The cover of The Green Beauty Guide says it all. Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup and Fragrances. The effects synthetic products have on you. Organic makeup, moisturizers and hair care. Shortcuts to going green without going broke. How to spot organic frauds and gimmicks. She covers all that and more!
In addition to the dangers of synthetic ingredients in traditional beauty products, Ms. Gabriel spends a lot of time discussing the biology of how the skin works and what things are beneficial for it. She describes the uses of toners, cleansers, and moisturizers (among many others). There are also tips about how to notice what your skin or hair is doing and how to naturally make dry hair or skin moister or vice versa, as well as what commercial products she likes with detailed reviews. Not only have I learned about what to look for in my cosmetics and beauty products, but I learned how and when to use them. I love beauty products but frankly don’t use many because I don’t know when or why. I’ve taken several pages of notes and copied a few recipes to use.
I finished the Green Beauty Guide a few weekends ago. Devoured it, really. I had a feeling that our beauty products, much like our cleaners and the pesticides on our food, are really not good for us. I had my “critical thinking cap” on while reading it because frankly, I’m not into the whole “the sky is falling” hysteria that everyone seems to collapse into. In discussing the ideas of the book with my husband, he made the point that it IS probably nearly as bad as she says. Cancer and many other diseases are MUCH more prevelant now than ever and no one is really trying to find out why–they are just trying to fix it. DH pointed out that the people who live to be 100+ usually don’t slather themselves up in 12 different chemicals when they get up in the morning and they probably don’t eat as much convenience food either (thus ingesting less chemicals).
As with most changes to “green” your lifestyle these days — or to be a better steward of what God has given you without the political-environmental BS — is EXPENSIVE! Or it can be anyway. You can go the “extreme” route of making your own — and Gabriel provides many recipes to do this, but some things are just too complicated for the average person to do themselves. If you are looking for a little more convenience and a little less hands on, it’s not cheap to get good, natural products. Even the lower priced end of her recommendations are more than I can get the equivalent regular shampoos for, as an example. Combining super deals and coupons, I could get an $8 bottle of shampoo for a dollar or less. Not so with the more natural products. Also, less preservatives mean that even if you DO find a good deal, it doesn’t pay to stock up– they don’t last as long.
This is a great for anyone hoping to get back to basics. She provides lots of natural beauty recipes and tips and provides alternatives in all price ranges to traditional, chemical laden beauty products. It’s also a good primer for someone who is not real savvy (I resemble that remark) when it comes to beauty–she breaks it all down. I absolutely recommend reading this book.