Written by Corey Somerville

Let’s be real- living a fully sustainable and healthy lifestyle is difficult to say the least and not completely attainable or accessible for all of us. As someone who tends to go one hundred on what I’m passionate about, I’ve learned to give myself a break from being perfect and to find balance between what is sustainable for the planet and what is sustainable for me. 

I’ve had the advantage of working in the wellness space for the last seven years giving me the opportunity to learn from green and healthy living experts and brands, my colleagues and peers, and do my own research from being surrounded by clean and natural products galore. And let me tell you, I’m pretty pleased with my personal curation of healthy and eco-friendly essentials, most of which are actually saving me money! And I’m not one to gatekeep, so hear me out on these ten natural and sustainable products I use, literally, every day. 

Starting off with an obscurity, this Goop Healing Balm is magic. Formulated with olive fruit oil, beeswax, essential oils and vitamin E, this balm functions as my beloved lip mask and lives both in my skin care cabinet and at my bedside. I smother this goop on my lips before bed and wake up with them feeling soft and supple (I apply a more reasonable amount during daytime, too). It’s organic, it’s 100% natural and it smells like lavender. Don’t sleep on this.

Routine cream deodorants are a fan favourite, but have you smelled Bonita Applebom? It smells like bubblegum… but grown-up spicy bubblegum. One switch that was big for me at the beginning of my wellness journey was finding a natural, aluminum-free deodorant. Let me brief you: I’m sweaty, I’m stinky, and I’m sensitive. That made finding the right match for me challenging. My armpits spent many wet, smelly, and blistering days during my trial-and-error phase. So, believe me when I say: This. Is. It. 

Coconut oil, shea butter and calendula moisturize, soothe, heal, and prevent bacteria on the skin, while kaolin clay absorbs impurities, doesn’t strip your skin’s moisture, and detoxes Odour-causing bacteria. Magnesium soaks up odor and helps to relax your armpit’s muscles, which can reduce stress-induced sweating. 

The formulation for Bonita Applebom also uses baking soda to absorb sweat and odor, which some sensitive folks may be wary of, but it’s low enough on the ingredient list for me that it doesn’t cause any irritation while it keeps me dry and smelling sweet and warm. Chew out a rhythm on your bubblegum and try Bonita Applebom. 

Another popular product gracing my bathroom counter is this concentrated serum from Derma E. It’s shining star skin care ingredients have been having a moment for a couple years now: Vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid. Vitamin C helps to brighten your skin, protect it from sun damage and boost collagen health. It also works with hyaluronic acid, which is ultra-hydrating, to reduce wrinkles and improve skin tone and texture.  

This serum has been a staple in my nighttime routine for a while now. Since introducing it to my rotation my skin has become more radiant, bright, and glowing in ways I didn’t know were possible. The astonishing part about this serum is the price…$39.99. That’s half the cost of many comparable serums. This one sells itself. 

I’m so thrilled clean beauty is having a moment right now and that I can say my holy grail bronzer is also clean and cruelty-free. Mineral Fusion’s powder bronzer in Sparkle is silky, versatile and blends flawlessly into the skin. It has the perfect amount of warmth that I can go light with it in the winter and look naturally contoured or use to compliment my tan in the summer. Either way its radiant sheen will always give you a sun kissed glow. It has age defying and UV protecting ingredients like pomegranate, red tea, vitamin C and vitamin E and doesn’t clog my pores (important).  

This one is my absolute favourite. I discovered that the perfect facial moisturizer is this $12.28 bottle of 100% pure jojoba oil, and I will tell anyone who will listen. I tried jojoba oil from Desert Essence for the first time when I was researching standout skin care ingredients and the importance of them being high on the ingredient list (which means they have higher concentrations than those near the bottom). I noticed that as the good stuff got higher on the list, the more expensive a product would be. So, I thought: “Why don’t I cut to the chase and buy the pure form of the ingredient I want?” Groundbreaking. 

At first the concept of putting oil on my face was admittedly intimidating. I have dry, acne prone skin and need something that will sit well under makeup. Switching to jojoba oil as both my morning and evening moisturizer has balanced my skin’s oil and texture, which is supported by new studies that suggest jojoba oil reinforces your skin’s barrier. It's the closest skin care oil to the oil your skin produces naturally, so it makes sense! It also sits flawlessly under my makeup. Pro tip: warm a drop or two in the palms of your hands and pat into the skin.  

Derma E Vitamin C Serum and Desert Essence Jojoba Oil on it's own vs. under a full face of makeup (including my Mineral Fusion bronzer).

Nothing fancy here. This bottle of pure, natural grapeseed oil with vitamin E is the only makeup remover that will ever touch my ultra-sensitive eyelids. A fun fact about me is I used a fancy eye makeup remover sample from a department store counter when I was 15 and it gave me a chemical burn. I was already in a socially awkward, not yet conscious of my growth spurt, just started wearing mascara and applying way too much phase. The burnt, oozing eyelids were the cherry on top and I have been terrified of trying makeup remover since.  

Don’t worry, my story has a happy ending. I outgrew the pains of being a teenager and discovered that one simple ingredient, grapeseed oil, was all I needed to remove even the most stubborn mascara. This bottle from Aura Cacia will last you months. 

This vegan collagen eye cream is a newer product in my everyday skin care line up. Pacifica formulated vegan collagen through a plant-based fermentation process that will give you the same benefits as animal-derived collagens but skips the clearcutting, water consumption and use, and greenhouse gas emissions used in the cattle farming necessary for traditional collagen. 

And like many of the products on this list, it rings in at a much lower cost than other collagen eye creams at just $23.79. Pacifica’s entire vegan collagen line also uses super cute glass components instead of plastic. Yay for skin care that’s affordable, healthy for you, and good for the planet! 

You may have seen this collapsible wonder when it went viral on TikTok earlier this year. Part fashion accessory, part zero waste hero, the Stojo Collapsible Biggie Cup was designed by coffee lovers so you can always take your joe to go without contributing another disposable cup to the landfill. I’ll bring my Stojo to my local coffee shop for my beloved soy chai latte then scrunch it up and toss in my tote. Easy peezy. But honestly, I mainly use it every day to drink my orange psyllium husk concoction while I get ready in the morning. We love a multi-purpose vessel!  

I’ll take kombucha anyway I can get it. Seriously though, I’ve been using this cleanser since before I knew what kombucha was. I was in my early twenties when I began my switch to greener living, and a big fear when I started to try new face washes was that my acne would get out of control. This was back in the day when we all thought that drugstore-scrub-that-shall-not-be-named was the only solution to oily skin. Little did we know that using a harsh scrub daily was stripping our skin barrier and perpetuating our skin problems.  

The Kombucha Citrus Cleansing Gel combines kombucha probiotics to help detoxify, brighten, and tone the skin while willow bark extract neutralizes acne-causing bacteria. Andalou’s unique fruit stem cell complex protects skin stem cells and ensures their longevity, provides antioxidants to combat environmental stressors and has a pH close to your own skin. 

I’ve dabbled in other natural facial cleansers but none of them check all my boxes like this one. It helps to clear my acne without stripping my sensitive skin. I’ve been using it for seven years and here’s to seven more, baby.  

My brother once made a remark to me after touring with his band and being hosted at various musicians and promoters’ homes: “Every girl has that Dr. Bronner’s stuff in their shower.” I think of this every time I visit a friend and spot that iconic label in the bathroom. I can confidently say ninety percent of the millennial households I’ve frequented use Dr. Bronner’s in some capacity. I use the unscented version for cleaning my makeup brushes and mouthguard (T.M.I.), but the scent I’ve been using daily in place of a shower gel is the Citrus Castile Soap.  

The most modest squirt of this concentrated soap onto my loofa provides more than enough suds to get the job done, while the fresh and invigorating aromas of orange, lemon, and lime essential oil kickstart my day with their brightness. Since you use such a small amount, this makes for a sustainable and cost-effective switch… the 473 ml bottle can last you an entire year.  

I keep my kombucha cleansing gel and a bottle of Dr. Bronner's in the shower at all times. Shop below.

I discovered all these clean and natural products while working at terra20. They have so many other options for you to explore, too. Remind yourself that it’s all about balance, find what living a healthy and sustainable lifestyle looks like for you, and make small changes when it makes sense. 

Let me know in the comments if you also love these products, or what clean and eco-friendly switches you’ve made that you want to shout from the rooftops (especially if it’s saving you money)!

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