That's Not Natural...

So I'm on a new kick. I read several different blogs occasionally and one is written by a mom who is very conscious of what her family uses on their bodies and puts in their bodies. More and more I'm disgusted by the ingredients in things I use. And I've become more aware of ingredients with Emersen. I've said before if we treated ourselves like we do babies, we'd be a lot healthier. We make sure they eat pure food, veggies and fruits especially. And it's HIGH priority that they get enough quiet time, sleep time and play time. At some point, we stopped making those priorities for ourselves, which isn't helping anyone. In the crunch for time, we've moved to "quick fixes" and in the effort to be a good steward of our money, we've settled for what is cheapest. Unfortunately, that's, in my opinion, caused us to scrimp on our stewardship of our bodies and planet. I mean, I just didn't know about some ingredients. 

With Emersen, who's hyper sensitive to air, we have to watch all ingredients in cleaning products and bath products. We were going minimally fragrance free and now I'm leaning towards more natural products. For myself, a year or so ago I started using soap free body wash as it worked better for my own sensitive skin. And lately, after reading some blogs, I've started pursuing more natural products - minimally that I can pronounce the ingredients, but more so in using things with plant based or natural ingredients. I read about face care - that castor oil really helps deep cleanse and other oils are needed to moisturize. That oil dissolves oil, not water. And I had started using Nuetrogena Naturals Purifying Scrub before this and loved it. Looked at the ingredients and it had castor oil in it - and I had never felt like makeup was getting off my face when washing with other products. I went for more natural Mac & Cheese, as the cheap versions have so many dyes and colors in it. Creeps me out a bit - though I LOVE me some Kraft mac and cheese.

The above picture is of the new Suave Dry Shampoo. I had previously used Tresemme's Dry Shampoo, which I liked in a pinch. I'm almost out, and saw Suave's. In my new quest, I checked the ingredients. DO YOU SEE THE INGREDIENTS!? Isopropane and Butane. I'm sure there is stuff like that in things I use all the time that I just don't know about yet, but I know that I put that can RIGHT back on the shelf. Ignorance may be bliss. But now I know, and I can't handle that.

Another product I needed to refill was moisturizer. Burt's Bee's is available at Meijer so I looked into it. This Night Creme was a bit expensive for my taste. But one look at the kind I had been using previously, and the ingredient list that was SO long and sounded like chemistry class convinced me. And I will plug this product - it's luxurious! I've read some negative reviews online where it didn't soak in for people and was like glue. No, no. Smells amazing and my face feels GREAT! 

And here is why I'm even writing about this:

The little lady in my life. She's made me more aware of what I use on her and put in her. And if I care enough to do it for her, I should do it for myself and my family. We want to be good stewards of the body God gave us, and when you really start thinking about it, we put a lot of unnatural stuff on us and in us. Especially us females with all our smelly stuff and shiny stuff and product. My next move is mineral makeup since that's an everyday item. I've also converted on my shampoo/conditioner, but not ready to make judgement/pronouncement on that yet. My all purpose cleaner and dish soap are now plant based as well. Baby steps or I'll go broke. What are you doing to go more natural or pure? What products gross you out? Do you think it's worth the cost? I'm not braiding my hair and buying bell bottoms yet, but I'm embracing my hippy dippy natural side one product at a time.