Just saying.

After 18 months of not having to deal with this little annoyance, I had forgotten how much this product improves my quality of life. (Side note – another wonderful benefit of nursing until your baby is a year old is that it delays this monthly annoyance for up to a year after having your baby!) It is amazing. I want everyone I know to know about it and to try it out. Ladies, if you haven’t been reading my blog for a long time, I invite you to read my original post on this topic. And I still think that this post sums up the benefits best. Boys, this is my warning to you – you may not want to read it but it is information worth passing on to the ladies in your life!

Poo-pourri – So I struggle a lot with those plug in deodorizers or with sprays that make things smell better. It freaks me out that we put chemicals in the air that we are breathing in! And since we moved, our toilet is in the same room as our shower and sinks so we had to find something to . . . well . . . you know. So I did some research and came up with Poo-pourri. Yes the name is ridiculous but it’s all natural and it works. Some people are concerned with the size that you get but I am finding that the little bottle is lasting a long time. I do have a couple experiments coming up with trying to make my own reed diffusers . . . we’ll see how that goes!

Physicians Formula Organics – I have most recently tried out the mascara and eye shadows from this company, and if you’re lucky, you can try the mascara for free with a mail in rebate! I tried Honeybee Gardens mascara and honestly didn’t like it at all. I felt like it didn’t do what mascara was supposed to do! I think I’ll be buying this one again! The eyeshadow is nice too – it’s not overwhelmingly shimmery and is paired up to accent specific eye colors. I got the brown/tan one for hazel eyes and the two shades of purple for green eyes. I’m happy with both.

Avalon Organics Shampoo/Conditioner – Not too pleased with this stuff. The peppermint smell is great but it leaves my hair feeling a little greasy. I only bought this one because it was on sale. . . won’t be doing it again.

Jason – Shampoo and Toothpaste – I really like this brand. The eucalyptus shampoo is fantastic – I love the way it smells and that it’s not distinctly masculine or feminine. Jason and I both use it. Good price too, around $6-7 a bottle. The Seafresh toothpaste is awesome. It’s the only one I can get Jason (the husband, not the brand) to use.

Toms of Maine – Dental Floss and Mouthwash – I tried the toothpaste but had a hard time with the taste. The dental floss . . . also disappointing. It frays and is very difficult to get between your teeth. I’m on the lookout for something else that will work well. The mouthwash, on the other hand, is fantastic. Although the plastic bottle broke and I had to transfer the remaining mouthwash to a plastic water bottle. Sad.

Biokleen Bac-Out – I use this stuff to spray on Jude’s cloth diapers to keep them from being stinky and to remove any staining but it also works great on the carpet or anywhere that get’s stained. It uses all natural lime enzymes instead of harsh bleaches to clean and disinfect. I’ve really liked this product and at $10 for a huge spray bottle, I feel like it’s a great deal!

Kiss My Face – Shaving Cream and Moisturizer – Love both of these! Jason mainly uses the shaving cream, but I’ve used it a couple times and really liked it. I use the moisturizer on my face and body and really like it. It’s light and clean and doesn’t have a fragrance, which I like. Now I just need to find an after shave for Jason that isn’t chemical laden. . . this one is proving to be difficult. Suggestions?

Dr Bronner’s Baby Mild Soap – Although the ramblings on the label of the bottle kinda freak me out, I really like this product. I use the liquid castille soap and it leaves me smelling and feeling clean. It works well for cleaning my face too. It’s very cost effective if you buy the big bottles of it – I just refill a small pump container in my shower from the big bottle periodically. Good stuff. I found it cheapest sold in two packs on amazon.com.

Homemade Deodorant – I am still using it and still love it, although I’m planning on trying Amanda’s version as soon as I run out.

I’d love to hear about any inexpensive ‘green’, ‘healthy’ products that you’ve tried and liked or disliked. Please share your experiences!

I still love the homemade deodorant that I’ve been using for three months now. It’s amazing that you can make something that is so effective! We’ve almost finished up our Yes to Carrots shampoo and conditioner (and I’ve loved it – it smells so delicious!) and I’m going to give the Jason products a chance now (they’re about the same price, but the Jason products are made in the USA which gives it a smaller carbon footprint than the Yes to Carrots, which is made in the Netherlands – I think?). Yes to Carrots is sold at the Walgreens by my house, but the Jason products are sold at HEB, which means that there is one less trip for me to take! I’m pretty pleased with the Jason face wash, scrub, toner and moisturizer that I ordered awhile back. It does take some getting used to a face wash that doesn’t lather. . . but I like it a lot now, it cleans without striping my face of all the oils. I really want to try out this Kiehl’s Aloe Vera Biodegradable Liquid Body Cleaner (it’s the first beauty product to be cradle to cradle certified) but our Suave body wash just won’t run out!

I am also in the process of switching to Tom’s of Maine toothpaste as it doesn’t have some of the scary chemicals as traditional toothpaste. I got the OK from my dentist on this, so I feel comfortable with the switch. It does taste a bit different. . . not near as minty but it gets the job done without ingesting freaky chemicals.

I am currently using my samples of Everyday Minerals everyday (wow, that was repetitive sounding) and I really like it. After payday I’m going to buy the full set with some brushes. Then I’m going to trash all of the makeup crap that’s living under my sink. It’s long overdue! I’m excited about getting a few eye shadow colors. Currently, I’m just using a concealer that was just a bit too pearlescent to use as a concealer. I would also like to purchase Honeybee Gardens Truly Natural Mascara. It’s not cheap like what I’m used to ($5) but it’s still ONLY $10 (which is cheap when compared to $20-50 mascaras out there that claim to be natural)! Again. . . waiting for that payday. . .

Do you guys know of any affordable, healthy products for guys? I’d like to see if we could find some good shaving cream/lotion and after shave for Jason. I’m sure between Burt’s Bees and the Jason products, there’s got to be something good out there!

In other news, I didn’t run last night. I know. Bad. But we did go to the free concert and it was a lot of fun (well, Dan Dyer was amazing – the other bands we heard . . . questionable)! It being free made it a lot more fun than it would have been if it wasn’t free. We didn’t actually stay for the headlining bands (Mates of State and WMMF) because they started at MIDNIGHT!! Who in the world decided that starting the headlining band at midnight was a good idea? We stayed until about 11pm and then we were ready to sleep. I’m such a boring 9-5 workers now. . . no late nights for me! Anyways, I’m going to run today after work! I will! I’ll do it! My run on Wednesday felt like a significant improvement, I could run longer and my heart rate stayed lower. Progress makes me feel good!

I tried the Everyday Minerals sample today. I’m thinking I like it but I’ll have to tinker with the shade and application method. I mixed it with my current moisturizer and I think I may have used a bit too much of the powder – it looks thicker on than what I’m used to. . . But I’m pretty happy with the sample blush and concealer. I think this is going somewhere good!

Also, I’m going to try this Jason Natural travel pack Red Elements for cleanser and moisturizer since I got it for $15 with shipping. No Parabens, no fragrance, no SLS that I can tell, No Lanolin, Mineral Oil or Petroleum either. . . I used ORI415 for a referral coupon code and saved $5 off my first purchase. . . I’ll let you guys know if it’s any good.

Happy ACL Friday everyone! Stay safe to all of you who are braving the crowds.

• A BPA-Free Better Bottle Camelpak – $10 – we haven’t bought bottled water in months now! It’s amazing – I love these easily portable bottle that don’t have BPA. I know Kleen Kanteen is another option but they’re SO much more expensive that this was an easy win for Camelpak! And we can cross off item #22 on the 35 Low Cost Ways to Green Your Lifestyle.
• Niagara Conservation N2915CH Earth Massage Showerhead 1.5 GPM – $16.88 with a 8% discount with the coupon code 2468 – We replaced our master bath shower head with this fixture a couple weeks ago so that we could cross off item #16 on the 35 Low Cost Ways to Green Your Lifestyle. I really have to say that I don’t notice much of a difference in water flow with these fixtures at all!

I am still struggling with beauty products. (And another scary article on beauty products. . . here.) I know that it’s ‘greenest’ to just not wear make up at all, but I don’t know if that’s an option for me in the design industry. Your appearance sells your service. The biggest challenge in finding face lotions, face wash and make-up is the price. You can find sustainable options but they’re $30+ and I’m not quite willing to spend that money.

I would like to follow up with Everday Minerals since their prices are reasonable and I found out that they are a local Austin company (but they don’t have a brick and mortar shop, sad)! Their website has some forums where you can post a picture of you sans makeup, in natural light, and the staff will make recommendations for you on colors that works for your skin and then you can order a free sample of those colors. I think I’m going to have to do this since the free sample I got didn’t exactly match my skin tone. I’ll certainly keep everyone updated!

Darlys actually posted about this site a while ago, but I’ve been exploring it a bit more recently and the GoodGuide is really amazing! They rank everything on Health Performance, Environmental Performance and Social Performance – all things I like to know about products before I buy! AND they show you the price that the items are selling for! Currently they’re showing baby information and general household cleaners, health care and beauty items but the site is still in beta testing so soon they should be showing more!

But I have continued my research on safe and environmentally friendly beauty produces and I found what I’m buying for body wash once I finish up my current bottle: Kiehl’s Aloe Vera Biodegradable Liquid Body Cleaner. Brad Pitt actually helped get this one started. Pretty interesting. . . Read more about how great this product is and all it’s fabulous qualifications here. I especially like that the bottle is a 100% post consumer recycled plastic and that it’s the first beauty product to be cradle to cradle certified (for those of you who don’t click on the website to get the definition, it means “using environmentally safe and healthy materials; design for material reutilization, such as recycling or composting; the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency; efficient use of water, and maximum water quality associated with production; and instituting strategies for social responsibility.”).

So, I’ll report back once I finally try this out and let you guys know if it’s any good!

Everday Minerals has low incidences of toxicity and they offer a Free Sample Makeup Kit – $3.00 for shipping. It seems pretty affordable: $34 for the Personal Custom kit which includes 6 full size items (about $5.70 an item) or the Super Personal kit for $50 which includes 12 full size items (about $4.20 an item). I just put in my order for the free sample, so I’ll let you guys know what I think about it once I get it.

Oh goodness, my hair is silky soft today. I did it, I quit the no ‘poo. It was such a relief this morning to see my hair go back to it’s pre no ‘poo state. No more waxy, weird feeling hair. Yes to Carrots is paraben free so that is a step in the right direction. It smells delicious (it’s a light, clean smell) and it is fairly inexpensive when compared to the range of hair products available, around $8 per bottle.

The downside: I was in a hurry when I grabbed the shampoo and condition and didn’t fully read the ingredients on the back. Sadly, it contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Propylene Glycol (a derivative from natural gas). Neither are considered toxic, they’re just derived from oil. I believe we should get away from being dependent on oil in all of our products.

But overall, I really like the new shampoo and conditioner. Jason used it this morning and he liked it too! I think we’ll finish these bottles up and then I might switch to the J|A|S|O|N line of products – they’re really inexpensive and look like they are paraben and SLS free.

Update: I just checked out their website and it looks like they’re rolling out new ingredients for the Yes to Carrots line that does not include SLS or Propylene Glycol. Good stuff. Also, something else to be looking for in your beauty/health products, Tricolsan . . . scary.

This list includes just some chemicals that I think everyone should be aware of as they purchase beauty and health products. These are just some of the worst offenders in the ingredients. I would encourage everyone to check out the Cosmetic Safety Database for more information on the particulars of your beauty products. Additionally, Cosmetic Cop / Beautypedia has some good information about how well certain make ups work. The Cosmetic Safety Database tells us that, “due to gaping loopholes in federal law, companies can put virtually any ingredient into personal care products. Even worse, the government does not require pre-market safety tests for any of them.” Kinda scary.

Quite a few labels are unregulated by the government, so don’t be fooled by labels like ‘natural’, ‘organic’, ‘hypo-allergenic’, ‘cruelty-free’, ‘not tested on animals’, ‘dermatologist tested’, ‘noncomedogenic’, ‘designed for sensitive skin’, ‘our research shows’, ‘unscented’, ‘fragrance free’ etc. – these have no legal definition in the cosmetic world.

Here’s the list of the main offenders:

1. Parabens - ethyl, methyl, butyl, or propyl as the prefix; linked to weight gain, hormone disruption, and breast cancer
2. Fragrance - often just a cover up term for phthalates, which are linked to liver damage and birth defects
3. Triclosan - unneccessary antibacterial agent; known irritant
4. Petrochemicals - listed as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Polyethylene Glycol (PEG, PPG, Cocoate), Propylene Glycol, or artificial colors; derived from oil, a finite resource
5. Coal tar – listed as FD&C, D&C, often in hair dyes; linked to cancer
6. Update: Tricolsan – studies have shown that triclosan can combine with chlorine in our tap water to make chloroform gas.