Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

Personally, I have never been a 20-minute shower kind of person. Do you remember those surveys on MySpace you'd fill out when you were bored? One of the questions was always, "How long are your showers?" I was always appalled when people would reply with any number above 10. How in the world can you spend more than 10 minutes in the shower? I get bored. If I’ve gotten all my shampooing and conditioning done, and a quick graze of the razor over the pits, I’m out of there. So, long showers not being a faux-pas of mine, I thought of other ways to make my shower time as “green” as possible.

For years I’ve been using Dove Body Wash. For a product that claims it is a, “refreshingly light sensation that’s an uplifting moment for your skin” it sure does have a lot of hard-to-pronounce ingredients in it. There are 25 ingredients listed on the back of the bottle, one of them being ammonium laureth sulfate. This is used as a foaming agent and cleansing agent, but is also a skin irritant and a possible carcinogen. Considering I have extremely sensitive skin and I really don’t feel like getting cancer from soap, Dove had to go.

I went to the drugstore to find a new body wash, as well as new loofah. Out of all the products in the beauty aisle, I found EcoTools to be the best. I decided to purchase an EcoTools Loofah Bath Sponge, which is made out of natural loofah (a vegetable) and is condensed to conserve energy during shipping. I also purchased EcoTools Polished & Protected Body Scrub. There are 14 ingredients in the wash, which is substantially better than Dove. To exfoliate, there is walnut shell powder. To thicken the product, xanthan gum is used. Sunflower oil is used to nourish your skin with vitamins A, C, D and E, and is also a natural ingredient that relieves skin irritation like acne.

EcoTools does not test on animals, while there is a large debate as to whether or not Dove (part of the Unilever brand) does. In addition, EcoTools has joined an organization called 1% for the Planet, and donates 1% of their sales to environmental organizations.

Although EcoTools is a great company and their products smell yummy, they manufacture their stuff in China!? This kind of cancels out the whole organic/natural aspect of it. I’ve been looking at local companies for natural soaps, and I hope to make the switch as soon as the bottle runs out (I threw away my Dove bottle half-empty). Any suggestions?

Sources
http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Ltoxiccosmetics.htm
http://www.10acne.com/acne_treatment_article10.html