Going natural – a sensible choice
by Michelle Groulx
The average woman uses 10 – 20 personal care products daily. That adds up to nearly five pounds of harmful chemicals a year, including: carcinogens, pesticides, endocrine disrupters and reproductive toxins. David Suzuki wrote a great post about the “dirty dozen” toxic chemical ingredients in cosmetics to avoid – get to know these.
How to go natural, sensibly
First, don’t believe any product at face value with a name like “organics”, “herbal”, “botanics”, “organix”, “naturals” and so on. That is just a name, and chances may be, that’s where the natural part stops.
Second, just like food, read the ingredients label and know what you are consuming (absorbing in this case). If you can understand what you are reading, you are in a good place. A helpful free app is Think Dirty. Just enter the product name and find out how toxic that product is. They are growing their database so if you don’t see that product don’t worry, just read the label.
Third, a good choice is to stick with 100% vegan products. I mean, who wants to slather animal bits on their body, anyway. There are hundreds of brands out there you can choose from.
Fourth, look to your kitchen. There are many DIYs for home and body available. Try cleaning your face with olive oil (no joke, oil removes oil), use coconut oil to shave your legs, armpits, etc; try a lip stain with beets or pomegranates (watch your fingers)—there are lots of DIY’s out there, just Google it–and have fun.
You don’t have to go 100% natural overnight, but every step closer you take means one less harmful product on your body.
Good luck!
About Michelle Groulx and DEMES:
- Michelle is an Ottawa native, a business marketing grad, and ‘mompreneur’, who in 2011 turned a longtime hobby into a family business, DEMES.
- Demes is a maker of natural, safe, non-toxic products for everyday life.
- DEMES is certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny and is a partner of Humane Society International in the #BeCrueltyFree campaign