Aisle 5 – Healthy Challenges 1: Beauty Products

• Challenge 15: Staying lovely without chemicals
• Challenge 16: Can you make your own skincare at home?

I have been plagued by sensitive skin since my late teens, so have always been wary of what I put on it. At the same time, I am compulsive about facial and hand moisturising, so have an eternal quest for the perfect products!

I turned away from the mainstream band-wagon more than a decade ago, when I finally could no longer ignore the excess packaging and ethical mistrust I had of many companies. I was a fan of The Body Shop for many years and found my solace in their hemp creams for face and hands, until Anita Rodderick sold out to Loreal, who are owned by Nestle, adding insult to injury. Giving up my beloved products was, however, a step I was prepared to take for my ethics.

For a while I turned to Lush and found a cream that suited my skin and was happy, however I go through this stuff at an alarming rate and couldn’t justify the frequent trip to Chadstone to buy more! Although they have an online option, I really needed something I could rely on getting without planning ahead. So I turned to the local health food store and found not only alternatives for my face and hands, but also discovered Alchemy and Akin products and was able find new shampoo and conditioner that were gentle on my skin and my ethics.

Since reading the book which inspired this blogging, I have now discovered another skin cream and am trying Moo Goo! So far, so good!

I have toyed with making my own products in the past, but came to accept there are better ways to spend my time and I am happy to pay for someone else to do the creating!