I never would have pictured myself to be the person who creates their own products or makes so many things at home, but since having kids I have found it more and more important for me, not only to know exactly what is in the products I am using, but also to just make what I use instead of buying. I really like to know what is in everything I use so making it has just become the easiest thing for me to do.
It started after my first child, my hair went curly(weird, I know), but also I started to have reactions to soap. I would break out in hives in the shower, so I switched to Dove since it claimed it was best for sensitive skin.
With my second, it became nail polish, my toenails would become corroded from the polish.
3rd gave me a reaction to shampoos, and 4th to make-up and lotion.
First it started out as rashes that were on my shin, and these were usually only there after my pregnancy and would eventually clear up without too much intervention from me. I could take some Moducare for a few weeks and then they would be gone. But more recently I got a rash on my ankle. It would not go away and it was about 4inches high and 2 1/2 inches wide. It was ugly, it itched (and itching felt so amazing!), it started oozing and just would not go away!
I tried everything... Tea Tree Oil- just made it ooze more, athletes foot cream- made other parts of me itch, Hyrdocortizone cream- made me break out in more rashes on my feet and hands and constantly had itchy arms and legs. I used Moducare. I started elimating products, shampoo and conditioner, lotion, and finally I threw out all of my make-up! This went on for about 6 long miserable months! I tried to always have my ankle hidden, I didn't want people staring or thinking I was contagious. With all of my new products while also using Oregano oil (which really burned) my rash finally started to clear up. Now it is still not fully gone but it isn't so noticeable anymore either.
Now for anyone who is trying to use more natural products you will find that the expense is quite a lot more than the other products you buy. My husband has been in school for the past 4 1/2 years (finally graduated in Dec. 2011), and with 4 kids and living off of only what he made by working on cars from our garage, the expense was pretty much making me hyperventilate! So I started researching. My friend who sells oils through her company Ready and Well was the first one to bring it into my head by showing me her deodorant she had made. I went home and started looking, there are tons of deodorant recipes out there but I wanted one that would be soild and not melt when my house hit 82 degrees or more. So by putting together a few different recipes and throwing in a few other ingredients that I researched I finally made a deodorant that I really liked! I forced my mom and sister to use it too just so I could get feedback. My sister said it made her feel delicious!
Then my aunt asked my mom if any of us would like to sell anything at her Arcadia Garden Tour that she does every spring. My mom said I should try to sell the deodorant there and I thought well since I'm going to do that what else can I do with it? I researched more and found my basic recipes that I liked for my other products and tweaked them until they were something not only natural but a product that I actually liked for myself and my family. I am really happy with what I have made now, and if no one else finds enjoyment from my products I know that I always will.
This horrible rashy, itchy journey has taught me so much. has made me question the things I use on my skin without knowing it, and has educated me to be a better Mother to my kids and wife to my husband. At times I have felt like I'm going crazy trying to do everything at once, create my products, research, make, bake my bread, be mom and all of that. But I know that this has also been a wonderful blessing. If, as my mom believes, this allergy is something that is passed down through my family (my Grandma had it start in later years, my mom a few years before and me earleir than when my mom started), than I am hoping that by not introducing my children to the harmful ingredients in so many everyday products that we use, that I will help them to not get it at all or at least it won't happen until they are older than me.
Hopefully this might help someone else who has also suffered through these symptoms as I have, cried because they don't know what else to do and feel so miserable and embarrased, and hopefully I can help and learn more. I have had mixed feelings along the way. Finding out what ingredients are and what they do has been eye opening to me and at times I really wished that I hadn't found it out because now knowing I have to change it. I don't want my family exposed to the horrible things that are in everything. But they are in everything!! Which means I have to either buy it or make it, and for me I would rather make it and know that it is good.
Who knew that all the education that I have ever received in my life would do nothing for me. But now through my own educating and desire to learn I have learned far more than anything I would ever have learned through school.
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