Tag: safeswap

Ditch & Switch: Lipgloss

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💋 Why do safe swaps matter when it comes to lip products?

Many lipglosses contain:

•Parabens

•Lake Dyes & FD&C Colorants

•Fragrance

•Flavor/Unspecific Flavor/”Natural Flavor”

•Propylene Glycol

•Formaldehyde Releasers (e.g., Diazolidinyl Urea)

•Petrolatum

•BHT

•Octinoxate

•Phenoxyethanol

•Mineral oil

Not ours!💋

Do you prefer a creamy, non-sticky lipgloss to a thick, gooey gloss? Because if so, you’re in for a treat when you try my fave!🤩

These lipglosses are loaded with nourishing oils like organic castor, coconut, jojoba, sunflower & olive oils, plus the oh-so nourishing cocoa butter! Most smell like cupcakes, except the Transparency and brand new Mulberry Mint which have organic peppermint 😍❄️ but you’ll only find vanilla plantifolia fruit or organic peppermint oil and NO artificial fragrances!

It’s ultra-glossy and non-sticky! All-vegan, nourishing, long-lasting, and moisturizing. It glides on effortlessly with a no greasy feel. You all will fall in loooove😍🌟

Definitely give some care and attention to the lip products you use, ladies! Most women consume several pounds of lip products throughout their lifetime🥴 So make sure what you’re putting ON your body is what you feel comfortable putting IN your body♥️

Want more info on these high quality, toxin free products? Reach out to me or hop over to our wellness community on Facebook where there’s ton of info plus ways to save $$ on products! –> https://www.facebook.com/groups/raisingclean

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• • Safe Swap • •

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You may not know this, but in 2015 I actually worked at Bath and Body works. I had a ton of their products and that Christmas every single present I bought was from that store. This legitimately hurts my heart to think about. I just didn’t know then what I know now. 

So, let’s talk lotions today. I’ve never been someone who uses hand lotion specifically, but body creams and such are what I always used on my hands as well. One of my favorites was the French Lavender and Honey from Bath and Body Works. They are SO good at marketing these to look and sound so lovely and innocent. But when you look at the ingredient label you will find several 🚫 toxic ingredients…

🚫 Petrolatum, 🚫 Fragrance (Parfum), 🚫 Tetrasodium EDTA, 🚫 Disodium EDTA, 🚫 BHT, 🚫 Diazolidinyl Urea, 🚫 Methlyparaben, 🚫 Propylparaben, 🚫 Red 4, 🚫 Red 33, 🚫 Yellow 5

Sadly, you will find these ingredients in most conventional lotions. They come with a slew of potential health issues according to the EWG such as: 

organ system toxicity

Endocrine disruption 

Enhanced skin absorption 

Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)

Contamination concerns

Biochemical or cellular level changes

Ecotoxicology

I think I’ll pass… 

OR you can switch to my favorite, which is:

🌻 Made with raw ingredients

🇺🇸 Made in the USA

🌿 Toxin- free 

I feel good supporting another small business and it feels like heaven on my skin! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/548888097/mermaid-body-butter-organic-moisturize?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=skin+foodie&ref=sr_gallery-1-5&organic_search_click=1&bes=1

For all of my safe swaps, make sure you join the wellness community! https://www.facebook.com/groups/raisingclean

Ditch & Switch •• Shave Gel/Cream

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Who uses a shaving cream or gel?! ❤️❤️

I personally have never been able to use a shaving cream as I always broke out in horrible razor burn every time I tried. But, when I used regular body wash my legs would itch and itch SO badly. I FINALLY found a solution in my toxin free Gentle Cleansing Bar and it is all I will ever use to shave my legs now. The gentle soap moisturizes my legs while shaving so I have zero itch after shaving for the first time in my dang life!

Chances are, you’ll use shaving products every day or every week for decades of your life. Even if it takes just two or three minutes to shave every day, this amounts to around a thousand hours of exposure to whatever chemicals are in those products or more if you use toxic aftershave or lotion after shaving.

👩🏻‍💻 I used some market research to look into some ingredient lists… Out of three women who shared what they’re using, two contained harmful substances including but not limited to:

❌ Phenoxyethanol ➔ A member of the glycol ether family and is the product of the reaction of highly corrosive phenol with carcinogenic ethylene oxide. As a result, it may contain residue amounts of both. The American Society of Contact Dermatitis lists phenoxyethanol as one of its core allergens, even in concentrations as low as 1%.

❌ Fragrance ➔ A chemical mixture of over 3k components used to create or mask a specific scent. The FDA does not require the disclosure of individual ingredients used to create fragrances. Many ingredients of fragrances are associated with contact allergy and may contain diethyl phthalate.

❌ Propylene glycol ➔ It is a controversial ingredient associated with skin irritation. Numerous patch tests on humans have shown that it has a very low risk of causing a skin reaction even at concentrations as high as 20%.

❌ Petrolatum ➔ There is strong evidence that mineral oil hydrocarbons are the greatest contaminant of the human body, amounting to approximately 1 g per person. There have been studies done on women post delivery and scientists have found these contaminants in breast milk as well! -> The scariest of these possible contaminants is called 1,4 dioxane, an impurity found in 22 percent of all petroleum-based cosmetics that is a known human and animal carcinogen.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄𝙎 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣!

One awesome gal shared that she uses Dr. Bronner’s Shave Gel and it passes with flying colors

✅ Lots of organic ingredients

✅ Toxin free

I personally have only ever had success with my favorite Gentle Facial Bar. It is the first time in my life that my legs don’t itch after I shave and has been a literal god send. 

✅ Lots of organic ingredients

✅ Toxin free

✅ RSPO certified sustainable palm oil

✅ Vegan

✅ Zero Waste

✅ Cruelty Free

✅ Made in the USA

PS – have a safe swap request? Drop it below!

To learn more about the gentle cleansing bar I mentioned and get access to half priced and free products, you’ll want to hop over to my community on FB 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/groups/raisingclean/ ❤️ I’ll see you over there!

Fur babies deserve safe products too

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Obviously I talk a lot about safe products for women, the men in our lives, and the children in our lives, but what about our fur babies? Bronté often has issues with her paw and I’m always looking for things to do to help it heal and feel better for her. This past time we did lots of Epsom Salt baths and apple cider vinegar soaks but it had me thinking about safe animal products. 

So, I stumbled upon this company on instagram and thought it was definitely worth sharing. It is called Natural Dog Company and the post mentioned 100% organic products, so obviously I wanted to do some digging to see if it was greenwashed or not. 

I’m ordering the Paw Soother, PawTection, and Skin Soother for my pups. Check out the ingredients:

Ingredients

Paw Soother | Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Mango Butter, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Hempseed Oil, Organic Jojoba, Candelilla Wax, Calendula, Cajeput, Chamomile, Natural Vitamin E, Rosemary Extract

PawTection | Organic Mango Butter, Organic Rice Bran Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Carnauba Wax, Sunflower Wax, Candelilla Wax, Natural Vitamin E, Ylang Ylang, Benzoin, Lavender, Rosemary

Skin Soother | Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Safflower Oil, Candelilla Wax, Sea Buckthorn Oil, Organic Lavender, Chamomile, Frankincense, Myrrh, Vetiver, Organic Niaouli, Benzoin, Natural Vitamin E

So much better than the other creams I’ve found for itchy paws that contain ingredients such as:

❌ Propylene Glycol

❌ Petroleum

❌ EDTA

❌ Diazolidinyl Urea

❌ Fragrance

If you’re not sure why those ingredients are bad or you just want to continue learning about living a more toxin free life, please join my wellness community on FB -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/raisingclean/ 🌱🌱

Safe Swap: Cookware

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Did you know that your cookware is likely toxic? This means even if you’re choosing the best possible food for your family, chemicals could be leaching into that food while you’re cooking it.

CHANGING OUT ALL OF YOUR COOKWARE IN A DAY IS PROBABLY UNLIKELY, BUT I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND TRYING TO SWAP OUT ONE AT A TIME TO START MOVING IN A HEALTHIER DIRECTION.

So, what are toxic cookwares that you should avoid?

Ceramic Coated Pans: These types of pans are usually metals coated with a synthetic polymer that is softer than metal. This coating easily wears off and usually only lasts for about a year. Once that coating starts to wear off, toxic chemicals can start leaching into your food, so if you have this kind of cookware, ditch them at the first sign of peeling.

Nonstick Cookware (Teflon): This kind of cookware also contains a coating, but it is called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and is a plastic polymer that releases harmful and carcinogenic gases at high temperatures. These gases can cause flu-like symptoms in humans hours after exposure and results in something called polymer fume fever which is often misdiagnosed for the flu. To give you an idea of how toxic these gases are, they are actually fatal to birds…

Aluminum Cookware and Aluminum Foil: This cookware is often coated to prevent the aluminum from seeping into the appliance. The problem is that the coating often wears and chips off. It’s one of the more affordable cookware options, but is not worth the risk of having aluminum contaminate your food. Aluminum can accumulate in your lungs, brain, bones, and other tissues causing muscular disfunction and memory loss. There is also evidence that aluminum can be a risk factor in Alzheimers disease. Sadly, aluminum is food in other things than cookware including deodorant, toothpaste, aluminum cans, and aluminum foil. Keep an eye on this ingredient and try to ditch any uses for it in your kitchen.

Copper Pans: This is a popular cookware as it is known to heat evenly over the surface. Uncoated copper can leach into your food and if it is coated, that can peel over time. Too much copper can suppress your zinc levels and weaken your immune system which then interferes with adrenal and thyroid function resulting in fatigue.
So, what are cookwares that I recommend?

Our favorite is Cast Iron: It is the ideal non-stick surface when it is seasoned correctly. It actually even can transfer small amounts of iron to your food which is beneficial for anyone with an iron deficiency or someone just looking to increase iron intake. It lasts FOREVER so no more buying new cookware every few years and can even be used on a grill or in an oven.

While we use cast iron pans, we use Stainless Steel pots: It is affordable and very stable at high temperatures. It is non-stick, lighter than cast iron, scratch resistant, and lasts longer than coated materials.

Then, for baking, one of our favorites is Glass: It is a sturdy material that will not release toxins into your food. We also use glass storage containers as opposed to plastic tupperware to avoid toxins like BPA which can imitate estrogen and other sex hormones.

Source: https://www.amymyersmd.com/2014/01/healthy-cookware-shopping-guide/

🌷Jess

Green your Halloween Treats 🎃

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Continuing our Go Green Halloween Mini Series…

Last week I talked about Red 40 and why you should be adamant about keeping it out of your children’s bodies. But, some parents might be wondering about safe treats for the kids to enjoy on Halloween. If you’re swapping your kid’s harmful treats with healthier ones, but are unsure what to get, here are some ideas. Keep in mind, I’m mainly looking at ones that do not have artificial colors and flavors. They may have “natural flavors” which we also do our best to avoid, but that’s incredibly difficult with treats.

Let’s look at the ingredients inside of the popular lollipops Dum Dums: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Salt, Artificial Flavor, Color Added (Includes Red 40, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 1).

Now, let’s compare that to YumEarth Organic Lollipops: Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Flavors, Colored With Concentrate (Carrot, Blackcurrant), Colored With Organic Concentrate (Carrot, Apple, Blackcurrant), Turmeric (Color), Organic Annatto (Color).

I know which one I’d rather Adeline eat…

Know any other healthy treats that kids will love? Please share below, food is the newest aspect of toxin free living for me and I’m not 100% there yet!

If you want more info on living a toxin free life please check out my wellness community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/raisingclean/

Family Fun Month

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Did you know that August is National Family Fun Month? I just learned this myself!

In our family, fun revolves around traveling, fitness, and being outside. Right now the way we incorporate all three of these things can’t fully include Adeline because she’s too young, but we’re hoping when she’s old enough she’ll want to get involved as well. We spent this last weekend doing something we love, racing a Spartan Race.

Christopher and I have gotten really into Obstacle Course races this past summer. We love that they allow us to do all of our favorite things: travel, stay fit, and be outside! They also fall perfectly into our lifestyle and our goal to raise Addie in a toxin free, healthy environment as she’s being exposed to these events, watching us train for these events, and we keep with our toxin free lifestyle during them as well.

I see so many people at these races slathering on the toxic sunscreen, and I so badly wish I could educate them on the dangers they’re causing their bodies while they are trying to prevent their bodies from harm from the sun! Spray sunscreens are the absolute worst because of everything you’re inhaling in conjunction with what you’re putting on your skin. But, even most lotion sunscreens are harmful, even the ones claiming to be clean. I make sure to apply my toxin free facial SPF in the morning (which I do every morning anyway) and bring my toxin free body SPF!

Here’s some info to help you choose safe sunscreens for yourself and your family…

You’ll want to avoid ingredients Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, Octocrylene, Homosalate, and ALL spray-on SPF (to avoid inhalation of chemicals and/or minerals), and common chemical preservatives like: parabens, and phenoxyethanol.

You’ll want to look for non-nano Zinc and Titanium Dioxide mineral SPF with no sketchy preservatives.

To learn more about the harmful sunscreens to avoid and also grab my safe swap recommendations, go here 👉 https://forms.gle/j39yLgwiVcHaLYKR9