Thread: Natural-ish Beauty products?

If any of you have favorite natural (or, safer, since not all natural stuff is necessarily safe) beauty products, can you please share?

I'm always looking to avoid certain chemicals (EDTA, sodium laurel/laureth sulfates, propylene glycol, pthylates, etc) and in general I prefer products that have less in them overall...when you think of your skin as being a bunch of tiny little open mouths and then look at the ingredients on most lotion products, well...

I like some Burt's Bee's stuff (new Radiance moisturizers are pretty sweet) and I especially love my local shea butter lady, who has some yummy stuff and will do custom scents.
Natural, handmade soaps, shea butter, natural skin care products

There are several threads on mineral powder make-up, but I'd like to hear suggestions for other stuff. Eyeliner, mascara, make-up remover, deodorant, lotions and potions...anybody got anything good??

cold-pressed virgin coconut oil is pretty hard to beat for body moisturizer and bath oil.

I haven't bought products from this link yet ..g.: ..g.: ..g.: but go to Beauty.com - Cosmetics, Skin Care, Fragrances, Beauty and Makeup Tips and click on Natural at the top. They have a list of products, make up included, with ratings on them. Hope this helps!!!

For makeup I use No Miss (for mascara, nail polish, eyeshadow, and makeup removers) and Organic Make up Company (for lipgloss). Good places to look for natural makeup are veganessentials.com and vegangoods.com and they list all ingredients. Emani makes some cool glitter shadows I have been wanting to try. I also use Beauty Without Cruelty, but their ingredient lists are a little longer. Zuzu Luxe is another one to look up (I havent tried their stuff yet) and De La Terre (their lipsticks have great ingredient lists). All of these are vegan as well, yay! I hope this helps!

Oooh, haven't tried coconut oil in the bath. I like it for lips and an overnight foot treatment. And stir-frying. :)

For curly girrrrls following the program, I also found Avalon Organics Tea Tree Scalp Treatment Conditioner to be a blessing!!

Oh, my...I'm gonna be shopping all day now! Thanks Mintaka!!

No Miss's lip glosses are coconut oil based! Whoopee!! Have you by any chance tried their make-up remover?

Yes, I do use their makeup remover...*runs to bathroom to find bottle*...it is water based and is really gentle. It says No Tears Eye Makeup Remover but I use it all over my face with no problems then I wash with Beauty Without Cruelty Herbal Cream facial cleanser (the only cleanser I've found that my skin doesn't object to). I'd definatley recommned both of these things.

I swear for Klorane,specially their hair products.


http://www.beautyplatinium.com/category_s/6.htm

My favorite subject!

*crunch crunch*

Eating breakfast...*crunch crunch*...will chime in in a sec!!

I like Aubrey Organics and in particular I like this blush:
Aubrey Organics -- Silken Earth - Rose Tone

Originally Posted by ssipes

cold-pressed virgin coconut oil is pretty hard to beat for body moisturizer and bath oil.

can you buy this in a regular drugstore/grocery store? people use it to cook, no?

Foundation: Triple-milled mineral base (and now I'm gonna try to find bismuth-free formulas!) Bare Minerals, Jane Iredale, Everyday Minerals, Emani.

Eye shadows: Bare Minerals, Emani, pure pigments by Makeup Forever or Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. The BM and Emani are mineral-based shadows so you have to layer or foil (apply with water) for more intense applications. The pure pigments are intense.

Eye liner: Logona (German bio/organic company). This is super soft so will not pull the skin. Nice basic colours, even a brilliant turqouise. They have good face powder as well. Use eye liner pencil with Kohl, Kohl is inert.

Mascara: Lavera (another German bio/organic company). Clump free and smooth! Lavera also makes super smelling/tasting lip glosses/very sparkly!

Liquid eyeliner: Suncoat Cosmetics. They also make shadows but very weak pigmentation. I also love Body Shop liquid eyeliner. I prefer any liquid liner with a short brush. You can also use an angle brush with water and a mineral powder.

Lipstick: Hemp Naturals doesn't quite cut the mustard for stage, though for everyday it's great. You can mix a mineral-based eyeshadow with lip balm and make your own colours/intensities. I just end up using MAC.

Makeup remover: Earth Science, Paul Penders, Burt's Bees Lemon Poppy Seed Cleanser.

Hair care: Jason Naturals, Aveda, MOP, John Masters Organics (his pomade also doubles as a great hand salve).

Skin care: Straight up essential oils in a vegetable oil carrier (you can make your own blends). Avalon Organics or Alba Botanical, Innersence, Earth Science.

Nail polish: No Miss, Aquarella (water-based, no smell!).

I love getting the cheapo (no real brand) Vitamin E oil. I use it to remove my eye makeup, I use it to dab under my eyes, my 2 lines on my forehead (whom I've named Flotsum and Jetsum), the small laugh lines around my mouth and even on my lips to help moisturize. I swear by it!

Originally Posted by jenlindseys

can you buy this in a regular drugstore/grocery store? people use it to cook, no?

I buy it at the local coop grocery, but it should also be available in health food stores.

Make sure it is unprocessed (usually labeled virgin). Hydrogenated coconut oil has lots of trans fats because it has been processed with high heat, but virgin coconut oil does not. Virgin coconut oil *is* high in saturated fat, so it should be used in moderation, but there is some suggestion that it is good for you for several reasons, one being enhancement of thyroid function in some individuals. There hasn't been enough research on this.

Sedonia

anything and everything from Lush - LUSH Fresh Handmade Soaps and Natural Cosmetics
I've totally switched all of my body/face/hair care products to theirs. my favorite things are the angels on bare skin cleanser (glycerine, ground almonds, clay, lavender buds, and a couple other ingredients), dream cream lotion, and as a dancer how can I not love the shimmy shimmy body glitter bar which is like a solid cocoa butter massage bar with very fine shimmery glitter in it?

all products have an expiration date, many items are totally vegan, and all packaging is minimal (they have solid shampoo, conditioner, massage and lotion bars which work great and are fantastic for travel).

check out their website and you can see all of the product ingredient lists.

I second Aubrey Organics. I have been using his line since 1995. I literally can't use any other cleanser on my face, and the shampoos give my hair the best cleanse.

I second Lush. I discovered Lush when I needed a shampoo to controle hormonal hairloss, stumbled on New! shampoo bar and instantly fell in love it worked! Added bonus; it also made my hair grow very fast! (how bellydancer friendly is that?)

I completely switched over, I will not use anything else. Love the solids especially Jungle conditioner, the body butters and the bubble bars.
Shimmy Shimmy is gorgeous indeed, not really glitter but not as fine as a shimmer lotion (I think it's also holographic, it reflects more than just gold). Very subtle, but still sparkly.

I also love Lush. I went into the shop the other day and snapped up some buy-one-get-one free goodies on the annual "Clean Slate" sale. Good way to try several different varieties of the shower gels. Flying Fox, yumm!

Before I Lushified, I used to use a lot of Aveda, which I still like.

And one of my secret weapons: TerraTints, by Alba. This is a tinted lip balm, made I think with beeswax and coconut oil -- no petrochemicals. Has sunscreen and a mild peppermint flavor/scent, and comes in several colors, including the coppery shade I'm always looking for to go with the redhead look. Serves me well in place of lipstick for day wear.

Definitely give Rachel Perry a try....she's got AMAZING products!

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InterNatural, Natural Herbs, Supplements and Vitamins, Natural Products, Unique Gifts

BIG fan of LUSH and Rachel Perry. Can't use them too often for me, though; they still contain parabens. :0(

I'm a huge fan of Tarte Cosmetics.

Originally Posted by Toya

I'm a huge fan of Tarte Cosmetics.

My cousin was gushing about their blush! I like their duo lipsticks/glosses...Cute packaging. ,r:;

The dual-ended glosses are fabulous - I have six of them! And the Cheek Stains are to die for - they're pigmented enough that they even show up on my brown skin, which is a huge thumbs-up! I have Tickled, which is a peachy-pink when applied to the skin, Natural Beauty which is more of a red, and Sunkissed which is a true bronze. Lovely.

Originally Posted by ssipes

cold-pressed virgin coconut oil is pretty hard to beat for body moisturizer and bath oil.

I've been using cheap coconut oil from the Asian supermarket as an in-shower body moisturiser, and my legs and arms have never been so un-flaky. Even without moisturising again for a couple of days, they are smooth!

I've also been using Bio-Oil as my main facial moisturiser, though prior to that I was using organic rosehip oil (which I also love).

I heard the cheap coconut oil was okay externally (they have it at TJs), but you should get the good (virgin/unrefined) stuff for eating.

Tarte is the only aforementioned brand carried by Sephora (besides BareMinerals, of which I have a ton). While I've had a blast shopping through all these links, I have a fat gift certificate that I need to use up before I move on to all the wonderful suggestions. Anyone tried any of Sephora's other "natural" products/brands?
Fragrance, Cosmetics & the Finest Facial Skin Care Product Selection at Sephora.com

Hmmm...Unfortunately Sephora is not really known for it's "natural" cosmetics. I forgot the name of it but they do carry a brand of lipstick that comes in a biodegradable container. The lipstick itself does not carry extremely harmful chemicals. Dang, I forgot the name.
Brands whose colours I adore (Nars, Chanel) carry way too many nearly carcinogenic materials for me to purchase or ethically use on clients. :0(
If you have a lot of bucks left to spend at Sephora, perhaps you could use it on tools? (brushes, nail kits, etc.). Too bad it's not like Ulta, which carries those amazing Archipelago candles.

Originally Posted by Azhia

Hmmm...Unfortunately Sephora is not really known for it's "natural" cosmetics. I forgot the name of it but they do carry a brand of lipstick that comes in a biodegradable container. The lipstick itself does not carry extremely harmful chemicals. Dang, I forgot the name.
Brands whose colours I adore (Nars, Chanel) carry way too many nearly carcinogenic materials for me to purchase or ethically use on clients. :0(
If you have a lot of bucks left to spend at Sephora, perhaps you could use it on tools? (brushes, nail kits, etc.). Too bad it's not like Ulta, which carries those amazing Archipelago candles.

Those lipsticks are made by CARGO. They're called the Plant Love lipsticks.

Hope this isn't a TMI Q (or an exceptionally dumb one), but for those who use oils as moisturizers in the shower, can you give a little more info? Are you using them on wet or barely-towel-dried skin, as part of your final rinse, or what? I'm thinking of switching from lotion to oil for winter because it's so very dry this year.

Originally Posted by Zana

Hope this isn't a TMI Q (or an exceptionally dumb one), but for those who use oils as moisturizers in the shower, can you give a little more info? Are you using them on wet or barely-towel-dried skin, as part of your final rinse, or what? I'm thinking of switching from lotion to oil for winter because it's so very dry this year.

Nah, no question is ever dumb.
When you're done showering, before toweling off, apply the oil with massaging strokes, then just pat dry so that you don't wipe the oil off completely. You can also be slightly damp but what you want to be doing is trapping moisture (i.e., the water) onto your skin and the oil creates the barrier from the moisture loss.
I've been doing that since my teens. My partner, who has very dry flakey skin, started doing that and it helps tremendously, esp. during dry winter months. I then switch to lotion or nothing at all in the summertime, depending how hot & humid it gets.

Originally Posted by Azhia

Nah, no question is ever dumb.
When you're done showering, before toweling off, apply the oil with massaging strokes, then just pat dry so that you don't wipe the oil off completely. You can also be slightly damp but what you want to be doing is trapping moisture (i.e., the water) onto your skin and the oil creates the barrier from the moisture loss.
I've been doing that since my teens. My partner, who has very dry flakey skin, started doing that and it helps tremendously, esp. during dry winter months. I then switch to lotion or nothing at all in the summertime, depending how hot & humid it gets.

And it is so quicker to apply than lotions, for some strange reason. ..l;,