Shopping club update number 1 and parabens

A few weeks ago I placed my first order.  It took about a week for the order to get to me.  That isn’t too bad considering it is shipping from Idaho and I live in Iowa.  My first order was small.  Lotion, a clay facial masque, and chapsticks.  I like the lotion.  It is a bit thinner than some that I have tried but not as thin as others and it doesn’t leave an oily residue on my skin like some.  My skin is normally dry to the point of cracking and bleeding especially across the knuckles and sometimes the entire back of my hands.  This stuff soaks in fast.  The main drawback that I have found is that if you put too much on your skin and don’t get it rubbed in really well it can leave your skin feeling a bit sticky.  Not sticky like adhesive sticky but sticky like dirt is attracted to you like a magnet.  I like the clay facial masque.  I don’t normally care much about beauty or all of the stuff that goes with it but this masque might actually get me to take care of my skin better.  The chapsticks are a bit softer than some but otherwise nice.  I like the smell of them and the way my lips feel after I use them.  I got the vanilla one, the sugar and spice one, and the mint one.  I managed to ruin the vanilla chapstick in the first few days that I had them.  I forgot about it in the pocket of my shorts and it went through the laundry.  Oops.  So it goes I guess.  I used to rollerblade like a maniac until I got pregnant with my oldest and I used to go through more chapstick during the warmer times of the year than I did during the winter because of rollerblading and my tendency to bite at my lips.

If you look at the ingredients list on your bath and body supplies look for parabins.   They are used as preservatives in a multitude of things ranging from cosmetics, lotions, pharmaceuticals, to foods even.  They are not really good for the body. The most common parabens used are methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben.  The higher on the ingredients list and the more types listed in the ingredients list the more parabens there are in the product.  Some of the problems with parabens are that your body absorbs them when rubbed onto your skin at a higher level than if you drank it.  Also the more harmful one is that they are similar to certain hormones in your body and can interrupt the way your endocrine system works.  Some of you are thinking “Endocrine system? Huh?”.  

Well here is a diagram of the parts of the endocrine system.

If you go to Mayoclinic.com and search parts of the endocrine system it comes up with 5 pages.  If you search endocrine system disorders it comes up with 33 different pages.  Seems like an important part of the body.  Worth not messing up if you don’t have to.  I started looking at some of the products sitting on the shelves in our bathroom.  I only looked at about 10 items and already have 5 items set aside because they contain parabens.  Some products such hotel shampoo and conditioner bottles and soaps are not labeled for resale and don’t have an ingredients list.  Other items such as sample or trial size or travel size items you may need a magnifying glass to read the ingredients list. 

If you go through you medicine cabinet and other hygiene products and get rid of everything that has parabens and suddenly realize over half of what you had is now gone give me a shout (include your email address).  I know where you can replace those products with high quality all natural products that are as effective or maybe even more effective than what you just got rid of for less than retail of what you just got rid of.