my fave pre-packaged products are Dr. Hauschka (sp?) and Weleda. i like what UranusinPisces says about using organic oils - coconut, olive, and jojoba are my faves.

i'm a huuuge product snob...
so here's what i've found... a lot o the really great products are not effecable (sp?)

i really like the line grateful body that's my new latest bestest discovery, specifically the 30+ eye stuff
and i'm diggin my new conditioner which is aubrey huneysuckle rose... check it out
otherwise for cleanser and shampoo i use avalon facial cleansing milk and ylang ylang shampoo
and i make my own body oils with all organic oils and essential oils for scents
for lotion i just got a new one which is by holistic enterprises - MSM lotion face and body
and i like simply divine botanicals - honey i shrunk the pores with kombucha

I thought Avalon had more than one line. Some are organic and some are not. If I'm not mistaken, they do actually have the USDA stamp on the bottle. I need to recheck this.
Good info here.

I just posted muy fav list on another tribe so here it is!

After changing out all of my beauty products to organic, I thought I'd reccommend my favorite products that are also paraben, laureth/laurel sulfate free, biodegradable and work really well. I wanted to provide an opinion from a consumer because I had a hard time finding information that wasn't from a retailer. I rated each product up to 5 stars.

Places to find these products: Whole Foods, Sprouts, drugstore.com, Target, CVS and Vitamin City in Long Beach, CA

Skin care and lotions:

***** Avalon Organics Vitamin C renewal face cream
This is great for moisturizing dry skin but doesn't leave a residue. It smells like orange candy. Cost $15-20 at any health food store

***** Avalon Organics Vitamin C hydrating cleansing milk
This works for both my husband's oily-sensitive skin and my dry-sensitive skin. I never wanted to try a milk cleanser before this but I took a chance and I will never use anything else. Even senitive skin cleansers made my face sting but not this stuff! Cost $16 at any health food store.

***** Neutrogena's pore-refining toner.
This in not an organic brand but it doesn't contain any bad chemicals. It does contain glycolic acid which is used in facial peels. It tightens the skin and smells lightly floral. It also costs less per oz. than most of the organic brands but does more for the face than most. I also put it into a spray bottle to get a perfect amount onto a cotton pad and on a rag to clean my make-up brushes everyday. Cost $7 at Target, $8+ drug stores

***** Kiss My Face Aromatherapeutic lotion
This lotion is fragrant with claims of antioxidant power. The thickness is medium--good for the body but not for the hands throughout the day. Try the honeysuckle tangerine and tea tree scents. Cost $8 on sale at Whole Foods, $7 Vitamin City, $9 Sprouts

***** Dessert Essence body creams
These are great for your hands and on dry skin. I highly reccommend the Vanilla Chai and Pumpkin Spice. Cost $8 at any health food store

***** Alba lip gloss
Kiss My Face has a similar lip gloss but isn't nearly as moisturizing. This is comparable to Burt's lip gloss but with a better flavor. Try the passion fruit or pineapple. Cost $3 at any health food store or CVS counters

***** Alba green tea sublock spf 30
This stuff smells fresh and soft on the skin all day. It applies easily and doesn't leave any residues. Works well even on oily skin. Cost $7 at Sprouts

Make-up:

**** Earth's Beauty foundation powder
Use it as base under other foundation powder if your skin is dry or sensitive. Doesn't give maximum coverage like most foundation powders but it's completely organic and was the only non-mica foundation powder I found on the internet or in stores. Includes spf 15. Cost $24 online at Apothena.com

***** Emani foundation powder
It does contain mica but is an organic alternative to i.d. minerals which runs $40 a container. Cost $15 at Vitamin City in Long Beach or other health stores.

Hair:

***** Jason Organics sea kelp shampoo and aloe vera conditioner
These are my favorite. They leave my long hair smelling, looking and feeling amazing. It's frequently on sale at Whole Foods. the aloe conditioner leaves the hair feeling lightweight and clean although it's hard to squeeze out of the bottle Jason also makes a dandruff shampoo and conditioner as well but with all the choices and smells, you'll want to pick a more fragrant selection. The apricot is good for damaged/dry hair. Cost $7-10 at any health product store.

***** Nature's Gate shampoos and conditioners
They are very inexpensive and have removed the dimethicone from the product recently. Beware, a little goes a long way with the condtioner. It leaves the hair feeling smooth and smells great. I reccommend the orange patchouli and chamomile sage scents. Cost $7 a bottle at Sprouts, Whole Foods, etc.

***** Lamas revitalizing shampoo and conditioner for
Good for damaged/dry hair or dandruff. It's made with Chinese herbs and can be applied all the way to the scalp. For ends, use a second application of conditioner. Cost $8 at Vitamin City in Long Beach, $12 Sprouts

**** Alba shampoo
This shampoo is very light and strips lots of dirt off your hair. It smells great but is a little drying. Cost $7 Vitamin City

***** Head Organics hair serum
This is a shine/anti-frizz polisher for all hair types. It's mostly chemical but not any chemicals that have been labelled bad. If you don't use a hair polisher, you should. It's for the ends of the hair, even if it's short or straight. This will smooth your ends, create shine and smells deliciously like cherry. This is a must if you color, blow dry, have long or curly hair. Cost $10 at Sprouts

***** Jason texturizing cream
This is for styling your hair just like a pomade. Use it to smooth ends on short hair or to style and blow dry short hair/bangs. You could add some serious volume to long hair if blow dried. The aloe bergamot scent is fresh. Use sparingly, a little goes a long way! I use a quarter of a dime-sized drop to style my bangs. The hold lasts all day, given that you don't sweat too much. Cost $8 CVS or Vitamin City

Soaps and cleaners:

**** Kiss My Face-Obsessively Organic foaming hand soaps
I can't express how delicious the bergamot mix and citrus sented hand soaps are. The only problem with these is the head of the foaming bottle doesn't stay forward and can be hard to press down. I'd love to see refills for these too. Cost $6 Vitamin City

***** Jason citrus scent body wash
Not only is Jason very affordable but they have great selections in scents. The only problem is that most of the handwashes and bodywashes tend to all have a similar jojoba scent. Cost $12 a pump bottle at any health product store

**** Method body washes. They're biodegrable and smell good--a little too good. They have a men's skin care line too but of course I haven't tried it. Cost $6+ at Target

***** Method house cleaners and hand soaps. I reccommend the sweet water and scented soaps, vanilla mix air freshners/candles, almond wood cleaner, peppermint bathroom cleaner, their glass cleaner and any of their dish soaps. I love that they have flushable wipes for the bathroom so you don't have to have germ-infested rags sitting in the trash. Their multi-purpose cleaner for the kitchen isn't as good as a 7th Generation's but it does the job most of the time. Cost $6+ They can easily be found at Target and CVS if you're in a major city.

***** 7th Generation multi-purpose cleaner
I replaced my 409 with this stuff. I even use it to clean pet accidents on carpet. It works almost as well as Zep or 409 on the stove, which is the most important thing since no one wants to scrub crust off a stove. Cost $7 at Whole Foods, Vitamin City or other health food store.

I don't reccommend:

* Alba conditioners:
They are very fragrant but overly drying and leave the hair extra rough and frizzy looking. The shampoos are great at stripping the hair of dirt but the conditioner doesn't replenish the moisture.

** Aubrey Organics sunscreens:
They smell good but are so thick that after rubbing on even a thin layer of sunscreen, the skin has a residue of white on it. The feel remains greasy as well.

** Jason light leave-in conditioner
It smells good but doesn't smooth ends well at all. It can be used to style and blow dry but is too heavy to last all day. It gets a greasy residue after a few hours.

* Any face scrubs containing walnut or apricot seeds.
The shells are too jagged and scratch the skin's surface, causing tons of tiny scars on the skin. The best alternative is Alba's seaweed scrub but it still contains dimethicone so it gets *** stars. If anyone has found a face scrub dense with scrubbers, please reply!