In my journey to a non-toxic life, I’ve learned more and more about products and how good or bad they are for you and trying to incorporate healthy items into my daily routine- this was definitely a year of growth.
I have touched on my journey to a non-toxic life on Instagram through joining Young Living in June, but living a non-toxic life doesn’t necessarily mean you need to join an organization or shell out hundreds of dollars on oils. It means being educated and making an informed decision based on research you or someone you trust has done.
As a dietitian, we are taught to read labels and ingredients and eat whole real foods that will support and nourish our bodies, never did I think that what goes ON our bodies is just as important as what goes IN our bodies! Who knew that the synthetic fragrances, dyes, and toxic chemicals that are in every single product we use every single day (probably multiple times a day) could be carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and allergy inducers!? NOT ME! And who knew that the products which are marketed as “All Natural” or “Healthy” were actually far from it (I’m looking at you, Mrs. Meyers!) So I did something about it. Slowly but surely I made the switch to non-toxic products, and although I’m not fully switched over, I made a nice sized dent. In this post (after the longest intro ever) I will tell you what I’m using, what I switched, and how I’m liking it!
I started thinking about switching over in May/June 2018. I remember seeing more and more things pop up on my social media about toxic products and their affect on the body etc. So I did my research, and what I found was alarming. I downloaded the Think Dirty app and discovered that 90% of the products that I use were rated an 8 or more (0 is the cleanest and 10 is basically cancer in a bottle) which was really eye opening! Synthetic fragrance is in literally everything from laundry detergent to body wash and hand lotion and it’s one of the worst things you can put on your body… Seriously. So I started with soap.
- Produce wash. I have an apple every single day (Envy apples from TJs are the best things ever created) and I wash my apple, and all my other fruits and veggies, with hand soap… I stopped that pretty quick once I found to how bad soap is! Loaded with synthetic fragrance and other chemicals that are really bad for us! So I made my very first DIY fruit and veggie soap. A simple combination of 2Tbsp. Dr. Bronners Unscented Castille Soap and 2c. water (you’ll need a foaming pump soap dispenser too!) and it works amazingly well!
- Hand soap. Right before I joined young living, I started doing all this research on oils and what they can be used for. I found that their Thieves line is better than most household cleaners at getting rid of germs and cleaning the house. I then discovered that this same oil that the cleaner is based off of can be added to a generic soap to give it extra cleaning power! So that was my second DIY: homemade thieves hand soap! I used an 8oz foaming soap dispenser and filled it about half way with Dr. Bronners Unscented Castille Soap, approximately 2 tablespoons of oil (I used coconut oil mostly, but I have used sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil), and 15-20 drops of thieves essential oil. I’ll also add 3-5 drops of lemon essential oil and/or 1-3 drops of oregano essential oil. I switch out between this DIY soap and the thieves soap from YL. You don’t HAVE to use young living products tho. Just be sure you read your labels, check the Environmental Working Groups (EWG) website, or use the think dirty app (I know their loyalties have changes so their information might not be as correct as it used to be so double checking against the EWG site might be worth it). Start with eliminating fragrance as an ingredient!
- Household cleaner. A sample of the thieves cleaner concentrate comes in the young living starter kit, so if you sign up with them or just want to buy a bottle before you sign up you can try it out! It smells absolutely incredible!!! I’ve made so many people bottles of cleaner and they all love the scent. But again, you don’t have to use young living to get clean products into your home. My cousin used Branch Basics and loved it, but she wound up switching to Thieves and likes it better! Brands that boast a cleaner more natural product are usually laden with chemical and synthetic fragrances that can make you sick, as opposed to non-toxic products that will support your body and can help your immune system. If you have kids you know they touch literally everything and then put their hands in their mouths. With a non-toxic cleaner you don’t have to worry about your kids potentially ingesting something toxic because, well, it’s non-toxic!
- Face Wash. My face wash was one of the first things I looked up on the ThinkDirty app all those months ago and I remember being SHOCKED that it was rated an 8! I used Purpose face wash for years, it had been recommended to me by my dermatologist and I loved it. I saw Becca Bristow did a DIY face wash so I decided to give it a try. I had all of the ingredients, and while I did like it, it didn’t blow me away- probably just wasn’t right for my oily skin type. Next I tried The Orange Blossom Face Wash from Young Living and WOW! Again, if the simple DIY works for you, thats great! Stop there. I knew I needed something different for my skin though. After using the orange blossom for a day, my skin was softer, after using it for a week, my texture was GONE! Texture that I just thought was a part of my face. I was very impressed, to say the least. It smells incredible, yet very mild and I don’t think I will ever use anything else on my skin!
I have a few more conventional products that I am in the process of switching out, so I will update you when I find products that I love and can vet!
If you want to try out any young living products, be sure to use my link HERE, so I can send you some goodies when you place your order! Again, you don’t need to use YL products to start to live a non-toxic life, I have just been loving everything I have tried from them so far!
In the meantime, have you started switching out your products to live a non-toxic life? I would love to hear what you are using and what works for you!
