With Earth Day
around the corner and spring time finally here. The farmer’s markets and side street stands will begin to
open full of fresh fruits and vegetables.
But don’t stop at your food in order to green your routine. Think about how you can “green” your
daily beauty routine?
If you own a home,
use less water when you take a shower and wash your face and consider getting
an energy evaluation on your home go to www.energystar.gov
The environment
directly affects your skin so you must adjust your skin care routine, as the
weather gets warmer. If you are
oily, you may want to switch to a serum or go for an oil free sunscreen to
protect your skin. If you have dehydrated skin, please consider a heavier
natural moisturizer such as products with jojoba, almond, or Vitamin E oils.
Consider using
vegan beauty products or products that have not been tested on animals. Check
out these products at http://www.leapingbunny.org/
Reduce the
cosmetics and toiletries you use.
For instance, people use too much moisturizer a pea size is all you need
to dab on your skin. If you want that last drop of toothpaste, cut open the tub
with a pair of scissors and get the last drop.
Choose items that
have refillable packaging. Jane Iredale Cosmetics www.janeiredale.com recently
switched to refillable compacts for the pressed powder foundation in order to
be more eco-friendly.
Have you ever
wondered what is all the buzz about organic and natural skin care
products? Many products claim to
be organic but you must still be cautious. The USDA is the only group that certifies if a product is
organic. The FDA under the cosmetics office has not tightly regulated the
personal care industry yet so many companies use “organic” or “natural” very
loosely. If you want to check a product go to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
at www.safecosmetics.org to check it
out.
So what should you
watch out for? The main
ingredients to avoid are anything with parabens, DEA, propylene glycol,
phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate. Other chemicals to
avoid are dimethicone, and sodium hydroxide. Many of these chemicals are being linked to cancer, and
several skin disorders such as eczema or psoriasis. Outside of what you eat, 80
percent of what is applied to your body is absorbed directly into your
body. From my own
experience, as a mother, many of these chemicals in personal care products may
also cause allergies in your kids.
So as you “green” your home from the cleaning products to the personal
care products you may thin it may cost you more now but your quality of life
will be better in the long term as you “green” and detoxify your beauty
routine.
Valerie Mason-Robinson aka the Green Beauty Queen
is the CEO and Founder of Eden Organix, and eco-conscious beauty company.
Valerie is a leading expert on “green”, organic, and natural beauty products. A former cosmetic researcher at MIT,
chemical engineer, and a licensed esthetician, you can find out about
her latest product tests and chemicals to be aware from her blog at www.ecoconsciousbeauty.blogspot.com, www.alexandvon.com/edenorganix or www.edenorganix.com
