Beauty products are an area of green living that is often overlooked. You may be eating organic, wearing organic, saving energy in your home, driving a fuel-efficient car, buying carbon offsets and planting trees, but are you still slathering a chemical cocktail all over your face every morning?

Skin is an amazing thing. It’s not what seals us off from the outside world, it’s the way that we experience the outside world. We experience our world through touch, and we also absorb a whole lot of what’s outside through our skin. So it follows that’s it’s important to put only the purest and most natural ingredients on our skin. Helena Rubenstein once famously said that you shouldn’t put anything on your face that you wouldn’t be happy to put in your mouth.

Here are some pointers for making sure that the cosmetics and beauty products that you use are best for you and best for the environment:

1.  Go for organic wherever possible.
2.  The word “natural” on the bottle does not necessarily mean that the product is all natural.
3.  Avoid synthetic chemicals, especially parabens, mercury, thimerosol, lead acetate, formaldehyde, toluene, petroleum distillates, ethylacrylate, coal tar, dibutyl phthalate, potassium dichromate and artificial fragrances and colours.
4.  Go for ammonia-free vegetable or herb based hair dyes.
5.  Choose natural, water-based nail varnishes and solvent free removers.
6.  Try essential oils and products that contain them for a natural and powerful burst of cleaning and healing power.
7.  Opt for natural sun protection.