"Product, product upon the wall, who is the fairest of all?"

Oh pretty products, how I love thee. But the time has come for my first product swap! Part of me is excited, as I get to buy more products! Another part of me is dreading the switch. I fear I will be wasting money on things that do not work and do not make me feel good! So why am I doing this again? Well, how about we take a look at some of the ingredients that are found in the products we buy.

In her book "There's Lead in our Lipstick", Gillian Deacon supplies a long list of chemicals found in products. Here are just a few from her list:

Coal Tar - a chemical derivative of coal. It is used in dry skin and anti-redness skin treatments, bath soaks and anti-dandruff shampoos. It is also used as a colourant in hair dyes. It has been banned in the EU since 2004 and it is a known carcinogen.

DEA/TEA/MEA (diethanolamine,triethanolamine,monoethanolamine,cocamide DEA) - So not only are these little chemicals a mouthful to say,  sounds like they may not be all that good for you. They are used as emulsifiers and foaming agents in products like shampoos, face and body washes and makeup. They are suspected carcinogens, are readily absorbed by the skin and the organs, and can combine with nitrates to cause cancer-causing nitrosamines.


Ethoxylated surfactants and 1,4-dioxane - Present in many beauty products but never listed on the label because it is a contaminant - or by-product- rather than an ingredient. It is said to be a probable human carcinogen. This one is found in lots of products including  children's soaps. The Environmental Working Group in the United States found 57 percent of baby soaps contaminated with 1,4-dioxane.

Parabens - A class of chemicals used as preservatives, parabens are found in a range of beauty products, including shampoos, moisturizers, shaving cream, cleansing gels and toothpaste. Parabens are linked to endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and skin irritation. Also linked to breaks cancer.


Sodium lauryl (ether) sulfate (SLS, SLES) - A chemical addictive that makes a product soapy, SLS began as an industrial degreaser and garage floor cleaner. It is easily absorbed by the body and it is a known skin irritant.  You can find it in body wash, bubble bath, shampoo and even toothpaste.

And the list goes on and on and on. So, just some of the reasons I am willing to try alternative products.

May I please have a drum roll!?

PAA DAAA RUMPA PAAAAA PAAAA

(That was my drum roll)

Let the product swap begin.

The other day, I hopped on the subway destined for Whole Foods. I chose Whole Foods for my first shopping adventure as I am still not really sure where to buy kinder, gentler beauty products. I still need to do more research in that department. I headed to Whole Foods as  I remembered seeing shelves stocked with products there. Heck, just as good a place to start as anywhere!

Now, my rule for the day was to only buy one product. I wanted to be measured, rational and responsible. No sense tossing every product in my bathroom into the trash. Running out and spending hundreds of dollars replacing everything was not an option. A move like that would not be fiscally sound. This is an adventure. I want to explore this process and make the right choices. So, only one product at  a time!

Well, as  you can see from the picture above I bought more than one product. Rule number one already broken. I bought four products my first time out. And you know what? I am lucky I only came home with four! My basket was filled with smelly soaps, goopy creams and slick oils.

You see, I recognized many of the products in the store from Deacon's book. Products both Deacon and a host of other experts recommend. So, when I spotted a product I recognized, I would smell it, read the label and then pop it in the basket. I tried to rationalize this move by saying to myself : "buying all these products isn't just a silly spending spree, it's investment in my health."

Thankfully, as I was doing this over and over again, a friendly store clerk stopped and asked if I needed any help.

"Can I help you today," asked the friendly store clerk.

"No, I am just looking," I reply.

"Looks like you are doing a little more than looking" she says with a great big grin.

I look sheepishly down at my basket. It is now very heavy. It is very full.

Part of me wanted to be annoyed that she was poking into my business, but instead I couldn't help smiling. I was sort of giggling inside. My basket looked ridiculous. It looked like I had never owned a beauty product in my life. It also looked like the basket would cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I decided to tell her what I was up to.

Her response: "What a great idea.Good for you.Why don't I help you whittle down what you have in your basket. It might make exploring new products easier. It could get a bit overwhelming to tackle them all."

I smiled. She was nice. I obviously needed help.

Together we put most of the products back. We decided that starting with the basics might make things easier.  After a good chat and a couple laughs, the friendly clerk helped me pick four products. I had a soap, shampoo, conditioner and sunscreen. All pretty basic and in my opinion all pretty necessary.

May I please have another drum roll!?

PAA DAAA RUMPA PAAAAA PAAAA DAAA PATTA PATTA PAAAAA

(That was my drum roll again)

Product Review #1

What: Soap

Brand: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps

Price: $3.99 (I chose the Peppermint scented one. It was a dollar cheaper than the others)

So full disclosure here: I have not purchased a bar of soap in years. No, I am not a dirty dish-pig. I just prefer liquid soap. I like the option of squirting the soap on a scrub. I think it's also easier than handling a slippery bar of soap. Another reason - I think liquid soap travels better that bar soap. But the top reason why I turned away from bar soap was that I always felt it dried out my skin.

So why did I end up with a bar of soap? Well, the friendly clerk suggested a bar of soap is the better purchase as there's less packaging. She also said that the bar is a "delightful product". Her words, not mine.

Turns out Dr. Bronner's soaps have been around for a while now. Gillian Deacon writes that Dr.Bronner's soaps are "a staple of the 1960s counter-cultural movement, (the) soaps have endured  to become eco-household favourites, not least because of their versatility as body wash, shampoo, dish soap and even pet shampoo."

Many of you may already be familiar with this soap. It's new to me. I have to tell you I was entertained by the idea that my little "hippie" bar of soap was a fixture of the counter-cultural movement. I imagine my bar of soap back in the 60's holding up a sign saying "Make suds, not war!"

I also like that the soap is certified fair trade and USDA certified organic (we will talk more about certification another day). The company is also active in trying to ensure folks selling organic products are legit. I am learning that there are a lot of "organic product poseurs" out there. This company launches lawsuits against shady operators!

So my hippie soap is also feisty! I like that. I also like that the packaging is minimal. It is made from100% post-consumer waste paper and the label is printed with water based ink.

But enough about what people say about it and how it looks. How does it work? That's what this is all about.

After one shower, I am quite smitten with Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap. While peppermint might not be everyone's choice,  I quite enjoyed it. It smelled fresh and natural. It was an energizing scent - good for sluggish mornings! It comes in other scents as well, so don't be turned off if peppermint is not your thing!

As for suds, there were plenty of those. I was quite impressed. The lather was consistent. I felt like I was getting a good scrubbing.

I also have to say that my skin did not feel as if it was drying in the shower or after. This soap has coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, hemp seed oil  and jojoba oil in it. My skin soaked up all the moisturizing oil! I even felt as if I could skip a body lotion after the bath. Not that I wanted too, but I could have if pressed.

Thanks to slippery hands,  I did drop the soap a couple times.  That was a bit annoying. But to circumvent that problem, I brushed my body scrub over the soap a couple times, got a good lather and kept cleaning. I also have to tell you that I did not wash my hair with it. Nor did I invite my dog to jump in the bath to test it on him. For now, it is just soap. Soap to keep my body clean the kind way.

In summary, I like it. I actually like it quite a bit. I have no complaints as of yet. Because of my positive experience thus far, I am going to give Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap a whopping 4 kisses out of 5.