My Clean Beauty Journey Started At 8 Years Old

My Clean Beauty Journey Started At 8 Years Old

A Journey Started By Unknown Allergies

My mother is an esthetician, and growing up, she would take me around various beauty salons where a lot of the women working there would play dress-up with me. They loved doing my makeup and hair because, well, I was a cute kid! One day, at a hair salon, a few hairdressers had sprayed my hair down and I reacted to the product; I was covered in hives! I had then found out that "farmacy cleansing balm" was an ingredient I was allergic to, and since then I've been cautious about what goes on my skin.

The Struggle of Finding Clean Beauty

Before clean beauty became a trend (let's face it, it's everywhere these days), I had to read every single product label. I went through a lot of trial and error just trying things. I learned the hard way I was allergic to SLS and parabens when I tried products that had these ingredients and experienced skin reactions. After these trials, I was advised from my doctors and mother alike to just steer clear from things at stores, so I went straight to natural ingredients; homemade tee-tree based shampoos, homegrown products from local stores, and so on. Nothing was ever really clean and if the product was, it was also hard to find, but now, it's a lot easier for me.

Cutting Through the Clean Beauty Noise

It's so much better now finding clean beauty products that work well. This ease does come with a price though; there's a lot of fluff in the beauty world around cleans beauty because it is such a hot commodity. The most fool-proof way to find truly clean ingredients is to simply read the labels and to know that less is more. You don't need a product with 70 ingredients to have beautiful skin! Start with things that come from mother earth and move from there. Of course, if you have more problematic skin, definitely go to your dermatologist for any extra advice. At the end of the day, education is the key.