Author: Allie Zottola

My Favorite Natural Beauty Products

I’ve been trying to use more natural beauty products in an effort to reduce the amount of chemicals coming in contact with my body. I’m not perfect about using all natural products, but I do my best.

The biggest factors for me when choosing a natural product are its effectiveness and cost. Basically, the product has to work as well as its “normal” counterpart, and it can’t be too expensive.

natural-beauty-products

In general, I try to keep my skincare and beauty routine simple. As far as makeup goes, I wear mascara almost daily. I also use powder foundation and eyeshadow a few times a week.

I like to have a good face wash, body wash, exfoliant, and moisturizer, and body lotion in my skincare routine, and that’s about it. Oh, and deodorant! That’s always good to wear 😉

I’ve been experimenting with different natural products for the past few months, and here’s what I’ve found I like so far in terms of how the product works as well as the price.

natural-beauty-products

My Favorite Natural Beauty Products

Yes to Carrots Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15 – For me, moisturizer must have SPF. This smells great and my face is never dry.

Yes to Carrots Super Rich Body Butter – This also smells wonderful and soaks into my skin so well.

Tom’s of Maine Fresh Apricot Deodorant – Natural deodorant is so different from “regular” antiperspirant. Natural deodorant kills bacteria when you sweat so you don’t smell. Antiperspirant literally stops you from sweating with aluminum, which can accumulate in your body. When I first started using this, I was like “I’m still sweating?!” But then I read up on natural deodorant vs. an antiperspirant and learned the difference. Even though I still sweat, I don’t smell. Yay!

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Detox Scrub – This smells wonderful and isn’t too rough on my skin, which is important for me when choosing a facial exfoliant.

Physicians Formula 100% Natural Origin Mascara – I’ve loved this stuff for years. I first mentioned it on the blog in 2011. It isn’t clumpy and doesn’t give me raccoon eyes.

Products Not Pictured Above

natural-products

Burt’s Bees Brightening Daily Facial Cleanser – I love how creamy this is. My face always feels refreshed after I use it.

Burt’s Bees Fabulously Fresh Peppermint & Rosemary Body Wash – This smells amazing. It’s natural and gentle and gets me clean.

Dr. Bronner’s Cinnamon All-One Toothpaste – I guess toothpaste isn’t exactly a beauty product, but oh well. Dr. Bronner’s has been the first natural toothpaste that doesn’t leave my mouth feeling super dry. It tastes great, and last time I went to the dentist I was cavity-free! This toothpaste doesn’t foam like a regular toothpaste does, which threw me off at first, but now I enjoy the non-foaming aspect.

Where I Buy My Natural Products

jet-shopping

I started using Jet.com to buy household items like paper towels, cat food, and laundry detergent a few months ago, and I’ve been loving it. You can choose to pay with a debit card and opt out of free returns, and the price of the items in your cart go down. The more you buy, the more the prices of the items lower.

Jet offers free shipping on orders over $35 and delivers within two days. It’s a lot like Amazon Prime, except you don’t have to pay a yearly membership and you can lower the price of the items you buy. I add items to my cart when I notice we’re getting low, and then when my order reaches $35, I buy the items and they show up at my door in two days! Jet also sells fresh food (I haven’t tried this yet, though. I think I’m going to soon!).

Anyway, all that to say I buy my natural beauty products from Jet because the prices drop as I shop. If I know I need toothpaste, face wash, deodorant, and mascara, it’s a lot cheaper for me to buy them on Jet than at Walmart, a drug store, or even Amazon.

I’ve also found some of these products at T.J.Maxx at a discounted price, but it’s never guaranteed that I’ll always find them there since the inventory is constantly changing.

FYI, this post isn’t sponsored in any way. It’s just me sharing what natural beauty products I like and how I buy them!

Do you have any favorite natural beauty products?

10 Things I Never Thought I’d Do

1. Pass statistics. I’m not a math person. I had to take a math course before I graduated from Penn State and this was it. It was hard, but I put in the time and effort and even got tutoring. By the grace of God I not only passed, but earned an A. I learned I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Stats

2. Look forward to mowing the lawn. Growing up with an older brother, I can count on one hand the number of times I mowed my parents’ lawn. When Jimmy and I bought a house with a big yard, I began mowing every week in the summer months and grew to love the distraction-free time to think, dream, and pray.

3. Enjoy Yoga. Ask anyone who spends more than a few hours with me; I am notoriously bad at sitting still. When a nurse practitioner recommended I practice yoga to help combat anxiety, I dove in. I now thoroughly enjoy my time on the mat a few times a week. Thank you to YouTube for free yoga videos!

4. Get into art. I didn’t think I was an artsy person because I’m not super skilled at art. I’ve come to realize that I can love painting, water coloring, crafting, etc. even if I’m not especially talented. It’s just fun and relaxing.

Watercolor

5. Enjoy tv shows about cars. I don’t know much about cars, but Jimmy totally got me into a few car shows. I find them really interesting.

6. Play video games. I also credit Jimmy for this, haha. He enjoys playing video games, so I try to do one of his hobbies with him from time to time.

7. Become a spinning instructor. I loved taking spinning classes, but I never thought I’d teach them until my parents gifted me the training course to become a spinning instructor for Christmas in 2012. It was totally random, but I really went out of my comfort zone and enjoyed teaching. I don’t teach (or spin, haha) anymore, but I have great memories from that time in my life.

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Hannah used to come to my classes from time to time!

8. Dislike driving. If you would have asked me at age 15 or 16 if I ever thought I’d dislike driving, I would have said no way. After being a passenger in a terrible car accident at almost 17-years-old, my tune changed on driving. While I feel blessed to possess a driver’s license and vehicle, and have physically healed from the accident, the emotional wounds still impact me to this day.

9. Love chocolate. I was just never a chocolate lover until fairly recently. As a child, the only chocolate I would eat was white chocolate, and even that made me queasy. Over the past few years, I have come to love milk and dark chocolate. I now like to have a square with lunch each day and never turn down a chocolate chip cookie!

10. Become a cat person. My family had a cat from when I was young until I was in my 20s, and I was actually afraid of her, haha. She wasn’t super friendly because we adopted her after she was abused. Poor girl. It breaks my heart knowing she was mistreated, but I like to think she had a great life once she came into our home. Years later, my parents adopted Lily and Felix, and I learned that cats aren’t scary. They’re actually the best! Now I’m a fur-mom to Malcolm and I love him so much!

snuggling-malcolm

What are some things you never thought you’d do?