*I hear it all the time. People work out and eat well but have no idea where to start when it comes to a cleaner beauty routine. Well, I’ve got you covered! Read on for 5 easy tips to start the switch to clean beauty. And bonus? They are super easy and you can start today! Download this cheat sheet.
Every time I turn around I feel like there’s someone else talking about clean beauty. Yall, this is a good thing and I’m not mad about it!
But, I know it can be extremely overwhelming to think about doing a major overhaul of the products you currently use. Or, knowing what is or isn’t a clean product. And, then there’s also the question of where to even start?
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or stressful. And, you DEFINITELY don’t have to do it all in a day. It’s something that can be done over time.
Why I switched to greener beauty products
First, let me quickly back up and tell you WHY I switched to clean beauty products. You can get the full story here, but in a nutshell, I’m a two-time cancer survivor.
YES! Two times! That will make anyone stop and take a closer look at what they are being exposed to in their environment. And, that’s exactly what I did.
I started checking labels on the food I was eating. I couldn’t believe that half of the ingredients used were things I’d never heard of. Much less me being able to pronounce.
I slowly began to change my diet to be as healthy and organic as possible. Even my wine is “healthy”! Never giving up my wine lol 🤪 (more on that in another soon to be post)!
taking a closer look at what I was putting on my skin
But, what really got me thinking was what in the world was I putting on my skin? After all, it’s our largest organ so I probably needed to start paying attention.
I wanted to share a few startling stats about the state of the beauty care industry today.
- There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today and many don’t have any safety data.
- Decades of studies indicate that serious health issues (including but not limited to asthma, cancer, and infertility) are on the rise and are due in some part to our ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals.
- Many of our personal care products contain harmful ingredients that are known endocrine disrupters (cancer, asthma, infertility, etc).
- Over the past two decades, the European Union has banned more than 1,400 chemicals in the product formulas of personal care and The United States has only partially banned 30 to date. Um – say whaaaaa???
- The United States has not passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients used in personal care products since 1938.
- According to the EWG (Environmental Working Group):
- Women use an average of 12 products a day containing 168 different chemicals.
- Men use fewer products, but still put 85 chemicals on their bodies.
- Teens on average use 17 personal care products a day.
Say what?? We all deserve better!
I hope this doesn’t offend anyone when I say this but WHAT. THE. HELL? Yall, that is literally insaaaaaaane! Okay, I won’t harp on that any longer because you can go and read that post, but really? SUPER NOT COOL!
Okay, back to the subject at hand lol! You can see why the concern for our health and safety comes into question after reading those stats.
So, how do you switch over to a healthier and cleaner beauty routine? So glad you asked! Below are 5 very easy tips to switch to clean beauty that you can start implementing TODAY! Download the free checklist to help you out with everything!
5 tips to switch to clean beauty
Start Slowly by replacing one Product at a time
First off, don’t think you have to go and throw away everything you are currently using and replace with new clean products. I think Jay and my wallet would not be happy with me if I did that in the beginning.
My biggest tip here is to start replacing products one by one as you run out of them. And, start with the products that cover the largest amount of your body. Be patient with yourself and do it over time
For example – lotion, shampoo and conditioner, or soap. Soaps and lotion cover a large portion of our body. Shampoo and Conditioner are used on the old noggin. There are so many unknowns of the potential side effects of chemicals in our products that I don’t want to take a chance and be a guinea pig.
Keep in mind The Term “natural” and “fragrance” mean nothing
You know how some of your favorite products smell oh so good? Weeeellllll…….often times we have no idea what ingredients are making up those sweet smells and they are just listed as “fragrance”.
In a detailed article on Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, they explain it best – “Many products list “fragrance” on the label, but very few name the specific ingredients that make up a “fragrance.” This lack of disclosure prevents consumers from knowing the full list of ingredients in their products.”
“Natural” or “Organic” are often thrown on labels in the clean industry but that can be VERY misleading. Some companies will say that their product is natural or organic because one of the ingredients that make up the product is. But, the rest of them could be potentially harmful.
This is where you have to be your own advocate and do your own research. If you are going to be spending your hard-earned money on products, make sure they are not potentially hazardous to your health.
Which leads me to my next tip!
start reading ingredient labels
Beautycounter took a lot of the guesswork out of me having to read and try and figure out what ingredients were bad for me and which ones were not. They have The Never List™ which is made up of more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals that they never use as ingredients in their products.
Like, how cool is that? I don’t have tons of time to sit around and learn about every single chemical that MAY OR MAY not be hazardous to my health and if they are in the products I’m using.
But, HEAR ME OUT 🙂 You do NOT have to use Beautycounter. I use the majority of their personal care products but not all.
My goal here is to just get YOU to start making the switch to what works best for you and your family!
Download the (free) EWG app to scan the products you currently use
Yall, I literally use this app ALL. THE. TIME. Go to the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetic Database where you can scan the products you are currently using (along with cleaning supplies, food, etc) and it will give you a safety rating for each. I was SHOCKED to see where my products ranked before making the switch.
They also have The EWG VERIFIED™. When you see the EWG VERIFIED™ mark on a product, you can be sure it’s free from EWG’s chemicals of concern and meets their strictest standards for your health.
Don’t be afraid to try new things
And lastly, see what works for you. Don’t be afraid to try new products that are safer for you! What works for me might not work for you and vice versa.
We vote with our dollars when we buy safer products. With more and more of us opting for safer options, the more the beauty industry is taking note of that. Which, I hope, will give us many more safer options to choose from in the future.
See if you can get a trial size or sample of a product when you are trying out new products. Most companies and stores will let you return products if they aren’t working out for you or you don’t like them.
Even though I think you’ll LOVE Beautycounter’s products, they have a 60-day money back policy if you aren’t satisfied with the product for any reason.
Final Thoughts on switching to clean beauty
See, that wasn’t too bad, right? I know it can feel super overwhelming at first, but just remember to start slow. A little progress over time makes it more manageable for you and won’t drive you nutburgers.
I’m no scientist or doctor (I know, I know, shocking, right)? But, I do a lot of research and definitely think you should too so you can make the best decision for you and your family.
One other key thing I want to comment on….none of us can live in a bubble (well, technically I guess you could if you really wanted to). There are going to be so many things out of our control when it comes to the environment around us.
But, if we can do our best to limit our exposure to all the chemicals that are out there, that is a good thing. From your house cleaners to your personal care products, healthy swaps can help with that.
Download the free cheat sheet with 5 easy tips to make the switch to clean beauty.
I do use a lot of Beautycounter products because I freaking love them and I’ve been a consultant for over three years. Like I said above, they took the guesswork out for me because I know all of their products have already been tested for safety and harsh chemicals.
But, I use so many other products besides them and I’m working on a blog post with all of those rounded up for yall. I’m in the middle of testing out a bunch of other cleaner beauty options (deodorant, etc) and will include those as well in the roundup.
clean swap series for health and home
STARTING NEXT WEEK: I’m actually going to be starting a “swap this for that” health and wellness series next week that will be focusing on quick easy tips for starting to swap out your current products to safer options for you, your family and your home!
I wanted to start out with a post on how you can slowly start transitioning before we really dive in.
I’ll post a lot about the series in my stories on Instagram and save them to the highlighted folder “swap this for that” and you can reference them anytime.
Sign up for occasional inbox chats
Want to join my clean beauty newsletter and get emails regarding making the switch to cleaner, safer beauty? It’s not all Beautycounter – I promise! It’s on personal care products to bug spray to everything in between! Sign up here and *wink, wink* there might be a surprise for you!
any questions on any of the tips to switch to clean beauty?
Yall let me know in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them. If I don’t know the answer I’ll do my best to find it!
Anything specific you’d like to see in the swap this for that series?
Thanks for taking the time and hanging out with me today! Chat soon! xxoo
DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service after clicking on an affiliate link, I may receive a small commission from the sale at no additional cost to you. Please note that I only recommend products that I love and want to share with you! This helps make The Silver Lined Life possible. For more information, see my disclosures here.
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