Toothpaste

For a couple years now, we have been using fluoride free toothpaste. Our drinking water here is fluoridated--which I wish it wasn't--and I don't feel confident enough in the research that has been done to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of fluoride. There's a lot of into on the internet, and even books have been written--I borrowed The Fluoride Deception from a friend and though I didn't finish reading it (I wish I would have now), the first 100 pages were more than enough to convince me!

The kids have been using Tom's of Maine fluoride free silly strawberry and I have been using various other fluoride free Tom's of Maine flavors. Chris has been using a toothpaste that we brought back from Germany (which I really like, too, but I feel bad using it; I have no clue as to the ingredients, but I think it's more "natural"). 

I had a recipe for a homemade tooth powder. I love making my own stuff: saves money (yay for my budget!); saves packaging (yay for the environment!); and I'm in control of all the ingredients (yay for QC!). However...it was disgusting. I gagged a few time during the initial use. I toughed it out for a few days, in which it got slightly easier, but I normally look forward to brushing my teeth (thank you, Sonicare, my personal mouth massage), and I was dreading it every morning and night with this stuff. It's main components are baking soda and white clay powder, then it had myrrh, dried peppermint and raspberry leaves, yellowdock root, and essential tea tree and peppermint oils. It was really salty (I think maybe the white clay powder?); it looked disgusting when spitting out (like chewing tobacco--all yellow); and the herb leaves kept getting stuck in my teeth (I had given it a good spin in the blender, in the mason jar I mixed it in, but to no avail, apparently). The powder texture wasn't doing it for me either, but I think that has something to do with being pregnant, and I think I could overcome that problem. It did do a good job of cleaning: my mouth felt nice and fresh. I feel like my teeth were getting slightly dingy with it though (yes, coffee will do that to ya, but my other pastes were tackling the problem fine).

So yesterday at Fred Meyer's, I was back to purchasing my Tom's of Maine, and for some reason decided to look at the ingredients: imagine my surprise when sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) popped up on there! I started checking all their toothpastes, and every Tom's of Maine toothpaste at my Fred Meyer's contained SLS (their website does address SLS concerns, and apparently they have a line of SLS-free toothpastes, but probably not as widely available). Then I checked Burt's Bees new line of toothpastes, and yep, SLS in all of theirs I could find also.

I'm not sure if the SLS has been there all along or if the buyout of both of those companies (Colgate now owns Tom's of Maine, and Clorox owns Burt's Bees) brought about formula changes. I've become more discerning in my label reading and in what ingredients make my "natural" cuts, and I'm bummed that this one slipped through the cracks for so long. Skin Deep only lists SLS as a 3 on their scale of 1 to 10, making it a "moderate hazard", but I've been avoiding it in shampoo, conditioner, and body washes, so why in the world would I put it in my mouth?!

In the end, I chose Jason Powesmile all-natural whitening toothpaste.

Seems like a good choice after checking the SkinDeep review: it scored a 2 and the highest concern comes from contamination of the grapefruit seed extract; I suppose I'm not going to get rid of that unless I am mixing my own toothpaste and purchasing the ingredients from a highly reputable source. Plus, it tastes fine and my teeth look nice and bright and feel good when I'm done.

I'll probably be keeping my eyes out for another toothpaste recipe; anybody have any to share?

Coconut deodorant

For a good year now, I have been eyeballing this "recipe" for homemade deodorant. It consists of coconut oil, baking soda, and either cornstarch or arrowroot powder (these can be used interchangeably here, as well as in cooking).

Deodorant has been a hard one for me to go more natural on. I am not willing to be stinky. Mascara holds some sort of sway over me, too--I refuse to quit wearing it (I do wear a safer one on most days, but it's not waterproof, so I bust out the nasty stuff on rainy days...and uh, I live in SW Washington...)

So I've continued to wear my beloved, but most likely cancer causing, Dove deodorant (actually, that Skin Deep link was more promising than I'd thought it would be!). I tried a couple varieties of Tom's of Maine; a Jason deodorant; some other brand I forget that was neroli orange and patchouli scented; and a really cheap one I found at Fred Meyer's. I wasted a lot of money, because they all really, really sucked.

Finally, the day of the ultrasound, when I was antsy and tackling my list of things to make homemade (remember the mayo? There was dishwasher soap, as well), I made the deodorant. I chose to make it with arrowroot powder, and I used a little more of the dry ingredients.

This deodorant is amazing. It did take some adjusting to sweating again--most deodorants are antiperspirants as well, so most people don't sweat under their armpits anymore. Probably not a good thing, as part of sweating is getting rid of toxins--makes you wonder if it's not the deodorant chemicals that should be linked with breast cancer, but the fact that your body isn't able to excrete toxins it would normally be rid of, so they build up...just a thought.

I was concerned that the oil in it would cause staining in my clothes, but I've been using it for well over a month now and haven't noticed anything so far.

I haven't put this deodorant through a rigorous workout (those went out the window at about week 15 of pregnancy), but it did hold up nicely through a few yoga classes, a couple hikes, and the few 70-degree days we've had. And, I have to admit, I usually only shower every other day; this stuff holds me over without a problem. I am a fairly stinky person, too. Chris swears that he can go without deodorant with no problem; I am not so lucky.

As an added bonus, my armpits smell like coconut; reminds me of my days of tanning in college, except most likely now I am not giving myself skin cancer :)

Homemade apricot scrub

 Ever since I can remember, growing up, there was always a tube or jar of St. Ives Apricot Scrub residing in our shower. My mom used the stuff all the time, and probably around age 11 or 12, I started caring about my skin and was thus inducted into the cult worship of apricot scrub. And it has been residing in MY shower ever since, in its various incarnations.

Until...about a year ago. When I really started getting crazy about the whole minimal chemicals, minimally processed, all natural, organic-as-much-as-possible life. My dear St. Ives Apricot Scrub went on the chopping block. According to the Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database, the St. Ives Apricot Scrub products had scores ranging from 7 to 10 (on a scale of 10, with 0 being completely innocuous, so far as we know, and 10 being pretty-much-guaranteed-to-give-you-cancer/allergies/ADHD/asthma/autoimmune disorders....you get the point). I was slightly alarmed.

The reasons for the high scores? Fragrance and methyl-paraben. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG; they're responsible for the Skin Deep Database) there is a lot of evidence that methyl-paraben effects the endocrine system, as one of those wonderful estrogen mimickers (there's a whole slew of chemicals like this...BPA and phthalates also come to mind). Which also means it's being implicated in estrogen stimulated cancers. Parabens are also known to be irritating and cause skin allergies. Methyl-paraben has been banned as a use in fragrances in the EU (but it's because it can cause "skin depigmenting" in some individuals, not b/c of hormone-disrupting effects or cancer). You can see more information on methyl-paraben here.

Fragrance is kind of a confusing one. I mean, it's pretty obvious what it's used for in products, but why is it bad? Because the FDA has allowed companies this catch-all term for proprietary purposes. Gotta love the good ole' FDA. So basically, a company can put anything into it's "fragrance" and they don't have to disclose it to the consumers. I can see where the FDA was trying to protect property rights here, but...really? All sorts of nasty chemicals show up in "fragrance", including the aforementioned parabens and phthalates. You gotta wonder if some of these companies aren't dumping the hazardous chemicals into their "fragrance", just to bypass the labeling--or is that just me being crazy?!

So on closer inspection, my beloved St. Ives was, uh, not working for me anymore, to say the least. I didn't even mention the sodium laureth sulfate, the PEG-100 Stearate or the triethanolamine, b/c the fragrance and parabens were enough to convince me. I just don't believe that we need all of that crap in our skin care products to make our skin look good.

At first, I switched to a "natural" apricot scrub that I found through my beloved Azure. This one was by a company called Earth Science; I initially bought it b/c I could find NO facial scrubs, easily available to me, that did not contain fragrance. This one at least contained no parabens or sodium laureth sulfate and only scored a 5 on the Skin Deep Database (this is still considered a "moderate hazard" though), again mainly b/c of the fragrance. But, they seemed a more truthworthy company, and the label says "fragrance oils" and it was the last listed ingredient...so I figured it would do, until I could find better.

And then life caught up with me and I switched my all-natural bent to more of our food and the apricot scrub got lost in the shuffle, until now. And I am again purging my skin care and cosmetics, b/c the food is under control, for the time being.

So I am sick of paying money for ingredients I don't know (or trust). This was the most expensive item in my shower, at $5.90 for 4 oz. It was amazing, when I started paring down the chemicals, how the products became cheaper...

I have embarked on a quest to find the perfect homemade scrub though! It's one of my favorite products, and I think exfoliating is very important--I'd like to look 27 for awhile!

The first "recipe" up was a very simple one that I found in a Reader's Digest book I bought at Fred Meyer's about a year ago. The entire book is comprised of stuff you can make at home, rather than buy. It ranges from Oreo's and pizza crust, to facial scrub and lotion, to bathroom cleaner.

The facial scrub: 2 tsp of finely ground oatmeal + 1 tsp of baking soda. Mix with some water when ready to use. I made up a quadruple batch to store in the shower; I'm not into making fresh stuff for every shower by any means.

And the verdict, after four uses? It definitely makes my skin feel nice (I think even softer than either apricot scrub), but it's very messy to apply and doesn't stick to my face very well. And it smells like oatmeal, which I don't mind too much, but other people might! I wouldn't mind something with a little more grit either, like the ground up nutshells commonly used in the commercially available apricot scrubs. (I have found ground nutshells available through Mt. Rose Herbs, too, so I will be looking for a recipe that incorporates these.)

On a side note: I made a wonderful discovery a few days before I made my oatmeal scrub, that definitely made the job easier. Most blenders (including my cheap Oster), will work with a Mason jar instead of your huge blender top. So you just screw your blade and gasket on like you would to the blender base, and voila! a tiny little jar to grind tiny amounts! Plus, it's already in a storage jar! My blender base works with wide-mouth half-pint jars and the normal mouth pint jars. I'm almost kinda ticked I have a separate coffee grinder now :)