Can you be green and gorgeous? MAXINE GORDON turns to a new beauty bible for handy advice and tips.

WE are what we eat… hence the temptation to buy fresh produce and organic if we can afford it.

But does the same standard apply to our beauty products?

Well, apparently so.

From a tiny, niche market, organic and natural cosmetics are now a significant player in the beauty market, says Sarah Stacey, health editor of You Magazine and the co-author of The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible.

She has identified two main reasons for this growth. “Women are beginning to get reactions to the overload of products they are putting on their skin and are also more aware of what they are putting on their skin and how it relates to health.”

The beauty tome weighs in at more than 200 pages and covers everything you want to know about going natural and more. Scores of products have been tried by an 18,000-strong team of testers and there are lots of recipes for natural treatments and remedies too.

Sarah says: “The recipes are for you to whiz up at home and are totally natural. I’m particularly keen on making my own facial oils.”

There are DIY guides for teeth whiteners (one fresh strawberry mixed into a paste with ½ teaspoon of baking powder) spot blitzers (pulp an apple and leave it on your face for 20 minutes) and five tricks to tackle puffy eyes using a myriad of ingredients from dried lavender to slices of potato.

There are plenty of useful guides too, tackling everything cellulite and rosacea to how to apply the perfect fake tan.

One chapter teaches readers how to read the labels on our products – and highlights some of the nasties to look out for and perhaps avoid, such as MI and MCI preservatives which are said to have caused a rapid rise in facial eczema.

Sarah wrote the book with fellow beauty journalist Josephine Fairley and it is their eighth title in the Beauty Bible series.

The pair will be coming to Fenwick, York, next Monday (MARCH 24) to share their knowledge with shoppers at a sold out event, organised by You Magazine.

It’s just part of their mission to spread the word about natural cosmetics.

“We wrote the book because women told us they wanted to be natural beauties but didn’t want to be bare-faced,” said Sarah, who added products have changed beyond recognition in recent years.

“As little as five years ago, the formulas were basic, they felt heavy, didn’t absorb and their scents were often over-powering and unsophisticated. The packaging looked like muesli and crucially they didn’t give great results.

“Now natural cosmetics are every bit as efficacious, just as luxurious to use and as gorgeously packaged as any others in the beauty halls.”

Sarah conceded that many of the top-performing brands listed in the bible are more expensive than high-street products.

“The more expensive ones are probably an investment. But we discovered that many women found they were saving money because they were not buying lots of different products and instead were spending a bit of money on something that worked.”

The book reflects our growing concerns with health and wellbeing.

Sarah said: “What we put into our body is just as important as what we put on it.”


Beauty Bibles top products:

Best mascara: Origins Ginzing Brightening Mascara

Best SPF moisturiser: L’Occitane Immortelle Precious Protection SPF20

Best miracle cream: L’Occitane Divine Cream

Best facial scrub: Liz Earle Gentle Facial Exfoliator

Best self tanner for face and body: Jane Iredale Tantasia Self Tanner and Bronzer

Best hand cream: Tisserand Signature Blend Intensive Hand and Nail Cream

Best neck treatment: Dr Hauschka Regenerating Neck and Decollete Cream

Best hair gel: Aveda Brilliant Retexturing Gel

Best shampoo: Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo

Best body scrub: Ren Guerande Salt Exfoliating Body Balm

• The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible by Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley is published by Kyle Books, priced £19.99