Saturday, April 21, 2012

Greening your Beauty Routine


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

No comments:

Post a Comment