I met Monique, aka The Beauty Journal, a year or so ago and we became fast friends bonding over clean beauty and skincare. Today, my masterclass partner-in-crime is sharing her top five tips for swapping to clean beauty.
Natalie Sellars, Kindred Toxin Free Facials and Monique Peters, The Beauty Journal
The Beauty Journal’s Top 5 Tips to Swapping to Clean Beauty
If you’ve been thinking about or have just started looking into swapping your personal care to cleaner options, firstly, well done. It can feel overwhelming and somewhat impossible to swap your entire collection at once and the truth is, you don’t have to. I tell clients and readers that a gradual renovation of your beauty cabinet is more realistic, and let’s face it - kinder to the bank balance.
So where to begin?
Prioritise
I always suggest starting with the products you use on the largest surface areas of the skin. These are our most absorbent parts of the body and the items used in these areas are designed to penetrate deep into the skin. My top five to prioritise as the first you swap are:
- Body lotion
- Perfume
- Deodorant
- Lipstick
- Face serums
Again, I’m a big advocate in swapping as you run out of a certain product rather than wasting an existing purchase. Creating a list of the items you currently use and swapping for a cleaner replacement means you can shop mindfully and with intention. Rather than buying doubles or something ad-hoc you can focus on what is truly needed, and I find it is a far more practical and stress free way to transition. Who knows? You might even discover that some of your mainstream products aren’t needed as you switch to natural alternatives and who doesn’t love crossing something off a list!
Don’t be fooled
Labels may lie, but ingredient lists don’t. A label with words like pure, natural or vegan doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is free of chemicals. This is something you may have heard of - greenwashing. Avoid this by getting familiar with the main toxins you want to avoid and always read the ingredient list. There’s some great resources online to help you start researching ingredients like The Dirty Dozen and the EWG. As a general guide, keep an eye out for parabens, mineral oil or petroleum, phthalates, fragrance, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and propylene glycol.
Shop ethically
To take the hard work out of it I would advise exploring more natural, ethical beauty stores. Luckily, there are more opening all the time. I love (and work at!) conscious.kin but there are plenty more around the country for readers not based in Queensland and options online! Knowing your in safe hands by shopping somewhere that only stocks eco friendly brands will take the hard work out for you. They’ve already curated the best of the best!
Have fun
Cut yourself some slack and have fun with it! Remember the only thing worse for your skin than chemicals is stress.
Mon’s Favourite Clean Makeup Products:
- Hynt Concealer
- Lily Lolo Mascara
- Ere Perez Lip and Cheek Pot
- Kjaer Weis lipsticks
- Lily Lolo pressed mineral bronzers