Blog Posts by TheDailyGreen.com

As a beauty editor at women's magazines and CNN, author Julie Gabriel had no hesitation endorsing the season's hottest lipstick shade, or justifying the purchase of the latest anti-aging cream. But after years of following the trends, she began to hesitate as she faced the not-so-pretty side of the cosmetics industry. She left the mainstream cosmetics industry behind, trained as a nutrition specialist and launched her own cosmetics line, Petite Marie Organics.

green beauty guide

The Green Beauty Guide is the knowledge-packed proof of Gabriel's beauty awakening. It offers expert advice to help steer your beauty routine toward a more natural, healthy you. Read and learn about which ingredients to avoid, how the cosmetics industry manipulates product language and just how a seemingly harmless tube of deodorant could potentially harm your health.

But Gabriel isn't all beauty doom and gloom. She shares the DIY secrets of lotions, washes, toners and other natural beauty elixirs for happy, healthy

Read More »from Homemade Skin Care From Your Kitchen Cabinets

1. The Product
Request a free sample of a natural organic *product made with vegetable-based ingredients.

If the retailer refuses to provide a sample, request a small amount in container. Explain that you would like to see if you are allergic to the product before buying it. Hint that you are interested in buying the product, and the retailer should oblige!

When making homemade beauty cosmetics, patch test all new ingredients by making a paste with a small amount of water and following the directions below.

2. The Prep

• Wash a small area on the inside of your arm near your elbow. Wipe it clean.
• Apply a small amount of the product using a spatula or dull table knife. Rub the product into your skin.
• Cover the area of application with a waterproof adhesive bandage. Choose a bandage with adhesive area all around the edge, not just the sides. While not ideal, wear a long-sleeve shirt if you don't have an adhesive

Read More »from How to Do a Patch Test

So you want to green your beauty routine, but you're feeling overwhelmed. That's OK - I was too. Just as a green lawn starts with a seed and the right conditions to grow, you can't go 100% green in an instant. So, start small, and start by replacing three regularly used products for a healthier and greener you.

Perfume and Cologne

Because these products aren't legally required to list ingredients so companies can protect trade secrets, access to an ingredients list isn't even an option. Synthetic fragrances are made to mimic the scents of vanilla, wild flowers or spice ... but they often aren't made from the real thing.

Plus, fragrance is something you put on almost everyday - and for some people, multiple times and in multiple places on their body.

My recommendation: Florascent 'Premiere de Mai' perfume, $98.95
German company Florascent combines green tangerine, galbanum, rose and jasmine into a floral fusion that is light and natural in a base of alcohol, water,

Read More »from The Three Beauty Products You Should Replace Right Now

Trust me on this one: Every beauty counter, drugstore, or hole-in-the-wall store has samples available for you. The catch? You just have to ask.

While synthetic ingredients are the main perpetrator of allergic reactions, their natural counterparts can still cause allergic reactions. For example, you could be just fine ingesting honey, but topically, it could cause your skin to go haywire. To avoid investing in a product that could potentially cause itchiness, dryness, or discoloration, request a sample so you can perform a patch test before making the full purchase.

As an added benefit, you'll have more time to research the product on sites like Environmental Working Group, where you can search for specific products to learn how it rates in their Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.

Can't find green beauty retailers in your area? Order from online organic beauty retailers, like Saffron Rouge, and get two free samples with every purchase. See more online natural beauty retailers

Read More »from The Surefire Way to Score Free Makeup Samples

Just because it says it's "green" doesn't mean it is. While there's a lot of greenwashing garbage to be found on your local drugstore shelf, some trusted government and independent certification programs exist to give consumers reassurance that they're buying a safe, trustworthy brand. Green Beauty Labels and Terms to Look For

Paraben/Phthalates/PCB-free
Contains no traces of these harsh chemicals. Parabens and phthalates are found in the ingredient list of a product, while PCBs can be found in the plastic of the product's container.

USDA Organic certified
Through the National Organic Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates food ingredients found in cosmetics, and the Certified USDA Organic symbol is one of the most trustworthy labels around, especially on foods. But because the USDA only has jurisdiction over farm-raised ingredients, not all beauty product ingredients are regulated under this program, and there are more than enough ways to get confused.

Read More »from 6 Green Beauty Product Labels You Can Trust

Remember your mother telling you to never trust a stranger? The same theory applies to most beauty products: Don't trust a word they say.

Brands are capitalizing on consumer desire to go green by writing green-friendly catch phrases into product descriptions. What originated as an industry for the improvement of your health now possesses imitators just looking for some extra greenbacks - not the type of green you want companies to prioritize.

Be wary of this language:

• Made with organic essential oils
• Contains organic ingredients
• Made with nontoxic ingredients
• 100 percent natural
• Essentially nontoxic
• Earth-friendly
• Environmentally safer
• Hypoallergenic/Dermatologist Tested/Allergy Tested/Non-Irritating
• Vegan
• Cruelty-Free

Language like "100 percent natural" and "made with organic essential oils" seem legitimate. The reality is that the United States Food & Drug administration only regulates organic food products. That means that

Read More »from 10 Beauty Terms to Be Skeptical About

Just like you would consult the back of a box of cookies to check the calorie content before eating, you should get in the habit of investigating the ingredient lists on your beauty products.

It's impossible (not to mention unrealistic) to avoid every single suspect ingredient - but by steering clear of products with ingredients that can harm both the health of your body and the health of the environment; you're taking solid preventative measures. It's a big step in the right direction.

6 Beauty Product Ingredients to Avoid

Petrochemicals
Examples include petroleum jelly, isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol, methyl alcohol or methanol, butyl alcohol or butanol, ethyl alcohol or ethanol (often used in skin astringents and perfumes or colognes).

Sodium laureth/lauryl sulfates and other sulfate-based detergents
Examples include sodium lauryl ether sulfate; sodium laureth sulphate; sodium lauryl ether sulphate (most commonly used in shampoos, shower gel, bubble bath)

Read More »from 6 Beauty Product Ingredients to Avoid

Air Purifiers

You are so concerned about the quality of the air in your home that you spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on an air purifier, believing that it will, as one company claims, deliver a "shock treatment designed to kill mold and bacteria."

But wait, there's more! That "shock treatment" comes in the form of a highly touted mega-dose of ozone. Companies selling these air purifiers claim that's a good thing.

Health officials know better. Ozone is the chief component of smog. It can scar lung tissue, trigger asthma attacks, cause coughing fits and lead to permanent damage that could shorten your life. That's why the EPA has been cracking down on the sources of ozone outdoors. In other words, ozone is nothing that you want indoors.

The American Lung Association advises people against buying any air "purifier" that produces ozone, and the California Air Resources Board recently published a useful "buyer beware" list of 63 potentially hazardous air Read More »from 6 Surprising Sources of Home Air Pollution