Living Well, Living Green: Incredible Edible Eco-Friendly Beauty Products

By RachelSarnoffGuest Blogger(view all posts by RachelSarnoff)
at 8:46AM Sunday July 11, 2010
under Shop Smarter

Good enough to eat. We say it about dessert--and that gorgeous guy on the second floor who hoses off his mud-covered mountain bike in the courtyard on Saturdays.

Yummy.

But what about beauty? If you consider that 60% of what goes on our skin goes in our bodies, wouldn't it make sense to use products that are safe enough to eat in the first place?

When we put our favorites to the test, we found that many of them are--technically--edible. That's because they eschew parabens, phthalates, synthetic perfumes and other petro-chemicals in favor of truly natural, organic-whenever-possible ingredients.

Note the use of the word "technically." Please don't call us with a bellyache after you decide to make your face mask your meal: These products are formulated without taste in mind, no matter how safe they might be to ingest.

The Environmental Working Group shook up the beauty industry last year when it found that 60% of lipsticks contain lead, a known neurotoxin. Add to that the fact that the average woman eats about nine pounds of lipstick over the course of her lifetime--just from licking her lips. Ick.

That's why we love Primitive lipsticks. Made with natural waxes, shea butter, vanilla extract and vitamin E, the rainbow of gorgeous colors in the Primitive line up is created exclusively from elements like iron oxides and carmine. Lip smackin'.

**During the week of 10/4, six EcoStiletto free newsletter subscribers will each win a $16 Primitive Makeup Lipstick in the color of her choice.**

Cosmetic chefs David Parker and Margaret Skarin are organic beauty veterans--he as a NorCal spa owner and she of Blue Lotus Organic Skincare fame--but when the two joined forces in 2002 to create The Body Deli their goal was to take it a step further with products so clean you could eat them. Hence the refrigerators in their flagship Palm Desert, CA store--and the allegiance of local farmers in the California Central Valley. With a truly unique range of products for women and men--our favorite, hands down, is the ever-so-masculine, sandalwood-heavy, Spanish Fly line of scrub, wash, lotion and soap--The Body Deli truly serves it up. Take a number.

**During the week of 11/22, four EcoStiletto free newsletter subscribers will each win a $25 Shopping Spree on TheBodyDeli.com.**

It's seriously hard not to eat Bodykor Chocolate Macadamia Mask--it smells that good. Made with organic almond oil, antioxidant-rich chocolate, organic shea butter, macadamia nut oil and honey, among other natural ingredients, the hydrating mask penetrates without any greasy feeling, leaving skin soft and supple. Go ahead, take a lick!

**During the week of 10/18, three EcoStiletto free newsletter subscribers will each win a $75 Bodykor Chocolate Macadamia Mask plus trial size sample pack.**

Sweet Beauty takes the concept a step further, with an entire line of Theo Organic Chocolate spa treatments like something out of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," only guilt-free. We've been addicted to their lip balms for years, but our new faves are Sweet Beauty Pot de Crème body creams made with shea butter and grape seed oils, which present a chocolate flavor base accented by rose, coconut, coffee or a double shot of cacao. Mouth-watering.

**During the week of 10/25, two EcoStiletto free newsletter subscribers will each win a $56 Sweet Beauty four-piece Pot de Creme set.**

A pinch of salt highlights the sweet, and nowhere do we find this to be truer than in Golden Path Alchemy's Kiwi Coconut Exfoliating Mask, crafted with brightening kiwi enzymes, antioxidant-rich coconut milk and acerola cherry fruit acids, complemented by Himalayan sea salt. Hand-made in small batches from USDA Certified Organic food-grade ingredients--many of them sourced from the company's own organic farm in Montecito, CA--the entire GPA line is edible and based on the five elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

**During the week of 11/1, three EcoStiletto free newsletter subscribers will each win a $36 Golden Alchemy Kiwi Coconut Exfoliating Mask.**

Tata Harper wants you to feed your head. Or your face, rather, with her eponymous and uniformly edible line of unique custom skincare products, made with love on her organic farm in Vermont. The Rebuilding Moisturizer is a perfect example: Minus the superficial silicones that leave skin with an oily finish, Tata Harper Rebuilding Moisturizer includes naturally-fermented sodium hyaluronate and organic raw honey to protect from sun damage. Amazingly, Tata's Moisturizer leaves the skin matte, yet hydrated.

Dig in.

**During the week of 11/1, one EcoStiletto free newsletter subscriber will win a $100 Tata Harper Rebuilding Moisturizer.**

For more edible eco-beauty, please visit EcoStiletto's Beauty page. Bon appetit!

Savings.com Green Guru Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff is a writer, producer and marketing consultant who focuses on sustainable fashion, beauty, lifestyle and parenting--and the creator of EcoStiletto.com, an online magazine which explains, in real-girl terms, how eco-friendly choices can help turn your carbon footprint from a ginormous Ugg into an oh-so-slender Manolo.