One of my overarching goals for 2017 is to actively make progress on caring for my body, mind and heart. The term "self-care" has become pretty popular over the past several years and is something that I have wanted to do more of, to do better at but I have found that to do that, I needed to make the concept a little more grounded for myself. There are so many different ways that you can approach this but I wanted to create a self-care series where I can share with you those things which I am actively implementing in my life and how they are working for me.
The first thing that I am going to be sharing are the changes that I have made to my beauty products. For the past five or six years, I have been struggling with my hormones. At first I went to my GP who suggested that I go back onto the Pill to regulate my levels but I knew that this wasn't the right solution for me.....I wanted to find out what the problem was and a way to fix it rather than taking something that would cover it up (this is totally a personal choice and I am by no means suggesting that you shouldn't take your doctors advise. I guess I'm just saying that the choice is yours to make, and this is the one that I made for me - so do what is right for you).
I came home and started reading every book and every article I could get my hands on related to hormones and natural solutions. As with everything, there is a ton of information out there but one of the themes that came up time and time again was the impact that the chemicals in our skin and beauty products can have on your hormones. So I downloaded an app called Think Dirty and scanned each of my skin care products to find out how "dirty" they were. The app rates the products on how full they are of chemicals and other nasty ingredients and I was horrified to see just how bad they were.
Have you heard the quote by Maya Angelou that goes "When you know better, you do better"? Well that is exactly how I felt now that I had this information. As i used up the products I had, I began to replace them with more natural ones. I did a lot of research trying to find these products so I thought I would share with you my favorite ones that I am using at the moment.
1 Moisturizer | Trilogy Vital Moisturing Cream is definitely my favorite face cream that I have tried. It leaves my skin hydrated and isnt greasy at all. I bought mine from Feelunique.com and will be buying it again.
2 Shampoo and Conditioner | I have had a few hit and misses with this one but finally found some shampoo and conditioner by Pureology that I actually like and that works well with my hair.
3 Exfoliating face mask | This mask smells amazing and while I wouldn't, I'm sure you could totally eat this if a little were to fall onto your lip. It provides a deep clean and smooths and brightens your skin. You can find this here as well as many other places online.
4 Hydrating face mask | Sukin hydrating facial masque was a happy accidental find. I was walking through Boots and it was on display at the end of the isle. This is an Australian brand that is paraben free and natural.... and super affordable. They have a great range of products and I will be trying more of them out in the future.
5 Face wash | When looking for a face wash I have two requirements. Number 1, it needs to froth. Number 2, it needs to give a good clean without leaving my skin dry. Origins Checks and Balances ticks these boxes for me.
6 Body lotion | This for me was one of the first items I looked to replace. I tried a few different ones along the way but have settled on Weleda's Sea Buckthorn body lotion. Just lovely.
7 Deodorant | This has been my newest adventure.....and the most tricky so far. I've tried a number of different brands but found that none of them have really met the no stinking by the end of the day rule that I have. My latest find is a little different from the normal sort of deodorant but it smells great and more importantly, it works...even after an hour and a half playing netball. Aurelia Cream Deodorant is a cream consistency that you rub onto your underarm and then turns into a powder. The brand has a great free from policy and is worth a look.
8 Body wash | Yes to Blueberries is super affordable and is pretty popular in most high street shops which is great.
And that is it for the first installment in this series. I hope you find this useful and if you have any recommendations for products that I should try please let me know.
