HeHe Goes Green

HeHe Goes Green! 

Silky, Scrunchy, or Crunchy? 

Honestly, who cares? Not me. Sounds a little harsh, but I want you to choose what you think is best. You know your body, your baby, your family, and your goals better than anyone, so you choose. I just want you to know about your options. I want you to choose whatever you want, but only because you want to, not because you think it's your only choice. 

Where do I fall? Scrunchy, mostly, with a deep dig of crunchy. I have recently begun to be hyper aware of what I am putting in my body. I work with trying to conceive, expectant, and new parents every single day. I should be on top of my game for products that are available for alternative choices. 

With this research, I began to see how unhealthy some of the daily products I was using actually were. I was uber-aware at that point that everything I put on my my skin or hair/scalp/eyelashes is soaked into my body. I began to think about what I was doing to my body that I was going to use to make tiny humans.  Just try to imagine my face when everything came together. Picture a really shocked, but omg I need to make moves now face with the determination of doing it because I knew the products were out there. 

What On Earth Made You Decide to Go All-Natural?

I try to live out the words that I support my clients with so I thought here goes...

When I first set out, I learned so much from Facebook groups. I know, not the most "credible" source, but people tell it like it is on Facebook. You can almost always spot a revenge post from a mile away so toss those aside and pay attention to the 99% of the genuine, honest posts about products. You can learn things like what's best for various hair types to the different experiences people had with various products to what herbs affect different people in all sorts of ways to all the random things that breastmilk can be used for. It was fascinating to have all those like-minded people gathered in one place to pose a question and hear everyone's opinions in order to gain a spectrum the perspectives and better understand those topics. 

On this quest to learn about natural products, I set out to also change my own routines. I started with things that sounded the worst to me. When I began to read the ingredients in things, if I said and audible gasp or "Oh my goodness," or "What?! Ew!" that was something that got booted to the top of the list. 

The first to go was my face Mosturizer.  I've never had bad skin, but it has always toggled between the two extremes of oily and super dry. Most of the time, I was so dry and I was using typical face moisturizer from CVS. I began to find the disgusting things like formaldehyde, parabens (duh, it's in everything), and things that have been linked to causing cancer. Okay, stop right there. No thank you. There's also so much more. It's really disgusting... and I was putting that on my face...... my face. (ugh) Now I use coconut oil. That's right, just regular coconut oil. I also have recently incorporated frankincense in to my daily facial routine with the coconut oil because it is great support for skin.  

The next to go was my chapstick.  Ready to be shocked to your core? I'm nervous to show you all the things that chapstick does to females. Holy smokes. It disrupt hormones, can cause preterm birth, and again cancer. What?! No thank you. This one took a minute to find the perfect match. I had been settling for one from whole foods, but wasn't in love with it. I was also using coconut oil at night. Now, I use Moroccan Magic lip balm. I love the salve, but recently the stick has become my favorite. I catch myself reapplying it obsessively because it makes my lips feel like velvet. Lavender Vanilla is my favorite with rose as a close second. The lips are so absorbent and I know whatever I put on my lips gets in my mouth and swallowed. I always have two or three tubes of chapstick with me at any point in time! 

After that, my toothpaste. Toothpastes have absolutely disgusting things in them and you put this IN YOUR MOUTH!  Right? Doesn't that make your eyebrows raise? It even has on the warning label (I know, who reads those) that if it is swallowed or ingested to call poison control. Woof, that's a hard consequence for accidentally swallowing something that is meant to go in your mouth on purpose. You're probably thinking of all times that some toothpaste has slipped down our throat and you didn't need poison control. True, but did you have a tiny human in you then? Also, if it's not okay to swallow, what harm is that little bit that you accidentally did swallow cause? I wonder. I now use Himalaya Neem toothpaste. It takes a little bit of an adjustment because it is flavored like pomegranate. Luckily, I like it. It's fluoride free, uses essential oils and other plant-based ingredients, and tastes great in my opinion. 

Next comes my obsession with CocoKind. I've always needed help with controlling breakouts. I don't have them often, but when I do they are bad. I was gifted the cocokind Face and Lip Treatment Kit for Christmas. That was the answer. It's perfect. It has a Matcha stick that I wear in ultra dry places during the winter, sleep with it under my eyes, and use as it a chapstick. The Tumeric stick is the remedy to all acne spots. I will never change. I use those two daily.  

Finally, I traded in my traditional deodorant to the hippy dippy stuff AND I LOVE IT. Gosh, don't get me started on deodorants. I wish it had been the first thing I researched and changed. Traditional deodorant is a cancer stick. That's just that. It is linked to breast cancer, blocks pore, disrupts hormones, contains aluminum, and has rubbing alcohol in it (ouch!). Did you know it can actually trick your body to thinking that it is estrogen? Isn't that terrifying? I like deodorants like Primal Pit Paste and Schmidt's. I ultimately decided on Primally Pure because she kept popping up in my life--podcast, blogs, my partner's sister mentioned Primally Pure. It was everywhere. It was wild, so I listened to the universe. I'm not a very sweaty person, but I want light coverage. The lavender deodorant is the perfect match for me. I am partial to lavender, but they have different scents. It is basically baking soda, essential oils, arrowroot powder, coconut oil, and beeswax. It also let to me buying my dry shampoo there. 

What's next:

I'm excited to share these with you all. I encourage everyone to look into the products that you are putting in and on your body, but especially if you are pregnant and double especially if you are trying to get pregnant. Breastfeeding parents- same goes for you- anything in or on your body goes straight to your baby. 

Honestly, I couldn't believe my eyes when I was researching my daily products. I knew that I needed to make pretty drastic changes and as immediate as possible. It wasn't a hard choice, nor was it hard to implement. It was time consuming doing the research, but well worth it in the end. Up next on my list is mascara, shampoo + conditioner, and sunscreen. If you have any suggestions for these please let me know! I'd love to know what you use! 

Tranquility by HeHe, A Maternity Concierge, Birthing and Doula Service in Boston, Massachusetts

"We can't wait to pamper you."