What retail stores don't want you to know.
ayla whitehead
We all do it. When we run out of window cleaner we buy more window cleaner of coarse. Same with tile cleaner, or counter cleaner, or carpet cleaner, or grout cleaner, or shower cleaner, or....oh my....anyone else getting a headache thinking about how many cleaners are out there we have to keep stocked up on?
What about body care items? Shampoo- wet and dry, conditioner- rinse out or leave in, hair masks, hot oil treatments, extra dry skin lotion, normal dry skin lotion, lotion with shimmer in it, lotion with sunscreen in it, anti-aging lotion, soap for dry skin, soap for eczema, soap for odor protection, soap in a bar and soap in a bottle, soap for your body, soap for your hands, soap sponges for your feet, soap for your sink dishes, soap for your dishwasher dishes, soap for your laundry, soap for your pets, soap for your....yikes that's a lot of soap. If you all are like I was you have a pretty large inventory of skin care to keep up with and pay for each month.
How did the people who lived 100 years ago make it through a day with out their one hundred items for their 100 different needs? And yes, they did bathe, wash dishes, wash clothes, and clean their tables. Any guesses? Well for starters they used one soap for everything. They strained water through wood ashes to get lye water and mixed that with lard and the end result was soap. They used that bar of soap to wash themselves, the dishes, the laundry, and anything else that needed a good cleaning. So the question rises- how did we go from using one bar of soap for cleaning to fifty or more different soaps for individual categories?
Money. There was a lot of it to be made by saying "this special soap is so amazing, your clothes will come out way cleaner than ever before!" or "this soap is made especially for your hair, don't use hand soap on your hair when you can use this" and so on and so forth. The higher class folks could afford the different soaps, so in a way it became a symbol of your place in society. If you used one bar for everything you were poor. If you had three different kinds of soaps you must be pretty high up in the world. Well that idea just kept on evolving until we have forgotten what is essential. The retail stores and large companies are rolling in the dough by advertising you are cleaning wrong unless you use this product or that product.
Now for the scary stuff. Ever heard of supply and demand? If you are a supplier, all you need to make big money is to make a need for your product aka: demand. How do they create demand for a product? I'll tell you.
*Glycerine is a natural bi-product in soap. It is a wonderful side effect of the fats/oils bonding with the lye and it is super moisturizing. Most large skin care companies remove the natural glycerin from their soap so your skin gets dry which creates a demand for their lotion which is where the removed glycerin gets added. Supply and demand.
*Body products purchased at the stores can be YEARS old due to the massive amounts of stabilizers and preservatives they contain. Not that it necessarily makes them work any less, but your soap has been infusing with toxic chemicals for potentially years....yuck. Natural lotions and shampoos WILL mold, just like natural foods will. Have you ever heard about how fast food cheesburgers don't mold due to the mass amounts of chemical preservatives in them but a home made burger will mold in a few days? Or the bagged sliced apples don't turn brown even if left on the counter for weeks, but a fresh cut apple will brown in a few minutes. It is exactly the same with your skin care. I stay away from bagged sliced apples and fast food because of the proven chemical exposure and the desire to keep my kids safe, and I also stay away from chemically loaded body care items as well for the exact same reason.
*The chemicals in the body care / baby care items are also found in paint strippers, pesticides, and dog flea killing shampoo.
*The worst fact I found is the long term side effects (cancer, skin irritations, infertility, insomnia, kidney/thyroid disorders, etc) from using the chemicals and preservatives in our daily essential products are a main fuel that financially support the pharmaceutical industry. If every person in this world started using chemical free products and food the need for medication would drop drastically making a lot of wealthy people less wealthy. And the FDA? If you want your mind blown do some deep research from tons of different sources to find out about how possibly the company created to keep you safe is potentially trying to ban homeopathic and all natural treatments after possibly partnering with the large pharmaceutical companies. Don't take my word, do your own research. How do you create job security? Well, I believe they figured it out.