10 Best Sites for Natural, Non-Toxic Cosmetics
November 25, 2010
Shopping for all natural cosmetics can be difficult. Outside of Whole Foods and your local health food store, options can appear limited. Shopping for high quality brands must often be done online. These are my favorite sites, the ones from which I order products and samples.
Very much like Sephora, except the products featured here are natural, non-toxic, and eco-friendly. Stock up on Rahua Shampoo, skinnyskinny soaps, and RMS makeup. You can also order a sample of any product on the website! Products arrive in a timely manner and are beautifully packaged. This is a U.S. site; the owner lives in Brooklyn.
An amazing site that has every natural product you could ever dream of! They have an incredible selection of organic perfumes, makeup, and skin care products. Stock up on Zoya nail polish, incredible bath salts, and more. They also have a men’s section! U.S. based site.
The site sells only fair-trade organic beauty products and it sells a lot of them!!! It also has a beautiful aromatherapy section and a large selection of organic perfume and cologne. All orders over $50.oo qualify for free shipping! U.S. based site.
4. skinbotanica
Pick up your John Masters Organic Shampoo, Weleda foot cream, and Eminence Organics face masks. The site carries a huge variety of natural and organic brands. Right now, you can receive 20% of your entire order with the code BESTSELL 20. Pick up gifts for everyone on your list!!
A one-stop shop for everything on your list. They have everything from dandruff shampoo to anti-cellulite gel. I have never tried anything from this brand that I haven’t liked. My boyfriend is especially fond of the men’s face wash and antioxidant gel.
6. abc Home
Shop online, just like you would in their beautiful store, for natural, non-toxic beauty products from high quality brands including but not limited to Amala, Kahina, and Intelligent Nutrients. If you live in New York though, try to make it downtown to their store on Broadway and 17th Street; the store is breathtakingly beautiful.
An online boutique for the amazing Eminence Organics line, this site is incredible in that it will provide you with samples of any of the masks or products . There are 36 masks in total. I always make sure I have a Seven Herb Treatment mask at home- it clears up breakouts and nourishes at the same time! Catherine Heigl raved to InStyle magazine about the products, saying that she couldn’t get enough of them; I am with her! I want all of them.
A store with a large variety of high quality skin care products; I am a big fan of all the brands. The best thing about this site however, is the one cent samples and deluxe gift sets. For one cent, you can try most products. For five dollars, you can try five or more products from one line. Don’t waste your money buying products that might not agree with your skin type; sample until you get it right!
9. Indigo Wild
Home of Zum Bar soap (my boyfriend’s favorite soap!), this site contains all the famous “Zum” products. They have everything from face wash and body oil to baby products and bed bug spray. They even have Zum Bum- a special non-toxic spray to clean your dirty bum! Their products work, smell great, and come in creative packaging!
10. Bella Floria
This site contains natural products in a wide variety of price ranges; they have Hugo Naturals and Kahina Living Beauty. More importantly however, the site sells great, beautifully packaged gift sets such as the Woodsprite Organic Body Muscle Mender. They often have daily and weekly specials- so check back often!
Scrub a Dub Dub… What’s in Your Tub?
November 3, 2010
Dial up the Chemicals
If you are using Dial Clean & Fresh Antibacterial Deodorant Soap you are washing with more than just glycerine. You’re lathering up with synthetic fragrance, PEG-6 Methyl Ether, BHT, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Palmitate, Triclocarban, and several other not so great for you chemical agents.
More importantly, the surfactants* in Dial soaps create the unlisted byproduct 1,4 Dioxane, a chemical that is linked to cancer. Sadly, this chemical contaminates up to 46% of the personal care products produced in this country (2008 study).
*Surfactant: a substance that, when dissolved in water, gives a product the ability to remove dirt from surfaces such as the human skin, textiles, and other solids.
Learn about the chemicals in hand soaps and safer alternatives; click here.
The Wonderful Alternatives
Once my boyfriend and I found out about the chemicals in our soap, we went on a hunt to find the very best “clean” soap we could find. We have probably tried upward of thirty different non-toxic soaps that are completely free of chemical additives and synthetic fragrance. These are our favorites…
For Women
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap is a cheap ($2.50 bar at Whole Foods) soap that lathers well, gets the stench off, and makes you feel unbelievably clean. It comes in a wide variety of scents, my favorite being peppermint. If you prefer a bodywash, the castile soaps are also available in liquid form.
Nostalgia Goose Bumps Clove Apricot Scrub is an exfoliant that is worth writing home about. With this bar in hand, no wash cloth or scrub brush is needed- just simply rub the bar all over your body and rinse for soft, revitalized skin. I love, love, love this!!
skinnyskinny Rosemary & Mint Organic Soap creates the world’s most incredible lather. This soap is incredibly soft and silky. In fact, the wrapper says that it can be used as shampoo, but I have yet to try that. I love the way that it smells.
For Men
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. My boyfriend’s favorite is Tea Tree. Tea Tree has strong antibacterial qualities and the smell is clean and masculine; if you are athletic or prone to the occasional body breakout, this soap is for you.
Zum Bar Patchouli Mint Soap is made from olive, coconut, palm, and castor oils, in a goat’s milk base; it is incredibly moisturizing. The smell is also surprisingly fresh, invigorating, and masculine. Will can’t get enough of this soap! He loves the way it smells.
Burt’s Bees Fabulously Fresh Peppermint & Rosemary Body Bar is everything it claims to be and more. This is Will’s favorite soap! The smell is incredibly invigorating and stimulating on mornings when one just can’t manage to wake up. The lather is smooth, light, and moisturizing.
What are your favorite soaps?
The Natural Beauty Well 