10 Must Have Natural, Non Toxic, and Healthy Products to Use Throughout Your Day

Have you ever gone grocery shopping with a friend and been turned onto a new product you’d never even tried before? I love doing that! I always find it so interesting to hear what my friends use and what they like. It’s a great way to learn what’s out there, what people are into, and what I need to add to the top of my research list! I thought it would be fun to share a snapshot of what I do on a typical day and what products I’m loving. Read all the way to the end for a list and links of all my favorite products. 

10 Must Have Natural, Non Toxic, and Healthy Products to Use Throughout Your Day

7:30am This has been my natural wake up time. It’s August, so this will probably look a little different come winter when the kids are back in school. But for now I get to naturally wake up to the sun on my face instead of an alarm. I may not get as much done in the morning, but the sun is much more gentle than an annoying alarm!

• After I brush my teeth, I put on my work out clothes and get on my peloton. It’s right in my bedroom along with my weights. I’ve been adding in more strength training lately to help keep my lower back and hips strong and pain free. Getting my workout in first thing ensures that it gets done.

• Then I usually hop in the shower to get ready for the rest of the day! I only wash my hair twice a week, but I usually still wet it and scrub my scalp really well with my fingers, and use condition for my thick wavy hair. The last thing I want to do when I’m still hot from my workout is use a hair dryer. So I use just a couple products and air dry my hair with a t-shirt.

• Right out of the shower, I applying my skin care products. First eye cream, then moisturizer, then sunscreen. I apply skincare before I get dressed to give my skin time to absorb them before I do my makeup.

• I have a simple daytime makeup routine of primer, concealer, foundation, finishing powder, highlighter (I use it as an eyeshadow too!), bronzer, blush, and mascara. Sometimes I’ll pop on a little lip gloss, but honestly I try to hydrate all day and sometimes the gloss on my water bottle gets a little annoying. All my makeup and skincare products are Crunchi of course. I’ve been an advocate for 4 and a half years because I haven’t found anything that’s cleaner or works better.

• It’s usually about 9am now and I go downstairs to do some reading or journaling. Lately I’ve been listening to May Cause Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein and journaling along with the book. I prioritize self care in the first part of my day because it puts me in the  best frame of mind to tackle everything my day throws at me.

• The rest of morning I spend working and driving the girls to whatever activities they have. Driving them around is a big part of our lives these days but I love the time with them!

11am Time for Breakfast!

• I’ve been trying out intermittent fasting and I’m getting hungry around this time. Remember, self care first! Before I start working again I’ll have an English muffin with cashew butter. I try not to eat gluten at every meal, but I’m allergic to alot of foods and I’m not allergic to wheat so I allow it in my diet. And it’s yummy :) Otherwise I’ll have granola with oat milk or a smoothie.

• I eat lunch around 2pm and always try to include some veggies. Just like working out, including it early in the day ensures that my body is cared for no matter what comes up later. I like to prep food so I have health leftovers to eat for lunch. Soups, curries made in my instant pot and big pots of grain salads with greens make great lunch leftovers.

• Work is a lot of connecting with my clients and listeners by creating social media content and answering questions and messages. I mentioned that I’m a Crunchi advocate and that helps support my family as well as provide me the freedom to bring you all of this information for free. Recording podcasts is my way of making the planet a healthier and happier place and I’m so grateful for that opportunity. This also involves spending a lot of time researching ingredients and how well different products work. 

• The rest of the day I’m either working around the house or the garden. And of course, driving the girls everywhere. All. Day. Long.

Time for dinner and wind down the day….

• We all work together to get dinner on the table. We eat a lot of plant based meals like I mentioned. But since I’m allergic to almost every type of meat except turkey, we’ve been making turkey stir fry about once a week. Let’s face it, ground turkey is not the greatest, but it actually makes a pretty good stir fry.

• We clean up the kitchen, also as a family. We just switched from liquid to bar dish soap and it’s working out great! (Check out my 3 Tips for Switching to Bar Soap episode for more help in this area!)

• I’ll be honest, we’re a TV family after dinner. If the weather's nice we enjoy taking the dogs out for an evening walk or playing volleyball in the front yeard. But we love just chilling on the couch together watching Survivor or The Amazing Race.

• Then when it’s time for bed, I start by washing my face. Many, many years ago I did not wash my face before bed. Can you believe it? I didn’t break out and I had great young skin so I just didn’t. Well, now I’m religious about my skin care routine. Of course I use all Crunchi products, starting with the charcoal facial bar, followed by Clarilight facial essence and Nightlight nighttime moisturizer. 

• And of course I brush and floss my teeth. I don’t love the plastic tubes that toothpaste comes in, so if you’ve found a great toothpaste tablet without “natural flavors”, please connect with me! I’d love to know about it.

Well I think that’s it.  Everything in a typical boring day at the Mikkelsen house. But hey, it’s the little things that make up a life well lived. Check out all the products that I use throughout the day below. I would love to help you detox any part of your beauty or household routines, so please reach out with any questions! Connect with my at my facebook group Toxin-Free Talk or DM me on instagram at @themeganmikkelsen

Shower

• Shampoo

  • Crunchi Littles Bar -if you need tips on using a bar shampoo, check out this recent episode all about bar soaps.

• Conditioner

  • Acure

• Hair Products

  • Innersense Quiet Calm Curl Control

  • Innersense I Create Hold Gel

• Body

  • Crunchi Littles or Charcoal Body Bar

Skin Care All Crunchi that can be found at www.detoxbydesigninsiders.com

• Charcoal or Sensitive Facial Cleansing Bar

• Clarilight Facial Essence plus Toner

• Powerlight Eye Cream

• Daylight Facial Cream

• Nightlight Facial Cream

• Sunlight Facial 30 SPF

Makeup Also Crunchi

• Smart Primer

• Beautifully Flawless Foundation- Connect with me if you need help with shade matching!

• My Alibi Concealer plus Primer

• Translucent Finishing Powder

• Solarise Bronzer

• Cheekmate Blush

• Luminescence Highlighter

• Shattered Mascara

• Eyeshadow

• Hydrogloss Lipgloss

Mouth Care

• Dr. Bronner's Toothpaste

• Eco Floss

In The Kitchen

• Nom Nom Paleo- I’ve been following them for awhile and use a lot of the products they recommend like fish sauce and curry paste.

• Instantpot 

• Meliora Dish Soap

• Puracy Dishwasher Pods

• Meliora All-Purpose Cleaner

There are a ton of other products for your entire household that I’ve researched for safety and tested for effectiveness at my online shop detox.design/thebox.  It’s my passion to help people detox their homes without feeling overwhelmed or blowing their budget. Connect with me and I’d love to help get you started!

Purchasing from any of the links above helps support me and my family and allows me to continue to provide free content like this. Detox by Design is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Eat Your Veggies - Tips for Choosing, Storing, Washing, and Cooking Vegetables and Fruit for Natural and Crunchy Wannabe Moms

Whether it’s the height of summer and you have more fruits and veggies than you know what to do with, or it’s the dead of winter and you’re wondering how to fit fresh produce into your food budget, I’ve got you! Fruits and vegetables are vital to a healthy lifestyle, but they’re also expensive. So you want to be getting the best while saving money and waste.

Eat Your Veggies! - Tips for Choosing, Storing, Washing, and Cooking Vegetables and Fruit for Natural and Crunchy Wannabe Moms

Eating healthy is part of what got me into the public health field. If you've heard my story before, I first learned about how cattle feedlots negatively impact the environment and the water systems of surrounding communities. That was back in the 90’s when I was in high school, and I decided to go vegetarian for quite a few years. So I was eating (and still do eat) a ton of veggies. I learned some tricks along the way that I’d love to share with you.

Pick the Best (most of the time)

What do I mean by this? I mean I would absolutely love to have everything in our house be totally organic. But that’s not always realistic for our budget. For years I’ve been using the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list. The list rates the 12 fruits and veggies that have the most pesticides in them; the most important ones to spend the extra money for organic! They also have a Clean Fifteen list! Download the guide or take a screenshot so you have it next time you’re in the store.

Buy local and seasonal

Stop by your local farmer’s market or even try growing your own. We have a great apple tree in our yard and this year we got sooo many apples! My friend also offered me some plums from her tree and I always say yes to free produce. Trading with friends and neighbors is a great way to get variety.

Check out a produce service

At our house, we love Imperfect Foods (with this link you’ll get $80 in free groceries!). I get a lot of variety for a good price and best of all, I don’t have to make a trip to the grocery store. They have a lot more than just produce too! Grains, canned goods, dairy, and meat! I’ll take an ugly potato over a trip to the store any day.

Keep it fresh….

The last thing you want is for all that pricey produce to go bad. Storage is important, and different depending on what you’re storing.

• To refrigerate or not to refrigerate, that is.

  Ok, you get where I’m going with that. Some items, like berries and greens should definitely be in the fridge. But root veggies like potatoes and onions do better in a cool, dark place, like your basement. Tomatoes definley do not  like being in the fridge! Nothing zaps the taste and texture of a tomato like the refrigerator. I’m sure this is like a pineapple on pizza type preference, but I never refrigerate tomatoes. I know they last longer, but it's just not worth it!

• Moisture control isn’t as hard as you think.

  Again, every veggie and fruit is unique in it’s moisture requirements. Most stuff, you want to keep moisture pretty low. I’ve recently been using a veggie saver bag and I love it so much, I started featuring it in my shop. I don’t need those wasteful plastic veggie bags from the grocery store anymore and my produce stays fresh a lot longer. 

  Some stuff, like cut carrots and celery, I like to store in water to stay crisp. I hate dried out carrots. Yuck!

• When to wash

  Seems simple but everyone has their preferences. I like to wash and chop up as much as I can right away so that it's ready to eat for snacks or dinner prep. Some people don’t like to wash and chop lettuce because it gets soggy, but I find if you dry it really well in the salad spinner it will stay nice and crisp. The only thing I don't wash ahead of time are berries, because they will get really mushy with all that moisture. Wash right before you eat.

• Wash Everything!

  Even the parts you’re not eating. If you’re putting a knife through the peel, whatever is on the peel will get into what you’re eating. Mushrooms are an exception as they will soak up all that water. Brush them with a dry vegetable brush. I have my favorite in my shop at www.detox.design/thebox.

What’s the best way to avoid wasting your produce? Cook it and eat it!

There’s obviously a million different recipes and methods out there to try. My favorite is roasting my veggies in avocado oil and salt. They come out so good! But in the summer, like it is right now, the last thing I want to do is turn my oven on. Then I turn to my Instapot. It cooks everything perfectly without heating up my kitchen. I actually just made applesauce in it with the apples from our tree!

I hope you enjoyed this episode and it will make it a little easier to get those important fruits and vegetables into your diet. 

Do you have any tips for getting the most out of your produce? I’d love to hear them! Connect with me at my Facebook group Toxin Free Talk or on Instagram @themeganmikkelsen.

Choosing Toxin-Free and Eco-Friendly Detergent and Natural Cleaning Products with Meliora Founder, Kate Jakubas

If you’ve been listening then you know that the first thing I tell people to detox is their laundry detergent.  It’s such a simple switch out but has a huge impact on your health and the environment. If you’ve been to my online shop, then you know my favorite detergent is Meliora.  It works so well and it's safe and eco-friendly. I got the chance to talk with Kate Jakubas, COO and Founder of Meliora about her mission.

Choosing Toxin-Free and Eco-Friendly Detergent and Natural Cleaning Products with Meliora Founder Kate Jakubas

Like most of us, Kate considered herself an environment ally. She knew the importance of recycling and caring about the environment. But then a situation in her life really made the lightbulb go off.

“I was working on a really specific project and there was a new law that was passed in the state of California and that law required all faucets reduce the amount of lead content in the brass that was used... So that's really when I started to understand it's not just did you put something in the recycling bin. There's so much more to how we keep people safe, and how we keep the environment safe, that I didn't know. That's what inspired me to go back to school, to pursue environmental engineering so that I could more deeply understand how everything worked, and how we could protect our planet and protect each other, and make sure that drinking water was safe.”

It’s not just about you and your laundry….

“Every day we pour laundry detergent into a washing machine, and then whatever's in that laundry detergent gets washed into our wastewater so that wastewater then can interact with the environment. Anything that's in there can have a potentially harmful effect on the people and the planet.”

But how do you know what’s in your detergent and whether it’s safe?

Kate quickly realized that you don’t. Back in 2013, and even today, there are no regulations requiring ingredients to be listed on cleaning products. Kate wanted to change that.  

“How can we make sure that people understand what is in these cleaning products? And that didn't require any engineering at all, that just required a mindset shift to saying people deserve to know what's in their products. That ingredient list should be on the front of the package, or at least on the package at all. In contrast to what a lot of the conventional products had, which was not even listing or disclosing the ingredients at all. So we were founded as a company with that notion of thinking that this needs to change, that a business could be a tool to create that change. What we wanted to do is make a product that told everyone what was inside. It doesn't sound that revolutionary when you think about it. But you know, at the time, that was not a common practice in 2013.”

Do you connect with this notion like I do? I’ve created my podcast, course, and store to empower people with education that we need to pay attention to the ingredients in our products and support companies doing the right thing.

Meliora focuses on 4 important things to make their company as impactful as possible….

1. Ingredients- This one is kind of obvious, but ingredients are something that Meliora will not compromise on.  “So you know, that here in the US, the regulations are not very strict. But if you go to some place like Europe, their regulations are much more strict. So by holding ourselves to that stricter standard, by cross referencing other banned lists of ingredients, both ourselves but also relying on a third party whose expertise is in that area… there's only a handful (of ingredients) that we really consider to be safe enough to use in our products.”

2. Affordability- EVERYONE deserves access to safe detergent and cleaning products. “We want to make a product efficiently so that we can sell it at a price point that's accessible. That's a really big thing for us. We don't think that it should be out of reach for people to afford products that are healthier for them.”

3. Eco-friendly packaging- Meliora strives for this! Most of their products are packaged without plastic or any packaging at all!

4. Corporate practices- “We do look at processes. We have a really green facility. In terms of water conservation, we look at our energy use. A big thing that we look at is waste. We measure and track our waste, our own internal waste, to kind of see where we can reduce that as well in terms of our operations”

5. Last but not least, Meliora cares about it’s people- “We use a third party certification called B Corp. And that ensures that not only are we considering profit in our operations, but people in planning as well. So it looks at our entire operations. Who owns the company? Are we paying a living wage? Are we offering benefits? Really looking holistically, not just at the products we make, but how we operate the company itself. So we're really proud to have achieved that and maintain that certification to show our commitment to being a better company.”

I know my favorite products are the laundry detergent and stain stick, but I had to know what Kate’s is…

“My favorite product today is our oxygen brightener. It works really well to brighten those clothes. But there's a lot of other uses for it and I really love it in my kitchen. We're coffee and tea drinkers in my house and you know over time, we get that like telltale sludge that goes onto the mugs where you kind of get discoloration. Whether it's on our stainless steel water bottles or the mugs that we're using for tea and coffee. Nothing shines up dishes faster than when I just add a little pinch of the oxygen brightener with some hot water and let it soak and it just looks like new.”

So tell me, are you ready to make the switch from overly fragranced, toxin laden detergent in plastic jugs? How about switching to a bar dish soap? Or maybe you already love Meliora and want to share what your favorite products are?

I would love to hear from you! Take a photo of your favorite Meliora product and tag me on Instagram @themeganmikkelsen.  You can aslo message me at megan@detox.design.

3 Reasons Why You Need to Switch to Bar Soap and Stop Using Body Wash. Go Non Toxic and Eco- Friendly With Natural Bar Soap To Save Your Skin and Health

Plastic-free July just ended and maybe you’ve been thinking about bringing less plastic into your home. A great way to reduce your plastics is to switch out your liquid soaps for bars. If you’ve ever experienced that mushy bar of soap you might think this switch is jut too hard or annoying. But there are some simple tips to make the switch easier and there are some great reasons why you should try again.

3 Reasons Why You Need to Switch to Bar Soap and Stop Using Body Wash. Go Non Toxic and Eco- Friendly With Natural Bar Soap To Save Your Skin and Health

Why should you choose bar soap over liquid?

• It’s more eco-friendly!

 Think about it. If you have a large body wash, it comes in a big plastic container and every time you run out, you have to buy a new body wash in another plastic container! As we know, only about 9% of plastics are actually recycled. I recently heard it's being called wish-cycling because when we throw plastic into the recycling bin we’re wishing it gets recycled but it likely doesn’t. Ugh! Isn’t that frustrating? Most bar soap is wrapped in recycled paper or paperboard and totally recyclable! And when the bar of soap is gone, there’s ZERO waste!

• Bars last a lot longer than liquid!

When we were using body wash and liquid hand soap, we would go through that stuff like crazy. Probably a bottle of soap a month. A bar lasts us three months or longer! With a bar, you don’t end up squirting out more than you need and wasting it. This can often save a lot of money!

• Safer, Non Toxic ingredients!

This is because liquid soaps need more water and water needs preservatives. A bar soap is going to have ingredients that are really condensed. There's no water in it and It's a lot easier to create a bar soap, a bar shampoo or a bar dish soap without preservatives.

But what is a liquid soap? If you look on the label and read the ingredient label, you’ll often find water is the first ingredient. Liquid soap, body wash, and dish soap are really just soap mixed with water. Because there's that water, it needs more preservatives. 

Preservatives are often the ingredients that we have to pay attention to most. If you think about it, preservatives are there to keep the product fresh and to fend off bacteria. That's why most preservatives are unhealthy for us - they have to be harsh enough to kill bacteria within the dish soap, body wash, or liquid soap. But bar soap just doesn’t need those preservatives! 

Now, I'm not telling you to just go and get any bar soap! A quick walk down the soap aisle at Target will have your nose yelling “FRAGRANCE! Ugh, it gives me a headache! You still have to read your labels and grab yourself a toxin-free bar.

So you're ready to make the switch! Well, maybe not alllll my liquids…

Stop right there!

Body wash and face wash are an easy switch, sure, but things like dish soap and shampoo in a bar may seem a little strange. There are some things you can do to make using bar soap easy and effective.

• Get the right holder

A great soap dish should be able to drain. Stainless steel with a suction cup or a dish with a stainless steel drain over top. There’s also soap lifts which look like little sponges and they lift your soap up to keep it out of any water.

• Keep it dry!

You need the right soap dish because you need to keep the bar dry. It won’t get that slimy feeling and it will last a lot longer. Also, make sure you place your soap holder somewhere where it’s easier for it to dry. Don’t leave it directly under the shower head or faucet. 

• How you use it makes all the difference

  • Face and Body- These are pretty easy and most everyone has washed with a bar soap at some point. Most people do use too much. Just get the bar wet under the faucet and create a lather, then wash up. 

  • Shampoo- Have you tried a bar shampoo before? For me, this was a little more difficult. At first, I was just using my bar shampoo the same way I use my face and body bars, lathering in my hand and then trying to lather my thick hair. I felt like my hair and scalp weren’t getting clean enough. But I was doing all wrong. Rubbing the bar directly on wet hair and then creating more lather by massaging the scalp works so much better! I’ve been using the Crunchi Littles bar on my hair lately and loving the results!

  • Dish Soap- This was the hardest switch and I'll admit, my family did switch back to liquid after we tried it the first time. Again, we just didn’t know how to use it properly. My kids and husband help out a lot with the dishes (thank goodness), so I didn't want it to be a struggle. But after talking with the folks from Meliora for an upcoming episode (stay tuned!), I got some great tips. My new favorite way to use the bar dish soap is to put it in a coffee mug! The Meliora bar fits perfectly in the dish and I use a small circle scrub brush to create a lather to wash the dishes. If you want to fill your sink basin with water, simply run the bar under the water to create soapy water. I love Meliora as a company and I’m so proud to feature them in my online store https://www.detox.design/thebox

For my face and body, I use Crunchi. Removing the preservatives and endocrine disruptors from my skincare routine and what I use to wash my skin, has made a world of difference. I no longer have monthly hormone related breakouts. Woohoo! 

If you want to know more about it shoot me a message at megan@detox.design or visit me at detoxbydesigninsiders.com

The Heart Behind Creating a Non Toxic Company and Why You Should Support Them - The Story of Little Otter's Toxin-Free and Eco-Friendly Lip Balm with Jess Hunt-Ralston

My husband has been a Burt’s Bees addict since I’ve known him. He has lip balm in his pocket, in his car, at work. You get the picture. So when our family started going toxin- free and reducing our plastic use, I tried to find him a lip balm that wasn’t packaged in plastic. I was on the hunt!

The Heart Behind Creating a Non Toxic Company and Why You Should Support Them - The Story of Little Otter's Toxin-Free and Eco-Friendly Lip Balm with Jess Hunt-Ralston

I found Little Otter and when my first shipment arrived….

I was blown away! The packaging was super eco-friendly and I love the smell and feel of the lip balm. I’ve been carrying it in my online store ever since. 

Recently, I got the chance to talk with Little Otter founder, Jess Hunt-Ralston, about why she started Little Otter and what this amazing company is all about.

“Your need was actually the heart of my need. I loved natural lip balms. But I had a hard time finding plastic free options. I was looking at a lot of changes in my life. I was riding an electric bicycle, I was changing my diet and just thinking ‘How do I live my values?’ So the heart of starting Little Otter Skincare was wanting to bring affordable, ethical, sustainable skincare to the market that also helped give back to nonprofits, educate, make people aware of issues, and help them share it with others.” 

Jess saw that other companies were giving back a portion of their net sales to non-profits and Jess wanted to do even better. Little Otter gives back 10% of their net profits to amazing organizations like the Chattahoochee River Keepers, the Georgia Conservancy and the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.

That’s the why of Little Otter, but how did Jess create these amazing products?

• The Best Ingredients- Besides the quality, I love that Jess and her company love sharing their sourcing with other companies and customers. Earth over profits is the way of Little Otter. Let's take a look at what they’re using in their awesome products. 

• Little Otter Lip Balm only contains 4 ingredients

  • Organic Coconut Oil from Wildly Organic

  • Beeswax- Jess often gets asked why their beeswax is not organic. “It's very difficult if not impossible to do truly certified organic beeswax. The bees go everywhere. They forage for miles. So unless you own all of this farmland, all of this property, or are on an island, it’s not 100% organic. It's more important for these hives to be in native areas and helping support and pollinate these native plants and help with these ecosystems.” You can read more about the Urban Honey Bee Project at Georgia Tech here.

  • Organic Peppermint Oil- All Little Otter essential oils are sourced from Florihanna in France. All the oils are tested for quality and effectiveness using GCMS testing. 

  • Organic Rosemary Oil- Now you might think that rosemary might be too strong for lip balm, but Little Otter uses the more subtly flavored rosemary variety, Rosmarinus officinalis.

Little Otter is big on Earth friendly packaging- “We wanted to use made in the USA if we could, but there are no paperboard companies that produce in the United States right now. So we reached out and started looking at some wonderful suppliers. I found a small, woman owned factory outside of Hong Kong and they have been wonderful! And now their company has grown so that a lot of other cosmetics companies, skincare companies, larger names, we now see this company working with them and helping bring them these paperboard solutions.”

How do you bring an idea or product to life? Jess has some great advice….

• Reach out on Instagram. First assess and benchmark what's already out there. Check out the landscape and see what's missing. And what is it that you want to buy.

• Start small and share with friends and family. “My husband and I made big batches of lip balm and face oil and gave it to our family and friends for the holidays. And we said, ‘Let us know what you like and don't like about this.’... We found that our family and friends are some of our most loyal and enthusiastic customers and brand ambassadors.”

Have you tried Little Otter yet? Or maybe you have a great idea for a new product?

I’d love to hear about it and what you thought about this episode! Connect with me on Instagram @themeganmikkelsen or email at megan@detox.design

You can find my favorite LIttle Otter lip balm in my online store.

Follow Jess Hunt-Ralston on Instagram @littleotterskincare or @jesshuntralston

Struggling with Melasma? 4 Simple, Natural, and Non Toxic Tips to Prevent and Treat Discoloration that Often Comes with Pregnancy and Hormone Imbalance

Are you a mom who struggles with melasma? I know a lot of moms do. Like most things, there are often more natural/toxin-free treatments to help cure our everyday problems. What about melasma?

Struggling with Melasma? 4 Simple, Natural, and Non Toxic Tips to Prevent and Treat Discoloration that Often Comes with Pregnancy and Hormone Imbalance

So what is Melasma?

Melasma, also sometimes called pregnancy mask, is a harmless coloration of the skin that appears as brown patches, or patches of freckles. It's caused by an overproduction of cells that change the color of the skin. It’s totally harmless, but it can be annoying, right? A lot of people don't necessarily love the look of melasma.

What causes melasma and is there anything you can do about it?

Of course there is! You know I always have solutions for you! Melasma has 3 main causes and I have some tips on what you can do to prevent and minimize the appearance.

• The Sun- Are you surprised? We all know that the sun causes skin damage and sun spots, so it is definitely a melasma culprit.

  • The solution here is simple: protect yourself from sun damage. Wear a hat, take a break in the shade, but most importantly, wear sunscreen. Especially on your face which gets the most sun exposure during the day. Apply a good SPF 30 facial sunscreen every day.

  • I never miss a day applying my Crunchi Sunlight SPF 30. It’s non-nano zinc oxide and toxin- free. Plus, it doesn’t leave that white cast like other zinc sunscreens. You can find it here: www.detoxbydesigninsiders.com.

• Hormones out of whack?- This is the other major cause of melasma. Hence the name “pregnancy mask” because it often shows up during pregnancy when your hormones are going through major changes; or from birth control or hormone replacement therapy. If you have melasma and you’re not pregnant or on birth control or hormone replacement therapy, ask yourself, ‘what else could be affecting my hormonal balance?’ 

  • What are you eating? You want to make sure you're cleaning up your diet, that you're eating super clean, you're not having GMO foods and eating real, whole foods. You know it’s a whole food when it doesn’t need an ingredient label!

  • What products are you using? Have you detoxed your laundry and cleaning routines? For example laundry - We wear our clothes all day, sleep in our sheets all night. It’s important to make sure that there aren't chemicals, like those pretty laundry fragrances, that often contain endocrine disruptors and are in contact with our skin all day and night.

• Don’t Forget about your skincare and makeup too!- I can’t tell you the number of times people are surprised that their skincare and makeup often contain ingredients that mess with the hormone system.

  • Personal care and beauty products are often full of endocrine disruptors and in many cases we use them every single day. When we put them on our skin, our largest organ, many are absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

  • The good news! There ARE toxin-free options out there. You can still feel confident and beautiful with toxin-free skincare and makeup and empowered too, knowing what you’re wearing is actually safe for your health.

  • I created a partnership with Crunchi because I know that they really are toxin-free and aren’t greenwashing me. They are committed to removing toxins from their products and from the cosmetics industry as a whole. (And if you’ve ever thought about sharing about the importance of toxin-free living like I do, then let’s chat!)

• Try a home remedy- Once you're sure you’ve detoxed your home, diet, and skin care, try this simple tip my friend shared with me.

  • Take a little baking soda in a dish, slice a lemon in half. Dip the cut side into the baking soda and scrub your face with the lemon dipped baking soda. It’s a natural facial scrub that really brightens the skin!

Listen, I know that I’m not a dermatologist, just a tenacious finder of information. But I really hope you found this helpful if you're struggling with melasma. 

I would love to hear how this episode impacted you or even help you find toxin-free skin care and make-up products. Shoot me a message on instagram @themeganmikkelsen. I’d love to help!

Simple Tips for the Best Pictures and Photos of Your Kids With Jenna Arvidson

Feeling overwhelmed with the amount of photos you take?

Not sure how to keep them organized and or what kind of pictures to take to document daily family life? 

Maybe you don’t take enough or you miss experiencing the moment because you’re always behind the camera. Or the pictures just don’t look right and you can’t find anything good to send Grandma. I’ve got you! I talked with Jenna Arvidson, photographer and founder of At Home With Kids for simple tips for the best pics of your kids, plus how to keep them all organized!

Ok, so why is this important?

Yes, I usually focus on toxin-free living, but taking great family photos - and managing the images is - something I struggle with, and I thought you might too. Today’s photo technology is amazing, but as Jenna reminds us in the interview, we shouldn’t let picture taking take over the entire experience.

“...we have these devices in our pockets. And this gives us the ability to take unlimited photos. But I want you to remember that that isn't necessary, you don't have to have 500 photos of your kids every day to remember their childhood. And I think sometimes what happens is, we think we have to snap all these pictures at the zoo so that we can show our friends and family on Instagram and so that we don't forget the little smiles. And we don't want to forget all this stuff. But we forget that we are going to miss the whole experience if we're behind our camera the whole time. So learning to take a few good pictures is a really great step in being able to simplify your life a little bit and enjoy the moments and not be behind your lens the whole time.”

A little photo planning goes a long way

You can get some great photos by planning ahead and focusing your photography on certain areas of your life.

• Take 10-15 minutes before an event to think about what moments you’d really like to capture. A picture with the guest of honor or special family member, your kids with their favorite animal at the zoo or with their best buddy at the park playdate. Having an idea ahead of time will help you to only have your camera out when you need it and enjoying yourself the rest of the time.

• Focus on your child during their birthday month. This doesn't mean don’t take pictures of the rest of your kids! But being really mindful of capturing your child during their birthday month will guarantee that you get some great memories of who they are that year.

• Tell a story. Just feeling like you need to catch up on memories? Make a list of what a regular day with your kids looks like. All the boring, messy, day-to-day stuff and make a point to snap some photos throughout the day. 

Don’t get caught up in lighting perfection

There are millions of considerations when thinking about lighting but for everyday photography, don’t worry about it too much. Jenna has 3 basic tips:

1. Backlighting- If you can put the light behind them, even if it's mostly above the head, look for their shadow and make sure their shadow is in front of them. Even if it's a teeny tiny shadow. If their shadow is in front of them, you're going to get a much better picture, without any squinting!
   

2. Sidelighting- Some people are afraid to have any kind of shadows, they want to have no shadows at all, which is called flat light. So when light is not making any shadows whatsoever, you don't get a very three dimensional photo, you're not going to connect with it emotionally as much. So try to turn your child to the side of the light so that the light is basically falling sideways. About a 45 degree angle. So there's just enough to cast some shadows on their cheekbones and their dimples and the way their eyelids squint when they smile at you. Jenna recommends positioning yourself instead of your kids so that when they run by you, you can capture them in good light.

3. Catchlights- You want catchlights in their eyes. Catchlights are when you look in their eyes, if you see light reflecting back at you, that's a catchlight. The best way to get that is to not have your child completely covered in shade. You actually want to pull them a little bit out from those shaded areas into what we call open shade. Make sure they can see the sky in some way or window light if you're inside. Because you want to see those reflections in their eyes. It's going to make a world of difference. If you have those little catchlights in their eyes, it tells the story of who they are. We are drawn to the eyes when we look at photographs. It's the first place your viewers are gonna look.

Detox your photo clutter!

I really struggle with managing photo clutter. My girls play volleyball and after every game, I must have 500 videos and pictures of my daughters serving and playing. Pair that with all the other photos and making the family photo book for our parents at the end of the year becomes quite a project. 

Jenna shared a great tip! She keeps her photos organized by downloading all the photos at the end of the month onto an external hard drive or cloud service. You don’t need tons of little folders for specific events or holidays. Just a folder for each month. Download (and backup!), delete from your device and done! When it's time to go back, it’ll be easy to find whatever photo you need.

I would love to see your new photography skills and hear about how you used these great tips! Snap some pics and tag me @themeganmikkelsen

If you want to learn even more about photography from Jenna, she’s got some great courses on her website.

You can also follow her on instagram @jennaarvidson or check out her amazing podcast At Home with Kids about all things motherhood and minimalism. 

New Study Reveals Some Scary Stuff in Makeup. What You Need to Know

Hey there crunchy mamas! You might remember an episode I did in the fall about the safety of non-stick cookware and how they contain PFAS. Well, today I want to share with you another crucial place you might find PFAS- your makeup. 

New Study Reveals Some Scary Stuff About Makeup. What You Need to Know.

But First, what are PFAS?

PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are toxic forever chemicals and they are used in Teflon, food packaging, clothing, carpeting, water and stain resistant things- a host of products. The reason why they are called forever chemicals is because they don't naturally break down and they have been found to accumulate within humans and they're just not good. They have been linked with...

• Cancer

• Birth defects

• Liver disease

• Thyroid disease

• Decreased immunity

• Hormone disruption 

….and a range of other major problems for our health.

A recent study article published in Environmental Science and Technology found high levels of organic fluorine which is an indicator of PFAS in makeup.

They had 231 makeup and personal care samples that included lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, foundation, concealer, lip balm, blush, nail polish and others. And of those 231 makeup and personal care samples, they found that over half of them had high levels of organic fluorine. Of the brands tested...

• 82% of waterproof mascaras

• 63% of foundations

• 62% liquid lipsticks 

...had high levels of PFAS, that build up and stay in your body!

Why does makeup have to contain PFAS?

Well, it really doesn’t. PFAS can help make products more waterproof and more easily spreadable, but about half the products tested overall did not contain PFAS. These are brand name products that people have been happily using, so really, PFAS aren’t necessary to make great cosmetics.

It’s not just bad for us, it’s bad for Mother Earth

I’ll say it again, these are FOREVER chemicals! They don’t break down, but they do move. Often they are found in the groundwater because of the stuff that's in our garbage or our clothing materials, which eventually end up in landfills. So they're mobile. They're moving from the products and the landfills and into the water system and back to us in so many different ways. They are known to be absorbed through the skin, tear ducts and can be ingested. I mean, lipstick goes on your lips so you have to assume some of that is ingested.

How can you watch out for PFAS in your cosmetics?

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. PFAS are not regulated and usually don’t have to be listed on the ingredients of a product. That’s why it’s sooo important to look into the companies you’re buying from and buy from people and companies you trust.

It’s why I love being a Crunchi advocate. I know their products are completely safe; that they are not using PFAS. But I think my favorite thing about Crunchi as a company is that they are trying to make all products safer by working with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. They’re currently working on endorsing a bill which will restrict the use of PFAS in cosmetics. So not only are they creating awesome products that are safe, that don't use PFAS, they're also doing their part to push forward regulation that is going to change the marketplace for everybody. 

I love makeup. Have since I was a teen at the Clinique counter. I really love helping people find products that make them feel beautiful and confident in their looks, and also confident in their health.

You can shop Crunchi through my link at https://www.detox.design/cleanbeauty and you can also just email me at megan@detox.design if you want to chat about the perfect makeup routine for you or your skincare troubles and what you need to start using healthier and safer skincare products that are going to give you a beautiful natural healthy glow.

Don’t put yourself last!

You’ve detoxed your home environment for your family, don’t forget to detox what goes on your skin. Remember, on average we use over 20 products each day! And much of the chemicals in those products are absorbed through the skin. Make sure your products are the safest possible.

3 Basics Steps to Practicing Feng Shui with Kristina Hollinger

Making everything in the home feel right for you and your family is so important. You’ve probably noticed, I love following fellow entrepreneurs chasing their dreams, so I was really excited when I connected with Kristina Holliger, a feng shui consultant….

Feng Shui Basics with Kristina Hollinger

Like so many of us, Kristina felt stuck even though life was going great.

“I used to live in the south loop of Chicago and my husband and I had just gotten married in 2012. At the time, I was just hired for a new teaching job, which was, at that time, a dream job. Things from the outside seemed to be going really well in my life. And yet, deep down inside, I just felt this longing for something more. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like something was off and I felt stuck. So I decided, as I looked around our apartment, that I would make it feel a little bit more welcoming. And that's when I stumbled upon Feng Shui”

That was 10 years ago and Kristina has been practicing Feng Shui for herself and her clients ever since. She is certified with the Feng Shui School of Chicago and a red ribbon professional at the International Feng Shui Guild. She is definitely an expert and has some great tips to get started in Feng Shui.

3 Basic Steps for Practicing Feng Shui

1. Get a Bagua Map- So essentially, the Bagua map is a nine square grid, like a tic tac toe board; and each of the areas of the grid represent a different area of your life. So if you visualize stand at the front door, when you walk in your front door, the far back left area of your home, that corner is your wealth area. As you stand at your front door, and you look into your home, the far back right area is the relationship area. Those are the power positions. When people can visualize where the wealth and relationship areas are, then that helps them to orient themselves. Kristina recommends printing out a Bagua map and laying it over your home’s floor plan to identify the nine areas. Keep reading for a link to Kristina’s Feng Shui 101 guide and to print your own Bagua map.

2. Add the 5 Elements- Each gua, or section of the Bagua map, is activated by a primary element. Let’s use wealth as an example. Wealth is activated by the wood element. All the elements can be represented in three different ways; shape, color, or the actual element itself. A straight, rectangular picture frame might represent the trunk of a tree. The color green represents wood and incorporating purple also activates wealth. You may add bamboo, a bonsai tree or wood furniture to your space as an actual wood element. 

Set intentions in your space

Write your intentions and put them in specific areas or guas. For example, in the helpful people and travel area, the metal element is going to activate that space. Cut out a circular piece of paper to represent metal and write down 6-9 intentions for the helpful people that I wish to call into your life. 

For example:

• Great childcare

• Colleagues who support your dreams

• A plumber to fix your sink!

You write whomever you need to come into your life and place it behind a photo or a piece of furniture in that space where no one can see it. Place those words and that energy in that space, and leave it there. It’s time to set your intention and trust the universe to fill in the details. Trust the energy to work for you on your behalf.

3. Clean with Intention

Any time you are cleaning and decluttering, that's when you're opening up and making space for newness to occur. Clean each gua with the intentions that you want to bring into your life. Remove what is holding you back to welcome what you need. For example, the windows are the eyes of your home. If you're seeking clarity in your life, wash your windows while holding that intention. 

“The reason why I share this so much, is it's innate within me to share something that has worked for me and I spent a lot of years being afraid and not having an abundance mindset and feeling helpless in my circumstances. So I just felt like, let me try Feng Shui and it ended up being a really fun creative outlet where I can improve my environment. And then I noticed that I was getting a lot more support. Things started to go a little bit better for me, and they continue to expand and I don't say that to brag, but I say it in the sense that I feel like it's really important for people to see that if if they feel stuck that they really can try Feng Shui to get unstuck.”

Which Feng Shui techniques will you try to bring abundance into your life?

I’ve already started incorporating some of the things I learned from Kristina. I have a wooden grandfather clock in the wealth area of my home and I hid a purple cloth in the clock. I’m so excited to see what comes into my life!

Snap a photo of the Feng Shui elements you’ve added and tag me @themeganmikkelsen

If you want some help from Kristina incorporating Feng Shui into your life, click here to get your free copy of Kristina’s Feng Shui 101 Guide at her website https://kristinahollinger.com/

You can also follow her on Instagram @kristina.hollinger and catch her on Windy City Rehab on HGTV!

5 Tips for Eco-Friendly Eating on the Go

We all want to do our best when it comes to making eco-friendly choices and just reducing our impact on our Mother Earth. It’s summer and many of us are not eating at home as much. When we're not home as often, it’s so easy to just stop in somewhere and grab something to eat. But if you think about it from a waste perspective, when we are ordering food out, whether it be fast food or going to the grocery store or hitting the deli, it often includes a lot of waste. Usually small plastic containers that cannot be recycled or, yikes, styrofoam, which you know, never breaks down. It's pretty terrible for the earth. But there are simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint while enjoying all your favorite summer activities.

5 Tips for Eco-Friendly Eating on the Go

Whether you're meeting friends at the lake or the library (here it’s the Puget Sound and we love jumping on our SUPs and hitting the beach), you know after a day of summer fun, you and the kids are going to be hungry. We all know what happens when we have hungry kiddos. Adults can get pretty hangry too. So you want to be prepared but don’t want to be wasteful. 

As you know I love to start simple with easy things that you can incorporate into your everyday life that can make a huge difference.

1. Save ALL of your plastic bags

We still eat regular old sliced bread for sandwiches. And every time we get one of those loaves of bread, it comes in a plastic bag and those bags are one of the hardest items to find recycling for. So save the bag! Get those extra crumbs out and reuse them. We use them for everything from packaging up our produce and putting it in the fridge to just reusing them for snacks or for sandwiches or really anything. They tie up nicely and work just as well as any purchased sandwich bag. It’ll not only save the earth but your wallet as well.

2. Invest in some great reusable containers

Non-plastic of course! Silicone really is my favorite because it is really safe. It doesn't have any plastic in it so you don't have to worry about BPA or any of those other harmful chemicals that you find in plastic. 100% food grade silicone is really great. I have some in my online store that I love and you can check them out here. They're easy to clean, they're really durable, you can stick them in the dishwasher. Can’t get any easier for lazy summer days.

3. Mason Jars!

Aren’t they the best?! Mason jars are such a useful and affordable way to carry around snacks. And they come in so many different sizes! They have really small ones and they're so adorable. The larger ones, you can put yogurt parfaits in them, or the really big ones can hold an entire salad to share with a friend. They have so many uses around the home and can be reused over and over. And no plastic!

4. Make it at home

Just bringing your own food is going to be more eco-friendly to begin with. But also when you are making that snack bag, it’s easy to choose individually wrapped items like granola bars or fruit snacks and all of that stuff. But again, every single little package has its own piece of trash associated with it. Some things we used to buy but now make at home are:

• Hummus - Soooo much better homemade!

• Granola Bars

• Trail Mix

• Smoothies/Yogurt drinks

All of these can be made at home and packaged in reusable containers or those plastic bags you’ve been saving. You go, Earth guru! 

5. Don’t forget your water bottle

So many people just grab an extra water bottle, a plastic one, because they forgot their water bottle at home. Well, we know how many plastic water bottles there are in this world and they are really not reused and they're often not recycled. If they are recycled, they're usually only recreated into one other plastic. So they're still going to be on this earth for a really, really, really, really, really long time. Can I get another really? So how can you remember?

• Leave your water bottle by your keys the night before. I hang my keys on my water bottle so I have to grab both at once.

• Leave an empty water bottle in your car that you can fill up in case you do forget. Yes, it’s best to drink filtered water but that one time you forget it at home won’t hurt and you’ll be saving plastic from entering the oceans and landfills.

 I know how busy summer is and I hope you enjoy it to its full extent! This year hopefully is a lot different than last summer and we deserve to have some fun in the sun!

So just go out and enjoy life and make those small changes and small choices that will be good for the earth.

EMFs and How to Protect Your Family from Harmful Electro Magnetic Fields with R Blank

Concerned about EMFs but not sure what to do about it? Or maybe you haven't even considered how EMFs are impacting your family's health and wellbeing. In this interview of R Blank of Shield Your Body, we chatted about why we need to pay attention to EMFs and simple steps you can take to reduce your exposure.

EMFs and How to Protect Your Family from Harmful Electro Magnetic Fields with R Blank

Have you been worried about EMFs, or maybe you haven't even considered the impact that the electromagnetic field around you can have on your health and overall well being? On this episode I talk with R Blank from Shield Your Body to better understand EMFs and why we need to pay attention to them.

What are EMFs and where do they come from?

EMF stands for electromagnetic fields and it's a form of energy. The one that most people are already familiar with is sunlight. But EMFs really come in so many different forms. 

“Some have a lot of energy and are really harmful even in super small doses. So that would include x rays and gamma rays. And that's why you always wear a lead coat whenever you get your dental x-rays done and the technician heads to another room because that's how dangerous that stuff is.”

“Now there's forms of EMF with less energy and these are emitted by every wireless device and everything that runs on power, which includes power lines themselves as well as appliances.”

So why should we be paying attention to this invisible, odorless toxin?

For a long time, it was believed that these lower energy forms of EMF, like you get from cell phones and cordless phones and your microwave oven, weren't harmful to humans. But a very large and growing body of scientific research dating back decades, now shows that assumption was wrong, and that these forms of lower energy EMF, sometimes called non-ionizing EMF, are bioactive. They harm all forms of life, even at doses previously thought to be safe.

The harmful effects of EMFs are serious!

The World Health Organization lists EMF as a class 2B carcinogen. Yep, cancer. They've also been linked to sleep issues, anxiety, brain tumors and infertility issues. (Is your laptop on your lap right now?)

“EMF can harm and even destroy DNA and DNA is in every cell in our body. Which means every system in our body is impacted by this.”

This stuff is everywhere!

There have been EMFs in the home since the 1870’s when the lightbulb was invented. The light bulb brought electricity and more appliances into peoples homes. 

It progressed to cordless phones and finally to, you guessed it, cell phones.

We are literally surrounded by Wifi and Bluetooth everywhere we go, all day. The number of devices in homes in just the past decade has exploded.

So our exposure to EMF has grown exponentially.

So we’re just doomed?

Absolutely not! You know I’ve got you!

There are 2 big things R Blank recommends to reduce your exposure.

Minimize use- Simple, right? Just use devices less.

• Put phones and reading devices in airplane mode when you don’t need connectivity or you're not actively downloading something. “When you turn it on airplane mode, it cuts off the wireless EMF entirely. There'll still be very, very low levels of emissions just because of the battery and the circuits and so forth. But overall, you're making a massive reduction in the emissions from your device when it's in airplane mode.”

• Turn off your wifi at night. Seriously you’re sleeping (or you should be) and you can cut 6-8 hours of exposure off right there. There are even timers you can buy for your router so it will turn on and off automatically.

• Be a more conscious consumer. Really think about what you're bringing into your home. Do you really need your fridge to tell you what to shop for or a smart thermostat? Probably not.

• When you're not on a call or listening to music, take your wireless earbuds out! They are literally right next to your brain where there’s no skull to act as at least some type of shield between the EMFs and your brain. Or just don’t use them at all.

Maximize distance- This is a little less intuitive. But R Blank explains that the farther you are away from your devices, the less exposure you’re getting. 

• Don’t keep your phone in your pocket or sit with your computer on your lap. You’re putting that exposure right next to all your abdominal organs. 

• So of course don’t sleep with your phone or devices next to your bed or under your pillow. Put them as far away from your bedroom as possible. Or if you have to use your phone as an alarm clock, put it on airplane mode.

• Don’t put internet routers near where your family spends the most time.

• Use a headset (preferably a wired one) when making calls so that you’re never holding the phone up to your head.

It’s more important than ever to be paying attention to EMF exposure

Our kids are the first generation growing up with this increased exposure. We don’t know yet what long term exposure to EMF can really do. There’s a lot of science already, but long term studies of this type, slow long term exposure, are hard to conduct and quantify with all the different life variables.

We know they’re harmful and that our kids are growing and developing at an astonishing rate. A few simple changes can really reduce their exposure and give them good habits for life.

EMF exposure is just a part of modern life. Sometimes you just have to carry your phone in your pocket for work,or exercise or whatever. We have phones because they’re convenient. If you really need your devices close by, or are just looking for extra protection, Shieldyourbody.com has a phone pouch that allows your phone to function but protects your body from EMF exposure. They have everything from sling bags to baby blankets so definitely check that out!

R Blank also has a guide on his website that you can download for free The 5 Biggest Sources of EMF and How to Protect Yourself.

Safe Suncreen-Protect your skin from the sun and your health from toxic chemicals

It's summer!

I was just sitting here at the kitchen counter and had just finished my lunch and I thought, I need to do a podcast on safe sunscreen. We are just after Memorial Day and it may not be officially summer yet, but it's coming soon. I don't know about you, but I'm spending a lot more time outside. It’s great!

I remember growing up in California and heading to the beach with my Coppertone. You know that cute little girl with the dog pulling down her bikini bottoms? Coppertone is what I grew up with. It has that incredible smell. Well, Coppertone or the traditional sunscreen is a chemical sunscreen. Now unfortunately, those chemicals have some pretty negative health impacts and also impacts to the animals and the reefs in the water.

We need to protect our skin from the sun. But we also want to be careful about those ingredients so we can protect ourselves from the harmful toxic chemicals that are commonly found in sunscreen. 

Safe Sunscreen - Protect Your Skin from the Sun and Your Health from Harmful Toxic Chemicals Commonly Found in Sunscreen

Why do you need sunscreen everyday?

First of all, if you are spending good money on anti-aging products and you're not wearing a daily sunscreen, this is your wake up call! The sun's rays are very damaging and can cause fine lines and wrinkles. The sun is related to so much of our aging on our face and our hands. 

Hello, we're all getting older, we need to take care of our skin. It’s so much better to prevent aging instead of trying to reverse the signs of aging through skincare. So yes, for our face, definitely for our hands, but also on our bodies, right?

But I only need sunscreen if I’m going to the beach or doing yard work, not everyday.

Not true! We need to protect our skin from the UV rays that impact us whenever we are outside OR near a window. We are soaking in those rays when we're in the car and even inside at home.

Chemical Sunscreen vs. Physical Barrier Sunscreen

So like the Coppertone that I grew up with or whatever your mom forced onto you while you tried to run to the water; those are chemical sunscreens. It works because the chemicals in it get absorbed into your skin. And that is what makes it so you don't get burned.

There are some nasty chemicals to watch out for:

• Oxybenzone- affects breast development, infant birth weight and sperm function. Banned in Hawaii for the potential damage it can cause to coral reefs.

• Avobenzone- hormone disruption, skin allergy concerns

• Octocrylene- skin penetration and skin allergy concerns

• Homosalate- causes hormone disruption, enhances absorption of pesticides

• Octisalate- skin penetration concerns

• Octinoxate- causes hormone disruption, reproductive toxicity and is toxic to coral reefs (also banned in Hawaii)

The FDA did a study on all these ingredients and found that these chemicals entered the bloodstream after the first day of use and were still found up to 3 weeks after! So it’s banned in Hawaii but not on my skin? No thanks!

When I first learned about this years ago, I switched to a mineral sunscreen which create a physical barrier. That's why they often are that white color and can be hard to rub in. 

I remember my friend brought a spray-on mineral sunscreen and that stuff did not rub in! She ended up having like white speckles all over her body. And that's not fun. And if it's not rubbing in the way you want it to, let's be honest, you're probably not going to use it as much or you're gonna get frustrated.

There are great mineral sunscreen options out there!

Most importantly, you want a non-nano sunscreen. Non-nano zinc molecules are a little larger so they won’t absorb into your skin and will sit up off the skin instead. And don’t forget to read those labels and check for things like fragrance. We don’t want to get greenwashed by our sunscreen.

My favorite brands for body are:

• All Good- rubs in the best. You can find it here at my shop!)

• Badger

• Thinksport

For your face, of course I love the newly reformulated Crunchi Sunlight SPF 30! It rubs in like you wouldn't believe, it feels so lightweight. It's like just a traditional daytime moisturizer. It's completely invisible. You can get your Crunchi Sunlight here!

Further reading:

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/news-events-human-drugs/spotlight-cder-science-new-fda-study-shines-light-sunscreen-absorption

Twins AND a pandemic? What Kara Barker Has Learned from Mom-Life to Share and Help Other New Moms

You’re not going to want to miss this episode with Kara Barker of Barker House. She shares how she went through the pandemic with twins and came out serving other moms by sharing what she has learned.

Twins AND a Pandemic?! What Kara Barker has Learned From Mom-Life to Share and Help Other New Moms.

Like me, Kara Barker of Barker House Creations, is a “crazy researcher of everything.” In our motherhood and non-toxic journeys, Kara found my Podcast, Facebook page, and ordered from my online store right away. So of course I had to follow her on Instagram. 

We started chatting immediately and knew we would become friends and learn so much from each other. So I was super excited for the chance to introduce you to her. 

And Kara is doing some really cool things. 

Kara has 2 beautiful twin girls who are 16 months old now. Just about 6 weeks after they were born, COVID hit. Everything Kara had been told about being a mom of multiples went out the window. 

“We were told it takes a village with twins and well, I was the village.”

There were no mom groups where everyone brought their babies and learned from each other. Her own mom could no longer come over to help. While her husband was at work, it was just her and her twins.

So Kara did what any new mom would do and started Googling and reading and more Googling. In the end she had a ton of notes and took all that information and made it into a routine that worked for her and her family. 

So now what? 

“I had the babies and once they came I was definitely struggling with my identity with Barker House, because I just felt like a totally different person. And although I love my art and I still do it, I just didn't want that to be so much the focus anymore and I wanted to do something a little different.”

By the way, Kara is an amazing artist! But painting in acrylics with twins running around isn’t always ideal. 

 “All the notes I made were still in front of me that I could use. So I created this ebook and a lot of people were interested. It was exciting. Going from people following me for art to something else. Luckily I did have a lot of moms there, and I just kept getting more.”

Kara took all her meticulously collected information and combined it into an ebook for new moms. It has great tips to help get through each day and little mom mishaps. It has sections for each stage of infant life with product and gear suggestions. Non-toxic of course because like many of us, becoming a mom started Kara on a journey of clean living.

And clean eating! Kara’s Instagram feed, which is beautiful by the way, is full of homemade goodies that she makes for her girls to get as much nutrition into them as possible. Snack bars and muffins and lots of beautiful homemade food. Many of us make our own baby food but Kara is really keeping her kitchen homemade.

All of this has grown into a branch on the Barker House tree called Wholesome by BH. In this part of her website you’ll find her blog about healthy living and motherhood, recipes, her amazing new ebook, and her latest artistic venture; gorgeous and adorable shirts for moms, babies and kids. 

I am so grateful to have connected with Kara as a both a friend and fellow toxin-free guru. She’s down to earth and humble. 

“I'm not saying it's so easy, let me show you how to do it. I'm saying, it is hard and overwhelming. Let me show you my wins and what I did to make it easier on me when it was very hard.”

I really hope you’ll go check out all the cool things that Kara is doing! You can find her and her amazing creations at barkerhousecreations.com

Or follow her on Instagram @barker.house and Tik tok @barker.house

And if you want to check out the items that Kara loves from my shop click here

Toxins in Car Seats? How to Find the Safest and Healthiest Car Seats for Little Ones

I really can't believe that we have to be such thorough consumers that we have to research how safe car seats are. They’re made to keep our babies safe! But unfortunately we do. 

Are toxins in car seats REALLY something we really have to worry about? 

Unfortunately yeah. They often use flame retardants on car seats, so it is something we need to be on the lookout for.

When my daughters were about 5 and 8, and still in car seats, flame retardants were something I was just starting to become aware of. I was aware of flame retardants in pajamas, so I started going for organic cotton, tight fitting pjs, not loose fitting ones. Loose fitting pj’s are usually the ones with the flame retardants in them. So I started paying attention to those little yellow tags which means they have flame retardants. 

But I had no idea that car seats, and infant seats were loaded with them too. All those products that your tiny, sweet, little babies are sitting in for long amounts of time could be coated in flame retardants. 

Road trips to visit friends and family. Commuting to daycare or preschool. Your kids and babies spend a lot of time in those car seats. I truly had no idea that they were being exposed to chemical flame retardants that entire time.

What are chemical flame retardants and why do we want to avoid them?

There is growing evidence that chemical flame retardants have been associated with numerous ill health effects including:

• Endocrine and Thyroid Disruption

• Immune function impairment

• Reproductive issues

• Cancer

• Fetal and child development 

• Neurological function

Children and babies are the most vulnerable to these toxic effects because their little brains and organs are still developing.

They also put everything in their mouth! If they’re touching the car seat (which they are) and then putting their hands in their mouth (which they most definitely are), then they are getting the flame retardant on their hands and ingesting it. 

Beyond the car seats and pajamas we can be exposed through the air, water, and soil. Even though some of these chemicals are no longer allowed in the products themselves, they are still in our landfills and affect our water systems. A lot of times, these chemicals don’t break down and they stay with Mother Earth forever. 

They also stay with us through bioaccumulation. The chemical levels build up in people (and animals) over time. 

Which car and infant seats don’t have flame retardants?

Here is a list from the ecocenter.org Healthy Stuff 2019 Car Seat Report It’s the most updated report available. All the seats on this list were tested by Healthy Stuff. 

Infant Seats

• Britax Endeavor

• Nuna Pipa Lite

• UPPAbaby Mesa

Convertable Seats

• Britax Advocate Clicktight

• Clek Fllo

Convertable All-in-one

• Maxi Cosi Magellan Max

Booster Seat

• Britax Grow with You Clicktight Plus

There are some other brands listed on the report that the manufacturer claims are flame retardant free, but they have not been tested by Healthy Stuff. 

I hope this podcast has opened your eyes a bit about flame retardants and helped you find a healthy car seat to protect your precious baby.

Registering for Your Baby Shower - How to Pick Toxin Free Products for Baby

I hope you have been enjoying the baby series. It’s been so much fun to dive in deep and focus on how to choose safe ant toxin-free products for baby!. Today we’re going to cover something really fun but also really important.

Registering for your Baby Shower: How to Pick Toxin-Free Products for Baby

Baby showers are so much fun! They're such a great way for everybody to celebrate this new baby coming into the world. And they might be one of the most fun parts about being pregnant, right?

 All the yummy food, everyone getting together, opening all the presents, playing all the silly games. It’s just such a special time.

 I remember I had some very lovely baby showers. Many baby showers now that I think about it! We had a fun couples one and one my best friend threw for me. Really one of my favorite parts about being pregnant was registering for the shower and all the fun baby stuff.

 And sometimes, even though you spend a whole afternoon online or in the store scanning too many pairs of organic cotton socks, you just don't know what you’re going to get in your shower. People LOVE to go off the registry and just pick things that they think you’ll need. 

And many times if they're moms or they recently had a baby, they probably have a little bit of insight into what you’ll actually need (diapers, diapers, diapers) vs what you think you’ll need (at least 3 nursing pillows) or what your research on the internet tells you you need (a bottle warmer that connects to bluetooth). 

So don’t be alarmed if you end up getting a lot of gifts off of your registry because that def happens and that’s ok. People just want to shower you with gifts, that's why it's called a baby shower. 

So of course we have to be polite and gracious for everyone's generosity and thoughtfulness. But when people are asking you how you're feeling and telling you that they’re excited about the shower, it’s a great opportunity to start educating. 

Because believe it or not, a lot of those people in your life probably aren't aware of the environmental toxins and how they impact your health and your baby’s health. 

But I don’t want to sound judgemental…

Don’t worry! It’s totally possible to start from a place of education. Just say something like…

“Oh I'm so excited for the baby to come, I’m doing all of this research and really learning about how we can be as healthy as possible; both the baby and me. I’m taking these measures to really improve the health of our home environment. So we can be as healthy as possible.”

Or try….

“I’m being pretty particular about the stuff I’m putting on the registry because I recently learned that our skin is our largest organ; and that a lot of those chemicals in the products get absorbed into the bloodstream. Babies grow so quickly and their cells are replicating at such a fast rate, that babies are more impacted by those chemicals, than adults. So I'm just being really careful that I’m choosing the healthiest and safest products for the baby.” 

Giving examples of what you're doing and sharing your passion for why you're being a conscientious consumer, starts the conversation as education.

You can go back and listen to when I interviewed my mom about when I first started on this toxin- free journey and you’ll hear that I didn't exactly do it the right way, all the time. I learned a lot along the way, and made a lot of mistakes. 

 But it’s totally possible to learn how to bring this up in conversation in a way that’s more convincing than just telling someone that they’re doing the wrong thing, or coming from a really judgemental place. 

And it’s ok to be really picky. In fact, it’s important to be really picky! It really does matter what kind of ingredients are in our products. 

And luckily, if you’re having a baby now, there are so many more options and so many more people are more aware than when I had my babies. 

So let’s pick some baby stuff!

First, think about the physical products; so non-personal care products. Toys, bottles, nipples, feeding utensils. You want to think about what are the safest materials available.

The best options are organic cloth, wood, silicone, or glass. Plastic is much less safe, so you just want to minimize the amount of plastic on your registry. You might want to choose silicone bowls over plastic bowls, silicone pacifiers over plastic, glass bottles over plastic. There is almost a non-plastic swap for anything you could need for a baby.

Next are the personal care products. You want to make sure you’re reading the labels on everything you're putting on your registry. Your lotions and shampoos. You really want to be reading every single ingredient. It’s not enough to just look at the front of a package and assume it’s safe because of these marketing buzzwords: natural, green, vegan, healthy, dermatologist approved, perfect for baby, pediatrician approved. Those labels cannot be trusted. We have to protect ourselves and our babies and read every single ingredient in the product. These companies aren’t going to do it for us.

Watch out for….

Fragrance- Fragrance is a proprietary term and if that ingredient is on there, or parfum, you really don't know what that ingredient actually is. 

I choose not to buy anything with the world “fragrance” on the label, because I like to support companies that are transparent with their ingredient list. “Fragrance” is not transparent when it can mean 1000s of different things. 

You also want to watch out for ingredients like phthalates and parabens.

I talk about all sorts of different toxic ingredients on other podcast episodes, but if you’re ready to really do a deep dive and learn all of the things you need to know about how to choose safe products, you really should sign up for my course today, Detox By Design: The Home Method. I walk you through the process of how to determine whether a product is safe or not, and teach you how to detox your home top to bottom, room by room, in a non-overwhelming way.

I know it sounds like a lot, but once you know the skills that I teach in The Home Method, it becomes second nature. The ingredients will pop out at you and you'll know exactly what to avoid.

Are you nesting? How to use your newfound energy to detox EVERYTHING before baby comes!

I remember pregnancy and starting with nesting and could not believe how crazy that instinct is. Today we’re gonna be talking about how to use your newfound energy from nesting to detox everything before the baby comes.  

Are you nesting? How to use your newfound energy to detox EVERYTHING before baby comes!

I’ve always been a person who tends to organize.  I would say I’m not a complete type A who has to have everything organized all the time.  But I do like everything in its place.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have our drawers that you can barely shove everything into.  But I do kind of enjoy taking everything out and refolding it Marie Kondo style, and making it all perfect in the drawers.

I still remember being pregnant with my oldest, and around the end of the 8th month, I really got that nesting instinct.  It was so strong.  You could say I was neurotic about organizing every last thing for the baby.  Everything was washed and every tiny onesie was folded perfectly in labeled drawers.  No, I’m not kidding.  I pulled out the label maker.  My husband helps out a lot at home with the laundry and he was like, “Yeah right.” and rolled his eyes at all those labels.  He thought I was going crazy.

Honestly, I think it’s so cool that we all go through that time of nesting and preparing for the baby.  It’s just weird how biology works like that.

So maybe you’re pregnant, or you have a new baby and you’re feeling that nesting instinct; that urgency to get everything ready for the baby.  What a great time to take advantage!  A perfect time to stop debating whether or not to detox your home and to actually get it done.  Focus that energy on detoxing your home.

Start in the nursery

Check and make sure that every single product that was bought for the baby is up to your safety standards.  Your friends and family mean well when they bring gifts to your shower, but they’re often not always the healthiest for your baby.  Go through everything and donate or return anything that doesn’t meet your standards of toxin-free living. 

Now for the rest of the house….

You know that I usually suggest starting in the laundry room.  It’s the room that uses only a few products.  

Go through all of the products in your laundry room.  Donate or get rid of any products that you don’t use anymore.  Make sure you’re being eco-friendly and disposing of unused products safely!  Get down to one laundry detergent so that you know you’re washing in something safe. Then there's no debating about which product you’re going to use on baby’s clothes when you’re running on no sleep.  Keep it simple.  The only other two products you need are fabric softener (although I prefer vinegar and wool dryer balls), and a safe stain fighter.  That’s all you really need for your laundry routine.  

Next get on your hands and knees and under that kitchen sink.

Maybe with someone nearby to help you get up again ;0.  Pull ALL those products out from under the sink, read all those ingredient labels and safely ditch all those products that you don’t want in your home.  Then if you need to buy a replacement, find something to replace it with that’s going to be 100% safe and up to your own personal standards for toxin-free living. 

Are there old products hiding in the guest bath?

You know those half empty cleaning products that are so old you forgot they were there?  Get rid of them.  They aren’t your idea of clean living.

Still have old mascara and that eyeshadow you wore on your wedding day 7 years ago?  It’s time to get rid of it.  You’re not going to wear it again, and you shouldn’t!  The last thing tired new mom eyes need is an infection.  Anyway, now you know how important that what you put on your glowing face is toxin-free.

I already told you about the label maker?  Oh man, if I knew then what I knew about toxin-free living, my husband would have thought I was going really crazy!  

Because I would have gone through the whole house, top to button, organized and simplified everything.  And made sure that every single product that is in my home is 100% safe.  And probably labeled it too!

It’s a great feeling to know that what you’re using around your child is safe.  Being confident and not worried that the products could harm your precious baby is priceless.

If you’re thinking this is a great idea but you’re still feeling overwhelmed about going toxin-free, I’ve got you!  That’s why I created my online course Detox By Design: The Home Method for people new to going toxin-free.  All the information you need to detox your home top to bottom is broken down so when you’re done, you know everything in your home is safe.

You can also go to my website to shop for my favorite products that I’ve fully researched for safety and effectiveness.  

I hope that if you’re at this stage in your pregnancy you try to enjoy it and harness all that great energy to create a super healthy and toxin-free home for your baby. 

Five Hacks for a Toxin-Free Pregnancy

I remember what it was like to be newly pregnant really just wanting the best for my baby. Having a baby on board can make detoxing your life seem more important than ever. You can start your journey to a toxin-free pregnancy today with some simple steps that will add up to a healthier environment for you and your baby. 

Five Hacks for a Toxin-Free Pregnancy

1. What you eat. Super important, that if you’re pregnant, or thinking of getting pregnant, you start thinking about clean eating. Organic, non-GMO, more vegetables, more water. And less soda, fast food and processed food. All of those things we know about healthy eating. Because what we consume, our baby consumes, right? If you want more information about clean eating on a budget, check out this podcast episode Staying on Budget when Eating Healthy and Organic Foods.

2. Start distancing yourself from your bluetooth, your wifi and your microwave. We have wifi in our home, cellphones, bluetooth products all over the place. All of those electronics create electromagnetic fields (EMFs), and that’s energy that can impact our health. Listen, we’ve always been affected by EMFs through things like landlines and electricity in our homes. But right now we are impacted more than ever. We’re inundated with technology all day, everywhere we go. So I have some simple suggestions. I won’t tell you to totally give up your smart life, but some small changes can really help. First, leave your phone outside the bedroom! Don’t go to bed with your phone. That’s 6-8 hours that you can reduce your EMF exposure. If you use your phone as an alarm, just put it on airplane mode. Next, you can get a timer that turns off your wifi router while you’re sleeping. Again, all those hours that you’re not using the internet is a perfect time to reduce EMFs. Finally, really be considerate when bringing technology into your home. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” Yes you can turn on the wifi on your new refrigerator, but are you really going to use it? 

3. Start thinking about the plastics, dishware and cookware you use. Plastic can leach chemicals into food and so can non-stick cookware. You can find lots of information on cookware in the episode Are Non-stick Pans Safe? Choosing Toxin-Free and Eco-Friendly when Buying New Pots and Pans, but 2 of my favorite options are cast iron and stainless steel. Glass is a great replacement for plastic, but if you’re planning for babies and little ones, silicone, stainless steel or wood don’t pose a breakage hazard and are toxin-free.

4. Of course, detox your home! Start thinking about the products you are using in your home every single day. You can switch out little by little. Next time you get to the end of that laundry detergent, make sure the next container is toxin-free. Switching to toxin- free as you run out of stuff makes it less overwhelming and budget friendly. If you’re still intimidated by those long ingredient labels, you can learn all about how to detox your home simply and on a budget in my course Detox By Design: The Home Method. If you just want to try the products that I’ve researched and love, you can find them in my shop.

5. Don’t forget about you! Now most people start thinking about detoxing the products they use in their homes before the products they use on their body. But the truth is, it’s super important to switch out those products that you use on your body first! Why? We absorb the products we put on our body into the bloodstream. Not EVERY product, it depends on the size of the molecule, but a lot. And when you’re pregnant, that means your baby is being exposed to those chemicals as well. Again, don’t get overwhelmed and feel like you have to overhaul everything in your bathroom. Just like with the detergent and cleaning products, when something runs out, just make the next right choice. You might also be thinking, “But I use soooo many products.” Even more reason to make those products safe and healthy. Think about it. From the time we wake up and brush our teeth to the time we go to bed and remove our makeup, we are putting so many products on our bodies. Those add up and over time that chemical body burden can be pretty high.

Come join my Facebook group Detox by Design Insiders to get more daily tips and if you’re ready to detox your beauty routine, and every day products I’m here to help! 

Prep Your Baby Nursery to be Healthy, Clean, and Toxin Free!

Creating the perfect baby nursery is a highlight of many pregnancies. It definitely was for me! I remember being obsessed with designing the Pinterest perfect nursery. And I’m pretty sure this was before Pinterest! I researched everything to make a beautiful and healthy sanctuary for my new daughter. 

Prep Your Baby Nursery to be Healthy, Clean, and Toxin Free

What’s in the nursery that might not be good for a new baby?

There are so many products to consider when designing a nursery:

Paint-

First off, paint. You really want to look for low or no-VOC paint and nowadays, it’s easy to find no VOC paint that works really well. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds. That’s what that really bad paint smell is. It off-gasses into the air, and it can linger for quite awhile. VOCs are found in a lot of building products and furniture, but paint is the easiest product to find VOC free. Also, if you have an older home or are refinishing furniture for your nursery, make sure you are safely removing any lead based paint that may be lingering.

Carpet and flooring-

Carpet and flooring are another major source of VOCs and other toxins. Babies spend A LOT of time on the floor. If there are chemicals or dust from the internal home environment, it’s an opportunity for those chemicals to get onto their little tiny hands and get into their mouth. If you’re installing new carpet or flooring, make sure you research the product for safety. It’s also super important to be using safe products to clean your carpets and floors, for the same reason, little hands are always in the mouth! If you’re using conventional carpet or floor cleaners, those are going to have fragrances and chemicals in them that aren’t great for the baby. There are lots of alternatives, like baking soda. You can sprinkle a little baking soda on your carpet or rugs and vacuum it up and it’s totally safe. You can find tons of great cleaning products in my shop or sign up for my Ultimate Safe Swap List.

Furniture

One thing I didn’t know before my daughter was born was how much babies like to chew! She literally chewed on the side of her crib! Wood furniture can be coated with harsh varnishes and off-gas VOCs, so you definitely want to research what your nursery furniture is made of and stained with.

Mattresses and bedding-

I highly recommend you listen to my podcast episode about mattresses and bedding to help you choose a mattress that doesn’t have formaldehyde or other glues that can off gas. Ideally, you want bedding to be organic. The material, where it comes from, and the manufacturing process can involve a host of chemicals. Even with washing, those chemicals can really linger in the product. I don’t know if you’ve ever bought new bedding and it has that awful petroleum smell that you just can’t wash away. What is that?!.

Toys and Decorations-

Now for all the cute things that make the nursery special! The decorations, the toys, can all be healthy and safe. Think especially about the ones that they’ll be touching. The stuffed animals they’ll be cuddling and toys they’ll play with (and put in their mouth). Minimizing plastic use is a good place to start. You don’t know if it’s BPA or another chemical that can leach out of the plastic over time. If it’s wood, again you want to make sure the paint or varnish doesn’t contain lead. Yes, some toys have lead paint on them! Silicone, natural wood and organic fabrics are all great options for little ones.

Baby Care Products-

Finally, you want to make sure you’re bringing in the safest products to use on that perfect, tiny baby body. We know that depending on the size of the molecules of the ingredients in our products, if you put it on skin it can get into the bloodstream. Baby lotion, soap, diapers and wipes all touch your baby’s skin and can have a huge impact. Children and their endocrine systems grow at an incredible rate and the endocrine system controls all the other organs in the body. We really want to make sure that we’re not using products with ingredients that are known endocrine disruptors and mess with the hormone system. It’s so important to do our due diligence and not fall for the baby marketing terms, like “Dermatologist Approved”, that don’t really mean anything. You can become a label reading expert with my easy, affordable course Detox By Design | The Home Method.

If I could go back and change some of the products that I used when my daughters were babies, I would do it in a heartbeat. I believed Dreft laundry detergent and Johnson and Johson baby lotion were safe. Now I know the truth. This is your time to learn how to read an ingredient label and bring in only safe products for your child. It’s not that hard once you learn a few simple tricks. 

How to Detox Before Baby and Toxin-Free Talk The Baby Series

It’s hard to believe my daughters are 11 and 14 now, my how the time flies, but being pregnant with my first daughter was when I first started immersing myself in improving the health of our home environment.

How to Detox Before Baby and Toxin-Free Talk The Baby Series

• Start in the laundry room - go product by product, clean out those products you’re not using anymore, and clean out the conventional laundry products you’re still using.  Ask yourself, is something you would use on a brand new baby’s skin?  The laundry room is a great place to start because it has the least number of products.  Basically detergent, fabric softener, and stain remover.  Think about adding natural alternatives like vinegar and wool dryer balls for fabric softener and changing up your laundry detergent to be safer for you and your little one. 
  
  

• Think about the products you use every single day and sometimes multiple times per day. How “clean” are those products? Do they include ingredients linked with endocrine disruption or cancer?  We know that (depending on the molecule size of ingredients) they can enter the bloodstream of you and your baby.  You want to make sure the ingredients that are going on that precious skin everyday are safe. If you’re totally lost on where to start with analyzing ingredient labels, check out my online course, Detox by Design | The Home Method.

While many people focus on detoxing their cleaning products first, I think it’s important to first detox the products we use every day and even multiple times per day. Yes, detoxing your cleaning routine is important too, but we often use cleaning products less frequently than our every day personal care products.

Like so many new parents, I assumed that if it was a product made for babies, it must be safe.  Now I know the truth and I can’t wait to share all my knowledge with you in this Toxin-Free Talk Baby Series.

Four Secrets to Fixing Undereye Circles for the Natural Mom

Under eye circles. One of the biggest complaints I get! Going all natural and toxic free in treating under eye, dark circles, bags, and fine lines, isn’t as hard as you’d think.

The Secret to Fixing Undereye Circles for the Natural Mom

Under eye circles are common and happen to a lot of moms. It often occurs for people with thinner or lighter skin. Also stress or lack of sleep can make them worse. 

1. As always, we need to remember that our skin responds to what we eat and drink. So if you are eating unhealthy foods or not drinking enough water, your skin will react in different ways. If your skin isn’t doing so well, try logging what you eat and drink in your day. With this, you can see why your skin is reacting. Of course more sleep and going to bed earlier often helps under eye circles too. 

2. You can also try a jade roller. It is a little device, and you roll the jade on your face. If you have puffiness, try jade rolling your face. It is nice and cool and feels like a mini massage on your face. 

3. Use an eye cream that uses safe ingredients like peptides, vitamin C, organic green tea, and hyaluronic acid instead of one that uses harsh chemicals like retinol, parabens, phthalates, and fragrance. I’ve seen incredible improvement in the fine lines, dark circles, and bags under my eyes after using Crunchi Powerlight eye cream in just two weeks.

4. Of course there is always covering up under-eye circles. I’m a huge fan of the right concealer for under-eye, not only because it can cover up darkness and shadows, it also brightens they area and makes you look more awake. We all need some of that! I love the Crunchi My Alibi concealer. I apply with a brush, blend it in with my ring finger, then do the rest of my makeup routine. You can also use highlighter in the tear duct to help brighten your eyes. 

These are just a few of my tips for managing under-eye circles. If you’re looking for more tips like this, join my FB community Detox by Design Insiders!