Most of us have a nice long list of stuff we want to try right? I do. You should see my bookmarks. I have guilt issues with this though. You really shouldn’t try LOADS of stuff. It’s more eco-friendly to find good products and stick to them. You tend to have less waste this way, plus it saves you $.  Luckily the way around the guilt is to use up everything you do try. If you don’t like it, you’re sure to have a girlfriend who will gladly give your beauty castoff item a whirl. Also it helps if you choose items in recyclable packaging.

That aside, I do have a wish list of green beauty products. I tend to buy from my wish list when it’s a special occasion (my birthday! I get a new project i.e. job, or what have you). Here are a few of my yet to try wish list items…

PlantLove Botanical Lipstick: Mainly I want to try this because everyone on the entire planet BUT ME it seems has tried this brand of lipstick and loved it. Yes, I do sometimes jump on bandwagons. Also, I love the idea of 100% plant-derived packaging and of course the fact that this is pretty and organic lip fare.

LUSH – ah LUSH. You do not want to see my LUSH wish list. They have soooooo many cool items. I have managed to get my list down to three for today (or we’d be here forever). My current fave three wanna-try items…

• Blackberry Bath Bomb – love the smell of blackberries. I keep looking for a natural blackberry scented body spray; one that actually smells like blackberries, and as of yet have been unsuccessful. I may have to make do with a bath soak.
• Flosty Gritter Bubble Bar – because I am just that sort of girly girl. I love the pink sparkles. I adore vanilla and lavender and I want it all in a bubbly bar.
• Karma Dusting Powder – I am also that girly girl with some old school hippie mixed in. This powder is a mix of spicy orange, patchouli, lemongrass and marigold flowers. Sigh worthy to me.

Bare Organics facial products. Bare Organics gets the best scores on Skin Deep, and I really need to find a facial cleanser I love. I’ve tried lots, really liked many, but haven’t found one I LOVE. I do have one brand of facial grains I totally love – All Natural Facial Grains but I want a nice cleanser too. You don’t always want grains.

Alima Pure Nourishing Lipbalm – Because I have serious lip balm/lip gloss issues. Coffee is my first major true addiction, but lip gloss comes in at a close second. I have many lip glosses and balms on my wish list, but since I can’t share them all, I’ll share this one above.

Lastly, I also want a good organic or at the very least natural conditioner for my curls. I have never found a hair conditioner I love, organic or otherwise, that actually makes my curls stay smooth. Trust me, I’ve tried A LOT. Some that I may try – based on the Skin Deep rating (2 or lower) and other reviews include:

1. Super Shiny Grapefruit & Sugar Beet Conditioner
2. Mangrove Hair Conditioner
3. Shea Butter and Vitamins Nourishing Hair Mask
4. Acacia Milk Conditioner For Dry Hair

There you have it; my current beauty wish list – some more green than others, some more useful than others, but it is what it is.

What’s on your green beauty wish list?

I don’t wear foundation – I just don’t think it’s good for your skin; not even the green brands. It seems a little odd to put anything thick on in your pores. That said, I know that plenty of us want to cover some minor flaws, or even out skin tone. If you don’t want to use foundation, another way to go is with tinted moisturizers.  Tinted moisturizers aren’t new, and you have many choices, but it’s best to choose a green brand.

I recently tried out the tinted moisturizer from Organic wear and it’s way better than any foundation I’ve ever seen (yes I’ve tried foundation for reviews, I just don’t make a rule of using them).

The Product: Organic wear 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer from Organic wear.

Basic product info: Lightweight 100% natural origin tinted SPF 15 moisturizer that not only hydrates skin but evens out skin tone with sheer and natural coverage. Formulated with 80% certified organic ingredients, including jojoba seed oil, sunflower seed oil, avocado oil, and shea butter. Comes in four tones.

Suggested use: Shake well, squeeze small amount of moisturizer, and apply directly onto face using fingertips to blend. Apply evenly before sun exposure and as needed. You can follow up with a powder as well.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT: (Pardon the bold – this is from the website; it’s not me screaming at you, it’s them). TITANIUM DIOXIDE 3.95% INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: CITRUS AURANTIUM DULCIS FRUIT WATER*, WATER, ALCOHOL SD*, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS SEED OIL*, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL*, PERSEA GRATISSIMA OIL*, LECITHIN*, CANNABIS SATIVA SEED OIL*, TALC, TITANIU, DIOXIDE, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII*, OLEA EURPOAEA FRUIT UNSAPONIFIABLES, GARCINIA INDICA SEED BUTTER*, ALGINIC ACID, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, CETEARYL WHEAT BRAN GLUCOSIDES, GLYCERYL STEARATE SE, HYDRATED SILICA, IRON OXIDE, XANTHAN GUM. *PRODUCED FROM ORGANIC FARMING

Eco Perks:

• ECOCERT certified organic
• 100% Free of Harsh Chemicals
• 100% Free of Synthetic Preservatives
• 100% Free of Parabens
• 100% Free of GMO’s
• 100% Free of Synthetic Colors
• 100% Free of Synthetic Fragrances
• 100% Cruelty Free
• Recyclable packaging -  part of ECOCERT certification is that all packaging must be recyclable.

Skin Deep score: This product scored a three; a moderate hazard. There are some lower hazard tinted moisturizers, but also a lot more that are far worse.

What I think…

Product pros:

• All of the eco-perks listed above are obvious pros.
• Not a bad Skin Deep rating – mostly based on sun hazard (more on that in cons).
• Great informative website. Lists all ingredients, uses, and more. Very helpful info offered and no sneaky stuff.
• It didn’t feel like make-up at all. This moisturizer is tinted, but really feels light, not thick at all, and goes on super smooth.
• Works well with other products – i.e another moisturizer and face powder.
• Gave sheer coverage but didn’t look like I was wearing anything – for example, I have some freckles, and while the moisturizer didn’t blend them out, they did lighten their appearance. Also one day I had a little redness on my nose (too much sun time) and this product completely evened out the red. It’s always nice not to look like Rudolph.
• Fast – no blending of colors like you need to do with some foundations. Just a quick morning fix.
• A little goes a long way. All you need is a touch to even tone.
  

Product cons:

• Not too many shades to choose from – just four.
• The shades run dark. For instance everyone I know thinks I have a medium skin tone, but the shade that suited me best was their lightest – Ivory to Fair. I also tried the next shade up; fair to light, and thought it was too noticeable. I guess this would be more a suggestion than a con, go with lighter than you think you might need.
• Not the best Skin Deep score – although, as noted, there are far worse products out there.
• Not enough SPF. If you use this, you have to also use another moisturizer with extra SPF. 30 is honestly as low as you should go with facial spf – especially if you have light skin. Also keep in mind that you can’t add spf together. You can’t use two 15 SPF product to make 30. You need to choose a basic moisturizer with an SPF of 30 and use it under this tinted moisturizer.
  

Overall Score:

Four out of five pretty little trees. Because I’d like it better with an SPF of 30 it looses a point. However, I really liked this product. I like the natural ingredients, I like the light application, and it actually made me a  fan of tinted face products. This moisturizer simply evens out tone, without the fuss.

Learn more at Organic wear.

Have you used this? What do you think?

Winter lips aren’t always the most kissable. Winter air can dry your lips out and even make them flaky. Ick. You can have kiss ready; or pout ready (depending) lips by Valentine’s Day though.

1. Exfoliate: Try one of the following treatments…

• You can use a small, soft, and slightly damp washcloth to rub your lips about twice a week.
• Take a dab of honey and a dab of white table sugar and gently use this to exfoliate your lips. I did this by accident once (I was doing a honey skin pat) but it works well for lips.

• Use an organic lip scrub treatment such as Natural Lip Scrub in Organic Cinnamon (organic, no petroleum – no parabens) or try NVEY ECO Organic Lip Exfoliator which sounds awesome – a blend of cranberry seeds and organic oils that help refine and smooth your lips.

2. Treat: Some people think using lip balm will dry your lips out more than using nothing; however, I think that using a bad lip balm might, but if you use a nice one, it can only help your lips. At least, that’s my experience. Grab a nice super rich lip balm, such as…

• I’ve noted before that I like the Burts Bees bees wax lip balm, but have been looking for a new brand. I’m thinking of trying Red Bee Real Lip Balm. Red Bee sound pretty nice; it’s handmade in small batches with only plant-based ingredients. No pesticides, alcohol, paraffin waxes, or preservatives and it’s available in peppermint, watermelon, strawberry and lemon.  At just $5 a pop, it seems insane not to try this balm.
• A reader here suggested All Good Lips – which I still need to try, but it sounds nice and soothing. Made by Elemental Herbs, All Good Lips is a combo of 100% natural essential oils and is available with or without sunscreen and in original flavor, tangerine or spearmint.
• Try some Homemade Natural Cranberry Lip Gloss.

3. Top your lips off: Of course choose a color that suits your skin, but go for a satin shine or rich glossy finish, not matte, not in winter when your lips need brightening, and absolutely not on Valentine’s Day. The general color rule is that darker, deeper red shades – raspberry and burgundy are good for very pale and dark skin, while bright reds and light berry (think strawberry) are good for medium skin tones. That said, I’m not much for rules. I know what looks best with my skin tone because I experiment and you can too. If you need instant tips, read Choosing Lip Colors, which is short and seems on target.

My worst, non-green beauty habit is probably nail polish.

As a kid I used to bite my nails. I don’t bite them now, but I do mess around with them when I’m stressed. Nail polish stops me for some reason – maybe I think, “Hey I took the time to paint them, why mess them up” you know? Plus, I sort of adore the look of pretty polishes and sparkles on my nails.

That said, nail polish and nail polish removers, as a rule, suck for the environment. It’s not a very green beauty habit to have. Most commercial brands of nail products have all sorts of harsh chemicals; not good for your body or the earth. Production and disposal of said toxic chemicals pollutes our water, soil, air, and most have been shown to be harmful when inhaled (and none of us casual nail painters wear masks). To top it off, because the containers are glass, you’d think you could recycle them, but the layers of stuck on chemicals makes this difficult to impossible. Lastly, many nail polish companies test on animals.

So as far as bad green habits go, I nailed a pretty big one (pun not intended).

What to do….
You basically have two choices.

1. Go natural.
2. Find a green option.

Since going natural is not my style when it comes to nails, I’m usually on the lookout for cool green nail products. It used to be really hard to find any decent polishes in good eco-form, but it’s gotten better.

One polish I just heard of is Nail Paint by PeaceKeeper. PeaceKeeper nail paint has a lot going for it, such as…

• Rated 3 (low moderate hazard) out of 10 (hazardous) by Skin Deep. That makes their polish the current best rated paint based non-FD&C nail polish.
• Full ingredient disclosure on their website.
• Most of the colors are vegan friendly.
• “PeaceKeeper has given one half of one percent of its gross revenues to urgent human rights issues each year since it has launched“  The also give all proceeds from their million kisses campaign to charity. By now, they’ve given “Over $55,000 in cash donations and $30,000 in products to women-focused non-profits for their silent auctions.“
• Pretty colors… I want to try Paint Me Luminous and Paint Me Grateful (I starred them below).

They also offer a natural, biodegradable, vegan, Eco-Easy Nail Polish Remover. Too bad they don’t have a blue polish (I have a thing for lavender and blue polishes). Still, the product looks great. I’ll have to give these paints a whirl at some point soon, and get back to you with a review. Have you tried PeaceKeeper? Let me know what you think.

OH, and it might also be cool if you share your worst, non-green beauty habit… Then I won’t be so alone in my guilt.

+ PeaceKeeper

If you’re planning to glam it up on New Year’s, nothing is better than a little body sparkle. I used to be way into glitter (as in I probably needed a glitter self-help group). You know what though, it’s hard to find natural and organic shimmer products.

If you can’t find a product you like, you can always snag a nice shimmery organic eye shadow – of which there are plenty, and divvy it up on your bod. It won’t be quite as sparkly, but it’ll work; if you mash it up a bit it helps. If you really want to go all destroyer style, mash up your shimmer shadow to a fine dust, then mix a little in your hand with some organic lotion and smooth onto your skin – this helps to distribute the color and shine better.

All that said, there are some good shimmer products available:

Zosimos Botanicals has some pretty cool cruelty free, talc free, Shimmer Dust products going on. The Icy Shimmer Dust above would be a great winter accessory.

Golden Amber Glitter from Nezza Naturals: body glitter balm made with 14 karat gold and amber resin for a sweet earthy scent. Nezza products are free of parabens, sulfates (Sodium Lauryl, Sodium Laureth or Ammonium Lauryl), synthetic thickeners and animal products. No animal testing either.

LUSH has a fairly wide array of fresh and natural shimmer products, such as the neroli, vanilla and rose scented vegan Glitterbug Sparkle Bar above. The Glitterbug bar has a blue-violet-silver tint with loads of shimmer and shine. Simply warm a little in your hands and rub onto your body. LUSH also carries a vegan Candy Fluff dusting powder that looks awesome – gold and iridescent sparkles along with what LUSH notes is a, “Sweet-as-a-strawberry-sundae-topped-with-creme-brule-served-on-a-bed-of-marshmallows scent.” Sounds yummy.

If you’re looking for lip shimmer, I’d try a Vegan Lip Gloss by Gabriel – I’m desperate to try the Ambrosia (shimmer) and Nectar (shimmer) (numbers 1 and 7 in the line above). Not all are shimmery though, but the glosses that are look great. In order from left to right the shades are: Ambrosia (shimmer), Champagne (shimmer), Diva (shimmer), Mocha Ice (matte), Caramel (matte), Venus (matte), Nectar (shimmer) and Passion Fruit (shimmer). These shiny lip glosses are available at Vegan Essentials.

Last up, an entire limited edition sparkly kit – the Sugar Plums Set by Korres. Everything you need for a shimmery, shiny, holiday colored evening.

Included in this kit:

• Plum Lip Butter with Shea Butter, Rice Wax, and a shiny, tinted finish
• Plum Cherry Lip Gloss with cherry oil and vitamins E & C
• Plum Sunflower & Evening Primrose Shimmering Eyeshadow with sunflower and evening primrose oils

The entire set is mineral oil, silicone, propylene glycol, and ethanolamine free and available at Sephora for a limited time.

What’s your fave natural glitter product?