We’re pretty excited to see that a mainstream blog, DDG Daily, is having an all natural beauty month. To open the month, as well as featuring my favourite natural beauty product in a blog post, they’ve written another great blog post about how you can make the switch to safer products, whether you want to go certified organic skin care or just natural makeup alternatives.

I thought I’d give a summary of their advice and how it specifically applies to the products available at Shop Naturally.

Organic Certification

Look out for organic certification if you want to go fully organic. However, it’s not necessary and many small brands include a large number or organic ingredients but can’t afford to go through the certification process. On our site, on the ingredients tab, we have a set of icons which will tell you if the product is certified organic as a whole or whether it just contains some organic ingredients.

Ingredients To Avoid

The major players mentioned in the post that I want to mention are SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) which is used as a foaming agent, triclosan which is used in anti-bacterial products, BHA and BHT commonly found in anti-aging products, DBP found in nail polish and parabens for preservatives.

If you’re shopping with us, we’ve done the hard work for you here, you won’t find any of these in our store.

Preservatives

This is an area where not everyone agrees. Let me start by saying it’s really important that products are preserved correctly, stored correctly, and their shelf life is monitored, especially for those products with a natural preservative. Any natural or organic skin care products with a natural preservative should be used within 6 months of opening. Airless pumps are the safer option but not always possible. Try not to dip fingers in jars and if you must, clean hands. Don't store in a steamy bathroom either.

There are plenty of people online who will use fear to sell natural products and demonise natural products with a chemical preservative. We’re not one of them. We have lots of products in our store that are certified organic and contain only natural preservatives. We have lots of products in store that are natural and contain only natural preservatives. We have a handful that are natural and contain a small amount of chemical preservative in them. If you react to the chemical preservatives, it's really best to avoid them, but plenty of people don't and are happy to choose this option to save their wallet. We feel it's all about REDUCING the load on your body, not being super strict, obsessive and paranoid about everything you come in to contact with.

Why do we stock products with a small amount of chemical preservative? It’s simple. Toxicity is about dose. There are plenty of natural products on the market with a budget friendly price tag, that work really well and contain a trace amount of chemical preservative to keep them safe. At Shop Naturally, we draw the line at 1%, but most are far less than that. If a product contains a natural preservative, you’ll see an icon on the Ingredients tab of the product. If they contain a chemical preservative, the icon will not appear.

The Top 5 Offenders

DDG Daily give a list of the biggest offenders in the beauty industry for including ingredients that are potentially unsafe. They are lipstick, hairspray, deodorant, nail polish and anti-aging creams.

Below are our top product tips to replace mainstream products found in the top 5.

Our top pick organic lipstick

I’m going with Zuii for my favourite organic lipstick pick. Why? 18 colours to choose from, certified organic, made in Australia and you can buy factory packed samples to try.

Shop all organic lipstick

Our top pick natural hair spray

New to the store, Andalou Naturals have two hair sprays, one is a medium hold infused with sunflower and citrus, the other is a full volume spray to bring lift and body and is infused with lavender and biotin. All natural preservatives and just $13.95 each

Shop all natural hair styling products

Our top pick natural deodorant

No secrets here, if you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that we’re in love with the Erica Brooke range of natural deodorant. It comes in a glass jar and has a string of amazing reviews. The Him & Her scent is my favourite although the customers favour the Neroli & Vanilla.

Shop all natural deodorant

Our top pick natural nail polish

Butter London have a 7-free range which is all we have available at the moment. We are waiting patiently for Scotch Naturals to finish reformulation of their water based nail polish which will be safer again.

Shop all natural nail polish

Our top pick anti-aging cream

The premium pick here is definitely Mukti, but at $110 a jar, it’s not within everyone’s price range. For a naturally preserved & budget friendly alternative, Andalou naturals have a full Age Defying range with prices around $24.95. You can buy a starter pack with 5 travel size products to sample the most popular products in the range.

Our bonus mention. Clean off any natural makeup, including dark coloured lipsticks, eye makeup and even waterproof and smudgeproof mascara with coconut oil. It’s certified organic, cheap, and probably already in your home.