A snapshot of our daily exposure to chemicals

I used to never give it a second thought about what I was putting on my body in the name of "beauty".  Becoming a mom changed all that - the more I research the ingredients of products that we so readily put on our body on a daily basis - the more shocked I am - and saddened.  I guess I always assumed that companies that create these products would realize that these ingredients are not good for us to put in or on our bodies and that they would have their customer's best interests at heart.  (don't forget that your skin is one large organ that allows products to soak through and be absorbed straight into your bloodstream)

A friend sent me this picture - It sums up some of the chemicals that we are exposed to through our favorite beauty products.  I am familiar with many of these through some of my research, but it still shocks me to see just how much.

There are lots of alternative beauty products out there that don't have all of these chemicals in them....and they work just as good as the chemical ones.  I hope you are inspired to give some a try, and reduce you and your family's exposure to some of these chemicals.

An Update on No Poo :)

Well, its been over two months since me and my husband quit using shampoo and conditioner on our hair.

We've been using Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar instead.  (see my previous post in March about No Pooing if you want the recipe we use)

Our hair is in great condition, it feels good and I would say that there's not anything I miss about using regular shampoo and conditioner.  In fact, I used to have to wash my hair daily or it would get too oily to style.  Since I've been No Pooing, I've gone as long as 5 days without washing and as little as 2.  And can you say - CHEAP?  I haven't calculated out just how cheap, but I was paying about 8 bucks a bottle before on my salon shampoo.  And now i use about a Tablespoon of baking soda and a Tablespoon of vinegar everytime i wash my hair, which isnt even every day.  :)  so there's some serious savings there.....

:)  So, if you are curious about it and want to give it a try - go for it!  You dont have anything to lose!  Feel free to bombard me with questions you have too.  I will be happy to answer them.  :)

UPDATE (5/13/2013):  Still no pooing!  Its great!  Love it!

No "Poo" !

No, not that kind of poo.......shampoo. :)

Today is Day 1 of No Poo for me. And my hair looks and FEELS amazing!!!! See below.

What does No "Poo" really mean or entail?

Here it is...its very simple.

1 cup water - with 1 Tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in it
put this mixture in a squeeze bottle - this is your shampoo

1 cup water - with 1 Tablespoon of vinegar dissolved in it ( I used white vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar too)
put this mixture in a squeeze bottle - this is your conditioner

Scene: Shower
Thoroughly wet your hair. squeeze your "shampoo" onto your hair until it is saturated (I used the whole mixture and thoroughly massaged it into my hair) let it set for a minute or so, then rinse thoroughly.

Squeeze your "conditioner" onto your hair until it saturated (again, I used the whole cup of the mixture and massaged it into my hair). Let it set for a minute or so, then rinse thoroughly.

That is all. I let my hair air dry - only because my hair is already pretty damaged from all the highlighting I have done in the past.

Thanks to the NO POO post on The Pistachio Project blog for the recipe and peaking my interest in this. She's also got a great page for troubleshooting too. Check it out

http://thepistachioproject.blogspot.com/2010/01/going-no-poo.html

Not all soap is created equal.....

I'll be the first to admit - I have a soap /bath products fetish.  It is extremely difficult for me to walk into a Bath & Body Works store or a Victoria's Secret and not walk out with some new perfume, body wash or creamy lotion.  Pure bliss.......well, that was then.....(a few months ago....)

This is now.....my house has almost been purged of the likes of any bath products such as these - and all products used on my body and my baby's now must pass the test of the database. " What? " you say?

Yes, this all started when I saw came across a video called "The Story of Cosmetics".  You can google it.  Its a little cartoon - and yes, I will admit now - they did use alot of scare tactics in the video.  And yes, I was VERY scared after watching it.  However..........I did learn about the existence of a Cosmetics Database*.  You can go to the online database, enter in your beauty/bath product and it will give you a synopsis of all ingredients in the product and whether or not any of them have been linked to or are known carcinogens, reproductive toxins, etc....basically bad for you.  Each product is given a score from 0-9.  0 being the most safe, 9 being highly toxic.  The database has quite a few products in it but not everything.  But, for those products that are not in the database,  I have found that I can look up the ingredient(s) in it. 

*You can find a link to the Cosmetics Database on my list of Noted Websites.

I first used the database to find a "safe" or "toxin free" sunscreen for Ruthie this past summer.  I found one I was pretty happy with by the brand of Badger.  I started looking up the soap, wipes, ointments, etc. that I was using on Ruthie and was surprised to see that quite a few had some pretty toxic substances in it.  Do I know how much of the "toxins" were in the product?  No, I decided I didn't want to expose her at all -  if I could help it (or afford it!).  Now yes, I understand the arguement that all of us who are parents now have probably been exposed to all this stuff since we were infants too and we've all turned out fine........well, maybe. 

So I changed the baby wipes I used as well as the soap/shampoo I used on Ruthie.  I now use California Organics baby wipes on her - they are great, relatively inexpensive and are devoid of most of the chemicals that other brands have in their products.  My gifted friend, Katie, found a great recipe for making your OWN baby wipes - this means you can make them with whatever you want!  How cool is that?  You can check out the recipe - she posted it on her blog:
http://cabbageranch.blogspot.com/2011/07/homemade-baby-wipes.html
(Yes, I did try to make some myself, but used the wrong kind of paper towels - you need to use something that's got a little strength to it otherwise they fall apart in your hands -not so bueno.  To be continued....  :)

So, the first soap I tried on Ruthie was a castille based soap (made from olive oil) and it worked ok.  I decided to get some for myself to try.  Hmmmmm....well that didn't go so well.  I could not get the castille soap out of my hair!  And it did not lather at all.  I'd wash my hair and dry it and it would look like I hadn't washed it in a week!!!  It looked and felt extremely oily!  It was awful!  (I was thinking to myself - how do people use this stuff?!?!)  UGH!  Well, I was about ready to give up on it all and found that if you rinsed your hair afterwards with vinegar it got rid of all that "gunk".....it worked pretty well - except the comments from my husband that I smelled like vinegar.....hmmmm..not very attractive.  Ok, time to look for another alternative.  I researched other's suggestions online for using organic made soaps/shampoos and found many of the problems people had encountered were largely in part to having hard water.  We were meaning to get a water softener installed anyway because we already knew we had very hard water.  So, the soft water helped but the castille based soap still just wasn't doing it for me......taking a shower had turned into a chore - no longer a nice, relaxing experience :/

I started looking for other soaps to try and found a company called Soap for Goodness Sake*.  Many of their soaps had low ratings on the Cosmetics Database so I thought I'd order some samples and try them out.  It took some getting used to using a bar of soap on my hair for shampoo but they lathered up so well and the lather was so luxurious that I was over that in no time.  :)  AND they smell heavenly - some very herby, and some very yummy.  I no longer pine for the body washes and soaps from the chain stores I used to frequent.  I think the best part of all for me is it simplified my routine.  I use one bar of soap on my hair (no need for conditioner anymore), face, body and for shaving.

*If you'd like to check out the soaps by Soap For Goodness Sake, you can find a link in my list of Noted Websites.  And no, I am not being paid to endorse them - I just wanted to share my positive experience with their products. 

On another note, my face has cleared up dramatically - my deep pores no longer get clogged constantly.  I dont' use the myriad of face products anymore - just the bar soap to clean, witch hazel to tone when needed now and then and dab an essential oil on here and there for moisturizing - as needed.  I used to have VERY oily skin.  No longer.  My face feels good all the time and I am not doing much to it.  I hardly put much makeup on either - haven't needed it.  Its truly been a liberating experience for me.  I feel good and I like what I see when I look in the mirror.

Its alot cheaper too - I dont spend a fraction of what I used to on facial products.  One bar of soap costs me $4-5 and that's about all I need. 

So, I am back to enjoying my guilty pleasure of lathering up with some incredibly scented soap in the shower and feeling like I am doing something REALLY good for myself and my family.  :)