Saturday, October 30, 2010

Product Reviews: Tarte & Melaleuca

With Kai's struggles I have been looking at everything in our environment. There is so much going on. Recently I saw a link of Facebook showing that Johnson's & Johnson's baby wash and Wal-Mart's equivalents were being pulled from the shelves for containing trace amounts of formaldehyde. After doing research, a lot of baby products contain carcinogens in small amounts. Big companies responses are that they are very trace amounts. That may be true... however, these things are still going onto small children who's brains and bodies are still developing. And when you think about all the other nasty stuff, all those small exposures really add up. Just think.... there are chemicals in everything we touch - the paint on our walls, the treated drywall, the carpet, the teflon on the pan. Literally everything has some sort of effect on our system.

Recently my mom and I were talking about it because two female cows on the property are infertile. Just imagine... this is a result of our environment - whether it be their food, the water supply (or both), or some other unknown factor. Infertility is caused a great deal by toxins in the body throwing off the hormones.

I am personally getting so sensitive to chemicals that I cannot walk down the laundry/cleaning section in a store without having a burning nose and teary eyes.

I also researched Sodium Laureth Sulfate, which is a cheap foaming agent in just about every soap/shampoo out there. And THAT also contains carcinogens. GREAT! I have tried a few shampoos without SLS... but none have been great.

Recently I joined Melaleuca. Everything is based upon Melaleuca oil (tea tree oil) and everything is supposed to be derived from nature and natural enzymes (but I'm still checking every label). Best of all I don't have to go down the cleaning aisle at Target anymore :) Anyway, I have a shampoo that contains sodium-coco sulfate. I researched this and found that it's derived from coconuts and does not have the same hazards as SLS (aside from Melaleuca, Method also uses this). The Tea Tree shampoo is excellent. (for those that don't know me, I have very thick, duck like hair that needs good shampoo). I have also tried the EcoSense laundry detergent and it's extremely concentrated and I like it. Their toothpaste is also AWESOME.  I will be adding more reviews as I try them - but for now I am just buying things as I run out of the old stuff in my house. So far I've like what I've tried, but they won't ever replace my Alba Botanica lotion or Carley's face soaps :)

I've also been on a mission to find a good, natural mascara. Both high end and drugstore type mascaras contain a lot of aluminum, parabens, and some even have mercury! Yikes! So I got Tarte's Lash Hugger and LOOOOOVE it. I also am loving their new moisturizing lip stains. YAY TARTE for getting chemicals out of cosmetics.

Please know that these are my personal opinions of products as friends have requested I post my experiences with trying new "green" products in my home. My biggest goal is to eliminate as many toxins from our home as possible.

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