I’m super excited to tell you all about how I solved my conundrum when it comes to finding eco-friendly skin care without phthalates and toxins! I have been searching for a skin care line that does not contain phthalates, parabens, SLS, artificial colors, chemical fillers, etc., but also keeps my (aging) skin moisturized and blemish-free.

I’m sad to say that all the handmade products or kitchen recipes that I’ve tried in the past have been terrible for my skin. They have left my skin too dry, too oily, or caused me to break out. I’ve tried washing with oil, washing with honey, moisturizing with coconut oil, toning with hydrogen peroxide… all of it has been a terrible failure.

The products I’ve found that work best are, shall we say, usually less than ideal in their ingredients. I’ve been doing the best I could by at least buying from companies like The Body Shop and Whole Foods who have good fair trade and ethical practices and “probably” don’t contain phthalates, but I’ve let a few other standards slip just to have nice skin.

Recently I met the wife of one of my husbands’ coworkers who is a local naturopath. It is all I can do not to ask her 100 questions about that at the dinner parties we have attended! In fact, she has graciously offered to write a guest post for us soon to tell us all about naturopath practice and I can’t wait! Aside from that fascinating fact (or perhaps because of it), she has also formulated her very own skin care line. I’ll quote her here to explain why:

Early in my practice, I relied on “recipes” [for my clients skin care needs] I developed while working with herbs. I made recommendations to clients that had them in their kitchens throwing together various ingredients to make their own lotions and cleansers. Human error abounded, and the results were less than satisfactory …

(sounds like my failed efforts!)

And here is my favorite part and, in my opinion, why K6 products work as well and BETTER than their non-green, non-natural conventional counterparts:

… As an ND, I am dedicated to practicing natural healing modalities, but I am not afraid to use technology safely where it will enhance the action of a natural element. I use this philosophy in every facet of my practice, and it permeates my skin care line as well.

This is a very good point. I don’t think it’s wrong to use technology to assist natural ingredients. The problem with a lot of the natural products I had been trying was the lack of preservatives, meaning that the containers became breeding grounds for bacteria. Sharon gave me a detailed ingredients sheet for each of the 3 products in the K6 line which explains, line by line, what each ingredient is and it’s function in the product (including preservatives and why they were chosen).

And did you catch that? Only 3 products in the line! Here they are:

Clean

For, um, cleaning. The best feature of this cleanser is that it also removes eye makeup! Yep, no more purchasing an additional product to clean your eyes. I find that it works best to rub a small amount on the closed eye, rinse, and then wash the entire face as usual.

Reveal

A powerful enzyme peel that leaves skin refreshed, not raw. It’s extremely gentle but you’ll also be amazed to see the amount of dead skin cells it removes (if you are fascinated by peeling things…this might be fun for you!). Never once made my skin raw or irritated. It is actually gentle enough to use on rosacea without exacerbating the condition.

Preserve

Anti-aging moisturizer that is extremely luxurious – you don’t need much! Slows the breakdown of collagen, invigorates the production of more collagen, and inhibits the production of melanin.

Ever since I started using the K6 skin care line, I have actually felt guilty for not yet telling my readers about how much I love this skin care system. I wanted to be impartial because — full disclosure — they are also an advertiser on my blog. But I also do not advertise anything on this blog that I have not tried for myself or do not believe in. If I had tried this line and it hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be writing this post.

A note on cost: you need very little of each of these products. For Clean, probably the size of a pencil eraser for eyes and the size of a dime for the whole face. For Reveal, you only use it once a day and maybe not even every day, I probably use about a quarter size squeeze for my entire face. For Preserve, less than dime size. So you can imagine how long each product will last. I’ll probably buy Clean most frequently.

So, there you have it. It’s what I am using right now, and I think I’ll probably be using it for quite some time in the future. I hope that K6 helps you as much as it helps me. You can find their ad in the right column any time in the next 3 months. And remember, if you do choose to try the product line, you are helping to support a local woman-owned business and blog!