"Non Toxic" Care of my skin - a work in progress

I read about the oil cleansing method a while back and gave it a try.  A few days after I came across a post from someone else who tried it and had broken out severely and it took her 3 months or so to get her face cleared up. YIKES!  I promptly decided not to pursue this method further.

UPDATE (5/13/2013):  One of my fave blogs posted a great list of TIPS on using the Oil Cleansing Method if you are thinking of giving it a try - one of her tips was not to use olive oil or coconut oil.

A friend told me she loved the Pumpkin Compexion Soap that I gave her for a gift one year and has been using it on her face ever since and LOVES it.  Her face looks great so I decided to give it a try too.

Its been a few months, and I love using this soap.  Its easy to use, it takes my makeup off easily, my face feels nice and clean afterwards.  My face does feel a bit tight and dry after it dries so I do need to follow it up with a moisturizer....

What should I use?

I started with organic virgin coconut oil as a moisturizer, as well as a lotion for all over my body.  It worked ok.  My skin definitely "drank" it up promptly, but it was difficult to figure out that balance of applying too much or too little.  Too little - would make my skin itchy and dry, too much - I would be a big greasy ball and leave grease marks on anything I touched.  :/

I ordered some samples of Body Butta from Bubble and Bee to try instead of the straight coconut oil.  I loved the smell of the Rasberry Vanilla and the Coconut Lime.  Wonderful!  They both did an excellent job of moisturizing all day with one application.  Not to mention, I smell divine!

I also tried their sample of Organic Face Cream.  It was better than using coconut oil, but it is very thick and it takes a while to spread on your face - you have to let the heat of your body warm it up a bit so it melts some and then it spreads around much better.  I still felt like I needed more moisturizing than what this product offered.

A few months ago, I had found a moisturizing cream, the Healthy Glow Facial Hydrator, in my local ULTA Beauty store from a line called Belli.  This line is geared towards pregnant moms who are concerned about chemicals in their beauty products.  You can read more here.

I initially tried it when I bought it months ago, but at that point, I was still trying to move towards using the simplest products on my body.  (Products that had one or two ingredients, basically trying to use products that weren't full of preservatives, additives, no matter how natural they were touted to be - just trying to keep it simple)  I remember liking the smell of the Belli lotion, but I remember that I was also battling some minor acne at the time too, thinking that this lotion was just exasperating the problem....and so I put it aside.

Anyway, I pulled it back out about a week ago and started using it again for a moisturizer.  Its smells great, reminds me of orange popsicles....Its a very light cream that doesn't leave my face feeling oily.  It soaks in quickly and has worked great these past few days.  No feeling of tight or dry skin.  And I haven't had any breakouts either....yet.  I hope I don't.  I really like this lotion.

So what's in my cabinet now for skin care?

Pumpkin Complexion Soap - to cleanse my face
Coconut oil - to remove that pesky waterproof mascara
Belli Healthy Glow Facial Hydrator - for moisturizing my face
Bubble and Bee Body Butta Rasperrry Vanilla - for moisturizing all over

UPDATE: (5/13/2013)  I recently had a facial at my favorite spa and they just started carrying a new line of skin care called Naturopathica.  Their products are very simply made and use essential oils and other natural ingredients.  I was very impressed with how my skin felt and looked after my facial with these products.  I have been using the products for about 2 months now and my skin looks great and feels great too.  The products that I am using are:

• Aloe Cleansing Gel
• Lavender Protective Moisturizer SPF 17
• White Tea Antioxidant Mask

Safer Nail Polish

I say safer, because if you really don't want toxic chemicals on your nails, which in turn can leach into your body, then don't put ANY nail polish on.

Sadly, even the least toxic polishes still have some stuff in them that I would prefer not to put in my body if given the choice.  However, there are events that would require a bit more dressing up, and nail polish is a necessity, toxins and all.

For those events, I have found a brand of polish, Honeybee Gardens, that is reasonably priced ($7 a bottle), can be removed with simple rubbing alcohol from your medicine cabinet and dries quickly.

I have two colors so far in the polish, a bubble gum pink called Valentine (not pictured) and Goddess, a frosty plum (pictured below)

I've been using these polishes exclusively for about 6 months.  They work well for me and it was an easy transition to this brand from standard nail polish.  However, I have found that the longer you leave this polish on, the harder it is to take off.  When I mean "harder to take off" I mean it takes me a good 15 minutes to get the polish off my nails instead of about 5 with standard polish.  It does state this on the product label as well.

Overall, its been a good transition for me to a less toxic product.

I did come across another brand of less toxic nail polish called Aquarella, but it was more expensive and dictated that you needed their brand of polish remover to get the polish off.  Maybe at some point I will give that brand a try....as for now, Honeybee Gardens polish works just fine.

Baby Wipes

I recently came across a list of natural/non-toxic baby wipes that a young mom had put together and posted. It was such a plethora of great information, I thought I'd share.  She lists several different brands of baby wipes,  attributes AND how to purchase/find in stores.

A wealth of info for mommies, all in one convenient place!

Here's the link: click here

Just FYI we use the California Organics brand - and are very happy with them.  My only gripe with them is that HEB runs out of them on occasion and they are not flush-able.  Other than that, they are great!  And they make great makeup remover cloths too!

A snapshot of our daily exposure to chemicals

I used to never give it a second thought about what I was putting on my body in the name of "beauty".  Becoming a mom changed all that - the more I research the ingredients of products that we so readily put on our body on a daily basis - the more shocked I am - and saddened.  I guess I always assumed that companies that create these products would realize that these ingredients are not good for us to put in or on our bodies and that they would have their customer's best interests at heart.  (don't forget that your skin is one large organ that allows products to soak through and be absorbed straight into your bloodstream)

A friend sent me this picture - It sums up some of the chemicals that we are exposed to through our favorite beauty products.  I am familiar with many of these through some of my research, but it still shocks me to see just how much.

There are lots of alternative beauty products out there that don't have all of these chemicals in them....and they work just as good as the chemical ones.  I hope you are inspired to give some a try, and reduce you and your family's exposure to some of these chemicals.

Uh, oh...EVOO?

I posted this weekend about starting to use the Oil Cleansing Method to clean my face.

That evening, I came across some not so bueno comments on another blog that said this method made them breakout with very painful acne that has taken them a couple months to clear up.

Yikes!

So, I have only used this method once to clean my face and frankly, I'm a little afraid of trying it again. I'm thinking I can deal with my tight, flaky skin after using soap much easier than painful acne.......

In case you want to read more, the comments I found were on a post on Crunchy Betty's blog about EVOO and how sometimes the labeling is fraudulent....Which I must say is a MUST read if you use EVOO. I learned alot and there is a link on the post on where you can check to see if the EVOO that you currently use really is what it is labeled as......crazy huh?

Here's the link:

http://www.crunchybetty.com/when-your-extra-virgin-olive-oil-isnt-so-wholesome

Mascara Update

So, my last update on mascara was pretty hopeful. I was using the Coastal Classic Creations mascara - $25 a bottle. not too cost effective. Using the mascara brush from one of my favorite maybelline brands helped alot but the mascara just didn't perform very well long-term for me.

I happened across an "organic" mascara at my local HEB grocery store made by Physician's Formula. I figured I'd give it a shot, and at $8 a bottle that was much more reasonable and it was easily accessible and didn't have to be purchased and shipped over the internet.

so fast forward a month or so. I've been using the Organic Wear mascara and its pretty good.

it still is not as good as my old toxic mascaras, but its good enough that i can live with it. it plumps my lashes up pretty good. its not waterproof, but is easy to take off in the evenings with whatever soap i wash my face with - so i don't have to have a separate cleaning solution. I'm all about simplicity :)

and the price is right!

Mascara - Can't live without it!

On the list of things I use everyday, mascara is one I can't live without.  I rarely go a day without putting some on.....even if I put no other makeup on......I still put on mascara.

It has been a challenge to find a non-toxic version of my favorite mascara.  My original favorite was the 2000 Calorie Mascara by MaxFactor - but that was recently phased out.  They don't make it anymore .....

It took me a while to find a replacement.  I finally settled for The Colossal (CoverGirl or Maybelline, I think)  It comes in a yellow tube with fushia writing on it.  And sadly, yes this mascara is loaded with toxic gunk too.  :(  But its about the closest I have been able to find to the 2000 Calorie mascara.

So, I checked out the list of mascaras on the Cosmetics Database - the ones with the lowest toxic scores also have poor comments that basically say they SUCK!  Am I doomed to toxic eyelashes?!?

I ordered and tried one of these mascaras called Coastal Classic Creations Whispering Seas mascara in Black.  Its ok, but its too feathery looking - I want some OOMPH added to my lashes.  Otherwise, why bother?

This morning I had a revelation - I took the brush that came with my Colossal mascara (the toxic one) and used it with my Coastal Classics mascara (after I rinsed all the toxic mascara off of course).  You know, the brush made a pretty big difference!  I was really shocked!  So just had to share this with all of you.  Now I wish I had saved some of the brushes that came with my 2000 Calorie mascara but those have been long since thrown away.  *despair*  Oh well, live and learn, eh?

So there is still hope for great non-toxic lashes after all!  Yay!  :)