Skin Care and Makeup Go Green ... And People Are Paying Attention

Reading the Labels
However, shoppers can research products and read labels to understand what they're buying. Understanding how certain chemicals affect skin is the first step in buying the right products for your skin.

Sherrill said cheaper cosmetics use fillers that make the product more cost-effective, something companies like Aveda leave out in their plant-based products. The Food and Drug Administration does not have a term for natural skin care, stating that all ingredients in cosmetics are chemicals.

Fillers can actually harm skin, adding chemicals like petroleum and animal byproducts, said Dee Meyer of Gloria's Good Health. The health store promotes a natural lifestyle with supplements and vitamins, and extends its services to cosmetics and skin care. Meyer is Gloria's expert on natural skin care products and uses them herself.

"Sometimes makeup is 80 to 90 percent fillers," she said. "We may find that some of these chemicals might cause long-term harm later on."

For example, Meyer was unaware that petroleum was causing skin irregularities. Meyer regularly used Carmex and other petroleum-based lip balms until a colleague pointed out that her skin had become addicted to the chemical. Most commonly found in lip balms, lotions and hair care, petroleum blocks moisture and suffocates the skin.

"It took four days of cracked and bleeding lips for my skin to get back to normal," she said, after she stopped using the petroleum-based products.

The cost of specialty lines offered by the salon is not necessarily higher than at mall and other stores, Sherrill said.

Aveda skin-care products range from $12 to $55. Sherrill said many women buy too many products at cheaper price.

Instead, she said, they could just buy fewer, higher quality cosmetics for the same amount of money. With more concentrated products, you can use much less, she said.

"I think it's a big misconception that you have to pay a lot of money to get good products," she said.