Phenopropylparabenzolide-free post Part I

I’ve put off writing about organic body products because I’m still not a fan of many. Several of you have requested that I write on this topic, so I’m going to muse about them in a couple of posts. But first, I have to make a few disclaimers.

Number one disclaimer: I am a Mary Kay Consultant. There, I said it. I’ve been one for over five years, but I’ve used the products for almost twenty years. I don’t drive a pink Cadillac and I’ve never even been to a meeting. I “haven’t drunk the kool-aid” as my husband likes to say, but I am a believer in their products. Going “organic” hasn’t changed that, but I’ll try to keep the commercials to a minimum.

My other disclaimer is that I really haven’t tried that many organic body products mostly because they cost so much. Like most of you, we live on a budget and my budget does not include $12 bottles of kids shampoos that the kids use by the handful or $18 bottles of skin lotion that wind up in science experiments involving the cat.

If you’re still game to read on, here it goes. If you think I’m a bit biased and uninformed, you’re probably correct and have every right to close this post right now. I’ll never know.

Basically, I believe in spending more money and effort on the products that are going in to my body, rather than on my body. And yes, I do think that a product you apply to your skin does get in to your body. I just don’t think it gets in at the same level. So basically I don’t stress the organic body products too much. Maybe I should. When my son was first diagnosed with Alopecia Areata (www.naaf.org for information) everything was suspect and I spent a small fortune on organic hair and body products. But over time, I realized it wasn’t some chemical in the shampoo I put on his head for all of 30 seconds two times a week that caused him to develop the disorder and my priorities shifted.

All of the information I gathered back then and all that I’ve read since then has left me mostly confused. There is so much that could be bad for us, but no one seems to have the answers as to which chemicals are truly dangerous and what exactly they do. I don’t have all those answers with organic food either, but with organic food I have seen a clear difference in our health. With body care products I only have someone’s word for it. One thing I know for sure is that if you want to scare yourself, go online. There is website upon website spouting off on all the serious dangers associated with just about any product you put on your body – shampoo, lotions, deodorant, toothpaste. You can scare yourself silly. I think like so much else in life, it’s best to keep it simple and use products that have a history or hold some level of your trust. Here’s my take on some basic products most of us use. I’m going to spread this out over a few posts so I don’t bore you to tears in one sitting.

When it comes to natural shampoos and conditioners, I’m lost on all the chemical names that are thrown around. Some are bad and some are really bad, and I can’t keep any of the names straight. This makes me, like many of us, a perfect target for a good marketing campaign. I think unless you have done the research (and if you have and would like to offer a guest post I’d love that), you would do well to buy from a company you know and trust. Choose one that’s been around and been in the business – Jason and Burt’s Bees come to mind. Choose a company that has strived to make an all natural, safe product from the get go, rather than one that has only recently jumped on the bandwagon to make a buck. Trader Joes has their own brand of very inexpensive hair products that work pretty well. I use them as my every day shampoo. I like the Refreshing Citrus shampoo and the Tea Tree Tingle conditioner, but there’s lots of options (with equally appealing names). I also buy a bottle of high end shampoo and conditioner to use for special occasions (my bottle lasts me for months so that tells you how many special occasions I have). I have very fine, thin hair that spends a good part of its life in a pony tail tucked under a ball cap, so I need some serious help when it comes to hair styling. I really like Jason’s Thin to Thick shampoos, conditioner and hair spray. They each cost about $10 a pop so it’s a splurge. My advice on natural hair products is buy from a brand you trust and spend more if you know it works (not just because the bottle says so).

Kids shampoos make us a little more nervous. After all, we’ve already been exposed to a lifetime of bad chemicals, they’re just getting started. I don’t make my kids wash their hair every day, just the days they need it. We over do it with skin care products in this country. No one needs to be that clean and sterile. It’s not healthy. Really. And if you’re worried about exposing your kid to toxic chemicals in the shampoos and soaps you use, it’s probably a good idea to expose them less often. Because I’m not a scientist or researcher and I don’t have any idea what’s really in shampoo, I opt for brands I trust and brands sold by the natural food store that I frequent. I’m trusting them to offer products that are mostly safe. Might be naïve, but I just don’t have time to lose my head over these things.

As far as soap goes, I don’t use it. Really. My family has incredibly dry, sensitive skin so soap only makes that problem worse. A good scrubbing with hot water and a washcloth is pretty much all we need. I do have a few very gentle, all natural soaps for stubborn dirt, but I’ve learned that a good, long, marinade in a warm tub of water with lots of toys to play with loosens just about any dirt my kids come home with. We never use antibacterial soap because it’s unnecessary and could very probably do more harm than good. The only bit of “antibacterial” soap we have in our house is in a bottle next to the gecko’s cage just in case someone decides to pick up the gecko. But that hasn’t happened in nearly a year since the gecko bit (and drew blood!) the finger of my youngest son who tends to love creatures to death.

So what about all the homemade versions of shampoo and body care products? There are some out there. Every now and again I get the bug to figure out how to make my own. And every time I figure out how to do it I decide it’s way too complicated and while it might save me money, it will cost me too much time and frustration. I’ll keep looking though, and I’ll let you know if I discover something that works.

Friday’s post will hit on some other products like lotions, deodorants, make up, and sun protection. I’m saving toothpaste for a post all its own. The fluoride controversy is much bigger than me.

Whatever Happened with all the Free Stuff?

It’s time to write the review for all my free stuff! In case you’re new to the storyline, I received some free products to review from the company Ecostore. Ecostore is a New Zealand based company that recently began offering their products in the US. Check them out at www.ecostoreus.com.

When I was first invited to pick out some products to review I spent some time on the site. It’s relatively sparse and simple, which I appreciate because I’m overwhelmed by too many bells, whistles, and details. That said, I would love for them to give just a little more description on their products. It was hard to figure out which shampoo and conditioner to review because none of the descriptions seemed to fit my hair. I have very fine, straight hair that is relatively normal. The selection included products for “fine, oily hair”, “limp, greasy hair” (who admits to hair like this?), “dry damaged hair” or “dandruff control”. I opted for the aloe vera shampoo because it seemed the most appropriate for a wide range of hair. It was a good call because when the products arrived the bottle itself said it was good for “normal” hair. Note to Ecostore: You might want to expand your product descriptions.

Ecostore’s tagline “No nasty chemicals” is reassuring but somewhat vague, so I asked a Phd Chemical Engineer I know (thanks Dad!) to look over their claims and list of ingredients. He found some of the claims a bit confusing (some of the “nasty chemicals” they omit are not necessarily bad for you and one can be found in drinking water), but overall they seemed on the up and up. A few of the ingredients are listed as potential risks in the book “Cosmetics Unmasked” by Dr. Stephen & Gina Antczak. My take is that this company’s products are WAY better for me than the average product. Many of the organic body products I’ve investigated contain just a few organic ingredients and then lots of “nasty chemicals”, so it’s nice to see a company that is attempting to produce a truly good-for-you product.

I also checked with some folks I know in New Zealand to be sure this was a real company and not some mom& pop operation in someone’s garage (nothing against mom&pop operations, though). The general consensus I got from my extensive contacts (all four of them) in NZ was that the company is well-known and well-respected, makes a nice product, but is pricey. Hmmm.

But what you really want to know is whether it works or not, right? My experience has been a mostly good one. I loved the scent of the shampoo and conditioner – clean with a kind of cilantro-like scent. The shampoo lathered up pretty well for an “organic” product. It did a great job and I like the feel of my hair after using the shampoo and conditioner, but as I’ve said, I have very fine hair. A detangling conditioner this is not. It was really tough to get a comb through my hair and I had to resort to a spray-in detangler that my kids use (lovely artificial strawberry scent that totally killed my nice cilantro-scent, the combination was not good). So I guess I can say they make a nice product, but maybe not for my particular hair.

The other product that I tried out was the automatic dishwashing detergent. This I did really like. It worked much better than the 7th generation and Ecover products that I’ve used in the past. I purposely tried to mess with it by leaving things like encrusted oatmeal on the kids’ bowls and peanut butter on the knives, but I couldn’t trip it up. The most amazing thing was that it could clean my tiny yogurt jars. None of my other detergents have been able to do that and I’ve had to wash them by hand, which is annoying because it hurts to get my hands down in to them to get the stuff on the bottom. I would buy this product based on this fact alone (we eat a lot of yogurt). There were times I wasn’t completely happy with how clean the outside of my glasses were. This must have something to do with the rinse cycle. Sometimes there were little specks of unidentifiable objects on the outsides. The insides were squeaky clean though.

All that said, I have to come to my bottom line. This stuff is pricey. I don’t generally pay $11 for a small bottle (6.8oz) of shampoo. I do buy a bottle of expensive shampoo to keep for special occasions, but not for every day use. I run almost every day, so I have to wash my hair almost every day. I can’t afford to do that at $11 a bottle. But maybe you can and I’m jealous. I think the dishwasher detergent is equally pricey, but you use such a concentrated amount, it seems to last forever. I might go in for that. I love that the company offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more. Paying a fortune in shipping is a deal breaker for me when it comes to ordering online.

I’ve really enjoyed my first foray in to evaluating FREE products and hope a few more companies stumble across my blog. I’m glad Ecostore has come to the US. We need more companies like this that are serious about making a safe, effective, earth-conscious, healthy product. So many companies are jumping on the green band wagon these days and producing products that look green and make grand claims, but in reality are simply the same old product with a few changes. Many times they’ve only added a few organic ingredients or removed a couple toxic substances, changed their packaging and raised their prices. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad companies are hearing us and moving in the direction of what’s better for all of us and the earth. The thing is we need complete change and it doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t change your manufacturing process instantly; that takes time. We need more companies, like Ecostore, who understand the dangers and have been doing the right thing all along.

Just a reminder – Ecostore has given me a $25 e-gift certificate to award to one of my readers. We’re going to do the drawing this weekend. It’s not too late to get your name in the drawing. All you have to do is send me an idea for my blog and I’ll enter your name once for every idea you send me. You can enter by commenting on this post or sending your idea to me directly at carasue@earthlink.net.