Clean beauty on a budget

More people are becoming concerned about what's in their beauty products but it's not always easy to find a non-toxic alternative - not because of the lack of options but because figuring out a new skincare regime can be frustrating and expensive.  It's hard to decide whether to invest in a pricey new product you've never tried, or to find out whether a product will work for your skin type.  Thankfully there are great budget-friendly options if you're looking to detox your beauty routine and don't know where to start.  

Most clean beauty brands carried by Sephora offer value sets of travel-sized products (my favourite are from Drunk Elephant and Herbivore) to help you try out products before investing in the full size versions.  Economically-priced small sizes of Herbivore products are also available through several other retailers: you can find them at Vossity, Fresh Laundry, and at Chapters Indigo.  Chapters also carries value sets of other clean beauty brands like Consonant, and Vossity offers travel sizes and samples from other brands as well.  

Not all clean beauty brands are on the pricier side of the spectrum either, with brands like Green Beaver, Goddess Garden Organics, Andalou Naturals and Avalon Organics available in the natural beauty or health food sections of most major grocery stores and health food stores.  If you're in western Canada you can also shop at Rocky Mountain Soap.  It can take a few tries to figure out which products work best for your skin type and concerns but investing time is way better than wasting money!