I came across this article by Jezebel about the possible toxic effect of makeup and thought it was really interesting. The headline asks “Is Your Makeup Giving You Cancer” and the conclusion of the story seems to be no. But my takeaway from the article was that makeup is fine. Not because the chemicals are safe, but because there are so many other carcinogens or cancer causing chemicals in every day products that it’s impossible to avoid (Fire Retardants being a good example) and there’s just no sense in only replacing your makeup with organic makeup.

That being said, while it is nearly impossible to live a completely organic or carcinogen free lifestyle in this day and age, I don’t think it means you should just give up. I think it’s important to mindful of what we put in or on our bodies, but at the same time, stressing over it can be just as harmful.

I don’t eat organic foods all the time (and probably not even half the time), but I do make sure to buy organic baby food for my daughter. I never used to put much thought into tampons, but now I only use organic, all cotton tampons because of the lower risk to Toxic Shock Syndrome (I thought about the Diva Cup, but I’m just not there yet).

I was never into wearing much makeup, but because of my recent skin allergies, I have to be super careful of what I put on my skin, which is why I’m super jazzed about making my own skin care products so I have one less thing to worry about.

I know there are a lot of people who will only buy organic (which is super expensive) and some people who think I can’t afford it, so why bother, but I like to think of it more as triaging. Like if I’ve spent too much at the grocery store, I’ll skip the organic eggs and vegetables but I’ll spend extra on the all natural soap and lotion.