In a few recent podcast episodes, Paige Padgett walked us through why we should change to clean beauty, how to do it, and recommendations for everything from deodorant to anti-aging (click here to listen to episodes 3, 4 & 5 when they go live).
In this post, I’m outlining her quick step by step roadmap if you’re brand new to clean beauty and want to get started.
Two resources for more info:
I highly suggest grabbing Paige’s book: The Green Beauty Rules on Amazon. It’s extremely affordable and packed with way more detail about each of these steps listed below. You’ll love it!
OR, if you’re interested in Paige’s Free 5 Day Challenge, you can get that from her website and she’ll walk you through changing out your essentials.
1. Become a box turner
Turn the box over and start reading the ingredients. Look for the 3P’s: petrochemicals, parabens, or perfumes.
- Petrochemicals – look for anything with eth, or abbreviations PEG, DEA, SLS, as well as ingredients with an x or y, for example ethylhexylglycerin
- Parabens – look for the prefixes methyl, propyl, ethyl, butyl, isopropyl
- Perfumes – look for parfum or fragrance
2. Begin looking at clean brands
Credo Market is Paige’s go-to because everything you find there will be good.
You can also just start in the clean section of Sephora, or Target, or go to Whole Foods (wherever you already shop). Look for a clean beauty section and most of the things in there will be a good place to start.
Look at the brand’s mission statements. What are they free of? Are they about organic? Are they about taking out just the major offenders? Are they about sustainability? Learn about their missions and standards and see what aligns with you.
Or go to PaigePadgett.com – look at Paige’s recommendations. Do these brands attract you? Do you find your tribe there?
3. Replace the thing you need to replace first
When a product runs out, look for a green option to replace it. This is a nice easy way to take it step by step, and change one thing at a time.
4. Replace the product you use most
If you have a little more money to put toward clean products, replace the thing you use most (either everyday or on the largest part of your body). Body lotion may be a good place to start. Or face moisturizer. Use Paige’s recommendations to find something new. Or just shop at Credo.
And now the ball is rolling!
Honestly, once the ball is rolling, you’ll naturally change out your products over time. If you want to dig into specific products more deeply, you can use the Skin Carisma Ingredient Analyzer to pull together and grade the product based on what’s inside. I absolutely LOVE this free tool.
Disclaimer: Some links in this post refer you to shops that Paige and I earn money from on qualifying purchases (Credo and Amazon). Money made on these purchases goes into helping us bring you more clean and ethical recommendations. Thank you for your support!
About Paige Padgett:
Paige Padgett is a Hollywood makeup artist, author of The Green Beauty Rules and founder of the new makeup line Erthling. She’s been influencing green beauty for over 15 years, and she loves to help people clean their beauty routine. You can connect with her on Instagram @PaigePadgett.