How to Switch to Cleaner Products Without Feeling Overwhelmed
Keep reading this post to learn:
⋒ What clean living actually means
⋒ My best tips for making the switch without feeling overwhelmed
⋒ What products I use, love, and would recommend
My first tip when it comes to creating a cleaner lifestyle – ditch the all-or-nothing perfectionistic approach and you’ll be a lot happier and a lot mentally healthier.
Truthfully, I’ve never felt overwhelmed or burdened by clean living. I’ve always viewed it as a way to enhance my life. I decided to start switching to cleaner living when I started using essential oils back in like 2015 or 2016. Essential oils were my intro to the clean living world.
When I started using essential oils, I was looking for something to help me sleep that wasn’t medication. I started using essential oils for other things – like focus and stress management and I liked how I felt so I started exploring other ways to experience cleaner living. The company whose essential oils I used offered other clean products – like cleaning supplies and beauty products so that got my mind turning to start researching what products I was currently using and what ingredients were in them.
I was honestly appalled at what I found and couldn’t believe how much toxic stuff was in my day-to-day products. A big reason why I like to steer clear of as many toxins as I can in my own life is because of the negative effect that they can have on us. When something is toxic, it essentially means that it’s harmful to us. Toxins can mess with our hormones, cause brain fog, make us fatigued, and the list goes on. You may have heard the “endocrine disruptor” – Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are natural or human-made chemicals that may mimic, block, or interfere with the body’s hormones, which are part of the endocrine system. These chemicals are associated with a wide array of health issues.
Learning all of this is what caused me to slowly start switching things over around 2017. And then when I got pregnant in 2022, I really ramped it up because I wanted to be mindful about what I was putting in and on my body since I wasn’t the only one it was affecting anymore.
And like I said earlier, I’m still not trying to cut out every chemical from my life - I get my eyelashes done and I’m sure the products she uses to do them aren’t clean. I still haven’t found clean hair products that I love. And I don’t stress about that stuff. Instead, I focus on the changes that I have made.
Okay, let’s chat about actually making changes and switching to cleaner products. 👇🏻
My biggest tip for switching to cleaner products without feeling overwhelmed is to do it in categories. The overwhelm comes from trying to flip your whole house upside down and starting from scratch for everything. That is overwhelming because that’s a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of money.
So what I do is choose one category at a time, do my research on where my current products fall on the toxicity scale, look up products that I want to try that are in my personal acceptable toxicity range, and then as I run out of my current products, I replace them with the cleaner option. I go this route so that I’m not wasting products that I’ve already spent money on.
My priorities when it comes to clean living are things that are easily absorbed into my body – so think: makeup, fragrances, what you cook your food on (because you consume your food), etc.
I know we love a concrete example around here, so I’m happy to share the categories that I’ve made the switch to cleaner options for and what cleaner products I’ve opted for in those categories. Now, to be honest, I can’t remember the exact order of the swaps I made years ago so these aren’t in chronological order. And this isn’t an exhaustive list of every product I use because we’d be here 5ever if I did that, lol.
01. SKINCARE
When I started using clean skincare, Primally Pure was my go-to brand but I recently made the switch to DIME Beauty for my skincare. I stand behind both brands!
Primally Pure helped me get my acne under control when I got off of hormonal birth control and DIME has helped me enhance my skin and provides preventative care for my aging skin.
I currently use The Works skincare bundle from DIME. You can use the code JESSMASSEY20 to save 20% on your DIME purchases.
02. MAKEUP
Not gonna lie, this category was tough for me! I looked high and low for a foundation that would withstand the Florida humidity – most clean foundations that I found would just slide right off at the first sign of sweat.
I finally found one that I love and it’s the Beautifully Flawless Foundation by Crunchi.
Most of the makeup I wear is from Crunchi and DIME.
I use Crunchi’s:
Foundation (shade 2.5)
Concealer (shade L20)
Bronzer — I use this as eye shadow, too (shade W100)
Blush (shade coral pink)
Eyeliner (shade espresso)
I have all my Crunchi faves and a $10 off discount link at jessicamassey.com/crunchi.
And then from DIME I use:
Again, all my faves and my 20% off code are linked at jessicamassey.com/dime
03. HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
Fragrance: I switched from candles to diffusing essential oils and I make my own room sprays using essential oils and witch hazel. I like Young Living and Simply Earth essential oils.
House Cleaner: I’m a big fan of Branch Basics concentrate – I bought their premium starter kit that comes with the stuff to make an all-purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, laundry soap, and glass cleaner. I have a $10 off code that you can access here!
Hand soap: I like the Ever Spring fragrance-free hand soap from Target. It’s really affordable, too!
Hand sanitizer: We use the brand Honest.
04. COOKWARE
~ I switched our plastic tupperware for glass
~ I switched our plastic utensils for wood ones
~ We invested in cookware that is lower in toxicity. We went with the Our Place Always pan and the Our Place Perfect Pot!
05. BEAUTY PRODUCTS
Eyelash serum: I use DIME’s eyelash serum and actually it was the product that introduced me to DIME back when I was pregnant. Not only is this stuff cleaner, but it works wonders! It helped my sad postpartum eyelashes so much – just ask my eyelash extension artist, lol.
Perfume: I gave up perfume for a while because I couldn’t find a clean option that I liked but then I tried DIME’s and now I’m obsessed! My 2 favorite scents are: Dans Les Bois® Perfume (bright + floral vibe) and Lovely Sweet Dreams Perfume (vanilla vibe).
Toothpaste: We use Tom’s whole care toothpaste.
Body soap: We use Dr. Bronner’s in the lavender or citrus scent.
Deodorant: I use Primally Pure’s deodorant.
There are obviously a lot more areas that you can clean up, but these are what I started with. I try to opt for “fragrance-free” whenever possible!
I’m getting more into the food I consume, baby/toddler products, and my hair products now but I don’t have enough to share about these areas at this point. I still feel like I’m figuring them out!
The products I mentioned aren’t perfectly clean options but they are better than a lot of other options out there. And what I consider “clean enough for me” might not be clean enough to someone else.
I view clean living as a journey – because I’m always learning, growing, and pivoting!
And that is what I’ve got for you today – how to switch to cleaner products without feeling overwhelmed! Remember that this is a big progress over perfection type of thing…there is absolutely no way to completely avoid all toxins so don’t strive to do that. Instead, focus on how you can create the healthiest environment for you and your family to thrive in.
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