Food for Skin: Recipe for Safe Body Products

Who needs those chemically-filled body products when you can go out to your own garden or to a farmers market and whip up some wonderful “food for your skin”? Not only will you save money, but your body will thank you.

Because our skin is porous, it absorbs more than half of what goes onto it and ends up in our bloodstream. Repeated use of all the typical body products, most of them full of toxic chemicals, may lead to health problems and environmental pollution over time. Why risk your health, when you can just walk to another aisle or drive to another store (we all like to shop!) and buy something great for your body? We exercise, eat organic food, recycle—it’s time to feed our skin with the ingredients it needs to keep us looking fresh and healthy because we only have this one body. Let’s make the most of it because it’s never too late!

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics created a list of DIY recipes for lips, face, acne, hands and feet, body and bath, deodorant, and hair. Make it something fun to do and invite your girlfriends over for a “beauty buffet.” Each person can make a different recipe and then swap your all-natural concoctions so everyone has a selection of safe, natural skincare products!

Here is a Kiwi Facial Cleanser recipe from the Beauty Loves Nature blog by Megan Porschen, a Los Angeles based makeup artist, http://beautylovesnature.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:

1 Organic Kiwi Fruit

2 Tablespoons of Organic Greek Yogurt (we suggest FAGE, pronounced Fa-hey)

1 Tablespoon of Honey

1 Tablespoon of Almond Oil or Jajoba Oil

1 Teaspoon of Orange Citrus Oil (for a lovely scent)

Blend your Kiwi in a food processor until it looks like baby food. Then add your yogurt, honey, oils and blend again until consistency is thick. Place contents into a glass bowl. with clean hands apply cleanser to a clean face and neck. Massaging in upward motions. Leave on for as long as desired. Then rinse clean with tepid water. Dab your face with a soft clean absorbable cloth and enjoy your refreshed skin.

The actinidin enzyme in the kiwi’s flesh gently exfoliates your skin leaving it healthy and feeling fresh.

Maybe the whole make-it-yourself thing doesn’t work for you, and that’s okay because there are plenty of other options out there that are healthy for your skin and body. Here are some companies you can trust, and you can actually pronounce all the ingredients in their products:

The Body Deli, www.thebodydeli.com

Inspired by the concept of natural living and driven by the science of “living foods,” The Body Deli’s products are designed to provide nutrition for the skin — inside and out. All of the products are handmade in small batches and incorporate raw, fresh, natural and organic ingredients, including organic yogurt, amino acids, fresh fruit and vegetables, and all-natural plant oils. The result is nutrient-rich products for the body, face and hair that deliver fresh vitamins, enzymes and minerals at their peak potency.

Aubrey Organics, www.aubrey-organics.com/

Only the finest herbal, plant extracts and natural vitamins are used in all Aubrey products. You will find no paraben preservatives, no petrochemicals, no artificial colors or fragrances of any kind. Aubrey Organics remains committed to making healthy, natural products based on herbal traditions that, in many cases, date back thousands of years.

Juice Beauty, www.juicebeauty.com

Juice Beauty offers a certified organic juice base. Instead of the typical water base that cannot be certified “organic or pesticide free,” Juice Beauty puts over 100 USDA certified organic powerful ingredients into a 100% certified organic juice base (made from over 30 different juices) thus bringing the total organic content up to 98% in every product. Juice Beauty created an antioxidant rich organic juice base, which means that every drop feeds your skin with powerful antioxidants, nutrients, vitamins, minerals and more! These amazing formulations are made without parabens, petroleum, propylene or butylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfates, pesticides, phthalates, artificial dyes or synthetic fragrances.

Dr. Hauschka, http://drhauschka.com/

Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products, signature facial treatments and business practices have been based on a “holistic” philosophy. Their formulations are based on an understanding of the way skin works and its relationship with overall health, the goal being skin that is balanced and able to perform its natural functions without dependence upon a slew of products. All products are certified natural, containing the highest-quality plant and mineral ingredients. Every ingredient is carefully chosen   based on its individual effects on the skin, as well as the way it interacts with other ingredients. Each plant’s origin is researched, making sure it comes from an ecologically and ethically sound source. The design and manufacturing of the packaging ensures that all products are free of artificial preservatives.

Intelligent Nutrients, www.intelligentnutrients.com

Intelligent Nutrients practices true, scientific technology to create products that are truly sustainable, effective and a pleasure to use. They merge food-grade ingredients and certified organic ingredients (yes, grown on the founder’s very own farm) with cosmetic chemistry – substances the body recognize and readily assimilated as nutrients in the body. All Intelligent Nutrients products are manufactured with 100% renewable energy as demonstrated by the Green E seal on all of our products.

For some more green body product options, check out Eco Stiletto’s blog “Incredible Edible Eco-Beauty” for some amazing luxurious products that will have your skin craving more! http://www.ecostiletto.com/index.php?/Beauty/comments/incredible_edible_eco-beauty/

Before heading to the store, be sure to look over the Organic Consumer Association’s very helpful working list of companies who use organic ingredients in their products: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/links.cfm

Food for thought: if you wouldn’t eat it or, if you can’t pronounce it ,you might rethink putting it on your skin.