The long and winding road

Over the next few posts I want to share how I came to the realization that the commercial industry is toxic and how I am making my life more simple and natural.  It has sort of been a roller coaster for me, but I think I've found my way.  I remember when I was a kid I had the Tom's of Maine strawberry toothpaste.  I didn't know or think anything of it, I just remember using it and that it tasted good.  Then, fast forward, I'm in high school and my parents and I head to Kennebunk, to the Tom's of Maine store to buy toothpaste there because you could get it pretty cheap and we liked it a lot better than commercial toothpaste.  This is where I discovered Burt's Bees.  I thought to myself, huh, I can actually read these ingredients!  Of course, this was before Burt's Bees became another "natural" or "organic" commercial product...  Anyway, I used their orange face wash and facial scrub, which actually worked great on my skin and it felt and looked better.  I used their famous lip balm as well and tried some of the other products.  Then for some reason, I stopped caring and started using products from Walmart and Bath and Body Work and Avon, because they smelled good!  Which, I'm not denying them that, the stuff smells great, but you need a magnifying glass to try and read all the ingredients on those bottles, and you ought to have a dictionary handy too.  I mean, what girl doesn't love to smell good!?  But at what price? 

So, I'm out of college and living on my own and I'm slowly starting to learn more about organic food and also becoming very interested in cooking and the culinary profession.  My parents had been using Dr. Bronner's peppermint castile soap, which is fairly natural and not full of toxic ingredients, so I'm looking back into checking out the ingredients on my products and slowly becoming more interested in this. 

This is where it really kicks into gear for me.  About 3 or 4 years ago, I learn from my Mother that the ingredients "petrolatum" or anything else petroleum, which is in most lotions and lip products is just oil (we know this already), BUT doing more research they have found petroleum oil in womens' breasts and it has been linked to cancer.  So, looking at all my fancy smelly lotions, petrolatum is one of the first few ingredients and I've been putting it on my body for how many years??? I also learned form a Dr. Oz post that the average woman consumes about 7 POUNDS of that shiny, pretty lip balm and gloss we love so much that also has petrolatum in the first couple of ingredients.  Hear that ladies?  YOU'VE BEEN EATING OIL.  How many burgers can you get out of 7 pounds of hamburger?   Well, 1/4 pound is the average burger, so 28 burgers.  28 OIL burgers.  Yum. 

So take a look at your fancy lotions and shiny glosses to see if you find petroleum in them.  Let me know what you find!  Then, chuck it. Please.