Dirty Words!

Hello blog buds! I hope everyone had a great relaxing weekend! I had a request to blog about toiletry items that I use and like. I am always on the lookout for natural products that don't use harmful chemicals. There are a lot out there and new ones popping up everyday, so I am by no means scratching the surface of what all is out there. Here are some that I use and also the words I look to avoid in the ingredients.

Let's start with "Dirty Words". If a product says fragrance in the list of ingredients I try to stay away. I have read that one word can account for 500 different chemicals! Now I know we all LOVE the smells of our products, but a much safer route would be look for products scented with essential oils instead. I follow these rules for all of mine, Matt's, and Sophia's products. Again, as with everything else I do the best I can and by no means am perfect with this.

Other "Dirty words" I look for are: Phthalates (tha-lates), Parabens, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates, Formaldehyde. You can google each of these to see the effects on our bodies. This post would be too long if I went into detail. Bottom line is they all cause cancer. And it is especially important for women to watch what is going into our bodies as they are finding hundreds of chemicals in the cord blood of new babies. Our babies are being born already toxic! That is scary!

When looking for lip gloss, lip stick, or chapstick I always check for petroleum. We should NOT be using petroleum. Brands I really like are Kiss My Face, Burt's Bee, and Tarte. Here is a my lip gloss and chapstick stash right now! I am really loving this Burt Bee's lemon gloss! I got it at Crackle Barrel of all places!

My favorite lotion right now is the 365 brand by Whole Foods. I get the unscented so the whole family can use it (don't want Matt smelling like a girl, ya know) I keep a large bottle in all our bathrooms! No more Johnson & Johnson for Sophia, their bottles have "Dirty Words" on them!

Soaps that I really like are the 2 packs at Trader Joe's, Dr. Bronner's, & again the 365 brand at Whole Foods. Also, here are the soaps and bubble bath brands I get for Sophia.

I like to do my shopping as quickly as possible and don't like to sit and read a bunch of ingredient labels, especially on nail polish! That print is SO small you have to have a magnifying glass. So I do my homework before hand and know what companies are producing responsible products. Check out http://www.safecosmetics.org/ to start your own research.

Target, Sephora, and Kroger are great places to start and of course Whole Foods to those who are close to one. Also, I do a lot of my shopping online at http://www.vitacost.com/ and go to the organic section.
Our skin is our largest organ and everything we put on it absorbs into our bodies. So we should be just as concerned as what we put on our bodies as we are about what we put in our bodies!

Here are some pictures of some of the products I am using right now, again they aren't all perfect but remember changing little things make a difference in the long run!

From left to right: J.R. Watkins hand & cuticle cream, Tom's toothpaste, Physicians Formula Organic Powder, Organix Cosmetix Night Cream, Organix Cosemetix Eye Cream, Physicians Formula Eye Makeup Remover, Physicians Formula Organic Mascara, Wilaverde nail polish remover soy formula, Hard Candy nail polish, and Clean Well no alcohol hand sanitizer.

Left to right: 365 Whole Foods body lotion, EO Essentials Hand Wash (I always find this brand at TJ Max), Independence Body Powder (local brand you can find at City Market), Burt's Bee Foot Cream, Loreal Sulfate - free overnight conditioner (def. not perfect product here), Tom's Deodrant, Nature's Gate Deodorant (VERY important to get aluminum free deodorant), & Alba Mango Body Cream.

Peace, love, & products!

~A