I'm a huge lover of beauty products. At any given time you can find up to three different shampoos, two conditioners, five kinds of body lotion and three kinds of face lotions in my bathroom cabinet (and I'm pretty sure my husband would argue those are modest estimations...I have a large basket of lotions, creams and masks). I also have a bin of nail polishes, an oversized make up bag that is overflowing, and an extra large basket of hair products.
You'd probably never know it to look at me; while I love colorful make up (I mean LOVE), with my hair/skin/eye color combination, I can't pull off much color. For those who don't really know what I mean by "pull off" color, I mean I can't wear any of those gorgeous bright spring shades without looking like I got my cosmetic lessons at the Barbizon School for Clowns. Somehow, after 18 years of dabbling with makeup (DAMN I'm getting old), I have never quite learned my lesson and continue to try out new colors (hence the overflow of make up I rarely get to use).
However, in the last 2 years, I've discovered a lot about beauty products that aren't so flattering. Not long after the nugget was born, a lawsuit was brought against Johnson and Johnson for containing cancer causing chemicals. I was confused, and as a first time mom, scared. I'd never even considered that something so innocuous as baby shampoo could hurt my little girl. While I had friends that said it took them two years to use one bottle of baby shampoo (a lot of babies are born without hair), our little girl was born with a full head of hair that required shampooing at least 3-4 times a week! That was my first dive into any kind of natural product. Of course, even finding those is a bit tricky. Lots of bottle say "All natural formula", but when you read the ingredients, they are anything but. When in doubt (using drug store brands), you can almost never go wrong with a brand like Burt's Bees ($8.99+ ) or Babyganics ($7.99+ ). They might be a tad more expensive than the generic brands, but if you're looking to avoid those chemicals, they're a great bet.
Over time, as I really thought about it, I realized there's a lot I don't know about pretty much any of the products we use. When I got pregnant this go around and realized the litany of things we are told not to use while expecting (anti acne creams, anti aging creams, anti cellulite creams, nail polish that are not 3 free or 5 free, watch when you dye your hair, etc), it got me wondering: if using these products can harm a little being living in my body for 9 months, what are they doing to ME over the course of years? Just thinking of that kind of gives me the heebie jeebies. So slowly, but surely, I've been trying to weed out where I can start "going natural."
Lately I've been trying out hand made soaps and lotions from a local soap company (Little Egg Harbor Soap Company) on the little one and myself. The one drawback I've noticed to the all natural products is that they tend to dry my daughter's skin (and she already has some exczema). So far, it's going well- they have an all natural soap and lotion for dry skin that don't irritate her sensitive skin and she actually loves using (it exfoliates and she says it tickles). I got a couple of bars for myself, and so far I'm really enjoying them. I also got myself their all natural face moisturizer; while it doesn't seem to have the rich consistency of, say, your run of the mill Oil of Olay lotion, it goes on smoothly and doesn't give me any breakouts (I problem I frequently have with face lotions).
When it comes to sun protection, last summer (after some research), I switched to the "simple" formulas like Coppertone Pure and Simple ($9.99, drugstores). It seems to do the job just right, and is easy to run to the corner store to pick up in a pinch. There are probably 30+ other brands you can check out, but most of them you'll have to order off of the internet or find specialty stores to purchase them at.
So how can you (easily) figure out what products are more safe than others? I use The Skin Deep Costmetic Database to look up products I'm interested in using (or already own) for their safety and effectiveness. While I'm sure you're always looking for a 1-2 rating (ratings go from 1-9 on safe to pretty toxic), sometimes you have to decide to do whatever you're comfortable with. I realize on a budget you can't always splurge on the best and most organic of products (if I tried, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's would likely be listed on the deed to my home), but picking and choosing can be easier when you know what products are moderately safe and what ones you should really splurge on doing better. The next thing I'm going to be switching out will be all those pretty colors. There are enough natural make up companies out there nowadays that I don't think I'll need to be sacrificing my fun loving side to feel better about what I'm putting on my face.
While I'm hardly an earthy or organic person, I seem to slowly be making the transition to someone who will eventually be using all natural products wherever possible. I've even started trying to use less chemicals when it comes to household cleaning products, free and clear detergents, only using 3 free and 5 free nail polishes, and eating less processed food. I'm sure I'll occasionally still make that McDonald's run or splurge on a nail polish color I can't resist, but it's hard not to feel better as a whole when you know you're doing better as a whole for your family. Now, if only I had a make up artist to come put those pretty colors on so I don't look like Bozo, we'd be golden.
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