What to Use Instead of Chemically-Filled “Normal” Skincare Products

So we’re all living within some budget, right. And we all compare the generic brand to the fancy and think Really? That much more? And then we grab the lotion that’s on sale, and away our cart zooms down the aisle.

That’s how we’ve always done skin care. It seemed like a real luxury to buy anything organic or high end, even, and frankly, a potential waste of moolah. I didn’t care about the vitamin-A saturated wrinkle eye cream (maybe I should have started to earlier?), nor did I really care about what kind of lotion I put on, if any, in the harsh winters after my (infrequent) shower.

Two things changed this perspective: SuperBoy’s eczema and my sister becoming an herbalist. I’ll start with the herbalist part. Many of you know about the sister right above me, Molly, who lives out in New York with her two sweet girls. She’s the one I’m always face timing or blabbing to on the phone. Or days like today when we spent an hour on the phone, much of which was spent talking to our children or putzing around our houses. Just hanging out. On speaker (which drives our brother nuts). She is a graphic designer by trade and worked in the field almost a decade before turning her sights to . . . herbs.

I’ve blogged about her momma line before, remember?

She joined up with her girlfriend Emma at Brooklyn Herborium and does everything that you can visually see (still a graphic designer!) and partakes in the making process, too. Partly she was inspired by the birth of her own daughter, and then wanting to use what was healthiest on her baby’s skin, her skin, and for their whole household.

Baby Moon line here.

Momma Moon line here.

Basic Skincare here.

Advanced Skincare here.

Men here. Come on, ladies, you know your man wears the bad stuff and has the turkey neck post shaving and is too frugal to leap for the goods. Consider it a gift to humanity!

All products here.

I was dubious initially when she described her new avocation. Organic handmade herbal skincare products? Is that just another way to spend money? First it’s organic food, then cotton clothing & wool for the kids, and now products? Will I ever be able to afford this? Who can afford this?

The answer I’ve come to is: you can’t afford not to do it. Now, when it comes to the food stuff, some things are safer to eat than others that are conventionally grown or produced. But when it comes to what you slather on your skin? That skin just eats it right now, right through your derma! At least when you’re eating, your digestive system weeds out the trash. Not when you’re soaking your pores. The chemicals we slather ourselves in are poison!

My whole family (as well as thousands world-wide, you heard me, world-WIDE!) use Molly’s products. And my skin has never been happier or healthier, through multiple pregnancies and years of nursing. My kids’ skin has gone from chronic eczema and constant sensitivity to happy and healthy.

On to part two, my kids’ skin. Oy vey. We saw pediatric dermatologists, did nutritional response testing, talked over and over and ’round and ’round with our wonderful MD/natreopath about how to help SuperBoy’s skin. We tried bleach baths, all sorts of lotion & potions, food eliminations, you name it. The dermo we saw wanted me to use samples of this insane lotion that the FDA wouldn’t approve for children “just because it had links to some cancer in monkeys, if you can believe that.” Um, that guy was NOT helpful.

Molly assessed and slowly coaxed his skin to healing and clearing up. Those open weeping rashes on his cheeks? Gone. The constant bumps on his arms and legs? Gone. Miracle worker, in my mind.

So come and see what her products are, what she offers, read her blog, and ask her questions: molly (at) brooklynherborium.com. She’s super friendly. And doesn’t bite much for a New Yorker.