Shampoo & What We Put on Our Bodies

When Wee Man was born it suddenly became super important to me to find a natural shampoo to use with him.  I just wasn't interested in dousing him in chemicals every night.  Did you hear that big hoop-la about a month ago about Johnson & Johnson?  The carcinogen that they've included in their baby shampoo in the good ole US of A for ever and ever?  Even though they've removed it from other countries?  Yeah, I can proudly say I knew about that awhile back and have never let that crap touch Wee Man's skin.  Ever.  (Didn't hear or read about it?  Learn more here.)

So after some looking around I found California Baby.  I was excited that the lady who founded it was on the same journey as me a few years back and after research came up with her own product because there were not any options on the market at that time.  It fit what I was looking for and was carried by chains so it was easy to get.  Well, the fact that it was carried by chain stores should have been a signal (and it was, but I just didn't listen to myself...again), but in the last week there has been a lot of outrage from parents who use California Baby.  They have changed their product on the sly and added all kinds of horrible ingredients, completely defeating the purpose of their product.  And here I've been singing their praises...I feel duped, but whatever.

So. Then I got to thinking more.  Through my research on shampoo and other products we use on our skin I've heard the mantra, "If you wouldn't drink it, then don't put it on your skin."  It's easy to ignore that when you are just worrying about YOU.  No precious baby skin to think about. But then as I was showering last night I got to thinking that I've got to stop acting like an ostrich.  I cannot stick my head in the sand any longer and pretend it's not there.  So I picked up my shampoo and looked at the ingredient list.  Oh.  That wasn't pretty.  I nervously picked up the face wash that I've been using for years, afraid of what I might find.  Well, among other disgusting things...yellow #5!  In FACE WASH!  Why???

That's all I needed.  As much as I used to be weirded out by the people who used natural products, I will now become one of them.  I clicked over to Etsy this morning and found some really yummy looking products that are hand made by a lady in the Midwest.  Yes, please.  You can find her products here.

The other step I will be taking is to start practicing what I preach and use coconut oil as my source of moisturizer.  I've been singing the praises of coconut oil for ages but haven't been brave enough to use it.  I get very dry knuckles in the winter from my slightly overzealous hand washing habit. So I put a little on, and it's amazing the difference.  What have I been so nervous about?  Now that Wee Man is chewing on anything in sight (often to include my hands, arm, elbow, what ever he can get those two little sharp toofs on), I've become very conscience of what lotion I have on my skin.  I don't want him ingesting any harmful crap.  And if I don't want him eating it...why am I slathering my body in it?  But I digress... I quickly went through my 16 ounce jar with cooking, eating, lotioning, etc. and super excited to receive this monster of a jar tomorrow!

So this is the beginning of my slightly deeper dive into all things Crunch.  Natural body products.

Here are a few things I've done to turn this household into a more "natural" direction:

• Cloth Diapering:  I am a regular on Cloth Diaper Outlet's website.  They are based in Eugene, OR and I love supporting Oregon brands/companies.  My newest obsession is the Magic Stick diaper balm.
• Cooking as much organic as possible
• Cooking from scratch as much as possible
• Use chemical free cleaning products
• Use glass only storage at home for food (Jason still uses plastic Gladware for work because he always loses it...and I can't afford glass to be lost constantly!) How fun is this set? Mine have the boring blue lids.
• This doesn't really count, b/c formula was never an option, but BREASTFEED
• Use safer toy alternatives...no PVC, BPA, etc.

There are more, but that's a start for now.  These are the ones that I'm super obsessed with now! :-)  Next up on my blogging agenda...all things cloth diapering!