In Which Jean is Turning into a Hippie

[bluejeans07]

Lately, I've been reading about chemical preservatives in lotions, shampoos, conditioners, and other products, and everything I read either pisses me off or depresses me. It's like play Russian roulette with chemicals that can cause cancers, Alzheimer's, or just irritates my skin. That's the side that depresses me, what pisses me off is that in the end, these companies probably don't give that much of a shit of how these chemicals are affecting the bodies of their customers as long as we keep giving them money. Everything gives us cancer these days after all, how can they tell if their products are the ones directly related? Maybe they are, maybe they're not, there's no way of being able to prove it, but these are the products that I have been directly rubbing into my body for years and if I'm ever going to reach my goal of becoming a neon jogging suited granny that can dance to Soulja Boy in my 60's, then I better do something about it.

Long term, my goal is to find products ranging from skin care, hair care, and cosmetics that won't have harmful chemicals, is cruelty free, and is preferably small business. That's a tall order these days so that's my long term goal. For now, I'm just going to look to replacing my lotions and moisturizers with something more natural and excludes preservative chemicals such as parabens and sodium laurel sulfate. I want to cut down on products that have these chemicals because while all commercial chemicals do have low, FDA approved levels of preservative chemicals, these chemicals DO build up in your body from all the different products that people, especially women, use. The only things I use daily are my cleanser and lotions so if I can cut out the chemicals in those, then I've already cut out a lot chemicals for me. Also, I'm lucky to have fairly good skin so really the only things I'm looking for something that is anti-aging and moisturizing.

Luckily, Trader Joe's cleanser doesn't include these chemicals but they do have it in their lotion so that's now out, but I think I may have a potential solution. I've been reading about cleansing and moisturizing with cold pressed oils, first from great time wasting blog Honey Rock Dawn" and then from other places on the internets. I've already been using witch hazel as a make up remover and for cleaning the skin whenever I get the occasional pimple or blemish and it's been working great. I'm going to try out using jojoba oil as my main moisturizer and body lotion, and add a drop of frankincense essential oil in the bottle for my face for anti-aging. I still have some lotion from Bath and Body works left and most of a jar of Kiehl's ultra facial cream that I got from my aunt for X-mas so I'll be using those up along with the jojoba and frankincense, but once those are gone, it'll be all natural all the way baby!

I'll be sure to keep writing about what I find as I experiment. My plan so far is to rotate the products so that I'm using the chemical products every other week. I'm also going to exclude make up for now since I don't wear it that often but I am going to look for other hair care alternatives (Trader Joe's nourish spa products carry parabens). But like I said, my skin isn't bad at all, it just gets dry once in awhile (like now with the dry CA winter), I don't expect these products to change my life or make me look like a shining beauty or anything. I just want something with less harmful chemicals that'll do what I've come to expect the lotions and things I've been using to do.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I'll always shill for Lush. I love their stuff.

[perrie.livejournal.com]

I was just about to recommend Lush! I know they ship out to your side of the pond now, and they're completely natural, handmade and cruelty-free. I love them. Angels On Bare Skin is a great cleanser to try out. You might need to use their products in a way you're unfamiliar with at first, but they're really, really good.

I also really like an Australian brand of cleansers called Natio who are all-natural and plant-based. Their mosturiser was just a little pricey, but really lovely!

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

According to the Lush store locator, there's also a bunch of them in the greater LA area. :)

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

The closest Lush store to me is still a bit a way, it's in Santa Monica. *shake fist* XD I do like their bath bombs though <3

[butterbuns.livejournal.com]

Buy it online! Sure, you have to pay the shipping, but tbh it's still worth it XD

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

Yeah seriously! XD

[ohelectricshock.livejournal.com]

I WAS JUST GOING TO COME COMMENT ABOUT LUSH.

I have a wishlist on their website that is in the hundreds of dollars oh my gosh all I do is wishlist on that site but I am slowly trying to replace all of my skincare and haircare products with theirs because I have very sensitive eczema-prone skin that Lush products are just wonderful for. Right now I have their Tea Tree toner and some of their delicious Snow Cake soap and I am just lovin' it, my skin is nice and clear and YAYYY.

I really want to try their Fresh Farmacy cleanser. It looks vundaful.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

Just checked Lush, especially after everyone else was all about it. Sadly, Lush's products contain paraben and SLS, stuff that I'm specifically trying to cut out. :(

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

To save me any sort of research at all: what is it exactly that laurel sulfates are bad for? I see all this packaging that cries 'No laurel sulfates!' but it never tells me why this is a desirable attribute.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

So far, I've been reading that laurel sulfates put into products to cause it to foam up, but it causes irritation to the skin, eyes, etc. Depending on how sensitive people's skins and how much SLS there is in the product, it can go from mild irritation and dryness to causing large amounts of swelling and even skin corrosion. My skin tends to dry out so I don't really need a product that irritates or dries me out even more so I'm just cutting that out for my sake. Likewise, I don't need a product to foam up to show me that it's working. I'm slowly shifting into the stance of, "If I don't need it, then I won't use it." XD

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I can see the point ... on the other hand, having a sudsing medium can be a good way of moving a substance over a tricky surface, like for instance medicated shampoo. It's a lot harder to get something in and around an area with a lot of intricacies (like a head full of hair, or all the nooks and crannies in one's teeth) without foam to serve as a vehicle.

That said, they don't need to put it in everything ...

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

CRANK THAT!!!

Hell yeah.

You bet you can do that. *I* will be doing that. I am a firm firm believer in taking care of one's body now, for the future. Hell yeah. CRANK THAT.

Anyway. I can honestly say it is never, ever too late to take your health and future into your hands. I chose to do it when I hit 42 and now ___ years later I *still* look younger than I did when I started at 42. Choosing health and healthy products is a huge part of it all.

My latest favorite all-natural product is a brown sugar scrub - 1 cup almond oil, 2-3 cups light brown sugar, a couple of Vitamin E capsules broken up, and a touch of vanilla or almond extract. I have a tub of it I use in the shower all over the body, and Mr. Maddox, the black and white in my user pic, discovered my tub and brought it (with lid intact thankfully) into my room and was licking it enthusiastically - no need to call poison control for this product! :)

No Trader Joe's here yet (it is coming!) but Sprouts is my fav place to get the healthy stuff, and though I have given up vegetarianism, I am only (or trying to only) eat meat products that are farm-raised, grass fed, and cage-free. Thankfully Sprouts carries chicken and bison that fits my requirements.

Also one other thing - I oddly stopped having my period at a too-young age, and my doc, who is a DO, said it is possible I hit early menopause and just really skated past it entirely was because of all the treated foods I had over the years. Interesting though, huh.

One more point! By takign care of yourself like this, you may think you are 'no shining beauty' but guess what? By doing this, you are loving your body, and THAT shows, and people notice. Yup, they do.

Kudos to you!

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

That brown sugar scrub sounds interesting and tasty!! It sounds like it's be a great exfoliant too. How do you keep it from clogging the drain? :O

Also, good for you for taking care of yourself. It really shows in your photos! :D

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

In the shower it doesn't seem to cause a problem at all. The oil is light, and the sugar melts and is gone gone gone. It is a fabulous exfoliant - been using it every couple of days or so and it is helping my skin so much!

And thank you! :) I am definitely not my Mom's 49. Nope nope nope.