I’m hoping after reading part one, this whole beauty product label thing isn’t quite so greek to you. If you are anything like me, after being informed of all the uglies that were in my beauty products, you may have freaked out when using your body wash this week. Its as if, all of a sudden, you feel your body absorbing the dangerous chemicals through your pores. Although that is probably the case, and a body wash switch is in your future, let us beauty nerds continue to learn about all this label reading. Let’s shift our focus onto some of the wonderful ingredients we should look for in beauty products.

5 AMAZING Natural Ingredients in Our Beauty Products…

1. Aloe Vera: A desert plant rich in vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids. It is soothing and hydrating to the skin.

2. Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C): Its vitamin C so its all things good for us!

3. Shea Butter: Extracted from the nut of the African shea tree, it has natural antioxidant properties with a high content of essential fatty acids. Helps to restore elasticity, heal cuts and burns without scarring, and moisturize dry skin.

4. Rose Oil: Just as beautiful as it sounds, rose oil is both an astringent and emollient oil. Helps to tone and tighten skin and reduce the severity of acne breakouts.

5. Argan Oil: Made from green nuts of the Argan tree, this oil has been called “liquid gold”. It holds anti-aging properties (lots of vitamin E), anti-oxidants and fatty acids.

Extra Credit: When reading a label…

1. Labels list ingredients in descending order of quantity. This means when you see that delicious ingredient mentioned fifteenth on the list, you can bet there probably isn’t much of that yumminess in your bottle.

2. Labels list ingredients of 1% or less in any order. This is getting tricky! All the more reason to keep those ugly chemicals completely out of your beauty products.

3. Beware of the claims! Terms like “hypo-allergenic”, “all-natural” and “for sensitive skin” are not regulated by law. Even the term “organic” is sneaky as it can only apply to food grade ingredients. The USDA only certifies agricultural ingredients. If some of the product’s ingredients are truly organic, you will see the USDA seal on the bottle.

4. Less is more! Look for products that have a short list of ingredients. Also, think if the product is necessary. Beauty product brand marketers have a way of making us believe we need a different soap, lotion, or serum for every part of our body. Before you know it we have racked up bills based on a “need” for products of every type.

I’ll leave you with two more online ingredient resources. Click here to check out the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, a great tool in researching the safety of cosmetic ingredients. Click here to browse allnaturalcosmetics.com. They have an ingredient index and many recommended natural beauty products. Now get to work and start reading those labels in your bathroom cabinets and showers. If this is still borderline “greek” to you, please feel free to ask questions and if you are ready to be deemed the “greek professor”, please share all your beauty product secrets and recommendations!

That’s my jam,

Kristle