Earth Day 2012: My Top 10 Favorite Better For You Beauty Products

Happy Earth Day Rave Fans! I just love Earth Month and all that it represents: Making conscious choices that are better for you and better for the environment, such a simple and important message. Every year in honor of Earth Day, I curate a selection of fabulous beauty products that I consider to be greener, eco, more natural, cleaner and all around better for you. And I must say that this year, I noticed that this category is burgeoning with so many wonderful products which made it very hard to choose only 10! I continue to be impressed by the selection of eco chic brands with amazing green products that work beautifully. I am becoming more and more of a convert all the time, because why not use products that are better for you when you have the choice!

Without further adieu, I present to you my Top 10 Favorite Better For You Products of 2012:

1)  One Love Organics Skin Savior Waterless Beauty Balm 

One Love Organics is a beautifully handcrafted line that embrace’s the motto of simplicity and that you can achieve more with less when it comes to beauty. Skin Savior Balm is made out of pure, cold-pressed plant oils and extracts that break down dirt and makeup and clear out your pores without stripping your skin of its natural protective layer. This is one of those FAB one-product-does-it-all balms (which I LOVE!) You can use it as a cleanser, moisturizer, conditioner, skin smoother/dry patch healer, massage balm and so much more. I adore this product! It smells like a yummy orange creamsicle, it cleans my skin beautifully and I especially love it on my chapped lips, dry nose and cracked heels. This is a new must have for me!

2)  Suki Skincare Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser 

Suki Skincare is a fabulous results driven beauty brand dedicated to delivering clinically proven natural solutions. Suki’s  products are made out of hand-selected raw materials and proprietary botanic concentrates that are blended with high percentages of scientifically-advanced cosmeceutical actives in 100% natural bases. The Exfoliating Cleanser is a deep cleansing complexion rejuvenator that contains a gentle alpha hydroxy acid (natural sugar), non-GMO rice flour & lemongrass to resurface & smooth, unclogs pores, and exfoliate dead cells. This is another swoon worthy product that I can’t get enough of! It smells like a fresh lemon, it has a delightfully refreshing foaming and exfoliating action and it leaves my skin feeling like buttah = LOVE! 

3)  Sprout Skincare Cream 

Sprout Skincare is a 100% all-natural line made out of the purest high quality ingredients that are either certified organic, Fair Trade, or sourced from small family farms. Every product in the line is made from scratch, in small bathes  with only absolutely essential ingredients. In fact, every Sprout product has only 5 (clean) ingredients or less, love that! The Cream is Sprout’s hero product, made out of wild-harvested shea butter that they get from a Fair Trade women’s cooperative in Ghana. To that luscious cream, they add some organic extra-virgin coconut oil and organic extra-virgin olive oil and that’s it! This is a wonderfully rich cream that doesn’t clog your pores, and I love how it babies, nurtures and  heals my dry skin and calms it down post treatment. This Cream is a GEM! 

4)  Antho Lullaby for Dry Skin Organic Face Serum 

Antho is another eco fab line that I recently discovered that is dedicated to using 99% USDA certified organic, premium all natural, vegan PETA approved ingredients. The Lullaby for Dry Skin Face Serum contains ten different superstar organic oils, including rare Moroccan Argan & Macadamia oils and luxurious virgin organic oils. This divine serum quickly soaks into your skin and immediately restores lost moisture, delivers rich antioxidants, and rejuvenates dry, dull skin. This serum smells heavenly and I love it under my make-up because it gives my skin a lovely radiant sheen.

5)  Juice Beauty SPF 30 Tinted Mineral Moisturizer

Juice Beauty’s is dedicated to sourcing the purest, most effective sustainable and organic ingredients on the West Coast  with over 80% of their products being manufactured using California’s sun/solar power (which is particularly appealing to this SoCal girl.) Juice Beauty uses also uses a 100% certified organic juice base (made from over 30 different juices) in all of their products. This wonderful tinted moisturizer blends a chemical-free SPF 30, mineral pigments and nutrient-rich white grape, aloe and pomegranate juices for a radiant, even-toned complexion. I really like the fresh herbal scent, the sheer coverage and how vibrant and refreshed it makes my skin look. This is the perfect eco fab BB cream for your favorite Greenista!

6)  Josie Maran Argan Illuminizer

Josie Maran is a gorgeous, eco-conscious actress and supermodel who felt that the natural beauty makeup landscape lacked products with the sophistication and level of luxury that she craved, and voila Josie Maran Cosmetics was born! Every element of the line, from the packaging to the makeup shades, is a reflection of Josie’s unique sensibility, which is always dedicated to social and environmental responsibility. This wonderful Illuminizer contains Argan Oil to condition and restore your skin. I am obsessed with this amazing product and use it daily mixed with my BB Cream to give my skin a radiant, luminous, lit-from-within glow. Can’t live without it!

7)  Kjaer Weis Cream Blush in Sun Touched

Kjaer Weis Cosmetics was created by Danish born/NY based makeup artist and natural beauty, Kirsten Kjaer Weis. Kirsten wanted to create a makeup line that had safe, natural organic ingredients but without compromising on luxury or design. So she created her signature makeup line using raw organic ingredients wherever possible. The result is a stunning collection of make-up products with beautiful colors, textures & design without harmful ingredients. Sun Touched is a perfect coral tone cream blush that gives your skin a gorgeous summer glow. It comes in a lovely red lacquered grain texture box with a show stopping modern refillable metal compact that is definitely collector worthy. This is a special elegant blush that I love using because it gives me the perfect hint of color (think Nars Orgasm) and I love the refillable chic metal case.

8 )  LATHER Clear Head Balancing Balm LATHER Skincare focuses on sourcing natural ingredients and essential oils, as well as drawing upon the benefits of aromatherapy, to provide high quality products that care for the skin as well as the mind. This must-have-at-your-desk  aromatherapy balm contains menthol to cool and therapeutic essential oils like lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus and mandarin to promote a sense of balance and well-being and help ease pressure and tension while clearing the mind. LATHER will also donate $1 from each sale of this product to benefit the National Headache Foundation for headache awareness, education and outreach. I have been using this product alot lately to get rid of my stress and clear my mind and it really works!

9)  Lotus Wei Inspired Action Energy Mist 

Katie Hess started Lotus Wei because she saw huge potential in the healing power of nature and was enchanted by the fact that every flower on this planet has a very unique quality that supports personal growth. According to the inspiring Katie, flower essences can be incredibly transformative and create immediate positive effects on mood and state of mind. They work through the body’s acupuncture meridians and used over time, they revitalize the body, accelerate personal growth, and eliminate non-constructive patterns. I am absolutely hooked on the Lotus Wei Flower Essence Mists because they instantly shift my mood and energy, and I am currently loving INSPIRED ACTION which has a refreshing spicy scent that totally kick starts my creative juices when I feel stuck.

10)  IO Beauty Booster

The IO Booster (created by well known beauty expert, Sue Devitt and nutrition expert, Tanya Zuckerbrot) is a unique beauty enchancer designed to be used both topically and as a beauty ingestible to protect and rejuvenate the skin. It has a proprietary “Beautrient” complex that works internally to help protect skin against free radicals and rejuvenate the look of skin through its exclusive blend of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. I think this ‘beauty from the inside out’ concept is brilliant and if it’s safe enough to ingest, it’s definitely healthy for my skin! Personally, I have been using it more as beauty boosting supplement, and I love the refreshing berry flavor and that it’s providing vitamins for my skin.

Disclosure: All of the brands mentioned above sent me products to review for editorial consideration. All opinions and eco fab observations are my very own.