Natural Self-Care Essentials
Current favorites: non-toxic and eco friendly brands
Current favorites: non-toxic and eco friendly brands
It’s important to care about what we’re putting onto our skin: we need to be sure we’re giving ourselves the most nourishing ingredients possible to help prevent disease, cancer, infertility, and adverse effects on our respiratory systems. Read more about this here.
I always recommend downloading the ThinkDirty app or using the Environmental Working Group Database to look up all of your products. Both gives you a picture of the ingredients in each item; what they’re used for, why they’re safe or unsafe, what their general toxicity level is, if they’re banned in other countries and for what reasons, etc. I avoid purchasing anything over a 3 on their rating systems.
Billie
You can find my incredibly comprehensive review of the razor and shaving cream combo from Billie here. I’m such a fan of this company and always go out of my way to tell friends to give these razors a go— with a simple subscription feature and EWG-certified ingredients, I’ve got nothing but good things to say.
Necessaire
I really enjoy their natural scents, the texture of the bottles, the fact that all of their packaging is recyclable or easily reusable. Naturally fragranced body washes and lotions from Necessaire that I love: Eucalyptus, Fragrance-Free and Sandalwood.
ACURE
Next up, we’ve got Acure. You can visit your local Target or Whole Foods and purchase an array of products from this brand, and it was a gateway brand for me as it was sold at my local health food store in Portland. ACURE has essentials ranging from cleansers, night creams, masks, and deodorants to makeup wipes and lotions: they’ve got it all, and it’s all-natural. Their packaging is recyclable and everything smells incredible. At the moment, my partner and I both use almost all of the products from the Brightening line— it’s super gentle, has never irritated my skin, and always keeps us looking glowy.
Supergoop
This is a post-shower favorite of mine: I’ve gotten into the habit of wearing SPF every single day regardless of where I’m going or what the weather is per every skincare guru on the internet. I’ll say that it took me quite a while to find a natural sunscreen option that looked natural. A lot of sunscreens were thick, and oily and didn’t compliment my skin— but this one is so good. I got the lightest shade and I apply it with an EcoTools beauty blender or a soft brush and add in a little bit of cream foundation to finish off coverage: it always looks soft and natural.
The Ordinary
I use these three products from The Ordinary a bit more sparingly: it can be tricky to find an ideal combo since some of the acids are super-hydrating and some are super-drying. I generally do smaller drops a few times a week and hone into the key benefits of each product to match what my skin needs that night. The AHA+BHA at-home, 10-minute peel from The Ordinary is a favorite for smoothing out my skin texture.
Georganics
From Georganics, we’ve got some sustainable, organic mouthwash tablets. Traditional mouthwash can have synthetic dyes and cane sugar in the ingredients list, but this brand is a solid alternative and saves so much plastic waste: I just add a tablet to the tiniest bit of water and it works as well as traditional mouthwash.
PHLUR
Phlur is my go-to for perfume and the Sandara scent is truly a dream: this scent owes its distinctive hint of citrus to the rare Nepalese Timur pepper. PHLUR works with their partner, Mane’s to forge a healthy relationship with Nepal’s farmers who practice sustainable techniques and receive a fair wage for their work.
That’s all for now! I hope this post has been insightful and that you’ve found a few new natural and environmentally friendly products to try out.
Disclosure: I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you decide to buy any of the products I refer to and promote. All opinions are my own.