I thought it would be super fun to do an episode just talking about specific toxin free swaps for some of your old favorites.
Toxin-Free Swaps for Some of Your Old Favorites Vaseline, Dry Shampoo, Body Wash, Bath and Body Works, Lipsmackers, and Dryer Sheets
But before we get started, I just want to make sure that you know that I have a weekly newsletter that comes to your email. No, I don't ever spam you, I just really share helpful tips. Sometimes I talk about little sales that are going on both for my store and also for Crunchi. It's just a great way to stay connected and keep the idea of living more green and toxin free at the top of your mind. Plus, you’ll get an awesome safe swap list when you sign up! Just go to www.meganmikkelsen.com to get on the list and you'll hear from me more regularly and have tips coming into your email.
Vaseline
The first old favorite would be Vaseline. Vaseline is something that people use all the time and often have no idea that they shouldn't be using. Vaseline is basically petroleum jelly which is derived from mineral oil and it is just not great for you. It's often contaminated with some pretty harsh byproducts that I discussed more in detail in Episode 81. So go back to Episode 81 if you want to learn more about why you should not be using Vaseline. The great news is that there's an alternative! What I recommend if you want specifically something to be just like Vaseline is Alba Botanica Un-Petroleum Jelly. I can't say that all of the Alba products are going to be safe, but I can tell you that I would recommend this un-petroleum jelly by Alba if you are looking for a Vaseline alternative.
Dry Shampoo
The next one that we're going to talk about is dry shampoo. Batiste is the brand that I've heard about a lot and a lot of people love it. I just looked at the ingredients though and believe me you do not want to be using this on a regular basis.
1st ingredient butane
second isobutane
third propane.
You're spraying that next to your face and you're inhaling all of that yucky stuff while you're spraying the dry shampoo into your hair. That is not good for you. It's definitely bad for the environment too. And the ingredients continue to get worse including fragrance. I know that I have sprayed stuff like that on my hair and the smell is just so strong that it sticks with me all day. So you're continuing to inhale those chemicals that are not good for you all day long. Fragrance is something I talk about all the time. You can find lots of episodes about fragrance, but the reason why it's not great is because it is a proprietary term and really so many chemicals can be hiding within the term fragrance. Up to 3000 different chemicals can be within the one term fragrance. Fragrance is something that I always avoid. That's the first thing I look for on an ingredient label. If you need a dry shampoo,there are some really simple alternatives. My favorite thing to use is the Crunchi Translucent Finishing powder. I use it on my face every day and it is the best dry shampoo I have ever found. I sometimes just sprinkle the tiniest bit in my hair and I rub it in and it absorbs all the extra oil. Or if I have an older powder brush, I'll use the brush to brush it into my hair and it works so well. And I love that I get to double use that product. If I'm traveling it means I don't have to pack an extra product just for my dry shampoo. Another alternative is arrowroot powder. Really simple. Even if you have darker hair, you can add a little bit of cocoa powder into it so that it's not so white when you sprinkle it into your hair. In the past, baby powder was something that was recommended for dry shampoo but baby powder has talc in it, which is really harmful. So you definitely want to avoid baby powder.
Body Wash
When I was in high school, body wash became more popular than bar soap and I have an episode on that. Why do I choose bar soap over a body wash? Really it's because it is more eco-friendly and also, if you've ever thought about it, body wash is basically just soap mixed with water. It has to be in a plastic container which of course doesn't usually get recycled. Even when you put it in the recycling bin it doesn't necessarily get recycled. You also go through body wash so much faster than bar soap. Bar soap really is a more eco-friendly and also budget friendly product over a body wash.
My favorite bar soap is the Crunchi charcoal body bar because it's really excellent with cutting down on odors. I also really love the Crunchi Littles Bar which is a great 3 in 1 bar for the face, hair, and skin. So even though it's marketed towards kids, I actually love using it myself.
Another popular product that many of us used to use is the Bath and Bodyworks hand soap. Bath and Body Works clearly uses a lot of fragrance and as I discussed earlier, I really try to avoid fragrance. So what I have recently found and I actually have in my store because I just love it, Meliora came out with a new pump soap that is just a small little tablet. And you can actually reuse your Bath and Bodyworks pumps if you still have them around so no need to buy anything new. But you basically just dropped this little tab into your pump soap container, add water and you shake it up and you have a foaming soap. How cool is that? I have the lavender and I've been using it on my hands and it it just smells lovely and also does not dry out my hands. And I love that when it's empty,all you have to do is add another tablet, add some water and that's it. Talk about eco friendly.
Lip Smackers
Okay, so let's talk about one of my favorites from my youth: lip smackers. I bet you remember the Dr Pepper flavor? Or maybe the strawberry was your favorite or maybe watermelon. I think they were everywhere right? Well, of course lip smackers does not have the best ingredients. Maybe it's gotten better over the years, but I highly doubt it. My favorite alternative is lip balm by Little Otter. It's made in Georgia and it comes in the most adorable little cardboard packaging making it plastic-free. It is so cute and sweet. You should go listen to episode 75, where I interviewed the founder of Little Otter and how she came about to create her product. I put it in my store because I just loved the eco-friendly packaging and the clean ingredients. And I love how it feels on my lips. Now if you're looking for a lip gloss Crunchi is the best hands down. It comes packaged in a glass container, because that's just the most eco-friendly that you can find for a lip gloss.
Dryer Sheets
Finally, we are going to talk about dryer sheets. If you're still using dryer sheets, I really encourage you to go back and listen to some of my other episodes, about how laundry is one of the most important toxin free swaps you can make and how dryer sheets are not great for you. And they're definitely not good for the environment. The easiest swap for dryer sheets are wool balls. I also had a great interview with The Laundry Expert Patrick Richardson and you should listen to that episode because it is really entertaining and he gives some unique and interesting tips on how to reduce static instead of using a dryer sheet.
That’s some of my swaps for some of your old favorites! Some great options for you.
If you're curious and you want to do a little browsing and find some products that both support my family and the message of toxin free living, you can check out my store at www.detox.design, and then just click on the safe products tab.
Let’s make this planet happier and healthier one step at a time.
