My Journey To A Non Toxic Beauty + Skincare Regime

In 2016 my skin has been through hell and back.

Starting with the dramatic change from using Clinique and Neutrogena, to going all organic, natural, and toxic free face cleansing routine.

You would think that by getting rid of all those toxic chemicals I was using  will make it better, but unfortunately, this was not the case. In fact, the exact opposite happened.

I had an allergic reaction after two months into ‘going green’.

As you can see, there are small red spots all over my cheeks, not acne. My face felt dry, and irritated. I was so confused as I thought I was using all natural, safe, amazing products. In order to try and fix this, I attempted to figure out what was the cause of these red bumps by myself. I first cut out certain foods like eggs and peanuts and then I began only washing my face with water. Nothing changed – only more irritation as it was now dity and super dehydrated because I also cut out moisturizers.

I had enough, and scheduled an allergy testing appointment.

I began with food allergies, which specifically tested all the oils, nuts, etc. The only thing I was found sensitivity for was olive oil. OLIVE OIL guys, who would have EVER guessed this! I went home, and sure enough all the products I was using had olive oil! My shampoo, my moisturizer, and even my makeup! I decided this testing was not enough for me and called a dermatologist to schedule an appointment. We discovered I had dermatitis type 4. This is contact dermatitis meaning that whenever my skin gets in contact with whatever ingredient it does not like, it freaks out. She proceeded with a patch test (which is torture!) looks like this:These stickers were filled with different chemicals and oils in them and I had to leave them on for three days two nights. It was really hard, itchy, uncomfortable, and did I mention I was not allowed to shower?

Here were the results:

I am allergic to all these preservatives, Nickel which is hard to stay away from when living in an older house as the water pipes contain heavy metals such as nickel), and let’s not forget, olive oil! I went ahead and tested the water at my then home and found out the pipes were extremely outdated and therefore the water contained so many traces of heavy metals.

Fast-forward to 2019, I have my skin FULLY back to its normal state (and even better I’d say).

I found my holy grails in terms of skincare and they are all listed here.

UPDATE: It is now 2020 and I have been testing TONS of non toxic, clean skincare products that actually work – here is my most recent list of my 2020 Must Have Non Toxic Skincare Products.

It was a long long journey to find the right non-toxic product regime for me but SO SO worth it !! I hope this helps encourage some of you out there making your way into a cleaner and safer life to do the same and never give up! These two free applications also helps with figuring out what product is safe and what is not just by scanning the products you already have or wanting to buy!

xo