Product Elimination

This is an update only in the sense that I've stopped using some products.  I haven't found replacements for all of them yet, but I will someday...

For now, here's what I've stopped using:
1. Banana Boat SPF chapstick.  That stuff just seems not good for me, and until I find a chapstick with SPF that's safe, I'll just go without the sunscreen aspect.

Old score:7
New score: none

2. Softlips chapstick (the cherry kind, not the pomegranate organic stuff that rocks).  I stopped using this simply because I ran out, but couldn't find just the organic stuff at the store yet.  When I do I'll just buy more of that.  Until then, I'll do with what I have...

Old score: 7
New score: none

3. Carmex in the tub.  Same story as the softlips.  I was alarmed by the score here, so I'll just make do until I find better options.

Old score: 7
New score: none

4. Bath and Body Works Midnight Pomegranate Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap.  I ran out.  And didn't feel like buying more, considering the score.  I've been using homemade soap instead, which I can't imagine has a score more than 1.  So that's what I'm calling it.


Old score: 8
New score: 1


So that takes us to this place: Before: 16 products, score of 87, average 5.44
Now, 13 products, score of 59, average 4.54


Woohoo!  Don't want to get too excited yet, however, since I haven't fully cataloged all of the products I use, especially my makeup.  But for now, it's good :)

Facial Equalizer

So I bought some new face products at the store.  I had run out of my old face wash, and decided to try something new.  The tricky thing is that when at the store, I don't have access to the cosmetics database, so I can't check the score of the products on sale.  They should really make an app for that.  And I should really get with the times and get a phone that can actually download apps.  But I digress.


I picked up a new face wash (read: the cheapest one I could find): Clean & Clear Foaming Facial for Sensitive Skin.  It's working out pretty nicely.  It feels simple and it definitely cleans my skin.  It foams up pretty well (a pet peeve for me with facial cleansers), which I like.  It dries out my skin a teeny bit but sometimes I like that feeling.  I don't think I'll stick with it forever, but for now I'm pretty happy (or so I thought...see below). 

Old score: 4
New score: 5 (oops)

The main culprits are Fragrance, and something called PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate which appears to be a rather bad chemical with lots of warnings about violations and ordered restrictions in cosmetic use.  Oh dear...I will be looking for a new alternative as soon as possible.

Also while at the store I picked up a new face lotion.  My skin freaks out when I use face lotions with SPF in them, so my goal was to get something without SPF and then get my SPF from my foundation (I switched to mineral makeup...more about that later though since I haven't reviewed my makeup products yet).  I picked up Alba Botanica Hawaiian Skin Care Aloe & Green tea oil-free moisturizer. It was a little pricey, but you literally only need to use the smallest drop to cover your face, it smells great, goes on pretty light, and will probably last me a year.  It has no SPF which I like.  The only thing I didn't like was that it came in a small tub.  I felt like sticking my finger in there every day was bound to encourage some bacterial growth.  To deal with this, I purchased a small upright container in the travel section of the store for 50 cents or so, and transferred half of it into that.  That way, I only touch what I'm using, and it's easier to control how much you get at a time.

Old score: 6
New score: 5

Fortunately, the main culprit, like always, is fragrance.  The next highest ingredient only has a score of 4, and there are only 2 of those.  All the rest are 3 or lower, so I'm pretty content with this. 

So you may have noticed that one score went up and one went down, so I've broken even here.  That's okay because I intend to replace that face wash with something new quite soon.