Natural Beauty Care: Good for You, Good for the Environment and Good for Others

Many people are turning to natural and ecologically friendly beauty and healthcare products these days. If you’re able to buy products that are effective in their purpose and are safer and healthier for yourself, your family and the environment, then why wouldn’t you opt for natural alternatives? Here are a few of the natural products you can use instead of your regular beauty items.

Natural toothpaste

A popular choice and can be found in many grocery stores, supermarkets and online. Most regular toothpaste brands contain a high level of chemicals and some even contain lead! They are abrasive and can irritate your gums and mouth, even causing mouth ulcers. If too much of the paste is ingested it can cause serious damage and potentially death! Therefore it’s a no brainer that a more natural product is better. Toms of Maine is one of the most popular brands available. Toms produces products other than toothpaste, although their toothpaste is probably their most well known product. They have many different teeth cleaning items, including children’s toothpaste and fluoride free pastes in both adult and children’s brands.

Hand Soap

Often contains toxic and undesirable ingredients. Anti-bacterial soap usually contains triclosan, which is an extremely troubling ingredient. It can cause possible disruption to the endocrine system and is a probable carcinogen, linked to the development of cancer. It can also encourage the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and causes environmental damage once it enters our water systems. Kiss my face has a wonderful self-foaming hand soap. The 100% natural soap is made of plant-based ingredients that are completely biodegradable yet highly effective at cleanign. This rich foam soap lasts for a long time, which is good for your purse as well as your health and the environment.

Natural Deodorant

Another product people are choosing to replace their traditional deodorant sticks. Toms of Maine, again, is a great choice for natural deodorants, with many options available. Natural deodorant sticks use more natural ingredients than their commercial counterparts, but stil inhibit the growth of odor causing bacteria and reduce armpit sweat. If you are worried about the aluminum in many deodorants then that is just another good reason to go natural. You can also get natural deodorant in the form of crystals, although it may not be quite as effective as deodorant sticks. Many of these natural deodorants also come as a bar, which means zero packaging, another boon to the natural world.

Natural Shampoo

Most popular shampoo products use silicone based ingredients to literally coat the hair in ‘shine.’ These shine inducing elements not only wash away the natural oils of your hair, making it more prone to breakage and damage, but also wash away down your plughole, where they enter the water system. These ingredients cannot biodegrade, so you can imagine the damage they cause to the environment. Natural shampoos, however, avoid these harmful ingredients and utilize nature’s own cleaning products such as chamomile, Aloe Vera and coconut oil. Brands such as Jason products and Bentley are good places to start when looking for natural hair care products, but you can also make your own shampoo at home, with a mixture of vinegar and water, or baking soda and water. For a conditioner you can mash up an avocado with olive oil and leave in your hair for 15 minutes for extra softness.

Natural Moisturizers

Commercial moisturizers come in many forms, offering anti ageing benefits, clearer skin and reduced pores. However, they are often laced with chemicals and unnatural ingredients, which can react negatively with the skin and do nothing to promote the skin’s natural moisturizing properties. However, imagine a product that is not only completely natural, but can also help provide a livelihood for third world workers, whilst being highly effective at moisturising your face, body and even your hair! A search online for ‘fair-trade shea butter’ should bring up companies such as Akoma and Akamuti, who provide excellent natural beauty products, which sustain the local grower’s livelihoods and protect the surrounding wildlife, whilst giving you beautiful skin and hair.

Going natural with your beauty products means greater health to you, the environment and for third world workers and can be a great deal simpler than you think.

Becky Mackay is an online writer, with a keen interest in health and lifestyle. For more top tips on natural health and beauty visit her Twitter page @FreshHealth11

Tags: Natural Health