Happy Earth Week! Back in the 90’s I thought Earth Day was corny (in my defense, I was a teenager so EVERYTHING was corny!) But now I appreciate it as a day to remember to take care of the earth as best we can. My contribution to the cause is this blog. I’ve been researching California Baby (CB) and I’d like to share my findings with you.

First off, of all the CB products rated on the Skin Deep website, the highest hazard rating that any of them have is a 3 out of 10 which is pretty good. The products that I’m specifically reviewing are the Super Sensitive Shampoo & Bodywash with No Fragrance (rating of 1) and the Calming Hair Conditioner (rating of 2). Reasons for the shampoo’s rating have to do with Grapefruit Seed Extract, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Aloe Vera, and Glycerin. You can check the Skin Deep website if any of these are very concerning to you. They make it easy to click on the concerning ingredient to see what the problems are with it. I just figured you wouldn’t want to read a 10 page blog concerning all these ingredients. The conditioner had many similar ingredients but also Citric Acid, Acacia Senegal Gum and a few other plant oils and vitamins. None of this is overly concerning to me but you have to make the right decision for your family.

California Baby products are free from common allergens such as milk, egg, peanut, walnut, cashew, almond and pecans, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. They are also free of gluten and casein. There are no Sulfates, DEA, Colors, Dyes, Synthetic Fragrances or Numbing Agents. Their products and packaging are phthalate free which basically means there are no synthetic fragrances and their bottles are highly recyclable. Their products are not tested on animals and they contain organic and sustainably grown ingredients.

Now this is my favorite part. CB uses Decyl Polyglucose, a non-invasive cleansing/bubbling agent instead of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS). If you don’t know about SLS, some of heath risks that have been linked to it are skin irritation/corrosion, hormone imbalance, eye irritation, protein denaturing and the potential to cause cancer. So to have a bubbling agent without all that risk is awesome!

Like I said before, I like this product for my daughter. It lathers well and it’s relatively safe which are the two things I treasure most in a product. Now, is it the culprit that’s been irritating my daughter’s skin? That remains to be seen, but more on that later. You can find California Baby products on their website http://www.californiababy.com/index.html or at other retailers. I found mine at Target!

Now turn off the computer and go do something earthy!

A new addition!

I’d like to announce the addition of my blogging partner, MommaVerde (MV)! MV and I have been friends for about 10 years – I can’t believe how time flies! Whenever we get together we usually end up talking about organic food and products as most moms do, so now we’ll be blogging about it together. I’ll let her tell you more about herself in upcoming blogs.

My experiment is in full effect. Unfortunately, it’s taking longer then I thought for my daughter’s rash to fully go away. In the meantime, MV has some great information to share and I’m going to be researching the two companies I’d mentioned before, California Baby and Seventh Generation.

Have a great weekend!

Hello world! This is Mean Green Momma coming to you live from my computer in Any Town, USA. I'm starting this blog because I am sick and tired of the government and their lax standards when it comes to the things we use in our homes and put in our bodies. It’s almost as if they want everyone to die of cancer (but that’s a different blog). So anyway, I thought that maybe there is something I can do about it. I’ve tried over the past few years to convert to products in my home that are beneficial, i.e. cleaning products. But I often find myself in the middle of a grocery isle staring blankly at the hundreds of products claiming to be “all natural” or “eco-friendly” having no idea if the claims are really true. I mean, I don’t want to pay an extra $3 for a product that is no better then the cheaper version next to it. Sooooo, that brings me to why I’m here. I plan to look into these products in-depth, try them out, and report my findings to you. This way, I have a blog to hold me accountable – that is, if anyone actually reads it.

So I’m going to start with where I’m at in my life right now. For a few weeks, I’ve been noticing that my daughter has a little bumpy rash on her body. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then I noticed it getting really bad around her elbow area. She started scratching it all the time. I think I’ve narrowed the problem down to either her body wash or the new detergent I’ve been using. This is kind of disturbing to me because these products are both “green” products so I really want to find out which one is the culprit.

The body wash I’ve been using for her is California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo & Bodywash with No Fragrance. I found this brand on http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/. I highly recommend this website to find out the hazard level of products we use on our bodies. This body wash had a hazard level of 1 out of 10 so I figured it would be a good choice. I have no complaints about the product itself, I just have to figure out if it’s what’s been irritating my daughter’s skin.

The laundry detergent I’ve been using is Seventh Generation Free & Clear. It’s a “natural” laundry detergent but we’ll see about that.

My plan as of now is to go back to the old faithfuls I used when she was a little baby. I bought Dreft and Baby Magic because I know that she’s never had reactions to either of these. Once the rash has cleared I’ll reintroduce the other products one at a time to see which one is causing her rash. Stay tuned for my next blog where I’ll unveil my findings on California Baby and Seventh Generation.