Several years ago, I became aware of what the products I was using on my body were doing to my health, and I didn’t like it.
I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know where to begin.
There were just so many ingredients in products, and I didn’t know what 90% of the items on the ingredient labels were.
Did I really need to research every single one? Spend hours standing in the aisle at the store, looking up ingredients on my phone?
It had to be easier than that!
Then, I realized there was one ingredient that was common in almost all products which contained other toxic ingredients.
And I knew that if I eliminated that one ingredient, I would also avoid a lot of other toxins.
What is that ingredient?
Fragrance – sometimes labeled as “parfum.”
So what about fragrance makes it something to be avoided?
It is a cover word for thousands of ingredients, most of which are petroleum-based and, therefore, toxic. Because specific fragrance blends are considered proprietary information, companies are not required to disclose which ingredients they use in their own fragrance blends. It could be one natural ingredient, or, more likely, it could be 100 petroleum-based ingredients.
With this knowledge, I set out on a course that took me a full year to complete – making my home free of synthetic fragrances.
I began by replacing the items I ran out of with fragrance-free alternatives or ones scented with natural substances.
My deodorant happened to be the first thing that ran out, and my husband’s deodorant happened to be the last. In between, I replaced our shampoo, household cleaners, dish soap, laundry soap, skin care, and much more.
I ditched candles and air fresheners altogether and learned to make many things myself from pure ingredients, including foaming hand soap and perfumes.
I didn’t notice it at first, but over time, I realized that I wasn’t getting headaches anymore. More time passed, and I noticed that I hadn’t had any sinus issues in quite some time. In fact, I felt really good more often than not.
I won’t claim it’s easy to switch out nearly all products in your home, but like with most anything, take it one step, one product, one day at a time.
Small changes over time will get you much further than standing still because you’re overwhelmed at the thought of doing it all at once.
If you’d like to learn more about living a life free from fragrance and
other toxins, I welcome you to join me in my Facebook group.
