Best Non-Toxic Face Wash for Healthy Skin
Transform Your Skin Starting With Your Skin Care Face Wash
If you are planning on embarking on an intentional journey towards healthier, radiant skin, I recommend making a conscious shift towards non-toxic skincare. This guide serves as your first step in navigating through the sea of skincare products, emphasizing the essentials of skin logic, guidance from a skin expert (me! Hi I’m Kim and I’m a licesed esthetician with over a decade of experience is helping people build attainable skincare routines), and the importance of selecting the right skin care face wash for your specific needs.
Nourish Your Skin's Deep Layers with Non-Toxic Wisdom
To achieve a luminous complexion, understanding your skin's unique needs is key. Skin logic goes beyond mere product application—it involves a deep comprehension of how various ingredients interact with your skin's distinct chemistry. As a skincare aficionado, I champion an educated approach where knowledge empowers you to make informed, beneficial choices for your skin's long-term health.
But First, Asses Your Skin Type
You must understand your skin type before choosing any skincare products. In order to do so, follow these steps
1. Cleanse Your Face
Start by washing your face with a gentle cream cleanser to remove makeup, oil, and dirt. This resets your skin to its natural state, providing a clean base for assessment.
2. Wait and Observe
After cleansing, do not apply any products. Wait for about an hour, allowing your skin to return to its natural oil balance. This waiting period helps reveal your skin's natural characteristics without the influence of products.
3. Blotting Sheet Test
After an hour, take a blotting sheet and gently press it onto different areas of your face—forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin. This test helps determine the amount of oil your skin produces.
4. Assess the Results
Oily Skin: If the blotting sheet picks up significant oil from multiple areas of your face, including your cheeks, you likely have oily skin. Oily skin tends to look shiny, feel greasy and may have larger, more visible pores. While oily skin often gets a bad reputation, people with oily skin tend to have a more youthful appearance longer and get wrinkles later than those who are dry.
Dry Skin: If your skin feels tight, looks flaky, or appears dull after the waiting period, you might have dry skin. Dry skin produces less sebum than oily skin and can be prone to irritation and flakiness and pores are small. If you have consistent flaky skin, redness and are easily irritated, see a dermatologist.
Balanced (Normal) Skin: This skin type is neither too oily nor too dry. After the waiting period, if your skin feels comfortable, looks even, and doesn't show signs of excessive oiliness or dryness, you have balanced skin.
Combination Skin: If the blotting sheet reveals oil from the forehead, nose, and chin (the T-zone) but not from the cheeks, you have combination skin. This type features a mix of oily and dry or normal areas, with the T-zone being oily and the cheeks being normal or dry.
Sensitive Skin: Sensitive skin can be oily, dry, normal, or combination but reacts easily to certain products or environmental factors, leading to redness, itching, or irritation. If your skin often becomes red, itchy, or irritated after using skincare products or being exposed to wind, sun, or cold, it's likely sensitive.
In another blog, I’ll go over skin conditions like acne.
The Expert's Guide to Choosing Non-Toxic Skin Care Face Wash
Navigating the world of non-toxic skincare begins with understanding your skin's specific requirements. Whether it's combination skin, sensitive skin, or anything in between, the aim is to nurture your skin without exposing it to harmful substances.
Regardless, I recommend avoiding fragrance, Parabens (Methyl, Butyl, Ethyl, Propyl), Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives (FRPs), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) / Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Phthalates, Synthetic Colors, Triclosan, Oxybenzone (common in sunblock), Propylene Glycol, and Mineral Oil. Most of these are easy to spot in an ingredient list and many will be listed as “free of” on packaging.
However, I find it easiest to choose a company that negates these and many more known and questionable ingredients like Beautycounter. Not only do they completely avoid using over 1800 known and questionable ingredients, they’re a B Corp. Meaning they’re held to a higher standard beyond just their ingredients; they also prioritize doing good for and creating as little impact on the earth as possible.
In March of 2020, I was invited to join Beautycounter as a gift- a parent from the preschool I taught at reached out, invited me to join, and paid my fees. In exchange I promised to try and the products and only share if I loved them and could get behind the mission.
It was easy. The products were incredible and I had already been switching our household to non/low toxic products since 2017 just before we started trying to get pregnant. One Google search, “how to increase chances of pregnancy” made it clear that many products we used on a daily basis could possibly make getting pregnant challenging. (It ended up taking us 18 months, surgery, and several medications, not IVF, to get my wife pregnant.)
Now back to skincare. Choosing your face wash:
Oily Skin: If you are oily and very acne prone (more than just once a month during your cycle), then I recommend the Countercontrol gel cleanser. However, if you are not acne prone, I really recommend a double cleanse using the Countertime oil cleanser and Countermatch cream cleanser. The two will work together to balance oils and cleanse. And to be honest, everyone benefits from a double cleanse. Often people will over cleanse or over exfoliate oily skin, resulting in excess oil production.
When I worked at Ulta, I had a guest who claimed to be excessively oily. However, her face was bright red, dry and flaky. Then, she told me half way through the day she is so oily she has to “tone” with RUBBING ALCOHOL! 🤯 Her oily was much more from the rubbing alcohol than anything else. I explained to her how skin and skin care work and got her on a gentle regimen.
Dry Skin: Does really well with cream and oil cleansers. Better yet, double cleanse, first using the Countertime oil cleanser and then the Countermatch cream cleanser. An oil cleanser also acts as a great makeup remover.
Balanced (Normal) Skin: If oil and acne are not your problem, I recommend the Countermatch cream cleanser. It works best when you apply to dry skin first, then massage warm water into your skin. Continue until there is no more visible cleanser. It may not foam up, and that is normal.
Combination Skin: Similar to combo skin, if you are not acne prone, I recommend a double cleanse using the Countertime oil cleanser and Countermatch cream cleanser to balance oils without stripping away your moisture barrier.
Sensitive Skin: Most often, a double cleanse (again) is best for this skintype. And yes! You guessed it, the Countertime oil cleanser and Countermatch cream cleanser is the way to go.
Emphasizing quality ingredients underscores the value of investing in skincare. Beautycounter products, designed to last 4-8 and sometimes 12 months, affirm that a small quantity of high-quality ingredients goes a long way.
Why Non-Toxic Skincare Works
As your skin is your body’s largest organ and is a regulatory and protective system for the rest of your body, how you take care of it is incredibly important. Embracing non-toxic skincare is not just a trend—it's a commitment to nurturing your body and skin's health with the utmost care and respect.
Ingredients in non-toxic skincare products are meticulously selected to ensure they're free from harmful chemicals like parabens, sulfates, and phthalates, which can disrupt your skin's natural balance and lead to long-term health issues that go way deeper than skin. This mindful approach to skincare emphasizes the use of safe ingredients that work in harmony with your skin's inherent functions and don’t disrupt your body’s natural rhythms.
Don’t forget about SPF every day! But we’ll get into that in another blog.
Nourish your skin with these non-toxic finds from Beautycounter!
Choosing non-toxic skincare is a profound act of self-care and a pledge to your long-term well-being. By selecting products rich in quality ingredients, like those from Beautycounter, you're taking a pivotal step towards a healthier, glowing complexion.
Shop this blog for your skin care fash wash:
Disclaimer: As a Beautycounter brand advocate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!
Use code CLEANFORALL20 for 20% off. [This code is active as of February 2024]
Want to get 10% off every order, free shipping on $100+, and a free gift? Join Band of Beauty. No minimum orders. No auto-ship (unless you choose it.)
Better yet, get 25% off every order by joining as a brand advocate and earn 25-35% of what you sell. You get to decide how and if you sell anything, but you get the discount regardless! I’ll also reach out to coordinate 1:1 training, you get access to an incredible Facebook group with the larger community, and can watch all past Beautycounter trainings.
Yes, Beautycounter is a direct to consumer company and yes you can make income when your downline sells. However, this is not a requirement nor an emphasis in the income model.
Personally, I have never put an emphasis on recruiting and I’ve been able to earn up to $3k in a month (more than I made teaching in a month with a lot less work) while also working other jobs. Now that I have a loyal clientel, I can put in extremely minimal to no effort, and still make some money. Sometimes only $60-200. But that’s a bill or two! I am grateful for any money that flows into my family.
I used to primarily use Instagram to sell Beautycounter, but as my other businesses and parenting became a priority, I sold less and less on Instagram. Now I have shifted to blogging, Pinterest, and email for a more automated and less involved way of selling. You get to choose and try different ways of being a Beautycounter Brand Advocate.
If you have questions, text me at (408) 502-6839.