6 Ways to Detox Your Beauty Regimen

posted on September 16, 2020 | by Guest Writer

For the most part, we’re well aware of the importance of eating healthy and wouldn’t willingly put harmful chemicals into our bodies on a daily basis. More and more we’re looking to understand what’s in our food and are making healthy choices around that. So why should it be any different when it comes to our beauty routine? It’s time to make sure we’re putting the same care into what we put on our skin as to what we put in our bodies.

But when it comes to skin, hair, and beauty products, many of us are still using harmful products. We use products with chemicals like carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and other toxins that can be harmful to us and the environment as well. While applying something topical may seem harmless it can, unfortunately, be quite the opposite; skin is our biggest organ, after all. But this article isn’t meant to serve as a scare tactic to throw away the entire contents of your bathroom cabinets. Instead, we want to start the conversation to better understand self care products and make tangible incremental steps to adopting a cleaner regimen. Here, we’ll go over some of the common places to find harmful ingredients in our daily regimen as well as solutions for all types of budgets.

1. Learn About Ingredients

Before diving into a detoxing routine, make sure you know which chemicals are most harmful. While you might be tempted to throw everything out and start anew, feel free to adjust gradually, toss the most harmful products and replace, use up the not so ideal products next, and gradually replace with more sustainable options.

For starters, here’s a cheat sheet for affordable skincare products. Whenever buying beauty products, make a point to check the ingredients. Don’t buy products with these commonly used harmful ingredients: parabens, formaldehyde, mineral oil, coal tar, SLS, hydroquinone, triclosan, petrolatum, oxybenzone, phthalates, DEA, MEA, TEA, and synthetic fragrances. This is by no means an exhaustive list. A quick search can bring up a plethora of other commonly used harmful ingredients but this is a good place to start. 

2. Scrub, Rinse, Moisturize! 

Avoiding those harmful ingredients altogether can be tough, especially when it comes to environmental toxins, and it can be a process to switch over to a 100% natural routine. That’s where a detox regimen may be in order! 

Scrubbing will remove dead skin and uncover fresh new cells underneath, making our skin look fresh and healthy, and allowing the skin to accept moisture more easily. When looking into exfoliants be sure to avoid microbead exfoliants as they’ve been contributing to tiny pieces of plastic showing up in our oceans and harming the environment. No thank you! 

Perhaps try making your own with one of these DIY natural skin exfoliators. Add a face mask to your nighttime regimen for a complete skincare routine and full-on cleanse of toxins affecting your skin. Use a moisturizer that fits your skin type and leaves your skin soft. Be sure to avoid moisturizers with alcohol or polyethylene glycol (PEG) as it can dry your skin out and affect the skin’s natural moisture. 

3. Detox For Your Hair

Yes, it’s true; you can overwash your hair—but it’s completely OK to wash your hair every 3 to 4 days or so, depending on your hair type. Washing your hair daily strips hair of natural oils and leaves the scalp dry allowing for dandruff and itching. Without daily shampoos, your hair will become thicker, fuller, and easier to style. Every so often, cleanse with a clarifying shampoo in order to rid your hair of product build-up. 

4. Switch to Natural Soaps

As our biggest and most exposed organ, our skin is also one of our most vulnerable. It is the protective barrier of our bodies, so feeding it with chemicals is not only irritating but can also be very harmful. Natural soaps are better for the skin as they’re free from toxins. Be wary of greenwashing as so many marketing campaigns are taking advantage of buzzwords like “essential oils” or even the word “natural,” but “natural” doesn’t always mean, well, natural. Read the ingredients; don’t be fooled! 

5. Embrace Natural Deodorants

Antiperspirants with aluminum are a known carcinogen. Aluminum also causes cytotoxicity and oxidase stress. However, you can use natural deodorants that are also good for your skin to feel fresh and clean. There are many great brands out there who are making safer options that actually work. Do keep in mind that when switching from a deodorant with many chemicals to a natural deodorant it may take time for your body to adjust while your armpits detox from all the junk they once had on them and get used to the new natural ingredients. Give it time!

6. Natural Mouthwashes and Toothpastes

Finally, oral care! Toothpaste and mouthwashes with additives and fake sugars can have adverse effects on your oral health, alter your taste buds and make you crave more sugar. So opt for a toothpaste with fewer additives and fluoride-free flavors. Use mouthwashes with natural ingredients like antibacterial essential oils. You can also completely ditch mouthwash and use coconut oil which is an affordable, natural antibacterial and antimicrobial.

Unfortunately, we’re living in times where added chemicals and toxins are found in most beauty and self care products, which is why our skin reacts negatively and is prone to getting saggy and wrinkled early. It contributes to many health-related issues and oftentimes is harmful to the environment. However, this can easily be prevented if we take the necessary steps for our wellbeing and begin to make better decisions about what we purchase. So keep these 6 ways to detox your beauty routine in mind and notice the difference.