By beauty products I'm referring to all make-up, lotions, creams, moisturisers and medication that I own.
I've recently become interested in the ingredients list on these products. Chemicals. Unnatural names for unnatural substances. Something concocted in a chemistry lab. How do we know what these are doing to us?
One particular ingredient that has had a lot of attention are parabens. They are used in lots of products, as a preservative. These chemicals mimic oestrogen, and who knows what that might be doing. Alternatives might take some searching for, but they are out there. I found a good article that reviews some products made from natural ingredients. The GoodGuide has more in-depth analyses, but doesn't feature many products I find in the UK.
For this little project, I started by collecting EVERYTHING in my whole flat that falls under the scope of this challenge. This is what I found:
The goal was to fit all of this into my two bedside table drawers, shown above, and the two lilac baskets which live in the top drawer of my dresser. I use the contents of those baskets every single day, and they are very accessible there.
Then I sorted everything into categories.
oh and my make up (why aren't there 5 picture collages?)
I'll briefly outline what I got rid of from each category:
1. Hair: Duplicates of products that I use very rarely. I had two combs and two hair brushes. I only need one of each.
2. Lotions: Any containers approaching empty and that had been open for over a year. Anything that used to smell nice, but now smells off. You'll know. Anti-bac hand gel that attracts wasps and bees (lavender). I am phobic of wasps!
3. Nails: I love painting my nails. I managed to get rid of 4 bottles - the colours I won't wear anymore (black, bright red and princess pink).
4. Meds: Anything out of date. I trimmed down meds for conditions we hardly ever suffer from.
5. Make-up. I'm not a big fan of caking make up on so it's an inch thick. I found an eyeliner that was more than 10 years old, and surprise surprise had parabens in it. I don't think they're supposed to last that long! Chemical breakdown + my eyes = not a good combo.
In the end I managed to empty the plastic crate, so now I can fit everything in the two drawers and two baskets. Yay!
In future, there is a definite one-in-one-out policy in place. I will have to surrender something I have already if I want something new. That way, hopefully, the drawers won't overflow!
Also, every new product will be researched. If I buy less of them, I might be able to afford to spend a teensy weensy bit more to avoid the nasty chemicals.
How do you feel about the synthetic ingredients?
I don't have the energy to feel too strongly about the ingredients in cosmetics - is that really bad of me? I feel like there's enough to worry about with what is in the food i feed the kids.
ReplyDeleteYou de-cluttering posts have put me to shame. The drawer of my dressing table is a horror of old, unused things and dried up nail varnish. I must sort it out...one day.
Good work though!
Of course it's not bad of you! You're right, there are plenty of things to worry about, and in your case the food you feed the kids has a higher priority I reckon.
DeleteI think there are honestly too many to know what all of them do, and how they are made. I guess I'm trying to avoid parabens mostly. For one, I can't keep track of all the long names! I'm certainly not throwing out everything just to avoid those chemicals. oh and the 100% natural products are still way too expensive!
You could start with throwing away just one item if you can't face a whole drawer :)