So, what can you do to prevent that damage? That's easy. Use natural and organic products. We have slowly but surely cleared out all of our chemical beauty products over the last year. Those things don't come cheap so we felt obliged to finish them, but it killed me to do it, knowing what it was doing to us. Thank goodness they're all finished and we are chemical free.
Body cream is probably the most important product when you are transitioning to natural products. It literally covers your entire body on a daily basis leaving plenty of time for your skin to absorb all the toxic chemicals that are in it. So it's definitely the first thing you should be changing. But what to use? There are just as many natural products out there as there are chemical products and the question really is, what works for you? I have dry skin so my body literally soaks up creams the minute they touch my skin. With that in mind, I struggled to find a body lotion that worked for me, and was affordable. Body "lotions" are a waste really. They are predominantly water and don't do much for most people, but for me, I might as well literally just be putting water on my skin. Within seconds my skin feels so dry I'm itching all over!
Body butter is the way to go if you are looking for real skin protection and something really moisturising. I started to experiment with making my own and I found the perfect recipe for me so now I make my own under the Mellow Health brand. All it consists of is herbs like calendula and rooibos, various oils like grapeseed, avocado and coconut oil, beeswax and cocoa butter or shea butter depending on preference. It's rich and creamy and feels delicious for my dry skin. GLM uses it too and she enjoys it as well. If you would like to go the natural route, feel free to contact me and place your order!
You will also see soaps in that picture above. I make soaps too now. Soap is important for the same reason cream is. If you put something on your skin with water, the water facilitates the absorption of the product. Soaps are full of toxins that not only enter your blood stream, but severely dry out your skin. (and Dove is NOT as moisturising as you think. It still contains toxins that dry your skin out because ALL chemical moisturisers actually dry your skin out and the 1/4 moisturiser in Dove, is made with chemicals too) I don't know how I coped before I started using my own soap. They make my skin feel so much softer and more hydrated. Let's also not forget that, by using chemical soaps, you are putting toxins into the environment when they wash down your drain and that's just irresponsible.
Moving on to cleansers, ALL conventional facial cleansers that foam, contain sodium lauryl sulphate, a highly toxic and dangerous substance, for you AND the environment. Just avoid anything that foams, if it isn't natural. I have found a great face cleanser from Essential Collection.
Guess what? I don't use toner. Who on earth said you need to cleanse, tone and moisturise anyway?! People who wanted to make you spend more money, that's who. Your skin will be just fine without it, honestly. Especially with all natural products. They don't act like paint stripper on your skin so you don't need to put moisture back with a toner. Some toners even contain alcohol, which removes excess oil from your skin, drying it out completely. Your skin balances its pH itself, naturally, without a toner believe it or not. Putting alcohol on it will mess up the natural balance just as stripping it of it's natural oils will. Don't spend money you don't need to, on a toner.
I always need a face moisturiser because my skin is dry and I hate that feeling of dry skin on my face. I didn't have to look too far when I found Essential Collection Night Cream and I haven't looked back!
This moisturiser is R89 and it lasts about 2 months. It's delicious on my skin and it's all natural AND it's local! You may be thinking, but what about your day cream? Again I will ask, who on earth said you need a separate day and night cream?! It's all just cream! I use the night cream during the day too because my skin is dry and it needs the moisture. I don't need to use two separate creams. No-one does. You may argue that the day cream has an spf. Don't get me started on how bad sunscreen is for you. All I'll say is, inviting free radicals to have a party ALL day, under your skin? Not a good choice.
It's really hard to switch your mind over to a new way of thinking, I know. It was drummed into my head from a young age, cleanse, tone and moisturise! Us a day cream with spf and a night cream to feed your skin during the night. Advertisers are SO good, aren't they? My wife still keeps saying she needs a day cream and I say, "What for?" She's not entirely sure actually. She just knows it's what she's supposed to do! That comes from years of going to spas and being fed all the propaganda by the beauty therapists. It's not their fault. That's what THEY'VE been told too. It's like all of us believing that skim milk and fat free EVERYTHING is better for us. Again, it's all propaganda. Now is a great time to start re-training your mind:)
If I look back on what I used to spend on my face products I want to cry. I would easily pay almost R1 000 for a cleanser, toner and moisturiser (day and night cream) and I would think it was worth it and that I was doing the right thing for my body. I didn't know any better. Now, these two products are my complete face routine: R163 in total... My skin feels great. So does GLM's by the way. It passed muster with her too;)
As far as shampoo and conditioner goes, I have tried many. I've also tried making my own and that didn't work out so well;) After I had to go for a MASSIVE trim to get rid of my ruined hair, I decided it was worth spending money on an organic brand. All in the name of research;) Not that I spend a lot at all. My shampoo and conditioner together, cost me about R80 and Pick n Pay sell it.
You don't need all the rubbish they put in Redken and Loreal. It's full of chemicals that strip your hair of its natural oils AND they test on animals as well. Who wants to suppport that? Earthsap doesn't need to test on animals because it's all natural ingredients so it won't sting your eyes or cause irreparable damage to you like it does to the animals they test on. This is beauty without cruelty at its best.
It's uber important to use a natural toothpaste. I wrote a whole blog about the dangers of fluoride and that's not all they put into a tube of toothpaste. It comes with a warning to contact the poison control centre if swallowed. And we put this in our mouths?! So if you read that blog, you'll know we use this toothpaste.
If you are a mouthwash person, I'd avoid store bought ones. Most of them contain alcohol and fluoride, not to mention many other toxic substances. Again, they warn you not to swallow it because it's toxic. Really?! So I now make our own and it's really easy. Find yourself a glass, 500ml bottle to store it in. It must be glass because you need warm water to mix all the ingredients and warm water and plastic are dangerous combinations for your health. Ingredients wise, you will need:
485ml boiling water
3 teaspoons xylitol (dischem sells it)
15ml hydrogen peroxide (this is only if you want the teeth whitening aspect. Dischem also sells it)
About 10 drops of peppermint or spearmint oil
2 drops of tea tree or clove oil
1/4 teaspoon bicarb
If you use a funnel you can place all the ingredients directly into the bottle, shake it up and put in the fridge to cool. Gargle with about 10 to 20mls morning and night and shake the bottle before you use it to mix the oil in.
Deodorant is a tricky one. We have tried several and very few natural ones actually work. Here is the reason you DON'T want to use conventional deodorant. They contain MANY nasties but the two worst ones for me are:
Parabens: Which can actually mimic other hormones and disrupt the hormone system. The effect is far worse in leave-on products like deodorant.
Aluminium compounds: These compounds form a coating on the surface of skin, blocking the sweat glands to keep you dry. But that defeats the main purpose of perspiration which is to release the toxins in the body and to regulate body temperature. By blocking the sweat glands the aluminium compounds stop the release of harmful toxins from the body. These toxins then go back inside the body and are distributed throughout the body by the lymphatic system. There has been a lot of talk about the connection between deodorant and breast cancer and you can understand why.
I know, it's unladylike to sweat. It's also completely natural and necessary. But it can be done in such a way that you don't smell, and you don't expose yourself to toxins. You can make your own quite easily.
The ingredients you'll need are:
4 Tbs shea butter or cocoa butter (if you don't have these, add about a Tbs extra of coconut oil)
4 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs bicarb
5 Tbs arrowroot powder or cornflour
1 Tbs coconut oil
1/2tsp non-GMO vitamin E oil (or just pop open 2 capsules and add the oil)
Melt coconut oil, sesame oil and shea butter in a double boiler (you can also just use a small pot inside a bigger pot of boiling water)
Remove from heat and mix in bicarb, arrowroot powder and essential oils
If you have any probiotic capsules at home, open up 2 of them and mix them in too. Good bacteria gets rid of any bad bacteria, hence no bad smell! These are optional.
Place in a small glass jar
The key with this deodorant is that it doesn't stop you sweating, but it stops you smelling and it feels lovely on your skin. Just scoop a little out of your glass jar and rub into your underarms. I know, it seems weird right? But it works, I promise. The amazing thing is, the more you use of this, the less you end up needing it because you start to sweat less. I can say that, if you follow a nutrient-dense, organic, clean diet, you shouldn't smell anyway so, if you do, it's a sign that you are not very healthy!
Final beauty product I'll mention today is lip ice. You don't want to know what goes into that stuff and you EAT most of it off. The chemicals in conventional lip ice actually dry your lips out more so you become addicted to it because your lips are permanently dry. I used to be addicted to it too. Now I make my own edible lip ice and my lips and body love me for it!
If you would like to try out any of Mellow Health's products, drop me an email: mellowhealth@melanielowe.co.za. We make body butter, soap and lip ice. If you would like to know where to buy any of the other products I've listed in my blogs, please also send me an email and I will send you all the details!
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