The Junk Box

When my parents started Earth to Body I was a little hesitant to use some of their new creations.

I was in my early 20's and I was used to the products I had seen on TV for the last 20 years. 
I came home from school one day and my dad handed me a sheet of paper. On it was a list of chemicals that he said was in all of my hair and skin products ( if they even bothered to list them, which I learned later most didn't).

I read 'propylene glycol'. "What is that?" I wondered.  "Sodium laurel sulfate? Isn't that in everything? How can that be bad? "

Well, let me tell you, not only are they bad for us, they are also destroying the environment. Slowly.

I ran to my bathroom and bedroom on a mission to find one item without one of those carcinogens. To my shock and surprise the bottles either had no list (who knows what's in them) or they had a long, sad confusing jumble of ingredients that were all on my dad's list. So I started a Junk Box. A big junk box that cost an arm and a leg in product, but it felt kind of good to begin anew and become a tester for my parents concoctions and recipes.  (By law, today, all ingredients are supposed to be listed.)

Now for the plunge.  I descended the stairs and my dad handed me a shampoo bar. "A shampoo bar? Really?"

He said, "What do you think they used before Big Pharma and the 'Herbal hair remedies'?  Your grandparents and before them used bar soap. All handmade, from scratch with natural, amazing oils.

I thought, "What the heck can it hurt?  Two weeks passed and my hair experienced some kind of metamorphosis, my skin became dry and my lips parched. I couldn't figure out what was happening. My mom told me I was detoxing. She said, "All of the toxins from those products are coming out. Stick with it!  You'll be amazed.  Your hair will be shiny and your skin will glow. Just hang in there."
 

Well, wouldn't you know it?  She was right. It took 3-4 weeks of my hair being greasy and my skin somewhat dry, but after that I couldn't believe it.  People would ask me what I was using in my hair?   How was it so shiny?  It grew faster and thicker and my skin was soft and felt good. I went from having 10 items in my shower to one. I washed my hair and skin with the shampoo bar.  I shaved and traveled with one bar of soap. Hassle free. I was hooked and was in love. The apple cider vinegar hair rinse became my 'go to residue remover' and my hair was so luscious, I was amazed. 

It's been 14 years since I've been using a shampoo bar from head to toe. I love both the regular shampoo bar and the ESP.  I'll never go back. Now I pass the 'Beware of Chemical' sheet along to other people who believed the way I used to. I'll never have to create another junk box again. Let's see if you can handle the switch?  It's hard and fun and interesting all at the same time. Read the labels. Make a junk box and go from 10 products in your shower to one beautifully, handmade bar of soap. Trust me.  You'll be hooked too.

Remember the saying, 'One man's junk is another man's treasure'?  There is nothing in my junk box to treasure.  Ever.  The treasure is in our soap.