The word on the street is that not everything in the beauty aisle is good for me. If I’m going to present the best side of my face (my left, as my sister once told me), then I’m going to have to either take the extra time to make my own products, or take the time to look beyond the pretty packaging and pretty tempting claims to find out exactly what I’m putting on my face and body. I shouldn’t have to hurt the planet, my pocket, or myself to look good. Looking good should come naturally …
Au Natural.
In India, on a walk down Varanasi’s bathing ghats along the Ganges (see Apple Pie Along the Ganges), a man with a perfumery sold me sandalwood powder and rose water and taught me how to mix it into a facial mask that made my face feel like a baby’s bottom.
- Mix sandalwood powder with rose water to create a mask consistency
- Spread over face with clean fingers and let dry
- Wash off with warm washcloth
Unfortunately, Sandalwood trees are poached in India as much as tigers and elephants, which puts a dent in my conscience when purchased from most Ayurvedic resellers online, so I’m still searching for an online reseller who sells sandalwood powder from trees in Australia that are grown sustainably.
Skin Deep Beauty.
In many countries in the world, beauty products are manufactured with strict regulations, whereas in America, chemicals go into our beauty products and we are clueless to their long-lasting effects. In a recent interview with Anna Cedarstav, a scientist for Earthjustice (a type of law firm for the environment), Anna noted that we come into contact with 84,000 chemicals everyday. 84,000! Women in the twenty to forty year old range have the highest levels of phthalates, chemicals that when studied, change the color of fur, bring on early puberty, and cause obesity in mice. Phthalates are in our body lotions, shampoos, and cosmetics and tests have shown that they are absorbed into the human body.
