Photo credit: | spoon |

With the arrival of the New Year, we are in the mood to organize and clear out the clutter in our homes, offices and closets.  The same needs to happen for your beauty regimen.

Most of us have way too many products in our bathroom cupboard and probably use too many of them in any given day.  For freshness and effectiveness, the less you have on hand at one time, the better.

There is something very liberating about paring down on your beauty routine.  In our busy, hectic days it seems we need to let go here and there, and if you can shed a few minutes off of your get-ready-time in the morning you are off to a great start.

You really only need a handful of good beauty products to keep your skin happy and healthy, starting with a good cleanser.  You may need to switch to a more moisturizing cleanser in colder months, like a milk or cream cleanser.  The lowest cost and most effective cleanser for dry skin is an oil.  Only a small amount is needed to remove makeup, dirt and impurities and if you are especially in need of more moisture, simply forgo any toner. (more…)

Photo credit: annia316

Purchasing and using nontoxic skincare and personal care products is of the utmost importance for our health.  Our skin is our largest organ and absorbs approximately 60% of what we put on it, and if that is harmful chemical/synthetic ingredients….you get the general idea.

While healthy skincare products equals better health overall, how much does it affect our appearance?  After all, we all like to look good and spend a fair sum on products that we feel help us achieve this goal.  But we need to take a look at the bigger (and, yes, slightly more scientific) picture.

Our toxic body burden lends a huge hand in the premature aging of our skin, more so even than sun, stress or gravity.  “No matter how many anti-wrinkle serums you rub into your face, your body is crippling under the weight of the industrial toxins that have entered our food, air and personal care products in the last fifty year,” says Julie Gabriel, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, in her new book, The Green Beauty Guide.  (more…)