I love beauty products, I've used them religiously
all my life and for many years whilst in a stressful but decent paid job in
television I would pride myself on buying high-end beauty products to match a glamorous,
fast paced, city lifestyle. Like so many women when my pay cheque rolled in it
was reward time! I'd be off to buy myself a new Chanel perfume, Dior lipstick,
pop for a manicure or smother myself in a good fake tan.
In 2009 that all changed. I found myself in a lot
of pain and struggling to work, I was diagnosed with severe endometriosis, I’ve had four operations since to try and minimize this chronic illness that is
a primary cause of infertility in women. Living with endometriosis catapulted me into a new
way of living. I stopped drinking, started eating healthy and even started doing yoga!
I came
across an article one day on how chemicals in skincare products have been
proven to exacerbate endometriosis and can even cause various cancers through their toxic ingredients. I went
straight to my bathroom cabinet, and to my horror, I found out nearly every
beautifully packaged, heavenly scented product I owned was packed full of
toxins, carcinogens and hormone disruptors that I was absorbing into my skin
everyday (on average women use about 15-20 different products a day). For me,
it was a stark realization - I was in a state of total ignorance rubbing toxic chemicals into my skin on a
daily basis.
I started to avoid products with parabens and
detergents (sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulphate) and DEA and TEA,
which react with nitrates to become carcinogenic nitrosamine, and are known to
disrupt the endocrine system.
I began to look for pure, organic skincare products
and have stuck to using them and aromatherapy since.
However, as a girl who likes to feel pampered and
indulged every once in a while I have struggled to find products that do the
job as well as some of my old favorite (but toxic) brands. The formulations
either don't smell as good, are the wrong consistency or the homemade/ethnic
style packaging is a total turn off..
In the last year or two I have noticed a distinct
difference in the products coming on to the market, there are now a few organic
skincare products that feel good, smell great and look cool (still not enough of them if you ask me...)
I will be reviewing these as well as sharing various interesting articles and facts about skincare products, essential oils and how to look and feel drop dead gorgeous by using organic beauty products.
Come on folks, it's time to liberate our skin!
Love,
Sarah x
