Toxic Beauty

It started off as a desire to do things cheaper and my insatiable urge to make things. My SIL told me she had made some toothpaste. Having always wanted to do so, and now knowing someone who had I said... well I gotta do that too!  While I was searching the internet for recipes (because I couldnt just use hers, I have to research it all myself) I came across so many recipes it made me dizzy. Most of the sites and blogs I visited had not only made toothpaste, but other products for your body and home. I have made several things since, and this is all within the past couple months. I am pleased with the results and I hope to start posting on the things I have made soon.
Now, you may know that I have curly hair. If not and you are interested you can read about it on my post- Straight to Curly. By doing the curly girl method I already knew that Sulfates were bad for your hair and skin. One day I decided to visit the website of my current shampoo and conditioner makers to see what exactly they had in their product. Thats when I came across a list of what they did NOT have in their products and this- "Kinky-Curly TM brand is a proud signer of The Compact for Safe Cosmetics." Me, being the super curious person that I am, needed more info on what this compact was, so I decided to visit the little link they gave www.safecosmetics.org. Where this cute video started playing. (Take a look. Its only 8 minutes long and its not boring at all. A real eye opener)

I was clueless as to all the mess that is allowed to go into products. In 7th grade I did a report on skin where I learned that your skin is your bodies largest organ (some of ours are realllly large), but until recently I never really thought about being careful of what I put on my large organ..hmm that sounds a bit crude. I know that you can quit smoking, control birth, and take all sorts of medicine by simply putting a patch of it onto your skin. Now think about all the stuff you put on your body? Girls we put even more on than men do. Is it safe for you? The safe cosmetics site also gave a link for the cosmetic safety database. Here you can look up your cosmetics, skincare, baby products and even sunscreen, and see how toxic or not that they are. I couldnt believe how toxic my lip balm was. WOW! I jumped right up and gathered all of those lip balms up and told the kids no more lip balm until further notice. Of course by this point I had already decided to try and make my own. This site just gave me the push I needed to hurry up and do so.

I have learned a few things about what to avoid, but a few days ago I went to give my daughter some cough and runny nose meds (childrens Triaminic thin strips). Now that I look at labels more closely I decided to check this one out. The very first inactive ingredient was ... acetone. Yep, the stuff you use to thin paint and take off your nail polish. I dont want that crap in my babies body!
So I encourage you. Look at labels, be aware and keep yourself and those you love healthy. I could probably write on and on about it, but I dont want to lose you. Check it out for yourself. I feel overwhelmed with all the information out there and I know there is so much more I can do including changing what I eat, but I know that I can take baby-steps to a healthy household. Here is a pocket size list of things to avoid when shopping for products. This might make things easier on you.
Stay tuned for some non-toxic recipes.