Wellness Wednesday - How I Started Making the Switch to Cleaner Products

When I was faced with the daunting task of eliminating all my toxic bathroom products I was very overwhelmed. However, I started slowly and tried to get rid of a few products ever week or so and replace them with cleaner alternatives.

The first to go was my foundation, I am not sure why I started with that but it seems like a good place to start. After my foundation the next to be tossed was my mascara, eye shadow, eyeliner and slowly I started to eliminate various other make up and skin care products along the way.

I immediately downloaded Thinkdirty and Healthy Living apps for my phone so I could find out how “dirty” my current and new products were. I recommend that you do the same if you are trying to find cleaner products. Thankfully, there are now versions for both Iphone and Android so you shouldn’t have a problem downloading them.

After downloading the apps I was blown away to find out that most of the products I was using were 9s and 10s on the Thinkdirty app including my trusted deodorant. Since I was breastfeeding my daughter at the time it terrified me to think she might be injecting some of these carcinogenic chemicals. I needed to get rid of it ASAP.

I have to admit throwing away my skin care products, especially my beloved Naked palettes and mascaras from Sephora, proved to be difficult. So difficult in fact that I actually still have them hanging around my bathroom. While I have made a commitment not to use any of them I can't seem to throw them out. Maybe they act as a cosmetic “security blanket” for me, LOL. All kidding aside I did keep them around to provide colour swatches so I was able find suitable colour replacements, which I was successful in finding. Hooray!!

I look for products that are a 5 and below on the dirty meter and while not every product is available on these apps you can still make your choices by reading the ingredients listed on the packaging. At the very least I try to go for products free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, synthetic dyes and fragrance (fragrance is a big one!)

I made a commitment to get rid of my dirtiest products and the products that I use most often first, that might be a good place to start for you. Or you could start by replacing products that are you are running low on.

Its can be a bit overwhelming but its important to just take it one product at a time. If I can do it anyone can !!....

Simply Truly Jenny...