"clean" living (ish)

Well, I read the book NO MORE DIRTY LOOKS: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetic, an exciting new book from journalists Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt, which has basically possessed me to throw out ALL of my makeup that isn't clean and ALL of my products that aren't clean... 

which is basically everything.

So last week I was down to nothing – I had, in a mad rage at what the cosmetic industry is doing to us, tossed everything with phalates, parabens, sulfates, and cones (sp?) into two large American Eagle bags and toted them down to my neighbor who appreciated it – I know, I know, that junk isn’t good for me, why would it be good for her? Well, she doesn’t care if it’s good for her and I don’t want all that junk to end up in a landfill because of me.

so here I am… with a physician’s formula shimmer strip eye shadow in hazel, and some left over bare minerals powder…

Because that’s all that I own that’s “clean”. No shampoo. No soap. No… nothing. Freaked out, I decided to make a trip to the Natural Foods store near post (we have no Whole Foods here boo!). I picked up some Dr. Bronners Magic Soap (bar form) in Almond for my body and hair, an Alba conditioner, Jason deodorant in Lavender, and a tea tree face wash from Desert Essence. I checked out, came home, bathed… and felt, hmm… better. Except my hair (long, brown, wavy) didn’t like the soap too much. I didn’t care – I stay at home all day and do online schooling through Ashford U so I didn’t need to impress anyone. I decided to go makeup-free until payday (our military should really REALLY get paid more for what they do..) A week passed

then something amazing happened – my skin, and mostly my hair became…. Beautiful!

It was like all the dimethicones from those nasty conditioners I had been using had finally been stripped away after about four washes (I wash my hair every other day, lady!) and my natural shiny hair was beautiful underneath! My hubby even noticed! He was floored – so he jumped on the bandwagon too! We went back to the natural foods store after church that Sunday and got some more lovely stuff. He picked up a Green Apple and Ginger shampoo from Organics, Jason Tea Tree Pure Natural Body Wash (which was $12 there, but found out later it is $7 at the Commissary), and Jason deodorant in Tea Tree. I got Now Solutions Comforting Massage Oil (blend of Grapeseed, Sweet Almond, Apricot Kernel, Vitamin E oil, and others), a Pacifia perfume in French Lilac, and a Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom. 

Can I tell you.. I LOVE all of these products!!

I have since moved into my hubby’s shower and abandoned mine just so I can use his Jason body wash and Green Apple and Ginger Shampoo. The combo of the two makes you smell like a waterfall full of flowers in an enchanted forest or something.. add the French Lilac perfume and I’m smelling DIVINE. I love it. And my hair, which looked better after using harsh Dr. Bronner’s soap on it, looks like SILK now after using the Organics shampoo for almost a week. I’m seriously loving it. Oh! And I use the massage oil as a body moisturizer, it is seriously the BEST thing ever. Lotions are so last year, seriously. Plus their chocked full of nastiness.

Moral of the story: Read the book, switch your products, smell wonderful, support awesome companies, be beautiful.

-Brittany