That Time I went “Clean”

Disclaimer: this post won’t be to sway you to go “Clean” or “green” or tell you the 10 reasons you should be “crunchy” if that worried you…..

A few years ago, I got pretty deep in to the “clean” world.

I use a bunch of quotation marks in this because I know these can be trigger words, fighting words, etc. for some people and I want you to know, I get you.

A few years ago I started working at a Functional Medicine Clinic. What really drew me to this place was the belief that many of the issues Americans were dealing with health wise were related to diet, lifestyle, stress, etc and that if we went back to the basics of eating nutritious meals, getting out all the processed, additives, preservatives, chemicals, etc. and finding areas of stress that could potentially be keeping us sick, then our body would start to heal, and start functioning properly. I still really believe that, but I think that life is more attainable for the every day person in other ways, as evidence in my ventures with Hello Healthy!

Flash forward years to now, I am back in the “Traditional Medicine” world, but carry some truths I learned in to my daily routine now!

One of the journey’s I went on, and what this blog is focusing on, is learning what was in my products I was using, like deodorants, makeup, soaps, etc.

You can definitely get obsessive trying to micromanage every aspect of your life to try and avoid any medical issues what so ever (believe me, I tried!). BUT I do really feel like I am putting these items on my skin/hair every day and after doing some digging, realized the skin care and make up world is not regulated as much as I imagined. Companies sneak items in that can actually harm you! For instance, look up some of the ingredients in your eye shadow, mascara, eye liner, etc, and I BET you find words like “not safe for eyes” ….and things like Talc that are being reviewed because of their potential link to cancer.

I have tried to move away from trying to micromanage our health and lifestyle. I have mentioned before on other platforms, that micromanaging our health in itself, was causing major stress for me, and in turn, affecting my health! So I have done a lot of reflection, and have started just focusing on things that I feel convicted about and are important to me.

A part from trying to primarily eat nutritious meals, and changing my mindset on how I view food, increasing activity levels, and working on stress management, I have actually changed a few items we use to avoid unnecessary chemicals and potentially harmful substances. These items are our : shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, lotions, face washes/soaps, and makeup.

I currently use an app called EWG’s Healthy Living App. (if you look for it in the app store it is green, with a white E that kind of looks like a maze or finger print)

You can search on the app and it shows you a score of the product’s ingredients, and explains the score and potential harmful ingredients. Pretty Cool!

For this blog, I want to focus on 2 categories since I feel like these categories took me the longest to track down, items that I actually like and plan to use for a while!

Primally Pure and W3LL PEOPLE have been my go to for deodorant, face wash, moisturizer and makeup

Let’s Start with Makeup!

I don’t know if you have experienced this, but when I am looking for new makeup to try, I just want someone to be like, here it is, here is the perfect brand for your skin tone, buy this color, and go love it. That is not the case ever, but especially when trying to try “cleaner” brands of makeup. It is so stinking hard to sift through all the brands out there and know what is going to look good, and work for you!

I LOVE w3ll people makeup. I am using their concealer, tinted moisturizer for foundation, and eye shadow. They also have a good mascara! This is an oil based foundation, but I have not noticed any breakouts from it at all! I know with oil based products you have to be careful what primers, moisturizers etc that you mix with it. I just use the tinted moisturizer and concealer and that’s about it! no primer or powder. You can buy W3ll People online, but it’s also at Target! W3ll people is EWG verified meaning they verify that the process to make, sell, and ingredients in, are all low risk to contain toxins or carcinogens that could absorb and cause harm to your health in the short or long term.

Next Let’s talk about Primally Pure!

Primally Pure is essential oil based, and they combine their oils to make their products! They do not do any animal testing, and have really great hygiene products! I don’t know if you have searched at all but it is so hard to find deodorant that doesn’t contain harmful ingredients but actually works! (there are thoughts that deodorant has harmful chemicals that absorb into the skin and can cause cancer or increase cancer risk.) Disclaimer: It is hard to find research that validates “clean” or “natural” labels….. I just feel a conviction for me and Lucas that we agree on, that we want to just stick to simple products that work and are not in a debate on what could potentially increase our risk for illness/cancers.

The deodorant is so good!!! and it smells nice. IF you have tried “natural” deodorants before some can cause a weird rash after a week or so, or they do not work well. I have not had any of that with their deodorant. I love it and will definitely be buying it again! Their face cleansing serum is oil as well. I had tried washing my face with coconut oil before but I really love this cleansing serum. It is oil, you wet your face, and then massage the oil in throughout your face and it really does pick up the dirt and clean your face! I then wipe my face off with a damp towel. After I use the cleansing serum I follow it with the clarifying serum as my moisturizer. I have not had any breakouts, or any weird reactions. I do know that my skin is dry typically…. You may want to browse around on their website to get products fitting for your skin type. I also know that sometimes when using essential oil based products you can have skin reactions, but they do a great job on addressing skin reactions or potential issues in their FAQ’s and blog.

You can read, and do some digging on your own about “clean” “natural” products and potential harms. There are theories and some evidence that certain chemicals we use in our daily lives are “endocrine disruptors” meaning they get in the way of functions of organs that produce hormones such as thyroid function, fertility, etc. and also concerns that certain chemicals like I said are cancer causing. Like I said above, “natural” and “Clean” labels are not well regulated, and I went down that rabbit hole of worrying about every little thing we were using, and feeling guilt that I could not get everything perfect in our house. That was not beneficial to me, but I still have convictions, and find little ways to avoid certain things I feel convicted to be harmful. The EWG app does a good job at explaining ingredients and what to look for. 

It is hard to find products to change out with products you already love, and I’m not saying you need to go change out your makeup or face wash! I just am sharing what I have found that is working for me. 

I hope you find these helpful!  So many things are fighting for our health, I feel convicted to clear the space and try to consume things that are fueling, and beneficial, not harmful!

ALSO! if you would like to look in to the Primally Pure Brand, I have a shopping code (disclaimer again: I signed up for a discount code for YOU! If you shop under my link I do get a small profit just FYI. )

Primally Pure Shopping Link: https://bit.ly/3cMmdw9

Discount Code for 10% off: HELLO10