Is there anything better than an outdoor shower in the summer? 

I am not sure there is. Or at least, an outdoor shower is certainly is one of my favorite parts about spending the summer at my family’s home in Maine. If it is hot, cold, sunny or even a little rainy – you will still find me taking my shower outside at the end or the start of the day! 

I wanted to share my favorite shampoos, conditioners and body products I have been using this summer. They all happen to be clean beauty products, something I have been thinking about a bit more this summer. Back in July, I was inspired to try to clean up my beauty and skincare routine! 

Products from Left to Right:

Olaplex No. 4 Shampoo & Olaplex No.5 Conditioner  – I love how silky soft these products make my hair!    

Franks Body Scrub – This product is the best for dry skin but also very ideal for an outdoor shower because it is MESSY! So be careful – it uses real grounds of coffee beans…so not so fun to clean up. But in the end, it is worth it because your skin is silky smooth after! 

Rahua Voluminous Shampoo & Rahua Voluminous Conditioner – These are my mom’s go-to products and I have been loving them also this summer. My hair is fine and gets oily from time to time, so I find it is best to change up shampoo every few days! 

Herbivore Jasmine Hydration Body Oil – this scent is so so good! And I often find the oils can be much more moisturizing than a lotion/ 

Honest Shampoo & Body Wash  – I use as a body wash. You can easily find this as your local grocery store or Target! ( I also love their makeup products, more on that in another post but quickly their Creme Blush is my favorite!) 

Over the years, I have been a bit hot and cold about natural and clean skincare. I tend to go back and forth on the topic. Sometimes wanting everything to be all-natural (in 2015 and 2016 I used non-toxic l products as you saw here and here) and then in the past few years, I have almost gone the total opposite direction. (Last year I shared my updated skincare routine that was a mix of clean products and some stronger products as well. My skin is acne-prone and sometimes I find that natural products don’t pack quite enough punch to help me combat my skin concerns.)  All that is to say – I certainly do not have it perfectly figured out but I am still very interested and intrigued about being as healthy as possible and avoiding any carcinogenic ingredients. 

My new found inspiration back into the world of natural and safe products came after listening to the new Goop Beauty podcast, The Beauty Podcast. I am so excited about this new show as it is hosted by Jean Godfrey-June (someone I so admire and respect for beauty recommendations) and Megan O’Neill both of whom are on the beauty team at Goop. If you did not already guess it – Goop only sells and promotes clean/safe beauty/body products. For the second episode of the podcast they interviewed Nneka Leiba, of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the three women talked all about everything in the world of clean and nontoxic beauty. 

Did you know that the US government has not changed/passed a new federal law governing the cosmetics industry in over 80 years! You can see this in effect because in the US we only have 30 banned ingredients compared to the European Union’s 1,400 banned ingredients. The EWG is a great resource that steps in where the government has not by providing information from public research and studies on the ingredients in cosmetics products. Search a beauty product you use (for example a mascara) and you will see what rating it receives – 1 (great, clean, non-toxic) – 10 (bad, dirty, full of toxins, bad chemicals.) 

What I loved most about the Goop interview with Nneka from EWG is that Nneka understands that is overwhelming and probably not necessary to change every and all cosmetic product that you use. Instead, she suggests to start small and to focus on the products that are most likely to get into your bloodstream so that will usually be the products that are on your skin for the longest or that cover the largest surface area of your skin. These items included – body soap, body lotion and sunscreen. The podcast hosts asked about shampoo and conditioner, asking if those are key products to switch over to nontoxic alternatives, and Nneka noted that of course, it would be great for those to be clean products but they are not quite as necessary to switch over right away because your shampoo only sits in your hair for a few moments and you wash it all out (ideally!) I would highly suggest listening to the episode to hear more suggested from Nneka and to learn more about EWG and the ingredients in cosmetics. 

I don’t think I will be switching everything over to non-toxic products overnight but I am certainly inspired to pay more attention to the ingredients labels on products I purchase and do a bit more research. 

Over the next few weeks, I will try to share an updated skincare routine and makeup routine as well! (Right now, I am loving the Westman Atelier makeup line that is full of clean ingredients.)