Since I became a part of the green beauty community over 3 years ago (though I started my green journey long before), I’ve not only met some truly amazing people and brand owners/formulators, but I’ve also learned a lot about myself in the process – to listen more to my intuitions when it comes to what I should and shouldn’t use on myself, how skincare works, and more recently, where I fit in in this community.
I’ve also learned that everyone has their own varying views of what green beauty is or should be – some are “purists” and will only use the most pure, organic, healing ingredients there are, others are a bit more lax and only avoid the biggest offenders, not really stressing if a product contains one or more “no-no” ingredients, and yet others still are more concerned with the environmental effects of a product and if a brand tests on animals.
When I first started my journey, I was a purist, probably to the point of obnoxiousness to my family! But at that time, I could afford to be. I had a good enough job that allowed me to splurge on the best of the best. Sadly, after my back surgery and losing my job (and disability didn’t last either), I no longer had that financial freedom and was forced to step off my “high-end green beauty” pedestal and be a bit more frugal. It was definitely humbling, as I ashamedly was one of those militant purists who thought if you weren’t using brands like Tata Harper, Living Libations, Jane Iredale, or May Lindstrom you were doing it wrong.
But honestly, I’m grateful, because it has helped me to be a lot more tolerant of other people’s own journey into green beauty. I no longer look at someone buying brands like Burts Bees (though I’ve always loved their lip products) or even Alba (greenwashed, I know) as being the worst possible choices. I now think to myself, at least they aren’t buying some of the truly toxic conventional products – they’re trying to make better choices.
Which brings me to the point of this post. A green lifestyle isn’t about being perfect. It isn’t about criticizing others for choices that you wouldn’t necessarily make either. It IS, however, about making safer, cleaner choices (with the resources you have, whether financial or ingredient intel). It’s about making progress – whether it’s cleaning up your diet, skincare & make-up to include more organic foods & products (or just eating/using less processed/toxic ones), using homemade cleaning products, using organic cotton instead of conventional, growing your own food instead of buying from a grocery store, supporting local farmers and artisans, not using plastic, whatever you feel is the right choice for you. It’s about reducing our carbon footprints whenever possible. And it is about supporting each other and our choices, whether you agree with them or not. Any little change that we make to live a cleaner, healthier life should always be applauded, in my opinion. 🙂
The thing is, even though we all may be different shades of green in the green community, we’re all still green. And that’s good enough for me. 🙂
What are your thoughts on this topic? What “shade” of green are you? Let me know!
Peace & Love,
Sabrina xoxo
One if the best posts I have read in a long time Sabrina. There is sonetimes a “greener than thou” attitude out there and I feel really strongly that we should be applauding the smaller ‘light green’ choices every bit as much as those made by the dark green purists. Change happens through encouragement not criticism. I like to think if myself as a ‘shimmering’ medium green! I try to make the best choices but sometimes my shade of green glints a bit lighter, that’s just practicality! Xxx
Aww, thank you so much, Annie! 🙂 xx I agree totally that there is a lot of judging and even intolerance when it comes to green beauty/living lately and it’s just getting really frustrating! I actually held back a lot when I was writing this and tried to be more “kind” with my wording (so not how I wanted to be lol). I think that sometimes these judgey judy’s tend to forget that we are all just human – we’re all fallible, none of us are perfect. And anyways, life is way too short to be stressing over every single ingredient that goes in or on our bodies! I believe in living a more “balanced” life and not stress so much. Makes life so much more enjoyable! 😉 I love your “shimmering medium green” analogy! I think I am probably mostly that and sometimes a bit lighter too..like right now as I write about my love for Pacifica Beauty & tonight when I have pizza for dinner ha ha!
Thank you again for your support and for reading! xoxo
I love this post! it really rings true with me. i still use a mix of green beauty and cruelty fr conventional products. I try to make sure that my skincare is green (though it is not high end, its a good mix) and my make up stash is about 70 conventional and 30% green. I’ve found im a lot happier following what i feel is best, rather then worrying about what i am using, compared to someone else. my compromise is that as long as it is cruelty free and does the job then i will go down that route. When i was working full time, i went through a stage of buying all the green make-up i could, i chucked out the out, but i found that i was happier with makeup that preformed well and that it might mean i buy “toxic” products.
That might not be in someone else comfort zone, but it is mine.
xx
Hi, Liz! Welcome & thank you so much for your comment! 🙂 I agree so much that we need to do what we feel is best for us, what makes us happiest and if that means using brands that others may not think are that clean or green, oh well, it’s not their body or their life! I know a few green beauty bloggers who still hold on to a few conventional products simply because they haven’t found a greener alternative that performs as well. Sometimes you have to go with what works for you as opposed to worrying about every little ingredient. I’m glad that you found a balance that makes you happy – stress is actually more toxic for our bodies than some of the not so green ingredients, you know?
Thank you again for reading! Have a wonderful weekend! xx
This is such a great post. It’s a conversation I often have as I increasingly see a lot of snobbery and judginess going on. Imho green beauty is part of a bigger picture that also includes what you eat, what you do and how you behave and feel.
Thank you so much! 🙂 I agree 100% that green beauty encompasses way much more than just beauty and skincare – it’s a complete lifestyle and one that is unique to each of us! And yeah, the judginess and catty behavior some people seem to display is just not cool and soooo unnecessary! We’re all on the same journey..just some of us take different paths or make side trips along the way! 🙂
Thanks for reading! xo