A while ago my mother showed me a list from the David Suzuki Foundation of the
'Dirty Dozen' cosmetic chemicals to avoid. (Cliff notes: it it's made from a petrochemical, releases formaldehyde, has a name you can't pronounce, or is listed on the ingredients as a symbol and number combo, it's probably bad!) This list is admittedly a little scary, and also frustrating, because it can sometimes take a long time to find an eyeshadow palette or a shampoo that really works for you, right? And also, this kind of stuff tends to cost an arm and a leg to buy as well.
The first switch was easy - my mother had already discovered
Live Clean, a line of shampoo, conditioner, soap and body wash that meets all of the "free-from" criteria. Their shampoo, conditioner and body wash have all made it into my rotation. They are not that much different price-wise from your average not-basic-brand drugstore purchase (especially when they are on sale!) and they seem to work just as well as something containing sodium-laureth-sulfate or some other unpronounceable chemicals. They also have a line of baby products which I will be using in a few months, and a new line of face care products which I haven't had a chance to try yet.
Another product I stumbled upon almost by accident. After having for a massage at
Cascades Day Spa on Valentine's Day with my husband, I used their shower facilities and really liked the body wash they provided (it smelled yummy, like oranges!). I then discovered that they had it for sale at the spa, and brought home a bottle of
NBW Marigold Magic body wash. It's a tad on the expensive side but you don't have to use that much. It has lasted me a while and so probably works out not that expensive on a per-wash basis. And - bonus - it's Canadian!
Those two switches were easy. The challenging part for me has been to find cosmetics that are free from the 12 evils. I'm a shimmery eyeshadow devotee, and of course the ones I have found and liked have all had at least one of the bad ingredients. I had also found a mascara I really liked. I wasn't sure if I would ever find a product I actually liked and wanted to use that also met the criteria.
The other day at the drugstore I was waiting for a prescription to be filled, and so was wandering the store. Remembering that my mascara was basically empty, I headed to the makeup aisle to pick up a new one. While browsing the aisle, mascara in hand, to look at all the other pretty things, I spotted a package that simultaneously piqued my interest and also made me say "yeah sure - probably just greenwashing." The product in question? Mascara, with the word "Organic" prominently featured. So I picked up the package to read further, to see if it held up to scrutiny or was just trying to make me pay more for it because it said "organic" on the box.
Turns out - this one actually holds up to scrutiny! The product in question is
Physicians Formula Organic Wear mascara. Not only does it come in a pretty package (the cover of the tube is in the shape of a leaf!) it also is free from the long list of bad ingredients that, sure enough, were in the mascara I was going to buy (like about 10 different coal-tar-derived dyes to make that pretty brown-black colour!) Other mascara: synthetic beeswax (what? why?). This one: ACTUAL beeswax! What a novel concept! The only drawback was that it does not come in my usual brown-black, just in "organic black" but hey - I was willing to give it a try.
This one is more expensive than the traditional brands by quite a lot, but miracle or miracles it was on sale for the same price as mascara #1! I bought one tube and got a rain check for a second since thy only had one on the shelf. And when I got it home and tried it, I quite liked it - no clumps, felt good swiping it onto my lashes, and as it turns out the black doesn't look so harsh anyway!
So I am slowly but surely building up my better-for-me beauty arsenal (I also found a lip balm made from all natural ingredients including beeswax that I quite like). Still on the list: toothpaste (I'm picky - it can't taste gross!), deodorant (has to actually work!), and the ever-elusive eye shadow (has to shimmer and stay on!).
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