10 Safer Bath and Body Products for You and Your Kids
Grace has fallen into the trap of kid marketing. She has started asking me to buy her junk at the grocery store that is decorated with her favorite cartoon characters. I don’t deprive my kids of treats, but there are some things I don’t want to buy.
“Grace, I’m not going to buy that because it really isn’t good for you.”
“If it isn’t good for kids, why is it here?”
“Some people still buy it and eat it even though it isn’t good.”
I’m starting to lay down the foundation with Grace that not every item in the store is an item that is good for her. This is a concept all of us know and understand. I don’t think many of us are fooled into thinking that candy bars are a health food.
However, I would place bets that most of us are fooled into thinking that the products lining the shelves in the bath and beauty aisle are safe for us and our kids. Unfortunately, that simply is not true.
In 2013 Johnson & Johnson admitted that their baby products contained ingredients that are known to cause cancer. You may be tempted to rid your bathroom of all Johnson & Johnson products, but your purge won’t be effective until you take a good look at all of your bath and body products.
Dangerous chemicals like phthalates and parabens are used regularly in bath and body products. Unless your products clearly state “phthalate & paraben free” on the label, you are likely using a potentially harmful product.
So if you don’t want to use the popular Johnson & Johnson brand on your little ones, what should you use?
10 Safer Bath and Body Products for You and Your Kids
I don’t claim that any of these safer bath and body products are 100% safe or perfect, but they are items that I have bought and used in my own home. Some of the links below are affiliate links.
1. Babyganics Foaming Body Wash & Shampoo – I’ve tried a couple different soap options for my kids and so far this one is my favorite.
2. Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm – I have only used conventional diaper rash cream on my babies a handful of times. It has such a strong medicine smell (even through the diaper!) and it makes me nervous. This diaper rash cream from Earth Mama Angel Baby has a very soft, natural scent. It has been effective for my babies.
3. JASON Hand Soap – If you are trying to avoid toxins in your soap, make sure you stay away from antibacterial soaps. My favorite JASON hand soap scent is cranberry. I love it!
4. Tom’s of Maine Toothpaste for Kids – This comes in a fluoride or fluoride free option.
5. Earth Mama Angel Baby Lotion – I like the way this lotion smells. I’ve used it on my babies and myself.
6. Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap – This super concentrated soap can be used on your body or in homemade cleaning products. It comes in a variety of scents. Make sure you don’t use the peppermint scent on sensitive body parts (like a baby’s bottom) because it can tingle. You shouldn’t experience that with the other scents.
7. Organic Coconut Oil – You can use coconut oil in the kitchen or the bathroom. I use it on a regular basis as a moisturizer, lip balm, or to keep frizz under control. It can also be used as a diaper rash cream.
8. Tom’s of Maine Bar Soap – This is available in my regular grocery store and I use it on a regular basis.
9. Garnier Fructis Pure & Clean Shampoo and Conditioner – This is not a perfect product, but I have been using it for months. I like it because: it isn’t pricey, it is available at my grocery store, and it is paraben & dye free. I’ve tried more natural shampoo options, but I haven’t found one I love.
10. Everyday Shea Bubble Bath – When I buy bubble bath for my children, this is the brand that I always get.
Free Organic Soy Candle and $10 credit to ePantry through 5/30/15!
All of the products above are linked to where you can find them on Amazon, but many of these products are also available on ePantry. ePantry is a fantastic source for natural bath and beauty products that I trust. This week Simply Rebekah readers will get a free organic soy candle, which burns for 70+ hours and a free $10 Credit on first-time ePantry orders!
Click here to grab the deal or read this first for more information about ePantry.
When it comes to making changes to your beauty routine and striving to live a more natural life, start with the baby steps. You don’t need to throw out all of your conventional products at once and start from scratch. As you use up one of your products, try to replace it with a more natural option. Look to see if any of these safer bath and body products above are available at your grocery store or big box store or add one of them to your next Amazon order.
What are your favorite natural bath and body products? Have you tried any these safer options?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Like I said earlier in the post, I don’t claim to have found the most perfect and natural products out there. This is simply a good starting point.
I am loving certified toxic free products from healthy home! They are pretty affordable and worry free! Would love to send you some products for you to review! All of their products are safe for kids to use and if they ingest them you don’t have to worry! No balls to poison control or trips to the ER! A total hit with this mama!
Serena, feel free to send me an email if you would like to talk about sponsored post opportunities.
Love the list! Thank you, Rebekah! We’ve been slowly switching over to natural/organic for the past year. My 2&4 year old LOVE Tom’s strawberry toothpaste. They actually will pick it over the one with Jake & the pirates on the front. Win. And I feel like we use coconut oil for EVERYTHING! Cooking and beauty. We buy the big one at Costco that you posted and divie it up when we get home 🙂 Half for kitchen, the other half for lotion- mixed with a natural goats milk lotion we order from a Montana farm, Windrift Hill. It’s incredibly dry in Colorado & it’s the only thing I’ve found that works! – oh and the other part goes to a giant tub of deodorant. I know I know… Can we get anymore crunchy? I hate admiting that one, but you know what? I love our homemade deodorant! When I was using the regular stick ones, I’d have to switch from Secret to Ladies Speed Stick to Dove every 3-6 months because it seemed like they would just stop working! Weird. I haven’t had any problems like that with the homemade. I’m definitely going to try some of your other suggestions. Thanks again for the great list!
Confession: I made my own deodorant with coconut oil for a blog post once and then I NEVER ACTUALLY TRIED IT!! I put it in my fridge to harden and I think it is still in there two years later. For real. What a crunchy fail!
Two other commenters have asked for your recipe. Maybe you should do a guest post about that! *wink-wink*
Jen- I have tried making Deoderant before and did not love it. What recipe do you use? Thanks!
I was thinking the same thing when I read that post Amy! Jen what is your recipe? I haven’t found single recipe I’ve liked that works well.
I would totally do a guest post for you, Rebekah, but this one would look like this, “Three parts coconut oil to one part baking soda and add a few drops of lavender witch hazel. It’s optional to add essential oils, such as tea tree and rosemary if you’re feeling saucy & want to spice up the scent. It’s simple because I’m too lazy to concoct anything more elaborate.” By the way, I too have put some in my fridge & never used it! Which is great when friends are visiting from out of town and your husband pulls out the tub and says, “What’s this? Can we use it for dinner?” Ummm…. “That’s our deodorant” half muttered while banging pots and pans so our friends don’t hear me say we keep our deodorant in the fridge. Next to the butter. That’s just weird. So the reason it’s in my fridge, unused, is because coconut oil gets hard when it’s cold and you have to scrape it out and it’s all flakey and I just don’t love it that way. So we keep it in our bathroom in a Tupperware container. My husband is the one that found the recipe and he was nervous to switch from regular deodorant because well, one- He’s a man, and two- He’s a fireman. Double-sweaty-whammy. But he loves it. We think it works better than regular deodorant. If it’s a rough day and you start getting stinky, just put some more on. It’s not like regular deodorant where it tries to mask things. I think the antibacterial qualities of the coconut oil kills the bacteria that’s causing it and the baking soda helps with the pH balance, so it’s not masking it. But I’m no scientist. This is a crazy long comment. Sorry about that. Maybe I should’ve just sent you a blog post :\
Any time you want to write a guest post for me, just send me an email! 🙂
Hi Rebekah-just came across this post from a link at Humbled Homemaker. Curious if you’ve heard about my favorite new safe, non toxic line, Beautycounter?
I am not familiar with that company.
Would you like to try a sample pack? I hate advertising through comments but I don’t think your email was here… I’m on a mission of safety to spread the awareness of toxic chemicals. You should check out their corporate site: Beautycounter.com. I’ll refrain from giving you my personal shop page as I really don’t want to be salesy. Should you want to know more, please let me know via email. Thanks!
I use products from The Honest Company for body products for my whole family, hubby, 6 months old daughter and me… Love them!
I tried their diapers before and I really liked them. Do you use the diapers also?
Lemongrass Spa is definitely my go-to for ALL bath and body products. You will NOT BELIEVE the ingredients lists–and the REALLY WORK! Like better than anything I’ve ever tried. They are reasonably priced, safe, and do not disappoint.
Marcia, where do you find their products?
Because they try to avoid preservatives as much as they can, their products are made in small batches, sold by consultants, and shipped directly to you. So, as of this weekend I decided to become a Lemongrass Spa consultant myself since I can’t seem to help myself from telling people about how great this stuff is LOL. You can find me at http://www.ourlemongrassspa.com/7711