As y'all know, I'm all about the recycling and reducing and booting the chemicals out of my life blahblahblah. Sorry, I don't mean to be flippant about the whole saving the planet thing and I look at it as an important part of my life and my spirituality and GLOBAL WARMING
but
my skin can't take it anymore. About six months ago, when it started warming up, I stopped using my Curel. I have used Curel, that paraben-laced, chemical-laden lotion of glory, for years and years and years. I use it because my skin is awful: dry and cracked and itchy and just blech. For years. Since I remember being old enough to slather on lotion by myself and Vaseline Intensive Care just wasn't cutting it. Curel keeps my skin soft. (No, Curel doesn't pay me to tout it, although they should, because I've probably spent a bajillion dollars on it since my adolescence.)
Anyway, six months ago, I decided to take the next step in my green toiletry experience. I had switched to bar soap (locally- or friend-sourced) a long time ago and made the move to a more organic shampoo, but I clung to my Curel. But I figured with the weather warming up, I could make a smoother (ahahaaa) transition and be okay. I found an organic, chemical-free, non-animal-tested, vegan lotion that was fair trade and was made from a recipe handed down for generations.
It smells AWESOME and is very thick
but
it doesn't work.
It takes a ton to get on my skin and it doesn't glide right, but worst of all, I walk around all day long smelling FANTASTIC and feeling like my skin is actually going to crack off and sprinkle out of my shirt sleeves.
(Most tasty image of the day, right?)
I am uncomfortable in my skin. I mean, I know there are worse things to have, but if you have really, really dry skin, it just sucks. It makes you feel dirty and unattractive, for whatever reason, to feel your skin grating inside your close.
(The imagery KEEPS GETTING BETTER.)
Anywho, tomorrow, with a sigh of regret, I'm going to go to the store and buy a bottle of Curel and, like, dump it in my bathtub and roll around in it. I will not feel an ounce of shame about it.
(BTW, the title is supposed to be like, "Oh, look, I'm all green-living, but it's making my skin scaly like an iguana, so in this case, I'm not going to be green." But it's late and I've been around four-year-olds all day and I'm not sure it makes sense at all and I'm too tired to come up with a better title.)
(If you have one, please suggest it.)
(11:56, NaBloWriMo. YOU CAN'T BEAT ME.)
8 comments:
What do you mean? I think Oh, look, I'm all green-living, but it's making my skin scaly like an iguana, so in this case, I'm not going to be green" is a perfect title. I settled on Derma e products because they are sold in the vitamin shop... and they seem kinda green.
But the WORK... so I don't want to know if they aren't what I thought! I washed my hair in some organic stuff once and my hair came out greasy and flat.
I am warming the planet as I write, huh. My computer.
I give up. But I LOVE your title.
You gotta do what you gotta do. You do plenty for the green movement.
I've pretty much gotten to the point where I will do what I can for the planet, but I realize that I am just not cut out to be 100% green. But I do what I can and try not to beat myself up about what I can't.
You don't have to be totally green to make an impact. We could all probably afford to keep our one nasty un-green habit if we just made a concerted effort in other areas.
I know you're probably going to get a million suggestions like this, but:
Have you ever tried goat milk lotion? My skin is very sensitive and very needy. I tried goat milk lotion on a whim after Neutragena just about burned my face off. I was stunned! It works wonders, soaks in quickly, is very light and actually gets the job done on face and body. And I'm pretty sure it's even green-ish because the kind I had was made at home by a couple of local goat farmers.
Anyway, that's my two cents. :)
I agree with the others... man, you can only do what you can do, and don't sweat the rest. Each and every one of us could find a MILLION not green things about ourselves... it's the way all of us live... and we can be conscious, and do our best... and that's what we can do.
I managed to get into using a nice oil mixture with some good smelling essential oils for my face and body... but I was never terribly dry to begin with. Well, except the eczema parts of me... but that's another story.
i agree with theresa. i do what i can and im not gonna stress about the rest.
i have HORRIBLE dry skin around my boobs. (i know this is soooo gross but i have to share so you'll feel less gross in your scaly skin). sometimes i take my bra off and thousands of skin flakes fall out.i know right??! ew! the only thing that works for me is cocoa butter. i dont know whats in cocoa butter. is it butter? is it cocoa? dont know dont care. it makes my boob skin smoothe.
I swear by the Unscented Body Butter from Rocky Mountain Soap Company. It's a Canadian company, but you can order it from their website and the awesome thing is that they have a money-back guarantee if it doesn't work. (Also, I think the American dollar is still above the Canadian, so bonus for you!)
http://www.rockymountainsoap.com/productList/1011591/1000144
Other than that, I've used olive oil as a moisturizer and it was really good, but I didn't really like the smell :S I guess you could put some essential oil in it to make it smell better.
Check out the book "There's Lead in Your Lipstick" if you want more info on how to green-up your personal care routine. And yes, it's Canadian, too :)
My mother is a huge Curel fan, the stuff makes me itch (sensitive skin), along with a 100 other lotions. I add olive oil to my 'green' lotions ... works far better than anything else I've ever purchased. About a nickel size in the palm of my hand with a pump of lotion and I'm good to go. Body butters work great too ... so long as they're truly all natural, no synthetic anything. :)
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