Greening the medicine cabinet: Part 1

This is the first post of what will become a series. I'm excited, my first blog series!

I have been working for quite some time on making my medicine cabinet more "green." Let me tell you that this is NOT an easy task! If you remember from this post, I gave some options for taking small and easy steps to lead a greener life. Trading the cosmetics has proved to be not so easy, BUT I am not giving up! Let's talk about what's been happening.

First of all, I am way too busy (read: LAZY) to make all of my own products. I am a creature of convenience, I 100% admit that. I do know it would be a lot easier in the long run, but I just feel like there HAS to be products out there that are affordable and natural. I am working on finding them. Which is why I think this will be a series of posts. But I digress. So yes, we have established that I am too lazy to make my own products, but I have already found some nice alternatives to products I use that are easier than others to switch to.

Today we will focus on my green alternative for:

Eye Makeup Remover

When I worked for Mary Kay ( I know ::gasp::) I used their eye makeup remover. Check out the ingredients of concern as listed on EWG's cosmetic database:

POLOXAMER 184	Data gaps, Ecotoxicology, Contamination concerns (ACETIC ACID, FORMIC ACID, PROPYLENE OXIDE, ETHYLENE OXIDE, 1,4-DIOXANE, ALDEHYDES), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Persistence and bioaccumulation	Data: Limited
CYCLOTETRASILOXANE	Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Ecotoxicology, Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Persistence and bioaccumulation	Data: Limited
BENZYL ALCOHOL	Allergies/immunotoxicity, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Occupational hazards, Use restrictions	Data: Fair
BENZALKONIUM CHLORIDE	Allergies/immunotoxicity, Use restrictions	Data: Fair
IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA	Allergies/immunotoxicity, Contamination concerns (FORMALDEHYDE)	Data: Limited
HEXYLENE GLYCOL	Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)	Data: Fair
ISOHEXADECANE	Ecotoxicology, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Use restrictions

Um no thank you?! I used this on my EYES.

FTR (For the record) you don't want the ingrdients in your product to be higher than 0-2, which is considered "low hazard." This had 5s. SCARY stuff!

Might I remind you, I wasn't into checking the ingredients at this point in my life. I foolishly trusted the FDA and cosmetics companies and believed they wouldn't possibly put anything into my stuff that was unhealthy. It's amazing how drinking the cloth diaper kool-aid takes you down a rabbit hole of epic proportions. Scary stuff in these products I used to use, yes, but I am so glad that I am educated about this stuff now so I can make educated decisions about products that I am using on my body.

Now the reason I stopped using this stuff was because it was $14 a bottle. Not because of the toxins, (remember I was still clueless at that point) but because of the price. So what did I start using?

Good old Dollar General brand. $1.50. Yea buddy!

Until I read the back:

That's a WHOLE lot of toxic stuff. Parabens, SLS, sulfates, mystery "fragrance." Yikes. So I just tried to use water for awhile but still ended up with raccoon eyes. Something had to be done.

So as I was browsing the interwebs one day I came across this post where I read that you can use coconut oil as an eye makeup remover. Of course I HAD to try it. I had coconut oil in the house because we use it for a natural diaper cream when we're out of CJs and I also use it for oil pulling. Well who knew all the awesome uses for it! More research led me to this post where I learned all the other uses for this amazing stuff! It's so amazing. You want to know what's in it?

coconut oil.

That's it.

Here's the brand I use: Spectrum

So you can either take a little and put it on a cotton ball or cloth with some water and wipe the makeup off, or you can mix it with a little bit of distilled water and Dr. Bronner's and voila! The makeup comes right off and leaves nothing behind! I love love love it!

Other ways I use coconut oil in our home:

• diaper cream
• moisturizer
• hair defrizzer
• hangnails 
• shaving cream
• oil pulling
• taken orally for general health
• scars
• deodorant (more on this coming soon-I am currently participating in my own experiment to find an all natural deodorant solution that actually works!)
• cooking
• toothpaste (for whitening!)

As you can see coconut is a necessity in any green medicine cabinet. Eye makeup remover aside, there are literally hundreds of other uses for it! And the best part is that a jar of it costs between $8 and $14 depending on the brand, but it lasts FOREVER. Well not forever, but a really LONG time.

So if you are currently using a toxic eye makeup remover go ahead and try to swap it out for coconut oil. Remember it's all about the little changes that you make to your life over time that count, not getting overwhelmed by trying to change everything at once!

So go ahead and buy a jar of coconut oil next time you are out grocery shopping and put it right in that medicine cabinet! You won't be sorry!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle