Wednesday Wag Out! - Beauty Edition

My good friends Sequoia & Tuni left a comment on my bloggie during Earth Week asking me to post some of my favorite eco friendly products. I hope they don't think I forgot about it but never in a million years did I think it would take this long to put this post together. I blame Mom because she's in charge of the 'puter. I would have had this post done weeks ago but like Puglet always says I have no thumbs.

I totally understand the confusion regarding which products to buy. Not only is there so much greenwashing in the marketplace but the labels on the products are so confusing. Here's just a sampling of concerns you may see labels for when shopping for products:

Fair trade

Natural ingredients

100% natural

Recycled packaging

Certified organic

Not tested on animals

Vegan

Nut-free

The cosmetics industry is not as regulated as you might think. Most products are proprietary so manufacturers' claim that listing the ingredients is giving away the secret. Um, okay, but how are you suppose to know what's in something if it's not labeled? You won't. In fact the industry is so unregulated that all of a product's ingredients don't have to be listed. This is troublesome so I suggest not buying any product that doesn't list its ingredients.

I have a question for you - what's natural? Companies can label anything natural because that term is not regulated. Natural what you ask? Good question. And what about 100% natural? If something is not 100% natural then what is it? 1% natural?

It's important to purchase products that use fair trade ingredients because peoples' livelihoods are attached to the products. And certified organic ingredients means no pesticides reside in your product. This is probably not even something you think about but many ingredients in health & beauty products are plant based. These plants, like food plants, get sprayed with pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides. Those 'cides are passed onto you via the products you use.

If garbage is a big concern for you, looking for packaging that contains recycled materials or that can be recycled is important. Please remember that most health & beauty items though seemingly safe, should always be disposed of properly. Nail polish is a good example of an item that should never be tossed in the garbage because of the toxic ingredients it contains.

No one wants to use products that have been tested on animals, do they? Most products are tested on animals and the labelling for not tested on animals is a bunny. This label is highly regulated but that doesn't mean that other products that aren't tested on animals are labeled.

If you are vegan then you won't use any animal based products. You'd be surprised just how many ingredients are animal based and I'm not just talking about honey. They don't say cow this and sheep that because if they did then no one would buy their products. Most perfumes are made with oil from whale blubber but I bet many consumers aren't even aware of this.

Since I don't use beauty items because I don't need them, I'm turning the post over to Mom. She uses this stuff so she can best speak to them.

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I decided to focus this post on beauty products because they are products I use every day. I don't want to offend any males readers Stubby may have, but truthfully I know that most of you are women. Some of these products are unisex but most are not.

Whenever I'm at the store or shopping online, I consult at least two sources before making any purchases: the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetic safety database and the Good Guide. I also have the Good Guide app on my phone, but I've gotten some conflicting data between their online guide and their app. I also check online reviews of products, read blogs, and get recommendations from friends. Basically I do my homework. I also try lots of products because let's face it many eco-friendly products don't work as well as traditional products. This is largely because of their ingredients and our definition of what works and what doesn't. We have gotten so use to products working a certain way that when something works a little different we think it doesn't work. All this requires a lot of time but when your health is at stake, the least you can do is devote some time and energy to product selection.

These are the products I use on a daily basis. After taking this picture and putting everything away I realized that shaving cream and sunscreen were missing so I will blog about them another time. Insect repellant is also not shown but during the summer I do use it every day. Stubby did a post on insect repellants a couple of years ago and I've asked him to do one on sunscreens next month.

At first glance it may look like I use a lot of products. I don't consider myself a heavy product user because I feel that I use the bare minimum. I wear minimal makeup and hardly ever use hair spray, but I know that some of you are not like me. Everyone is different, we all use this and not that, but I cannot stress how important it is to pick your products wisely. I've organized the products by use to make it easier to follow along and where available, products will have a color coded score from the Skin Deep database. 0 is the best score with 10 being the worst.

I have truly struggled with shower soap and I've tried so many different brands. No sooner do I find one that I like and all of a sudden my husband won't use it. Or I'll try one and hate it for various reasons. Many soaps are wrapped in plastic and I try to avoid plastic and packaging like the plague. You could spend all day researching soaps because there are so many out there but this soap seems to be the right one for me right now.

The first thing you'll notice about this soap is its packaging. It's recyclable and that's a good thing. Kiss My Face makes so many great products and this is one of their best. It has a score of 0 because of its ingredients and it suds up just fine for me. Some soaps do not make suds because they don't contain SLS (sodium laurel sulfate). Everything comes with a price, right? SLS is found in most health & beauty products but I avoid it at all cost because it has been linked to a host of health problems including cancer. The SLS found in soaps and shampoos is the same as is found in car washes and garages. It cuts through grease on car engines and on you.

I have struggled to find a shampoo at an affordable price that's not harmful to me for many years. Many eco friendly products cost more than traditional products because of their ingredients. That's not to say that your health isn't worth spending extra money on but in this economy it's harder than ever to spend money on personal care items.

I can't tell you that these products aren 't cheap but what I will tell you is that you don't have to use much. I have unruly, curly, shoulder length hair and these products last me a couple of months. One reason is because a little goes a long way and I only wash my hair every other day. Both of these products score have a score of 1 and while there is only one brick-and-mortar store I know of that sells them, they are available online.

This is the one product I knowingly use that is bad for me. Those of you that know me know living with my hair is the bane of my existence. It has a mind of its own and it never wants to cooperate. I had most of my hair cut off a couple of years ago and my short 'do required a new styling product. I HAVE to use something on my hair or it will be completely frizzy. I used TreSemme mousse for many years and when I wasn't using it I was using various gels. I have tried everything and when I found this Bumble & Bumble Styling Creme it worked really good but I knew it was bad for me.

Here I am two years later still using it or should I say using it up. I'm through with it once this bottle is empty. I hate to even admit it but this scored a 7 and it even contains parabens. Parabens, like SLS are another ingredient that I completely swear off but loe and behold they're in here. YUK! There's even fragrance in here but the worst part about about this product is where it's used - on my head. No more my friends. I've started my search for a truly green product so please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions.

I've been using Tom's of Maine toothpaste for quite some time and I love it. You may have noticed that I'm not brand loyal across a line but I am brand loyal when it comes to specific products. This particular toothpaste was not on the Skin Deep database when I checked today but I swear I've seen it on there before. I believe it may have scored a 3 or 4 but this is the end of the road for this toothpaste for me. The Whole Care line has been upstaged by the Natural Care line which, unlike the toothpaste shown above, does not contain SLS. Yep. SLS is found in most toothpastes and unless you use good old baking soda (or you're Jessica Simpson) you're probably brushing your teeth with it. It did have a Good Guide rating of 8.1 (10 being the best) which makes me feel a little better but I can't wait to use the tube of Natural Care that I bought a couple of months ago.

Not only is the box the toothpaste comes in made from 40-65% post consumer recycled paperboard (which is recyclable) but the tube is made from recyclable aluminum. You have to remove the plastic threading (#4 LDPE) before recycling it, but kudos to Tom's of Maine for making a recyclable tube. The cap is #5 so don't forget that Aveda will recycle that for you.

I recently switched from Glide floss which I used for years, even before it became Crest Glide. I loved the minimal feel of the floss as it glided (pun intended) between my teeth but then I started to investigate Glide and decided to switch. Glide does not list the ingredients on their website but they do say it's made from natural waxes and contains a natural mint flavor. They say that a minimal amount of wax is used thus it's primarily made from polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE), which is a slippery material. PTFE? WTF?

The Tom's of Maine floss is naturally waxed. There's that word again - natural - but in this case Tom's of Maine tells you exactly what natural means. There's beeswax, carnauba wax, jojoba wax, and propolis which is a tree resin gathered by bees. Obviously this is not a vegan product but it's a good product. It's not listed on the Skin Deep database but it received an 8.8 on the Good Guide. And the plastic container is recyclable which makes me sleep better at night.

Another Kiss My Face product that I love. Kiss My Face was founded on an organic farm in upstate New York back in the 80s. It's still privately owned and operated by the original founders which is amazing in this day and age. Tom's of Maine is an independently run division of Colgate and has been since 2006. Many eco brands have sold out to large conglomerates but that doesn't necessarily mean the products have sold out too. I understand that it's hard to back a brand made by a unfriendly-to-the-planet company, but many brands have retained their strict ingredients while increasing their exposure to the masses.

This scored a 2 which is really good for a deodorant. There have been so many studies published about how heavy metals in deodorants cause breast cancer so you can never be too safe when it comes to what you put under your arms. Last summer I tried using baking soda for deodorant and it was awesome! I never smelled, even after a long workout. Why aren't I using it now? I got a yeast infection and even after medications, switching baking soda boxes and applicators, I still cannot use it. It makes me very upset that I didn't take the right precautions (like drying off properly) because baking soda is the least harmful and least expensive deodorant you could ever use.

I'm sure I'm no different then most of you when it comes to lip balm. We all use it and try them all we do. I apply some after flossing and this is the most recent brand to grace my medicine cabinet. I came across Dr. Hauschka a few years ago but this is the only product I've ever used from them. While I'd love to tell you that this lip balm is good for you, I'm afraid I can't. The Skin Deep database doesn't have it listed but none of the Dr. Hauschka products scored very good. All were at least 3 with some scoring as high as 8.

So let me back up a bit. I buy lip balms on a regular basis. Way back when, when I wasn't green or even semi-green, I bought this lip balm. For whatever reason, I stopped using it and it left the medicine cabinet only to be brought back when I ran out of whatever it was I was using. Surprisingly enough, this lip balm received a rating of 8.5 despite a list of ingredients that's almost as long as this description. I guess I don't need to tell you that when it's gone, which it almost is, it's gone for good.

With a name like Eco Lips it has to be eco friendly, right? Yes and no. The Skin Deep database doesn't list this particular flavor of Pure & Simple lip balm but the flavor they do list, coconut, received a score of 0. That's not to say that this kiwi-strawberry would receive the same but my fingers are crossed that it's okay. One of their products, a SPF15 mint lip balm came received a 5 . The Good Guide doesn't list Eco Lips (surprise, surprise) but all the ingredients in this lip balm are certified organic: organic sunflower oil, organic beeswax, organic kiwi flavor, organic strawberry flavor, vitamin E. And it is sold as is meaning it doesn't come in a box.

I found this product last year and I'm in love with it. It is a multi use product meaning you can use it on so many parts of your body. The package says it can be used on nails, knees, neck, lips, cuticles and anywhere else in urgent need of attention. I've only used it on my lips but it's great to know that if I have any areas that need attention, this olive butter is ready to serve. Almost half the ingredients are organic including the top three and this is a good thing since ingredients are listed in order of concentration. Packaged in a recyclable paper box, this product received a score of 1 and is priced under $10. This is one of the best kept secrets on the market and I recommend it to everyone I meet.

This is a recent find. I can't remember how I found about it but I wish I'd found it years ago. I have to confess that I haven't tried that many eye serums but I recently discovered that I really needed something because my eyes were looking tired. So wherever I found it I'm glad I did because it's a miracle worker. The fact that it has 80% certified organic content and is vegan friendly makes me so happy.

The serum claims you will feel renewed and that it will nourish and protect while helping to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Works for me! It does all this with essential fatty acids, botanicals and hibiscus peptide to target expression lines and help firm and tighten. I swear my eyes look much better than they did before using this serum and that's saying a lot.

Stem Organics is an Australian skincare company and like Keys, was inspired by its founders personal experiences with skin issues. The serum is not rated on the Skin Deep database but none of their products are. This isn't necessarily a bad thing and could just mean that they haven't joined the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics yet. Again, the database is not the end-all-be-all and shouldn't be used as such. You must still do your own research when deciding what to use on your skin.

For those of you who have never heard of Keys, please check them out asap! It was started by a husband and wife team after the wife developed skin cancer. Together they developed a soap for ultra sensitive skin and an entire line of skincare products shortly followed.

Eye Butter is an anti-aging eye cream that I apply after the eye serum. It tightens and and tones eye tissue but how? Keys claims that the secret is distilled organic cucumbers. We all remember putting cucumbers on our eyes. They relieved the puffiness, didn't they? Well the same principle is at work here. In addition to the cucumbers, there's avocado oil, shea butter, carrot seed oil, black cumin oil, aloe vera, purified water, vegetable glycerin, vegetable wax, and rosemary extract. The ingredients are 87% organic and 100% vegan. The EWG score of 1 is even listed on the ingredient list. This stuff is the bomb!

I can't even tell you how many face lotions I've tried because I lost count years ago. I use to think they made my face breakout but then realized it was the various cleansers I used that were the culprits. They would strip my face of essential oils and cause it to produce more oil, thus leaving me with an oily mess of pimples.

I found this moisturizer, or should I say it found me, at a store in Racine, WI called Upurea last year. Upurea is a natural and organic skin care & beauty retailer carrying thousands of organic skin care, natural beauty & organic cosmetics, mineral makeup, natural baby and home products. I stopped in there on my way home from Milwaukee, after reading about it in many magazines. After talking with one of the skincare consultants, she recommend Trilogy. I had never heard of this brand but was willing to try it. And I'm so glad I did.

This moisturizer is so light but so effective. Packed with phyto-lipids, amino acids and proteins from pure plant ingredients this super-lightweight lotion actively energizes and revitalizes skin and helps fight the aging effects of environmental aggressions with its antioxidant-rich formula. It firms skin and boosts skins moisture levels by simultaneously replenishing both oil and water requirements. I totally love this stuff!

Even though this product is not listed on the Skin Deep database, I feel it's okay to use it. Founded by two sisters who grew up on an avocado orchard in Australia, this New Zealand company is committed to being green. They began sourcing Certified Organic Rosehip Oil, the key ingredient in their products, in partnership with a fair trade cooperative in Lesotho in 2002 and now purchase Certified Organic Rosehip Oil from a Certified Organic source in the mountainous regions of Chile. They use non-GMO ingredients, never test anything on animals, and use recyclable containers. Did I mention they're a carbon neutral company? The list of great things they do just goes on and on. I look forward to trying many more products by Trilogy in the future.

In addition to eye serum and eye butter, all eyes need concealer, right? This is never more true as you age and I think I've found the perfect concealer, at least for me. I'm not sure where I found this but it's a keeper.

It's Un Cover Up by rms beauty but cover up it does. You can use it as a concealer anywhere on your face, but I use it under my eyes. My raccoon eyes, that is. I love the way it glides on, stays on, and makes me look like I've gotten lots of sleep. I have to confess that I haven't tried that many under eye concealers in the past but that's only because I didn't really believe that any of them would truly work.

RMS Beauty is another company that's doing the right thing. Just check out what they have to say about the ingredients they use: "We proudly report every ingredient used in rms beauty products, because we have nothing to hide." And what about the ingredients? They use minerals in their raw form, organic oils, and non-GMO vitamin E. They even disclose that one of their products, Lip2Cheek color "smile" uses the tiniest bit of synthetic pigment because this particular color could not be created without it. Wow! They are disclosing one little ingredient that may be of some concern to some while most traditional skincare companies use ingredients that are known to be harmful to you, yet they won't even disclose of these ingredients.

I guess it should come as no surprise to you that this product received a score of 1. Even if you aren't in the market for an under eye concealer, I suggest you try this amazing product.

I don't use foundation, preferring tinted moisturizer instead. It just feels lighter and goes on smoother than foundation. I started wearing tinted moisturizer a few years ago when my neighbor sold me some Mary Kay. Yikes! Did I really just say that? Yep, that was right before I got with the green program!

After the Mary Kay stuff, I started researching natural tinted moisturizers. One brand I researched and almost tried was Josie Maran. It gets a lot of great press but I found some undesirable ingredients in their products. That's what lead me to Jane Iredale and this great tinted moisturizer.

This Dream Tint uses unique algae extracts that moisturize and soothe, while the tiitanium dioxide provides SPF 15 with UVA protection. It goes on smooth, never feels heavy and blends in with ease. Despite the fact that the ingredients aren't organic, I still love it. The fact that it received a score of 2 makes me love it even more.

I swear I read about Vapour Organic Beauty on a blog. Wherever I read about it I'm glad I did. This Illusionist Concealer is just what I needed to hide new and old blemishes. I had been using a great concealer whose name escapes me at the moment. I do remember that I bought it at Walgreens and that it worked so good I used it all the time. I put it on pimples and it not only concealed them but dried them out as well. I have no idea what made it work so well but I'm sure whatever its active ingredients were, they were bad for me.

And then I read about Vapour and bought the Illusionist Concealer. While it doesn't conceal quite like the old stuff, it does a pretty good job. It's made with 70% certified organic ingredients and the other 30% consists of natural mineral pigments and vitamins which are not available as certified organics.

Vapour has signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, but none of their products are on the Skin Deep database - yet. I believe it's just a matter of time before all their products are listed and I feel confident that they'll received great scores.

I'm a girlie-girl when it comes to my lips. I like lipstick but love lip gloss even more. I believe that you aren't really dressed unless you have some color on your lips. I have to admit that I've tried lots of different brands but these two are currently at the top of my must have list.

Nvey Eco Organic Lip Lustre is another product from Upurea. I had read about Nvey for quite some time before trying it but I'm not sure why. I will tell you that it's not cheap. $24 for a tube of lip color is not in most people's budgets but it's well worth it. I don't use it every day and even when I do use it I only put on a little and either put something else under or over it. It scored 2 and

Nvey is committed to using organic ingredients, no talc, no preservatives, no parabens, and non-GMO ingredients. Would it surprise you to learn that they are an Australian company? Yep, it's true. It seems like Australia is the new place for skincare companies and while that's not local, skincare is not something you buy all the time. Frequent use doesn't mean frequent purchases since most products last a long time. And just in case you were wondering, this Lip Lustre scored a 2.

100% Pure is a company with a great following. They make lots of fruit pigmented color cosmetics but I think they're best known for their lip gloss. Made with 83% Vitamin E from organic rice bran and beautiful colors from fruit pigments, this pomegranate wine lip gloss provides a perfect tint for my lips.

I was surprised to find only two 100% Pure products on the Skin Deep database, with lip gloss not being one of them. The Good Guide didn't provide an overall score but only a health score of 10 which makes me feel a little better. I know that 100% Pure is a trusted brand that is vegan, doesn't use perfumes, fragrances, thickeners or emulsifiers, but I'm confused about why their products are absent from the database.

I don't use body lotion as often as I should but when I do I use Dr. Bronner's. You may know the name because it's synonymous with greenness. Most of Dr. Bronner's are too hard core for most people, especially the pure castille soap, but the organic lotions are more like traditional lotions without all the traditional ingredients.

I discovered this lotion at the Green Festival last year and couldn't be happier with it. Synthetic scents bother my asthma so I steer clear of them whenever I can. Not only are the ingredients organic, but the main ingredient (besides water) is fair trade. Never tested on animals, Dr. Bronner's is brand you can really trust. A little goes a long way, keeping your skin moisturized and smelling great. And with a score of 2, you can rest assured that what you're putting on your skin isn't disrupting your system.

When I want a little scent on my skin I turn to Tsi-La. I wore traditional perfumes for my whole life before discovering that the ingredients in them were really bad for me. And when I say really bad I mean really bad. I will never wear traditional perfumes again. Ever.

Tsi-La Organics (pronounced chee-la) are 100% natural, made with over 96% organic ingredients, and are made with 100% renewable energy. But what they don't contain is even more impressive - NO parabens, genetically modified organisms, dioxins, synthetic fragrance, petrochemicals, synthetic colors, propylene glycol, or sulphates. Their products are never tested on animals and this is a claim few traditional perfumes can claim. If you stopped to look at the ingredients (if you could find them) in traditional perfume you'd wonder why anyone would wear it. Choke full of sythethic chemicals, I'm convinced that some of my health problems are due to their long term use.

This mini collection uses a moisturizing base of select coconut oil infused with botanical extracts of pink orchid flowers which fights free radicals. I hate to sound like a broken record, but a little goes a long way. I change up the scents I wear, sometimes wearing the same scent for an entire week. I've been using these little bottles for at least a year and have yet to use them up. Since they are small they are the perfect size to throw in your purse or to travel with. Even though Tsi-La is listed on the Skin Deep database, their products aren't.

I welcome all feedback on the products I use and look forwarding to hear about your favorite products. I'm constantly on the hunt for organic, fair trade, less packaged, etc. products, so if you come across one I might like, please leave me a comment. There are so many health and beauty products on the market that it's confusing for consumers. Together we can make the right choices for our own health and for the health of the planet.