It’s so awesome to have more daylight hours and warmer weather. Woo hoo!
Since I was gone traveling for a couple months (I left in January) and returned at the end of March, it’s wild to see how much more daylight we have up North.
I can walk my dog in the evening and it’s sunny out. Love it!
I could do without all the mud (talk about muddy dog foot prints all over my floors), but I suppose it comes with the territory when spring is doing its thing right?
What do you love about spring?
Spring is a time for renewal, detoxification and spring cleaning!
Do you have any spring cleaning plans?
My goal with this mini blog series is to look at why it’s essential to spring clean our skincare routine and how we can go about doing that. Then in part 2 we will get into detoxing home cleaning products and lastly in part 3 we will touch on detoxing our thoughts. ?
Let’s dive into it!
Spring Clean Your Skincare Routine:
Do you ever stop to consider how many chemicals you may be putting on your body each day?
Example -Your morning routine: face wash, toothpaste, face cream, makeup, body wash, hair care products etc.. the number of products add up fast.
According to the Environmental Working Group women use on average 12 personal care products or cosmetics each day which adds up to over 168 different chemicals on our bodies DAILY.
Wow!
That is a lot of chemicals to be applying to the body which is our largest permeable organ. Our skin absorbs these chemicals so it’s really important that we choose wisely. Many of the chemicals found in common products have been linked to health concerns.
Here are a few main chemicals which are COMMONLY found in cosmetics and skin care according to Dr. Mercola:
“Paraben, a chemical found in deodorants, lotion, hair products, and cosmetics, has been shown to mimic the action of the female hormone estrogen, which can drive the growth of human breast tumors. A study published in 2012 suggested that parabens from antiperspirants and other cosmetics indeed appear to increase your risk of breast cancer.
The research looked at where breast tumors were appearing and determined that higher concentrations of parabens were found in the upper quadrants of the breast and axillary area, where antiperspirants are usually applied.
Sodium lauryl sulfate, a surfactant, detergent, and emulsifier used in thousands of cosmetic products, as well as in industrial cleaners. It’s present in nearly all shampoos, scalp treatments, hair color and bleaching agents, toothpastes, body washes and cleansers, make-up foundations, liquid hand soaps, laundry detergents, and bath oils/bath salts.
The real problem with SLES/SLS is that the manufacturing process (ethoxylation) results in SLES/SLS being contaminated with 1,4 dioxane, a carcinogenic by-product.
Phthalates, are plasticizing ingredients that have been linked to birth defects in the reproductive system of boys and lower sperm-motility in adult men, among other problems. Be aware that phthalates are often hidden on shampoo labels under the generic term “fragrance.”
Methylisothiazolinone (MIT), a chemical used in shampoo to prevent bacteria from developing, which may have detrimental effects on your nervous system.
Toluene, made from petroleum or coal tar, and found in most synthetic fragrances and nail polish. Chronic exposure linked to anemia, lowered blood cell count, liver or kidney damage, and may affect a developing fetus.”
Yikes – and this is just to name a FEW chemicals out there. So, where to go from here you might wonder?
How do I start cleaning up my skincare routine?
TIPS:
Check out this Resource:
If you want to know if certain products are toxic then check out EWG SKIN DEEP DATABASE. This website is hugely useful and provides info on over 60,000 skin care products in their database.
Wow!
The products include a toxicity rating from 0-10 (less toxic to increased toxicity). You can search it by the name of product, type of product or even get the app and scan the bar code of the product at the store and BOOM you will be updated on the products toxicity level.
Pretty sweet hey?
If you want to download the app on your phone search “EWG Healthy Living” and grab it.
By the way EWG = Environmental Working Group – They also review more than just skin care too – it’s a extremely helpful resource to use ?
Migrate into healthy gradually:
It can feel kind of overwhelming to make a ton of changes all at once. Don’t feel like you need to approach it like that. Take your time! Consider choosing one item from your skin care or cosmetic products and giving it an upgrade.
Gradually one item at a time your products will be switched out for better, greener and healthier options. Also ask yourself this – Are there some products you can do without? Can you simplify your skincare and cosmetic products and get back to the basics? This can be a good time to not only spring clean your products but to also simplify them a bit and save some money going forward!
If you can eat it.. Even better:
The more natural, simple and unrefined your products are the better. There are great brands out there with super simple ingredients. Off the top of my head, one brand called S.W Basics uses only 3-5 natural ingredients in each of their products and you truly could eat the products if you wanted too and they would not be harmful to your health! And I think that is the way it should be don’t you? Especially if we are putting these products onto our skin daily and absorbing them.
There are also tons of natural ingredients out there that folks use for their skincare or cosmetics such as coconut oil (great moisturizer, makeup remover, cheekbone highlighter, shaving gel..everything!).
Even cornstarch or cocoa can be used as dry shampoo on the scalp or cocoa can be used as a face bronzer (lightly dusted with brush on cheekbones etc) and honey is very commonly used as an excellent face mask. Going natural is better not only for your health and pocket book but it can taste great too ?
DIY skincare products!
See.. getting into healthier living just leads to more and more cool ideas, things to try and down the rabbit hole you can go!
I never thought I would be one of those people who would make their own deodorant and consider making my own toothpaste (who has time for that?) but it turns out.. it can be fun, easy and not only helps the environment but improves my health.
I just started dabbling in this area so let me know if you are into making your own products too?
Simple is better sometimes. Anything you use on your skin, you could pretty much make yourself. Cool right?
Here is a quick and easy DIY recipe for homemade deodorant (that actually works!): check it out if you want to try it!
Does this make us hippies? Possibly.. ? I like to think of it as becoming more natural and holistic and getting WAY healthier!
Lastly:
I hope you enjoyed today’s blog and you consider detoxing your skin care routine.
Trust me, your skin and health is going to thank you ?
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Cheers to happy skin and health,
