Having gone to great lengths to rid my diet of chemicals – and this is harder than you think given today’s food industry where everything is given a generous soak in some preserving or taste enhancing nasty – it was a shock (although it shouldn’t have been really) to be standing in the shower reading the label of my favourite shampoo brand and realise that this wonderful smell came at a chemical price.
I checked my shower gel, face wash and other toiletries and found the same thing – lotions and potions packed full of chemicals such as paraffin (yes the stuff that burns); sodium laureth sulphate (SLS) and cocami-dopropyl betaine (the latter is also a penetration enhancer, allowing other chemicals to be more easily absorbed); preservatives such as tetrasodium EDTA, a potential irritant; and methylchloroisothiazolinone (both potential mutagens or substances that speed up gene mutation).
Let me tell you about SLS! Sodium laureth sulphate in all its guises is used as a foaming agent and penetrates the skin; health hazards include reproductive and developmental toxicity, tissue damage that could result in chronic liver, brain, heart, lung damage and may include cancer. SLS has been found in the tissue of organs so it accumulates in the body. It can also cause eye damage, affect the immune system and irritate the skin. In toothpaste it can cause damage to tissues in the mouth, ulcers in the mouth and gum disease. Using shampoo with SLS can cause dandruff and hair loss. Yeouch!
Check your bubble bath next time you’re relaxing in the tub and see if it contains cocamide EDTA (or similar compounds ending with DEA, TEA or MEA) along with formaldehyde-forming substances such as bronopol, DMDM hydantoin, diazo-lidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and quaternium-15 and my favourite, cancer-causing nitrosamines. If they do, is that really what you want to be putting on the largest organ of your body – the skin, which draws in all of these chemicals into the body like a toxic sponge.
In fact studies show up to 93 per cent of toiletries and cosmetics contain these compounds – it’s the MacDonald’s for your skin! Even those claiming to be ‘natural’ have various forms of these chemicals lurking beneath the surface – in fact it is probably safe to say if it smells really perfumed there is a chemical nasty enhancing that smell.
With a son that has very sensitive skin we have always had to be careful with what cosmetics and toiletries we allow him to use but I had never really thought about the health of my own skin. That morning it dawned on me. With the knowledge that chemicals are in just about everything, and for very good reason in some cases, I knew it would be nearly impossible to adjust my cleaning routine (both body and house) to live completely chemical-free forever. However I decided that I was going to try to remove harmful chemicals from my life for a week and see just how hard it is living in a chemical-free world. Would I ditch my favourite products or switch them?
So what would have to go; let’s start with the toiletries (the items in bold I decided were going to be my test subjects as the others were just too tough to source)
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Face wash
• Shower gel
• Hair mousse/spray
• Toothpaste
• Nail varnish and remover
• Make-up
• Deodorant
• Perfume
• Anti-aging eye and face cream
Now household cleaners
• Multipurpose cleaner
• Carpet cleaner
• Oven cleaner (not that I clean my oven every day!)
• Washing up liquid
In fact the only things that stayed were:
• Moisturiser – I have previously switched to natural coconut oil (see previous post) so this could stay
• Washing liquid and fabric softener – we use ones specially designed for eczema and I can’t mess with my LOs skin so they had to stay
I am not going to name all the brands I use as I don’t want this to be a name and shame game, mainly because nearly everything on the market contains chemicals and therefore it wouldn’t be fair. I will however list the brands, that after much research, I decided were suitable for this chemical ditch and therefore would be my switch for (at least) the week. As a caveat here I am also aware that I could make my own cleaning products and there are several websites and books dedicated to this but as a working mum, with a life, this isn’t really going to happen!
Weleda
Weleda was founded in 1921 and according to its website its aim is to maintain, support and restore human health. What started in 1921 as a pharmaceutical laboratory with its own medicinal plant garden is now a world-leading manufacturer of holistic natural cosmetics and pharmaceuticals for anthroposophical therapy.
Weleda works with 1000s of natural substances to create the full range of toiletry products minus most of the chemicals found in today’s cosmetic and beauty industries. And the chemicals that can still be found, so the brand claims, are naturally found and harnessed chemicals suitable for human consumption (although that doesn’t tell us much given what the food industry classes as suitable these days!). If you visit the Weleda site you will notice one of the company’s proudest values is its history of sustainable business and work within the local communities of those supplying the raw ingredients. This has become a big marketing angle for many cosmetic and toiletry companies and as you would expect testing on animals is a complete NO!
Weleda helpfully makes everything for the body from anti-aging creams through to shampoo, bubble bath and even deodorant. Products are available on many online stores, including Amazon and also from several health food shops. The price compared to the more premium toiletry brands on the market such as L’Oreal and Sanctuary, which of course is fine if they work! I could have bought all of my needs from this one brand but for the sake of research I chose the following products:
• Pomegranate body wash
• Citrus deodorant
• Wild rose anti-aging face cream and eye cream
• Skin food (all-purpose moisturiser)
• Skin cleansing milk and purifying lotion
Avalon Organics
Like Weleda, Avalon Organics also make the full range of toiletries including baby products. All products are made with organic ingredients and according to the company are ‘safe, effective, certified natural body care without synthetic fragrances, phthalates, harsh sulfates or parabens’. The company prides itself on its product sourcing and manufacturing for being fair trade and sustainable. Like Weleda, Avalon has capitalised on its green and natural credentials to include a more ethical and sustainable approach to business.
Like Weleda, the products seemed to be available from several online stores although not as easy to get hold of as Weleda products and seemed comparable in price. From this brand I opted for:
• Rosemary and lavender volumising shampoo and conditioner
I would have liked to try other products from the range but the delivery time and charge was prohibiting for most sites. These were the only products that I could find with cheap delivery and available within a 3-day delivery window.
You will notice I didn’t invest in a whole new set of makeup nor bother with new hair styling products (which I struggled to find a chemical-free alternative) or a different toothpaste. Given that my trial was a week I thought that might be a little drastic to buy expensive new makeup if the products didn’t work. I decided therefore to go without makeup for a week, which has the added benefit of being able to judge any impacts on my skin from the new products. I would however consider swapping to natural makeup if the other products tested lived up to the promise. The hair products were difficult to source and the toothpaste – well that was me just being a chicken plus my dentist has told me that fluoride is important for the teeth and I couldn’t find chemical free fluoride toothpaste– but mainly it was down to not fancying salt toothpaste first thing in the morning! Call me a baby but I just can’t do the whole non-mint toothpaste thing. Check out the blog post about coconut oil and you will see I had enough trouble using that! Besides, having checked out my current toothpaste brand, Sensodyne, it already doesn’t have SLS in it so I felt justified (honest).
Earth Friendly
Many readers of this may think they have the natural cleaning side covered if you use Ecover or Naturally Powered or other such high-street ‘eco brands’. Whilst these are better than the alternatives they do still contain SLS and other chemicals – this was a shock to me too.
Ecover has been around for the last 30 years making household cleaners and products that have a base of natural ingredients. They claim to be able to get rid of your household dirt without harming you, your family or the environment. Ecover is available from major supermarkets and is comparable in price to other household cleaning brands such as Mr Muscle and Tesco’s own label. In this way it is the cheapest and easiest way to cut down the chemicals used in your home. But it is only cutting down and Ecover still uses SLS and other chemical ingredients.
Earth Friendly however is an SLS-free cleaning range (available online including Amazon) that uses only natural ingredients and is free from Petrochemicals, Ammonia, Chlorine, Phosphate, GMOs, Palm Oil, SLS, SLES, Formaldehyde and 1,4 Dioxane. At £4 for the Parsley Plus multi-surface cleaner it is more expensive than the household eco brands and of course is not as readily available!
Testing
The products I chose to test from this range were:
• Multi-purpose spray
• Washing up liquid
I am sure there are many other household cleaning brands that don’t contain harmful chemicals but they are very difficult to identify and get hold of so I was left with just the one to review. If you know of any more please let me know as I would love to try them.
I decided to review the products based on the following criteria:
• Value
• Smell
• Effectiveness
• Would I ditch or switch?
Given the length of this blog I have chosen to review the best and worst of the products to give you an idea of what you can expect if you go chemical free.
Weleda Pomegranate body wash
£8.95 for 200ml
I did think this was quite expensive for a body wash so in terms of value I would say it doesn’t hold up against the cheap high-street brands but then again its ingredients explain the price, with organic oils and fruit extracts instead of the usual menu of unpronounceable chemicals. So expensive but for the sake of your skin probably worth it.
My first impression when it arrived was that it was pleasantly packaged and didn’t look ‘new age’ hippy at all. This continued when I opened the product, which has a really lovely and fruity smell to it – and really does taste ok although I am not sure I would like to eat it! In fact both my LOs love the smell and so did my niece when she visited. Unlike most high-street products it smelt of fruit but the smell didn’t overpower or linger on the skin – it was fresh and natural. So a big tick for smell.
The wash does lather up ok but not masses of bubbles and importantly it does clean. I don’t really know how else to describe its effectiveness other than I still have friends and no one has got up and left the train carriage because I smell – so it works. The best thing is my eldest, who has always had terrible problems with his skin so has never been able to use body washes can use it without any problems and now he feels like a big boy in the shower and smells like a fruit basket before bed. Happy mummy, happy baby.
So in terms of switch or ditch – I have put this on permanent order from Amazon and the whole family use it now, so this is a firm switch!
Weleda Citrus Deodorant
£7.95 for 100g
This product is very expensive for what it is, namely very nicely flavoured water! Don’t get me wrong the smell is lovely and I would use it as a refreshing body spray, but deodorant it isn’t in so much as it does not stop sweating at all (so not an antiperspirant to be precise) and needs constant reapplication to stop the tell-tale smell of sweat appearing mid-morning. So in terms of value this is a big fat zero from me. Not only is it expensive but you need to use far more of it and carry a glass jar around with you all day in order to top up!
The product is lovely to smell though – really fresh like the body wash. I had several comments about the smell of it (thanks to the constant spraying!) and even the hubbie to be liked it. It smells like a lemon tree and would be great on holiday to freshen the skin in hot weather as it is a nice watery spray.
The biggest problem as I have discussed is that it allows sweat free rein, which I know is really good for you (I do Bikram Yoga so I know) and you shouldn’t be afraid of the natural body odour but standing in a boardroom full of peers the last thing you want to do is smell of sweat and have big wet pit stains on your nice white dress! So in terms of effectiveness this is another no from me.
So it sounds like this is a definite ditcher right? Well no. I would still buy it but to use as a body spray in the summer in addition to my normal deodorant. It really does smell fresh and is cool and soothing. It makes an inexpensive perfume for the day time with the added benefit of being free of nasties. So not quite a ditch but no switch.
Other keepers in the Weleda range include skin food (a luxurious moisturiser, really thick and creamy with a delicate fruit smell) which I have replaced my Elemis hand cream with, which in comparison feels watery and greasy. Both are the same price.
A definite ditch is the Wild rose anti-aging cream for face and eyes. Smells nice but I saw no benefits at all, which is unfair in a week and is probably more down to my insecurities about getting older but I just can’t wean myself off my tried and tested Harley Medical Street anti-oxidant face cream, which I love to bits and after years of using it feel happy that it is doing something. So sorry – it probably does work but I am not willing to give it time to find out. That said, I have continued to use it alongside my other moisturiser as a boost (otherwise it’s a waste) and am happy that it hasn’t caused breakouts etc. Anti-aging creams are difficult to judge so if you have found one you like you may as well stick to it as I am not sure any of them really work – only time will tell! Another clear ditch was the Weleda skin cleansing lotion – this is watery and did not make my skin feel clean at all. Whilst I haven’t had a breakout because of it I didn’t like the greasy feeling it left on my skin.
Avalon Organics Rosemary volumising shampoo and conditioner
£16 for 2 x100ml
I have always used hair products from the hairdressers and currently use Nioxin thickening shampoo and conditioner, which is more expensive than this so I wasn’t put off by the price – if it works! So value ok.
There isn’t really a smell to it, which I was surprised at as I thought, like the Weleda products it would smell more flowery or herby but it really doesn’t smell of anything in particular. This isn’t the end of the world as it doesn’t smell bad either but in terms of smell I can’t really rate it.
I wash my hair every day due to the exercise I do therefore my products needs to be gentle. I also have very fine hair so even more reason to be gentle and not weigh my fine tresses down. This was always going to be a difficult sell as, like my face cream, my current brand is tried and tested and I am very happy with its results however I was pleasantly surprised that after a few washes my hair felt softer and my scalp cleaner. Whilst my hair wasn’t any thicker – or at least noticeably, it did feel in good condition. The shampoo lasted well but the conditioner is very thick (although not heavy) and therefore went quite quickly. Neither product lathered up therefore I felt as if I needed to use more than I would normally and so the bottles probably didn’t stretch as far. However given the price of it and the fact that I now have short hair so the thickness element isn’t so important, I am willing to switch this. So another success for the chemical-free brand wagon.
Next up the Earth Friendly cleaning products.
Multi-purpose spray £2.50 for 500ml
Washing up liquid £3.20 for 750ml
Both of these products are pricey compared to other ‘eco brands’ such as Ecover and they didn’t stretch any further so for value they probably don’t match up.
Both had a pleasant and natural smell but if you like that bleach clean smell these are not for you.
In terms of effectiveness the washing up liquid did lather up quite well and I didn’t noticeably use more to get the dishes clean. It struggled with some of the more ground in (or burnt in, in some cases!) dirt on pans and oven trays but no more than some cheaper washing up liquids and just required further soaking.
The multi-purpose cleaner did remove debris and food stains from surfaces and I was confident enough to use it on the LOs highchair without fear of food poisoning. In fact it was nice using it on a surface and knowing it wouldn’t taint food with a chemical residue. For more stubborn food stains it did need more product and a bit of elbow grease to get the surface clean but with effort it really was a multi-purpose cleaner.
I am not really emotionally tied to household cleaning products. I did miss the really clean smell and therefore security that the more bleach-based products deliver and I am not sure I would extend the brand to areas such as the toilet where elbow grease is the last thing on my mind but I am happy to switch these two products and see how it goes.
So what is my overall conclusion after this week of trying to live without chemicals (and failing in some cases)? Some things worked better than others but overall, and this could be a smug ‘look how healthy I am’ placebo but my skin and hair looked and felt softer and healthier. My home didn’t get infested with flies or ants and whilst at first I missed the strong smells associated with my previous brands I soon got used to the delicate and natural smells of the products and the impact on my home and body. I was happy to switch most products, which I am hoping will have a positive effect on all of my family’s skin but there were some that I just couldn’t say goodbye to – mainly out of vanity! I guess the best and biggest impact this week has had has been on my son who now feels like he has entered the world of the grown-ups with his own shower gel, rather than having to use his eczema emollient and for this I am thankful.
Living chemical-free, whether it is in your food, your home or on your body is difficult. Most things manufactured is done so with added ingredients to either preserve or enhance the product and we are far from the days when we had the time, resources or inclination to make everything from scratch. However personally just being aware of what is in things has helped me make better choices and I hope this will one day impact on the quality of my family’s life.
You only live life once, but if you live it well once is enough.
Namaste
a peace of my life 