Traveling around the world, I see beautiful places, people and things. Those of you who know me will be shocked to hear I strike up conversations with complete strangers on their beauty products and rituals. One constant point that keeps popping up is that French girls (and all Europeans) have only one thing that American girls do not. They have access to basic high quality, clean beauty products (hair, face, body). This is because countries like France, do not allow toxic ingredients in their beauty products.
Why care about clean beauty? Aside from looking better and feeling better, here are a few motivating statistics from FoodBabe.
Since purchasing beauty products in Europe is rarely an option, what is a girl to do? Do some investigative shopping!! My theory being, there must be products which make us look fabulous without toxic extras in the USA.
Bergdorf Goodman in New York City was my first stop. Why? It has a large selection of non-mainstream products and well informed beauty advisors (often not on commission). Not only am I likely to learn a new product-line or beauty ritual, I get to explore New York City.
Bergdorf’s is where I discovered Tata Harper. Tata started her company because she wanted to look good without risking her health (some toxic ingredients are cancer-causing). Since she could not find products with 100% natural ingredients which also worked, she created her own. My Tata Harper favorite, so far, is the Resurfacing Mask (for glowing skin).
The next “clean” product line, I found and love, Jane Iredale, was introduced to me by the skin specialist at Torrey Pines Lodge Spa in California. Jane Iredale‘s beauty product insight came early on. In 1994, she understood from her movie business background that adding toxic chemicals onto the skin caused blemishes and other problems. My favorites are her tinted moisturizer, eyeshadow and lipliner.
My next stop was Charlotte, NC, where, my sister and I investigated one of the big department stores. We were successful in our mission only because we found an associate willing to ignore the mainline brand commission incentives. She showed us French Girl Mint Sea Polish and Innersense Hydrating Cream Hairbath/ Innersense Color Radiance Daily Conditioner . While my focus had not been on hair products (because my hair is such a nightmare), I thought “why not?”. Secretly, I thought, these bottles will sit on a shelf until I give them away. But, I was brave and they worked as did the body scrub!
Finally, strolling down Greenwich Avenue in Connecticut, I chanced upon Sherwood Greenlife, a beauty product store where every product sold has been vetted by Rhonda Sherwood and is clean. Rhonda, a biomedical engineer herself, served as Vice Chairman, Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health, reinforcing her knowledge of the importance of living without toxins.
After this research (which is always fun), my friend Judy, reminded me of Gwyneth Paltrow, who also got the clean beauty need early on. Gwyneth formulated her own moisturizer named “Goop.” She grew Goop from a product into a platform for clean beauty and fashion.
While you do not have to swap out every product you use, buying a couple new beauty products can be a real pick-me-up. If you do not know how to find products that leave out the icky stuff (because really who can read or understand that fine print), try one of these websites: Goop or Sherwood Greenlife.
Avery Tip: Remember, buying a French brand in the USA is not the same as buying it in France. This is because the same French brand sold in Europe will have different ingredients to the one sold in the USA.
