facial cleansers

I've been test driving a few facial cleansers over the past couple of months. Here's the rundown.


Green Beaver Aloe Gel Cleanser
According to the package, this product "Does not contain harsh detergents, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), methyl or propylparaben (preservatives), artificial fragrances, dyes, petrolatum, propylene glycol or animal products." Since this is a Canadian company, I wasn't surprised when I didn't find it on Skin Deep. But thanks to their new user tool I entered the ingredients myself and it came out with a fantastic 1 out of 10. I was very happy with this result because I LOVE THIS CLEANSER. It's perfect for my combination skin. Not drying at all but very effective on the oily areas. It has a beautiful grapefruit, lemon scent and we all know that I'm a sucker for citrus. The best part is that a little goes a long way. A dime sized squeeze is enough to clean my entire face and neck, including mascara. I will definitely be buying this again. I paid $13.99 for it at Goodness Me.

Alba Organics Hawaiian Pineapple Enzyme Facial Cleanser
I bought this one before I discovered Skin Deep. Unfortunately, it gets a 5 out of 10 rating. It contains polyparaben. It does clean well and smells lovely but is not safe for the eye area, as I found out when I tried to use it to remove my eyeliner and mascara. Wow, does it ever sting! For this reason (and the polyparaben), I probably won't be buying it again. I am frankly too lazy to use both an eye makeup remover and a cleanser so I need cleanser that is safe on the eyes. I bought this one for $12.99 at Goodness Me.



Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash
Now this one is interesting. I was thrilled to see that it received a 1 out of 10, low hazard rating on Skin Deep. Some of the package claims include: "No animal ingredients or testing. No alcohol, detergents, artificial color or synthetic perfumes." Excellent! Actually, not so much. The cleanser is incredibly watery, making it impossible to use with your bare hands. So you'll need to have a washcloth or one of those pouf things. The tea tree aroma is completely overwhelming. I actually choked and coughed the first time I used it. And it's incredibly drying which is fine on my oily forehead but not great for the rest of my face. I think I'll pack this one away until the hot summer months when my skin gets really greasy. But even then, I definitely won't be using it everyday. Unfortunately I can't recall where I bought it or how much it cost.



Avalon Organics Hydrating Lavender Toner
Ahh how I love lavender! The fragrance of this toner is beautiful. Unfortunately, it doesn't rate will on Skin Deep with a moderate, 4 out or 10 rating. Out of all of the toners/astringents on the site, 64% score better than this one. The main culprit is salicylic acid. It does work well though. Oddly enough for a toner, it is hydrating. Most toners completely dry out my skin so I don't use them very often. But this one does clear up the oil while not leaving my skin dry. Still, I think I will try a few more. I picked this one up at Whole Foods for $8.99

so what's the deal with parabens?

In my search for safer cosmetics, I have noticed a lot of products, shampoos and conditioners mostly, advertising that they are paraben free. So what are parabens and why would I rather be without them?

Parabens are a group of preservatives added to beauty products to keep them from growing bacteria and to increase their shelf life. They are widely used in the cosmetic industry because they are cheap and have, until recently, been considered safe. Recent studies have linked parabens to increased estrogen levels and increased risks of breast cancer. This recent article in the Chicago Tribune gives a brief but good summary. So while concerns are rising over parabens, the US FDA has stated that consumers do not need to be concerned.

The way I see it, if a few studies have shown links between parabens and breast cancer, there will probably me more. So I picked out a couple of paraben-free shampoos & conditioners to test them out.


Avalon Organics has a range of skin, body & hair care products including a baby line. They are a company committed to producing quality products using safe ingredients. Their shampoos are made without the use of parabens or sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates.

I purchased two shampoos and one conditioner. The Peppermint Revitalizing Shampoo has an intense peppermint scent and tingles on the scalp. I find that it works especially well when my hair gets a bit greasy or when my scalp is really itchy. The Ylang Ylang Glistening Shampoo is also very aromatic and cleans really well. I can't say that my hair appeared shinier than usual, but I am blessed with healthy, moderately shiny hair so I don't really need a lot of help in that department.

The Clarifying Lemon Conditioner is excellent. I'm a sucker for a good citrus scent and this one is beautiful. And I found that I didn't have to use very much, just a quarter size dollop on my long hair, to get a great conditioning effect.



I also picked up a bottle of Burt's Bees Super Shiny Grapefruit & Sugar Beet Shampoo. Burt's Bees is an earth friendly company that specializes in natural beauty products. This shampoo is paraben sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate and phthalate free. The scent is lovely and quite sweet and it left my hair squeaky clean and shiny.

The only thing I had difficulty with all three shampoos was the lather, or lack thereof. I guess this has something to do with the lack of chemicals in the formulation but at first it was very weird to not have a head full of lather. With the Burt's Bees in particular, I found I had to use a lot more than I normally would to get a decent lather. For that reason alone, I probably won't buy the Burt's Bees again. The lather problem was not as bad with the Avalon Organics shampoos and I found that after a couple of months of using them, I got used to the reduced lather.

As for the cost, the Avalon Organics products were $8.99 at Whole Foods in Oakville and $7.49 at Goodness Me in Burlington. I picked up the Burt's Bees at Shopper's Drug Mart for $10.99. Since my hair is just as clean and healthy as before, I've decided to stick with paraben free shampoos and conditioners and look forward to trying other brands.

mmm...chocolate

Those who know me, know that I love chocolate. On a recent trip to Goodness Me, I picked up a bar of Green & Black's Organic Chocolate.


After much debate, I opted for the caramel, milk chocolate combination. I couldn't wait until I got home to give it a try so I sat in my car, broke off a square and popped in my mouth. Although sweet, the chocolate had a bit of a salty taste, that seemed to really intensify the flavour of the caramel. It was fantastic! As I sampled a second square, I flipped over the wrapper to find that they actually do use a bit of sea salt in it. Interesting!

As for the organic side, this chocolate meets the Soil Association's standards for organic food and farming. The Soil Association is the UK's leading campaigning and certification organization for organic food and farming. The 100 g bar set me back $3.99 which is perfectly reasonable for the quality of this delicious chocolate. Can't wait to try the other flavours...

EDIT: An eagle-eyed reader wisely commented that I failed to mention that Green and Black's products are Fair Trade, which basically means that the farmers in developing country receive a fair price for their goods. This is a key movement in helping people in developing countries improve the standard of living and make them economically self-sufficient. Thank you to the reader for pointing out my error.

bonus time

I've been a loyal Clinique customer for a couple of years now. I was lured in by their perfume 'Happy' after trying it a duty free shop while traveling to the Dominican Republic 3 years ago. Steve gave me some for Christmas that year and it became my perfume of choice. When it was time to replace the first bottle I discovered and incredible phenomenon. Clinique Bonus Time! At several times during the years at Sears and Holt Renfrew stores in Canada, when you purchase a minimum dollar amount of Clinique product, you receive a handful of samples sizes of other Clinique product in a lovely cosmetic bag. Quite often, one of the freebies is a full size lipstick. That alone retails at about $18. Clever marketing! They suck you in with the bonus, you try the sample products, and then you buy them. I went from just the perfume to the the make up remover, toner, cleanser, eye cream and moisturizer. Up until that point, I was strictly a drug store brand customer. I could not justify $30 for moisturizer when I could get something at Shoppers Drug Mart for $10. But the Clinique people "had me at hello."

So I received a flyer from Holt Renfrew a couple of days ago advertising the latest Clinique bonus. It just so happens that I am almost out of moisturizer. So I surfed on over to Skin Deep to check the ratings on my current products. The news was very bad. I won't go into the details. Let's just say that I likely will never be enjoying Clinique Bonus Time again. While this does make me a bit sad as a woman who is a bit addicted to shopping for cosmetics (even though I don't actually wear a lot of makeup), I am happy that I am now purchasing choices that are healthier for me.

So I paid a visit to Goodness Me! This small chain of natural food stores recently opened up a location in Burlington, where I live. I was blown away not only by the selection of products, but also the price. Most items where comparable in price to drug store brands and much less than department store brands. I picked up a moisturizer from Alba Botanica and a powder from Ecco Bella. The specific products I bought are not listed on the Skin Deep site but the companies rate way better than Clinique so I figure that's a good start. I'll give a full report once I've had a chance to test them out.