaning products, but makeup has been the last of my beauty routine to be converted. There's so much great makeup out there that is super toxic, and I must admit it's been a really hard thing to give up. Generally, natural makeup isn't easily accessible (majority of brands available online only), doesn't perform as well as conventional, and doesn't have that sexy packaging luxury makeup brands do so well. Converting to a natural beauty routine takes time, effort, and research, which is what makes it so difficult. You often can't get any of these makeup items at a drugstore or department store. You also can't trust that 'natural' brands are really keeping their products clean. I now check all products using the app listed below before purchasing. In my quest to convert fully to a natural beauty routine, I've done research on brands and tools. Below are what I have found to be helpful:
- Think Dirt App: This app is free and has been a lifesaver on my quest to eliminate toxic products from my life. You simply type in the product or scan a barcode and the app rates the product on level of toxicity from 0-10 with a 0 being the cleanest and 10 being the most toxic. This has taken the guesswork out of finding non-toxic products and made this journey so much easier. Another great feature of this app is the 'suggestions' section where you can look at what clean products are recommended to replace the toxic product you've just searched.
- EWG.org is also another resource for learning about eliminating toxins from your life. EWG has info regarding the chemical world food and beauty related. Their SKIN DEEP guide is specific to beauty products and here you can look up toxicity levels of beauty products as well.
Below are some clean makeup brands that perform like the conventional makeup brands we all love.
- W3ll People This was a company founded by 3 people hence the number 3 substituted for the "e" in Well. Their slogan is 'hippie tested, diva approved'. One of the founders of Well People was a makeup artist and leader for NARS so she knows how makeup is supposed to perform. I have yet to pick up anything from this brand but I have my eye on their bio brightener stick.
- RMS This company was founded by Rose-Marie Swift, a makeup artist for Victoria's Secret who has a long list of celebrity clients. She knows good makeup, and founded the brand after discovering her health problems may have been related to the beauty products she had been working with for years. This brand is clean, and performs like high-end conventional makeup.
- Alima Pure Best known and loved for their mineral makeup. I have yet to try their makeup but plan to switch to their mineral makeup brand once I use up the Tarte mineral foundation I've been using. The nice thing about Alima is you can order a foundation sample pack dependent on complexion to ensure you find your perfect color match before ordering a full size. This brand is also super clean and safe.
- 100% Pure Committed to creating pure products, free of all toxins, and synthetics, this brand is really super clean, many of their products scoring a 0 on the Think Dirty app which is as good as it gets when it comes to toxicity ratings. I just purchased their cocoa bronzer and fruit pigmented blush in the shade 'healthy'.
I haven't been able to make the switch to natural mascara yet, so if anybody has suggestions for a good performing clean mascara, please leave comments below!