Time To Get Started…
Now that you have a basic understanding of what clean beauty is, why it’s confusing, and all of the must-avoid ingredients, you’re probably ready to get started cleaning up your beauty routine. But where should you start? Below I’m sharing some go-to, trustworthy brands to try out!
If you missed my other clean beauty posts, you can read those here.
Where To Start
Most of us probably can’t afford to throw out everything and buy all new clean beauty products. I would start with your heavy-hitters. The products you use daily and wear all day, every day. Think deodorant, face moisturizer and hand soap. I would also take a good hard look at the products that cover a lot of surface area…like body lotion, for example. The continued use of toxic products can build up and potentially be very harmful to you.
I know that convenience is key for all of you busy ladies and moms. You can now find cleaner products in stores like Target and Walmart. I explained in the clean beauty posts #1, #2, and #3 that just because something says it’s clean, means it’s actually clean. So you should still do some research to make sure that the ingredients in those products are actually safe!
Clean Beauty Brands
The quickest and easiest way to determine if the ingredients in your beauty products are safe? Look them up in the EWG Skin Deep Database. You can also try the Think Dirty app, although admittedly they don’t list that many products.
Here are some popular CLEAN brands to consider:
Beautycounter
Juice Beauty
Yes To
Deborah Lippmann (nails)
SOPHi (nails)
Primally Pure
Dr. Bronner’s
RMS Beauty
Kjaer Weis
ILIA
Tata Harper
Follain
W3ll People
In the picture above, I’m holding one of my favorites, the Mandelic Acid Radiance Serum by Colleen Rothschild. Her products are not listed on EWG’s database. I looked up every single ingredient and this product is clean! Phew!
Make sure you check individual products within clean beauty brands. Just because the brand is clean doesn’t mean every single product has clean ingredients.
What I’m Using Right Now
Websites like BeautyCounter.com and CredoBeauty.com mostly feature clean beauty products. This is SOOOOOOO helpful! I also listed some of my favorite clean beauty products from Ulta Beauty below to give you more mainstream shopping options. BEWARE buying beauty products on Amazon. No one is monitoring expiration dates or shelf-life so even if you get the right product (which you don’t always get) it may be passed its prime… and no longer effective. I once ordered my favorite conditioner by Moroccan Oil and half the bottle was already gone! They must have poured out a bunch to create more bottles and sell more products. So shady!
Products I’ve used for years that are clean!
I am using a mix of old and new products. Here are the products I’ve used for years: Colleen Rothschild’s Radiant Cleansing Balm. It is free of all the bad stuff including Parabens, SLS/SLES Sulfates, Phthalates, Triclosan, Formaldehyde, PABA, Toluene, and Benzene. I use the cleansing balm on a dry face to clean off all my makeup. At night, I wash off my makeup and then alternate between Colleen’s Mandelic Acid Radiance Serum, as well as her Retinol Supreme Night Oil. I also use her Retinol Supreme Eye Cream. Her eye cream has Phenoxyethanol, but I use the tiniest amount under my eyes so I’m okay with that. During the day, I often use the No. 9 oil since it’s so dry here in Telluride.
Newer Clean Products I’m Testing
Here are the newer ones I’m loving: One Love Skin Savior Balm. I use this when my face feels REALLY dry. It’s wonderful and smells so citrusy and fresh. I found this gem at our local spa here in Telluride. You can also cleanse your skin with it! I love the Caudalie Moisturizing Toner. I use it after cleansing my face to remove any remaining eye makeup or makeup. It’s very gentle! I’m testing out this Ursa Major Vitamin C Serum. I was using Sunday Riley’s LUNA Night Oil for a while which was wonderful for both anti-aging (has retinol) and also soothes redness. I may go back to it. I haven’t decided yet. And, next on my testing list is Tata Harper’s Hyaluronic Gel Moisturizer. And, I’m curious about the Goop skincare line too so I just ordered the Replenishing Night Cream.
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What Kaitlyn Is Using
For those of you who don’t know, Kaitlyn is my gorgeous and super-smart blog editor. She helps me out with the blog and some other behind the scenes business tasks! She’s been trying out clean beauty since the fall of 2017 and I thought it would be awesome if she shared some of her favorites! For reference, she’s 23, has normal skin, and gets occasional blemishes. Her natural deodorant of choice: Primally Pure charcoal deodorant. Many women struggle to find a clean deodorant that actually works…this is the only one that’s worked for Kaitlyn! She’s tried Native, Kopari, and a few others.
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Have you made any changes to your beauty routine? Do you have a holy grail clean skincare product you can share with us?? Please comment below!!
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Thank you for stopping by!
Gorgeous pictures ERIN.
I have a QUESTION for Kaitlyn about the charcoal deodorant. After reading uP on the website, it says it does not control PERSPIRATION. So hOw do you deal with the sweat? That’s the main reason I use anti-perspirant. I wouLd liKe to switch, but that makes me Very nervous ESPECIALLY since I lIve in the south and it is Hot in the summer.
From Kaitlyn: I haven’t noticed a difference in sweat. But that might be because I was using the Kopari deodorant before this and it made me feel very wet under my arms all the time. I also live in the south and understand that concern. But I’ve never been a big sweater so it hasn’t been an issue for me. Finding a clean deodorant is so hard because everyone prefers something different. I started out with the Native deodorant and then went to Kopari. I didn’t like them as much but maybe you could start there?
Hi ERIN,
I SIGNED UP FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER JUST A FEW WEELS AGO, AND I LOVE IT. I RECENTLY STARTED TO MAKE THE CHANGE TO use CLEAN PRODUCTS. I STARTED WITH CLEANING PRODUCTS, soaps, and the easy stuff. Still working on finding a good shampoo. NOW I AM WORKING ON BEAUTy PRODUCTS. THAT IS SO MUCH HARDEr!!! I AM CURRENTLY WORKING ON FINDING THE RIGHT FOUNDATION. I HAVE TRIED ILIA, MILK AND BECCA. I DON’T LIKE ANY OF THEM. THEY EITHER SETTLE INTO TO MY LINES, OR FEELS DRYING ETC. I am 48, so my skin is changing, it is now dry, and of-cause i have some lines. Anyway, whay foundation do you use/recommend?
Thank you for all your great information.
Not yet, but we are working on makeup next! Stay tuned… Erin xo
Thank you. Excited to hear what you have learned.
THere’s a terrific app called yuka that enables you to scan cosmetic – and food – bar codes and gives a grading, explanation of all the ingredients and offers alternatives. It is sO
easy to use and has transformed my shopping experience.
Oh, can’t wait to check out that app! Thank you!! Erin xo
Yes! Love clean beauty wHat I’ve found is ThaT i Love different things from diffeRent comPanies. I love true botanicals fir skin care, ecco bella for mascara aNd eye liner, honest for eyeshadow and lip gloss, 100 pure for setting powder, eye shadow palettes (they have a Few naked palettes that compare to urban decay) bLush aNd liPstick aNd Juice beauty for concealer
Thanks, Cathy!! Erin xo