A soaptacular review

With all the natural and safe soap bars out there, it's surprising to me that people are still choosing conventional, toxin-laced bars and liquids for showering and hand washing. Really? With 60% of what you put on your skin being absorbed into your body, tell me why anyone would choose to put possible carcinogens, hormone disruptors and other poisons into their systems? And did you know there is a possible link between Triclosan and resistance to antibiotics? Lovely. But all the natural choices make it difficult at times to pick the right soaps for your family. Some of them are a bit pricey, especially if you order online and have to add shipping.

That's just one of the reasons I love the soaps from Wise Wife Soaps -- they are inexpensive. Just $3/bar plus a reasonable s/h fee ($2 to ship a bar to my house, $2.29 for three). Katie Ann, founder of Wise Wife Soaps, is a Proverbs 31:30 woman. Her wisdom shines through in her blog posts about things like triclosan and sodium laureth sulfate, the chemical that makes conventional soaps so bubbly. She gets it. That's why I trust her.

Katie Ann contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in reviewing some of her soaps and hosting a giveaway. Of course, I replied. So, she sent me the soaps, at no charge of course, and here are my thoughts on them.

First, I loved the packaging. Festive cloth sacks with sparkly red dots, a white ribbon and a red tag with handwritten ingredients listed on one side. The ingredients impressed me. For example, on the delightly cinnamon-scented Christmas Soap, the ingredients are saponified olive oil, vitamin E, pine needle, balsam fir and cinnamon oils. That's it. Simple, safe and fragrant.

I also loved the scent of the Lemon Drops soap (Saponified olive oil, vitamin E, lemongrass and lemon essential oils). The night after I received the package from Wise Wife Soaps, I crawled into a hot bath with a novel and my new bar of soap. I expected to enjoy the novel. I didn't expect to enjoy the soap quite so much.

I am one who enjoys the shape of soaps. I don't like big bricks of soap. They're awkward to hold and there's nothing pleasurable about washing with them. While I have rectangles of soap in my home, because most natural soaps are shaped that way), I have to tell you how much I enjoyed holding this round muffin-shaped soap in the palm of my hand. As I started washing my arms, I couldn't believe the luxurious feeling of this soap. It was soft and smooth and so delicately scented that I just kept washing myself over and over. It felt that wonderful! I honestly could have used the whole bar if I'd allowed myself and if the water wouldn't have eventually chilled to the point of being uncomfortable! This is amazing soap. Truly.

I must admit, however, that I do not like the scent of the third bar she sent me). The Aloe and E soap reminded me of turpentine somehow. Maybe it was the eucalyptus and tea tree oil combo that didn't work for me, but my husband had no problem with it and told me I was nuts when I said what it reminded me of. He's enjoying using the soap himself.

Wise Wife Soaps only has four formulas at this point, with the fourth one being a Peppermint and Lavender soap which I am anxious to try.

You can find out more about Wise Wife Soaps on Facebook or check out the blog or website.

Now, of course, here comes the fun part! The giveaway! The gift basket includes: 8 soaps (2 Christmas, 2 lavender and peppermint, 2 peppermint and vanilla twist, and 2 Lemon) 3 bath puffs, and 1 loofa, plus a $25.00 gift certificate!

Just check out the Rafflecopter below to enter. The contest is open to residents of the U.S. only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer: The opinions in this post are just that... opinions. Always do additional research whenever any medical information is shared on a blog or website.

Hand sanitizer and deodorant -- non-toxic and up for grabs

I'll start off today's Review It Wednesday with an automatic 2 green thumbs up!

A few weeks ago, while taking a break from my booth at the Allegheny Green & Innovation Festival, I stopped by a booth with a variety of wonderful natural toxin-free products. I asked if they ever give away products for review, and to make a long story short, I walked away with two products to try.

When I returned to my booth, my daughter, Bethany, saw what I had and, without my reviewing it yet, went over and purchased the DEO deodorant. So, I'll start with that.

I love the tag line for DEO -- "Only perfection for your pits!™"

I chose Jasmine and Bethany bought Eucalyptus. Both of us, as well as my husband, love this deodorant! The 2.0 oz. solid bar costs $11 and is so worth it. Of course, I received mine for free in exchange for this review. But that in no way influenced my decision to give it 2 green thumbs up! And in this case, add my husband's thumbs and Bethany's thumbs, and the DEO deodorant gets 6 thumbs up altogether! I guess that means we like it! We really like it.

"Sometimes when I go to bed, I can still smell the eucalyptus," Bethany told me. And I can honestly say that since we started using this deodorant daily, we haven't experience any bad odors from sweating. Keep in mind, this is a deodorant and not an antiperspirant.

The ingredient list on the Jasmine deodorant includes:

• grapeseed oil
• canedelillia wax 
• apricot kernel oil
• virgin wheatgerm oil
• jasmine wax
• organic rosehip seed oil
• tocopherol
• essential oils of cypress, clove, cinnamon, peppermint, lavender, lemon, bergamot and geranium

It smells wonderful. And it works. And Green Grandma highly recommends it for both men and women. You can purchase it on the WRRYFree SkinCare website or enter to WIN some below!

But wait. There's more! (Sorry, just had to add the infomercial touch).

I was also given a 4 oz. bottle of Climb On! Products Hand Sanitizer ($8.50) and love it as well! This essential oil-based, non-toxic sanitizer had a delightful aroma and it really softens my hands when I use it. Of course, the added bonus is that there is no triclosan in it (always a plus). But there is isopropyl alcohol as the active ingredient. The botanical active ingredients are:

• certified organic aloe vera gel
• lemon essential oil
• cinnamon essential oil

Like I said, it is delightfully scented, which I love because I tend to have so much trouble breathing around many of the commercial hand sanitizers, like the ones from Bath & Body Works. I can almost feel an instant asthma attack when I'm exposed to many of them.

The downside of this particular hand sanitizer, however, is the size of the bottle. It's not exactly purse sized. I'm just keeping mine in my car so I have something available to clean my hands after pumping gas, grocery shopping, or even attending church and shaking a bunch of hands. I'm counting on this to help keep me healthy during cold and flu season. And you can enter to win a bottle, too!

Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will run from October 17th through midnight (EST) October 22nd. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 23rd and will have 48 hours to respond.  

  a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer: This is giveaway and is in no way affiliated with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Pinterest. I was given these products at no charge. However, that did not influence my review. The opinions stated in my reviews are just that... opinions. Individuals may have different responses and results when using these products. Since Rafflecopter is a fair and nondiscriminatory winner-selection widget, friends and family members are eligible to win this prize. Entries will be verified.

Thursday's Truths and Tidbits

I hate cancer.

Later today, we'll be going to my daughter's mother-in-law's viewing. She just turned 51 in the middle of June. Now she's gone. Cancer ate away at her until she could no longer fight it. And, plainly speaking, that sucks.

Cancer. That insidious disease that just worms its way in and wreaks havoc wherever it goes. Yet we still don't seem to get it. We surround ourselves with carcinogens and we joke about it, "Well, I'm gonna die sometime." Yeah, real funny.

For the most part, I've come to accept that we cannot rid our lives of carcinogens and other toxins completely. After all, no matter what we do in our own homes, once we step foot outside, we're exposed.

We eat at a restaurant on a table that's been cleaned with bleach. We go to the restroom and breathe in air freshener with naphthalene. We wash our hands with antibacterial soap with triclosan. We work in office buildings or schools full of formaldehyde and other toxins. Our neighbors douse their yards with Roundup. The list goes on and on. And on and on. And it's enough to make us ... well ... sick!

Recently, my husband and I stayed at a B&B. It was lovely, until I laid my head down on the pillow and breathed in a nice whiff of fabric softener!! Gasp. Gag. Gross.

We can't get away from it. Do you know why they label something as a carcinogen? Because it's been proven to cause cancer. What part of that do people not get?????

Do not use toxic shampoos on your baby's tender scalp. Do not use sunscreens on your kids that are high on the list of toxins on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Be a responsible parent and check these things out. Don't just assume that they are safe because they have the words "gentle" or "natural" or "safe for baby" on them. Advertisers lie. The FDA does not have your best interest in mind. Every day we learn of more and more hazardous products that the FDA deemed safe.

And while I'm on a rant ... it's about those stupid pink ribbons. I'm all for research. I'm all for finding a cure. What I'm not for is the fact that they slap the pink ribbons on anything that will accept them, without checking to see if any of the ingredients cause cancer ... and many of them do. There are no words.

Parents -- you have to be proactive in keeping your kids safe. Can you protect them completely from carcinogens? Unfortunately, no. But you can do your best, and I encourage you to do just that. For many of us, like my daughter's mother-in-law, it's too late. We are part of a generation that didn't know any better. We embraced innovation without regards to potential dangers. We ditched natural products for ones laden with chemicals we couldn't pronounce because they promised better results. Yikes.

You have some choices. Use them wisely.

And that's it for today's truths and tidbits. Any thoughts?

Pass me the hand sanitizer...NOT!

Don’t you love those purse-sized hand sanitizers? Ever since the threat of H1N1 hit the news, more and more people have been relying on them to keep their families germ-free. Coupled with anti-bacterial soaps, we’re all feeling a bit more secure.

But did you know that one of the common ingredients in hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps can cause damage to your liver and kidneys? Not only that, but triethanolamine may also be a culprit in the rise of super-strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Not good. Not good at all.

Triclosan is another ingredient you want to avoid, as it’s been linked to the dioxin, a highly carcinogenic chemical that can lead to a variety of health problems, including:

• Decreased fertility
• Altered sex hormones
• Birth defects
• Cancer

In addition, exposure to triclosan can actually weaken the immune system, making you, and your little ones, more susceptible to infection.

This discovery is seriously bumming me out. I, personally, love the little hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works and use them religiously. I even handed them out as a favor at my daughter, Jessica’s baby shower. And my currently pregnant daughter, Bethany, is always popping a bottle out of her purse to ward off the germs.

What should you do? Well, once again, I’m going to steer you toward essential oils for a natural alternative to chemically-laden anti-bacterial products, some of which are showing promising results at fighting off germs and killing off bacteria, viruses and staff.

Shop for soaps that contain essential oils, yet do not have the terrible Ts (triethanolamine and triclosan) listed with the ingredients. Here I go again, touting the benefits of eucalyptus oil, but its antimicrobial properties are natural and effective. Look for citrus oils, cinnamon leaf, clove bud, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, tea tree and/or thyme.

The key to killing germs is frequent hand washing and it’s never too early to teach your children that.

For a list of brand name products containing triclosan, visit Grinning Planet. This comprehensive list includes not only soaps, but children’s toys, kitchenware and more.

Keeping it green and healthy,

Hana

There are some companies who produce hand sanitizers without the use of the triclosan or triethanolamine, such as Purell. However these use alcohol which can be drying to the skin (beats damage to the liver). Don't confuse tocopheryl acetate with the terrible Ts...it's just a fancy name for Vitamin E!