Eco Tip: Skin Deep

I've always been concerned about our environment and conscious about the things I put into my body, but in recent years I've also become more aware of the things I put onto my body. Your skin is your largest organ and whatever is put on it seeps in and can affect the rest of you. I've more and more been making an effort to use personal care products with all natural, organic ingredients. I've been a long time fan of Lush (especially their bath products), but also like to support my crafty sistas, too.

I've been known to indulge in bath products as well mineral cosmetics from Lollibomb. By the way, Luca (of Lollibomb fame) is a doll and her products are amazing. I had gotten her six month subscription and had so much fun opening a box of goodies every month.

I also fell in love with the Veggie Deodorant originally offered by Sugar Lips who passed the torch onto Wicked Clean.

Pink Quartz Minerals has the best ever under eye concealer called Goldenrod (I use this stuff religiously).

Lately, though, I've been taking matters into my own hands.
Above, you see some awesome sugar scrub that I talked about in a previous post, some baking soda style 'tooth paste', a vinegar rinse for my hair, and some lemon hairspray. The vinegar rinse works great, but took a little getting used to (my hair went through an adjustment dealing with the different ph). As I mentioned, I love this sugar scrub. I'm still deciding on the lemon hairspray: my hair is either super fly away crazy or kind of gunky when I use it. Since it goes from one end of the spectrum to the other, it may be another factor (like the weather), so I'm giving it some more time. So far as the tooth paste goes, my teeth have never been whiter and I love how clean and not chemically they feel. My only concern is the lack of a protective ingredient in it. I have read that there's more fluoride in tap water than ever before, so does that mean I'm getting all the fluoride my teeth need through my drinking water now?

**Did you know that only 11% of ingredients in beauty products undergo premarket safety tests? If this concerns you (it certainly does me), check out Skin Deep. First launched by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group in 2004, the website provides information on more than 25,000 personal care products and nearly 7,000 ingredients. Searchable by brand, type, and ingredient, the site ranks products according to known risks. Ever question the wisdom of appying chemicals like phenoxyethanol to your delicate skin? I would.**