Throw Out Your Old Skincare Products and Choose Earth Day Beauty Award Winners

Throw Out Your Old Skincare Products and Choose Earth Day Beauty Award Winners
Healing Lifestyle and Spa 2013 Earth Day Beauty Award Winners 24d75d0214c4753deb444602296169fd_3mgs Spring, how we adore you. We love shedding coats and hats and sprucing up our wardrobes. We celebrate the budding trees and flowers and the message of Earth Day. And we’re energized by the color and creativity that the season brings. That’s why this spring we’ve once again combined all that we love so dearly about this season into one amazing package: The Earth Day Beauty Awards! Scroll through the slideshow below (use the arrows on either side of the frame), and you’ll find 37 of the most obsession-worthy natural products you can buy. We should know, since this year we tested and re-tested more natural and organic products than ever before: hundreds of samples from over 50 of the best brands in the biz. We’d give them all a gold star, but only a select few are worthy of the Healing Lifestyles and Spas Earth Day Beauty Award Seal. To view the winners by category, with comments from our beauty editors, visit the categories below the slideshow: Face, Makeup, Body or Hair. We hope that these gorgeous natural and organic offerings will inspire you to toss out old products, get rid of formulas with questionable ingredients, and go clean and green. We vetted each product not only for scent, feel and, efficacy but ingredients as well. As always, our award-winning products do not contain our 15 Red Flag Ingredients, including phthalates, parabens, formaldehyde, sulfates and chemical sunscreens. This year we let our creative side inspire fun, new award categories so you’ll understand exactly what we love about each and every one of the winners. These products outshone all others and even replaced some of our own natural product standbys—proof that natural beauty continues to evolve. The winners range in price from $5.95 to $248 (with the majority of products under $30), so there really is something for everyone. What better way to celebrate Earth Day—and look great doing it? Easiest Skin Protection: Joanna Vargas Daily Hydrating Cream (2 oz; $75) This luscious hydrating cream has built-in UV defense from zinc oxide and titanium dioxide (but none of the sticky heaviness of sunscreen), so you never have to leave your skin unprotected. Its natural ingredients are also designed to temporarily minimize fine lines, plump and tighten skin. We also love the energizing coconut-lemongrass scent. Best Retinol Alternative: Eminence Bamboo Firming Fluid (1.2 oz; $58) Retinol has been the gold standard in anti-aging ingredients for years, but the times are a-changing: this silky, bamboo-based formula has the power of retinol with none of the irritating, sensitizing side effects. Its Natural Retinol Alternative Complex features chicory root oligosaccharides and skin-tightening tara tree to smooth wrinkles, plus coconut water for moisture balance. It’s an easy anti-aging step between your toner and moisturizer that your skin will feel good about. Best Instant Exfoliant: Ilike Botanical AHA Peel (1.7 oz; $72) When you want smooth skin without scrubbing, a chemical exfoliant will do the trick (‘chemical’ refers to the action of natural acids, not toxic ingredients). This particular exfoliant combines lactic acid to loosen dead skin cells with brightening and toning lemon oil. We love the addition of hollyhock, a flower that calms and soothes the skin during the peel. Its pretty floral scent gives your senses a boost while the peel helps clear away residue so other products can penetrate more effectively. To see the entire list of winners click on the link above. For more Joanna Vargas press click here.]>>