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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The post 7 Best Products to Spring Clean Your Skin appeared first on EcoSalon.

Have you ever bought shampoo without (steel yourself) reading the label? Or have you ever gotten home from the gym, thought about washing your face, and then collapsed on the couch in front of the TV, maybe to watch bad reality television? If you’ve answered “yes” or “dear God woman, get out of my brain” to either of these questions, you have committed a green beauty sin.

And just what are the seven deadly (okay, not really) green beauty sins?

Not using Skin Deep to research our products.
Skin Deep is a lifesaver. The safety guide to cosmetics, brought to us by the Environmental Working Group, is the standard resource in what is non-toxic and safe in the cosmetics industry, traditional or green washed. Uncertain about the chemicals in a shampoo? Run it through their database. Shampoo not in the database? Take a look at its ingredients, pick the most “chemically-sounding” and run those through. What you learn will change your buying habits forever. (And want 15 green  beauty products under $15? Find em’ here.)

Not taking care of our skin.
I was once a young scamp, running through fields of sun with nary a sunscreen thought in my head. Now I won’t get the mail without using non-toxic sunscreen – like this! Be sure to wear sunscreen, but make sure it is non-toxic. Moisturize using organic products (Here’s a good one.) Use a scrub at least once a week. And be sure to washing your face after exercise or travel.

Not eating healthy foods.
Want acne? Like dull skin? Indulge in sugar and fried foods. Mary Sullivan is a nurse and nutritional expert. According to Sullivan, “There is a lot of important new research showing tremendous power of antioxidants in general, and in some specific nutrients in particular that can make an important difference in the way your skin looks and feels – and even in how well it ages.” Spinach, broccoli, blueberries – all good for your body and beauty!

Not exercising – outdoors.
Exercise gets the blood flowing and the toxins sweating out of our bodies. Exercising outdoors gives our minds an extra chance to unwind and take in some of the sights that don’t involve a TV screen with images we can’t control flashing across it. I have seen more True Hollywood Stories at the gym than I can count. Is it relaxing or healthy to see crime scenes from OJ Simpsons’ murder trial? Not for this runner.

Not taking cooler showers.
Some of us enjoy a hot shower. And by some of us, I mean people who recycle, drive hybrids, talk to the Greenpeace activists on the street corner, and may or may not write for green online publications. I know, we’re supposed to be conserving water (which we do) and keeping electricity bills down (which we do). But also think of this next time you’re ready to blast away the day with a steam – hot showers can strip away our skin protective oils, drying out our skin. Plus they are bad for the Earth.

Not washing our hands.
You would never NOT wash your hands after using a gas station bathroom, right? Well think about all the times your may or may not have washed your hands after going to the grocery store, holding the door for someone, or even using your own cell phone. Transferring germs and dirt to your face is easy when you touch your face without washing your hands. And consider giving your cell phone an anti-bacterial swipe while you are at it.

Not considering our inner beauty.
I know, this seems like a no-brainer. But stressing out, not getting enough sleep, sweating all the small stuff is going to reflect to the outside world. Meditate. Read. Go for a walk and dance when no one can see you. (Or do it when they can, just embrace the looks.) Act like a general goof. Know what? You’ll feel better – and will feel better about shortening that hot shower. (Setting my timer right now”¦.)

Image: Esparta

The post Oh Behave: The 7 Ultimate Beauty Sins appeared first on EcoSalon.

There are more loopholes and lawlessness in the world of beauty than flies on a bacon-covered cupcake. Seriously, someone might as well be spackling green paint on cans of oil for all the falsely organic stuff out on the shelves. As we may have mentioned once or twice, you need a PhD to determine what’s organic, what’s natural, and what’s a toxic waste dump disguised as face cream.

So what to do? We know to avoid parabens (preservative linked to cancer,) phthalates (solvent linked to reproductive issues,) petrochemicals, sodium laurel sulfate, and anything with fragrance in it. But what about all the other chemicals we see? We can spend our days plugging product ingredients into the Skin Deep database.

Let’s start with one of the most essential beauty products, the scrub. Sure, we can pick up a scrub at your local Whole Foods. (And consider our review of several popular products here.) But why not step into the kitchen and make it ourselves? Our faces and bodies are covered with dead skin cells and the best way to send them off into the afterlife is to use a good scrub. So check out our two favorite recipes for scrubs you can mix up in your own kitchen.

HONEY NUT SCRUB

Courtesy of Narine Nikogosian’s “Return to Beauty”

Nikogosian reports that walnuts are “packed with beta-carotene, vitamin E, and alpha-linolenic acid which help your skin stay soft, smooth and supple.” Like the sweet stuff? Honey helps slough away dead skin cells.

Mix 1 teaspoon of finely-ground walnuts with 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix well. Massage this gently over your face for five minutes. Focus on your T-zone (chine, nose, and forehead). Rinse with warm water.

BASIC BROWN SUGAR SCRUB

Eating tons of sugar? Not so good for your skin. But using it to exfoliate your dead skin away? Nothing’s sweeter than that. A brown sugar scrub can give you the same results as a gentle chemical peel.

Purchase a bag of brown sugar. The dark the better, as light sugars tend to dissolve quickly. Add two tablespoons of water to a small bowl of sugar, but be sure it is not enough to dissolve it. Wet your face. Using circular motions, work the sugar over your skin. Leave the paste on for ten minutes. Then rinse.

Image: avlxyz

The post Be Your Own Face Scrub Mix Master appeared first on EcoSalon.

Scrubs rock. You can moisturize, you can tone, and you can wash with as many gentle cleansers as you want. But if you really want to get into the elbows and grease parts of getting the gunk out of your face, you have to call in a scrub.

Why? Because scrubs are like a universal truth of skin experts, kind of like gravity is to physicists. “Are you using a weekly scrub or exfoliator?” a concerned facialist will ask me seconds after turning the magnifying light on my skin. Years of brightly-lit shaming by skin experts finally moved me to pick up my first scrub a few years ago. Now I am a scrub-a-holic, and my skin has never looked better.

We are covered in dead skin cells – in fact, 90 percent of the dust in our home is our dead skin flying around. The key to healthy, smooth skin is to literally scrub off the dead skin cells. This allows for smooth skin and brighter appearance, as your healthy skin cells are now front and center. However, be careful not to over exfoliate. You can irritate your skin and actually stimulate oil production. Be sure to scrub at least once a week, and move up from there as your skin reacts.

Luckily, there are a ton of great body scrubs on the market. Recently, I had to opportunity to review a brand new natural body scrub on the market – YOUTH Skin/care’s Sugar Jojoba oil body scrub ($35.00 for 16 ounces).

This scrubs looks, feels, and even taste just like brown sugar. (Yes, I tasted it.) YOUTHskin/care, according to their press release, “is a natural beauty brand created by, and for, the young, informed, and connected consumer generation.” Despite being over 30, I ventured forth to try the scrub anyway.

How did it work? After slathering on the scrub, I found that it does the job quite well. The sugar granules are big and extremely exfoliating – it is a fantastic scrub if you really want to “go big” with your exfoliation. It leaves your skin feeling tighten and hydrated, as the jojoba oil seems to remain on your skin. Because of this, you may fight the urge to wash with cleanser after application. So I recommend this scrub more as an at-home spa treatment, possibly followed by cleanser and toner. Also, be careful when applying, because it doesn’t congeal very well and I felt like more was going down the sink than onto my skin.

My favorite part about YOUTHskin care’s exfoliator is that it is extremely simple and natural in its ingredients. It literally contains just sugar, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, and orange oil. (See why I wasn’t afraid to taste it?) You can read more about YOUTHskin/care and their youthful philosophy here.

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Image: taimanu

The post Go Forth and Exfoliate! (With This Cool Natural Product) appeared first on EcoSalon.