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The Best Natural Baby Care Products

By: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 Healthy Baby, Healthy Home, Motherhood, Organic Beauty, Product Reviews , , , , Permalink 0

Best-Natural-Baby-Care-Products

I am a huge stickler for natural ingredients when it comes to my skincare and beauty products (hence this blog ; ), but I admit that I’ll make the occasional teensy-weensy exception for a particularly effective or otherwise desirable product (though I never compromise on the big bad ingredients listed below).  But when it comes to my baby, I am gung-ho, 100% of the time.  I’ve never let anything chemical or toxic touch my baby’s skin, and that is no small feat.

Most of the baby care lines out there, even the self-proclaimed natural ones, are not as natural as they claim.  A quick glance at the extensive ingredient lists can reveal a whole range of chemicals and mysterious ingredients, which though not necessarily toxic per se, are definitely not natural.  Babies have the most delicate of skin, and since their organs are always growing, what we put on (and, of course, IN) our babies can literally impact the building blocks of their little beings.

Though they’re obviously not the sole cause, chemicals in baby care products have been linked to asthma, hormonal imbalance (including premature puberty), skin issues like eczema, and even cancer.  So even if you’re not totally on board with the green beauty industry, making sure the products you use on your baby are all-natural should be a really high priority!

I’ve tested several natural baby-care lines, and the ones below have come out on top.  All of these best natural baby care products are formulated without toxic chemicals, including:

  • Talc (carcinogenic)
  • Phthalates (carcinogenic, asthma)
  • Synthetic Fragrance (linked to asthma, allergies, endocrine and hormone disruption)
  • Propylene Glycol [PEG] (allergies and asthma)
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (skin irritation, hormonal disruption)
  • Mineral Oil and other petroleum-derived ingredients (possible carcinogen, hormonal disruption)
  • Parabens (neurotoxin, endocrine disruption)
  • Triclosan (carcinogenic, endocrine disruption)
  • Lanolin (contaminated with pesticides)

Some of the product lines below are 100% all-natural, which I tend to favor, and others contain a few synthetic or chemical ingredients that are considered safe for babies and still receive the best ratings on EWG.  There are definitely other brands out there, and new natural baby care products are coming out all the time, so this list is by no means exhaustive.  If you’re going to try another product line, just make sure the products are free of the chemicals above, the ingredient lists are rather short, and that you recognize every ingredient listed (a great rule of thumb when selecting any product to put on or in your body!).

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Best Natural Teething Remedies for Babies

By: Monday, October 10, 2016 Healthy Baby, Holistic Health, Motherhood , , , , Permalink 1

Best Natural Teething Remedies

It seems like babies spend the better part of their first year teething… and then, right when you think you and your little are getting a break, the molars come in!

Being a firm believer in natural remedies, I was always slow to turn to baby Tylenol or Motrin, especially since our teething dramas went on for months at a time (and giving your little those medications for more than a few days ina row can be really damaging to their sensitive digestion, liver, and kidneys. Plus, a few studies over the last few years have shown an increased incidence of asthma and wheezing in children who received frequent dosing of acetaminophen in the first year of life (I will not that the results of these studies haven’t been completely conclusive, but even a hint of controversy is enough to give me pause).

So when at all possible, I give my little one natural remedies first, and only switch to over-the-counter medications if all else fails, never as a first line of treatment.

These 5 best natural teething remedies below are very effective and completely safe. I’ve listed them in order of efficacy, from least to greatest.  Always start with the lowest level of intervention and work your way up the list!

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Affordable Luxe Baby Care + Giveaway!

By: Sunday, September 4, 2016 Healthy Baby, Healthy Beauty, Organic Beauty, Product Reviews , , , Permalink 0

Affordable Luxe Baby Care Products

BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING ON THE BEAUTYCOUNTER SITE, MAKE SURE THE ORGANIC BEAUTY SOCIAL IS HIGHLIGHTED (IN BLACK) AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE! YOU’LL BE ENTERED TO WIN A FREE LENGTHENING MASCARA AND RECEIVE 3 EXTRA ENTRIES INTO OUR BABY COLLECTION GIVEAWAY!

I’ve been pretty into Beautycounter and their clean, luxurious cosmetic and beauty products since they busted onto the scene a few years ago.  Committed to safe and well-sourced ingredients and science-backed formulations.  I got to try out the Beautycounter Countertime Collection and a few lovely makeup products a few months ago (check out my review), so when I heard they came out with a collection of Beautycounter Baby products, I just had to try it.

When picking products to use on my baby, I’m sure you can imagine how picky I am.  If I was skilled (and ambitious) enough to make all her products myself, I would.  But alas, I’m not quite that mom.  But I am diligent about keeping harmful, toxic ingredients (and even questionable ingredients that haven’t been shown be completely 100% safe) away from my precious girl.  I would never let  her near a drugstore brand of baby care products, which are loaded with synthetic toxins.  Thankfully, there are a few awesome natural baby care product lines out there, and I’m so happy Beautycounter has joined the ranks, lending their signature luxurious feel to an otherwise generally hippy-dippy scene.

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Must-Have’s and Tips for Airplane Travel with Baby

By: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Healthy Baby, Motherhood, Product Reviews , , , , Permalink 0

Little M and I are wrapping up our first solo trip (without daddy), and now that she’s at the ripe old age of 1, the experience couldn’t be more different than traveling with her as a little baby. As you’ll see below, you need much less to stay sane while traveling on a plane with an infant (or pre-crawler), but once the little tykes start moving (or, god help us all, walking), it takes quite a bit more strategy to keep baby entertained and calm, and keep parents sane.  After 8+ flights with our little one over her first year, I’ve nailed down the perfect set of must-have’s and tips for airplane travel with baby, to keep everyone comfortable, entertained, and happy (or at the very least, sane!). Check them out below!

Must-Haves-for-Airplane-Travel-With-Baby

Must-have’s for airplane travel with baby (aged 0-18 months):

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Get Clean, Sulfate-Free + Giveaway!

By: Friday, May 13, 2016 Healthy Baby, Healthy Beauty, Healthy Home, Organic Beauty, Product Reviews, Wellness , , , , Permalink 0

Sulfate-Free Cleansers on The Organic Beauty Blog

Sodium lauryl sulfate and it’s cousin, sodium laureth sulfate, are sneaky emulsifying ingredients found in almost everything designed for cleaning: soaps, shampoos, body wash, dish detergents, toothpastes, and more.  They are basically what causes a product to lather. Although the scientific community is, as always, late to the game when funding research into exactly how dangerous these chemicals are, the International Journal of Toxicology recommends a concentration of no more than 1% in regularly used products.  Unfortunately, the concentrations in most beauty and cleaning products are upwards of 20%.

SLS has been linked to skin, eye, and scalp irritation, issues with eye development in children, and hormonal imbalance.  Less extreme, but equally annoying, haircare products with SLS have been linked to dry, frizzy hair, and even hair loss! SLES, though less of an irritant, is often contaminated with dioxane, a known carcinogen.

So I personally choose not to wait for the scientific community to fund more research, while we wait and slather on this harmful substance on a daily basis.  I’ve gone totally SLS-free.

Luckily, there are slews of natural and organic products out there that are SLS-free.  You can find great lists of SLS-free products online (a couple great resources are the EWG and SLS-Free).

The one downfall of switching to SLS-free products is that you can lose some of that lathery goodness that makes you feel oh-s0-clean.  I’m not gonna lie, I like a good lather, so I set out to find some awesome natural products that still lather up and clean like champs, but without the toxic after effects.

Here are a few of the products I’ve been using lately, and love:

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Holistic New Baby Essentials + Giveaways!

By: Wednesday, December 23, 2015 Healthy Baby, Healthy Home, Holistic Health, Lifestyle, Organic Beauty, Product Reviews, Wellness , , , , Permalink 0

Ok guys, we’ve gotten through the essentials for first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, natural birth and now… your natural new baby essentials!!

I cannot overstate the importance of utmost absolute vigilance when selecting the products you use on and around your baby.  This guide has products I have used and loved with my own baby, as well as a couple of vetted items that I didn’t get much use out of, but come highly recommended by my mommy community.

In general, there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting products for baby: safety, purity, and intention.  Little babies are so sensitive to their environment, and the choices we make in the first months of their lives set them up for a healthy and happy childhood and rest of their lives.  Choose the easy, cheap, unresearched route, and your child will likely battle issues like hormonal imbalance, allergies and asthma, behavioral issues and ADD, and even more serious long-term effects.  Maybe a few items are a little more expensive than their drugstore or box store counterparts, but when it comes to your little one, it is soooo worth it.  If budget is a concern, skip a few weekly trips to Starbucks and you will more than make up for the difference in cost.

In general, here are the rules I follow when choosing products for my baby:

  • EVERYTHING must be BPA, SLS, phthalate, and paraben-free
  • Wood or glass over plastic
  • Organic or bamboo fibers whenever possible
  • Simple items with developmental value over battery-powered products that make noise or blink lights

holistic-new-baby-essentials

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Maty’s: Effective and Safe Products for Baby’s Skin

By: Monday, November 2, 2015 Healthy Baby, Healthy Beauty, Healthy Home, Lifestyle, Organic Beauty, Product Reviews , , , Permalink 0

Matys-Baby-Products-on-The-Organic-Beauty

Both as a holistic health practitioner and now as a new mom, I get so infuriated when reading the ingredients of common baby products found in drugstores, and unfortunately, the medicine cabinets of most American families.  Petrolatum, mineral oil, parabens, tetrasodium EDTA.  Just one glance at the ingredient list of popular baby brands like Johnson and Johnson’s, Desitin, and A+D read like a list of who’s who of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals. And yet, many parents don’t think twice about applying these products to their baby’s delicate skin, exposing them to harmful toxins when they are most vulnerable.

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