I’m 2 weeks post surgery, lumpectomy and sentinel node removal for testing, +± ILC.
Ive been looking into using less products that contain harsh chemicals/additives and looking for advice from anyone else thats researched and made changes already.
Im trying to keep my mind busy and take a bit of control whilst waiting on results!
Products such as make up, hair dye, nail products, perfume, hair products, air freshners etc.
Any advice would be fab and also recommendations of any products you may have changed to.
Hi, I started making my own body lotion and find it very easy to do. I use avocado oil (from supermarket- edible . Naturally has lots of vitamin E). Mixed with pure aloe gel which I buy from Superdrug or Amazon . A few drops esssntial oil. And then add water. I make it roughly a third oil, one third aloe and one third water - depending how thick you like it. I have used argan oil but avocado oil is much cheaper.
Have a look at Nancy Birtwhistle. She has her own cleaning recipes using only natural ingredients. They’re very effective and quick to make. They’re also a lot cheaper in the long run than all the brightly packaged chemically ones in the supermarkets!
If you download an app called Yuka, you can scan the barcodes of food and beauty products. It gives you a good breakdown of whats good and bad and it’s free! I don’t buy any beauty products now without them getting the green light from yuka
I’m finding that most vegan products made for sensitive skin are winning a lot. I assume this is because they have less in them. Nothing over scented or too colorful. And if you can find products that include essential oils they also come up great.
Some great chemo essentials ive found and also products I’ll now continue with….
Aveeno body oil, Burts beeswax lip balm, Castor oil (for nails and dry hands/feet) Westlab bath salts, Cetaphil oily skin cleanser, Femfresh sensitive wash, Simple soothing water cream moisturiser for my face, Neutrogena hand creams, Garnier michellar cleansing waters. For make up ive been using Rimmels kind & free range. I spent literally hours walking along the make up shelves and there is very, very little that doesnt include high risk ingredients. And deodorant wise I use a company called Wild. It takes some getting used to as its not as harsh as normal deodorant but its a lot kinder.
What a great topic, I’ve been trying to switch my products and make changes so good to read the tips on here.
I use Faith in Nature fragrance free shampoo and conditioner. For years I used Palmer’s coca butter but I would itch so badly after use during chemotherapy that I now use Child’s Farm body moisturiser fragrance free and then I use olive oil on top of that. I also use salt of the earth deodorant.
Can anyone recommend a hair leave in or hair moisturiser, preferably fragrance free?
Some that I found which are green on my app are…. Palmers coconut oil leave in conditioner, Childs Farm leave in conditioner, Johnson’s kids no more tangles leave in conditioner Non fragrance free sorry
I do have a few body sprays from Holland and Barratt but they aren’t really perfumes. I need to look into perfumes more. Maybe as a treat once treatment is finished
Hi, there is a really good app someone put me onto call Yuka. It’s free, and you can scan any item and it tells you how good or not the ingredients are. It’s really helpful as it suggests alternatives. I changed all my stuff gradually post breast cancer in September 24. It took a while but I’ve found some good things. The make Benecos have mostly ‘good’ things in them. I got things online. I use a face cream called Vitaskin. I’ve bought things online from a company called Ecco Verde. Hope this helps, good luck!
Round 3 done, 5 to go. Really need that half way point to come around now. Thankfully once the first week after chemo day is done I seem to return to relative normal. Whatever normal is now Haha. How are you?
