Can we talk natural personal care products?..
 

So, I am very tired of using chemical-laced products (shampoos, soaps, etc) especially on my kids, and I'm wondering what's the best (not too crazy expensive) stuff to use..
I was using Johnson's baby wash but have heard some really bad things about them not following safety protocals in their plants, etc. (plus they're filled with manufactured chemicals) So, what should I use?

its a personal pref really.. there are so many on the market. personally i prefer the dr bonners castile soap lines.. ive tried a bunch of different things but i like simple apparently

For the kiddo, I nearly use everything California Baby. You don't need a lot, it's natural, it doesn't harm his skin and it smells terrific. I buy the bulk refills - gallon size jugs - and I think I break even, because the stuff lasts forever. Buying it in the store would get pricey fast.

This is a great site for judging sunscreens - Environmental Working Group's 2010 Sunscreen Guide: Best Beach and Sport Sunscreens - and California Baby ranks high... HTH!

California baby is great, I also love the Badger Balm products.

We love love love California Baby. It's more expensive, but it doesn't take much to do the job.

Lush. They have bar shampoos and conditioners, as well as liquid, and they have body washes or bar soaps. All are naturally made and naturally sourced, and most are vegan (all are at least vegetarian). They have a lot of fun, kid friendly scents. My favorite is Rock Star-- it smells sweet like cotton candy and bubblegum!

<homemade deodorant

<homemade cleaners

<wants to go no-poo, but not there, yet

<cloth pads

<would go cloth wipes but everyone else freaks about it lol

<dr. bronner's castille, too, like la

I don't have a brand recommandation, but more of a tip: Be careful not to be fooled by product descriptions. Things like "Natural flavour, natural aroma, natural ect." very often just mean the substance does exist in nature, but for that product has been industrially produced. Otherwise it would most likely say things like "Herb XYZ essence" or similiar.

There are lots out there! I stopped buying Burt's Bees (they were bought out by Clorox) but that wasn't a big deal to me. I found some major good clearances on Yes to Carrots brand and I am LOVING their stuff right now and I also got good sales at our local health store on Dr. Bronner's Castile soaps. I stocked up on quite a few bottles! I should be good for a while. hehe! I just know what ingredients to look-out for (like parabens, SLS, etc.).

Our whole family LOVES Bubble and Bee! www.bubbleandbee.com The owner, Stephanie,
created her own organic products because of her own problems with chemicals in products,
then was urged by family and friends to make enough to sell. Small company, small batches, made in Bountiful, Utah. Lots of good solid info about safe vs. unsafe chemicals in personal products on the site. Stellar customer service too. They've made a huge difference in my family's life.

We've used Burt's Bees for years.
Is that why you stopped using it? I didn't know they had been bought out...

I'm watching this thread and loving the info so far. My youngest has very dry skin and breaks out in a rash from every product I've tried so far. California Baby seemed promising, but we still have some redness. We're still searching. :) Doc suggested olive oil...

Teresa, coconut oil would probably be fantastic too. It cures all our skin ailments. Noah has super-sensitive, eczema-prone skin and it's been great for him.

Yes, I stopped using and buying it because of it being bought out by clorox. But I didn't word it good. What I meant was it wasn't a huge loss for us to stop using it. I mean, we liked some of their products but there are others out there we like better. So, we don't miss it.

For dry skin, psoriasis, eczema-type skin there is a product called Miracle II Neutralizer Gel.

Myself and my kids have very dry skin, and my baby girl gets patches of eczema that she scratches like crazy. Nothing we've tried has helped. She scratches so bad that she leaves actual red line scabbies. I have to make her wear a onesie under everything so she can't scratch her skin.

I'll have to try out these products, thanks so much for the suggestions :)

Darcy, for your homemade stuffs, do you use certain recipes (maybe ones found on the internet)? Or do you just make up your own recipes?

With my oldest (he has bad eczema on his arms and legs) I just lathered Bath and Body Works body butter on him, that helped a LOT.

Would you mind sometime reading the ingredients on their kiddo wash/shampoo and lotion (if you have those) and see if there is any nuts/nut oils in them. That is the hardest thing about going natural we've found. If it is natural, it has nut oil, so I'm stuck with the chemical stuff. I could not find any information online (as usual) about the ingredients.

Can I ask how you make the homemade deodorant? *and how do I say this without sounding rude* Does it work?

It's basically baking soda, arrowroot powder (or cornstartch) & coconut oil.

There's the recipe & instructions - and it works better on me than ANY commercial deodorant ever has. The only downside is that I have to store it in the fridge most of the year because coconut oil turns liquid at 76 degrees,and we don't keep our house that cool in the warmer months (i.e. March - October).

Here you go!! California Baby Ingredients!!

General Cleaner: The homemade cleaner is basically vinegar and water - I use larger spray bottles and put about 1/3 of vinegar to 2/3 water. I sometimes add some essential oils for smelly-ness, but most of the time it's straight vinegar/water.

For scrubbing, I'll use a little baking soda - like for the tub. But this does require a bit more rinsing than a liquid spray cleaner like scrubbing bubbles.

Face Cleaner/Moisturizer: I've been trying a method that mixes castor oil with olive oil smoothed on the face and using hot washclothes as steamers...and it's working well so far, just need to test it a little while longer before I recommend it.

Here's an article from Kitchen Stewardship on the No-Poo shampoo method. Now that I've gotten my hair grown out and don't use products on it, I'm going to be playing with this next fall/winter to see how it works. I know better than to try it in the summer.

Thank you so much! Sometimes I feel like I am blind trying to find info online!

I use vinegar and water too for most of my cleaning. For cleaning glass (mirrors and such) I add a drop of dish washing liquid to it. I never thought of adding baking soda! What a fabulous idea. The tub is the last thing I use nastiness (scrubbing bubbles) on. It would be great to let that one go too. Thanks Darcy!

Kristi - I don't add it to the bottle, but spray the area, shake baking soda over it (we kept an old Kraft parmesan bottle and use it as a baking soda shaker), and then scrub :)

Thanks for the tips Darcy and everyone! I'm going to be checking these out :thumbup: