To continue my natural beauty product expedition, I turned to the products I was putting on my skin and what they contained. When I looked deeper via ewg.org I was shocked. Most of the products rated at an 8 or above, which is very poor. Many of the chemicals my products contained had effects on ‘allergies and immunotoxicity’ which is exactly what I need to be wary of! Several had effects on ‘developmental and reproductive toxicity’ as well. Not cool man! It was clear I needed to switch. Off I went researching blogs and reviews on various brands of body wash, lotion, tooth paste and deodorant. I got a new body wash when I got my shampoo and conditioner at Whole Foods, and was in love with it, until recently. More on that later when I get to the deodorant portion (a little foreshadowing for you…)

When I was in Whole Foods (not the best place for buying beauty products, rather expensive, but it’s what I had at the time) I was in the lotion section for about 30 minutes. It’s a hard choice! I ended up with Desert Essence Fragrance Free Soothing Body Lotion. So far, I love this lotion. It has a slight scent to it, almost coconutty and is very thick and nourishing. I wanted fragrance free everything, since fragrance is the main chemical that is listed as something that has an effect on ‘allergies and immunotoxicity’. I’ve used it for a few weeks now and have had no issues at all.

When picking out toothpaste, I definitely did more online research before deciding on a brand or two to go with. I picked out Desert Essence (I swear I didn’t do this on purpose!) and also Earthpaste. Both got good reviews and positive EWG ratings. When I was in the store, I picked out DE to try first. I got the Natural Tea Tree Oil Ultra Care, Mega Mint variety. I think ‘Mega Mint’ is a bit of a misnomer, because it’s not all that minty. It’s much more of a subtle mint if you ask me. However, I do really like it. My teeth feel like a toned down version of the dentist office after I brush, and they definitely look whiter. Next time I probably will try the Earthpaste just for comparison.

Now. For deodorant. The really tricky part so far. I first got Desert Essence (yes, again) to try in their Tropical smell. It smelled lovely, but it didn’t work so great. I really wanted it to, but it didn’t for me. I also felt a bit sticky. So I switched to Jason and again, the same issue, not working so great. Part way through the day, I kinda smell a bit funky. I reached out to some people in my Facebook group and asked them if they have had luck with natural deodorants, and most suggested milk of magnesia! imagine that. So that is on the agenda next. But! I thought of something the other morning. What if my lovely body wash isn’t cutting it in the first place and setting my deodorant up to fail? How bad would that be. So I tested it out. I used my ‘regular’ body wash that I still had lying around, then tried the natural deodorant. Worked MUCH better. So, I think I’m onto something. It’s not necessaritly the deodorant, but the body wash as well. Lesson for the day? Always find the root cause! and keep digging.

I’ll be looking for another body wash, which is unfortunate. I enjoyed the passion fruit smell of this one. I’ll keep posting my adventures in Naturale land as well!