Let's Review Shall We?

Happy new year! I hope you all had a lovely time spent with your families and eating wonderful fresh food....local of course! I must say I had a wonderful time and our homemade gifts for our son were a total hit! Santa's elves did a really great job making all of those toys at the North Pole and not in China.:)

The other day my son was in a bit of a tantrum and was not liking my discipline tone. He told me that I was being a "bad Mommy" and he was going to put a toy into the closet. (He actually gets a toy taken away if he is acting up pretty badly). He marches into my room (I am trying not to laugh) and looks around at what he will take away. Of course it has to be a most beloved toy for his discipline to work. What does he come up with? My hand lotion. Clever, but kinda naughty boy!

So hand lotion is kind of a big deal to me during the winter months. I think I must put on lotion about 10 times a day. The same goes for lip balm. In an effort to be less chemically impacted I used the cosmetic data base and tossed out my most beloved (and expensive) cosmetics that were not so healthy. Surprisingly, I have been able to get a few of my new favorites from local retail and a few products are actually made locally.

I purchased these items from The Natural Food Exchange in Stoneham, Whole Foods in Woburn (also Andover) and at the Newcomers and Neighbors shopping night. I tried many a product out and have been able to give thumbs up to the following products.

Shampoo. Max Green Alchemy Scalp Rescue Shampoo. Great lather and leaves my hair feeling clean but not dry. They changed the formulation and it is not as "healthy" as it was according to the database. They added "fragrance" and it now puts them at a #4 instead of #2 where they were.

Conditioner. Still looking for the total winner. Now using Burt's Bees Conditioner and also the MGA and they are working out pretty well. If you have any that you love, let me know.

Body lotion. Scentsible Soaps Lavender and Rosemary. It really takes the stingy biting out of winter skin and smells wonderful. This is a local gal from Newburyport that sells at shopping nights etc. I bought this last year at the Newcomer and Neighbor shopping night and love it. I am hoping to get some more, but as of yet my email has not been returned. Please email me so I can rave about you as well.

Hand Lotion. Collective Wellbeing Hand Cream. Hand cream is a very difficult one to replace entirely. I find myself supplementing this with other more "toxic" creams that I kept. I know, I know ...bad Eco Reading...but my hand suffer so. I really do think this is a great product...but I am still keeping my eye out for one that I may love even more (sounds like my dating days :)

Face lotion. Grateful Body for normal skin. Grateful Body is a California company is a tad on the expensive side, but I swear I never thought I would find a product that I loved as much as my other not so great for me, designer brands. Well I was proven wrong. I love it!

Tinted Lip Balm. Stolat Organics Pomegranate Lip Shimmer. This is a local gal that works her magic out of Newmarket NH. Really nice products and her website is filled with information detailing ingredients that she uses in her products. Bravo Stolat! Oh...on a side note.... Stolat is a famous slavic song sung at weddings and birthdays etc. Could she be one of my people?...hmmm interesting :)

Lip Balm. -Burts Bees beeswax or honey. I know that it is not the healthiest choice (the honey one gets a 4) and they are owned now by Clorox, but I really like them and decided to live with it for now. A better choice that my son uses is Badger Balm is the unscented variety. He hates anything that is "glwinty" (translation "minty"). I have used the cinnamon variety and it is very nice. The Burt's Bees can be found just about anywhere, and the Badger Balm I purchased at the Natural Food Exchange.

Soap. Steve's Soap Works. This is a new find that I purchased at the Natural Food Exchange and I love it. While the name could be sexier (kind of sounds like a foundry or something) the soap is very delicate and beautifully scented. I really love that it does not melt as fast as some of the other "natural" soaps tend to do.

Perfume. Nadina's Cremes "Night Queen". While this is technically a body lotion, the scents tend to linger so I use this as my perfume. According to the site the products is very versatile and can be used as perfume, massage cream, bath oil, and on and on. I have used this for about 15 years (local to Baltimore area) and I still think it is wonderful. They also employ mentally challenged workers and are committed to economics as change. Really nice.

Well, that leads be to makeup. I am still working on that. I did keep a small about of makeup to us for special occasions, but I have not found as of yet replacements for my foundation, mascara, blush, shadow, lipstick, and eyeliner. Lancome's Mascara sits at a #4 and I believe the foundation does as well. The others I am sure are 7+. Fortunately the big manufacturers are coming out with new "mineral" lines so they will become more mainstream. I think I will continue to look and replace a little at a time.

Oh...I wanted to tell you a bit more of the Natural Food Exchange....they are moving to READING! This is a recent discovery and I am floored that I never visited it before my new cosmetic quest. The staff is really helpful and knowledgeable and I even got to try my face cream at home for a few days before I bought it thanks to a sample they gave me. They have some many products to choose from and a wide variety of goods from honey to gluten free to cosmetics. Love it and after their move, it will be even closer!

Going more "green" has cost a lot of "green", I'm not going to lie to you. But if we don't change, what will be the price to our health? I have just read the book The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Dr. Devra Davis. I don't want to scare you my lovely friends, but please believe me when I tell you to think about making small changes in your choices of daily care products. It can truly have an impact upon your well being. It is the very least we can do for ourselves and our family. Remember, you're worth it!