Alba Un-Petroleum Jelly

I grew up in a household where both my parents sung the praises of Vaseline. It was a cure all for cuts, scrapes, ashy knees and my mother even used it on her face as a moisturizer. While petroleum jelly is fragrance-free, I’ve had my doubts for a while on whether I wanted to continue using it, especially when the smell really started to drill the point home that this is a petrochemical waste product. See, petroleum jelly is a byproduct of oil refinery.
In 1859 Robert Chesebrough discovered that he could distill the unrefined black rod wax into a light colored gel. Chesebrough traveled around New York demonstrating this jelly’s ability to heal burns and open wounds on his skin that he inflicted upon himself as part of his demonstration. Now that’s some belief in your product.

I, on the other hand, am not so convinced that petroleum jelly is a great option. Although I have had dermatologists tell me they have never seen ANYONE have a reaction to petroleum jelly, I prefer to stick with a more natural product.

I really like Alba Un-Petroleum Multi-Purpose Jelly. I use it for everything I would use regular petroleum jelly for. I mostly use it for my chapped lips and it works great to remove eye makeup.

Ingredients: Ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, beeswax, hydrogenated castor oil, tocopheryl acetate and tocopherol (Vitamin E).

Free of: Petrolatum, paraffin, mineral oil, artificial fragrances and parabens.

When “Fragrance Free” Doesn’t Really Mean Fragrance Free

I was at PetSmart the other day shopping for my dog when I came across this bottle of conditioner by Nature’s Miracle. Thinking I had found a new fragrance free product to try, I took a look at the ingredients on the back. Lo and behold, what did I see listed on this bottle of “Fragrance Free, Unscented” conditioner??? FRAGRANCE!!! Here it is, circled in red in the picture above.

I assume most, if not all, of us canaries would spot this because we know by now you can’t always trust the label. But what if a friend of mine who was trying to be fragrance free bought this product to wash their pet, thinking they were being more eco-friendly (see, it’s even in a green bottle) and fragrance conscious, yet they were duped by a deceptive label. This is just aggravating.

New Dating Site for Single Canaries

Dating is a very complicated issue for those living with environmental illnesses. Our disorder comes with a long list of restrictions and requirements we have to ask of our partners in order for them to be with us.

I often thought how great it would be for a dating site specifically dedicated for people like us. Well, now there is one – Canary Singles.

Here is Canary Single’s press release, reprinted from Webwire.com:

Joshua Tree, CA, September 2011 — Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed., founds new online dating website, Canary Singles, to help single people with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or chemical injury connect with other singles.
Canary Singles (http://www.canarysingles.com/) provides a private online dating or personal ads platform restricted only for single individuals with MCS, EMHS or other chemical injury illnesses like Autism, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue or Gulf War Syndrome who would like to connect with others who share their condition for friendship, dating or romance.
There are two membership options: Free or Premium. With the free option you are able to register, post a profile and photo and search for other singles. When you’re ready to connect with others, then you upgrade to the premium membership, which is a nominal fee to make it affordable for small budgets. The premium membership also includes access to the relationship advice center.
To celebrate the grand opening, Cynthia will be giving away 5 free premium memberships in a random drawing. To enter the drawing, simply go to Canary Singles before Oct. 15th and register for a free membership.
Cynthia, who is a holistic health counselor and lives with MCS herself, states: “individuals with chemical injury face many barriers in trying to find and form meaningful personal relationships. Canary Singles attempts to break down those barriers and improve the process.”

My Non-Toxic Naturepedic Bed

Finding a comfortable chemical-free mattress was becoming a real bane for me. Before I became chemically sensitive I never had an issue with a conventional mattress (that I was aware of at the time). Last year I decided it was time I replace the existing bed I had, a regular memory (i.e. polyurethane) foam mattress on an adjustable hospital frame bed. While I was not reacting to the mattress (it was several years old and had already out gassed) it was becoming unbearably uncomfortable, to the point where I was waking up with pain in my upper back every single day.

The first mattress I tried was a 100% organic cotton thick futon mattress that was completely chemical-free. Searching for a mattress without fire retardants wasn’t that difficult, as most organic mattresses use a layer of untreated wool as their flame-retardants, but I was not too keen on this. I asked if the untreated, unbleached wool emitted an odor and the sales person was honest and said “It does smells sheepy.” So I passed on the wool wrapped mattress and with a doctor’s prescription ordered the mattress without the fire protection. For me, I felt it was better to be chemical-free than sleep amidst toxic chemicals in the unlikely event that one day my bed might catch on fire.

Unfortunately this mattress didn’t work for me. The mattress created a hammock shape where my body rested and I just wasn’t comfortable. I won’t name the company because it was not their fault that this type of mattress just didn’t suit my sleeping needs.

I looked into a natural latex bed but after visiting the showroom, I knew I could never get used to a latex bed. The smell of latex makes me nauseous so this was another option I had to eliminate from an already very short list.

After more searching, I found Naturepedic. I ordered the quilted organic cotton deluxe mattress in a queen size, without the optional foundation. The outside is quilted organic cotton and the inside is organic cotton filling and inner springs. The company lists this as medium-firm support, and it is very supportive and comfortable. I chose to put a mattress topper and quilted cotton mattress pad on top to soften it up a bit. I LOVE my bed. I couldn’t have found a more perfect mattress to fit my needs.

There’s no wool or latex which is great for anyone with allergies to either. Naturepedic decided to forego traditional toxic chemical fire-retardant systems in favor of a non-toxic method that utilizes baking soda and hydrated silica permanently bonded to cellulose.

Here’s a picture of my bed all made up on my solid wood platform bed frame.

My Chemical-Free Bed

For more info, go to Naturepedic.com to check out their full line of products. Mattresses come in crib sizes, as well as twin, full and queen.

Photos below courtesy of Naturepedic.