Natural beauty products for the tween set

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It used to be that the inexpensive lip glosses and purse-size hand creams at the register of your average mall store were over-perfumed in annoyingly girly packaging and chock full of every synthetic ingredient.
Now with more natural ingredient options and everyone jumping on the ‘green’ train, stores such as H&M and now the junior fave Aerie are offering botanical beauty products at drugstore prices.

Aerie’s line of lotions, body washes and body scrubs launched a couple of days ago in Aerie stores. They boast being 94% natural with no parabens, synthetic dyes, animal bi-products or testing. Even the packaging is simple and minimal to mirror the higher-end botanical lines on the market like Ren, Nude and Origins.

The scents (though they seem light) are quite strong. Coconut and vanilla bean, apple blossom and cucumber and violet leaf and lychee seem harmless enough but are done as intense versions, which can be off-putting but caters to the brand’s young clientele. Each product also contains vitamin E and antioxidants for skin health.

It’s nice to see natural beauty products on the rise and available at affordable prices (they range from $8.50 for a hand cream to $14.50 for the body scrub), especially for a younger shopper.

I wish more natural, Earth-friendly items were sitting on the counter at Contempo Casuals and Wet Seal when I was a tween.

Melissa Magsaysay