The Cost of Beauty

Over the past 20+ years of my life I have exercised my right as a women to own an impressive amount of beauty products.  From shampoos and body lotions to mascara and foundation, I'm sure that I have multiples of them all.  So over the past year I have been attempting to whittle away at my overwhelming collection. 

Not only was my goal to get rid of some of the clutter my collection caused, but also to start switching over to more environmentally friendly products.  The logic behind this - Curb my product addiction (reduce my consumption), align my behaviour with my beliefs and most importantly buy products that are better for my body.

For the longest time I didn't realize how much CRAP was in the stuff I put on my skin.  It's a little scary really.  Chemicals that cause cancer, reduce fertility and cause birth defects etc etc have no business being in my beauty products.

Many companies are beginning to replace some of these chemicals but their products may still be far from clean... Other companies are boasting that their products are free of this thing or that in an effort to get you to buy by making you think that they are better than their competitors.  Some of these things can be as simple as sodium chloride - which is table salt - others are things that have been banned from all products.  Sneaky... I know. So be careful.

Here are some of the resources that I have used to navigate the natural beauty world and avoid these attempts at 'greenwashing':

• Skin Deep Database (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/) 

This database was created by the environmental working group. Based on the information that they have gathered they give each product a score, as well as a breakdown of the ingredients in the product and their health and environmental implications. I find this website very helpful if I am looking to buy a new product and don't know the brand etc.  Definitely worth checking out. 

• Ecoholic Body' by Adria Vasil 

I just bought this book and even without reading the whole thing I have found it very helpful.  The book discussing everything from makeup to clothing - everything that touches your body. She talks about the toxins that are in traditional products and companies that have changed their products. She also rates different products in each beauty and suggests homemade recipes for things like shampoo (baking soda and water - I tried it... and to my surprise it worked).

Next post I will let you know how my beauty product cleanse is going and which new products that I love!