12 beauty products you’ll love if you’re purging your vanity of toxic beauty ingredients

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I’ve always been a label reader, skeptical of ingredients in food that require a chemistry degree. For years, I’ve diligently stuck to the outside aisles and avoided pre-made, pre-packaged foods. When a brush with cancer (in remission!) shook me up big time, I got serious about what I was putting into my body through other means. David Suzuki’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ list became my gospel as I did a full detox of my shower, medicine cabinet and makeup bag.

Ever read the ingredients of what your personal care products contain? Steel yourself. You’ll find BHA, BHT, coal tar dyes, DEA, cocamide DEA and lauramide DEA, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, parabens, petrolatum, siloxanes, sodium laureth sulfate, triclosan and a few other offenders---which seemed to be included in everything I was putting on my face, body and hair. Yikes. As your body’s largest organ, your skin drinks in whatever you put on top of it (that’s why nicotine and birth control skin patches work, right?). In my quest to clean up my products, I discovered some amazing new brands and I don’t miss scary chemicals one bit. Are natural products as effective? You betcha. Is the price point for naturals higher? Sometimes, though I found it akin to comparing junk food with organic produce.

Laura Townsend, Marketing Director of The Detox Market uses a great analogy: “If you don’t invest now, you might end up paying more later for expensive treatments or with your health”. She advises people to educate themselves, then switch up one product for a non-toxic replacement, or experiment with travel sizes. Natural, chemical-free products feel a bit different, so Townnsend encourages people to stick it out for 21 days before forming any conclusions.

Browse the gallery below to see which products have become mainstays on my vanity.

Opinions are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of FASHION Magazine.

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Mascara I don’t know why I assumed mascara would be so innocuous. Spoiler alert: there are some bad things in many mascaras, like parabens added to prevent bacteria growth, serious fragrance added to mask its chemically smell, and aluminum powder, a neurotoxin that affects how your body gets rid of mercury. Alima Pure mascara has great coverage, doesn’t dare flake or smudge, and contains naturally occurring oils and waxes. Alima Pure National Definition Mascara ($22, The Detox Market)