Now that we know each other.
I think that it's important for everyone to understand that, once upon a time, I lived for Bath and Body Works sales. I had more bottles of perfume than could ever fit on my dresser, more shades of lipgloss than l ever could wear, and enough color of eyeshadows that could make a rainbow jealous. Oh. God. The mascara. If those mascara brushes were magic wands, you could all be a fairy godmother to your favorite person.
I was that person that scoffed when people told me that they used organic products or ate organic food. (I am truly sorry for that!) I was just like most people and thought that if these products haven't killed me yet, I think I'll be all right. I didn't care about recycling. I laughed at my roommate who bought Eco-friendly sponges (but she did use aerosol hairspray, still does actually!) I didn't give a lick about taking incredibly long showers and I'd leave lights on when I left a room and sometimes when I left the building! There were times when I would throw things away instead of washing them because I couldn't be bothered. I was lazy. I was an irresponsible citizen of planet earth, and to some degree I still am, but I am trying to turn it around.
Why? Well, it actually starts back to my husband. He was bullied as a teenager One time someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to put a stink bomb on his head. I didn't know him then, but he told me that he had chemical burns on his head, face, eyes, shoulders, back, hands, chest, and feet. From what he tells me, it was bad. They feared he would be blind from it. He spent months in the hospital and then more time recovering. Because of these chemical burns, my husband used baby shampoo and "free and clear" products in hopes that they wouldn't irritate his skin. They did irritate his skin, but not as much as any of my awesome-smelling and far-too-expensive products did.
Long story short, we fell in love and I tossed my fragrances to the curb. Even my perfume would bother him, so when I say I got rid of everything, I meant EVERYTHING. I was a free and clear, unscented purchaser. It was sad. It did open my eyes to so much though. I started reading labels and started to pay attention to what bothered him, what didn't, and wondered why it bothered him.
It may be important to mention that I met my husband while I was living in Liverpool, England. The first time that he visited here I made sure to have products prepared for his arrival. I left England a few weeks before he did so I had loads of time to get the detergents and the shampoo etc. I washed everything in Tide free & clear and bought him the leading no more tears company shampoo. None of which bothered him in England. Within his first week of being here, his skin was irritated and he was itchy! It was so frustrating.
I already knew that there was a clear difference in the foods in America and the U.K. Our foods are sweeter, brighter, impossibly colorful, and processed to the point that it's not even food. SO MANY ingredients are banned from foods in the U.K. and we just munch them right up over here, so I wasn't surprised when I moved home and the food took getting used to. The health and beauty products took me for a loop though. However, my husband would just deal with it and carry on about our day. We were both fine with toxic products. I added to my perfume and makeup collection regularly and I'd use B&BW or fragrances products when he was in England.
Then we got pregnant.
Nothing made me more crazy aware of things than being pregnant.
Immediately, I decided that this child would eat organic whenever possible. I would start eating better as well. That was easy. But my products.
First, I read an article that the leading baby shampoo manufacturer puts formaldehyde in their baby shampoo. Formaldehyde is linked to cancer. Why would they do that?! I did research, research, and more research. J&J was not for family.
I moved over to Aveeno because I thought they were safe. Well, they are owned by J&J, I couldn't trust them but I didn't realize that until a doctor's appointment when my son was four months old. He had terrible, horrible, awful eczema. His skin was full of black and infected eczema. I cry when I think about it to this day and it was over two years ago!
Our pediatrician is AMAZING. Her son is about six months older than my son. Her and I click because we are going through the same stages at pretty much the same time. When she saw my son's cheeks, I think her heart broke too. She told me to lay off the Aveeno because it's probably irritating his skin. She gave me prescriptions for steroids, antibiotics, and sent me on my way.
I am going to admit it. Those creams did help. At what cost though?
I decided to contact my metabolic doctor and see if he had any input. He told me two things right off the bat. Change the baby's diet because it's clearly a reaction to what he's eating and to ease up on the hydrocortisone because it can make the skin pigments lighten. So I either have a boy with scars from horrendous eczema or I have a boy with light patches all over his face. Frustrating was an understatement.
I chatted with my friend about it. Her son also had eczema and she recommended California Baby's eczema lotion. I tried it, it didn't help and my son screamed when I put it on him. I was at my wit's end. But my son had an appointment with a pediatric dermatologist in a few weeks so I figured out a rotation until then. Lucky for us, my son had a flare up just in time for the appointment.
Honestly, I love the dermatologist. He doesn't mess around; he's full disclosure and he doesn't sugarcoat things. My son's skin was bad, not the worst he had seen but it didn't mean that it wouldn't get to that point. The doctor gave me more steroids, which didn't really work. At the follow up we tried something different, which sort of worked. So we stuck to it and once the flare up was calmed down, we were on a less strict of a regimen. I wasn't happy with it but when it calmed down I was thrilled and I just slathered him up in coconut oil and lotions so that his skin wouldn't dry out.
At some point, he did have another flare up. The dermatologist prescribed a steroid cream called Elidel. We went to our pharmacy and the pharmacist couldn't stress to us enough how much she didn't want us to use this on our son. He was too young, she said. We told her that the specialist recommended it and it isn't for everyday use. We moved on with our day.
Her concern stuck in my head though. She was so very insistent. So we "used" the cream sparingly. Enough to calm the flare up down, but not as much as was prescribed. At the two week follow up, we asked what the side effects were of this medicine and told the dermatologist about the pharmacist's concerns. He told us that the medicine was thought to be linked to leukemia in chimps. Although the chimps were eating the cream in large batches, I was not okay with it. My son would need this cream often and his hands were always in his mouth. I was done with all of the medicines and set on a new plan.
I stuck to the coconut oil and lotioned my son up with California Baby Every Day lotion. The eczema was still angry, but not as itchy. It didn't seem to tick my son off as much.
Then about a month before his first birthday. My son fell asleep on my lap. We were going through a bit of a sleep regression at the time, so I didn't dare move. I scrolled through my phone, as if it was just sitting there for the last year, I saw a post about an organic way to treat eczema. I thought it was going to be about coconut oil, but it opened up to this page about Poofy Organics' Ciao Eczema lotion. The reviews were amazing. I needed to try this. I ordered it and I couldn't believe the results. His spots were not as angry by the end of the first day of using and I'd say within a week, his skin was CLEAR. I was a believer. Eventually, I decided that I would sign up to be a Poofy Organics Guide and tell everyone about my experiences with the products I use. I haven't looked back since.
Our son had a follow up with his dermatologist at around eighteen months old. He was extremely impressed with our son's improvement. So much so that we didn't need to schedule an appointment unless my son had a flare-up. I told him what we changed. He was thrilled. I left that office feeling confident as a mama for the very first time.
I realized that I didn't need all of those toxic ingredients to help my son. I was no longer interested in steroid creams. In fact, I threw the Elidel out months before this. After seeing how well the eczema lotion worked, I replaced all of my son's products first. Then I replaced my mom's. Then I replaced products that my husband and I use.
(I can't find a good place to put this! Three months into my son's life, I also stopped using mainstream diapers and wipes and always chose the greener and less toxic option.)
So that's a very long, not so complete, summarized version of why I went organic. I went from the product queen to being the crunchy mama on the block (although, I'm crispy, not really crunchy.)
Being with Poofy Organics and becoming friends with so many like-minded people, opened my mind to so many things that I didn't realize were harmful. My dishware and cookware. My storage options. My mattress. My fabric softener. The list goes on. I've also become more aware of my energy consumption and my purchases as a consumer. I hope to enlighten readers by regular blog posts of products Poofy Organics offers and other great info.
Here is a photo comparing my son's daily treatment before Poofy Organics. The other photo is comparing California Baby's eczema lotion ingredients to Ciao Eczema ingredients.
You can browse the complete Poofy Organics' line at autumnrose.poofyorganics.com
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