Cleaning up the personal products I use is a somewhat recent (less than a year) endeavor. I had never really given too much thought about what was in my beauty products. I think cleaning up your beauty routine is a pretty natural step after you start down the cleaner eating path. Once, I started reading about all the chemicals in food, it led to what chemicals are in other products. Did you know that a lot of chemicals in personal products that are approved in the United States are banned in Europe? That really got my attention, and made me really start trying to clean up my personal products. A lot of points can be argued over if a certain component is safe/not safe, but the fact is, if those questionable components can be cut out altogether while sacrificing little in way of performance then, why risk it?
One major challenge is finding products that are actually cleaner. A great starting place is the EWG’s Skin Deep Database. I think this is an incredible resource and good place to start when evaluating your existing products and where to start in cleaning up your routine. Read how the products are scored to gain a better understanding of what you are looking at and what you should avoid.
My recommendation for starting the process to cleaner beauty is to evaluate each item as you start to run out, it makes it less overwhelming and less expensive than overhauling all at once; plus you are not wasting what you already purchased. When shopping for new products make sure to read the ingredients list! Lots of products say natural or organic but still contain chemicals you want to avoid.
Other great resources:
No More Dirty Looks {tons of product reviews}
Crunchy Betty {diy beauty products}
Organic Beauty Talk {product reviews; they currently have a special shop just in time for Christmas}
The Never List {nice printable to use when shopping for those new products}
