Natural skincare/products

I've recently been doing a lot of research into natural products that are also better for the environment and cruelty free. My other half has psoriasis which is what started it all and I'm gradually making sure everything is SLS free and good for him. I'm even using soap nuts to wash clothes with and am loving them! I'm enjoying trying out the products as they arrive, I love Lily Lolo mineral make up and Handmade Natural's skin care, I definitely think my skin is looking and feeling much healthier!

So is anyone else interested in these things and/or essential oils which are used in a lot of the natural skin care products? I would love to hear what sort of things you like and please post links to any websites!

I use burt's bees too- but I also use other stuff like for shampoo I use this brand called Naked Naturals and I love it. It's amazing what it does for my hair because my hair is curly and all drugstore shampoos are too drying for my hair.
The hardest thing to find is moisturizers and sun screens without SLS or parabens. Most things I've tried don't do much for my skin. Bare escentuals has a good powdered sunscreen and good cleanser and moisturizer combo-
http://store.bareescentuals.com/Rare...efault,cp.html
I also like LUSH they use a lot of natural products and have nice facial masks and soaps and such...
And there is an online store that has good facial cleansers and masks:
http://www.bestbathstore.com/
I am going to do a detoxing soon because I think that skin care products don't do much if your body hasn't detoxed properly- so the best thing to do is eat apples only for 3 days to detox. Doing that twice a year helps your skin a lot. You don't have to do this but I eat junk food a lot so that's why I do it.
And honey, oats and other natural products can be used to make your own masks too.

dr bronners is the main one I use ... my psoriasis or exzema has dissappeared since stopping "soaps" YMMV

I love the olive oil products from the Japanese company, DHC. I could be their company spokesperson. Except that they're products are so expensive that I can't afford to use them consistently.

I love Eminence Organics (http://www.eminenceorganics.com/) for my face. I was given a bottle of their cleanser as a gift, and it worked so great I've been using it ever since. It's very expensive, but it does last a really long time.

I also love just plain almond oil or olive oil for my body. I've stopped using all body lotions and have just gone to that. The almond oil isn't quite enough for me in winter, so I use the olive oil then. I put a few drops of essential oil and make my own body oil out of it. (Sweet orange is my favorite.) I also make my own body scrub out of table sugar, olive oil, and a little essential oil. As an extra bonus, I don't have to worry about the kitties accidentally injesting it if I pet them with oil on my hands.

OP - what is SLS? I dont know much about good or bad ingredients.

I havent tried everything out there but I am attracted to all the "natural" stuff out there. Mostly I stick with Lush and Origins for core products. (I also am fairly sensitive, so just for that reason I like to stick with more pure stuff)

As another poster mentioned - I make my own products too. I figure if I can eat it, it can't be that bad

Some things I couldnt give up, like Vaseline. I don't know if it is "bad" but it is cheap, lasts a long time and is sooooo useful. My skin gets super dry and many times Vaseline is the only things that can counteract it. I am open to try other things but I already have $300 worth of hair products in my b.r. I tried but didn't like. I can't afford to try everything I want to lol.

I just got some soapnuts at the Farmers' Market a couple weeks ago. The ladies assured me they clean beautifully, even baby diapers.

SLS is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate, it's put in all kinds of cleaning products including shampoo, shower gels etc. I'm afraid it's even in some of LUSH's products although I think they are looking into alternatives. Products without SLS probably won't foam up the same but in my opinion they do just as good a job at cleaning, you just have to get used to them feeling different.

http://www.healthy-communications.co...sirritant.html

Soap nuts are great, put a few drops of essential oil on the cloth bag you are using for the soap nuts to make your clothes smell nice. I use tea tree and my mum uses citronella.

I'm enjoying looking at the different products you've posted about!

Originally Posted by Jupeycat

SLS is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate, it's put in all kinds of cleaning products including shampoo, shower gels etc. I'm afraid it's even in some of LUSH's products although I think they are looking into alternatives. Products without SLS probably won't foam up the same but in my opinion they do just as good a job at cleaning, you just have to get used to them feeling different.

http://www.healthy-communications.co...sirritant.html

Soap nuts are great, put a few drops of essential oil on the cloth bag you are using for the soap nuts to make your clothes smell nice. I use tea tree and my mum uses citronella.

I'm enjoying looking at the different products you've posted about!

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Probably a dumb question to most of you, but I've never bought essential oils - where does one go to get them usually?

Health food shops, chemists may have them or places like Boots/Superdrug in the UK. Not sure what you have in the US but I'm certain you'll have companies like ours plus a lot more!

Just googled Boots and yes you do have them .

Originally Posted by Jupeycat

Health food shops, chemists may have them or places like Boots/Superdrug in the UK. Not sure what you have in the US but I'm certain you'll have companies like ours plus a lot more!

Just googled Boots and yes you do have them

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Well I'm in Canada so no Boots or at least I've never seen any. I'll check with Shoppers Drug Mart.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Well I'm in Canada so no Boots or at least I've never seen any. I'll check with Shoppers Drug Mart.

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That just shows how good I am at geography!

I get essential oils at Whole Foods.


Years ago, before that, most hippie shops carried them (think pachuli (sp?))

Lush has very few products with SLS in them, those being the liquid stuff like shower gels.. Most of their products are solid and therefore don't need harsh chemical preservatives (or big bad packaging), so they don't use them. On their website they list ingredients for all products so you could check before buying if there's anything offensive in there.

Yeah, I'm addicted to Lush. And I love that they don't buy ingredients from suppliers who even test any OTHER ingredients on animals. Nice!

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

Lush has very few products with SLS in them, those being the liquid stuff like shower gels.. Most of their products are solid and therefore don't need harsh chemical preservatives (or big bad packaging), so they don't use them. On their website they list ingredients for all products so you could check before buying if there's anything offensive in there.

Yeah, I'm addicted to Lush. And I love that they don't buy ingredients from suppliers who even test any OTHER ingredients on animals. Nice!

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It was the shampoos - solid included that I was looking at this morning on their website. I'm still a fan though, I'm picking up some Ambrosia on Saturday for my other half and I want to have a sniff at their solid perfume balm thingys.

I love their massage bars, the one I have smells good enough to eat!!

I love the stuff from this place I found on etsy called urbbody- urbbody.etsy.com
I got body butter, lip balm, hydrating facial spray, body spray, and cuticle balm from them. Their stuff is natural, most of it is organic, some also vegan.
My favorite is the body spray I got, it is a combination of ginger and orange. I am very sensitive to perfumes (I get headaches) and this stuff is great, doesn't bother me at all.
I also bought some stuff from another etsy shop "Doctor Sweet Tooth" and they have paraben and sulfate free shampoos.