Fatal Attraction – Cosmetics & Chemicals (Infographic)

Here’s another infographic discussing the chemicals in our cosmetics and personal care products. Of course, I don’t agree with EVERYTHING this infographic is touting, but it’s still a good read. As always, do your research and keep guides on ingredients to avoid handy when you go shopping. Buy greener alternatives to deodorants, baby shampoo, lipstick and sunscreen.

Below are a few suggestions:

• Deodorant: Bubble & Bee Pit Putty Organic Deodorant
• Baby Shampoo: Earth Mama Organic Baby Shampoo and Body Wash
• Lipstick: Ilia Beauty Natural Lipstick
• Sunscreen: Badger Balm Light Scented Sunscreen with SPF30+

In the meantime, you have natural beauty blogs like Garden of Beauty and those listed on my Blogroll to the right that’ll give you the resources and links to sites you can read to conduct your research, as well as green alternatives to the conventional stuff. From there, make your choices and stick to them. Remember, educating yourself and remaining aware is key.

To see the infographic “What’s Your Skin Eating?”, click here.

Credit: Cosmetologyschool.org

5 Things to Look for When Buying from Online Natural Beauty Businesses

Ready to spend your hard-earned dough (or your tax return for USA readers) on some of those fabulous natural beauty goods online? Whether it’s a solopreneur selling handmade concoctions or a bigger company doling out pure, natural products by the bulk, you always want to keep yourself informed and armed with the right info before choosing to indulge and invest in their products. As you’ve noticed, some of them don’t come cheap, so to avoid returns or an unhappy purchase, keep an eye out for these factors.

If you want CERTIFIED organic, look for any certification symbols like ECOCERT, USDA Certified Organic, OASIS, or the Soil Association.

Yes, there are many different organizations clamoring to give businesses this service, and they all vary from each other. Some require that at least 90% of the product’s ingredients are organic, while others allow a small amount of synthetics.

Nevertheless, this is one time where skimming won’t do you much good, especially if you’re looking solely for certified organic. Keep an eye out for symbols or logos on the product detail pages themselves, or on the footer. They may also just list the certifications after the ingredient lists themselves.

Check the store’s “About” and “FAQ” pages as well for more details if you’re unsure. The same can go for cruelty-free and vegan products. Look for the Leaping Bunny symbol, or notifications that the products are vegan. Reading ingredient lists help here, too.

A clear, detailed and well written About page.

You want to learn about who’s behind the natural beauty products you’re about to buy, and why they’re in business. Taking the plunge to go natural is still a big risk, even after all the research you’ve done. The last thing you want to do is invest in a company with little to no information on who they are, and a blank or unfinished about page only looks shady. If you don’t know a thing about the owners, how do you know what’s behind the products?

Company blogs are also a source of info behind the company’s policies and mission statement.

Complete transparency is crucial in the natural and green beauty industry.

This rule is very important. Make sure they disclose all the ingredients used in each product, as well as the benefits for the specific, key ingredients they use. This can usually be found right in the product description, so don’t skim. This is your skin and health we’re talking about! Some companies may brightly illustrate their key ingredients for easier reading.

Assuming you have a list of what ingredients you plan to personally avoid, keep an eye out for them. Any natural beauty company that has something to hide isn’t one you want to do business with, period. Also, if they have “fragrance” ambiguously listed, ask about it. I have, and have gotten quick responses about the nature of the fragrance, such as them using synthetic fragrance oils, but being phthalate-free. Because I do tolerate small amounts of synthetics, I’d personally accept this and buy the product.

Look for lots of reviews written by actual customers, then generalize its effectiveness.

Newer companies may not have too many, so use your best judgement. Take a look at the newer company’s About page, Twitter, Facebook, or blog – that can give you an idea of  whether its worth making an investment. (If you’re not ready for a big purchase, look at the tip below). You may need to ask around, or do a search on the company to see if anyone’s done some video reviews on Youtube, or randomly mentioned them on their own natural beauty blog.

When buying on Etsy, you can view their past feedback for a clue on the quality, as well as some feedback on specific items. They may say “the lip gloss worked so well!” along with a general statement about quick shipping. If all the feedback’s relatively positive, you should be all right. Of course, look for feedback about the particular item(s) you’re about to buy first. You can also check out the Etsy seller’s past sales to see which of their products are the most popular.

For normal ecommerce platforms, their store should have an option to display reviews on the product detail page. For example, 100% Pure’s highly rated coffee bean eye cream (it’s seriously boss stuff, I’ll be doing a review on it soon) product page lists the reviews at the bottom for your perusal. You can also try checking Makeupalley.com for product reviews or do a Google search for “name of product + review”.

Always look for sample or trial sizes before committing.

Whether you’re trying a new company or trying a new product out, getting a trial size or sample is obviously the smartest option.  Like walking into a department store, you want to be able to try before you commit. Online, these sample sizes will still cost you a little money plus shipping. However, the pain of discovering that a product doesn’t work for you won’t sting as much if you just sprung for a sample. Most companies offer some sort of trial size. If they don’t, just ask.

Even if it’s not free (and it likely won’t be), it’s best to spend mini bucks to try and toss than splurge mega bucks and getting a rash.

So, are you about to make the big spend?

What company are you going to try next? If you did, what experience did you have? So far, my plunges have been positive, and none of the products I’ve tried have given me a bad reaction. If you’re questioning a company now and need some feedback, leave me a comment!

White Apricot’s Green Grab Bag Haul for February 2012

My package from White Apricot arrived yesterday, so I wasted no time in photographing the haul within. Note that I haven’t tried any of the stuff in it yet – this post is just an overview of the natural beauty products within.

There were six things, and two cosmetics this time around. (January 2012′s Green Grab Bag haul has mainly natural and organic body care products). Here’s a quick overview:

Pure Plant Spa Aromatic Body Lotion plus Ginger + Vanilla 

Description: Nourishing vitamin rich, bioactive body lotion made with certified organic botanical extracts, plant derived ingredients and extraordinary essential oil aromas.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Glycerin (Plant Derived), Cetyl Palmitate, Isopropyl Palmitate (Palm Oil), Sclerotium Gum, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Plant Derived), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) oil, Citrus Aurantium bergamia (Bergamot) fruit oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) peel oil, Copaifera Officinalis (Balsam Copaiba) resin, Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Leaf oil, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) oil, Citrus medica limonum (Lemon) Peel oil, Vanilla Planifolia Fruit, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus oil, Cetearyl Glucoside, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Phospholipids, Oenothera Biennis (ORGANIC Evening Primrose) Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Extract, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Oil, (ORGANIC Rosa Canina) Rose Hip Oil, Chamomilla Recutita Matricaria (ORGANIC Chamomile) Leaf Extract, Cetearyl Alcohol (Plant Derived), Borage (Starflower) Seed Oil, Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Palmitate), Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Ethylhexylglycerin (Plant Derived Preservative), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Butyrospermum Parkii (ORGANIC Shea Butter), Allantoin (Comfrey Root Derived), Simmondsia Chinensis (ORGANIC Jojoba) Seed Oil, Sesamum Indicum (ORGANIC Sesame) Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus (ORGANIC Sunflower) Oil, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Camellia Sinensis (ORGANIC Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Calendula Officinalis (ORGANIC Marigold) Flower.

My impression: Not a fan of packages like this, but since it’s body lotion I’ll give it a pass. I can use it all in one hit instead of trying to save it for a second use. Also don’t like ginger, but maybe it won’t be so bad when mixed with vanilla.

Naked Eye Beauty Rose Tinted Lip Balm

Description: Get a hint of rosy lip color with this vegan all-natural tinted lip balm that can also be used to give cheeks a healthy glow.

Ingredients: Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Candelilla Wax, Organic Coconut Oil Mango Butter, Castor Oil, Vitamin E, Passionfruit Rose Flavoring, Red Mica, Brick Red Mica

My impression: Wow.. I like this already. It smells heavenly, and the color’s very vibrant. I swiped it on my arm (took 3 swipes to get the color you see here) but I’d rather build up to color then get too much in the first try. I didn’t taste it, but passionfruit is a sweet fruit (and damn do I miss it.. I drank passionfruit juice all the time in Hawaii) so I’m willing to bet it tastes great. I can see why it’s the #1 best seller! It’s sheer and very softening.

Gourmet Body Treats Chocolate Bon Bons

Description: You’ll be sweet enough to eat when you slather on one of these adorable 100% pure organic cocoa butter hearts. A treat for the body and senses. Fair Trade, Organic, Vegan, Cruelty Free, 100% Non-Toxic.

Ingredients: Organic Cocoa butter, Cocoa Absolute, Tacuma Butter, Organic Cocoa Powder, Hibiscus flower, Cinnomon powder.

My impression: Intrigued by the cute packaging, I admittedly opened this first. I saw two heart shaped chocolates and sniffed it. WHOA! They ARE chocolate! I had to re-read the package to make sure I didn’t get some organic chocolate candy by mistake or something! But no, these are body treats – you rub them on your skin. I believe your body temperature melts it to soften your body. It smells just like actual candy so yes, you WILL be tempted to eat it – but don’t. There’s no sugar so it’d taste like hell. This looks to be available for a limited time so buy it quick!

The company looks delicious but their products are mad expensive. I’m talking 60.00 for 1oz of foundation. I believe it’s because of their packaging and nearly all of their ingredients being fair trade. They are way too high for my budget, but their products look great – I love the yummy food theme.

Artisan Naturals Soothing Aloe Cleanser with Lemon and Neroli

Description: A mild skin wash for all skin types. Sulfate-free and gentle.

Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, decyl glucoside, cocamidopropyl betainamide MEA chloride, hydroxyethylcellulose, Centipeda cunninghamii extract, phospholipids, hydrolyzed oat protein, panthenol, phosphorus, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, calcium.pantothenate, magnesium salicylate, zinc gluconate, citric acid, dehydroacetic acid, benzyl alcohol. Essential oils of  Tangerine, Patchouli Neroli, Lemon

My impression:  The sample comes in a generous 1oz bottle, so it should give you plenty of washes before you can make a fair decision on its effectiveness.  It’s cruelty-free and should last a year when opened.

SoapyLayne Relaxing Herbal Bath Tea

Description:  A lovely mixture of herbal teas, including Lavender, Rose Petals, Chamomile and Calendula creates not only an amazing scent, but also a very soothing, spa like bath.

Ingredients: Lavender Flowers, Chamomile Flowers, Rose Petals, Calendula Flowers

My impression:  I liked the little tea bag. Really does look and feel like something you could drink, but don’t! It’s meant for your bath. I like the earthy feel of the packaging and brand. When used as a bath soak, it leaves no residue and is very simple to use. Apparently, it can also be used as a scent sachet for your closet or linen drawer, which is how I plan to use it since I don’t (re: can’t) take baths.

Overall Beauty Minerals Eye Shadow (Pink Shimmer)

Description:  Rich, luxurious color that goes on and stays on is the trademark of these heavily pigmented eyeshadows. “All of our MINERALS have a higher percentage of pure mineral colorants and NO FILLERS, so a small amount on your eye lids provides the same color depth as a heavy application of traditional pressed powder eye make up.”

Ingredients: Mica, iron oxides, zinc oxide, USP, titanium dioxide. May also contain: Ultramarine blue, kaolin clay

My impression: The sample is also a rather generous size, so you can use a ton of eyeshadow to judge its effectiveness. I personally don’t wear mineral makeup (I tried, and failed miserably at it) so I won’t even open this one. I will, however, package it up with an upcoming giveaway I’m planning next month.

So, did you get this grab bag, too? What did you think? Leave me a note in the comments! :)