Let it be said first that I should use face cream more than I do. My mother taught me better. Yet, somehow, I have gone days without remembering to put on lotion. I will regret such negligence when I discover that wrinkles are non-reversible. And it is for this reason I never put much thought into what I put on my face … I figured that I wasn’t consistent anyways, so what did it really matter what brand I was using or what the product itself contained in its ingredients? I want to be a truth-teller. To do that, and to be that, I first must be fully truthful with you, my dear reader: I didn’t want to care about natural and organic alternatives. I didn’t want to care about the environment or about the amount of hidden and unreported chemicals blanketing our lives through the items and products in our homes. I didn’t want to care about what chemicals might be hiding in my face wash and moisturizer.
And then my five-month old baby fell in love with kissing my face.
Well, I wouldn’t call it kissing, I would call it teething or gumming, but I love it so much that I let her do it. She mouths my cheek, my chin and my nose, at times so hard that she leaves hickeys…and before you judge me, know that I am a first time mom and I just adore the attention she gives me, so I let it continue and love every minute of it. Baby kisses are special, especially ones from my little Ellie belle.
And then I learned an inconvenient truth: our personal care, cosmetic and household cleaners are filled with dangerous, and unregulated toxins, among which include known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. In short, Ellie had been practically drinking the ingredients of the lotions – the face moisturizer, the sunscreen and the body creams – I put on my body and I had no clue that they could be harmful to her, or to me for that matter.
Unexpectedly, I now cared. I had never put any thought into the chemicals I was rubbing into my own skin, but now that Ellie’s mouth was all over it, I couldn’t help myself from caring about what she was putting in her mouth and potentially ingesting. My concern for Ellie developed into an understanding that what goes on my skin does matter…. it matters for her and it matters for me. And then I started reading Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, by Sandra Steingraber, a book that comes with my highest recommendation. It is a book that allowed me to finally understand the environmental crisis, the real impact of toxic chemicals hidden in our products on our health and longevity and how it all related to me.
Here’s the good news about the what are otherwise outraging statistics of negligence in the regulation of chemicals in our products: there is something we can do about it. First, we can educate ourselves. I personally abide by Beautycounter’s Never List (see below), a list of ingredients that are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Secondly, we can choose to stop spending our consumer dollars on companies who make and sell unsafe products and we can start demanding that Congress, who has not passed a regulation law regarding the cosmetic industry since 1938, make some changes. When the European Union has outlawed the use of over 1,400 chemicals in self-care products and the United States has only regulated 11 out of commercial use. We have a problem, and it directly affects our health and safety. It’s time we do something about it.
The bottom line for me is that I want more kisses from Ellie. And I want her to be able to kiss me and snuggle me and be held closely to my skin without worrying that she might be ingesting or absorbing toxic chemicals from the products I put on my skin. So, I’ve now switched to safer products not only for Ellie’s body but for my body as well. Here are the new loves in my life:
{for me}
BeautyCounter Every Day AM Hydrating Cream
BeautyCounter Every Night PM Hydrating Cream
BeautyCounter Any Time Eye Cream
CounterTime Nourishing Cleansing Balm
BeautyCounter Rosewater Uplifting Spray
BeautyCounter Routine Clean Cream Cleanser
BeautyCounter Gentle Exfoliator Polishing Cream
BeautyCounter Lip Conditioner Peppermint Balm
BeautyCounter Lip Sheer – Twig
BeautyCounter Tint Foundation, Honey
BeautyCounter Color Shade Eye Duo – Oyster/Amethyst
BeautyCounter Color Shade Eye Duo – Pearl / Champagne
BeautyCounter Color Outline Pencil – Black
BeautyCounter Touch Up Skin Concealer Pen – Light
BeautyCounter Enrich Body Butter
BeautyCounter Hydrate Every Day Lotion
{for Ellie}
KidsCounter Squeaky Clean Body Wash
KidsCounter Not A Knot Conditioner
BeautyCounter Enrich Body Butter
Babyganics – Face, Hand & Baby Wipes – Fragrance Free
{for my household}
Dapple Clean Everything All Purpose Spray – Lavender
Dapple Naturally Clean Bottles and Dishes – Lavender
The Honest Company: Laundry Detergent Free & Clear
The Honest Company: Dish Soap – Lavender
The Honest Company: Bathroom Tub & Tile Cleaner
The Honest Company: Air + Fabric Freshener
Seventh Generation Disinfecting Multi-Surface Wipes
In every context of my coaching, I believe that if you know the truth, and cling to it, it will set you free. I borrow this from the Bible, because, well, the Bible is brilliant. I consider myself an activist when it comes to clinging to the truth in life – I actively educate and empower others about their fitness, about their nutrition, about their mindset and about their relationship with God. There is one area in which I have been lacking, and that is, being an active participant in helping people make confident choices about how they construct and build their physical environments around them. Previous to this point, I have been missing out on half of the equation of physical wellness. I coached others on how they moved their body {fitness} and what they put in their body {nutrition}, but was missing out on the other two components that have a tremendous impact on health: what they put on their body {self-care products} and what they put around their body {household products}. Maya Angleou once said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” I now know better for this area of wellness, so I will now do better.
Making changes to what we put on and around our bodies can really make a significant difference in our overall health and wellbeing. Small changes matter. You matter. You family matters. Together we can be more confident about the products we put on and around our bodies and on and around the bodies of our loved ones.
Confidently yours,
Trish
PS: If you haven’t downloaded my FREE #SwitchToSafer Simpler Starter Guide – a quick step-by-step read that shares the 9 small switches I made to safer products for my family, get your guide for free at www.trishblackwell.com/switch