Mommy Goes Green

I’m working on replacing  all of my personal card products with safer products.  Recently, I was looking to replace my face wash. I’ve used the same Aveeno face wash for years but is has parabens in it and a few other fun chemicals.  Fortunately, my search was short lived. 

My first try was with Burt Bee’s Deep Cleansing Cream.  I like creamy facial washes and it’s affordable at $8.   Unfortunately, it just didn’t do it for me.  Something in it made my eyes water and I never felt like my makeup was totally removed.

My second round was with Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash and I love, love, love it!  I definitely feel that it ‘thoroughly’ cleans my face, makeup and all. The face wash has a great rating on the Cosmetics Database- 1.  It contains castile soap, olive oil, tea tree oil and many other essential oils and plant extracts. It’s liquid and only takes one pump to wash my face.  I’ve been using it for a month and have used about 1/4 of the bottle.  At $10/bottle, that’s $30/year in facial wash ( or $2.50/month ) and I was spending about 2x that on Aveeno so this is a great win/win – saving my body from toxic junk AND saving money. 

WHERE TO BUY:  Find a store locally or buy it online here.

Do you have a favorite face wash?

I’m not a big makeup girl – I use a few basic products and I tend to stick to what I like – I don’t venture out to new products very often. Recently, I decided that I needed to find safer, paraben-free makeup products but I didn’t want to spend the time (or a lot of money) testing new products. I’ve been using Physician’s Formula Organic Wear tinted moisturizer for a year– I use it daily because it has light coverage, it moisturizes AND has SPF 15. Basically it’s a great all-in-one which is perfect for a mom with limited time on her hands. I highly recommend it.

Since I liked that product so much, I decided to try out the other products in the Physician’s Formula Organic Wear line. To sweeten the deal, I made sure that the store I purchased them from had a return policy that allows you to try out a new product and return it if you don’t like it – thank you to Fred Meyer! I got the eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss.

The eyeliner is exactly how I like them – soft, thick pencil tip – goes on easily and stays on all day. I’m sticking with this one.

I’ve been buying the same brand of mascara for 10 years and love it but I know it has junky ingredients. It’s going to be hard to replace. The Physician’s Formula Organic Wear mascarahas an interesting wand – like nothing I’ve seen. If you like your eyelashes defined and thin layers of mascara – this is perfect for you. It’s never chunky or goopy. It works fine for me for every day – but I do have to put on multiple layers. If I was going out at night – I might go back to old faithful until I find another brand.

As for the lip gloss – I returned it to the store. I love lip gloss but when I put this on, I flashed back to the 80’s with my frosted, glossy lips. I’m on the lookout for another brand.

What are your favorite makeup brands?

I love all the ‘Exchange’ programs going on in the green world.  Just send it your crummy, chemical filled products and get eco-friendly ones for FREE. It’s a great way to try a new product, risk-free. 

Zoya Nail Polish is doing one right now through June 30.  Send in 6 or more bottles of your old, unwanted nail polish (any brand other than Zoya) and in return, Zoya will send you new Zoya bottles in colors of your choice – bottle for bottle!  So send in 10 bottles and get 10 new bottles!

Zoya Nail Polish is formaldehyde free, DBP free, toluene free, camphor free and vegan friendly. They carry every kind of nail polish you possibly want from matte to sparkly to gloss and in tons of colors.  You will absolute find anything you are looking for and again FREE.

What are you waiting for?

Have you tried EcoTools?  I’m definitely a fan. Now is your chance to get 2 free sets of EcoTools!

To encourage women to get gorgeously green with their beauty routine, EcoTools will collect used cosmetic brushes and bath + body care products to swap them for an EcoTools alternative. The Look Gorgeous, Love Green Campaign strives to show women that EcoTools will keep them stunning – and sustainable.

Examples of items to swap include:

• makeup brushes
• body washes and scrubs
• body lotions/butters
• hand creams
• body mists
• bath sponges

For each item turned in, participants will receive a coupon for a free EcoTools alternative! (up to $7.99 value, limit 2 coupons per person)  To continue to show respect to the earth, items collected will be recycled. 

MAIL TO:

Look Gorgeous, Love Green Campaign
c/o Skirt Public Relations
2320 N. Damen Ave., #2D
Chicago, IL 60647

Please provide full name, mailing address and email address when submitting products. EcoTools coupon will be sent to participants within a month of receiving swapped product.

I’m not a doctor, chemist, or scientist (nor do I pretend to be one)  -  I’m a concerned mom, wife and woman that wants to make sure that the food my family eats and the products we use are healthy and safe. We’re always talking about chemicals around here, particularly how to AVOID them.  One of the ways I find out what chemicals are being used, how they are used and how dangerous they are is to read Chemical of the Day.  It’s a blog written by Stephanie Greenwood, owner of Bubble & Bee Organic.  Stephanie is serious about chemicals used in cosmetics and shares her research findings daily. 

Any time I pick up a new product, I look at the ingredients.  I first scan for anything ending in ‘paraben’ like methylparaben, propylparaben, or ethylparaben (there are several others as well).   The reason I look for parabens first is that they are easy to identify – usually near the end of the ingredient list – and if they exist, I immediately put down the product.  I challenge you to go grab your makeup bag and look through the ingredients.  You likely have parabens in several of your products.  Why should you care?  According to Chemical of the Day, ”it has been proven that excess estrogen does lead to reproductive cancers (like breast and uterine cancer), and it has been proven that parabens act like estrogen and accumulate in the body.  Studies have also shown that parabens have accumulated in breast cancer tissue.”   Parabens are a hot topic right now – you’ll notice a lot of personal care products are starting to put “no parabens” or “paraben free” on their labeling.  That’s a good thing BUT there are many other chemicals besides parabens to look for. 

I know it can be overwhelming at first but with a little reading – at Chemical of the Day - you can determine the chemicals you want to avoid for yourself and your family.  Then find brands that are committed to not using those chemicals – a good place to start is at the Cosmetics Database.  A word of caution – the database isn’t 100% accurate – products are constantly changing formulations so make sure you check the product label when purchasing.  You’ll also find recommendations from Stephanie on the blog.

If you follow a blog that you think other green moms would love to know about, tell us by commenting!

Preserve’s new Mail-Back Pack is brilliant. The package protects your toothbrush until you take it home and then when you’re done using the toothbrush, just pop it back in the package to mail to to Preserve for recycling.  The toothbrush handle is made out of recycled yogurt cups (and other recycled #5 plastic). The postage on the first 250,000 Mail Back Packs sold is paid for by Preserve. After that, you’ll only have to put one first class stamp on it.

You can find Preserve toothbrushes at Target and Whole Foods or online.

Mamas – if you don’t already have a personal lubricant in your cupboard – you will someday.  Menopause, pregnancy, nursing, contraceptives and some medications can make it a necessity.  I had no idea how many natural lubricants there are out there at all price points so you have no excuse not to have a safe one  Like all personal care products, make sure you pick one up that doesn’t contain the yucky stuff – in this case, estrogen-mimicking parabens, glycerin (can cause yeast infections particularly in women prone to them), phenoxyethanol, and propylene glycol (causes irritation).  Also remember that just because a product markets itself as ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it is so always check the ingredients!

Paraben and Irritant Free:

• Liquid Goddess
• Yes - oil based only
• Firefly Organics
• Carrageenan
• Intimate Organics
• Velvet Natural
• Wet Naturals
• Green Beauty

Paraben Free:

• Sylk All-Natural
• Emerita Natural
• Babeland Naturals Organic
• Good Clean Love
• Astroglide Glycerin and Paraben Free
• Sliquid Organics
• Lifestyles Natural Desire

AVOID – Contain Parabens:

• Oceanus Naturals
• Astroglide All Natural
• K-Y Natural Feeling
• Sensua

Have a favorite?  Feel free to share!

SafeMama’s Kathy and Statia spend a lot of time combing through the ingredients in sunscreens to find the safest ones for our families.  Check out the guidefor 2010 to make sure you buy one on their list.  I’m disappointed that one of my favorite brands, TruKid, didn’t make the list (except for the stick) – hopefully they’ll take note for future formulations. 

Several months ago, I came across a group of women (online) talking about NOT using shampoo.  They had various reasons from saving money to using less chemicals on their body to healthier hair.  Of course, I thought that was ridiculous and couldn’t imagine my hair without it. Well, like so many times – I was wrong. I haven’t used shampoo in months and my hair has never been easier to manage.

Let me start by saying that I have curly hair – somewhere between wavy and ringlets. Curly hair can be dry and frizzy and a little unruly. I haven’t always loved my curly hair – I’d say we’ve had a love-hate relationship. I’d love it when it looked great and hate it when it didn’t. I went through a phase where I cut it short and straightened it all the time. But, now that I have a daughter with curly hair, I’ve decided to embrace it and make it look great. I hope that she will come to love her naturally curly hair a lot earlier in life than I did.

On the advice of some of the women in the group I mentioned above, I picked up a book called ‘Curly Girl’. Using the steps outlined, I gave up shampoo and use conditioner only. I rinse my hair thoroughly with water and then use a little conditioner to scrub my scalp, loosening dirt and sweat. I’ve found the easiest way to do this is by bending over and massaging my head with my fingertips. I rinse again and then put about a quarter size of conditioner all over my hair. I then rinse my hair, leaving some of the conditioner in. Once I get out of the shower, I style as usual – with a combination of gel (for frizz) and cream (for hold). Then I blow dry with a diffuser.

I’m really happy with this new routine as I’m loving my defined curls – they seem to have more volume and they perk up easily with a little water. I can go 2 days without washing my hair and the curls aren’t as frizzy as they used to be. I also can put my hair in a ponytail and let it dry naturally without any styling products. Before, it would dry kinky and frizzy.  I workout several times a week and my hair doesn’t feel greasy or dirty – even without using shampoo.

I’m also happy to get one more beauty product out of the house – particularly one with lots of chemicals I can’t pronounce.  Conventional shampoos have ingredients like parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate,  methylisothiazolinone, or fragrance (check the ingredients in YOUR shampoo).

I also use this method on my daughter’s curly hair.  I’ve found her hair to be less frizzy as well.  After conditioning, I spray my favorite natural curl detangler in her hair.

While I’ve used this method successfully for curly hair, I’ve read accounts of women using it for straight hair as well.  If you want to try out a No Shampoo routine, here are some tips I’ve found that work:

1. Use more conditioner the first week or two. Particularly for scrubbing. You’ll find as you go along, you need less and less.

2. Stick with it. It took a couple weeks for me to notice anything different about my hair.

3. If you feel like you have a build-up of conditioner or styling products on your hair, mix a little baking soda with water and “wash” your hair with it. It will get rid of the build-up. Then go through the conditioning routine.

Let me know how it works for you!

Lucky or not, my daughter inherited her curly hair from both her father and I.  On bad days, I (internally) swear about her unruly curly hair and dream of days with hair that is straight, shiny and easy to comb.  On the good days, I gush over her sweet curls that totally match her fun and charming personality. If  you have a curly headed child, you can probably empathize with me.

I’ve tried three different children’s detanglers and finally found one that is chemical-free AND works.   My first go was with Noodle and Boo Conditioning Hair Polish.  It worked okay as a detangler but was not heavy enough to hold any curl through out the day.  When I found out that the parabens in it weren’t safe, I tossed it in the garbage.

My second go around was with Kiss My Face Kid’s Detangler.  Kiss My Face is a great line of natural body care products for both adults and children.  While the detangler worked to loosen the knots in my daughter’s hair, it has a bold orange smell that lasts ALL day that I just couldn’t get over.  It also left her hair fairly greasy with more than one day’s use. 

Finally, I picked up Tru Kid’s Dancing Detanglerand TA-DA.  Not only does it detangle but it adds just enough hold to curls to last the day without any greasy left over.  I LOVE this product!  Since then, I’ve used other Tru Kid products including their shampoo, conditioner and bubble bath and have been happy with their entire line.  You can find Tru Kid products online or at your local natural foods store.