Future proof your family & de-tox your personal care routines

Have you ever considered how many chemicals you put on your body? I never did until it started rebelling in a big way. Consider when you wake up in the morning...

• Shower- Shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, facial wash, shaving cream, moisturiser, foundation, serum. Deodorant.Toothpaste. All products that are absorbed by the skin.
• Kitchen - dish-wash liquid, dish-wash powder, cleaning products, some are absorbed by touch others inhaled by fumes.
• Laundry - Bleach, powders

Flip over the containers of any off these products and add up the number of ingredients and times that by the number absorbed by you today.

I used to get quite severe reactions to all sorts of things, my kids had/have eczema/asthma. I now follow a simpler detox routine for myself and my family.  I hope to future proof my kids too by teaching them to make the right choices, I do not want them to have to struggle with fertility issues, migraines, or allergies like I have. I hope this is the answer, it makes some sense to me. I am not a die hard hippy about it all but I think it makes sense that if you give your body less "manufactured" chemicals to process it gets time to heal itself and get on with the business of functioning normally.

This has not all occurred over night. I could not afford to throw out my dish-wash liquid, shampoo,toothpaste, bubble bath, just because it contained SLS. As I replace things I make the change, often green alternatives go further than the cheaper products. Did you know nearly all deodorants you can buy in your supermarket contain aluminium? You can read about the effects of aluminium by following the above links and checking this one out that occurred while I lived in the UK Camelford.

Why am I writing this? well I feel better, I do not get hives and I have saved money doing it, I have eliminated a number of risky products. I have set my kids up to be nasty chemical free- so far. I guess I want to share. It was not hard, just replace the questionable with the good stuff.  Check out the rest of the blog for recipes for cleaning. There are also good suppliers out there.....

1. I wash with handmade soap, not triple milled & free from hardeners - the stuff that leaves all the gunk on the glass shower door. Check body botanics web site for a range of soaps..
2. I wash my hair with SLS & paraben free shampoo and conditioner.
3. I slap on body butters from my own kitchen (soon to be in stock at body botanics).
4. I wash my face with half a teaspoon of Manuka honey ( and try to resist licking it off my lips) probably the most active facial wash you can get! 
5. I moisturise my face with carefully selected oils to give anti-aging, pore refining and re-generation the best chance it can get.
6. I wash my children with soap and products free from SLS & parabens.
7. I use a kind washing powder that is kind the earth & us, and washes clothes WELL! 
8. In the winter I deodorise with a crystal. One lasts a year or two, in the summer I use a Speck deodorant available from Health stores.
9. If I need a facial I use yogurt from the fridge, its active enzymes chew through build up on the skin and give a little glow! Follow up with a mashed banana full of Vitamin E.

I still wear make up occasionally as I cannot bear to throw out Clarin's products until I have used them! But once gone. I wont replace. I will be working out how to bring you the best possible natural version. I still love wine and chocolate and am a coffee addict! But not sure any of those are carcinogenic!

I make no claims that all this rids you of fertility issues, eczema, or asthma or any other thing you can think of. But isn't it just common sense? Think of your Granny/ Great Granny, did she have all these products at her finger tips, and was she dealing with all these conditions?

Further reading can be found here and here and on the WWW.