Ever since reading Living Green, I’ve been much more focused on trying to eliminate harmful chemicals from my life, especially in the area of makeup and body products. As the author pointed out, skin is the body’s largest organ, and why put something on your skin that you wouldn’t want to eat or can’t pronounce?
With so many indie bath & body companies out there, on Etsy and the rest of the web, it’s fairly straightforward to find soaps and lotions that are all natural and don’t include harmful chemicals. Some things are a little trickier… makeup for instance. There are some fab mineral makeup people on Etsy that I really want to try – I’ve been keeping an eye on both Mixology Makeup and Coffin Color for eyeshadow. I’m also a big fan of Mineral Makeup by Madison Street Beauty and the eco-friendly handmade cosmetics by Johnny Concert.
The thing that’s really been bugging me lately is mascara. I haven’t exactly seen an indie solution to that one yet. I know of a few mascara brands that are supposed to be better options, including Dr. Hauschka Mascara, Lavera Natural Mascara and Josie Maran Mascara, but I also just discovered this other great site to help evaluate my makeup choices: Skin Deep, the cosmetic safety database.
This incredible site was launched in 2004 and gives easy to navigate safety ratings for almost a quarter of the beauty & body products on the market — over 27,000 products with over 7,000 ingredients. I recently switched to Crystal deodorant, shortly after finishing reading Living Green. I just compared my old antiperspirant-deodorant, Dove, with the new deodorant on the Skin Deep list. On a safety rating scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest hazard, Dove has a rating of 6 and my new Crystal deodorant has a 0 rating. Considering that many antiperspirant-deodorants have been linked with breast cancer, I’m really glad I decided to make this switch. I’ve been really happy so far too. Granted, the real test will be the sweltering summer months, but so far, so good.
Update – [January 4, 2009] – I’ve now been using the Crystal deodorant for about nine months now and I really like it. And it lasts FOREVER. It seems like hardly any is gone from the stick. Yes, it’s not an antipersperant, so if that’s what you’re after this isn’t your solution. But antipersperants aren’t exactly good for you anyway. I love this stuff.
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I too read the articles in Living Green. I have since switched to NVEY makeup, which is a company out of Australia. They have a moisturizing mascara that I love…it tends to come off under the eyes a bit by the end of the day, but wipes off easily, and is still ok to re-apply! I also love their eyeshadow compacts…lots of colors to choose from. As far as bath items, I recently ordered organic green tea and citrus body wash from “naturalmomma” on etsy and I love it!!! Good luck with your change over to green products!
I love this site too. I find it interesting that some organic products rate worse than some products that aren’t trying to be green.
Hey, here are some products to look into:
Aveda Mascara Plus Rose,Dr.Hauschka Mascara Intermezzo, Ere Perez Natural Mascara, and Miessence Organic Mascara. Hope you find your perfect glass slipper of a mascara soon!
So cool! I recently switched my deodorant as well to a natural line. Where do you purchase organic/non-toxic makeup? Any recommendations?
Thanks for the post!
Heather
Kristen & Amanda: thanks for the recommendations. I’ll have to track down and try some of those mascaras soon.
jeneflower: that is crazy… the thing that interest me is when things claim to be hypoallergenic on the packaging but when you actually read their ingredients they have all sorts of bad stuff in them.
Heather: The above commenters had some great recommendations… I also find that there are a lot of people on Etsy who sell all natural beauty products and mineral makeups which usually don’t have toxins in them.
Hi,
Just a note about the crystal deodorant. It may not keep you dry. It does cover your scent pretty well, but you will wonder if it’s working when you feel all wet under the arms.
I love using it – it just takes awhile to get used to it.
V.
V, that’s a good point. So many of us have become accustomed to almost all deodorants also containing antiperspirants as well that we expect all deodorants to keep us dry too. The Crystal deodorant doesn’t claim to be an antiperspirant though, and for me that’s a positive thing. Antiperspirants prevent your body from doing what’s natural and sweating out toxins in your system. I’ve personally made the decision that I’d rather get a little sweaty now and then than have toxic buildups in my bloodstream. It does take some getting used to, though, after using antiperspirant-deodorant for so long.
I could have written that post b/c I’m in a similar place, learning more about toxins and living healthfully (as well as more ecofriendly). Thanks for the tip about the book – I’m going to check it out. I recently tried out a block deodorant from Lush along with powder (to control dryness). So, far so good. Is the crystal really working? Does it control moisture?
I used one of the Lush deodorants for awhile too, but whichever one I chose smelled a little too patchouli-hippie for my taste. I like the crystal deodorant because it doesn’t have it’s own smell. No, it doesn’t really control moisture but it doesn’t claim to and it’s not meant to.
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