ATTEMPTING TO LIVE MORE ‘NATURALLY’: All The Crap I’ve Tried And Use

First things first. I’m no health expert, or doctor (obviously). The last thing I want is for this post to come across the wrong way–this is just something I became interested in a few years ago and thought I would share some of my experience. 

My husband sometimes calls me a hippy, and even though I don’t think I really am, I take it as a compliment! I do have a Woodstock sweatshirt, though, so that might have something to do with it. In any case, I am a ‘semi-vegetarian’ as in I never eat red meat and rarely eat chicken or pig (partly because of a ‘Daisy the Cow Incident’ in 2000 and partly because I find I make healthier choices that way).  I also try to eat food and use products that are as natural as possible. In college, I started to take an interest in natural/organic foods, but it wasn’t until I worked for a healthy lifestyle advertising agency where I started to try to make some real changes. 

When I got pregnant, I challenged myself to be as ‘natural’ as I possibly could because GAH my body was growing another human and that’s a lot of freaking pressure!!  One thing is for sure, though–I found it super stressful to find food and products that I really felt good about, and that really tasted good or worked! So if you’re still with me after all of that, below are some of the products that I currently use + some that I tested and decided to skip. Hopefully if you’re looking to make some changes, this might help you get started!

One more thing and then I promise I’m done. I recently found this app called ‘Think Dirty’ and it’s been so helpful  to learn about the ingredients in beauty, personal care and household products. You can either search a product or scan it’s barcode and the app will give you a full rundown on its ingredients and a 1-10 rating on how ‘clean’ it is! It’ll even give you a list of cleaner options to shop as well. I love it, but it’s also terrifying. I talk about it more below!

PRODUCTS

Beauty

• Mascara: Naturally Rooted  and Physicians Formula. To be completely honest, finding natural beauty products that actually work is hard. You’re definitely not going to get the CRAZY volume you might from a non-natural product, but these two seem to get the job done in my opinion. The more research I do about all the crap makeup brands are allowed to put in their products, the more frustrated I get. Compared to regulations in Europe, the US basically doesn’t have any standards. This is very scary considering you’re putting this crap on your skin – your largest organ!
• Eyeliner: Zuzu Luxe Liquid Eyeliner. Now this stuff, I actually LOVE. If you like using a liquid eyeliner I really can’t tell a difference between this product and other non-natural options.
• Chapstick: EOS (Organic). The mint flavor is my favorite!
• Lipstick: Burt’s Bee’s Tinted Lip Balm
• BB Cream:Juice Beauty Tinted Mineral Moisturizer with SPF. This stuff has a very distinct smell, and I’m not sure if it was just because I was pregnant when I started using it, but it is a little strange. I really think it does a good job in terms of coverage, though, and the (mineral!) SPF is an added bonus.
• Nail Polish: Pacifica 7 Free. A lot of nail polishes actually have formaldehyde in them that acts as a hardening agent. Formaldehyde! This one doesn’t and is free from several other nasty chemies as well. 

Face

• Anti-Wrinkle Cream: Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Anti-Wrinkle Moisturizer. This guy is pretty pricey BUT I was able to purchase it with a code so I would wait to buy it until you find one! It smells really good and I loved the container–it only gives you the amount you need which each push.
• Facial Sunscreen: Garden Goddess Face the Day  As with most natural (mineral) sunscreens, you do have to rub it in pretty thoroughly but I like it as a base before putting on my makeup.
• Night Cream: Burt’s Bee’s Intense Hydration.** This stuff smells SO GOOD.
• Face Mask: Alba Botanica Even Advanced
• Facial Wash: Origins Zero Oil I use this with one of those vibrating cleansing brushes and I think it works well.
• Face Wipes: Burt’s Bees Micellar
• Facial Scrub: Burt’s Bee’s Deep Pore Scrub**

Skin

• Sunscreen: Bare Republic. I have tried a shit ton of natural sunscreens (I am the ghost on the beach who looks like I forgot to rub it in completely) and this one is by far my favorite. They also gave me a code for you to use if you want to try it out! Use GOBAREOUTSIDE for 10% off! Goddess Garden is my second favorite but it will definitely leave you looking pretttty pale. Using a natural sunscreen is a hard switch because in order for it to be ‘natural,’ it needs to create an actual physical barrier (using minerals like zinc oxide) to reflect the sun’s rays. Chemical sunscreens, on the other hand, use chemicals like oxybenzone that absorb the sun’s rays and turn them into heat, which is then dissipated from the skin to the air.  When using a natural/mineral sunscreen you’ll need to get used to the fact that it doesn’t ‘rub in’ completely–embrace the pale! 🙂
• Body Cream: Puracy Organic Hand & Body Lotion.** This stuff doesn’t smell amazing, but I actually like that it has a rather light scent especially if you’re sensitive to smells while pregnant!
• Belly Butter: Earth Mama Belly Butter. This was recommended to me by a friend (along with the nipple cream) and it’s my all time favorite. It honestly smells like the creamsicle ice cream I used to get as a kid that came with the wooden spoons…I also didn’t get any stretch marks and used this my whole pregnancy (pretty sure that has more to do with heredity–but better safe than sorry!)
• Nipple Cream: Earth Mama Organic Nipple Butter. Same company as the belly butter. It’s funny because when I first bought these two products, the packaging was designed so poorly that it made me very skeptical. But they’ve re-branded and they look way more legit now! 🙂
• Hand Cream: Nourish Organic Skin Solve

Body

• Deodorant: I have tried SO many natural deodorants including Schmidts, Primal Pitt Paste, Tom’s, Green Goo, and Alaffia. Couple of thoughts on these. Schmidt’s was long lasting but the smell was almost too intense for me (not sure if it was just because I was pregnant but honestly I still can’t use their rose + vanilla because it’s stuck in my nostrils for life). I did find that they have a fragrance free version (pictured),  which I like. Primal Pitt Paste was too, well, primal for me. HAHA. With the one I had, you scooped it out with your hand and it just seemed too messy. Tom’s really pissed me off because I grabbed one thinking it was all natural only to find out they TRICKED ME with their packaging and it was simply ‘aluminum free.’ That’s great, but if I’m going natural, I want the real deal. I settled on Green Goo and Alaffia, both of which I found randomly at Marshall’s!
• Tampons: Diva Cup. This is obviously not needed when you’re pregnant, but I got my period again 3 months after my baby was born even though I was still nursing! UGH. I switched to a Diva Cup a couple years ago and I couldn’t be happier (well as happy as you can be about your period). LISTEN, you definitely need to have an open mind–especially the first few times you use it–also maybe steer clear from public bathrooms for a hot minute until you get the hang of it. You do have to be pretty comfortable with your ‘Down in China’ as I used to call it when I was little. But honestly, after you give birth to a child and showing your hoo-ha to all the land, putting a cup up there shouldn’t scare you. HAHA. Seriously though TRY IT. TAMPONS ARE THE DEVIL.
• Shampoo and Conditioner: Live Clean** 
• Hair Styling: Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk (Not pictured)
• Body Wash: Method Body. ** Not happy with its Think Dirty rating! See below…
• Mouthwash: Tom’s.

1. **So remember when I talked about the ‘Think Dirty’ app? While I was writing this post, I re-checked all of the products I listed here andddd was not thrilled with some of the results. I found that four of the products have a 5 rating on the app’s 1-10 scale (1 being CLEAN and 10 being DIRTY). 5’s are considered ‘half n’ half’ which isn’t terrible, but I was still pretty frustrated about it and I wanted all CLEAN scores! haha! There was also an 8 (GASP)–Method Body wash–which I found smells SOOO good…and the app was alerted by all the Fragrance ingredients it has in it. Bummer.
2. I realize that just because these products may claim they are “all natural” or even organic, doesn’t mean they necessarily are–especially since there aren’t many regulations in the US in this area. Case in point, the Puracy Organic Hand & Body Lotion received a 5 on the app’s scale. A 5 and it’s organic! UGH! I also realize that going solely off the app and not doing any additional research is not smart  as they might have certain companies backing them. 
3. If you haven’t noticed by now, it’s easy to go down some deep, dark rabbit holes when you start looking into all of this stuff. And who really knows what’s best! Like I said above, I am definitely no expert and I by no means think that my body (or my baby’s) is better off simply because I use certain products over others. Its just one more thing that I can do for myself and my baby that is (semi) in my control. But I personally have found it very satisfying to do some research to feel more comfortable about what I’m buying.