Sunday 30 November 2008

Living Au Naturelle






Thanks Sharon for allowing me a coveted spot as a guest blogger on your inspiring blog. I am honoured and humbled.

It’s been quite a year of discovery for me in so many aspects but one of the things I have taken on is trying to go ‘au naturelle’ when it comes to my beauty regime. I feel like an onion and over the last 12 months have shed so many layers of what I thought beauty was all about.

In my working ‘in an office’days, I wore make up every day, the hair was curled and perfect, the nails looked good, toenails painted – the works. I could not have dreamed to work in public in any other way. In fact, in the mornings when I saw myself without make up on I thought I looked ill.

And maybe I was.

When I think of the cocktail of chemicals I had put on my face, skin, nails and hair, I cringe. Have you ever noticed at the end of the day your foundation seems to disappear off your face? Well, it didn’t slide off, it absorbed and with it all the chemicals from the foundation as well – into your skin! Yuck. This is just one example but here is a list of what I used to do and what I am doing now to try to rid my own body of so many chemicals.

  • Wore make up – Go without make up except on very rare occasions
  • Wore lipstick – Switched to natural beeswax lip conditioner
  • Spray on deodorant – Use a natural crystal salt deodorant
  • Hair coloured at professional salon – Do it myself with organic herbal colouring
  • Used regular toothpaste – Switched to SLS and Fluoride free toothpaste
  • Wore nail polish – go without completely
  • Wore perfume – rub natural amber resin on my skin instead
  • Used shave gel for legs – use own homemade soap
  • Used shower gel – use own homemade soap
  • Used regular shampoo and conditioner – Use organic, SLS and parabens-free shampoo and conditioner
  • Deep conditioning hair treatments – Coconut oil or any other oil that’s around


I know I do feel better for it. I also know the air inside my own home is better for it. It is cheaper and I’ve even re-gained a natural glow on my face.

If you would like to find out just what kinds of potentially harmful chemicals are in your own products, you can go to the cosmetics safety database here: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Jennifer at HomeMattersMost


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Image Credit: Indabelle

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post is just what I need. I'm moving toward a more organic beauty regime and had yet to do much research, particularly the alternative to chemical hair colouring.

Teena said...

very usful, thanks
xoxoxox

Anonymous said...

I must admit - the picture made me laugh. Even though cow leather is natural, I guess going 'living au naturelle' doesn't really mean using animal products ...lol.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

thanks for giving this issue more prominence.

baby products should also be mentioned, they often contain the same nasties.

it's scary that women eat about 8lb of lipstick on average in a lifetime, when you consider what the vast majority of lipsticks contain!

if anyone's interested, i have recently compiled a list for my friends of where to buy (and how to make) chemical-free or low-chemical toiletries, baby products, make-up and cleaning stuff.

contact me thru' the email address given on my profile if you're interested

Sharon J said...

@ L-Jay. 'Twas me who chose the photo but I don't personally see a problem with using animal skins unless you're vegan as long as the skins are bi-products of the meat industry. If an animal is killed purely for its skin/pelt, that's a different story.

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