Avoiding Chemicals....what do I do??

I am still trying to make better choices with my health care products because so many of the chemicals used in soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc.... are not good for those of us with hormone positive breast cancer.  Several months ago I threw out everything in my bathroom - literally and bought all new safer products.  At the time it was extremely overwhelming and I tried to figure out what to buy but I am not sure I made the right choices.  Now I am revisiting that whole topic and trying to research what products are OK to use and what chemicals I need to avoid.

In my recent reading, I came across this article: http://cincovidas.com/toxic-truth/ingredients-to-avoid-in-personal-care-products/ and I instantly became overwhelmed.  The article has a lot of information in it, but it is pretty thorough and lists so many chemicals that should be avoided.   There were so many things beyond parabens and sulfates.  I really had no idea there were that many bad things in make up and body care products.  After I read the list, I went to the bathroom and got my body care products and make up and started to see how many of these bad chemicals are in what I thought were safer products.  Well after reviewing my make up alone I realized that I need to go shopping for new make up again!  Some of my items were O.K., but some of them contain chemicals listed in the article that should be avoided.  So I am headed to an organic make up shop next week to see what I can come up with.  I have a feeling this is going to get expensive!!  I am bringing a print out of the article with me so I can be sure I am avoiding all of those evil chemicals!  I was happy that the Tarte mascara I have been using does not contain the bad chemicals.  That was a bonus.  I don't go anywhere without mascara!

Throwing everything out

Now that I have realized how bad most make up, body care products, shampoo, etc...is for me, I have been on a binge to get rid of anything bad in my house.  What a huge task and an expensive one at that! Lord! 

Yesterday I went in my bathroom and pulled everything out of the cabinet.  I got a garbage bag and just started throwing everything away.  I read the labels on everything and realized that all my products contain parabens and sulfates which are not good for me.  I threw out shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, deep conditioner, deodorant, body lotion, bubble bath, soap, make up, moisturizers and more.  All I can say is "cha-ching".  I threw away so much yesterday - the bag was full.  I would hate to add up how much money all that stuff was worth.  I guess I am better off not knowing or telling my husband!

I replaced my make up with Physican's Formula Organic make up and Aveda make up products.  I switched my shampoos and conditioners to the Organix line and Burt's Bee's products. I also got Burt's Bees body lotion, hand lotion and tinted lip balms (instead of lipstick).  Then I switched body soap to the Jason brand which is also organic.  I now have Aveda Be Curly hair gel for curly days and Giovanni hair straightener for straight hair days.  There is even a Giovanni organic hairspray which I don't like too well, but it will do for now.  I did get some other hair gels made by the Organix brand that are made from Moroccan oil and coconut oils.  The deodorant of choice is Bubble and Bee that I ordered online a few weeks ago.  My bathroom is paraben, sulfate and chemical free now!  What a relief!

Now I have to move on to my son's bathroom and my husband's health care products.  I don't want them using the crappy stuff either.  I did get my son the Burt's Bees' no tears baby shampoo today while I was out.  Now I need to find a body wash and body lotion for my son.  I think I will run to Meijer or Target this week and see what else they have for organic and chemical free products.  They had a lot of choices last time I was there.  I also need to find hand soaps for all the bathrooms that are chemical free and then I move on to cleaning products.  I will have to switch out so many things to remove these bad chemicals from our house, but it's worth the effort to me.  I know it's not good for me or my family.  I can only imagine how much it is going to run me for all the remaining soaps and cleaning products.  I guess it's all part of the process of breast cancer.

My make up and deoderant are killing me....

The more I read, the more I freak out.  I have been reading about all of the bad substances that put in all types of health care products that are not friendly for people like me with breast cancer.  So now I realize in addition to changing everything I eat, I have to change my health care products.  Geez!  Anything else?

So today I have been online researching aluminum free deodorant.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Who knew that not wanting to smell could be bad for my breast cancer.  I have been reading reviews of these metal free deodorants and trying to find one that looks like it may work well.  It seems like there are a lot of choices, but most of the reviews say they don't really work.  That's encouraging - not only do I have breast cancer, but I will now stink too!

After my reading of all the information I could find, I ordered some deodorant off the Internet.  Isn't that crazy?  I ordered something called Pitt Putty from Bubble and Bee which makes all organic health care products.  I would have never guessed that a stick of deodorant would cost $10 plus shipping.  Just nuts!  I hope it works.   I am sitting here in my own stink waiting for my new deodorant in the mail.  Ugh!

So now I must move on to the rest of my health care products.  That means soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, hand lotion, lip balm, make up and hairspray.  This is going to get expensive.  I can tell.  I never knew that there was organic health care products.  I guess I just never thought about it.  I talked to my sister who uses a lot of organic things and she pointed me in the right direction.  So this weekend I have a whole shopping list!

The other thing is vitamins.  Yes, many vitamins contain soy which is a big "no-no" for me!  So I also have to pitch my vitamins and get soy free vitamins.  Who knew?  I know much of this sounds extreme to some.  I don't care though.  I just want all of the crap out of my body!  I just want to do the things I can when I can so that when I can't control that things are organic I won't worry about it. 

I guess at some point maybe I will be in some type of routine with all of this.  For now it seems overwhelming to research all of these new products and find things that will work for me.  I know that when I do go shopping it will be a four hour adventure as I stand in the aisle reading every stinking label to determine if the product is chemical free or not.  That combined with grocery shopping should be completely exhausting.  Oh what fun....