As I look back on the week, I must say it was one of those weeks that the teenage me only imagined. I launched a promotion with my Beautycounter business- I’m donating 5% of orders until the 15th of October placed through my October Online Orders to my local Susan G Komen Breast Cancer affiliate to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I lost two friends to cancer this summer- enough is enough. I put in a full week at my full time job- gearing up for another ski season is harder when everyone is gun-shy from the year before. I put in mostly a full week with Alice- she spent one full day with her dad, some quality time at daycare and some quality time playing with a feather and a to go container on my office floor. I had conference calls and work to do for the board I’m on. It was a whirlwind to say the least.

Sometimes I beat myself up for not being everything to everyone at once, but then I remember I need to also be and do what I want to be and do. I’ve written about this before, but sometimes after busy weeks, I need to remember that while I may not have found the time to schedule the pedicure I got for my birthday (in July), I did find a few minutes every day to wash my face, drink some hot cider, text with my sister, and catch up on questionable TV while Alice had her good night nurse. Those little moments were successes and shouldn’t be overlooked.

In a way, those little moments with Alice while she nurses are some of the best. I wouldn’t have thought 14 months ago that we’d still be nursing, albeit morning and night and not every morning, especially after the arrival of the first few teeth. She almost lost priveliges with some errant use of her new choppers, but I’m glad I pushed through. Breastfeeding is another reminder that I need to continue to take care of myself because what I eat and drink goes directly to her a few hours later. Would I feed her that “food item” directly? If not, I should skip it. Another drink? Won’t be out of my system until after bedtime- I better not. It’s keeping us both healthy. 

It’s also a great reminder of why I signed on as a consultant and educator with Beautycounter. Almost every day there’s another article or post that brings me back to why it’s so important to keep spreading the word about getting more transparency and safer products in the hands of everyone. I was talking with my mom earlier in the week about flame retardants (many banned in the US) showing up in children’s pajamas. Many of these items are made overseas and the manufacturers don’t know what’s being used and the FDA is powerless to find out. Her argument for them was it keeps your baby safe from being burned by the wood stove. Fine, but I’d like to know what chemicals I’m dealing with and decide between chemicals that might alter when Alice goes into puberty and putting a safety gate around the stove. If the house it on fire, the PJs aren’t going to help. Personally, I’d choose the fence around the stove. She won’t out grow it and it won’t increase her cancer risk.  

The thing that really bugs me, and an area where Beautycounter excels is transparency. If you want to put petroleum products in my Chapstick, fine, but I should know it’s there so I can make an educated choice. The catch all of “fragrance” being a protected trade secret where you can hide unsavory ingredients infuriates me. I don’t need to know the ratio of ingredients that give your product that special something, but I should know what they are. We’re lucky so far that Alice seems to be allergy free, and we’re feeding her all sorts of things to keep it that way, but the moms that have to worry about ingredients in food or products that they don’t even know are there and could kill their children are living a different hell I can’t even begin to understand.

As I look forward to a hopefully nice weekend, I’m inspired to keep sharing the better beauty movement and striving for continued improvement in my product choices for my family. If you’re interested in learning more, I encourage you to reach out. I’d love to mentor you and help you help others. One voice might be small, but together we’re mighty.

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