The Switch

It's been a while since I've done a products post. And for a pretty good reason. I recently made the switch to safer skincare and makeup. Whaaaa? Yeah, safer skincare and makeup because my old stuff was trying to kill me. Ok, maybe not so dramatically. But it was not. good. at. all.

I'm not going to get on a soap box and preach to all of you to throw away all of your beauty products and buy new stuff. BUT I do want all of you to take a minute and maybe search a few of your beloved products (I'm looking at you Nars blush…tear) on this handy website…

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

It's easy to use. Just type in the name/brand of your product. You will see the score of the product on a scale of 1-10.

Basically the grand ol' USA has, like, 7 ingredients that they consider hazardous and illegal to use in skincare and beauty products. For reference Europe has over 1,300 ingredients they consider hazardous and Japan has about the same amount. No laws have been passed in the US since the 1930s (!!!???)  regarding cosmetics. So what do these chemicals mean for us? Cancer? Probably. Immune system issues? Maybe. Birth defects? Yes. Allergies? Nailed it.

Now I'm the first to roll my eyes at crap like this. Really. When people say "I did [insert something] and it changed my life and now we only eat kale and my life is so awweeesssooommmmeeee you should [insert something] too!" Just, no. But I feel like no one knows about this. I didn't know about it. Why would we know about it?

So just take a look and maybe do a little research. It won't hurt. You will be a better consumer for it.

Just so you know these are the products I have made the switch to. And yes I switched the whole family. Y'all, we are using this horrible stuff on our kids too. And on a personal note, I usually have pretty terrible excema on my arm and legs that flares up considerably in the fall/winter. Since I have stopped using my shampoo and body wash it's gone. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe all the chemicals seeping into my body during every shower was making my skin insane. But I feel much better knowing what I'm using is safe. Once you have the knowledge, you can't go back.

This entire brand is safe and non-toxic. My Christmas gift was a box full of the Countertime products. I'm switching to the makeup slowly but surely. It's a process for sure. Read their story. If you only take one thing from this post, go to this website and read.

https://www.beautycounter.com

This is our new shampoo and conditioner. There are a few different brands out there but this, I felt, was the best bang for your buck. And it's a 1 on the scale. It ships from Canada so it takes a while to get to you. And yes it cleans just as well as the other stuff.

carinaorganics.com

Body Wash. This line is readily available at Target, CVS, etc. 

Go forth and research. Take everything I have said with a grain of salt and form your own opinion. Knowledge is definitely power. Your body will thank you, your skin will thank you. Honestly I was very angry after researching all of this. I hope you will be too.