Like most Americans, I’ve jumped on the green bandwagon. I try to buy organic foods, I watch my family’s water usage, I recycle everything I possibly can, and I do my best to to avoid chemicals. Until recently, I had no clue how many toxins and chemicals are included in many big brand-name beauty products. Products I’ve used for years and years. I read a stat somewhere that most women use at least 10 beauty products each day and over 50% of those products are absorbed into our skin. So many opportunities to make small changes to keep ourselves, our families, and our earth safe. Safer beauty products can make a big difference.
My good friend, Erin, reached out to me and asked if I wanted to share a few of Beautycounter’s products with my readers. Beautycounter’s mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. It’s about progress – not perfection. And I absolutely love that. To be honest, I don’t have time in my day to research every single product and ingredient that comes through my front door. Like I said above, I want to do everything I can to protect my family and our planet. But realistically, when I’m running through Target to grab a few things, I usually don’t think to check the ratings on the Environmental Working Group’s website. Usually I’m trying to keep my kids from knocking over giant displays and/or losing my mind.
I’m a big fan of fun facts. I’m terrible at trivia, but sometimes a fact or two really hits home for me.
The United States has not passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients used in personal care products since 1938.
Over the past two decades, the European Union has banned more than 1,300 chemicals in the product formulas of personal care products and restricted the levels of over 250 more in such products. The United States has only partially banned 30 to date.
I honestly don’t understand how this is even possible. We aren’t living in a 3rd world country here and I had no clue the FDA wasn’t doing a better job to keep Americans safe. Why is the EU all over this and the US is so far behind? That’s exactly why Beautycounter is amazing because they do the work for us. Beautycounter alone has banned over 1,500 questionable or harmful ingredients from their products. That I can get behind.
I’ll admit, I don’t think I ever considered the safety of beauty products until I had kids. When I was kid-free back in my 20’s, chemicals and toxins weren’t exactly on my radar. Things changed for me after my son was born. I made the best decisions I could at the time, but even a few of the commonly-used baby products are full of not-so-good stuff.
I’ve been looking for a couple new bath products for my kids since my daughter’s hair has reached the unmanageable stage. It is cute when it is straight out of the tub or freshly pulled back, but 90% of the time, her hair is completely out of control. She now needs a good shampoo and conditioner to keep it clean and tangle-free. I’m absolutely in love with the Beautycounter kids shampoo, conditioner and body wash. They smell amazing (even my 5 year old comments on the yummy smell) and keep my kids clean and safe.
I’m also in love with the Beautycounter sunscreens. We tried out the Protect All Over Sunscreen and Stick and the stuff just works. It is easy to rub in, smells good and the stick makes it easy to apply on wiggly kids. Given the crazy amount of sunshine we get here in AZ, sunscreen is part of our daily routine. This stuff is by far the best kid’s sunscreen I’ve tried. And trust me, over the last 5 years, have we ever gone through the sunscreen.
Finally, let’s talk about the make-up. Beautycounter is probably best known for their make-up and it is for a good reason. It didn’t feel like the products were missing anything. Again, they just work. I’m a big fan of the lip gloss (I’m wearing the color Peony) along with the lip conditioner. I also love that I know they are safe in case a certain curious 3 year old gets into them.
After reading through the Beautycounter stats above, it has really got me thinking. I’m not to the point where I’m ready to throw my entire make up drawer and medicine cabinet in the trash. But I am ready to start swapping out products as my current ones run out. After all, every little bit counts.
Feel free to check out my friend Erin’s Beautycounter page. She so sweetly has offered to give a free gift (a lip gloss and the new volumizing mascara) to one lucky person who places an order. Who doesn’t love a free gift?! Free free to message me or Erin directly on the Beautycounter page with any questions.
Have you started making any changes to go green with your beauty routine?
