Switching to organic personal care and beauty products can seem like a pampering move only affordable for rich ladies who lunch; but as the market becomes more active and competitive, prices are falling and products are becoming far more available. This is primarily due to the surge of research that has taken place showing that natural sources of antioxidants are absorbed and integrated into the body much more effective and efficiently. Also, the realization that the chemicals we have  so devotedly been allowing to absorb into our skin  have not been thoroughly tested in there long-term effect after repeated absorption into our blood stream and soft tissue. What do you mean not thoroughly tested? You ask...

Alright guys, I don't mean to freak you out here, but there are so many really good reasons to switch your daily personal care routine to all organic. Not long ago I was in the boat of thinking that everything I was letting soak into my skin on a twice daily basis was tested and approved of by the FDA in order to insure my safety, and prevent any of those pesky 20 years later realizations of, "Oops, turns out it'll give ya cancer, sorry." Well, it is true that the FDA is in charge of regulating our health and beauty products (skin care, hair care - you name it) as well as the cosmetics industry...they just happen to miss the step about testing products before they reach the store shelves.

No joke, all testing prior to the release of a cosmetic or skin care product to the public is only done by the company itself, while 89% of the chemicals they are using have never been tested by the FDA. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the makeup and cosmetics companies are trying to poison us or make our faces fall off...no. What they want  is to make "really effective" skin care products that are price competitive and have a super long shelf life. The down side to that is that they have become more focused on immediate results and cost effectiveness, which means their testing is near-sighted and not necessarily looking into what the down-the-road-effects of the common cosmetic ingredients are.

These very same ingredients ironically keep being found in human tissues, like preservatives called parabens in breast tumor tissue, the industrial plasticizers called phthalates in urine, and persistent fragrance components like musk xylene that are being found in human fat. They're finding this stuff, but they're just not looking into what that might mean for our long term health.

Is this enough to get your attention? I hope so, because it is a great segway for me to tell you about the joy of organic and natural beauty products, like organic skin care, organic soap, organic shampoo and organic make up. Even staple products that have very...let's just say, intimate contact with our very special parts ladies have been treated with bleaching agents and pesticides. Common sense just tells me that those things don't belong up there. Luckily, there are organic cotton options, sponges, cups, even probiotic tampons are available in several countries in Europe.

Every aspect of our routine can be improved with the transition to organic and natural personal care products. Because so many of the things that we think are "necessities" for being clean and healthy are actually miscomputations that have been perpetuated by the manufacturing industries. Things like... the need for lots of lather when washing our hair or the complete ceasing of under arm sweating. In actuality, the chemical, sodium lauryl sulfate, that gives us all that "needed" lather is really just a commercial grade detergent that completely strips oil from surfaces and was added to shampoo in the fifties as merely a filler in order to make their manufacturing dollar stretch that much fuller. Well, I don't think I need to be the one to tell you that your hair is not factory equipment, so it's needs might be just a tad different. I want my hair to look and feel soft and luxurious; not sterile and stainless steel-like.

There are completely natural and organic ways to care for all our parts that are incredibly more compatible with our natural ph balances, there by supporting our bodies heath systems; instead of imposing a chemically induced utopia of un-human cleanliness. OK, I'd admit that sounds a bit fanatical...but you have to admit that there are probably some pretty good reasons why we came designed with things like sweat glands. Not to mention the scientific connections that have been made with aluminum and Alzheimer's. Hmmmm...sweaty pits or all encompassing memory dissolving dementia...hmmm, that is a toughy.

Organic personal care and beauty products benefit even out side of our on individual needs. The process of farming and cultivating the ingredients found in organic products is a much more holistically minded one for the most part, which leaves the land used in the process much healthier and more stable. This is in great contrast to the high volume commercial farming  and the chemical production practices used for conventional products that deplete the earth, and contaminate drain off water.

Now when I say organic beauty products, I really mean "certified organic" which means the beauty products actually have undergone testing and review to ensure the quality and purity of their organic ingredients. Be a smart green consumer; there are shady companies out there who would like to capitalize on the green market and label their beauty products as "organic" and cite the alternate definition of the word, being "a compound that contains a carbon atom", soooo...pretty much anything that was ever alive at some point. Nice try you dirty dealers.

Often, there are organic products that do contain what seem to be chemicals. This comes form the practice of treating natural substances with a chemical compound in order to create a final "workable" version of the natural substance. This can be a super confusing phenomenon that is technically allowed to be called "organic" in the general sense. Take sodium hyaluronate for example, it sounds like a pretty scary chemical if I ever heard one, but in actuality it is a completely natural occurring substance that is derived from beneficial bacteria that help us retain moisture. So it is not always easy to tell what is good for us. That is why it is so important to become educated and aware as to what is being use in the personal care industry. We can then all be more informed and better equipped to make the healthiest and most effective choices when it come to the care of our skin and all other parts of our person.

No worries! There are so many really fantastic options for certified organic cosmetics and organic beauty products out there. They're better for you, and better for the earth and soil as well. Check out these other pages for specified info on ingredients that whip out some major effectiveness, and how you can go green and organic in every area of your daily personal routine!

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