Beachstone Soaps 1.38

So I had some kids. And, being the semi-neurotic person I am, I immediately started panicking about, well, everything. Suddenly, the most seemingly innocuous things were putting my most precious little beings in imminent danger. There was hidden poisons lurking in my food, in my house, the furniture, in my plastic packaging, in my cleaning products and in the all personal care items I had. Every time I read something new about the chemicals we use and ingest, I was reeling with guilt and anxiety. Did I give my kids that? Have they been exposed to this? Are they going to get sick? Does this have BPA? What the hell are phalates? HOW IS EVERYTHING A POTENTIAL CARCINOGEN?! I mean pickles are on that list! Who knew? Its overwhelming and it made me want to crawl into a hole and not come out. Ever. It was bad. For years.

But I couldn’t crawl into a hole. I had to pull myself together as best I could. I still had these two beautiful little souls that depended on me (imagine… poor little people). I made changes. I bought organic when I could. I traded all my lotions, toothpaste, soap, and cleaning products for all-natural alternatives. I read every label for every thing. It took me hours to do the grocery shopping. And I nearly went bankrupt.

I’ve had to scale down some on the $5 toothpaste, $25 non-nano zinc sunscreen, $8 soap and similarly priced less toxic cleaning products, some of the organic veggies and fruit… I am, like most, part of the working poor. It infuriates me that the healthiest food and products just too expensive. And that, if your not well-off, you and your kids don’t get to partake in that particular bounty. I make concessions now. I use the ‘dirty dozen’ and ‘clean fifteen’ list for my produce and buy local whenever possible. I clean mostly with vinegar and baking soda. And now, I make my own lotions, soaps and other personal care products. I’m keeping my price points reasonable because I think it’s disgusting that the good stuff is for people of a certain tax bracket and the rest of us are supposed to slop on crap loaded with toxins, carcinogen, and endocrine disruptors and snack on no-name Cheese Puffs.

There it is, in a nutshell, how I came to this business. I’m no hippie - although I aspire to be one (still wound slightly on the tight side). I have a degree in Environmental Studies and I do a hell of a lot of research. I am a huge proponent of Due Diligence and the Precautionary Principle. If I were Queen, it would be the laws by which all would live. I’m weary of worrying about what harmful things to which I may be exposing my family. I don’t think I’m alone feeling this way.