Health Food Store Beauty Buys

The health food store is a great, and sometimes unexpected, place to get beauty products.  Health foods stores not only stock natural beauty products, but food items that you can use in your beauty routine too.  I personally love to incorporate natural items into my everyday beauty regimen because I feel like it's a healthier option and gives me the chance to eliminate some chemicals from my life.  Keep reading for the items you need to pick up the next time you're at Whole Foods or your local health food store!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

1. Dr. Bronner's Organic Castile Soap

Dr. Bronner's has had the same formula since the company began in 1948.  The soap is made from high quality oils and does not contain any skin irritating sulfates.  The liquid soap has eighteen different uses, and works for everything from beauty to household cleaning.  Checkout Pinterest for countless ways to incorporate this into your beauty routine.  My personal favorite way to use this is to fill a bath with warm water and add a few drops of the citrus scented soap (it smells so good!) and some coconut oil!

2. Queen Helene Cholesterol Hair Conditioning Cream

When I was younger my Mom would always get this at the local health food store and my best friend and I were obsessed with it.  It was our first foray into deep conditioners and we would literally plan sleepovers around using this.  We also used it a lot for tangles - my bestie has the curliest hair and when we were younger she was a swimmer, the salt water and swim caps would make her hair knotty so in the summer every night we would have a tub of this and I would use it to comb out the knots while we watched TV.  If you're looking for a deep conditioner that works well and is a really great price, I recommend checking this out!

3. Rosewater

Rosewater has a variety of different uses when it comes to beauty, you can use it as a toner, a hydrating mist, mixed in with your moisturizer to soothe skin, and more.  I personally use rosewater to refresh my skin throughout the day; my skin has been so dry this winter especially from the heat and this helps to keep it moisturized.  

4. Raw Honey

This is probably my number one thing to get at the health food store for beauty.  I love using honey for beauty and up until recently I've always just used regular honey because I kept forgetting to get raw honey.  Let me tell you there is a huge difference between regular and honey.  Regular honey works well to moisturize skin and help with acne, but raw honey works wonders and my skin has never looked better since I incorporated this into my routine.  Read about 5 Ways to Use Honey for Beauty here and how to use it as a cleanser here.  My favorite way to use it is as a mask - mix with a few drops of water, apply to your face, and leave on for a minimum of twenty minutes before rinsing off.

5. Dr. Bronner's Lotion

This organic lotion is filled with coconut, jojoba, hemp, and avocado oils to moisturize dry skin.  This lotion is pretty liquidy so you only need a small amount to moisturize your entire body.  My Mom and I like to use this as a hand cream at night before bed.

6. Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter is an amazing food grade all purpose moisturizer.  I've always had sensitive skin and when I was a kid I had pretty bad eczema, to help with it I loved to warm this up (carefully!) in the microwave so it would liquify and put it on at night before bed.  It smells delicious and makes your skin super soft.

7. Avalon Organics Soothing Lip Balm

I recently started using this and really, really like it!  It's super moisturizing, filled with antioxidants, which helps to prevent damage from free radicals, and is 70% organic.  My favorite thing about this though is definitely the smell, it's so yummy!

8. Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay

This clay is awesome for face masks; it's a powder that you can use it on it's own mixed with water or add a variety of different ingredients to address different skin issues.  This bentonite clay works to pull impurities out from deep down in your pores, helping to clear up skin and shrink pores.  I typically use it just mixed with water, but recently I've been working on a few different recipes with it to share on here.

9. Rosehip Oil

If you've read a few of my beauty posts before then you know that I love using different oils as moisturizers (case in point the four on this list alone!).  Rosehip oil is very popular with celebrities, supermodel Miranda Kerr is a huge fan and applies it to her face every night before bed (she uses this rosehip from her skincare line, but getting it from the health food store, like this one, is much more budget friendly).  It's even a key ingredient in many expensive facial oils like Nude Skincare Progenius Omega Treatment because of it's moisturizing and soothing properties.  It's a non-greasy oil that absorbs quickly and contains essential fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants.  In addition to moisturizing it can help to reduce scars, diminish wrinkles, and fade dark spots.  Use it as you would any other facial oil or serum and apply under your moisturizer or wear it alone.

10. Coconut Oil

Since coconut oil became really popular a few years ago I have been a huge fan of it.  Coconut oil has countless beauty uses and is probably the most versatile product on this list; it can be used to moisturize everything from your face to your feet, works as a great hair treatment, and more.  If you search 'coconut oil' on my sidebar you'll find numerous posts on all the different ways that you can incorporate this magical oil into your beauty routine.  Check out this post for five of my favorite ways to use coconut oil.

11. Dr. Bronner's Organic Shaving Soap

I have really sensitive skin and have a really hard time finding shaving cream that doesn't bother me, which is why I try to look for more natural products.  This organic shave soap moisturizes skin while helping you to get a close shave.  It mixes sugar, which helps to hold moisture in the skin, and shikakai powder from India, with Dr. Bronner's Organic liquid soap to both nourish and cleanse skin.

12. Sweet Almond Oil

In the last few years I developed a really severe allergy to tree nuts, so I can no longer use almond oil, but prior to my allergy it was a big part of my beauty routine.  With its high healthy fat content almond oil makes an amazing moisturizer.  Almond oil was actually the first oil I regularly incorporated into my routine and I used it all the time.  It's a good carrier oil to dilute essential oils - mix it with a few drops of the essential oil(s) of your choice to make a custom scented body oil.  It also works as a great facial moisturizer.

13. Thayers Witch Hazel

I use a lot of witch hazel; I use it as a toner, to help with acne on my chest, to clean my hairline on days when I don't shampoo, and to soothe hives.  I recently started using Thayers and like that it is alcohol free, which can be hard to find.  Thayers makes many witch hazel toners, which feature different ingredients such as rose petal, lemon, and lavender, each with their own additional benefits.

14. Jojoba Oil

I've been hearing how wonderful jojoba oil is for years now, but I only recently started using it and now I get what everyone has been raving about.  Jojoba oil acts like the sebum found in skin and signals to oil glands that skin is properly moisturized so that they do not have continue to make more oil and therefore helps to not only moisturize, but treat and prevent breakouts as well.  I use it as a facial moisturizer, body oil, hair treatment, and mixed with raw honey for a face mask.

15. Queen Helene The Original Mint Julep Mask

This was the first face mask that I ever used, my Mom got it for me at the local health food store when I started breaking out in middle school.  I have used it on and off since my first tube and actually have a tube of it in my bathroom right now.  It's a clay mask that's best for acne or oily skin as it absorbs oils, deeply cleans skin, and minimizes pores.  Since my skin has gotten dryer over the years I mainly use this in the summer when my skin is more oily or as an overnight spot treatment for pimples.

Do you shop at the health food store for beauty products?  If you do what do you buy?

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!

Today I'm linking up with Thursday Fashion Files, Spotlight, What I Wore to Work, Thoughts for Thursday, and #WIWT.