Toxin-free skincare and cleaning products

[Athene]

I didn't know where to put this thread so I chose lifestyle.

I am looking into non-toxic products since my doc has told me to
a) stop using deodorant (contains aluminium) and
b) perfume (full of poisons)
and since I also read that
c) fabric conditioner contains mercury
d) all my tacky jewellery is making nickel seep into my flesh and
e) the average woman eats 4 kilos of lipstick over the course of her life. (Euch)

SO

I was hoping we could pool knowledge on:
1. Which ingredients really are harmful for us PWC who are trying to detox
2. Which hippy products are good (genuinely safe and also actually work)
3. Useful websites with more information. I keep finding sites which rant madly about every single ingredient in anything, so I am hoping my clever friends on this site will help steer me to the truth.

I'll kick off with this:
http://www.saffronrouge.com/learn/ingredients/truth
This sells right-on organic products and has some ingredient info... how reliable is the info? Anyone?

 

[sarahg]

I don't know what is available in europe, but I have a fair amount of experience with the american and canadian brands. Maybe there is some crossover and you could find some of these locally? I haven't been able to use cleaning chemicals since my early teens.
You can probably google any one of these and find their websites.

seventh generation is usually overrated and not as good as advertized. I've found a lot of their stuff to seem watered down. But I like their dishwasher detergent ( I have had my very first dishwasher ever for about a year and I am still not used to it)

Charlie's Soap will clean anything and get out any stains from anything- coconut based

Planet and Sun and Earth make good dish detergents (planet also makes a good laundry detergent)

I like O-nature-L for disinfecting cleaner and for laundry detergent

All of Ecover's cleaning products work great

Never forget how much you can clean with vinegar and baking soda.

For body care products I have found good brands to be Alba, Tom's of Maine (especially toothpaste) , Aubrey organics, Avalon organics, Dr. Bronner's (for castile soap), and sometimes Kiss My Face (especially for deodorant).

If all else fails, read the labels, read the ingredients, a lot of stuff is made to look less toxic than it is, a lot of "natural" stuff still has petroleum derivatives, including some I have listed above, but only in certain products, not in the whole line of any company.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Hi Athene--

I have MCS as well as CFS and have been living a toxin-free life for 32 years.

My energy is rather low these days due to trashed adrenals (see my iodine thread for details if you want) and pollen allergies... so right now I can only give you a few basics. I know Sushi has info about a site where they rate skin and body products... You can check with her about this.

My favorite skin care products are made my MyChelle--very pure, organic and only mildly scented or scent free. Most of what I use on my face and body is made by them, except for pure organic sesame oil which I use on my skin and for self-massage as well. Yes, MyChelle products are pricey, but in this case you do get what you pay for. In my experience their face moisturizers last about 4 months. They also have cosmetics, tho I rarely use anything but their lip gloss.

Planet and Seventh Generation make good products for house cleaning and laundry, tho I find vinegar is the best overall product for most cleaning--laundry, floors, counters, etc. In the laundry, I mix vinegar with the above mentioned products. For general cleaning, I mix it half and half with hydrogen peroxide, to use as a disinfectant and mold killer. And of course it's excellent on chrome, glass and mirrors. I use white vinegar literally by the gallon.

None of the natural products work as well as the chemically loaded, neuro-toxic, and endocrine disrupting commercial products. Can you tell I am biased? But when it comes to your health, no toxin is worth that "perfect clean." At this point, I can't even stand next to someone who has washed their clothes in Tide, used dryer sheets or washed their hair with Pert, Garnier Fructiss or Pantene (which make the top of my shit list, along with those damn air fresheners). In fact my throat begins to close up from being near some of these toxins, which to me is a clear sign of how poisonous they are.

Back in the 80's when I first discovered I had MCS, there were VERY FEW truly non-toxic body care and cleaning products. But now there are many good ones on the market. I'm sure you will find what you need. Good luck with it.

 

[caledonia]

Anti-perspirant - ones made from alum (which is not aluminum) such as Naturally Fresh or the Crystal Stick, either a liquid spray or a crystal that you dampen and rub on.

Needs.com is a great catalog for those with MCS.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Needs.com is a great catalog for those with MCS.

Yes! I forgot to mention that. REALLY GOOD SOURCE.

 

[Tammie]

You can also clean with borax.......and besides using baking soda for cleaning, it can also be used as toothpaste and deoderant (though I find that it stings a bit if used as deoderant, many people do use it this way).....ofr deoderant, i have been using Winter Clean by nature's Gate - it's unscented and doesn't sting....Tom's of Maine seems to sting, but they did just come out with a fragrence free, sensitive skin version of deoderant, so that may be a possibility, too.....though the Crtyal stuff supposedly doen't have aluminum, I did read on Dr Mercola's site that it is actually really not safe to use either

Burt's Bees makes a honey based chapstick & a lightly colored lip balm that I like a lot, but most of their other products bother me

I have not found any otehr makeup that does not casue a reaction so I can't help you there

for soap, I use Ivory - it is a bit drying, but does not casue a reaction, and I follow it up with Cetaphil cream after I get out of the shower

there are a few fragrence free shampoos and conditioners, but most still seem to have a lot of natural ingredeitns that bother me.....castille soap seems to work pretty well, thoguh, and to be ok....only problem for me is that I have had dandruff since getting sick and none of the fragrence free products work for that (& I have tried a ton)

 

[cgstar4]

 

[Sushi]

Anti-perspirant - ones made from alum (which is not aluminum) such as Naturally Fresh or the Crystal Stick, either a liquid spray or a crystal that you dampen and rub on.

Hi Caledonia,

I've been using a liquid spray crystal, but I just read recently that though they say it is aluminum free, there is another form of aluminum salt in it--don't know if it is related to alum or not. In other words, the article I read, (I have no idea where it was!) was saying that they are "cheating" a bit about being aluminum free. Anyone know more? Also, I read somewhere (Mercola?) that the usual brand of baking soda--Arm and Hammer--also has traces of aluminum. Help!

And, Dreambirdie mentioned that I know a site that rates body care products for purity, toxic ingredients, etc. It is:
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/about.php

It is shocking when you look at the ratings.

Sushi

 

[Misfit Toy]

I was told yesterday by a doctor that I have lead poisoning. This was done by muscle testing. I am wondering if it's accurate. But, I do love lipstick and makeup ant not Burt's Bees either. So, there is some relevance to this. And, unfortunately, I love deodorant that stops sweat and smell and nothing does it for me like the stuff with chemicals. To change.....ahhhh.

 

[Tammie]

Hi Caledonia,

I've been using a liquid spray crystal, but I just read recently that though they say it is aluminum free, there is another form of aluminum salt in it--don't know if it is related to alum or not. In other words, the article I read, (I have no idea where it was!) was saying that they are "cheating" a bit about being aluminum free. Anyone know more? Also, I read somewhere (Mercola?) that the usual brand of baking soda--Arm and Hammer--also has traces of aluminum. Help!

Sushi

Mercola had a recent article re the crystal deoderant (I commented on it above) & in the comments section, people were questioning if baking soda is aluminum free, but nowhere in there did they say that A&H baking soda has aluminum. When I looked it up on google, every response (even inc one from a competitor's company) said that A&H does NOT have aluminum. So, it is safe. I think the confusion may come from the fact that some companies used to use aluminum in their baking soda, and also taht baking POWDER may contain aluminum.

 

[SeaShel]

A friend of mine that is a cancer survivor thrice over told me to avoid personal care products with parabens, which are even in many "natural" products. It's a preservative I believe, so it's pretty prevalent. They have apparently been shown to be a cancer causing agent.

I often use almond oil for my dry skin instead of lotion (have only found one or two without parabens, and you can get a nice almond oil from iherb).

Also, I use white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser of the washing machine and it works fine. Well, for me anyway since I was never much of a softener user anyway.

Shelley

 

[willow]

European brands

Hi Athene,

The Nutricentre have a few brands you might like, Green People, Urtekram, Lavera, Weleda but I check the ingredients of everything before I buy. E.g. the Lavera sun lotion contains something nasty, aluminium if I remember, but there's a good Green People one, but not all of them.

Generally I use cold pressed organic oils on my skin, but some of the Gaia products are more absorbable. I buy those on ebay. If you tolerate jojoba that's highly absorbable

Might be worth trying coconut oil as a deodorant. Mostly I don't use anything.

For cleaning I find the best thing is water, bicarb and/or vinegar, sometimes lemon juice, and if you find a washing up liquid that's ok, some of that. If you can tolerate essential oils you can add something fresh like grapefruit. Cleaning product brands include Earth Friendly Products, Clearspring, Ecover but again you might not tolerate them all... And some are fragranced. You can also use soap nuts or something similar but nort everyone tolerates those, or bicarb.

Worth having a look on iherb too. There's a toothpaste I like from there, the Auromere non-foaming (SLS free) one.

There's also this cosmetic safety database which allows you to search by company, compare different brands of the same product or by ingredient http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

How about colouring those lips with a nice bit of beetroot juice or B12

 

[Athene]

Thank you everyone for all this really useful advice and websites. The cosmetics database is really informative.

 

[IntuneJune]

I have used products from Tropical Traditions and have not reacted to them. However, I am not as scent-sensitive as some, although have developed a distain for perfumes. I use natural cleaning products around the house. Tropical Traditions does make an anti-perspirant but I have run out, otherwise would list the ingredients. I like the lotions in the bottles, I buy unscented.. fragrance free.

One product I have beside me right now.....(still on crutches so I don't move around much.....yes I am looking for sympathy) but I have this moisturing cream on my bedside rolling table all the time. I have been usinng it on my post surgical foot. My whole foot was a mess after surgery, skin sloughing off, swollen, purple ....(yes, still looking for sympathy)

Anyway, I will list the ingredients in this product, it is "unscented Tropical Traditions 100% Pure moisturizing Cream for Hand, Face and Body." Ingredients: Purified water, organic Virgin Coconut Oil, plant based emulsifying wax, palm stearic, grapefruit seed extract, beeswax, organic Virgin Palm Oil.

I have used their products for awhile and have had no adverse reactions or irritations. I buy the virgin coconut oil for cooking from them also.

Should anyone have any more information about this company, good or not, I would appreciate the post. I have been happy with the products so far.

June........Of course, they are online.

 

[dsdmom]

Let me preface this by saying that I do not have MCS but am sensitive to chemicals. For cleaning around the house I use Greening the Cleaning - Imus' line. It does have fragrance though.

For washing my face (and you could use it as body soap or shampoo too) I use California Baby's Sensitive baby wash/shampoo. It actually works great and has no fragrance and I don't think any icky chemicals. They have conditioner and lots of other stuff too. I get it at Whole Foods but you can get it online too.

 

[IntuneJune]

I just placed an order from Avon, they have many, many products that are gluten free.

Some time ago, I stopped wearing lipstick and any eye products..... but am going to try a few they had on sale.....

My Avon sales rep drops off a current catalogue and she goes through and marks which products are gluten-free.

Again, I am not sensitive to all scents it seems, this will be a trial.......

June

 

[leaves]

Cleure

I just discovered cleure products www.cleure.com. Great for me as it does not contain any of the proven toxins Or gluten and no sallicylates either!! They Carry toothpaste based on baking soda, mineral based deoderant paraben free make up etc etc
is expensive but check it out