SeriesBeauty and the Green.

After long months of cold temperatures, low humidity, and heated air blasting our skins, we can be left with a dull, dry, scaly anti-sheen complete with rough patches on our knees, elbows and feet. It’s time for a good spring cleaning on our skin, and we’ve got the products to do it.

Juice Beauty Organic Face Wash ($22.00)
The last thing your stressed-out winter skin needs is a bath in chemicals and fragrance. So consider treating it to a gentle, organic cleanser such as this USDA certified organic soap-free wash. Great for all skin types, this cleanser contains natural antioxidants such as apple juice and soothing extracts of carrot seed. Honey and primrose extracts provide natural emollients and soothing anti-inflammatory agents to calm skin. Want to read more on more green cleansers? Check out our list of great green cleansers.

Kimberly Sayer Ultra-Light Facial Moisturizer ($32.00)
For all but the driest skin, a heavy moisturizer can feel too oily or slick. So what happens? We end up skipping the daily moisturizer and missing a key step in our daily beauty regime. This lightweight moisturizer from Kimberly Sayer is noncomedogenic and easy on the skin. It contains organic ingredients and utilizes a mineral sun block to protect from the sun. Want more? Check out this list of gentle, green moisturizers.

Mychelle Dermaceuticals Fruit Enzyme Scrub ($17.19)
Exfoliation is key to reviving dull skin, but harsh chemical scrubs can do more damage than good. Not so with this scrub. Vegan and gluten-free, this gentle scrub helps dissolve dead skin cells through natural fruit enzymes while clearing clogged pores and polishing skin. Gentle enough for sensitive skin, this scrub leaves a smooth and soft finish. Or, make your own healthy, exfoliating scrub.

John Masters Organics Vitamin C Anti-Aging Serum ($30.00)
A great solution to dull, dehydrated skin is to revitalize with a deep concentration of product. In terms of balancing skin tone and promoting collagen, vitamin C is heralded as perhaps one of the best natural tools to do so. This serum, made with certified organic ingredients, yields an intense serving of antioxidants and moisture that can soften fine lines and balance skin tone. While you’re at it,  read more on how serums work.

Antipodes Natural Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream ($52.00)
Bring your skin back to your life with this rich botanical night cream. This vegan product is full of certified organic ingredients to battle free radical damage and stimulate collagen production. It’s a must-have for any face wanting to fight damaging free radicals and wrinkles in a natural, non-toxic way. This rich and smooth botanical night cream promises to stimulate collagen production by 92% and it does not disappoint. Morning skin feels hydrated and plump and happy.

EO Lemon Verbena Body Lotion ($8.99)
Moisturizing from head to toe is important to get ship-shape for shorts and sandals. And with our wintry parts concealed for months at a time, it’s easy to forget about our more neglected parts. Free of synthetic fragrances and containing pure essential oils, this nourishing moisturizer is quickly absorbed into skin. With a crisp scent, it restores skin’s smoothness with organic oils and botanicals.

Anthology Organic Foot Scrub ($13.95)
Fearful of feet that haven’t seen the sun since September? Treat your toots to an invigorating scrub to remove calluses, rough spots and more caused by your winter boots. This product, comprised of 99% USDA certified-organic ingredients is detergent, and preservative free. It is made of Dead Sea Salt to slough away dry skin while countering germs and odors with antibacterial essential oils like rosemary.

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behind-the-lense

So you’re green. You care about trees. Yet you care about your complexion. I get it! I’ll pick through my trash sorting plastic from tin from things drenched in rancid goo – but I’m not going to go to bed without washing my face. Maybe it’s residual trauma from too many teenaged breakouts – skim through old issues of Seventeen Magazine and I am sure you will directly connect disfiguring acne to that time you skipped washing your face because you were too tired from screaming your head off at the Depeche Mode concert. Or not.

Kaia Naturals is offering up an H20-free solution. Recently, I checked out their Bamboo Facial Cleansing Cloths, which are designed to cleanse, tone and remove makeup without water. They are made from 100 percent soft, sustainable bamboo that feels like cashmere. (They call it cashmere soft – and yes, folks, it is.)

The unbleached bamboo fiber cloth is biodegradable and the ingredients are dermatologist tested and non-irritating. It contains no alcohol, synthetic fragrances, parabens, or sulfates. It is not organic, but it is cruelty free. Here is a complete list of ingredients.

How do these sustainable cloths work? Well, you really have to scrub to get heavy makeover off – but it does take off a lot of layers. It has a nice, fruity smell and leaves your face tingly and clean-feeling. You are left feeling nicely hydrated and yes, like you washed your face with water. Also, I have extremely sensitive skin and even the most organic products can sometimes leave my face red. This did not.

Would I forgo a nightly water rinse for the rest of my life? Probably not – it leaves your face with a little bit of a slick that does make you want to wash with water. But for around $12 for 30 cloths, I could spare 40 cents a pop here and there for a three-in-one water-free facial.

Want to see for yourself? Check out this video from Kaia.

You know the times you’ve run a fingernail down the side of your face and small bits of face have rolled off with it? The ick factor is huge, right? And most of that ick is dead skin.

Sure, you can moisturize with the best organic lotions out there. (And for the best green lotions to use, click here.) But those dead skin cells have to absorb the lotion before it can penetrate the skin underneath.

No amount of organic skin lotion is going to raise your skin cells from the dead. But before you conduct a green funeral for your face, try sloughing off with your best tool of choice – a scrub.

Bringing out the healthy, alive layers of skin on your face will improve your skin immensely. You’ll be less prone to break outs. Your skin will be smoother and have a healthier glow.

Pick a scrub that can make best friendsies with your skin. It is possible to over-exfoliate so be forewarned! If you over scrub, you can sand paper away the natural, protective barrier of your skin.

For sensitive skin, you’ll want a gentle exfoliating scrub. If your skin can take a sand blasting, go for the deep pore scrub. Depending on age and sensitivity, some people scrub daily, some only once or twice a week.

Best Scrub to Lessen Your Carbon Footprint:

Pangea Organics Facial Scrub ($32.00)
This gentle scrub is organic and, even better, fair trade. It contains Egyptian geranium with adzuki bean and cranberry. The smell is interesting – a combination of mud with bits of fruit buried in it. It’s light enough to use daily but strong enough to feel like you’re getting a good exfoliation. It is free of parabens, sulfates and any synthetic preservatives.

Best Scrub to Brighten Your Face:

John Masters Organics Jojoba and Ginseng Exfoliating Cleanser ($28.00)
This fantastic product contains certified organic jojoba beads (to exfoliate!) and ginseng (to revitalize!). And the best part? It will leave your face noticeably brightened. It seems to contain almost light-reflective properties that sit atop your skin and make it glow.

Best Scrub to Pretend You’re at the Beach:

Juice Beauty Exfoliating Cleanser ($22.00)
This is another gentle cleanser/scrub that has a rich pineapple base. The fresh fruity scent will bring you back to the beachy memories of childhood or that vacation you once went on where you blacked out from pineapple margaritas. It also contains certified organic extracts of white grape and aloe vera.

Best Scrub for Your Buck:

Noah’s Naturals Face Scrub with Jojoba Beads ($7.99)
This is a great, all-around scrub. You’ll feel like you’re getting a good wash while scrubbing out the baddies. It gives off a pleasant, old-school scent that’s almost floral, without being perfumey. It contains no parabens or sodium lauryl sulfate. It’s not organic, but it’s a good choice if you want an affordable, natural cleanser.

Best Scrub to Love Your Sensitive Skin:

Avalon Organics Exfoliating Enzyme Scrub ($16.95)
This product offers up a light, lavender scent. I used it daily for about a week and my skin did feel smoother after a couple of days. It’s free of parabens and preservatives. It is 100% vegetarian, and contains certified organic ingredients.

Best Scrub to Blast Your Skin:

Burt’s Bees Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub ($7.99)
If you’re looking for a scrub to really tear it up, this is the product for you. It has a fresh, peachy smell but it does leave a bit of a waxy, leftover feeling. It’s made from ground peach stone to exfoliate and also contains willowbark, a natural source of salicylic acid. 98.45% natural, it is free of sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, parabens and phthalates.

Best Scrub to Use Daily:

Aveda Tourmaline Charged Exfoliating Cleanser ($29.00)
This product works really well as a cleanser, but if you want a vigorous scrub, look elsewhere. It is not organic but it does contain “naturally-derived” exfoliating beads and certified organic lavender and geranium oils. And it’s tourmaline charged. What, pray tell, is tourmaline charged? Tourmaline apparently “acts as a conductor for the plant energy and the crystalline energy, while energizing the skin and boosting it with moisture and vitamins.”

Best Scrub to Simply Wash Your Face:

Exfoliating Wash by Kiss My Face ($15.00)
This scrub”¦er, wash got high marks for smell. It reminds me of lime and mint, and really makes me want a Mojito. It’s clean and refreshing, but doesn’t feel like a scrub.  It works more like a gel and feels gentle on your face. It’s not organic, but does contain several “certified natural” ingredients.

Someone famous once said, “A good organic facial cleanser can solve any problem.” (I can’t remember who said it, but that has Eleanor Roosevelt all over it, no?) But why is going organic in your cleanser important?

First, it can improve your skin tone, and this is essential for greenies who don’t like to wear too much makeup. It’s the first thing you’ll put on your face in the morning, so you’ll want it to be pure. Furthermore, organic ingredients have been known reduce free radical damage. Free radicals are pollution, sun, and all the rest of the bad stuff that ages your skin. And finally, if you go organic, you can also be sure your ingredients are purer, harvested with a lower eco-footprint, don’t contain harmful petroleum chemicals, and are cruelty-free. So check out our look at some of the best organic cleansers out there.

Rose Foaming Face Wash from John Masters Organics

Light, subtle, and simple, this face wash was fantastic. Out of all the cleansers I tried, this product best combined everything you want in a face wash. First, the scent was lovely. It had a subtle rose fragrance that didn’t overpower. Second, it passed the squeaky clean test. Meaning, it left my face feeling tight and clean. Third, it softened my skin. It is made from steam-distilled essential rose oil, and it is best for those with normal to dry skin. And finally, it is certified by the National Organic Program, meaning it is made from organic ingredients and contains no parabens, petro-chemicals, and artificial or synthetic materials.

Light Cleansing Lotion from Kimberly Sayer

This is another great cleanser, offering up a pleasant, lemony smell.  It also scored high on the fresh factor – it left my face feeling crisp and tight. Why am I speaking like faces should be treated as salads in the crisper? Because at minimum, most of us apply a moisturizer (with SPF!) after washing our faces, and most of us don’t want our face to feel like we’re excavating through layers of silt by the time we apply our makeup. This soy-based product is best for combination, oily and blemish-prone skin. And it is made with certified organic ingredients.

Linden Blossom Face Crème Cleanser from John Masters Organics

Again, John Masters Organics scores with another fantastic cleanser. With a light floral scent, it leaves you with the feeling you’ve just bathed your face in blossoms – and who hasn’t fantasized about some ancient Roman-style floral bath every morning? Okay, maybe it’s just me. This product is great for dry skin, as it is more moisturizing than the other cleansers. But it still leaves your face feeling fresh. Due to the higher moisturizing factor, this NOP-certified product is great for winter or for those with dry skin.

Organic Face Wash from Juice Beauty

This was a bit thicker than other cleansers, so a little goes a long way. It could leave your skin a little waxy if you use too much, so heed the warning. The scent was a bit medicinal, but it wasn’t overpowering or offensive. More important, it left my skin feeling hydrated, soft and moisturized. For all skin types, this product is 95% organic.

Creamy Face Cleanser from Kiss My Face

If you have dry skin – or live in the Arctic – this is a great cleanser for you.  It is very thick and felt a bit like washing with a moisturizer. I had to scrub to get it all off. (And then scrub an hour later when I discovered it caked around my ears.) But if you have dry skin, this could be a positive. The scent was a bit intense. It was supposed to be vanilla and tangerine, but it smelled more like vitamins to me. It contains natural and certified organic ingredients and no artificial colors or unnecessary chemicals.

Hand contact spreads 80% of infections. For each minute of the work day, you touch an average of 30 objects. There are over 20,000 germs on every square inch of your desk, which is almost 400 times the amount found on toilets. Approximately 3000 bacteria lurk on your hands. Women’s hands harbor a more diverse variety of microbes than those of men.

These unsettling statistics are enough to make germophobes out of us all. But, you can’t very well run to the bathroom every five minutes to wash up. That will get you an interesting reputation around the office. So save yourself some money and help the environment, too, by making your own sanitizers. These antiseptic gels can easily be concocted using basic household items.

In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup each of pure aloe vera gel and grain alcohol with 5 drops of tea tree essential oil. To make it smell less pungent, add 5 drops of your favorite fragrance oil. Using a funnel, pour this blend into a bottle small enough to stash in your purse. (Rinse out an empty tube of makeup or lotion to make use of waste.)

Now, what about your contaminated desk? Don’t even think about buying a can of Lysol! Here’s an all-natural alternative:

Pour ¼ cup each of tea tree essential oil, lavender essential oil and white vinegar into a spray bottle. Add 2 cups of distilled water and shake well. Clean your work space using this blend every evening before you go home to disinfect surfaces.

For more tips, check out Mike’s green guide to chemical-free cleaning.

Image: Weird Beard