Bath and Skin Care Products I Swear By

People tend to ask me what products I use for my skin. And there was more than once that a stranger would come up to me and asked what Glutathione I use. I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended by the question but honestly I do not use one. I guess it’s just in my blood or genes from my parents that I have fair skin. I am Chinese-Filipino by the way.
I actually have a very simple beauty rituals everyday and trust me when I say that I am very lazy when it comes to taking care of my skin. Sometimes I just go straight to bed after cleansing my face and often forgot to put on my moisturizer.

It was three years ago that a friend of mine shared a book about how chemically based beauty products affects our health. Upon reading all possible side effects, cancer as being one of them, got me alarmed. Did you know that our skin absorbs 60% of what we place on it?  I mean why put harmful chemicals on your skin when there are healthier alternatives out in the market. It was then that I started using all natural and organic products to my skin and even on some household cleaning products.

After carefully checking the labels of all the products I’ve been using over the years. I had like three basket full of beauty products given away and some went straight into the trash bin.

Here’s a chart below showing you the “Dirty Dozens” list of chemicals you will want to look out for to minimize your exposure to toxic chemicals.

You can find more articles about this here and here.

So maybe the next time you buy a beauty or skin care product you’ll probably end up like me.  Checking all the ingredients first before buying them, and remember, not all products that are labeled as “organic & natural” are chemical free, you should really check the ingredients. Now,  you might wanna check on like three of the products you use everyday and see if they contain any of the dirty dozens. I know it is quite impossible to avoid them all at once, but you can choose to limit your exposure to these toxins in time. Call me paranoid but I just choose to go natural and don’t wanna put any toxic chemicals on my face and body as much as possible.

Here are the bath and skin care products that I have been using for almost three years now. It took a while for me to find the one that really suited my skin, coz some of the products I tried before gave me break-outs and allergies.

My shower buddies above are Avalon Organics Scalp Normalizing Shampoo, Andalou Naturals deep conditioner, Oliva Bath Shower Gel (I use shower gels ever since I was 10, I don’t like using bar soaps), Nekkid Manila Chocolate Body Scrub (I use this once a month, the smell is so delicious, you should try it), Biopha Organic intimate hygiene gel and Emerita feminine wash which I use alternately (I love both brands).

My face BFFs above are all from Juice Beauty, I love the Green Apple Cleansing Gel, Hydrating Mist which I use as a toner, the Smoothing Eye Concentrate as my eye cream, and the Stem Cellular Moisturizer for my whole face and neck.

We should really protect our skin from the harmful rays of the sun, and with the heat right now here in Butuan, you should really have a sunscreen handy (…although I must admit that I seldom forget to put sunscreen specially when rushing every morning to work). Above products are Juice Beauty Green Apple firming body lotion to moisturize my skin (for rainy days and bed time, if I don’t feel lazy that is),  Islands Basic Philippines Sunshield Spray (I love this one since its just easy to use, just spray it on and you’re good to go), Juice Beauty waterproof Sunscreen (I use this when I go swimming or jogging), and Innisfree Eco safety perfect sunblock I use on my face.

My everyday buddies above are Human Heart Nature hand wash (I don’t like using bar soaps), Nature’s Gate tooth paste in Wintergreen from Healthy Options, Tom’s and Pure Vanilla deodorant (I use alternately depending on my mood, hehe).

For Lazy days, I use Burt’s Bees facial cleansing towelettes for sensitive skin (available at Beauty Bar) to wipe off my make up at night, and this Innisfree Apple Juicy eye and lip remover.

Listed below is where you will find most of the products I use above.

Healthy Options – is my favourite store! They have everything you need! I hoard every time I travel to Manila, Cagayan de bro or Davao or practically wherever there’s a Healthy Options shop. Hope they will open a branch here in Butuan soon.

Human Nature – I love their Lush Vanilla hair conditioner, hand wash, lotions, lipstick and would definitely love to try more of their products. (I’ll write a separate blog for this brand soon.)

Messy Bessy – I love their Hand wash, Laundry powders, cleaning products, dishwashing liquids and a lot more. I love that they are proudly Philippine made, we should support our own local products. I’ll blog about this brand soon.

Juice Beauty available at Beauty Bar is my favourite skin care line.

Necked Manila – I love their body scrub! Gonna try more products from this brand soon.

I would really love to hear from you guys. Do you also check the label/ingredients before buying your beauty products? Care to share some of your all natural skin care products? Or will you commit on limiting your exposure to these toxins? And oh, we haven’t even talk about food yet. That’s gonna be a different blog post soon.

Do drop a message below alright?

Much Love,

Sheila 💗