SFIC Soap

Once upon a time I attempted to create a fragrance-free skin care business. Due to a number of factors I was never able to get that business off the ground. One of the products I sold was SFIC soap and it is the bar soap I use today. I try many varieties of fragrance free soaps. Dr. Bronners is my favorite liquid, and this is my favorite bar. SFIC is the soap of choice for crafters who use melt and pour bases to make their own creations. They take very well to colors and scents, but I obviously prefer the bar in it’s natural fragrance-free state. There are no synthetic ingredients in these soaps. The are 100% pure soap and they come in a variety of kinds: Aloe Vera, Clear, White, Olive Oil, Castile, Goats Milk, Oatmeal, Shea Butter, Hemp Seed Oil and Cocoa Butter just to name a few.

The clear soap formula ingredients are Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Soybean protein (conditioner).

The complete list of formulas can be found here:

The one problem with SFIC is their minimums are high for the average customer. They specialize in bulk sales, private labeling and custom soap blending. I placed an order and my minimum was 250 lbs. I figured out that I will have enough soap for 20 years, but according to the company their soap has an indefinite shelf life, so I am good with this.
If you would like smaller quantities, go to wisterialane.com. They sell SFIC soap in with no minimum quantity.

I highly recommend SFIC soap. It is soft, luxurious, and lathers very well.

SFICSoap.com
Photo credits: SFICSoap.com

Vanicream

Photo by Vanicream

Vanicream’s line of fragrance-free personal care products are some of the first products I used after I became chemically sensitive.  All of their products are “free of dyes, fragrance, masking fragrance, lanolin, parabens and formaldehyde.  In addition, they’re all gluten-free.”

The line contains skin cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreens, hair care and shave cream.

Avocado and Olive Oil Hair Treatment

 

Here is a natural recipe for your hair.  Avocados are rich in healthy fats as well as Vitamin E and C.  Olive oil also provides generous amounts of healthy fats and Vitamin E.

 

Blend or mash one avocado with ½ cup of olive oil.  Add egg yolk, honey or aloe vera gel for added moisturizing benefits.

 

Apply to dry hair, cover with a shower cap and towel over top of that.  Leave the mixture on for 20 minutes, rinse and then shampoo.  Condition if you would like.

Scent-Free Dryer Sheets

I don’t use dryer sheets. I’m really not bothered by static cling, but for those of you who are and do not want to use toxic fragranced dryer sheets, here are some suggestions.

Several companies make fragrance-free dryer sheets. Seventh Generation is one of them.

Photo by Seventh Generation

Purecosheet is a non-disposable option. It is a reusable cloth dryer sheet that contains no chemicals. It is good for more than 500 loads.

Photo by Reuseit.com

Another option is to use a damp cloth in your dryer cycle. Also, a ¼ cup of white vinegar in the washer is known to reduce static. I use vinegar to freshen my laundry so I am also getting the anti-static benefits as well.

Nutrition Advice That Actually Makes Sense

I have been struggling with my nutrition for almost ten years now. After a very bad accident left me unable to walk for over a year, I developed an insatiable sweet tooth. I comforted myself with donuts and jelly covered English muffins. Before my accident I was able to pretty much eat what I wanted and not gain weight. When it came to sweets, I could take them or leave them. Nowadays I don’t eat nearly as much sugar but I am still dealing with the negative consequences. I gained 30 lbs and still have not lost the last ten. I am overwhelmed by the amount of conflicting nutritional advice doled out by so called experts who seemingly contradict each other. I’ve danced around with a low carb diet, which does make me lose weight, but I find it unsustainable. I am so depleted by the end of the day that I can’t help but binge on carbs. I was online researching the Paleo diet when I came across the website of Dr. Clyde Wilson. Dr. Clyde is a nutrition expert and adjunct professor at the School of Medicine for the University of California San Francisco and the School of Medicine at Stanford University (where I did my undergrad). Dr. Clyde maintains his own site at DrClydeWilson.com where he blogs about nutrition, health, emotional eating and weight loss.

Dr. Clyde offers some of the most sound advice on eating that I have heard in a long time. The term moderation is bandied about a lot, but he actually offers a workable solution to enjoy the foods that you love by adding course vegetables to all of your meals in order to slow down digestion. He explains very clearly the biological drives that make us crave sugar, fat and satiety, and how to navigate these primitive drives in our modern toxic food environment.

Check out his eloquent metaphor in this video below.

For more information, take a listen to his podcast where he goes into further detail.

I am pre-diabetic and I struggle with keeping my blood sugar in normal ranges due to my love of carbs and sugar. I’ve already started following his recommendations and I hope to see great improvement in my blood sugar levels. I also feel like this advice is doable. I must be honest. I really don’t like vegetables. I don’t even really like salad but I eat them because I know that’s what I need to do in order to be healthy. Upping my vegetable intake won’t be easy but I know it’s what I need to do. I tend to binge and then mercilessly beat myself up over it. Hopefully I can break that cycle and stop demonizing food the way I have been.

Chlorine Free Bleach

Don’t use chlorine bleach.  It’s toxic.

I’ve used Seventh Generation’s Free and Clear chlorine free bleach.  It is a non-toxic oxygen bleach, meaning it uses hydrogen peroxide.  There are no harmful fumes and won’t discolor clothing.

Seeing as this is a hydrogen based bleach, you can also hydrogen peroxide.  Vinegar and citrus acids, like lemon juice, are also effective alternatives.

Microbe-Clean

I found a product called Microbe-Clean in my local Whole Foods several years ago.  It is a multi-purpose cleaner and odor eliminator that uses the power of non-pathogenic microbes to clean and remove odors.

Microbe-Clean is capable of cleaning and eliminating odors from food waste, animal waste and human waste.  It’s also fragrance-free.  The smell is hard to describe, but it is not strong or offensive whatsoever.  Here is the description from the website:

MICROBE-CLEAN is environmentally safe and based on nature’s own cleaning invention—microbes. Common stains and odors result from organic residue (food, beverages, urine, etc.). MICROBE-CLEAN puts billions of naturally occurring, non-pathogenic microbes to work, cleaning and removing odors in the same way microbes do in nature, leaving the environment clean and fresh smelling.

MICROBE-CLEAN is more effective than enzyme or surfactant products because microbes biodegrade the residue, removing it (which the others cannot do). This is especially important in porous materials like carpet, wood, or hard-to-get-to areas where residue is not accessible with normal cleaning techniques. MICROBE-CLEAN can be used full strength or diluted and can also be used in a carpet cleaning machine to resolve all sorts of problem issues.

I use Microbe-Clean primarily to clean up after I sauna.  I spray my sauna mat with it and I have never had any issues with odor from sweat on my mat.  I also will throw a cup in the washer if I have some laundry that is less than fresh.  You can also use this to clean your carpets and I will be doing so as my dog has taken to peeing on my area rug.

My local Whole Foods doesn’t sell this anymore so I order it directly from the website.
Microbe-Clean

Nature’s Gate Natural Toothpaste

I try to avoid toxins wherever I can, which is why I upgraded my toothpaste. I’m currently using Nature’s Gate Natural Toothpaste. I like the Crème de Mint and Crème de Anise flavors. The main reason I use this toothpaste is because it’s fluoride free. There are several natural toothpaste brands that still contain fluoride and I wanted to avoid that. For more information on the dangers of fluoride, click here.

Not only is Nature’s Gate toothpaste fluoride free, it is also paraben free, sulfate free, contains no sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, no artificial colors, not artificial flavors or sweeteners and no animal by-products or animal testing.

Nature’s Gate

I Can Breathe Mask

Image from National Allergy

This is the mask I own and carry with me wherever I go. I ordered it from National Allergy and it has helped me in many a perfumed circumstance. Most of the time I use it when I’m in a public restroom that has air “fresheners.”

The mask comes with an activated charcoal filter that is secured inside the mask with Velcro. The filters are replaceable and it is time for me to order a new filter because I’ve noticed that my mask has been less effect lately.

I Can Breathe Mask

Ask For What You Need

I was having a serious fragrance issue at my therapist’s office. My therapist shares an office suite with several other counselors. There is a common waiting room and one bathroom. Every time I came in for my appointment, the bathroom reeked of a Glade fragrance spray, to the point where it was wafting out into the waiting room. Several times I had to wait outside because of it. My therapist is very understanding of my MCS. We schedule my appointments after her afternoon break so as to avoid any potential lingering fragrance from a client before. So far I haven’t had any issues in her office. She doesn’t wear perfume and sitting only a couple feet away from her, I really can’t detect any scent coming from her at all. When I spoke up about the fragrance issue in the bathroom, it was resolved before my next appointment. She spoke with the other counselors in the office and the spray was removed, and replaced with a mixture of pure essential oils and water in a spray bottle.

I wanted to share this story because we all have so many stories of people constantly rejecting us based on our chemical sensitivity. Many people either just don’t get it or they don’t care, to the point where they make the problem worse by using even more toxic fragrance. But not this time. Speak up, and ask for what you need, no matter how afraid you are of a potentially negative reaction. Sometimes people will surprise you and do the right thing.