Last week I shared my personal toxin-free cosmetics listicle. In the past I’ve also covered off safe sunscreens, toxin-free nail polish and safe fake tan. An update from my ablutions front: Slowly, slowly I’ve been reducing what I use to a very small kit. And it pretty much comes down to…oil. Even my mascara. And cleanser.
Image by Lissy Elle Laricchia
I follow Ayurvedic thinking when it comes to oils. This style of healing uses oils to heal a number of ailments, particularly those that stem from a vata disposition. Vata is a personality tendency characterised by flightiness, agitation, an inability to focus, excitement, sleep problems, digestion issues. I’m VERY vata. But even those of us who aren’t vata-dominant experience the craziness of out of control vata because our culture is very vata. Fast food, fast traffic, fast timetables, chaotic schedules… it’s knocking our vata about. And one some of the best ways to calm vata is to use oils. Oils are heavy and grounding. They coax vata back down to earth, like Miss Jane pulling Mr Squiggle back down to the ground.
I’ve been reading Simone De Beuvoir’s The Blood of Others. It’s a grating read. It cuts to the pain of an ethical quandary that I feel should grate at us all – are we responsible for everything? Or should we just take care of ourselves? It goes to the heart of existentialist angst – the French variety.
Simone De Beauvoir, by Charis Tsevis
In it, the main character, Jean, quotes Dostoyevsky:
“Each of us is responsible for everything and to every human being.”
Jean adds: “We’re all responsible. But ‘all’ means each of us. I’ve always felt that, even when I was a kid; my eyes are sufficient for this boulevard to exist…I see everything taking place, as if everything that happens, happens through me.”
And so, in classic existentialist form (always, already) he sums up the philosophical basis of our purpose on this planet. But Helene his clinging girlfriend wants more from him. She responds:
There are many, many, and many more causes of autoimmune disease. And then, too, there are none. Ultimately no one can really pin point a root cause. It’s truly a clusterf*ck.
There are factors, of course, that flare the condition. Like gluten, sugar and anxiety.
Image by Lissy Elle
But one I haven’t really covered before is fake sugar. So, we’re talking saccharine (Sweet’N Low), sucralose (Splenda) or aspartame (Equal and NutraSweet). More people are consuming these chemicals, more people are getting AIs. And what do you know, there’s now some links connecting the two phenomena.
1. Aspartame is linked to immune disorders. Aspartame is converted to formaldehyde (an embalming fluid) in your body. Your liver can’t clear this toxin normally, so it remains lodged, activates inflammation and can lead to autoimmune issues and cancer growth.
2. Sucralose is linked to IBS, Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis… according to a study in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology. Sucralose has an inhibitory effect on beneficial gut bacteria, which, as we know is linked to AI (the microbiome makes up 80 per cent of our immune system). A report by the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health confirms this. It was shown to halve the good bacteria in the microbiome and raise gut pH levels.
Many moons ago I did a political internship at Parliament House. I wrote a paper for Lindsay Tanner, then Member for Melbourne, looking at the worth of paid paternal leave.
Martin Gagner: “I feel guilty about not having been at home with Matilda (4) as much as I am now with Valdemar (1). I worry that my relationship with her will be weaker in the future.”
It was all about comparing the Australian situation with Sweden where half of the very generous paid parental leave provisions must/can only be taken by the father. Today, 480 days of paid leave can be taken by either parent, of which 60 must be taken by the father or else the paid days are lost. So there is a clear disincentive for the father not to take the leave. Yet, still, only 12 per cent of Swedish dads take up the offer.
Yesterday, I shared how to choose the best toxin-free cosmetics. As promised, here’s my own safe beauty shopping list. It’s not a definitive list. And I recognise that nothing is ever fully toxin-free. As ever, it’s about doing what you can. As ever, it’s mostly about doing with less. Less is more. Less is more.
Me ‘n’ my made-up face and salty hair
Talking to experts over the years, we all agree: It’s not always feasible to go completely chemical-free; we can simply reduce the chemical load by making safer choices where we can.
Also be aware, I’ve not been paid to run this list. By anyone. The recommendations are genuine. In the past few days a few advertisers have asked to place ads on this site, however. Just so you know.
Hair products:
I have previously used Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner (made in Australia), Vanessa Megan and currently use A Bit Hippy. It’s taken quite some time for my hair to adjust to the cleaner brands (and I’m yet to find one I truly love) and when I occasionally get stuck using a conventional shampoo it can take weeks for my hair to adjust again (the silicon build-up takes a number of washes for my more rustic shampoo to cut through…which gives you an indication of how loaded conventional shampoos and conditioners are). For hair styling products… I swear by the ocean. Salt water is my beauty secret. I haven’t really found a styling product that doesn’t make me feel sick when applied (of all the cosmetic products out there, hair sprays and lotions affect me the most). Fortunately, sea water is the best hair volumiser I’ve come across.
For covering my greys I use my Ere Perez mascara. See below. That said, I do get my hair coloured at a hair salon about 3-4 times a year. They try to use minimal chemicals…but I know it’s not ideal. As always, I choose my battles and until I can come up with a
I’ve done several toxin-free cosmetics lists over the years, each with several updates…resulting in a bit of a jumble. So I’ve pulled them apart and rejigged them all with updated information.
Image via Pinterest
And before I go on… I really want to emphasise that making the switch to safer and cleaner shouldn’t be about buying more stuff. It’s about making a slow, gradual, informed switch as your current products run out.
I’ve spoken to a lot of people about how you and I can best act on the very real fears we have that our foundations and hair dyes and deodorants are not good for us. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
1. Use less stuff
Reduce the chemical load where you can. It takes some getting used to – wearing less makeup and less products – but it’s doable. It makes sense at all levels. I don’t wear foundation (where possible) any more. I wear a bit of powder, mascara and eyebrow pencil. No hair product. No nail polish. Less is more.
2. Read the labels and avoid these ingredients:
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. This is a really good starting point. Anything with SLS… high-tail from it – it’s a common
Consider this An Open Letter to Journalists Who Find Themselves A Little Confused. I’ll do this little “cheat sheet” in bullets because, frankly, I don’t have the patience for pleasantries. And I figure I need to get to the point clearly. It seems many journalists are very confused.
Photograph by Sheena Jibson
1. I have never said I’m anti-vaccination. Dozens of journalists have claimed that I am, regurgitating each others’ incorrect stories. None have bothered to contact me for comment. Or bothered to Google the topic. If they did, they’d find this.
When journalists claim I’m anti-vaxthey are “creating” a poster girl for the movement.
This is incredibly irresponsible and gives power to the very movement they’re railing against.
4. I have had enough of being put up as that poster girl and will be taking action to have stories corrected when it does happen. I have requested the Herald Sun pull down their latest effort by Susie O’Brien (who also, curiously, refers to “raw milk-drinking vegans”). For instance.
5. Context is king. References to me voicing the anti-vax argument were made in the context of having being asked on Sunrise back in early 2013 to explain the reasons that parents from a wealthy suburb in Sydney were giving for not vaccinating their children. I explained what their reasoning was, drawing on the news link in question, as well as
My interest in words that sum up melancholia or human yearning (in a way that standard English just can’t) continues. A Twitter friend (Dr Daz) sent me this read about “solastalgia”, a word invented by (retired) Murdoch University professor of sustainability and environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht.
At home outdoors
Solastalgia describes “the homesickness you have when you are still at home”.
By the late 1990s open-cut coal mining had drastically changed the landscape of the Upper Hunter region of NSW – for the worse. As a result, the people of the region were suffering from a form of chronic distress that saw their previously positive sense of place (“topophilia”) and love of their home and landscape, turn bad. Albrecht realised that there was no concept in the English language that adequately described this distressed state. And so he invented the term to describe the existential melancholia experienced with the negative transformation (desolation) of a loved home environment.
But it soon took off around the world as A Word that summed up succinctly A Thing we’re collectively feeling about the planet. That is, bad stuff is happening and we feel ill-at-ease about it.
Says Albrecht:
“One of the reasons for international interest in the concept of solastalgia is that we are in the middle of a pandemic of earth-related distress that will only get worse. Everything that was once familiar and trusted in our environment will be
I’ve shared on oodles of occasions how Ayurvedic healing is, in my opinion, the most grounded wellness approach around. You can catch up on my previous posts here and find out which dosha you are here.And if you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know my dosha is, yeah, vata. I’m a poster child for the category!
If you’re not vata yourself read on anyway, because vata energy actually controls all the doshas – if your vata is out of whack, all the doshas become unbalanced.
Photo by Ceppas Photography
The thing is, Vatas need “sweet” foods
Vata energy actually needs sweetness to balance and pacify. This is because the energy in vata comes in bursts, so calls for energy stabilisation after a burst. Which is why vata types crave sugar. Because it’s sweet, yes, but also because it’s a stimulant. And for vata types – which sees energy move through our bodies and minds like wind through a tunnel – we feel we need those stimulants to replace the lost energy.
Where does this leave things? We need “sweet” foods, but sugar is surely an issue? I asked Ayurvedic consultant Nadia Marshall to share some of her tips and tricks on the topic. Nadia is director of The Mudita Institute near Byron Bay. She lives and breathes this stuff.
So what does Ayurveda have to say about sugar?
Nadia deals it straight: From an Ayurvedic perspective, refined sugars are considered both stale and over-stimulating. They are difficult to digest so can create disturbance and waste in the body (known as “Ama” in Ayurveda and considered to be the root cause of all disease). Refined sugars actually aggravate vata but also kapha, leading to fluid retention, weight gain, mental agitation or dullness (or both… swinging between the two) and physical exhaustion. They also weaken the pancreas and the liver, which in turn can aggravate pitta in the body.
Refined sugars produce the disease-causing agents in the body and mind, simultaneously weakening the immune system.
So what to eat to pacify vata if you don’t eat sugar?
Set us straight Nadia:
1. Go for warm and slightly oily foods. Eating foods cooked with warming spices (turmeric,
Last week I shared why a microadventure will make your life better. Lovely-ishly, some of you were prompted to give one a crack that day. Some of you, however, asked for some inspiration, to get you going… so I figured I should give you a few adventure starters…
Image via treasuresandtravelsblog.com
1. Do a train-hike-train on the outskirts of town. In Sydney I sometimes catch the train out to Mt Ku-Ring-Gai station, hike down to Berowra Waters and back up again to Cowan station, before catching the train home. In Melbourne I catch a train down to the Mornington Peninsula, and then hike the cliffs above Sorrento, finish up with a swim in the ocean before heading back to the city. It’s an easy day trip.
2. Take a foodie road trip to a regional area. I’ve done one from Canberra to Byron Bay and one from Melbourne to Daylesford. Mudgee really knows how to showcase their local food and wines, too. Hobart is totally do-able from much of Australia, as a weekend jaunt. You can find my other foodie trips here.
3. Close your eyes, spin around and point at a map. It’s what my Dad did with us as kids. We had a map of NSW; wherever my little brother or sister (it was always the youngest used for such fun) pointed, that’s where we went camping for
