Get The Lead Out!

I hope some of you have been following the recent developments with lipsticks. Over 400 different lipsticks were independently tested and MANY of them contain lead! The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has been very effective in rallying community support across the country for their efforts to change the labeling on our cosmetics to reflect what is REALLY in them. With our concern about lead levels in paints we use, can you imagine how concerned we should be about a product that goes on our lips, potentially into our mouth, and kissing our babies! Throw out those old tubes of lipstick that have been in your cosmetic drawer for years. Think twice about purchasing the "color rich" type lipsticks that are guaranteed to stay on all day. Many of them contain lead, and there is no safe level of lead that has been established for human exposure. Keep following the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. You can go to their website to learn much more about what they are doing to make our personal products healthier and establish a system of governing cosmetic manufacturers that forces them to disclose what is actually in their products and remove the harmful ingredients many of them now contain. Let's make our world a safer place by doing what we can to protect our own health!

Christmas Gifts

Wow - things got really busy there for awhile! Just a quick reminder to pay attention to your Christmas gifts! For women, it's pretty common to receive several scented lotions during the holidays. As kind as it is that someone thought of you and gave you a gift, think really hard about what you want to do with it. Read the labels! If it is full of fragrance and toxic chemicals on the Dirty 30 list, send a thank-you note to the giver, and secretly chuck it! For years, I would have at least 10 different bottles of smelly lotion on hand at any given time, and would end up keeping them for a LONG time because I would alternate which one I used. Toxic chemicals + sitting around for a long time = trouble! Even ingredients that may not start out being harmful over time can turn into a different compound. I actually had one make-up item for 6 years that I got from QVC and it still wasn't empty when I finally threw it away -- yikes! And I had been using it every day. I have no idea what was in that stuff, but it just wouldn't run out. Now that the holidays are over, pay attention to what you are putting in your make-up drawer. Look past the sparkly containers and cutesy labels. Read that teeny, tiny print and make sure you aren't rubbing garbage all over your body and face every day. Check it or chuck it!!! Happy New Year!

Researching toxic chemicals in everyday products

Just stumbled on a great website - www.healthystuff.org. They independently research everyday products and test for toxic chemicals. This includes household products, clothing, items for children, items for pets, etc. Check it out! And just for the record, they tested Halloween face paints and 100% of the items they tested were positive for heavy metals which, of course, were not listed on the ingredient list. Be careful out there!

Beware of Pinkwashing

With another breast cancer awareness month almost behind us, let me just make an editorial comment about all of the pink ribbon items for sale. Unfortunately, many companies use the pink ribbon and pink packaging to lure customers to purchase their products. At the same time, it is very common for these same manufacturers to be producing products with cancer-causing ingredients. I know! It makes no sense! Please continue to read your labels and don't be encouraged to buy unnecessary and potentially unsafe products just because the packaging has a pink ribbon or label on it. If the manufacturer is claiming to donate a portion of the proceeds to a particular breast cancer organization, do your homework! It might make a lot more sense for you to just send a check to that organization as a donation! Let's face it, donating 50 cents out of a $20 retail purchase is really not much. That manufacturer may have just raised their price 50 cents on that item for breast cancer awareness month. Buy smart!

Natural Joy Beauty Discount

Just thought I would remind you that naturaljoybeauty.com is still offering a 15% discount to Christi's Rack Pack followers during the entire month of October. When you check out of her online shop, just enter RACKPACK in the coupon code box and enjoy 15% off all of her amazing SAFE cosmetics and skin care products. Joy is extremely picky about the products that she carries and does a ton of research on the safety of their ingredients. Do yourself a favor and go see her at her Sandy Mall location or order something online!

Pump Spray - love it!

Just a heads up - Naturally Fresh now has a deodorant in a pump spray and it is awesome. I still love the roll-on form, but the pump spray is great, too. And this awesome company just sent us 120 samples of their roll-on FREE to use in our care bags. You have to look a little harder for this deodorant in the stores - I have found it in Walmart (on the top shelf of the deodorants) and I'm sure other stores will be carrying it soon. I usually wipe out the entire stock of it when I find it!

It's summer finally - don't get burned!

Who has been sunburned already this summer? Knock it off! Guess what your very best sunscreen is? A long-sleeve shirt and a hat! And staying out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. especially. There is an amazing website to help you choose an effective sunblock. Go to www.bodysense.com. They have an entire 2011 sunscreen guide you can look at for free online. It gives you tons of choices and lists (in table form) all the important info for each product: price, ounces, what it smells like, what the ingredients include, the EWG rating, whether it makes your skin white or not, whether it is greasy or not, if it is water resistant. There are tons of mineral-based products to choose from. We've had e-mails asking what on earth people can just grab really quick at WalMart for sunblock at the last minute -- pretty much nothing, if you want something safe. If you can't wait to get a safe one online, at least choose a product with the very least oxybenzone (5% or less). The main ingredients you want to avoid in sunscreen are: benzethonium chloride, DEA and oxybenzone. Go ahead and order a safe sunscreen online (non-aerosol of course), and use your stinky, chemical-laced grocery store bottle only in an emergency until the safe one arrives! Happy Summer! And here is a little insider tip -- if you go to www.naturaljoybeauty.com and type in Rack Pack for your coupon code, you will get 15% off of any sunscreen she carries through August!

Check out this website!

Wow - Just looked at a great website -- www.bodysense.com. They carry personal care products, home cleaning products and even pet products! They display the EWG's rating for these products, which is extremely helpful in selecting the item you want with the lowest toxicity number (EWG uses 0-10 as their scale -- 0 being the safest). Their shipping rates seem really reasonable, and their prices are looking really competitive, also. Take a look!

I love this deodorant!

You won't believe it -- I think there is a safe deodorant out there that is affordable, works great, and is easy to find (got mine at WalMart for $2.97). This just might be a miracle~! It is called Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal and is a roll-on. Shake it first and be sure to let it dry for just a minute after you roll it on. You can find it on the top shelf next to the Tom's deodorant. It works -- hallelujah!

Natural Joy

Those of you who live in the Salt Lake area and are looking for safe cosmetics and body care products to try, go in Natural Joy on 662 E. 9480 S. in Sandy. The owner, Joy, is SO knowledgable and helpful and hand selects wonderful products to carry in her store. We will be doing some upcoming product reviews of items from her shop that we personally try, so stay tuned for that. Also, she has a huge online selection at www.naturaljoybeauty.com or see the link at the bottom of our page. Tell her the Rack Pack sent you in. She is awesome and I love the products I've tried so far from her shop!!

Nothing Short of Miraculous!

It came to my attention today, through The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, that Glamour magazine actually had the guts to publish an article in their current May issue (now out in the stores) about toxins that are harming us entitled, "The New Toxic Threats to Women's Health." Never mind the fact that this article is sandwiched in between an ad for cologne with a lift and sniff flap and an ad for a chemical to put on your eyelids to help your eyelashes grow! They did, however, sneak in an ad about the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. At least it's a step in the right direction and actually a fairly bold move for a magazine who relies heavily on the advertisements of companies inundating our world with toxins and chemicals that are harming us. Read the article if you get a chance, or pull it up online. Toward the end of the article, there were 8 really good tips, and I quote them: 1. Eat well and exercise. 2. Buy fresh produce if possible (no packaging) and choose foods in glass containers instead of metal cans. 3. Don't put plastics in the microwave. 4. Always buy organic versions of food that have edible skins (to avoid pesticides, etc.). 5. Check the safety of your cosmetics and personal care products on cosmeticsdatabase.com. Here is my editorial comment - why don't YOU (Glamour magazine) check the safety of all of the things you advertise in your magazine!!!! 6. Cut back on cleaning products with fragrance or air fresheners. 7. Filter your tap water (to avoid pesticides which are an endocrine disruptor). 8. Take off your shoes before entering your home (to avoid tracking in pesticides and other cancer-causing substances). There! I hope I didn't make you not read the entire article. Do it! There was actually some great information in there.

Cream Shave - Not Shaving Cream

While on a family beach vacation last weekend, I was so pleased to see all of the organic and toxic-free products that my mom and sister are using! I need to step up my game! I've switched over about half of all of my daily-use products, but after our vacation... I got out the garbage can once again! This time, I ditched my salon shampoo and conditioner (plus some random Pantene I still used occasionally), my bathroom hand soap and my shaving cream. While on our family vacation, I secretively used my sister's Aubrey Organics Pomegranate "Creme de la Shave" to shave my legs.... and I loved it! So, I went to Whole Foods and found that the largest bottle they have was only 4 ounces (Cali girls gotta shave their legs 3 times a week!!!). So, I opted for a larger bottle of Abla Bontanica's "Very Emollient" Cream Shave. I tried it out today and it's FABULOUS! So thick and creamy and it makes your legs feel incredibly soft. 2 thumbs up on that product. I got Whole Foods' "365" hand soap, shampoo and conditioner, which so far seem to be good enough (they're only $6 for a HUGE bottle of each). And I got Tom's brand whitening toothpaste --- which actually tastes pretty decent for being organic. I'm still searching for all of the right organic makeup items ---- But, at least ALL of my other daily-use products are officially toxic-free! One step at a time, people!

A few cleaning recipes

Here we go with a few recipes for "natural" cleaning products - you may have some of these ingredients around your house right now. If not, you can easily get them at your local store: baking soda, washing soda (on laundry detergent aisle), natural liquid detergent, white vinegar.

CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER
Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl and add enough liquid detergent (natural of course) to make a texture like frosting. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge and wash whatever is dirty. This is great for cleaning the bathtub - it rinses easily and doesn't leave that gritty stuff. This can also be saved in a sealed glass jar if you add 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin to it to keep it moist. Probably easier to just make it as you need it.

WINDOW CLEANER
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon natural liquid detergent
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups water
Put above ingredients in spray bottle and shake it up a bit. Ready to clean!

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER
1/2 teaspoon washing soda (get this on the laundry aisle at WalMart, Target, etc.)
Small squirt of natural liquid detergent
2 cups hot tap water
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until washing soda has dissolved. Apply and wipe off with sponge or rag.

Immunity Lemonade

OK - I am completely stealing this from an awesome website I have been ordering natural skin care products from - simplyjen.com. Jen's blog has the "recipe" for a lemonade type drink that can help us make it through this last little bit of winter. Here we go:
2 lemons (juiced or squeezed)
2 tsp REAL maple syrup (none of that imitation stuff - the real thing)
1 C. filtered water
2-3 drops of liquid cayenne (or 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne powder if you can stand it)
Guzzle this concoction and it should help you stay healthier! Go to her blog and read about the beneficial properties of the ingredients. Cheers!

Try Ava Anderson Non-Toxic !!

We thank a kind reader of this blog for bringing the awesome company of a very enterprising teenager to our attention - check out avaandersonnontoxic.com if you want to try some great skin care products and cosmetics with ingredients that are SAFE! We are anxious to give them a try ourselves, and will report back afterwards! Fair warning - the items are a bit pricey!

Check Your Cleaning Products

While we're checking out our cosmetics and personal care products, read those labels on the following things in your home:

Air fresheners (spray or plug-in): These are really bad news - usually contain naphthalene and/or formaldehyde (both known carcinogens). Instead of masking a bad smell in your house, find out what is causing it and take care of it! You can try baking soda and natural essential oils for a fresher smell.

Art and craft supplies: Watch out for lead in paint, glazes, enamels. Also avoid rubber cement, solvent-based markers and paint thinners. Use water-based paints, glues and markers.

Antifreeze, brake fluid and windshield wiper fluid: These are all very toxic and so is used motor oil. Keep all of these things out of the reach of children (lock them up - not the children, the chemicals) and avoid contact with skin. Dispose of properly according to hazardous waste facility recommendations.

Dry cleaning: There's a reason for that nasty smell that sticks around for days after you pick up your dry cleaning -- numerous carcinogenic chemicals are used in the dry cleaning process including formaldehyde. When you are looking for a dry cleaning establishment, ask if they can use a wet cleaning method, use liquid CO2 or citrus juice cleaners.

Wall paints and varnishes: According to the EPA, some VOCs used in paints are known human carcinogens. They are released in the air and can continue to emit harmful gas for years after being applied. Always use low or no VOC paints and varnishes.

Mothballs: Come on now, you must have guessed why those things smell so bad. You are inhaling insecticide! Don't use mothballs - ever! Just buy a new sweater!

Cleaning products: OK - here are the very worst offenders - mold and mildew products. They very often contain formaldehyde. Try getting rid of that mold/mildew with straight vinegar or 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil mixed in 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Hope you like the smell of tea tree oil -- it may linger for a couple of days.

Most carpet and upholstery cleaners use very noxious chemicals. Try using a steam cleaner with a water-based product.

Furniture polish = bad! You can make your own using 1/8 cup olive oil mixed with one tablespoon vinegar and one tablespoon vodka (I knew that stuff had to be good for something - just not ingestion)!

I've got some recipes for simple cleaning products you can make at home with items you may already have on hand. They are safe and natural. After I make some myself, I will let you know how they clean!

Vapour Cosmetics

On Chelsea's recommendation, I tried some of the vapour product line. I totally love the Stratus II Instant Skin Perfector! I've been using it as a moisturizer and primer. It has light reflecting pigment and makes your skin look so yummy! I really love the Trick Stick too. I use it in the corners of my eyes, under my brow bones and in the bow of my lips. I didnt love the blush as much. It was really sheer and not a very consistent coverage. They're all a little pricey, but I think I'll always use the skin perfector.

More skincare and makeup

Here is another great site/shop for makeup. If you live near Sandy, this is a great little shop and the owner, Joy, is VERY helpful. She will make you small samples of any of her products so you can try them at home first and see how they work for you...Also, you can order anything online. www.naturaljoybeauty.com.

Things I really like so far: Real Purity Mascara, Wild Willow lip balm, mineral eye shadows, Lauren Brooke concealer.

Things I have tried and wasn't crazy about: Lip-liners and eye-liners (these are tricky to find healthy replacements that stay on long and go on smooth), foundation with enough coverage (I tried both of the ones they offer and if you just need light coverage, they are great).

What I LOVE is that Joy is SUPER helpful, knowledgable and willing to make you samples so you don't buy a whole bottle of something, hate it and end up stuck with it.

Check it out!

Online shop for skincare stuff

Hey peeps-
Here is a link to an online shop I'm checking out of a girl named Jen who makes all of her own skincare/body products.....she is sending me some stuff to try out, but check out her site and she has products for kids/babies too, which is so important, seeing that there are terrible chemicals in a lot of the baby wash and lotions. http://www.shopsimplyjen.com/ I'll let you know when I try out some of her stuff what I like so far.

Please read this book!

For a little light, I mean heavy reading, pick up "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry" by Stacy Malkan. Stacy is the cofounder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. I read the book all in one sitting and it was very informative and scary! What an eye opener.