Making the Switch to Paraben-Free Beauty Products

Have you been following the Spring Cleaning Carnival over at Kitchen Stewardship?  So far we've learned about getting rid of antibacterial soap, gluten, plastic, refined sugar....and now it's my turn to talk about how to get paraben preservatives out of our daily body care routine!!  In my guest post at Kitchen Stewardship today, I explained what parabens are and why we don't want them in our products.  Now, I'm here to help you drastically reduce and possibly eliminate parabens from your home forever! 

And just to keep things interesting...we've got giveaways!!  Katie at Kitchen Stewardship is giving away two unique paraben-free lotions and I've got a gift certificate to a wonderful little soap company (paraben-free of course!) in the offing.  Details are at the end of this post!

Baby Steps

To begin your paraben-free mission, you need to know where parabens hide and how to recognize them.  On a product label you will find parabens listed as methylparaben, propylparaben, ethylparaben and butylparaben. They are typically found at the end of the ingredient label because they are added in small amounts as preservatives. 

A surprising number of personal care products may contain parabens, including the following:

• Lotions and creams (including sunscreen products)
• Bubble baths and liquid soaps
• Shaving products
• Deodorants
• Toothpaste
• Baby products including wipes and diaper rash cream

Check the ingredients lists on the products you have currently have at home to see whether or not they contain parabens....PRONTO!!

Kicking it Up a Notch

The next step is commit to switching over to paraben-free products wherever possible. Some people may decide to immediately toss any products containing parabens, others may choose to use up what they have to avoid waste.  It's really up to you.  My tendency is to use things up, unless it is something I didn't particularly like in the first place.

So you're ready for some new products....how do you know what to buy?  Start by looking at the label to see if it says paraben-free anywhere.  If not, check the ingredient list for the specific paraben ingredients that we talked about above. 

Finally, there are a couple of seals of approval that specifically ban parabens.  If you see these seals on a product label, you can be certain that there are no parabens inside!

• Natural Products Association
• Whole Foods Market Premium Body Care 
• USDA Organic Seal

You can also do your research at home by using the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.  Look up products that you have at home or are considering purchasing to find out whether or not parabens are on the ingredient list. 

Going All Out

How would you like to have complete control over what goes in your beauty and personal care products?  You can if you make your own!  It may sound intimidating but I'm telling you it's really quite easy!!  Here are a few tips:

• Recipes for homemade beauty products are easy to find both in books and online.  The book Natural Beauty at Home by Janice Cox is an especially good book chock full of enticing recipes.  I have checked it out from the library more than once!
• Most ingredients and supplies are readily available at natural food stores or co-ops but can also be ordered on line if necessary.  My local co-op carries many things in bulk like shea butter, beeswax, sweet almond oil and more.  I've heard that Mountain Rose Herbs is a fantastic online resource although I have not ordered from them myself.
• Keep in mind the shelf-life of your homemade products will be limited (typically 2-3 months) because there are no synthetic preservatives.

To get you started, here is a recipe from my book, Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making for a lovely shea butter body cream.  You will be amazed how easy it is to make and how luxurious it feels on your skin!  It makes a great gift too!

Shea Butter Body Cream

Ingredients:

3 T shea butter

4 T sweet almond oil

8 drops each geranium, orange and sandalwood essential oils

Heat shea butter in the top of a double boiler until melted.  Stir in the sweet almond oil.  Remove from heat and stir in the essential oils.  Pour into a glass container.  Yep, it's that easy!!

Next, dive in to some other recipes I've covered on my blog like this yummy chocolate facial mask, a soothing homemade lip balm and fun fizzy bath balls for the kids.

The Giveaways!!

What better way to move forward on your quest to Get the Parabens Out then to win some paraben-free products!  Katie has 2 very interesting lotion productsto give away - a hard lotion bar (an excellent plastic-free option!) and a product called shielding lotion from SkinMD.

My giveaway is a $20 gift certificate from a sweet home-based soap company called Cheeky Maiden Soap Company.  Missy, the chief soap maiden, sent me a bunch of samples and it's been super fun to check out all the different varieties!!  My favorites are the Bamboo Charcoal Detox and the Happy Thoughts blend.  She has lots of unique products including shampoo bars, foot scrub bars, pet soap on a rope, dental soap (yes, soap for your teeth!), laundry soap (soap nuts), baby soap, sugar scrubs, lip balm and a very nice Mango Body Butter.  Her prices are very reasonable but to top things off she has offered all Mindful Momma readers a 15% discount through the end of April.  Use the code MM0410 at checkout! 

For a chance to win this giveaway or either of Katie's giveaways, you can do one or more of the following:

1. Use the Linky to link up your own post about this topic!
2. Leave a comment on this post sharing what you are doing to get parabens out of your life.
3. Leave a comment on my guest post over at Kitchen Stewardship.
4. Leave a comment on Katie's review post.
5. Become a fan of my Mindful Momma Facebook page. *
6. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. *
7. Subscribe to Mindful Momma via email or RSS . *
8. Stumble or DIGG this post! *

(*Be sure to let me know in the comments if you have done this!)

The giveaway will be open until midnight, Central time on Sunday, April 25th and I'll post the winners by the following Tuesday.

Coming Up

Next week the Spring Cleaning: Get the Junk Out Carnival will be hosted by Lenetta of Netacow on the topic of food additives. I'm really looking forward to this topic - there is so much to know about what's in our food these days!

{Full Disclosure:  Cheeky Maiden Soap Company provided me with free samples to review and is providing a  $20 gift certificate to one Mindful Momma reader.}

Comments

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I just signed up to follow you on Twitter and for your RSS feed. I'm interested in learning more!! Please sign me up for the giveaways! Can't wait! Tracy

[sarah w]

I think in my efforts to rid myself of parabens I'll start out slowly - first with the products that sit on my skin the longest - such as lotion, since it's designed to go into the skin. Thanks for the insight.

[Peggy]

I'm linking my homemade tooth soap!

[Stacy]

I have known about parabens for a while now, so we do not have anything that I am aware of that have parabens in our house. I diligently read labels at the store before I purchase anything to make sure that they do not contain any questionable ingredients (that I know of, at least!), especially parabens!

[Condo Bleus]

I'm linking how I reused old shampoo containing parabens instead of throwing it away.

[Condo Blues]

I'm a fan of your FaceBook pages

[Condo Blues]

I subscribe to your RSS feed.

[sarah w]

I commented on Katie's review - I think the bar one would be best - I like the idea of the hands' natural warmth helping it soften and do its job.

[sarah w]

I am a subscriber using RSS.

[Frances]

I use dissolved mineral deodorant spray to avoid aluminum...it's nice to know it's keeping me away from parabens, too!

[Jacki]

My daughter and I both cannot use anything (soaps, lotions, etc) that has fragrance or parabens in them. We even have to go further with her, since she has Celiac and cannot use anything that has oat or gluten. She ends up getting eczema.

Not to hijack your comment thread, but I have a friend who makes her own line of natural products, if anyone is looking for something. She makes everything from soaps to shampoos to lip gloss.

http://www.simplypureproducts.com/

[Frances]

I follow you on Twitter now and tweeted this giveaway

[LeeAnn]

I am going to check my products at home for parabens...sneaky things!

[Kari]

I have been using Paraben free foundation for a while now and am always trying to switch to natural products.

[janelle]

I've had my head in the sand about parabens, but am now making my own lotions for the family, and finding paraben-free sunscreens & other products.

[Becky]

I can't believe the FDA allows this stuff into our products! Why don't breast cancer centers tell us stuff like this? My bf from high school (who is 33) was just diagnosed with breast cancer and has to have a double mastectomy. She doesn't even have a family history. With breast cancer as prevalent, you think we would be more proactive as a society in preventing it through the elimination of things like parabens.

[Becky]

I subscribe (newly)!

[Amy]

I just subscribed to your blog. Thanks so much for the information!!

[Stephanie F.]

I'm a subscriber with reader.

[Stephanie F.]

I'm going to make your lotion recipe as my first step to get rid of parabens.

[Sharon]

I'm definitely reading labels more now that I am aware.

[Sharon]

I subscribed to your RSS feed. Thanks!

[Lenetta @ Nettacow]

Sooo much to learn! I'll admit, I'm just taking some beginning baby steps as this hasn't been high on my watch list so far. But that doesn't mean we won't get there someday! Thank you for a very informative post!

[lisa]

I would say I am half way there. I don't use a lot of lotions, creams but need to move to paraben free ones for when I do. I rarely need to use deoderant & when I do I use a very natural one. I bought natural sunscreen last year & natural toothpaste just recently- so I am working on it! Thanks for the give-away opp too!

[JenZ]

I'm just learning about all of this and am glad to see so much helpful information here and on other sites! I have been using homemade deodorant with coconut oil, cornstarch, and baking soda, and I'm going to try some paraben free lotions soon too :)