Beauty Without Cruelty

The holiday shopping season in full effect many of you will be  buying gifts of perfume, creams, lotions and potions for the ones you love. I love me some beauty products. At one point last year I felt like I was a little out of control and wanted to pare back the products I used and make some good choices doing that. 

I did some research online to see how I could know which products would meet my new criteria - companies that cared for the world, not tested on animals and free of chemicals. The resource I found was The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics.

"The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program administers a cruelty-free standard and the internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo for companies producing cosmetic, personal care, and household products. The Leaping Bunny Program provides the best assurance that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers. "

They have a great guide on their website that lists all of the companies that are not testing on animals. You can even order a small printed version of this guide to keep in your bag for your shopping trips. They also have a Cruelty Free ap for your phone.

Many companies that are a part of the CCIC use the leaping bunny symbol on their products. Making it easy for your to identifiy that they are cruelty free. 

It took some time but as I finished one particular product I looked for an alternative that met this criteria. Some of the choices I made were not the best product for me, I had to exchange some products. But I have found some really great products I can feel good about that work just as well for me as their "tested on animals" versions. 

I hope you will take a look at this list when making personal choices and giving gifts. 

Choosing Household Products

About two years ago I started really looking into the products I use around the house both for cleaning as well as body products. I already had some knowledge and liked to choose products that seemed more "natural" and kinder for the earth. I use a lot of vinegar, washing soda, baking soda and lemons in my cleaning regimen but I do like to have a couple of prepared products on hand. 

The few things I buy prepared for household cleaning are all purpose scrub, dish soap, laundry soap, dishwasher soap and a hardwood cleaner. I have always embraced brands like Method , Mrs. Meyers, Biokleen and Dr. Bronner's. None of these companies test on animals, are biodegradable, use natural ingredients of high quality and seem to really care about the environment and the people using their products. 

I love gathering information so I can make good choices and decisions. One of the resources I use is the Go Cruelty Free website. This is where you can see if the products you use are made by companies that test on animals. There are so many good products available by companies that do not test on animals that it seems silly to not choose one. 

The most recent site I found that has given me some information on the products I use is the Enviornmental Working Group. They firmly believe we have a right to know what products might pose a health or environmental risk and what some solutions might be. Not only limited to products, they have information on our drinking water, cell phone radiation possibilities, sunscreen safety and pesticide residues. All very serious topics. 

I found that some of the products I have loved because they are "natural" are actually full of ingredients that may pose a risk to me or the environment. They grade household products on an A-F scale using these metrics:

• Asthma/Respitory Risk
• Skin Allergies/Irritation Risk
• Developmental/Reproductive Toxicity Risk
• Cancer Risk
• Environmental Risk

This new tool helped me look inside the "natural" products I have been using and see what they are made of. A lot of the ingredients on the packages are foreign to me so this was helpful. I do know that even too much of a natural product can be harmful. Of course how often you use these products etc really makes a difference. But if you are suffering from asthma you might want to now which products to avoid.

I did make a list of my current products and check each of them on the site to see what grade they received. After seeing a failing grade on some of my products I made a list of the grade A products that I would be willing to switch to when I need to buy next time.

I thought you might like this information as I think we all deserve the right to know what is in the products we use. 

Outdoor Laundry

When we moved into the house in September one of the things I was excited about was being able to hang laundry outside to dry. Mr. Ramon thought it was very amusing that I requested a clothes line. In almost every home I lived in we dried our clothes outside in the warmer months. I love the smell of grass and sun on the clothes - so warm and fresh. Sheets were my favorite. Hard like boards but so soft and sweet when you climb in at night. 

Hanging clothes saves money on energy to run the dryer. We are using so much more water with the garden it is nice to cut back somewhere. 

I started with a folding clothes rack from Ikea that worked really well inside over the winter and great on my porch this spring and summer so far. I used it for delicates and dark cloths. But I really wanted an actual line outside. It slipped my mind for a couple of months until I was in Lowe's picking up some light bulbs for the store. I wandered down the cleaning tools isle - no surprise there and found a retractable clothes line by Minky. I purchased the clothes line and a bag of classic clothes pins. 

The Minky I bought is the 49-ft Retractable Clothes Reel. It gets great reviews online. I love that is closes up to be out of the way and can easily be brought inside for storage in the winter if needed. It has these benefits and features. 

• Easy to use fully retractable outdoor clothes line offers 49' of line drying space
• Weather-resistant, stable protective casing
• Unique mounting bracket allows reel to be removed when not in use
• Used to dry clothes indoors and in outdoor backyards
• Stows neatly away when not in use
• Wipe clean PVC coated line
• Plastic housing with metal mounting bracket

It was easy to hang only requiring 3 screws. I was able to hang clothes on it right away. 

Here is my first line of clothes. I took them down dry and summer smelling today. I am really excited to save the use of the dryer for things that really need to be dried. 

This type of clothes line could fit almost anywhere - even inside. I urge you to let nature dry and freshen your clothes this summer!

Scouring Cleansers

I think that a good scouring cleanser is a great addition to a household. I have been known to take a lemon with baking soda to clean a tub or sink but sometimes you need more power. Stainless steel skillets and grubby tubs sometimes need more power. Along with that I want to be good to our world and our family so products with safer ingredients are important to me. 

I like a dry cleanser. They usually come in paper casnisters which can be recycled. There is something therapuedic about scrubbing with a dry cleanser and seeing the shiny results of your labor. When I was a child it was Comet and I loved the smell and the process. Now I am glad to see some better options available. 

I picked these three cleansers to review based on what I know about the company that makes them as well as the reputation the product has. 

Bar Keepers Friend - Bar Keepers Friend has been around since 1882. They are chlorine free. Formulated from an active ingredient in rhubarb and formulated into a baby powder smooth powder. This cleanser can be used on some of the more delicae surfaces like acrylic, chrome and porcelin. It retails for under $3.00 for a 12oz container. 

Mrs. Meyers Surface Scrub - This non-scratching powder is made with a naturally safe ash and oxygen bleach for use on household surfaces. It's chlorine and phosphate free. It comes in several scents. I opted for lavendar. It retails for about $5.00 for 11oz. 

Bon Ami - This product has been around since the 1880's. This formula starts with vegan, plant-based cleaning agents made from coconut and corn oils, then adds feldspar and a softer abrasive, limestone. They also added a little bit of soda ash and a touch of baking soda. The result is a natural, effective cleaner for modern surfaces. Bon Ami is  biodegradable, nontoxic and hypoallergenic. All of their packaging is recyclable. Bon Ami retails for about $1.50 a can.

To challenge these cleansers I cleaned my filthy porcelain tub with them. I used a natural sponge with no abrasive surface to that their cleaning power could stand on its own. 

On first impressions I liked the smell of the Mrs. Meyers - fresh lavandar. The others had no noticable scent and I liked that as well. They all had a nice texture, more powdery than gritty. It seems that they would work well on more delicate surfaces.

Overall the three of them did a good job on my tub. I took them downstairs to use on my stainless steel sink and had equally good results. I think if I had to choose one I would go with the Mrs. Meyers. I don't have a lot of delicate items to cleanse and the scent has me hooked. Only bummer is that it is the most expensive. 

If you have not tried any of these I urge you to give up your cleanser and give one of these a whirl. You can feel good knowing you have a clean tub and have not added any chemicals to your home or the world. 

I got a Bobble

So I have been working my butt off at the gym these last couple of weeks. Mr. Ramon knows how important it is that I get in shape before the wedding - so he offered to get me my gym membership and a trainer to whip me in shape. So nice of him and I totally appreciate it.

I generally cannot stand to exercise. And sitting at the store this last year took a heavy toll on my health and weight. So I am in need of a overhall.  To say that I am actually enjoying it surprises me - but I think that carving out this little piece of me time makes me feel so good - and getting this body moving has made me feel so much better.

Last week while my trainer was torturing me I almost passed out or threw up. I knew that I had not had enough water the day before and that I needed to start taking water to the gym with me. This leads me to the Bobble.

Mr. Ramon and I popped into The Container Store and I immediately saw this big display of all sorts of water bottles. People in the pacific northwest are all about their fancy water bottles.

I ended up getting this very cool bottle called the Bobble. It was $9.95, is made in the USA of recycled materials, has a squeeze top so you can use it hands free, is free of BPA and the best part is that it has a carbon filter.  So as you drink you filter your water. Awesome for me as our Seattle drinkning water is heavy on the chlorine. This little filter will work for 2 months or 40 gallons of water. The refills are $7.95, so you are looking at $4 a month for filtered water and no bottles to throw away.

It came in pink and green and black - which was what I chose of course. I took it to the gym with me today and it performed very well!!