Ditch and Switch: Bathroom Edition

This is the first post in a three post series all about what I’m calling “Ditch and Switch”. What exactly IS ditch and switch? Several years ago, my family and I became very aware of the harmful and toxic chemicals in so many of the products we were buying in the store. We learned about this firsthand because of the struggle we faced with my son, Eli, and his very sensitive skin. Very slowly, over the last few years, we have begun to gradually replace the toxic products in our home with cleaner, healthier options. And just so this whole idea of “Ditch and Switch” is not too overwhelming, I’m breaking it up into three parts: Bathroom, Laundry, and Kitchen.

And today, we’re headed into the Bathroom!

To check the safety and toxicity of different things around our home, I started using two different resources – the Think Dirty app or the EWG Skin Deep database. From our soaps and cleaners to my makeup and deodorant, I was a label-checking machine!  I would just see what these different websites had to say about the safety of the product. Each site ranks the products based on the safety of each individual ingredient in the product one a scale of 1 to 10. 1 is a great product you can feel comfortable using  with no issues and 10…that’s a big no way, Jose. We gradually have replaced things that are not so good for us with things that are better – our goal is to try not to use anything over a 4.  This idea of replacing your current products with something better when you run out is called transfer buying. Or I as I lovingly refer to it… Ditch and Switch!

The first thing that we switched was actually soap.

If you were to look in my shower right now, you would see a bar of Young Living’s Charcoal Bar Soap. It’s for face or body, but since it’s very deodorizing we use it from all over. But I also have several friends (Mojo’s Soap Sudz and LexieNaturals) who also make bar soap. There are safe body washes out there, we just prefer bar soap. I typically wash my face with charcoal bar soap as well, but every once in a while I will use Young Living’s Satin Mint face wash. I love the way it makes my skin tingle! Does anyone else like that feeling? And I use Young Living‘s Seedlings baby lotion for my face because it really helps keep my skin so soft. For hand-washing, I make my own foaming hand soap. I have been making my own for about 8 years. It’s super easy and quick to make. Here’s my link to the super easy “recipe“.

For hair, we use Young Living’s Lavender and Mint Shampoo and Conditioner.

This stuff if SO concentrated that from one shampoo bottle, I actually get 3 full-size bottles. I literally just pour out 2/3rds of the bottle into a mason jar. Then I just add super hot water and little bit of baking soda to the bottle and shake until it’s smooth. I’m an 80s girl, so I gotta have my hair spray y’all! I use Giovanni’s hair spray that I buy on Amazon. For flyaways, I use Young Living’s Mirra Hair Oil. Nobody wants a grease head, so I just put a teeny bit on my finger tips and dab it on my hair to smooth.

I have a couple of options when it comes to shaving.

First of all…I always shave with a man’s razor because I think most ladies’ razors are a joke. A MACH 3 just gets me a better shave, y’all.  Sometimes, I use Young Living’s Mirra Shave Oil. But if I forget to grab my shave oil to bring into the shower, I use bar soap. You can also use a little bit of hair conditioner as well – which is super easy since you’ve already got it in there! After I have finished shaving, I like to use Young Living’s Cell-lite Massage Oil instead of lotion – and this stuff smells tropical and amazing. When I was first switching over, I was using a lotion a friend had given me from Trader Joe’s. I assumed if it was from Trader Joe’s it had to be clean and safe, right? Wrong! When I looked it up, that natural lotion that I was rubbing all over my body was a 10 on Skin Deep’s scale. Yikes!

I have tried just about every natural toothpaste out there and I have hated them all.

They felt or tasted like I was brushing my teeth with dirt! But y’all I gotta say…I genuinely, absolutely, 100% LOVE Young Living‘s Thieves toothpaste. My kids don’t like the peppermint at all so they use the Kidsense variety. And even they are big fans. Thieves toothpaste is absolutely awesome and has a bonus use too…

Next up is deodorant – which is a big deal y’all because it can be a super stinky situation.

And deodorants are often one of the highest ranked on the Skin Deep database. After you shave, your skin is sensitive and your pores are wide open from the heat of the shower and shaving and then you slather up your armpits with (typically) aluminum-loaded deodorant. Too close to the girls for my liking, y’all. Not good. When I first detoxed from deodorant it was a nightmare. But now I’m feeling all good to go. After I detoxed I realized that I don’t even need deodorant anymore! My secret tip: Use a pea-sized amount of Thieves toothpaste in your armpits. Barry for a while used Schmidt’s deodorant. I use it when we go on vacation and we share. But both of us now just use diluted Purification oil. I don’t use enough to make oil stains on my clothes. I only wear it if I’m going out or have to speak in public.

Barry uses this Young Living Acne treatment on his face because he still gets breakouts and this has made a huge difference. He takes a capsule of peppermint oil most days because, as you might now, men have a lot of musical-ness going on down there. He uses Cool Azul Pain Cream after he exercises. And it really soothes his tight and sore muscles. Barry uses Shutran oil as a cologne and Shutran beard oil as an after shave. And this is formulated to help your man emit pheromones. And I’m hear to say…it 100% works.

This type of lifestyle change won’t happen overnight.

But I challenge you to look in your cabinets and closets and try the ol’ ditch and switch. Use the Think Dirty app or the EWG Skin Deep database and check your products. They might not be as clean as you think they are! And then if/when you run out of something, replace it with a cleaner version. Which for us, means Young Living products. It’s that simple. Transfer buying. You got this y’all. And if you ever need any recommendations, let me know.