Hey y’all! As many of my readers know, this blog started out as a space to share a lot of my natural DIY health and beauty products! I’ve tried making just about EVERYTHING! I’ve shared my successes on the blog and I still actually do make some of my own products, but being a new busy mom, I usually just opt to BUY quality healthy non toxic health and beauty products now rather than to make my own because my time is more precious and I just ain’t got time for that! This post will be a guide to all my favorite products that I use myself and are tried and true and SAFE! If you’re not the DIY type or just don’t have time for that, check out these awesome products I love! I’m sure there are TONS of quality brands out there, but these are just the ones I personally use and love and can recommend! Note- The Amazon links are affiliate links that earn me a small commission if you make a purchase through them! None of the other product/website links are affiliate, I just really like em. 😉
Makeup-
I’ve dabbled in homemade makeup with some success but it really is so much easier to just buy it! I do still make my own face powder because it literally takes me one minute and I don’t really need/want a ton of coverage so the homemade stuff works perfect for me. I also really don’t wear much makeup- light powder, blush, eyeliner, and mascara are usually all I wear. There are two brands I use and highly recommend- One is a small shop run by my friend Alexis and her family called LuLu Beans Naturals. They physically make the products themselves in small batches and use simple all natural ingredients. They have great face powders, bronzers, blush, eyeshadows, lotions, toners, scrubs, soap, and lip balm! I am also a huge fan of 100% Pure makeup. Their products are pretty expensive but everything I’ve gotten from them has lasted me a LONGGG time since I don’t wear much, so it’s worth it to me to get their makeup. A few makeup staples I love from them are their mascara (I got this one that smells like blackberries!) and their cream blush is amazing! As for eyeliner, I usually go for this simple organic charcoal eyeliner pencil I found on Amazon!
Toothpaste
I’ve tried a couple natural toothpastes that I like. My favorite is Himalaya Whitening Toothpaste! It tastes, looks, and feels like “regular” toothpaste but with much safer ingredients and doesn’t contain carrageenan, fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate, or harsh abrasives. It whitens using fruit enzymes! Another excellent option is Earthpaste! This stuff is even simpler but it does take some getting used to because it doesn’t foam up like normal toothpaste. The only ingredients are water, redmond clay, real salt, essential oils, and xylitol! Its very similar to my homemade toothpaste with the obvious convenience of being in a tube rather than a messy jar. 🙂
Deodorant
Natural deodorants are weird. And tricky. I’ve had a heck of a time finding deodorants I like. I actually have a theory about natural deodorants.. This might sound weird, but hear me out- In a natural living group I’m in on Facebook, there was a thread about natural deodorants. Reading what everyone used I saw a few people mention similar things- that they LOVED using such-and-such for a couple months and then it stopped working. Hmm. I saw several people mention this and I’ve had the exact same experience with both of my homemade natural deodorants- this spray, and this cream. They both worked wonderfully for a few months and gradually became less affective. So my theory is that maybe we just need to switch it up every few months to keep our body guessing!? I don’t know, it sounds weird but it’s my only conclusion. But with that being said, I do have a store bought deodorant that has been really effective for me, and that’s Schmidt’s deodorant, I love the bergamot lime scent! (it comes in a stick or in a jar- the jar worked way better than the stick for me for some reason so I recommend the jar only.) I’ve tried tons of natural deodorants on the market and this one is my favorite- it works and smells great..like a popsicle! But I also am a fan of my homemade deodorant options too for switching it up!
Shampoo/Conditioner
I’ve written a lot about my journey with “no-poo” but sadly I am no longer doing this! I did no-poo for over 2 years but recently stopped- I’ll explain more below. Right now I’m using actual shampoo but I would consider it “low-poo” because it is nothing like most stuff you buy at the store. The shampoo I use is from 100% Pure and every ingredient is plant based! I read the ingredients list and was familiar with every single ingredient except a couple which I researched thoroughly before deciding to use it. (They we’re plant based too.) This stuff is also a little expensive but I still only wash my hair once a week so it lasts forever. I stopped doing no-poo about a month after Gabe was born. Gabe is nearly 8 months old and I’m still on the SAME BOTTLE I originally bought to try. It has about an inch left at the bottom, so it looks like one bottle will last me 7-8 months. The soap nut wash routine I was doing just didn’t jive with my postpartum hormones or something… It wasn’t cutting it anymore. My hair was just icky with a soap nut wash ever since I gave birth (I’ve heard from lots of other women that they had a similar experience after giving birth and trying to stick with no-poo) so I knew it was time for me to switch to a low-poo product and I’ve been extremely happy with it! I also use the conditioner that goes along with that shampoo but I haven’t noticed a difference with it honestly. I just used the shampoo for a few months and then bought the conditioner thinking it might make my hair even better but my hair feels the same. I probably won’t buy the conditioner again cause it doesn’t make enough of a difference for me.
Essential Oils
People always ask me where I buy my essential oils! I’ve been using Eden’s Garden oils for a few years now and I love them. I truly believe there isn’t one brand that’s the only good one, I think there are lots of brands with great oils! I chose Eden’s Garden mostly because they’re a Christian company, and they sell directly to the consumer so there’s no middle man. This makes the oils so much more affordable than most competitors who sell through distributors. The quality is amazing – they’re 100% pure therapeutic grade oils, just like other brands, and they’re really transparent about all the third party testing and quality standards that they have so I’m really confident in what I’m buying. They also have an adorable kid-safe line of oil blends for various ailments that I love. I just bought a bunch of the pre-diluted roller blends so I can be sure it’s safe enough to start using with Gabe. So far I’ve gotten sleepy head, shoo fly, calm ’em down, sniffles and sneezes, healthy hero, head-a-sore-us, and tummy aid. I keep them all in a little zippy pouch that I throw in the diaper bag and have with me all the time. 🙂
That’s about it! I’m pretty minimal with products I use in general so that’s really it. I don’t use face wash, I use coconut oil for a lot of things, and still make some of my own creams and such. I don’t use any baby products with Gabe at this time. No baby wash or baby shampoo. Just water 95% of the time! I think I’ve used soap on him a total of 3-4 times since he was born.. (Crazy right?!) and when I do I just use diluted foamed castile soap (we like Dr. Bronners) that we use for washing our hands. I wash his hair with water only and it works great! I wish my hair was as easy as his. He has some crazy untamable hair but its beautiful and so soft and barely/rarely gets dirty! If I switch over to using any baby products with him I’ll definitely update with my recommendations but I don’t think babies really need all that stuff. 🙂
What are your favorite natural products?! Let me know in the comments!