Here’s how I’m coping with stress and anxiety naturally. Like many, during 2020-2021, I rode the rollercoaster of various emotions. When my dad passed in 2021 many of the tips I used during that time I had learned and put into practice back in 2017 when our sweet Shih Tzu Ginger went through a myriad of health issues.
As an Ingredient Geek I needed to figure out how I would be coping with stress and anxiety as naturally as possible.
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If you read my post Are You Avoiding These Top Toxins? You know you need to get some easy product swaps for living toxic-free. You may be overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Since my passion is to help people live toxic-free, I am happy to help you with Swapping Toxins for Healthy Options. Making small steps truly CAN make a big impact for you and your family.
If you want to understand my journey and why I chose Pure Haven’s products, read my post Meet the Ingredient Geek.
Pure Haven creates fresh products, made in small batches, free of toxins, environmentally sustainable and cruelty-free. They adhere to a strict, six-step ingredient sourcing procedure and manufacture the products in their USDA Certified Organic facility.
The easiest way to get started on your non-toxic journey is with one of these bundles. They are made up of our best-sellers and are guaranteed to be 100% free of toxins. We also offer a full 60-day money-back guarantee.
Empower yourself to make healthier choices. This bundle will eliminate an average of 125 toxic chemicals from your daily routine!
Bundle set includes: lip balm (single – .15 oz net wt), shampoo (8 oz net wt,) conditioner (8 oz net), deodorant (2.65 oz net wt), toothpaste (4 oz net wt), sweet orange dream cream (2 oz net wt), sweet orange bar soap (single – 3.5 oz net wt), comfort oil (1 fl oz), surface cleaner (4 fl oz), master blaster (4 fl oz) and laundry detergent (sample size).
Valued at over $211, includes free preferred club enrollment and free shipping. Shop Here for only $189!
Nourish your skin with our exclusive skincare formulas with prebiotics and probiotics to balance your microbiome and achieve a healthier-, younger-looking complexion.
Set includes a cleanser, toner, moisturizer, night serum and eye cream, and a free charcoal mask and exfoliator.
Valued at over $274, includes free preferred club enrollment and free shipping. Shop Here for only $199!
Our best-value bundle offers huge benefits, with safe, effective products that help protect your entire family from harmful toxins.
includes: non-toxic skincare bundle, non-toxic lifestyle bundle, free scrubbing cleanser (4 oz net wt), and $50 product credit toward next $100+ non-replenishment order.
A $535 retail value, plus free delivery and free Preferred Customer Club enrollment. Shop here for only $378!
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LAUNDRY DETERGENT
Monique & I were on a Zoom chat when she noticed I couldn’t sit still because I was super itchy. After a few questions we narrowed it down to a new laundry detergent I thought was natural as the probable cause. She gave me a few suggestions to help immediately until I received my order. What a difference! The Pure Haven detergent works great; everything is clean, no smelly fragrance lingering on my clothes, and best of all I no longer itch! ~ Shirlene R.
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My passion is to help families with Swapping Toxins for Healthy Options. I can send you a list of the top ingredients to avoid. Let’s start the conversation about ingredients in products with others ~ Contact me to speak to groups, companies, or a few friends gathered together online or in person.
As the weather warms up, more of us remember about putting on sun protection. Of course living in San Diego, we are out in the sun a lot! In the back of my mind I realize that the sun’s rays actually get to me while I’m driving my car every day, but I don’t think about sun protection until I’m going to an event and I know I’ll be outside. I was running out, so I put my *Ingredient Geek* glasses on! I started looking at what ingredients to avoid and what is the safest sunscreen.
When I first became an Ingredient Geek I was surprised that one of the most popular ingredients in many sunscreens and moisturizers is Retinyl Palmitate. I was SHOCKED to learn that it can act like a sun magnet to draw the sun’s rays to you, and has been linked to skin cancer, accelerating the process (WHAT?!)
Oxybenzone is a sunscreen ingredient associated with photo-allergic reactions. This chemical absorbs through the skin in significant amounts. It contaminates the bodies of 97% of Americans according to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s know for endocrine disruption and persistence and bio-accumulation. It is one of two chemical ingredients banned in Hawaii due to the damage to coral reefs.
Octinoxate is shown to have hormone-mimicking effects on laboratory animals. Endocrine disruption, reproductive and developmental toxicity, organ system toxicity. It is the other chemical ingredient that is banned in Hawaii due to the damage to coral reefs.
Octisalate is suspected to be an environmental toxin. May cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals.
Octocrylene has high concerns. Biochemical or cellular level changes. Also, this ingredient is suspected or measured to accumulate in people. Suspected to be an environmental toxin. It may cause allergic skin reactions in sensitive individuals.
Sunlight can cause avobenzone to break down and lose its effectiveness for skin protection. A recent study found when this chemical comes into contact with sun and chlorine, it can become toxic. (WHAT?!)
I’m also not crazy about nano-particles because I don’t want unknown ingredients & chemicals going all the way into my cells ~ who knows what that will do to me years down the road? The nano-particles are also ending up in our oceans and waterways wreaking havoc on our coral and marine life.
The top ingredient I look for is NON-Nano Zinc Oxide. I suggest looking for a Physical Sunscreen rather than a Chemical Sunscreen. Chemical based sunscreens must be absorbed into the skin to be effective via a chemical reaction with the UV rays. Since most have crazy ingredients (as noted above) that often degrade in sunlight and can have lasting ill effects, I don’t recommend them.
Physical sunscreens work by sitting on top of the skin to deflect damaging UV rays. They are kind of like wearing hats and long sleeves to physically block the sun. Zinc Oxide seems to be the safest sun protection available since it protects from the full spectrum of UVA and UVB rays and doesn’t degrade in the sun. If you remember lifeguards with white noses, that’s zinc oxide. The challenge has been that it is difficult to rub in, and no one wants to run around looking like you have white paint all over you.
I posted this on Instagram to show how excited I was that this sunscreen had great ingredients, and did not leave my arm ghostly white!
I’m really enjoying this sunscreen!! It even helps control shine and acts as a make up primer! Save money and benefit your skin and minimize beauty routine! Luv it! So happy! Thx sister! ~ Bryna B.
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My passion is to help families with Swapping Toxins for Healthy Options. I can send you a list of the top ingredients to avoid. Let’s start the conversation about ingredients in products with others ~ Contact me to speak to groups, companies, or a few friends gathered together online or in person. Making small steps CAN make a big impact.
✔ Kitchen Stewardship
✔ EWG’s Guide to Sunscreens
✔ Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
✔ News about the published study of Avobenzone in the Chemosphere Journal
✔ Sunscreens and the Ocean
✔ General Sunscreen Information
Are you focusing on healthy living? Are you careful about what you eat and exercising? Have you thought about the everyday products you are using or exposed to? Everything from shampoo, hand soap, lotion, makeup, baby wash, toothpaste, and household cleaning supplies. Our health is impacted in so many ways. Do you know the top ingredients to avoid in personal care products? Are you avoiding these top toxins?
There is a saying “It’s all about the ingredients, the rest is just marketing”. Because this is an unregulated industry, marketing slogans can say just about anything. I like to read the first 5 ingredients as they are the most active ones, then read from the bottom up as that’s usually where the preservatives are. Check out these videos for quick overviews. Below are some top ingredients the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics suggests avoiding. If you want to skip ahead, here are some safe and easy product swap ideas.
The word fragrance (parfum/perfume) legally hides an unknown number of chemicals under the umbrella of “trade secret.” I like to say that fragrance is like the “high fructose corn syrup in food” (it seems to be everywhere). Phthalates are a large family of hormone disrupting chemicals and are hidden in the word “fragrance.” They are linked to birth defects, breast cancer, asthma, early puberty, decreased sperm counts, diabetes, obesity, autism and ADHD. (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics – 2002 “Not Too Pretty” Report, and 2008 “A Little Prettier” Follow-up Report) Also see my other blog post What’s Hiding Behind The Fragrance Ingredient?
These endocrine-disrupting chemicals can be absorbed through skin, blood and the digestive system. Parabens are not water soluble and can penetrate the skin. Repeated application of a product or multiple products containing parabens could mean almost continuous exposure. Common parabens are methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. Studies have linked these endocrine disruptors which mimic estrogen with breast cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity. (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics)
Look on the label for PPG, PEG, and polysorbate. Also look for ingredients that end in –eth such as laureth, steareth, ceteareth. The manufacturing process results in two toxic contaminants linked to breast cancer and other cancers: ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane which the FDA does not require to be listed on the ingredient labels. The European Union has prohibited use of ethylene oxide, and Canada prohibits the use of both 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide in cosmetics products. (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics)
Baby shampoo, body soap, body wash, and color cosmetics often include these preservatives. Formaldehyde and it’s releasers are linked to cancer and allergic skin reactions. Banned from use in cosmetics and toiletries in Japan and Sweden; in the EU, restricted in personal care products. (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics)
My passion is to help families with Swapping Toxins for Healthy Options. Check out these EASY PRODUCT SWAPS. Making small steps CAN make a big impact.
I can also send you a list of the top ingredients to avoid. Let’s start the conversation about ingredients in products with others ~ Contact me to speak to groups, companies, or a few friends gathered together online or in person.
