Challenge Day 6: What I Do For Beauty!

  

Today my challenge was to try an all natural, organic facial and/or convert to organic skin care products.  My original intention was to try to make my own facial using standard household products as the ingredients.  But I just have no interest in this.  It not only takes time, I already wear enough food that my son throws at me (and I don’t enjoy that so much).  Besides, there are already many gorgeous products on the market just waiting for me to try. 

I love beauty products and I certainly support my fair share of the industry.  However, I have never really consciously thought about seeking out organic, or all natural, products.  Somehow I thought that these lines I might be compromising on benefits or overall effectiveness.  By luck, for the past four years I have used a variety of Dr. Hauschka daily facial moisturizers.  But I just used them because they were recommended to me by a skin care expert, and I loved them.  I hadn’t fully thought through the natural or organic factor.  Having a greater understanding of this is key to convincing me to convert more of my products. 

Why organic beauty products?  Pro-organic advocates say that you are what you put on your body.  Most commercial skin care brands contain synthetic additives, petroleum waxes, and other unnatural ingredients. And just as you wouldn’t find Normand Laprise of Toqué using artificial vanilla, or serving up processed hotdogs in his restaurant, you should only be putting the finest, most natural, ingredients on your skin.

In addition to the ‘it’s good for you’ argument, organic beauty products support a healthier environment by not incorporating any ingredients that have been touched by pesticides or manufactured with synthetic agents.  Most organic products also use environmentally friendly packaging and manufacturing practices wherever possible. 

So, here’s how I spent an exciting Saturday evening:

I have had a set of samples for a relatively new organic line called Pangea sitting in my bathroom cabinet for over a year (since the Organic Avenue event last year!).  Finally I am getting around to trying them!  Here are the products that I tried:       

-Egyptian Geranium with Adzuki Bean & Cranberry Facial Scrub

-Japanese Matcha Tea with Acai & Goji Berry Facial Mask

-Italian Red Mandarin with Rose Facial Cream

-Pyrenees Lavender with Cardamom Hand & Body Lotion

What luck!  Pangea has become renowned in the US for its organic skin care line and eco-friendly packaging, but are very unknown here in Canada.  However, as I found out today, they are well worth getting to know.  Tonight, I started with the scrub, followed by a 10 minute mask.  It was a real mud mask, and the wonderful, distinct scent of goji berries filled my bathroom.  When I washed it away my skin was glowing, smooth, and nicer than it has been in ages!  Really.  I finished off with the facial cream, and then treated the rest of my body to the lotion.  It was just as if I was at a spa getting a $150 facial.  How fantastic and what a nice way to spend 30 minutes! 

You can find great organic body care products in any high quality health store and increasingly in department store cosmetics departments.  For online shopping, and a wide range of high-end products, check out Saffron Rouge.  They sell strictly organic beauty products and include free samples with every order over $50.