Are your cupboards full of every latest and “greatest” skincare item and limited edition antibac spray? It’s time to streamline, and improve, your personal care and cleaning products!
National Hygiene Week promotes good hygiene practices and raises awareness about the importance of personal and public hygiene. While, yes, it is important to practice good hygiene for yourself and your family, “good hygiene” doesn’t have to mean complete sanitisation and cleaning products containing hormone-altering chemicals (which also have a negative effect on our microbiome). Harsh soaps, antibacterial cleansers, and personal care products containing alcohol and preservatives can lead to skin dysbiosis, which has an important link to our gut microbiome.
You can practice personal care, and have a clean and healthy home, both simply and effectively with a few bars of soap, a couple of essential oil blends, distilled white vinegar and baking soda.
So, here’s how to start your healthier, less expensive personal care and household cleaner collection…
1. Learn to read your labels!
And avoid products containing –
- Benzoic acid and salts
- Benzyl alcohol
- Dehydroacetic acid and salts
- Salicylic acid and salts
- Sorbic acid and salts
- Triclosan or Triclocarban
- Synthetic fragrances
You can learn more about reading labels here.
2. Check the expiry date
Whilst many skin care products seem fine after their expiry date – there’s a good reason they have a date on them. Expired and over-used products can harbour bacteria and irritate your skin.1https://www.whowhatwear.co.uk/makeup-expiry-dates If yours have reached their expiry date, throw them out and move on to step 3.
3. Opt for multi-use products
You do not need a whole cupboard of cleaning supplies and beauty products to look and feel good. Keep it simple with just a few natural, hero products –
- A bar of Goats Milk Soap has many purposes and can be used by men, women and children. Chuckling Goat’s Sensitive Goats Milk Soap is the best option for children, pregnant women and those with sensitive skin. For a scented option, Natural Clean Goats Milk Soap has a citrusy fragrance, containing the cleansing powers of grapefruit and lemon. All Chuckling Goat soaps can be used from head to toe – the Soothing Goats Milk Soap in particular makes a great shampoo bar too!
- Keeping a few key essential oil blends on hand can cover anything from first aid to cleaning your bathroom! CG Oil, a proprietary blend of essential oils, can be used as a room diffuser and to combat skin infections, throat infections and more serious issues like MRSA, while Natural Clean Essential Oil can be used as an air freshener and to make a cleaning spray.
Here’s how to make an all-purpose cleaner using our Natural Clean Essential Oil:
- 250ml of white vinegar
- 250ml of water
- 30 drops of Natural Clean Essential Oil
Mix ingredients in a spray bottle and shake to combine. Use as spray cleaner in kitchen or bathroom. Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda onto surfaces with grease, soap scum or extra grime and then spray with the all-purpose cleaner before wiping.
To learn more about your skin’s amazing ecosystem, click here.
Any questions? Contact one of our Nutritional Therapists via live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.
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