Non-Toxic Minimalist Skincare
What you use for skin care makes a huge difference on your energy and health. Your skin, being the largest organ in your body, absorbs whatever you place on it, almost instantly. According to ewg.org, women on average, use about twelve skin care products per day exposing themselves to about 168 chemical ingredients per day. That excludes additional chemicals found in your foods, clothing, furniture, and atmosphere. When you think about it, that’s a lot of chemicals.
Asking your body to filter out these chemicals regularly is not only stressful and taxing, it take a toll on your health. Taking the time to be conscious about the way you care for your skin can greatly reduce the number of these chemicals you’re exposed to and improve the way that you feel; your energy levels and mental clarity. So today I want to share with you how I’ve simplified my skin care approach to be non-toxic and minimalist, while sharing some of my most favorite, daily used products.
The most important thing when it comes to skin care, specifically for better health and energy, is what you wash your sheets and clothes with. Bedsheets and clothes are touching your skin 24/7. Any chemicals ingrained in them are absorbed into your bloodstream 24/7... So it’s extremely important to know what you’re washing with. For my clothes I absolutely love TruEarth. What I love about their detergent is its simplicity and how sustainable it is. They are easy to travel with and, most importantly, they only have clean ingredients. Unlike so many of the other non-toxic detergents I’ve tried, this actually leaves your clothes smelling fresh and I love how I don’t have to buy special detergent for the baby clothes. (Get 10% percent off using my code “MJTRU” at this link HERE)
My daily skincare routine includes washing and moisturizing my face twice per day. I'm a big fan of regular exfoliation, both on my face and body). While I love face washes by John Masters Organics, Acure, and Mychelle, I’ve simplified this down to using extra fine grit sea salt, like the neti pot salt. Depending on your skin type, sea salt or sugar… and if you wish, some of your preferred essential oils, is often the simplest, most effective way to cleanse your skin. Oftentimes I will mix this, or infuse, with coconut oil and some essential oils.
As far as coconut oil goes… I use this for pretty much everything. Moisturizer, body cream, tanning oil, lube, hair oil and protectant, for shaving, on cuts, bug bites, skin burns… you name it. Coconut oil is extremely diverse, especially when mixing with different essential oils. Here are some essential oil mixes I use with coconut oil:
Face Moisturizer:
10 drops Lavender
3 drops Rosemary
5 drops Tea Tree
3 drops Helichrysum
Mixed into 4oz of Coconut Oil
* I researched the best types of oils for my skin type. I recommend you do the same.
Muscle Aches:
10 drops Peppermint
5 drops Eucalyptus
5 drops Wintergreen
3 drops Cinnamon
Mixed into 2 oz of Coconut Oil
* Eucalyptus and peppermint are great also for rubbing on the chest or under the nose when you experience congestion.
Burns, Blisters, & Cuts Soothing Salve
10 drops Lavender
Mixed into 2 oz of Coconut Oil
Simple Sunscreen
1 Tbsp Zinc Oxide
Mixed into 2 oz of Coconut Oil
It’s amazing what you can do with essential oils. And as you can see, in conjunction with coconut oil, it can simplify and replace so much of the complicated, expensive, toxic things we buy off the store shelves.
Hair care has to be considered as part of skin care, because anything you put into your hair transfers directly to your scalp. When it comes to my hair, my go-to is Clever Yoga’s shampoo and conditioner bars. Their packaging is plastic free, they’re easy to travel with and the ingredients are solid. I love the smell of these bars, I love how long they last, I love that they actually work and I especially love how clean their ingredients are.
Let’s talk about makeup. Like many of these other products, make up goes directly on your skin. I only wear it for filming and work, otherwise I’m make-up free. But I do have a few favorites. Emani, I’ve been using their cream shadows for years. I love that they are vegan and have clean ingredients, I also use the creams as an eyeshadow base and shades for contouring and blush. For more accessible brands I like Gabriel Cosmetics, Pacifica, and even brands such as Pixie or Elf. With Elf, be sure to check out ewg.org to see the cleanliness of each product because not all ingredients are totally non-toxic.
While it is difficult to be 100% non-toxic, I don’t want you to feel guilty or feel like you can’t have certain things because you need to be perfect. By reducing the majority of your skin care to non-toxic ingredients, we can feel better about the few items that we CHOOSE to keep in our lives because we just love how it works, the result it has, and the value it brings.
I hope you found this blog incredibly informative… If you enjoyed it, found value in it, or want more of it please be sure to let me know in the comments and share with anybody you feel would enjoy my content. I truly feel grateful and humbled to be here, I look forward to speaking with you next time!