A Greener Life

California Baby Overtired & Cranky bubble bath

My toddler has struggled with eczema for as long as I can remember. There have been red, rashy patches behind her knees since she was a tiny baby–I was told it was environmental and some kids just have it. I have faithfully applied Cetaphil lotion after every bath (every other day), have avoided overbathing her, have avoided using steriod cream to keep her from itching…it just seemed like it would never get better.  I’ve been using what I thought was the simplest, mildest bubble bath available.  Oh, how I am a sucker for advertising and a cheap pricetag.

While in Target recently, my eye was caught by the “Overtired and Cranky” (heh) label on the California Baby bubble bath and thought despite the $13 commitment that I’d give it a shot.

And wouldn’t you know–after a week and two or three baths, no more “eczema,” which I’m guessing was actually a skin allergy to the chemicals in cheap soap. No red patches. No more waking up itching. No more “Mommy, itchhhhyyyy!” Completely gone! An added irony is that in the product description for this great stuff, it says, “California Baby® non-drying (extremely) biodegradable gentle bubble bath strictly avoids the use of synthetic fragrances and harsh bubbling agents. This product was developed to avoid irritation (that is typical of other bubble baths), and we never use Sodium lauryl sulfate, DEA, or numbing agents.” I believe it!

Big, huge thumbs up to California Baby. Thank you and you’ve got a customer for life.

I recently ran out of my regular detergent (Kirkland’s Environmentally Friendly Laundry Detergent) and purchased Method‘s Squeaky Green, a 3x concentrated laundry soap that promised me a “plant-based formula tough on stains, easy on clothes and gentle on the planet.” 64 loads for $14.99 isn’t wonderful, but I’ll try nearly anything that promises such greatness. That, and I’ve been happy with other Method products that I’ve tried.

Let me back up a minute and say that I am a fan of the no-scent detergent. I also don’t like not really knowing what goes into my soaps, so for a while my husband, Myk, and I made our own laundry detergent until I just gave up. I didn’t find our clothes to be cleaner (they actually weren’t really getting as clean as with regular detergent…and with a kid, I want those clothes CLEAN), I hated chopping up bar soap in my food processor, Myk thought I was a big hippie, it was messy, and if you get the borax and the Ivory mixed up well…you’re screwed (they’re both white, after all). After an incident where my mom accidentally mixed the two, I threw it all out.

When it comes to scent, this stuff just smells like plain ol’ soap, nothin’ fancy. I can live with that.

Method conveniently also makes dryer sheets so you vegetarians/vegans out there don’t have to feel guilty about the animal fats often used in other conventional dryer sheets. Gross, I know, but knowledge is key to making the right decisions. What do you think?

I feel like I am one of those people that is CONSTANTLY buying shampoo, conditioner, and soap/body wash. I don’t even wash my hair everyday. However, I am kind of a sucker for specific skin treatments–for example, I have a regular body wash, an exfoliating body wash, and a body wash to keep away acne (I’ll save that topic for another post), a baby body wash, a baby bubble bath…you get the idea. But recently I felt the need to simplify and simultaneously, look at whether the ingredients in my current products could be harmful. Additionally, I figure that if I’m simplifying, I might as well go organic…so I took the leap.

365 Everyday Value Shampoo (image courtesy of Whole Foods)

I would rather purchase something under $5, . So, I bought Whole Foods‘ 365 Everyday Value body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.  I don’t think any one bottle was over $2.99, so it’s truly a good value.  The only thing that would make it better is if I could refill the bottles in the bulk aise…but I’ll just keep dreaming.  They use essential oils to scent what appears to be really simple formulas, so everything smells good in addition to gettin’ the job done, so that’s good.

So, what are the benefits to using organic shampoo? From what I’ve been able to find, the most important being the avoidance of sodium lauryl sulfate. While this stuff isn’t a carcinogen, it’s been found to cause skin, eye, and tooth irritation (it’s used in toothpaste sometimes). Some sources even refer to it as a poison.  I am saddened to learn that my Target brand body wash, Johnson’s bedtime bath, Neutrogena Clean Shampoo, and perhaps most sad is Cetaphil cleanser (good acne products are hard to find!)–all of these have SLS. Guess I’ll be dumping these and recycling the bottles. From what I’ve found our Aveeno baby products are SLS-free (but not all Aveeno products are–I noticed that this “Active Naturals” shampoo has ammonium lauryl sulfate, a similar skin irritant, in their ingredients). I’m honestly afraid to look at my Proactiv products…I really don’t want to ditch those.

On my list to try are Kiss My Face and Avalon Organics (we’re already using their tea tree shampoo, but I’m open to more options). Any other suggestions?