Lotion Addict (Project 358: Day 61)

Day 61: LOVE This Lotion

My dear friend Melanie recently started a healthy living blog, chronicling her journey towards simplifying her life and becoming more "organic." One of the things she is doing to accomplish this goal is trying to cut down on the number of products she uses for household cleaning and personal care and trying to use products that are more "natural." Having embarked on this journey myself, I know that it can involve a lot of trial and error (and lots of label reading!) to find products that you really like that fit the green/organic/natural/vegan/animal friendly bill. From my experience, this is particularly difficult with personal care products. So, when I found this lotion on a recent trip to the grocery store, I decided I just had to share.

Desert Essence has lots of great products, and this lotion is no exception. In fact, it just might be my favorite of the ones that I've tried. It is 100% Vegan/Wheat & Gluten Free, contains no: Parabens, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates, phthalates, artificial fragrances or colors, silicones, EDTA, glycol or petroleum based ingredients, AND is cruelty free and biodegradable. The one ingredient that gave me pause is Phenoxyethanol. I really have no idea what that is, and a short google search led me to believe that it may not be the greatest thing in the world (one article likened it to the Parabens that everyone is so wary of these days). That said, it was the only ingredient that I had questions about and it was listed second to last, so I decided I could deal with the "risk." If you are someone who wants to start using more natural products, but still likes to feel pampered, this is the lotion for you. It is rich, creamy, and luxurious and, scented with natural almond oil, smells good enough to eat. The Desert Essence website lists it as $8.99 for an 8 oz tube (I got mine on sale at Raley's for about $5), which I'll admit isn't cheap for lotion in general, but really isn't bad when it comes to natural products. The grocery store also carried the same lotion in coconut and lavender, both of which I plan on trying in the future.

If you really want to go natural with moisturization, one way to do it is to eliminate lotion altogether and use pure oils instead (almond, sesame, olive, jojoba...). It's tough to get more natural than that, and it can still feel very pampering and luxurious. I have found that it is not the best solution for me though, since it doesn't seem to fully absorb into my skin (or takes a very long time to do so). For now, I'll stick with Desert Essence Organics Almond Hand and Body Lotion, Phenoxyethanol and all.

Have you tried any natural products lately (personal care or other) that you just love?