Greening My Insides #2

The Green Your Insides Challenge is about greening your home, and paying attention to what you put on your body, in your body, and around your body.







In Greening My Insides #1 I focused on my dermatitis which has made me pay attention to what I put on my body. The products below are what I have settled on after a lot of trial and error. They work for me, but they may not be suitable for you.

Personal hygiene......

Body: I use Aqueous Lotion to clean myself. It can be used as a soap substitute and a moisturiser. I chose the Skin Basics brand because it's free of colour, perfume, lanolin and propylene glycol. It's hypoallergenic and pH balanced, and helps maintain skin’s natural balance.
Hair: Over the years I've tried different shampoos & conditioners suitable for dermatitis, finally settling on Hope's Relief. Their products are suitable for eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and dandruff. They're unscented and sulfate free. The ingredients are organic herbal extracts, vitamins and Manuka Honey combined with the gentlest cleansers. I also use their moisturising cream. Hope's Relief products were developed in Australia by Jacqueline Hope, a fully qualified Naturopath based in Victoria.
Teeth: A mix of equal parts salt & bi carb soda for my own teeth. Soap and water for my dentures.
Deodorant: Some days I use a natural mineral salt stick and other days I use Avon On Duty roll-on. The roll-on does contain 17.5% aluminium chlorohydrate so some may consider this a bad choice, but I don't have a reaction to it so it stays for now :-)

Hubby and teen son aren't as green as me. They hang onto their favourite brands of toothpaste and soap but I have changed them to an organic shampoo :-)

Cosmetics.....

I never had a bad reaction to cosmetics, but I did notice every time I put make-up on I felt really tired, so for many years I didn't wear any. Eventually I threw out all my cosmetics as they were so old they were bound to have bacteria growing in them.

I heard about natural mineral make up so I went online to research brands, ingredients, etc. I chose Inika Mineral Cosmetics because they're Australian Owned and their products are pure and natural, made from crushed mineral pigments. They contain no harsh chemicals, fillers, talc, bismuth oxychloride, GM ingredients, parabens, preservatives or fragrances. Inika is also 100% certified cruelty free and 100% certified vegan.

Here's my everyday make up bag....

Yep, that's it, a foundation, kabuki brush and a lip gloss.

Here's my special occasion make up bag....

Mascara, lip liner, 2 lip sticks and an eye shadow.
Note: Eyeshadow is from Masquerade Professional range.
It was a marked down bargain :-) The others items are from Inika.

All mineral cosmetics are not created equal, so do your own research before trying a brand. Many of the big names in mineral cosmetics add other ingredients to their products. For example you will often find fillers which dilute the pigments and mean that the cosmetics are not as pure. They are cheaper to produce like this so may suit the frugal shopper who doesn't have any skin conditions to consider. You may also find ingredients such as Bismuth Oxychloride which causes irritation to some people or Talc and Parabens.

Other.....

I don't use perfume on my body. On very rare occasions I spray a little onto the clothing I plan to wear.

I don't use sunscreen. I cover up well. An added bonus of mineral make-up is that it provides some natural sun protection.

I don't use insect repellent. I cover up.... or slap myself a lot! ;-)


If you have a skin condition or allergies feel free to add a comment on what works (or doesn't work) for you.

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BevB