Better Beauty Vermont

Sometimes I think my husband thinks I’m nuts. He went off to do the grocery shopping the other day with a short but specific list- milk, cheese, organic pasta or pasta not from the US (so it’s not all full of RoundUp). What did he come back with? Milk, cheese, non-organic pasta from the US. To his credit, it was veggie pasta and was the best he could find in the pasta section. We discussed there’s an entire store (Aldi) and and entire organic section of the regular market where the options are better. Anyway. I digress.

I’ve been switching our household cleaners and all of our personal care products out for a few months now. This includes as many of my husband’s products as I think I can get away with. Some of the switches are met with skepticism and resistance, others go nearly unnoticed. Why switch my husbands products too? Because the same reasons I’m switching apply to men as well.

Granted, he wears less makeup than I do, but he kisses me, so anything I have on my skin ends up on his lips. The same endocrine system disrupting chemicals are found in soaps and moisturizers for both genders. There are thousands of internet articles that instruct you to make sure your husband also eats well, reduces alcohol consumption and generally gets healthy before you try to conceive. Many of your future child’s traits come from the father (like the gender), so making sure your husband is healthy is an important part of starting a family.

High estrogen levels in men leads to a reduced sperm count. An article in Men’s Health explains:

A research group reported in 2002 that PCBs were found in the semen of infertile men, but not in the semen of fertile men. Also, the concentration of phthalate esters was much higher in infertile men than in fertile men.

So if phthalates are avoidable by switching your shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste and moisturizer, why on earth wouldn’t you?

I know it can be a reach to buy a product with Beauty in the name, but Beautycounter has you covered. The Body Collection featured here is not pink, not flowery, and free of potentially harmful chemicals. They also last forever- the bottle of shampoo I started in August is just now almost empty. Because it’s high quality, you don’t need much to get the job done, and you don’t need to wash twice. The citrus mimosa scent is light and gender neutral. My father in law uses the lotion every day and is just as much of a man’s man as before.

As for face wash? I live by the charcoal bar. What’s more manly than back soap?

Better beauty affects us all- Men, women, children- we’re all exposing ourselves to unnecessary chemicals. As companies like Beautycounter are proving, you can have quality and effectiveness without potentially harmful chemicals. Starting a family? Want to live a healthier life without daily exposure to hormones and carcinogens?  Start with the products you use every day on you largest organ. Oh, and stop eating cheap pasta full of roundup. There’s an entire aisle in the market full of better options…