Product Wednesday-Replacements

sea buckthorn soap
Originally uploaded by mwri

Over the past year many of the brands I have been faithful to for ages were bought out by large corporations. Corporations who's business practices I don't particularly agree with.

Toms of Main bought by Colgate-Polmolive
Burts Bees bought by Clorox
The Body Shop bought by L'oreal-Nestle

So, I am once again on the hunt for products made by companies who's practices I feel comfortable with....and that really deliver. A tough combo to come by in my experience. Here's what I've found so far..........

I've recently begun using Giovanni hair products, a brand I can find at my local Natural Foods Co-Op. I have been VERY pleasantly surprised. I actually like this better than my old Burt's Shampoo/Conditioner. I tried the lighter Spray detangler first, thinking the actual cream leave-in conditioner would be to heavy, and wasn't as enamored. Although, I do think it may work well as a mid day smoother/dampener for a quick blow dry touch-up. Instead I use Giovanni's leave in conditioner on my fine, straight hair and it's never heavy or greasy...just shiny and happy. Also, bonus (and something I hadn't even thought of), using a leave in conditioner which I apply after my shower shortens the length of my showers, which in turn saves water and money.

Areas where I haven't been quite so successful are the kids bath soap and my make-up.
I have seen other bath soap products for the kids that meet my 'responsibly produced' requirements...but they fall short in other areas.

Initially we tried to just use our Dr. Bronner's...the same stuff that Chris and I use every day in the shower. There were a couple problems here. First, no real suds to speak of. This was a big problem for our 2 and 3 year olds...they weren't impressed with the slightly foggy bubble-free bath water.
Second, it's definitely not 'tear free', especially the peppermint variety. The latter is pretty much a deal breaker at this point. We can't be burning the children's eyes out to save the planet. I know in a few years neither one of these things will be much of an issue, but what to do in the mean time?

After that not so successful trial I went out in search of a more acceptable replacement to our beloved Burt's and found products that seemed as if they would meet all of our criteria, except for one crucial element....the price! I cannot pay $7-10 for a small bottle (1/2 the size of a Burt's bottle of the same price) of soap who's only purpose is to wash kids.

So, here we are, down to the final squirts of our last bottle of Burt's body wash. I hope I find something soon or it could get smelly over here.

Finally...makeup. I am really at a loss here. I need to find just a few things...lip gloss/tint, concealer, mascara, and blush. I am finishing up the last of my Body Shop gloss and then I'll have to replace it with something. If I don't figure out what that will be soon, I fear I'll break down in a moment of desperation and get some lead infested junk that was rubbed in kitten's eyeballs. I have a bit more time with the other 3 products as I don't use them every day and they tend to last for quite a while.

I know an obvious solution for my make-up dilemma is to simply stop wearing it. This would save me the headache and eliminate that much more plastic waste from our lives. But, in reality, I know I won't do that...I know that sometimes I will want to wear make-up...and that I really love my lip tint every day.

I found no replacements at my Natural Foods Co-op, so I'm going to have to branch out. Next up, Whole Foods and then the wild and crazy internet. Buying make-up online is so much more challenging than in person because I can't smell or touch stuff., but it's where the most viable options are to be found....so, I'll keep you posted.