Natural Products: Natural Mama Favorites

A few years ago I started to look for natural cosmetics and personal care products...and I didn't find much and what I did was expensive!! I also really didn't know what to look for, but the more research I do, the more confident I become in finding products that are safe and good for my family and me (and are becoming more affordable).

The place to start is http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ They have a huge database with tons of different cosmetic companies and their products (if you don't see you product on there, you can search by ingredients). It'll tell you what's in your products you are currently using and then you can search by, for example "lotion" and it will come up with all the lotions in the database, from the least harmful to the ones loaded with chemicals. The lower the score, the better.

These are some of my current favorite cosmetics and personal care product lines:

Aubrey Organics is a company that I've heard a lot of good things about. They have been around for a long time and I believe were one of the first cosmetic companies to go organic. Here's their website http://www.aubrey-organics.com/ We use their baby shampoo and body wash for our son. It ranks a 2 on the cosmetic database scale, which is a good rating and means it is considered a very low hazard.

I am also planning to try out Aubrey Organics makeup when it becomes available again (they are currently repackaging their products and their website says it will be out sometime in 2008).

Another great company is Earth Mama, Angel Baby and we've been using their lotions with my son. I love their labels because I can actually tell you what everything is on it! Like calendula, aloe, vanilla, etc. Simple and really nice, but definately a little bit pricier, so I only use it on his face. Check out http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/ That lotion actually ranks 0 (zero) on the cosmetic database scale, which is the best you can get! It says it's good for eczema, skin allergies and diaper rash.

A company that does a pretty good job with most of their products, is easy to find, and a little cheaper is Burt's Bees. There products aren't perfect, but the ones I do use are phalate free and no sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, which is always good to avoid: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.php?brand_id=141&&showmore=products&atatime=500 I've been using their shampoo and conditioner, but I also plan to try out Aubrey Organics as well.

I use The Body Shop's aloe facial care line, well mostly the Aloe Moisturizing Day Cream. It was rated a 1 on the cosmetic database. I like it because it's made for sensitive skin and I've never had a reaction to it.

I've learned to be really cautious when it comes to labeling on cosmetics and personal care products. Here is some info from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Website:

*Consumers use as many as 25 different cosmetics products in a day and up to 70% of what is applied to the skin is believed to be absorbed into the body.

*Almost 90% of 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have never been evaluated for safety.

*Major loopholes in federal law allow the $60 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing and no monitoring of health effects. http://www.safecosmetics.org/

You can't just necessarily trust a bottle that has "Natural" or "Organic" written on it, because there isn't much regulation on the use of those terms when it comes to cosmetics and personal care products. You really have to watch the labels and check for more information. I recently read that the term "fragrance" is especially tricky, because they can include a variety of chemicals under that one term. So I try and opt for fragrance-free when possible.

I will continue to update on cosmetics and personal care products as I find them. Have a great night :)