In the movement to clean up the products in our house, and clean out the toxins, we have tried to go “clean” with our every day personal and household care. We went all Honest Co last year, and that was a hit or miss. We did Seventh Generation, but it left some funky residue and their dish soap sucks, and well, its been an interesting search through Pharmaca and Whole Body for the last few months.
Personal care is a big deal to me because my body makes such a big fuss out of everything. Yes, I said it, MY BODY, makes a fuss. My brain says that everything should work, my body says nope, only certain things are going to absorbed and if I don’t like it, I am turning red and flaky on you. So the search for the perfect shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, face wash, body wash, lotion, face cream, lip balm, even make up, has been an uphill battle. Let’s not even throw hormone surges into the mix twice a month. For those who aren’t as super in tune, your body gets all hot and sexy when you ovulate, and then it gets all hot and cranky about two weeks later when it purges your loins of all the things men can’t handle (We are Women, Hear Us Roar!). So my body is known to reject things for 5 days, that worked for the other 25 days of the month.
So let’s talk about this journey. 2015 has been quite the journey. I have gone a bit greener, I am eating a bit cleaner. I did a cleanse (which I will repeat), and now I am purging my personal care drawers in search of a better alternative that might be better for the world, better for my skin, better for internal mechanics. To often I read the scary stories about what you do to your body during pregnancy can affect your baby. I already have enough issues in the baby department, so let’s not add more things for that future embryo to have to deal with. I hear about the allergic reactions people have to diapers, to maxi pads, to some skin care product, or even a pH balance required contact solution. The world is full of crazy scary things, and I am just talking about the things living in your bathroom!
I was in sixth grade when I learned what Organic was. The only thing I remembered the next 4 years about organic was that it meant I could eat it without cleaning it because there were no chemicals I might ingest. What I didn’t think about until the 10th grade was that everything not organic was probably exposed to something that wasn’t good for me. I am a millennial, we already have issues with obesity, too much technology, an overzealous sense of entitlement and graduating college during a down economy. Poisoning our bodies probably is not something we should add. So in tenth grade, an advanced chemistry class (which I barely passed btw) and another trip to Exploring New Horizons Outdoor Sleep Away Camp, I realized that the food I ate from the school cafeteria probably was not clean eating. So I quit the pizza and soda lunch and went all crunchy with my salad shakers and veggie burgers. I may have gone a little extreme and it wasn’t sustaining, but it was a kick into the consciousness of where I would eventually be.
Being born with some severe food allergies, asthma, and eczema made life interesting. I was picked on, I was the odd one, I was weird because generally, in my family, you don’t have allergies. I remember when my Dad thought we were just making it up (younger brother and myself), and dosed us with some food we were actually allergic to, that trip to the ER taught him better, however it did not humble him to our realities. Being a little more careful with everything may have been the gift that keeps on giving though. Because of a known peanut allergy, I couldn’t eat most processed junk, I am thankful for that now.
But back to going green and going clean. Already on the right track for the last decade with the eating clean(er) thing, I am still not where I want to be, but that is my fault for being lazy and filling gaps with frozen (organic) burritos. I started slowly switching out cleaning products with Seventh Generation in 2008, but I kept going back to conventional cleaners filled with Toxins because they just cleaned better. I tried cleaner soaps and washes for shower time, but I never felt clean or it left my skin really dry. Oh the lotions, so many lotions, it finally took 7 years to find one that was going to work and not be filled with chemicals I couldn’t pronounce.
So for the last decade, I have attempted change, I have made change, I have regressed, but I am picking myself back up. I found a skin cream that works, and I found a face wash that works. I discovered essential oils to help with my moods, and I discovered some wipes that are actually great at cleaning and have nature based ingredients.
It’s a continuous journey. It’s a continuous cycle, I am sure when we move, the water may change, the environment will surely change, and maybe even by body will change, so not everything is set in stone. Reading a label, knowing whats in my products and being open to different things can make an impact though, and that is all I need to keep green and clean.
2015 has been a year of change, so I will continue to find change in myself, what I buy, and what get introduced into the sanctuary that is my life.
The Jayne Project 