There was a time in the not so distant past that I was unable to wash my body with anything other than a loofah and some sea salt. Washing my hair involved a pair of kitchen gloves, my head over the tub, a bottle of four ingredient shampoo clutched in my mitts, living in terror of an errant splash giving me a migraine or hives.
This finally passed and I’m now able to use pretty much anything, with one caveat (see below) but I’m so concerned with what I put on my body that I wrote a book detailing my (mis)adventures in cleaning up my bath and beauty routine and sharing my favourite products. Having done so, I’m always on the lookout for new additions to add to it.
Although there’s so many more “clean” brands for sale online than there used to be, I’m often dismayed to find that they’re hiding being an organic label but still using really crappy stuff. It blows my mind that something can be extracted from a natural source using a solvent like hexane (jury apparently still out on whether it’s carcinogenic) and then still be called “natural” which many people take to mean organic. I mean technically no trace of the solvent supposedly remains, but yuk, really?
You can read more about this in the fabulous book No More Dirty Looks and check how your beauty products rate on the clean scale by checking out the EWG website. You can read more about hexane and “natural” vs organic here.
It’s one of the reasons I use RMS Beauty products. They’re not organic, but creator Rose-Marie Swift points out that natural products cease to be natural when they go through so many adulterating processes, and her products are raw and very carefully sourced to be clean and of the highest quality [1].
One of the perks of having this blog is that people send you free stuff. Not scads of it, but some, and so I was delighted to receive a package of goodies from Alison over at Soap the Earth following my post on the link between rosacea and mast cells/histamine. With short ingredient lists of pretty much as non-toxic as it gets bath products, I was really looking forward to slathering my body with them, when the scent hit me. Not overly scented mind you, but they’re still something my brain and body are getting used to. I regretfully emailed Alison to tell her that many of us with histamine issues and mast cell disorders don’t do well with scents and to my utter surprise, she offered to make versions of her products unscented just for us!
Not only that, but she’s giving us all a 12% discount. Just use the code: histamine
You’ll find a list of products here that she has specially made for people dealing with histamine intolerance here. I would think the ingredients would also work for mast cell activation folks like me, but please use your best judgement or seek the advice of your doctor/medical practitioner/nutritionist/witch doctor first.
Need more bath and beauty ideas? Check out the Low Histamine Beauty Survival Guide, written back when I was still unable to let shampoo or any kind of cleanser touch my skin. Interesting times…I can now use pretty much anything I like, as long as it’s unscented, but I choose to still use the purest I can find.
Right now I’m using 100% pure cucumber face wash and it’s rocking my world, at least till my soap the earth order arrives!
I have to say I’m pretty excited to have a dedicated low histamine bath range available! Hope it works for you guys xo
It’s finally here! Man Food – a high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory ingredient filled book geared towards guys, women who love to work out, yoga like they mean it, or just load up on healing nutrients. Features my personal shopping list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods.
The Anti-cookbook and all liquid Anti-Detox Book, don’t treat any conditions, but feature a plethora of the high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory ingredients that have been instrumental in helping me feed myself on a limited diet. The Anti-cookbook features a six page list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods and comes in regular and Paleo.
The Low Oxalate Cookbook features antihistamine and anti-inflammatory rich recipes.
Don’t miss the Low Histamine Beauty Survival Guide for non-toxic beauty tips, the skinny on histamine releasing (mast cell degranulating) beauty ingredients, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory beauty alternatives and the top brands natural brands I’ve found.
Take a peek at my other low histamine and antihistamine cookbooks for more high nutrient recipes and sign up to my mailing list for freebies.
Please remember, even antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods can hurt us, please always exercise caution and consult a medical practitioner before adding new foods.
