5 Essentials For A Healthier Beauty Routine

When my husband and I decided to enlarge our family and have a third child, we started by changing a few things in our lives months ahead of time. We started going for walks everyday to get (me!) into physical shape, we started eating healthier and we tried to streamline our routine with our two children to make life easier down the road.

Another thing that got a huge makeover was my beauty and skin care routine! I eliminated everything from my bathroom and makeup arsenal with icky or potentially harmful ingredients. (Yeah I’m talking about you Suave!) My large collection of drugstore and salon shampoos and conditioners went into the closet and were replaced with all natural products like 100% Pure Yuzu and Pomelo Glossing Shampoo and conditioner (More details here) and Lavanila Healthy Deodorant.

But honestly, giving up my beloved CoverGirl LashBlast mascara was definitely the HARDEST thing to do. I was pretty hooked on it… Okay, I was full on addicted to my LashBlast and wouldn’t leave the house without it! So needless to say, finding an “all natural” mascara that met my standards was pretty difficult. I’ve spent over a hundred dollars on all natural or organic beauty products before settling on some favorites, but here they are…

SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER

My hair is quite finicky and I have a LOT OF HAIR. So if I don’t use the “right” shampoo and conditioner, I can be looking at several WEEKS worth of bad hair days. Yes, some shampoos and conditioners have freaked my hair out so bad that it took weeks to reverse. (As a beauty blogger, it is my gift to you to sacrifice myself to be a guinea pig to all kinds of products to find out which ones work and which ones are straight from hell. You’re welcome.)

100% Pure hit a home run with their All-Natural Yuzu & Pomelo Glossing Shampoo and glossing conditioner. (Approx $18 each) Both left my hair silky, glossy and clean. I found this duo to be a great alternative to Herbal Essence Moroccan My Shine.

 

 

BODY LOTION

Did you know that you can replace ALL of the body lotions, moisturizers and oils in your bathroom with just ONE product? Coconut Oil.

Yup, I’m on the coconut oil crazy train and I don’t see this baby turning around anytime soon. You can seriously use Organic Virgin Coconut Oil for just about anything. Hands, feet, body, delicate lady parts, dry ears/nose, intimate lube, cracked hands, nipple cream, cuticles, wind-chapped noses and even COOKING!

If you aren’t ready to full on replace everything in your bathroom cabinet with coconut oil, that’s ok. There are lots of other healthy and all natural moisturizers too.

I’m actually using several Mama Mio Pregnancy Skincare Products that include:

• Mama Mio Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Oil ($35)
• Mama Mio Lucky Legs Rapid Relief for Heavy Legs and Feet ($19)
• Mama Mio O-Mega Super-Rich Body Cream ($34)

Being pregnant and all, I’m obviously more in need of the tummy rub stretch mark oil than most of you probably are. It’s truly a lifesaver though! If you’ve been pregnant before, I’m sure you might remember how sensitive the skin on your tummy got when it started to stretch. And itchy! Oh God the itchiness! Thankfully the Mama Mio Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Oil totally soothes and restores that delicate skin and makes being pregnant just a tiny bit more comfortable.

I’m also getting great results using derma e Vitamin E Intensive Therapy Body Balm ($15) on my feet. My poor little feet get so dry in the winter that I have to massage lotion into them every single night to keep them supple. This body balm definitely meets my needs and repairs my feet overnight. I love it.

 

 

FACIAL CLEANSERS

I’m VERY picky when it comes to facial cleansers. I have to be! If I’m not, I am struck with acne that can take me WEEKS to reverse. My skin is apparently very sensitive and finicky so when I find something that works, I get pretty darn excited. That can be said for these three amazing and all natural facial cleansers:

• Avalon Organics CoQ10 Facial Cleansing Creme ($12) It says it’s for dry skin, but it works very well for my acne-prone skin, especially in the winter time. I mainly use this one as a makeup remover on the days I wear foundation and heavy eye makeup.
• Alba Hawaiian Facial Cleanser with Pineapple Enzyme ($13) I like this one because it’s effective, 100% Vegetarian, pH balanced, hypo-allergenic and isn’t tested on animals. Gentle enough for all skin types too.
• derma e Soothing Cleanser with Pycnogenol® ($15) This one is my favorite of all because it’s given me the most consistent results. I use it every night before applying a moisturizer and it leaves my skin clean without drying it out. Love it!

 

 

FACIAL MOISTURIZERS

I’m pretty fussy about moisturizers too but something I’ve figured out in the past couple years is, even though my skin is acne-prone, I can’t use “Acne Products” on my face anymore. Salicylic acid just dries my skin out way too much and I end up with a breakout within 24 hours. Benzoyl Peroxide works well for those acne breakouts, but I’m allergic to it and end up with a bright red, itchy face after one use. If I use it for 3 days in a row, my eyes swell shut. Soooo… needless to say, I’ve decided those teenager acne products just don’t work for my almost-30 skin anymore.

The moisturizer I’ve been using the most lately is Perricone MD Deep Moisture Therapy($85) and derma e Hyaluronic Acid Day Crème($17). The Perricone moisturizer will not appeal to everyone because of the price tag and because of the smell (It has a fishy smell to it.) however, it’s probably the best, most amazing moisturizer I have ever used. Not too thick, deeply moisturizing, makeup goes on top smoothly, doesn’t cause breakouts and makes my skin balanced. Totally amazing. Well, because I can’t afford to use it twice daily, I alternate with the derma e day cream that is equally as moisturizing, without the fishy smell.

Other moisturizers I use on occasion are Amala Narcissus Brightening Treatment Cream ($122) and Yes to Grapefruit Even Skin Tone Moisturizer SPF 15 ($13). The two can not be compared against each other because they have two totally different functions. I use the Yes To Grapefruit moisturizer because I love the smell of grapefruit and it has SPF 15. The Amala Narcissus Brightening Treatment Cream is more of a skin corrector that brightens uneven skin tone. It claims to have clinically proven brightening results in just 8 weeks, but I haven’t used it consistently enough to see full results. The results I HAVE seen though have been great. I definitely see less redness overall after using it. Plus it has some pretty amazing ingredients in it like certified organic Narcissus.

 

 

DEODORANT

Deodorant is one of those things that EVERYONE needs to pay attention to. I mean, I know you don’t want to smell like you did Crossfit all day (even if you did) but ladies, you gotta start paying attention to the ingredients in the products you are putting on your body! Sure that deodorant works great to mask odors and stop sweat, but at what cost? Do a little Google search about deodorant and aluminum and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Almost everyone is searching for an effective aluminum-free deodorant these days. After testing about 2 dozen different brands, LAVANILA is my favorite.

Lavanila’s 100% natural, freshly scented deodorant has soothing essential oils, is free of harsh chemicals and best of all, it’s effective. Hit the gym and get superior odor protection with Lavanila’s 100% natural, freshly scented deodorant. Soothing essential oils blend with breakthrough technology for all-day protection that works. The Bonus: It is completely free of harsh chemicals – safe and effective! I have You can also get Lavanila’s Healthy Deodorant in Mini size for just $8 so you can throw it in your purse or your gym bag! I have Vanilla Coconut and Vanilla Passionfruit and I absolutely love them both.

Lavanila Laboratories The Healthy Deodorant retails for $14 for and a variety of luscious scents can be purchased at www.lavanila.com and www.beauty.com

 

 

What do you think of my favorites? Are any of these products in your bathroom cabinet too? Share your healthy favorites in the comments below!