How to Shop More “Less-Toxic” this Christmas Season
Around Christmastime, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind-pace of the season. There’s lots of shopping, baking, decorating, and all kinds of things on top of other obligations such as work or school. This can make it so easy to take the express route with buying Christmas gifts. Whether it’s ordering something that looks good on Amazon or grabbing a gift set from Target, it’s not hard to make gift-buying the shortcut option on your to-do list. It can be really tempting to want to ditch a conscious-shopper mindset this time of year. So I’ve got a few helpful tips for you to stay strong on your “less-toxic” journey this Christmas season and still get your shopping done pretty quickly. Let’s get to it…
It can be tempting to just pick up an easy, grab-and-go 24-pack of off-brand nail polishes from the Christmas gift display in your local Target, but have you ever stopped to check the ingredients on these? There are so many things like this put on displays this time of year, ranging from big skincare spa kits to makeup sets for children, perfume sets to manicure kits, meant to be an easy one-stop-shop type of purchase. However, it’s never a good idea to hand these over to loved ones without first vetting the ingredients. Let’s dive in on some tips for how you can shop more consciously and cautiously this Christmas season so you can protect yourself and your loved ones.
1. Knowing what to look for
Before you start shopping, here are a few things to keep an eye out for this season (items for both adults and children) since they’re probably all over displays and bestseller lists. I tend to focus on beauty content here, but I did throw a few food items on this list too, just so you’re aware.
Beauty / nail polish / skin care
Off-brand perfume sets (have the potential to be filled with fragrance chemicals)
Big sets of off-brand nail polish
Makeup advent calendars
Bath bomb gift boxes
Spa mask gift packs
Bath product sets
Big lipstick sets
These are some of the major ones I wanted to mention since it’s super easy to just grab these and go, but I do want to remind you to check up on ingredients in these before purchasing. It’s much more common to find questionable/potentially-harmful ingredients in mass-produced off-brand sets like these, so if you’re looking for “gift sets” like these, make sure you do research on their ingredients beforehand or shop from a brand you know better and trust. Especially keep an eye on ingredients lists for low-quality kids cosmetics and don’t just take a brand at their possibly “greenwashed” marketing. Always do your own research!
Food / sweets / drinks
Chocolate advent calendars
Candy advent calendars
Off-brand assorted chocolate boxes
Gingerbread house kits
Off-brand hot cocoa bomb sets
I’m not as well-versed in identifying questionable food ingredients, but I do have a few easy rules-of-thumb when shopping: if I can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not something I want in my body; if a label contains ingredients other than actual ingredient basics I’m familiar with, it’s probably not ideal; research brands that are more simple and natural than just what’s in front of me. There are a lot of “less-toxic” food brands out there these days, so again, make sure you do your own research and find items with ingredients you’re comfortable with!
I’m thinking about putting together a blog post with some “less-toxic” gift set ideas for some of the items in these categories, so stay tuned!
2. Research ingredients before shopping
Whether you’re heading to the stores or shopping online this year, start out by researching ingredients ahead of time. For nail polish, if you don’t know where to begin, please visit my “less-toxic” page for lots of helpful resources. For other ingredients, you can type in their name on Google or even Google Scholar to see if you can find information from reliable sources such as the EWG, FDA, or even scientific studies that’ll help you form your own opinion.
If you come across an ingredient you’re unfamiliar with while you’re actually inside a store and in a hurry, something I always do just for a quick check is go onto the Internet on my phone and type in whatever the ingredient is and add EWG at the end to see what their information is on it. I’ll also keep scrolling to see if there are any scientific studies I can read quickly.
However you choose to do this, you can feel so much more confident and calm when shopping if you already know what to look for before you even get there.
3. Make your own gift sets / baskets
It can be so frustrating to not come across any gift sets you feel comfortable giving to your loved ones. Especially when it would be so easy to just grab one and keep moving! However, it can actually be really fun and much better to compile a gift set or basket on your own with brands/items that you trust. If you have specific “less-toxic” polishes or makeup you like and personally use, grab a few and make up your own gift set for someone special. You can also do this with food and candy of course!
It’s so nice to make a gift set with your own favorite products; it’s a lot more personal and you’ll feel so much more comfortable gifting items that you know and trust and use. Personally, I don’t like gifting or recommending something beauty-related to someone unless it’s something I’ve used, liked, and trust. I highly recommend you give this approach a try this year!
I hope you found this post helpful. If you did, please bookmark it for future reference and/or pass it along to a friend to help them out this Christmas season. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help out. Of course, if it’s something I can’t answer, I’ll also do my best to direct you somewhere that’ll help you too.
Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? Do you have any “less-toxic” shopping tips? Comment below!
Don’t forget to check back soon for my “less-toxic” gift ideas post!
Have a polished rest of your day and a Merry Christmas,