Going Natural : My Current Routine

One of my goals for the year is to switch over from conventional to natural makeup and skincare products. So far, I've written about where my interest in this topic comes from, and I've reviewed the book, "No More Dirty Looks."

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During the process of switching over to natural cosmetics and body care products, I think it's important to set your own rules for what you will consider an acceptable part of your natural beauty routine. Much like the way many of us mindful eaters define our food philosophies differently-- vegetarian, vegan, locavore, etc., or some combination not easily fitting under one label-- it's important to think about what level of "naturalness" you'll accept. For some, Tarte may be natural enough to pass since they claim to avoid key dirty ingredients like parabens and phthalates, but for others, the company's use of BHT, talc, glycols, dimethicone, and synthetic colors seems like greenwashing. Ditto for bareMinerals.

Especially since learning how absorbent the skin is and how flawed cosmetic safety standards are, I am turned off by long lists of chemicals, even before considering their specific hazard ratings from the Environmental Working Group. To illustrate this with an example, I took a look at the Physician's Formula ConcealRx Concealer. The ingredients are:

WATER, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, ETHYLHEXYL PALMITATE, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, POLYGLYCERYL-4, DIISOSTEARATE/POLYHYDROXYSTEARATE/SEBACATE, POLYGLYCERYL-3, DIISOSTEARATE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, CETYL DIMETHICONE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, ASCORBYL PALMITATE, COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX, DIMETHICONE, LAURETH-12, MAGNESIUM SULFATE, MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX, PANTHENOL, PEG-30 DIPOLYHYDROXYSTEARATE, POLYSILICONE-11, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, RETINYL PALMITATE, SILICA, SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, TRIDECETH-9PG-AMODIMETHICONE, TRIDECETH-12, DIAZOLIDINYL UREA, METHYLPARABEN, ISOPROPYLPARABEN, ISOBUTYLPARABEN, BUTYLPARABEN. MAY CONTAIN: TITANIUM DIOXIDE, IRON DIOXIDES, TALC, ULTRAMARINES, CHROMIUM HYDROXIDE GREEN.

First of all, it's seriously a pain to have to read through and decipher 34 ingredients if I'm standing in the makeup aisle of a drugstore. And when I checked the ingredients against the EWG's database, I found at least 14 moderate- to high-risk ingredients (which I've put in bold), the highest being an 8/10 on their warning scale (for the retinyl palmitate, if you're curious). Yikes.

I compared that to a liquid concealer from 100% Pure, a natural and organic makeup company: 

Organic Green Tea*, Organic Rose Hydrosol*, Organic Green Coffee*, Organic Rice Powder*, May contain all or some of the following pigments : Organic Peach*, Organic Apricot*, Organic Carrot*, Organic Pomegranate*, Organic Cocoa Bean*, Organic Goji Berry* and Organic Tomato*, Aloe Vera, Organic Lavender*, Organic Chamomile*, Organic Rosehip Oil*, Candelilla Wax, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), Vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate), Extracts of Organic Rosemary*, Organic Oregano*, Organic Thyme*, Organic Grapefruit Seed* and Organic Goldenseal* (* denotes Certified Organic)

Some tea, some oil, some wax, fruit-derived coloring, and some vitamins and extracts. Four ingredients plus natural color. I can handle that, and I don't need an advanced degree in Chemistry to understand what I'm putting on my skin.

(Disclaimer: I have not tried these products, so I can't specifically comment on effectiveness of either one, but they are both products I have considered buying-- the former obviously before I'd committed to going more natural.)

My own guideposts for makeup and skincare boil down to being able to generally understand the ingredients in my products, and to have the majority of them be plant-derived (which, not surprisingly, is pretty close to my food philosophy too). I'm not anti-science and I don't think it's fair to assume that a chemical-sounding ingredient automatically equates it to being harmful. However, I am pro-knowledge, and for me to understand what is in the products I use, they inherently need to be more simple and streamlined. (Yep, I'm pretty sure I just insulted my own intelligence there.) I like that organic skin and beauty products have naturally-occurring vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants giving products antibacterial, anti-aging and healing properties. That seems like a better bet to me than using something potentially harmful or toxic. I know I'm generalizing some, but that's an easier place to start from than to try and learn chemistry (though the learning process WILL continue and over time I'm sure I'll start to understand which chemical-derived ingredients are not harmful).  The natural route has always been effective for me in the past, especially with food and healing-- i.e., giving up dairy to cure my digestive problems, sinus issues, and acne instead of turning to Lactaid and harsh acne treatments; using an apple cider vinegar drink to ward off colds; etc.-- and I'd like to continue down this path. At the same time, just because something is natural doesn't mean it's good for the skin, and I'll be doing equal research into the natural products I want to try as well.

Aside from ingredients, I'm a believer in supporting businesses that are trying to make a real difference, not just putting out one "green" product line to appear eco- or health-conscious. I want my money to support these smaller companies that have stringent standards and are upfront about their ingredients. As a bonus, natural products are very often cruelty-free (= not tested on animals). The same cannot be said for the majority of drugstore makeup.

So... let's look at the products I currently use (this isn't all of them, just the ones I use most often). Again, not all of these products are horrible just because they aren't natural, and I enjoy using most of them, but they don't fit in with my evolving philosophy and I will be phasing them out as I try to find some non-toxic products.

 
Current conventional/drugstore products:

SKIN/BODY
Soap - Oil of Olay bar soap
Cleanser - Paula's Choice Moisture Boost for dry skin
Toner/Exfoliant (morning) - Paula's Choice Clear Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution with Salicylic Acid
Moisturizer (morning) - Paula's Choice Resist Superlight Wrinkle Defense with SPF30
Exfoliant (evening) - Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 8% AHA Gel
Moisturizer (evening) - Paula's Choice Resist Anti-Aging Clear Skin Hydrator Skin Remodeling Complex
Perfume - Burberry Brit, Georgio Armani Emperio Armani for Her (I RARELY wear these because they give me almost immediate headaches.)

MAKEUP
Foundation - Revlon PhotoReady Liquid Foundation
Concealer - Maybelline Lumi stick
Blush - Sonia Kashuk Flamingo
Bronzer - NYC Sunny
Eyeshadow - Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, LORAC Pro palette
Eyeliner - Rimmel black pencil liner
Mascara - Maybelline Mega Plush
Lips - Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie, Revlon Kissable Balm Stains in Honey and Romantic, Julep lip gloss
Nail Polish - mostly Julep (this brand is 4-free and I don't wear polish all that often, so this is one product category I won't be going out of my way to "go natural" with; I will try and cool it with the Maven monthly boxes though...)
Makeup Remover - Sephora waterproof eye makeup remover (for waterproof mascara only)



Current "cleaner" products:

SKIN/BODY
Soap - Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap in Almond (this is a little too drying for my skin when used alone, so I mix it with a few drops of coconut oil before using it on my skin)
Shampoo - Burt's Bees Super Shiny* (I HATE IT; see note below), Giovanni Root 66
Conditioner - Burt's Bees Super Shiny* (I HATE IT; see note below), Giovanni Root 66
Deodorant - Trader Joe's unscented deodorant with cotton* (I HATE IT; see note below)
Face Wash - UltraPure AHA exfoliating mint cleanser (my mom just gave this to me, so I've only used it for about two weeks in the evenings, but so far I like it)
Moisturizer - Sea Chi creme (this was my very first natural product, and I've used it off-and-on for about four years. It is pretty expensive, at least to me, but the jar lasts a long time. It's made up of natural oils and extracts, including kombucha tea. It's pretty creamy in consistency, but I use it on my face and have never broken out. Apparently, it's a product often used by spas and massage therapists.)

*FYI: I HATE the Burt's Bees shampoo/conditioner and the TJ's deodorant. I couldn't even use up the Burt's Bees (it would not wash out of my hair no matter how much I rinsed, so my hair never really felt like it dried after use. The texture of my hair also became very rough to the touch). The TJ's deodorant will get used up but I'm already jumping to trying something else, likely this Soapwalla deodorant cream, which I have heard good things about.

MAKEUP
Foundation - bareMinerals powder foundation
Powder - bareMinerals Mineral Veil
Blush/Bronzer - Mineral Fusion blush in Impact
Mascara - Physician's Formula Organic Wear mascara
Lips - Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Watermelon, RMS Lip Shine in Sublime, Ilia Lip Conditioner in Arabian Knights, Green By Nature's lip butters in beeswax and coconut
Makeup Remover - Coconut oil using this method

Next week, I'll talk a little bit about which products I'll be replacing first. I'll also share my new-found favorite resources for natural beauty product information and a list of natural brands I'm looking into. Stay tuned... This is where it gets fun, because SHOPPING!