Natural personal care products

coasterqueen wrote: Anyone here use Dr. Bronner soaps, 'crystal' deoderants or Jason's toothpastes? MIL gave us a bunch of natural products to try as we are trying to rid of items with chemicals in them for our family. Any of them any good?

After reading about how there is metal in our deoderants (ICK!) and how they cause cancer and such...I had no idea. I mean I know almost everything causes cancer, but there seems to be a very big correlations between deoderants and cancers because the product is being put directly in a 'sensitive area' being near lymph nodes, etc. Anyways, sorry for my rambling. So we are wanting to go with natural deoderants but they all smell so BLAH!!! That's making it hard for me to 'go the other way' . Anyone have a natural deoderant they like? Do you have to apply it more often than non-natural deoderants?

BTW, feel free to add any other natural personal care or household items you use. We are looking at many and trying to decide which ones would be best used. TIA.

C&K*s Mommie replied: My mother is a big fan of Thai Crystal deoderant, the spray, stone, and roll-on kinds. I have used them when I have forgotten my regular kind when travelling. It worked, but I still like having an anti-perspirant peace of mind in accompianment with the deoderant. Not that I am a big sweater, but it gives me the peace of mind JIC.

She loves it, and has turned numerous people onto trying it, and switching from their regular products. She is a big consumer and user of natural products so I see what else she is committed to.

Good of you and your family to make a great decision for yourselves to do this. I commend you!

jcc64 replied: I switched to organic cotton tampons and pads after a friend explained how bad bleach is- which is what is used on the normal kind. I have to say- I'm not a huge fan of the tampons- they always seem to get stuck in the applicator.
Tom's of Maine makes alot of good natural beauty products, as does Burts Bees. It's true, they aren't as potent as the regular store brands, but I personally find those to be overwhelming anyway. Go to the health food store, I'm sure they'll have alot to choose from. If not, there's always online shopping....

coasterqueen replied: Jeanne,

We did take a trip to the health food store and I smelled a lot of deoderants there. ICK! I didn't like the smell of them. I'm very fond of my Dove deoderant, but like DH said "how fond can you be of it when it has metal in it and it's very harmful for you". Ok, ok, he's right. Course that's the same for the junk food I eat, but ya know.

Now is Burts Bees TRULY natural? I know a lot of them say a certain percentage of natural but not usually 100%. I LOVE BB products, but we are really wanting to go 100% natural or else I'd use them. I'll look up the other one you mentioned.

Thanks.

BTW, I did not know that about feminine hygiene products. Will definitely look into that one further. I'm suprised my MIL hasn't talked to me about that one yet. She has regarding Megan's diapers, but DH isn't budging on that one.

holley79 replied: Everyone in my family has used the crystal rock for as long as I can remember. I love it. Haven't used the toothpaste though. Will have to look at that next time I'm in the herb store.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: a friend of mine uses this waqshable cup type thing as an "insert" to catch her blood flow when she's menstruating... i'll have to ask her for more info

coasterqueen replied:
Yeah, I've heard of those. I think one brand is Diva Cup. I've read about them....just don't think I can use one of those things. My flow is MASSIVE the first few days and those cups require you to dump them, etc and I'm just not sure I want to deal with the 'mess' of them. ICK!

Braydensmommy replied: One brand is The Diva and the other is called The keeper. I have the Diva and love it. After Ds was born I was not able to wear tampons anymore and I don't care for pads so I thought I would give it a try. It takes a little practice to get it in but once you figure it out its the best and you don't have to change it as often as a tampon. I will never go back to tampons now.

jcc64 replied: I'm an all natural kind of girl, but I draw the line at those reusable cup things. Can you imagine having to empty that thing out in the sink at work?!
I've used the diapers- they're pretty good.

3_call_me_mama replied: Burts Bees is great (and all natural unless otherwise stated) as well as teh Tom's of maine stuff. (That's what we use. )
I've heard about eht diva cup also, and the cloth mama pads (as they are called) basically you wash those liek a cloth diaper (just keep a littel trash can next to teh toilet to pu thtem in and then wash when you are ready) The keeper or diva cup are good options for those that liek tampons, but without hte chemicals. Supposedly teh chemicals in tampons and pads cause you to actualyl belld longer and heavier.(Not sure how or why) but peopel claim to have milder and easier AF with the natural stuff.
OH and the dr bronner soaps are great too. Anotehr good option is to check out northernessence.com and she makes a ton of natural products, like soaps, baby wash, etc. (We have used a bunch and they work great)

coasterqueen replied:
See I don't even want to think about having to deal with that thing at work. ICK! Blah! Blah! That's where I draw the line on 'natural' as well.

coasterqueen replied: THanks Carrie. I'll check out her site!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: I'm not sure about deodorant, but Seventh Generation has some stuff you might be interested in. I'm pretty sure you can order it online...our grocery store carries it.

Good luck...You are doing a great thing for yourself, your family and the environment!

redchief replied:
I don't mind the natural health care product companies touting their products, but I HATE it when they bend the truth to sell them.

The Crystal Rock (and other Crystal deoderants) uses potassium alum (in the case of the stone) and alum potassium hydrate (in the case of the sticks and roll-ons) as their active ingredients.
85% of anti-perspirants use aluminum chlorhydrate (hydrated aluminum chloride)

Alum chemically is aluminum potassium sulfate. It is found abundantly in nature.
Aluminum chloride is what it is and it, too is found abundantly in nature. Neither of these compounds are METALS. They are all salts.

ashtonsmama replied:
Try Tom's of Maine, that's what Ryan uses, I'm a bad girl, I still use my Secret with Olay, but I get the non-aluminum kind at least, I know it can lead to tumors, etc. so it's good to stay away from that bad stuff. And he doesn't have to apply it more than the regular old kind, and he still smells great...IMO...