CHEMICAL FREE PREGNANCY

HollyGC wrote: »

Hi

I have recently found out that i am pregnant and would like to try and have a chemical free pregnancy. There is so many things i use in my daily life that i need to change. So i need some help I am looking for names of some products: Looking for shampoo & conditioner, Make-up and Perfume. I also have a wedding coming up and would like some tips on Fake Tan and hair colour.

Thanks

You could do worse than buy a book called The Animal Friendly Shopper. It is designed for vegans and I bought it when my brother became a vegan as it was proving very difficult to shop for his visits! The book covers all sorts of everything from food to shower gels. It cost about €10 and I got it online, can't remember where right now but if you google it I'm sure it will come up for you.

Hi OP, congrats on your pregnancy! yeah pregnancy can be a scary time and you are right to be vigilant. However, a lot of the stuff around us, while they may sound awful, are in such small quantities they are usually ok. IT all depends on the amount. "natural" products can be as harmful as "synthetic" so I wouldn't be fooled by packaging. I personally would be as wary of 'natural' stuff as sythetic, because sometimes the ingredients list isn't clear on exactly what is in there, but that is just me personally.

Can I ask why you want to stay away from SLS etc? They are just detergents and at the levels that they are in soaps etc they aren't harmful, you'd need to drink it to get enough to harm you or baby! All cleaning products like soap or shampoo have some kind of detergent/surfactant in them, otherwise they woudlnt clean, even natural ones.

A couple of things that I would recommend, from my Ob and from my own research:

Any beauty products with salicylic acid or anything with it in the name I would avoid. It is usually in facial washes or scrubs. The reason it sn't advised is that it is a form of aspirin, and you can't take aspirin when pregnant. It brings down inflammation so it is a lot of anti-spot washes. The amounts are small but apparently if you use it every day on your skin it can have an effect. Even if it says "natural", it is the same chemical. check the ingredients of your face wash, cleanser etc, it is in a lot of them. It was in all of mine so I stopped using them and bought others. In the first trimester my skin went a bit hay wire and I could have done with the anti-inflamm SA but I put up with it and my skin calmed down after a while on its own.

Same goes for anything with vitamin A or retinol or something with that in the name. Pregnant women can't eat a lot of vitamin A (a reason not to eat liver or liver products as liver stores vit A). It is used as a signal for development by the baby and too much of it is too much signal. It is in a lot of face/skin creams.

a good article on some beauty produts in pregnancy is http://www.babycenter.com/0_safe-skin-care-during-pregnancy_1490031.bc

Some components of plastics can be harmful for development, especially urinary/genital development in boys, called phthalates. BPA is one of them. They tend to come out of plastics (esp #7 plastics) when they are heated. things to avoid would be heating food in a microwave in plastic tupperware etc (I've switched to glass/pyrex), eating foods from cans as cans are lined with a thin layer of plastic and heated when sterilised (I was eating sardines like mad in 1st trimester for the fish, but switched to fresh fish when I learned this). And processed foods often have high amounts as they can be heated in plastic containers or tubes when being made. They apparently can be stored in fats too. As nearly everything comes in plastic containers, including creams etc, it is impossible to stay away altogether and a small amount is not a problem but limiting exposure when pregnant is a good idea.

here is an article on it
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/07/08/phthalates-are-out-of-infants-toys-but-a-heavy-dose-is-still-in-their-food/

I asked my Ob about getting my hair dyed and she said that it wasn't clear if it was safe or not, so she would err on the side of caution. I haven't, but I know others that think it is fine.

You can drive yourself nuts but just being sensible about some things it probably the best way. Good luck!

I love MooGoo products (moisturisers etc), they might be along the lines of what you're looking for?

I second the Aveda recommendation, lovely stuff.

Madeinamerica already mentioned avoiding BPA. I use a 'Bobble' bottle with a filter which I bought just before I found out I was pregnant funnily enough, they are BPA-free and I was so thirsty in my early pregnancy I didn't want to keep reusing plastic bottles in case they weren't BPA-free.

It's hard being pregnant and worrying about what you are exposing yourself too. I worked in a lab for much of mine, freaking-out doesn't cover it!!

Congratulations and hope you a have a lovely pregnancy

[QUOTE=Sligo1;91337311 Research essential oils and aromatherapy oils before using them OP as some are known to possibly bring on early contractions and are contraindicated in pregnancy.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I think Clary Sage is one such oil to avoid

Sligo1 wrote: »

OP you mention essential oils. Tbh I would err on the side of caution with these maybe even more so than some of the things you mention. Research essential oils and aromatherapy oils before using them OP as some are known to possibly bring on early contractions and are contraindicated in pregnancy.

Exactly right. Clary sage for example can cause miscarriage as it precipitates contractions. There are a few that are contraindicated so always double checking alternative therapies with some qualified before use!

I use products from Neways.eu , they are sls and harsh chemical free. I've been using them now for about 2 years. Everything from make-up household cleaning products, shampoos, shower gels, washing powders and supplements. You can check them out on www.neways.eu and use my customer number <snip> They are amazing products. PM me if u want more info.

Hi - I also try to avoid harsh / harmful chemicals as much as possible. It's impossible to avoid them completely but I think every little helps. I have really sensitive skin, and eczema since childhood, which I manage very successfully to the point I haven't had a flare up in years. My advice would be to always read ingredients labels, even if you're buying stuff in a healthshop - don't assume it's automatically free of bad crap just because you're getting it in a healthshop. The amount of "natural" products containing SLS etc is ridiculous (and SLS is harmful, it affects your liver)
I use:
- Avalon shampoos & conditioners - by far the best I've found. My favourites are the mint shampoo and the lavender conditioner.
- Dr Hauschka - loooove these products, though they're pricey. I use their cleansing milk, facial toner, eye cream & face cream (Quince is my favourite, really suits my skin). Plus body moisturiser
- Bare Minerals Essentials makeup - everything from primer to foundation to eyeshadow etc etc It's so good I've converted my entire family to using it! You can only get it in Brown Thomas or BT2, I've seen it in a few spas/beauticians too, but it can be ordered online from lots of places as long as you know what shades you need. You should try get into BT2 in Dundrum or town to get colour matched the first time and then you can order from whereever you want. Though I think like 80% of typically pale irish women end up with the "fairly light" foundation. I'm quite pale (which I like) and I never wear fake tan, so I use the fairly light but leave off the "warmth" bronzer they recommend. Perfect for everyday, and I wore it to the last wedding I was at and it looked grand I thought!
- As I said I never wear tan, but I've heard tan organic is an all-natural brand. But whatever you do do NOT try apply it yourself - seriously my friend did for a wedding and oh good God....oomppa loompa does not do it justice!! But I've seen it applied professionally and it looks fine
- Burt's bees soaps and facial cleanser, my sister loves their baby products too especially the nappy cream
- Ecover house cleaning products
- My mother and sister absolutely swear by this alternative to washing powder - http://www.ecoegg.com/. I haven't used it myself yet, but my sister has a baby and toddler and says it works brilliantly even on washing their cloth nappy inserts (she doesn't use disposables)

It can be hard to find Avalon & Dr Hauschka products - since the crash the amount of shops stocking them has reduced a lot. So now I end up ordering online all the time - evergreen.ie are who I use all the time, reasonable and very very quick to deliver.