Paige Padgett, makeup artist to the stars and most specifically, Jillian Michaels, is revolutionary in the beauty industry and is finally revealing her brand of beauty magic in her first book The Green Beauty Rules: The Essential Guide to Toxic-Free Beauty, Green Glamour and Glowing Skin (HCI Books -- $21.95). Filled with tips and tricks to get glamorous toxic-free make-up looks this green beauty expert has the 411 on killer toxins and chemicals found in most beauty products. The Green Beauty Rules is a simple, step-by-step beauty detox plan which guides readers on what to try, buy and toss for a healthier and gorgeous lifestyle.
Chapter by chapter Paige Padgett explains why she got started on this green beauty journey, what to look out for, and why to care about the ingredients of your favorite cosmetics. Paige explains "After attending Ken Cook's 'Ten Americans' lecture I was blown away to find that an average of 287 chemicals are found in our bodies. Some of these chemicals were banned 30 years ago. Shockingly enough, some of these chemicals compound in our bodies and are passed down through our parents. Since then I decided I would eliminate toxic chemicals from my cosmetics and teach others how to do it as well.”
Since making the greening shift can be overwhelming, Paige holds the reader's hand throughout the transition. She stresses to take things one step at a time, figure out what products work best for you and how to get the most out of certain products that can be used for more than one need.
One of the best takeaways from Padgett's book is that "green,” "natural” and "organic” do not need to be expensive. Green beauty products have come a long way since she first started and now products are vibrant, smell great, and are as effective (if not more) as popular brands.
Highlights from the book include:
• Debunking the five biggest green beauty myths (Chapter 1 Green Beauty Pioneer)
• Three eco-attitudes and how to flow between them (Chapter 1)
• Paige's 80/20 beauty diet (Chapter 2 Beauty from the "Outside In”)
• Sample Green Beauty Routine (Chapter 9 Green Beauty Looks)
• The difference between natural, organic, and chemically safe (Chapter 3 Organic, Natural and Naturally Derived)
• How to effectively use the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep Database (Chapter 5 Transition to Clean)
• The 60-Second Save – How to quickly identify chemically safe products (Chapter 6 Shop like a Pro)
• Tools for identifying greenwashing, reading labels and decoding packaging seals and stamps (Chapter 3)
• The three P's to avoid—perfume, parabens, petrochemicals (Chapter 4 The Nasties)
• Paige's Top Ten daily use products (Chapter 5)
• A step-by-step guide to greening your beauty routine (Chapter 5)
• A list of the top estrogenic chemicals to watch out for in products (Chapter 4)
About the Author:
Paige Padgett, a leading authority on green beauty, has never been afraid to go against the grain. An irreverent free spirit, she follows her instincts and her heart. At the mere age of 12 she announced to her family that she was no longer eating red meat. Ironically, her half-Native American grandfather was a cattle rancher. It was no surprise then, that when beauty experts said she couldn't provide safe and eco-friendly makeup artistry and still create beautiful faces, she set out to prove them wrong — and did.
Now considered a leading authority on green beauty, Paige is the Green Beauty Expert for Dasani ECOmmunity Facebook Page, DailyGlow.com, Jillian Michaels Wellness Team, and founded Paigepadgett.com, a green beauty website. In addition, she is often sought out by the press and has been featured in Shape, Elle, GenLux, Tresdope.com, Beautyblitz.com, The Los Angeles Times, Vegetarian Times, Natural Health and Whole Life Times Magazine. Her television, radio, podcasts and live appearances include "Martha Stewart Radio," "San Diego Live," "The Jillian Michaels Radio Show," "Green Is Good," "The Healthy Voyager" and "The Jillian Michaels Wellness Cruise."
Author
Interview:
1. What makes a
beauty product "green"?
For me it's
being chemically safe and ideally with primarily natural ingredients. Organic is
a bonus especially for make-up. It's impossible to find color that is 100%
organic but often you will find organic ingredients. I strive for chemically
safe ingredients.
2. What are
some of the health reasons to consider a green beauty routine?
Cosmetics are
filled with toxic chemicals that are linked to birth defects, endocrine
disruption, neurotoxicity and cancer. That's enough reason for me.
3. What is the
difference between organic and natural?
Unfortunately,
the word "natural” means nothing in marketing and on labels. There's no
regulation for the term. Organic is more regulated but regulation is a bit lax
and ambiguous for the average person. According to the USDA, in order for a
product to use the term "100% Organic” it must be just that, excluding water and
salt. To use the USDA Organic seal a product must be at least "95% Organic
excluding water and salt.” To use the word "Organic” a product must have 70% or
more organic. If a product has less than 70% organic ingredients the term
"organic” is not allowed on the label anywhere. So you see how confusing it can
be. You really have to research it.
4. What are the
different eco-certifications out there and which ones should I pay the most
attention to?
ECOCERT, a
French certification, and USDA Organic are the most common in the US for
cosmetics. There are others such as NSF International (NSF), Organic and
Sustainable Industry Standards (OASIS) and Organic Consumers Association (OCA)
which are US organizations as well as BHID, a German certification, The Soil
Association in the UK; Certech, a Canadian organization and Australian Organic
are all respectable seals and should be sought out.
5. When looking
for a green beauty product, what ingredients should I see at the top of the
label?
Natural
ingredients you can pronounce. For example, castor seed, apricot seed or
sunflower seed oil are first in a lip gloss. The closer they are to the top the
higher concentration of the ingredient.
6. What green
beauty swaps can you suggest?
Look for white
willow bark and grapeseed oil instead of parabens, and essential oils instead of
fragrance.
7. What are
your favorite green beauty resources? Are there resources people can use to help
them become more educated and chemically safe with their cosmetics?
My go-to
resource is http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/. You can also check out the companies
who signed the compact for safe cosmetics (the EU directive) at
safecosmetics.org and, of course, http://www.paigepadgett.com. These are the
resources I use myself and recommend to others.
8. If people
choose not to 100% go green, what are some harmful ingredients you recommend
that they avoid?
Omit fragrance.
By eliminating fragrance you can cut out 30-300 potentially toxic chemicals.
More than 90% of chemicals in fragrance are petrochemicals. Phthalates are
especially of concern since they are fragrance and are linked to a birth defect
in boys. If you see the word fragrance, perfume or parfum, don't buy it.
9. What do you
feel is the most common misconception people have about green beauty?
That one must
sacrifice beauty and performance to be clean and environmentally friendly. You
don't have to sacrifice performance, taste or beauty. Especially today; there
are so many gorgeous and luxurious chemically safe and eco-friendly products on
the market. The colors have come a long way too. They are no longer muddy. You
can have vibrant pinks now.
I do artistry
for celebrities, television and magazine shoots using chemically safe make-up
and it's always glamorous. There are so many options out there you simply have
to find what works for you. As with all cosmetics, people prefer different
textures, colors, smells, etc. You have to learn about every product
individually to know if you like it. It is the same for all cosmetics.
10. Being a
make-up artist - is it realistic to be able to do your job well by only using
all-natural, green, clean make-up?
It used to be
hard to be 100% clean as a professional artist because brighter, more vibrant
colors are needed but that has changed in the past 5 years. I approach green
beauty like a diet – in terms of our skin, it eats a high percentage of what you
put on it (60%). At this point, I always say if you are clean all week and you
want to wear the neon lipstick on the weekend, then wear it. It is the 80/20
rule -- you can pick and choose your chemicals for the other 20 percent.
11. What is a
green beauty expert? What does it mean to be green?
Green beauty
expert means that I specialize in chemically safe and eco-friendly make-up. For
me, being green is both a micro and macro issue with respect to the health of
the individual and the environment.
12. What are
the top major toxic chemicals to watch out for? Why?
Look out for
parabens, fragrance and petrochemicals. Parabens are in nearly everything so you
are getting much higher accumulations of them than other chemicals and fragrance
has potentially hundreds of toxic chemicals. Petrochemicals are linked to so
many diseases such as birth defects and cancer.
13. You tell
people to become a "box turner." What do you mean? Read the packaging and
ingredient labels?
When a company
is clean they will nearly always incorporate it into their marketing. They are
proud of it. And the more specific they are the better. Transparency is
everything. But you still have to know what you are looking for like key words,
certifications, stamps and seals. Some are great, others mean nothing.
14. You talk
about the 80/20 rule what is that?
I see cosmetics
as a diet just like a nutritional diet. Your skin "eats" 60% of what you put on
it so I use the 80/20 rule which means if I am clean in my beauty/hygiene
routine 80% of the time, I can wear my favorite perfume or blue eye shadow,
although most often I don't want to. That is what happens once you start
educating yourself more. I also factor in my overall lifestyle...eating organic,
buying chemically safe household items and cleaners, and organic clothes/cotton
when I can. It's all connected as is evident on my website: paigepadgett.com.
15. Do your
green beauty interests extend to all facets of your life?
Definitely. I
think everyone should realize that little changes have big impacts. For
instance, I purchase used cars, forego plastic bottles and any plastic bags when
shopping – the usual stuff. But greening my personal and professional beauty
kits had been one of my biggest efforts for the environment. Eating organic is
also a huge part of who I am. I'm a Lacto-Ovo vegetarian (I only eat eggs and
dairy) and I buy local produce. These are things everyone can do as they are not
difficult. I look forward to doing more on a larger scale in the
future.
Available wherever books are sold or to order directly from the publisher, contact: www.hcibooks.com or (800) 441-5569
The Green Beauty Rules: The Essential Guide to Toxic-Free, Green Glamour, and Glowing Skin
Paige Padgett
ISBN: 978-0-7573-1870-2 $21.95—September 2015
