Product Props: Avalon Organics Exfoliating Enzyme Scrub

To achieve clear, glowing skin, many of us layer on lotions and powders every day. Skin is the largest organ in the human body but is often abused by us unknowingly. Many of those lotions and powders are actually full of harmful chemicals and preservatives. Through false advertisements, we're led to believe those products are beneficial for our face and will help us erase years of damage and abuse.

My mother instilled a sense of fear for prematurely aged skin in me very early on. That fear drove me to believe that putting on expensive creams and lotions religiously will help me ward of wrinkles and sunspots. Well, it worked but came at a high cost as I became a slave to expensive department store lotions and eye creams. Finally, I got fed up with the crazy prices and the insane ingredients that are in those products. Just as I wouldn't pay $10 to buy a bag of potato chips, I realized I shouldn't spend $35 on a bottle of purely man-made chemicals that is suppose to go on my face.

After countless strolls through the body care sections at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Henry's Farmers Market, I finally found my face savior. Avalon Organics does have many top-notch products, but I'm most fond of the face scrub. It felt like WEEKS of dead skin cells were scrubbed away the first time I used it. The texture is a bit coarse but not abrasive. Natural ingredients like walnut powder and papaya enzymes loosen impurities with ease while lavender extract helps calm irritated skin. Plus the ingredients list on the tube contains a lot of "pronounce-able" words- a good sign for both edible and non-edible products.

Skin Deep is a great online resource of looking up harmful ingredients in facial products. If you haven't read the ingredients label on your favorite facial lotion, check it out. It might amaze you or make you run to the nearest dumpster to throw it away. 

Special thanks to my friend and colleague Mandy T. for introducing me to the Skin Deep!

Photo from avalonorganics.com