Detox Challenge: Detoxify your Cupboards
/A Blog Post by Elizabeth Farrell
It's time to clean the house of toxic chemicals... but where to start? Let's start with simply getting to know what products you are using in your home and on your body. Start by going through your cleaning supplies and then personal care products.
The Environmental Working Group makes this process a little bit easier for all of us curious about what is in the products that we are using in our home, putting on our skin, and putting in our bodies. Even though an all natural or organic product says that it uses all natural ingredients, it might contain carcinogenic compounds, endocrine disruptors, and other toxins.
For years, I used mineral based makeup thinking that this was better than using any of the other leading brands like Cover Girl, Chanel, or Lancome. I ended up doing a heavy metals toxicity test and found high counts of Bismuth in my body along with Cadmium. I wondered where I might have gotten Bismuth and Cadmium. I looked at my makeup and there it was. Bismuth oxychloride as one of the leading ingredients. Bismuth oxychloride is a by-product of lead and copper smelting as well as a known irritant which can cause acne break-outs. Take a look at what's in your cosmetics bag or in your personal care products. I just discovered that the mascara I have been using is carcinogenic, so it's time to find another one. It's best to look carefully at the ingredients and then look up what you find on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database. Now, onto our cleaning products.
Take a look at our dish soap, both say that they are natural and include natural ingredients. Which one do you think is better to use? Well, neither of them are that great. The Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid received a D grade on EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning and the Ultra Dishmate received a C+, which is not much better.
The best cleaners that I have found to use are: bleach, white vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, lemon essential oil, and Bon Ami. Yes, Bon Ami gets an A from the EWG. It does deep clean, and it's safe.
In the spirit of cleaning your pantry and personal care products, I am sharing with you my homemade face salve. I used to buy a $60 cream made out of organic ingredients until I decided that I could make it for cheaper and could control the ingredients. This face salve can be used as a general salve and is good on extra dry skin.
1. Place a mason jar in a sauce pan with water. Heat the water on medium high heat. Not boiling.
2. Add in the following ingredients, and let sit over the heat until combined:
-1/2 Cup Grapeseed Oil or Almond Oil
-1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
-1/4 Beeswax ,grated
-2 Tablespoons Organic Shea Butter
-2 Teaspoons Pomegranate Seed Oil or Rosehip Seed Oil (You can purchase both ingredients at Mountain Rose Herbs.)
-Essential oils of your choice. I used Geranium, Lavendar, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang, Frankinsense, and Grapefruit. You can use as many drops as you like of each.
3. Once all of the ingredients are combined and the beeswax has melted, let all ingredients cool. Then, use. You can use this salve for more than 3 months.
If you have any questions, please e-mail Elizabeth at info@drgrasser.com or complete our Contact Form. Thank you and happy detox!
