If you follow a healthy, eco-friendly beauty routine, you might get questions from people who still use mass-market products. Sometimes our mothers are the first to inquire! If your mom is open to learning more on the subject, it’s a golden opportunity to share the benefits of natural personal care solutions. Creating a safe, green regimen is easier when you know what to look for, as well as what to avoid. Here are some suggestions to help your mom:

Focus on the basics

While some women use dozens of products daily, you’ll get tremendous mileage out of three basic items when it comes to caring for your skin─a good cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. By helping your mother incorporate natural versions of this effective trio, you can be sure that she has the essentials covered. Once she makes the transition, you might suggest switching other categories over time, such as deodorant, body lotion, nail polish, etc.

Show her it’s affordable

Natural skin care products can be pricey, but the majority found in health food stores and wellness-oriented websites are reasonably priced. It’s best to guide your mom towards items that offer great benefits based on high-quality ingredients. If they cost a tad more than drugstore brands, remind her that, as with organic food, paying a little more now for safe, unadulterated products is a good investment in our long term wellness.

Focus on the positive

Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with many commercial products, you might better emphasize what’s so terrific about many natural alternatives! They often contain ingredients that have been used with amazing results in other cultures for centuries, such as Shea butter, coconut oil, green tea, aloe vera, essential oils of lavender, tea tree, and rosemary, and more.

Give the right amount of information

If you’re mom wants to know why chemical-based products are best avoided, it’s a great chance to share information, as long as she doesn’t feel inundated. You might mention the Cosmetic Dirty Dozen,  a listing of the 12 most common chemical ingredients to avoid. If she’s wants a more detailed explanation, check out this excellent resource from the David Suzuki Foundation.

Throw in some DIY tips

If you love your home crafted avocado-oatmeal mask or baking soda scrub, turn your mom on to these simple beauty recipes as well. It’s both fun and empowering to create a regimen that melds professionally formulated products and easy, cheap DIY goodies. All of this creates distance between your mother and chemical-based items, while offering her a fresh rejuvenation most women will appreciate at any age. Cheers to Moms!

Kiki Powers, MS, CNC, is a Certified Nutrition Consultant, professional health writer and national speaker specializing in plant-based nutrition and healthy green living. On top of writing for Simply Fair, Kiki runs BohoBabe Foods, a company she founded to inspire people to explore healthier, greener, more compassionate food choices, one delicious bite at a time.