If you’ve changed your eating habits and want to take the next step into clean living, you may want to consider canning all the toxic junk in your hygiene supplies in favor of things that have cleaner ingredients.
Deodorant
While the thought that aluminum in deodorant can cause cancer has been debunked, some people do find it irritating to the sensitive skin of their armpits. People can get itching, redness, or rashes associated with using antiperspirants, sometimes developing with brands they’ve been using for years. Aluminum and/or baking soda is the culprit of these skin irritations in many cases. If you decide you want to try something a little more skin friendly, there are a lot of brands touting natural deodorants. Schmidt’s has a plethora of choices without aluminum or artificial fragrances. Their sensitive line doesn’t contain baking soda. Native has aluminum free and some baking soda free, also without artificial fragrances. They have deodorant lines specifically targeted for men, women, and teens. Secret offers a rosewater scented variety free of aluminum, parabens, and dyes.
Toothpaste
If you’re trying to get back to the basics and practice good hygiene while leaving all the extra artificial gunk behind, you might want to look into changing toothpastes. Tom’s of Maine has a variety of natural toothpastes to choose from, including peppermint flavored activated charcoal that contains naturally derived fluoride. Burt’s Bees peppermint whitening toothpaste is fluoride-free, whitens without peroxide, and boasts not having any artificial sweeteners.
Hair care
If you’ve noticed your scalp is a little itchy without signs of dandruff, or your hair is just looking a little limp, you may want to try ditching sulfates, silicones, and parabens from your haircare routine. Sulfates can strip your hair and make it dry. Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle shampoo is free of both Parabens and sulfates. Parabens are a cheap preservative that can act like estrogen in the body sometimes. Pantene offers sulfate-free Miracle Boost shampoo for dry hair. Verb Volume shampoo is free of harsh sulfates and paraben, it’s also gluten free. Silicones are added to conditioners to make hair soft, but unfortunately, they build up and require sulfates to be removed. Herbal Essences sells silicone-free White Charcoal conditioner. If you’re in need of a moisture bomb, Shea Moisture offers a silicone-free Miracle Masque.
Soap
Hand washing is important, but some soaps can contain an ingredient called triclosan. The FDA says, “Some short-term animal studies have shown that exposure to high doses of triclosan is associated with a decrease in the levels of some thyroid hormones.” If your soap contains the ingredient, it will be listed on the label under drug facts. Method hand soap and body wash is available at many retailers including Target. Method doesn’t use triclosan or paraben. Amazon has a variety of triclosan free soaps to choose from.
Living clean isn’t always about what you put into your body, but also what you choose to put on it every day. Toxic things can be absorbed through your skin or cause a variety of irritations just from sitting on your skin. Switching to cleaner hygiene products can help you feel better.
