No more make-up (Change 133)

I had the best intentions of switching all of my cosmetic products to eco-friendly solutions.  Really, I did.  A few, I've managed to change.  But the rest are sitting in my bathroom drawer, waiting for me to use them up, so I can make the switch. 

It struck me this week, that even if I keep up this challenge for the next 5 years, I will never be able to completely make the switch.  The reason?  I don't wear makeup.  As a stay-at-home mom, I can't be bothered putting on my "war paint" just to hang out around the house.  I don't wear it when I go out to the grocery store or the drug store, either.  Lately, I've been putting it on to go to work, but a couple of times I forgot, and the world didn't come to an end.    I've also realized that I've gone out socially a few times, and haven't been wearing make-up then, either.  No one has said anything.

That got me thinking about why women wear make-up.  It is really to enhance their beauty, because they want to look beautiful, or is it because societal expectations are such that women are expected to wear make-up from the minute they wake up, until they go to bed at night?  Deep questions to ponder, and a discussion that is really to big to take in single blog post.  However, for those who are interested in persuing this discussion, I would be happy to take it off-line.   I also recommend reading Naomi Wolf's  The Beauty Myth.  A real eye-opener into a billion dollar industry.

So back to me and my thoughts on make-up.  95% of the time I don't wear it, don't feel like I need to wear it, and everyone who is important to me comments that I don't need to wear it - my beauty is natural.  I think I'll save it for really special occaisions - when I want to up and look extra pretty - family photo sessions, my brother's wedding, special outings with DH.  The rest of the time, I'm going with the conscious decision to go au naturel.

Use eco-friendly and body-friendly hair conditioner (Change 129)

To go along with the eco-friendly shampoo, I'm now using eco-friendly conditioner.  I found that the eco-friendly shampoo I am using is drying my hair out.  (I guess all the yucky chemical additives of my other shampoo was what made my hair nice, soft and shiny.  The commercials really are true!) 

I'm using the conditioner every other wash, and it seems to be alleviating the dryness.  I never used to have to use it, so I don't like purchasing another bottle, creating more waste, and using more precious resources so my hair looks nice.  On the other hand, I am a bit vain, and don't enjoy looking like I could double for a scarecrow on a bad hair day!  :)

When my current bottle of shampoo is finished, I'm going to try another brand to see if I still have the dryness problems.  Any favourites among my readers that you could recommend?

Buy environmentally and body friendly shampoo (Change 117)

The toiletries and cosmetics in our house are slowing turning green.  This week I purchased a shampoo that should be safer on the environment and better for my body.   Unfortunately, the brand I purchased does not appear in the Skin Deep database (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/).  But, I'm getting pretty savvy at reading labels, and can say that there aren't any parabens, pthalates, fragrances or SLS or other really bad ingredients in this shampoo.

It smells like apple cider (yummy), and leaves my hair feeling clean and soft.   DH has even commented on how nice my hair smells.  The shampoo was a reasonable price for the "green" component of it, so I am happy to stick with this new brand.

Use eco- and body-friendly blush (Change 115)

I went out and bought a new cosmetics product this week.  I was getting ready for a meeting, putting on make-up for the first time in about two weeks, and dropped my package of blusher on the bathroom floor.  Ugh.  That was a bit of a mess.  Cracked the cosmetic into about 4 large pieces and several smaller ones, and lots of dust all over the floor.  It also cracked the lid in half and broke off the hinge part that keeps the lid on.  Into the garbage it went.

I purchased a replacement product - made from organic ingredients, free of "harsh chemicals, parabens, and synthetic preservatives".   The container is actually pressed paper (instead of plastic), which is recyclable.  It also passes the Skin Deep test, scoring a 3 on the scale.

I guess beauty doesn't have to come at a horrible environmental price.

Buy all natural eyeshadow (Change 104)

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I don't wear a lot of cosmetics on a day-to-day basis.  I'm usually "au naturel" when at home with the kids, or out and about running errands.  However, I do succumb to vanity when I go to work, or have an appointment (doctor, dentist, etc), and put on some eyeliner, blush and a little bit of lip colour.

I've been using the same products for years, but resolved to improve my eco-friendliness in cosmetics after starting this blog last July.  Unfortunately, because I don't use a lot of cosmetics, the ones I have last a long time.  For the price I paid for them, I'm not about to throw them out and go buy new ones.  I decided to replace my cosmetics as I use them up.

The opportunity for eyeliner came a couple of weeks ago.  I use a dark eyeshadow with a lid liner brush as my eyeliner.  I contracted pink-eye from somewhere, and unknowingly had used my brush and eyeshadow while I had it.  When I re-infected myself, I realized what I had done and threw out the eyeshadow.  (I washed and disinfected the brush). 

I used this opportunity to buy myself an all-natural eyeshadow.  It is made with pure botanicals and passes the Skin Deep test.  I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but after reading online reviews about the product, I think I will be satisfied with its application.  I'll let you know if my opinion changes after I use it.

Use eco- and body- friendly lip balm (Change 101)

Another eco-gift from Santa came in the form of lip balm.  This is one of the few cosmetic products I use on a daily basis.  The city we live in is very dry, especially in winter, where temperatures can dip as low at -25C in winter.  Moisturizing is a must.

Santa made sure that my new lip balm complies with the Skin Deep Database - it scores a 2 on the list.  Santa even brought some for the children and DH.  The new lip balm is made from beeswax, coconut oil, and a couple of other natural ingredients.  I really like it - it goes on well, and has staying power.

As one of my readers commented in an earlier post: "Gotta love when Santa gets it right".

All natural facial scrub (Change 98)

Santa was very good to us this year, as he always is.   This year boasted the addition of some extra eco-friendly products (hmmmm.....is Santa reading my blog?)  One of the new items was an all-natural facial scrub.

I usually clean with soap and water, but about once a week, I like to exfoliate my skin.  The scrub I've been using scores a 7 in the Skin Deep database (!).  As a result, I've been wanting to make my own, but just haven't gotten around to it.  Now I won't have to for a while.  I checked that it passes the Skin Deep test (it does, scoring a 4), so I won't feel guilty about using it.  

Thanks, Santa, for helping me reach my eco-goals.

Borrow Hallowe'en costumes (Day 77)

Well, the big day arrives in one week, and a slow panic is starting to set in about costumes.  All of the kids know what they want to be, but it's up to me to provide them with the costumes.  I tried suggesting costumes we already had in our dress-up bin; of course, no one wanted them. 

I told the kids that I wouldn't buy them costumes this year, they had to wear ones we already had, or we had to see if we could borrow them from friends.  Fortunately for us, a good friend down the street has kids that love to dress-up and have all of the articles we need for two of our three costumes.  DD1 is going as a pirate a la Jack Sparrow, and DS is Indiana Jones, courtesy of our neighbours.  DD2 wants to be a ghost - a little more problematic as she is only three, and I don't want to cover her with a sheet. (Actually, I'm not even sure she'd wear one).  I decided that white pants and a white shirt will suffice, and I'll paint her face white, too.  I have the shirt and the face paint, I just need to find a pair of pants.  I've put the word out to several friends, and I hope that pants will materialize before the weekend.

The face paint is not eco-friendly - it's stage make-up, so I shudder to think what might be in it.  However, I won't be using too much, it won't be on that long, and I am not going out to buy new make-up for one night.

Any suggestions for inexpensive environmentally-friendly Hallowe'en goodies?

Environmentally-friendly nail polish (Day 45)

In keeping with "greening" my pedicures, I've decided to bring my own nail polish to my next one.

As I was sitting in the chair last night, the woman beside me opted for no nail polish.  I must have looked confused when she said that (isn't that one of the reasons you go for a pedicure?), because she smiled and told me she didn't like all the chemicals in them.  She enjoyed getting her feet pampered, but preferred not to use nail polish.  Huh.  It never occurred to me that you could opt out of nail colour.

I don't usually wear colour in the winter (who's going to see my nails besides me and DH when I'm wearing socks?), but come the summer, I love showing off my brightly coloured toe nails.  I thought there must be some eco-friendly nail polishes out there, so off to the computer I went to take a look.

Sure enough, there are several companies that offer environmentally-friendly choices.  None of them have rave reviews from everyone, but there are two or three that seem to be the most often recommended.   The EWG (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com) has a couple that also seem to be worth looking into.  

Unfortunately, none of them seem to be sold locally.  I don't want to have to special order them, and have them shipped across North America to me.  I'm going to check at my local health food store and see what I can find.  Hopefully there will be something acceptable to my environmental ethics and my pocketbook.

Body-friendly deodorant (Day 19)

I'm slowly "greening" my beauty regime.  As I use up my current products, I plan to replace them with environmentally and body friendly alternatives.  Next on the list is deodorant.

I have to confess right now, that I am NOT looking forward to this change.  With kids, I am outside a lot.  I tend to perspire heavily, especially in summer, and have always used antiperspirant as a means from preventing my clothes from getting too stinky and stained.  The one time I tried a deodorant (as opposed to antiperspirant), I ended up with sweat stains on some of my favourite shirts.

I dutifully checked EWG's Skin Deep database (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/).  I checked my current antiperspirant and was pleasantly surprised to find that it rated a 5 out of 10 for nastiness.  However, my goal is to try and get all of my products to 3 or less.  I found three products that are carried at my local drug store.   I need to pick up a prescription today, so will also pick up one of these deodorants while I"m there.

I'm going to grin and bear it, and hope that I don't get too smelly.  And hope that I can find  a "green" stain remover, just in case.

It's only skin deep (Day 8)

I need to change my cosmetics regime.   One of the worst offenders in the chemical chaos is the cosmetics industry.  Too many harmful chemicals are absorbed into our skin and poured into our river systems.  If I'm going to "greenify" my life, I need to start with myself.

As it happens, and the reason for today's blog, I needed to buy some face moisturizer.  I don't use a lot of cosmetics, but I do use this product everyday.  So I decided to check out the Environmental Working Group's cosmetics database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php) to see how my current product rates. 

OK, that was scary.  My current moisturizer rates 8 out of 10 on the nasties scale.  Obviously, I wouldn't be replacing that exact product!  I also didn't want to have to visit a specialty store to buy green products, or pay for extra shipping/handling from a website.  I wanted to be able to purchase the product at my local drugstore or grocery store.

I made a quick trip into the store, to find all of the "green" cosmetics that were carried.  I wrote down the names of the ones that I thought would be suitable.  I picked the one that had the fewest nasty chemicals that I could read on the label, and brought it home for comparisons.

I was surprised by the ratings given to several of the supposed "green" products on the EWG's database.  Many scored 7, 8 or 9 on the scale, when I was sure they would be 2, 3 or 4.  I also plugged in several well known "regular" brands, just to see how they rated.  At the minimum, they were all 8 out of 10.

The product I ended up with scored 4 out of 10.  Much better, although not as good as I had hoped.  I paid for the "greenness", as it was twice the prize of my regular brand, but I feel this is money well invested.  I tried the product this morning, and am very pleased with the texture and feel of it on my face.  I will keep this moisturizer.

I will also check EWG's website as I need to replace my other cosmetics products.