The Beginning of The End of Our Chemical Romance

How our minds started to change, the unconscious steps…

Both myself and my partner, Tay, have always been interested in natural remedies, holistic treatments, enjoying natural crap and all that jazz. We favoured the organic produce where possible. When there's a choice between organic weed and non organic weed we went for the organic blahblahblah.

But in the past couple of years since, let's call it, the Covid Era began in 2020, like a lot of people we started looking more at our food, our medicine and the chemicals we are putting on/in our bodies.

I am hypersensitive to pharmaceuticals and since I hit my 30’s I seem to have become even more sensitive. I can't even wear a regular sanitary pad for 5 mins without getting a rash and ‘She’ gets VERY angry. I have to be selective with bath bombs and other bathing products as they can cause my skin to dry out to the point that it felt like my skin was a few sizes too small for me and would cause thrush or dermatitis.

We moved to a property with a lot of land to play with. Tay quit the commercial kitchen and became a small holding gardener/ worm farmer/b&b proprietor. He started researching compost and began his living soil journey. We have spent many a Sunday afternoon in the winter cwtched up listening to Soil and worm podcasts, which sounds boring as fuck but was actually incredibly interesting.

We started to really think about what we were feeding our plants and soil, which naturally led to us thinking more about what we were putting in/on our bodies. 

If you're not gonna put X on your plants, why would you put it in your body? If you aren't gonna put X in your body, why on earth would you put it on your plants you're planning on consuming. 

We started making little changes to our diet, to our shopping lists. Since about Christmas time we have started to really struggle with where we buy our flower from. We have become so sensitive to the contaminants and chemicals, we have become so aware of the toxic crap we are putting onto our plants, what it really does to the soil, what it does for the medicine/food you're trying to produce to give your body the nutrients and fuel it needs to stay well. 

What really shifted us up a gear was the recent mushroom trips in late May/ early June. I felt that the spirit of the mushrooms were screaming at me. I bought a watermelon to enjoy while I was wavey (fresh fruit  is THE ONE while tripping, will blow your mind). That first bite my face dropped, the mushie voice said ‘yeah, that's not right. Spit it out.’ Although it looked ripe and ready by sight, it wasn't. It was hard, it wasn't juicy, it had that chemical taste I have started to recognise. A flavour i am tasting on so much ‘fresh’ produce. The dog, a melon fan, didn't want it. The chickens that would normally fight over something like that, didn't want it. The natural creatures didn't want to eat this watermelon. It started me on a rollercoaster of thought again, about what we are putting into/onto our bodies.

This same trip was enjoyed in glorious sunshine. I wanted to stay in the sun but know that my ginger ass NEEDS protection from the sun…but suncream is full of toxic shit. I didn't want to put the sludge on my skin. Google the rate of skin cancer since the invention of sunscreen. Google oxybenzone and suncream.

We shouldn't be putting this shit on our skin. All the crap our governments have told us is good for us isn't. It's the crap sold by the people with the biggest bank accounts. The shit that keeps us alive and can be accessed for free or low costs are hidden from us, sold back to us as a synthetic solution to a problem they made. 

I was soaking in a gorgeous hot bath a couple of days after the 2nd trip, enjoying the gratitude attitude it seems to have triggered. When I was done soaking and relaxing I wanted to wash…oh wait….what's in the shampoo and conditioner..?! Fuck knows. It's all chemicals. I dunno what any of it means and I don't think I want to. There must be a away to wash without chemicals. 

(If you would like to read more about the mushie trips click here for the article.)

Conclusion: I WANT LESS FUCKING CHEMICALLS IN MY LIFE. It's time to do something. I felt a bit of a hypocrite ranting about wanting clean meds while eating Cheesy wotsits and drinking a diet coke…hellllooooo Buddy, maybe try some clean food along with those clean meds or your trying to ride up a fucking hill with the brakes on! ( Infairness our diet is very good, but we are guilty of eating utter shit when we are high or feel low).

My body and my mind were in cahoots. They are ready for it. My taste buds have changed already. I tried to eat a wotsit this week and spat it out. It doesn't taste the same. The switch in my head has been flicked, I am ready for these changes.

We aren't going to suddenly throw everything out and try all new shit all at once. We are Neurodiverse and that is NEVER going to work. It's unrealistic and too much pressure, too easy to slip back into preconditioned habits. But what we can do is make small changes that become adopted into our routines, adding more as they become more natural in our routines.

The Changes.

Thanks to my lovely followers on Instagram I was quickly given the names of a couple of brands I should check out. As we were already using natural medicines and products we have a few small businesses we like to use, McC Organics being one of them.

As most of you know, I suffer with trigeminal neuralgia, TMJ disorder & all the oral problems that go with it. In December, I started using natural toothpaste (pictured above). I've been aware of the fluoride in toothpaste for a long time and its dangers. Its in everything. But I needed to keep my oral hygiene up. McC Organics came to me with a solution. A small batch toothpaste made from coconut oil, cloves, CBD and charcoal. It provides teeth whitening, breath freshening, gum healing, an anti inflammatory & its an analgesic all in one. I don't wake up in the morning with a fuzzy mouth and bad breath that's caused by the fluoride toothpaste stripping your mouth of its natural defences. My teeth had started to be come a source of insecurity for me due to the discolouration. I stopped smiling with my mouth open, I was covering my mouth of my Live streams when I spoke and event barely going Live. In the past 7 months I have never seen such an improvement in the colour of my teeth while using anything else.

This is just one of the fantastic products this knowledgeable man creates and supplies. I have had the pleasure of using quite a few of them. Please check out their Instagram here. 

I needed Sun cream. We can't afford to do much at the moment but what we can do for free is enjoy the beautiful country we find ourselves in, but my skin needs protection. I found Feel Good Inc, creators of an all natural Sun Cream using only natural products to make small batches of SPF 30 balm. The reviews on the page are enough to tell you it works! They have since started making a tanning sun cream using a mushroom powder! You can get pots of this wonderful stuff for only £7 postage. You have the peace of mind knowing its not got any nasties in it and the money is helping a real person pay very real bills. Not helping to keep a light on in a store cupboard in Nivea HQ. 

It's not heavy or claggy on my face like regular suncreams. The regular crap I would put it on and immediately feel greasy, gross and dirty. Aware that any spec of dust was going to stick to my skin, clog my pores and just feel blergh. The Feel Good Nectar Inc suncream is really light on the skin and absorbs really quickly with no lasting oily feel. I have spent a couple of afternoons laying in the sun and haven't felt the usual tell tale signs of being cooked so far so good. I spent the afternoon stood outside a church for a funeral in the harsh sun and then outside for the wake thanks to this cream. I would HIGHLY recommend it. I just wish it spread a little easier on skin, if it was a little more lotiony it would be PERFECTION. As it's all natural ingredients you gotta go with what the ingredients wants to do. It works beautifully so what's those extra few seconds smoothing onto your skin doing? Nothing, stimulate your skin damn it!

The Brands I was Recommended

Miniml have a full range of home, laundry and personal cleaning products. All made up in bottles with some lovely scents. They use organic and ethically sourced ingredients. You can also buy large refill bottles. You can find this brand at a lot of Zero Waste shops that are popping up. I was very keen to give them a whirl and they even do handy sample packs so you can give everything a go in a handy trial size bottle. We will give these guys a try in the future. You can see their website here. 

I went with Natural Spa Supplies as we have found 2 products we can replace 7 with!! Yes SEVEN products down to 2. Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Face Wash, Dish Soap, Laundry detergent and fabric conditioner. Plus anything else you need to clean tbh, I spent £16 including p&p on Moroccan Rhassoul Clay powder and 250g SoapNuts.

The Products ~ SoapNuts

Soapnuts contain saponins. This is a natural detergent. It breaks the surface tension of water to make it wetter. This helps the water get into the dirt and take the particles with it. Leaving clothing clean and conditioned. 3-4 soap nuts in a soak can be used 2-3 times. There were approx 90 nuts in 250g. As well as for laundry, you can use it as a surface cleanser, washing up liquid, stain remover, toilet cleaner, hand soap, body soap.

Soap Nut trees need to hit 9yrs old before they start producing fruit and go on producing fruit for 90 years! If you'd like to learn more about Soap Nuts and the uses visit Natural Spa Supplies website here. 

Our Laundry & SoapnutsI accidentally got some of the dogs frozen raw meat in my dungarees pocket and didn't realise it until it had defrosted. The pocket was stained with blood as well as the usual grime from a couple of days of wear. They went into the wash with 4 soap nuts tied up in a sock on a 20degree cotton wash.

Due to my sensory sensitivity, the smell of clothing can be triggering. Usual laundry soaps can be too powerful for me. On the other hand, my partner and I are ADHD so our laundry can stay waiting to be dried for a few days. This has led to some loads coming out a bit musty and led to the machine itself getting the same so the clothes don't always come out smelling nice so I was concerned the soapnuts wouldn't be able to make our clothes smell neutral…I was bloody wrong. 

There isn't a smell, well, just the smell of ‘clean’. There was no sign of the blood on the dungers or any other spec of dirt. We used that one sock of soapnuts for 3 loads before sticking them in the compost. Colour me impressed, I WOULD recommend soap nuts for laundry to anyone and everyone.

As I would still like my clothes to have a slight scent on them when they are clean I will invest in a lovely essential oil blend I can add a couple of drops to the loads.

Dish Soap. Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to use it for this function yet as we have under half a bottle of fairy liquid left and daymn, does that stuff last forever. Tay has since got impatient and just diluted the fairy with soapnut extraction so I think we will have this bottle until we retire. 

The Rhassoul Clay powder is  a highly detoxifying 100% natural mineral clay powder formed by natural geothermal processes and volcanic activity. Its full of essential minerals, rare earths and trace elements. The powder is mixed into a paste and then used to clean your face, body and hair.

Tay's Experience.  My partner was the first to use the clay. He’s not one to notice his skin much or care about that sort of thing generally. After he’d showdered and properly dried, he couldn't stop talking about how soft and velvety his skin was and is actually looking forward to using it again in the shower! He now uses this mixed with some of the soap nut extraction when he showers. Hes much less stinky and I think his skin that was prone to waxy spots on his back is now much clearer. 

My Experience. I used the clay in the bath on my face, body and hair. I mixed a little soap nut mixture in with the clay powder. It was easy to scoop it up and rub it on, if you move frantically like I do it can splash about a bit and become messy. If you're more conscious of your movements then you'd probably do a better job of containing it to the bath tub than I did. 

Body and face, I totally agree with Tay. I felt like velvet, my skin was so clean and smooth without feeling too small for me. I didn't feel the need to moisturise my body, I was very comfortable….

However, I did NOT get on with it in my hair. I used as directed and then rinsed and rinsed. My hair didn't feel the same after washing with it but as it is a completely different kind of product I kind of expected it. It felt how hair feels without conditioning while still in the water. You cant get your fingers in your hair to pull them through. It wasn't nice.

Firstly, it took a lot longer for my hair to dry. It normally takes the best part of a day anyway but maybe due to the soap nut mixture acting as a wetting agent it took even longer. It was very difficult to get a brush through my hair and it turns out the clay wasn't fully washed from my hair as it felt powdery to touch but also greasy? It wasn't a pleasant feeling. 

I figured I didn't rinse the clay from my hair properly so I used a cold shower to try and wash the residue from my hair…It didn't work. It took another 2 baths and hair washes to remove the residue from my hair. Please bare in mind I have insanely thick hair. What you see is only 1 third of it as a third is shaved off and another third in locks.

For skin and body I will definitely be using this clay powder again but certainly not for my hair. I have got exceptionally thick hair and I do have sensory issues. It may take a few washes for your hair to get used to the clay powder, maybe I wasn't using it correctly so please don't dismiss it as a shampoo and conditioner as it may be just the thing for you. This is a personal journey and there's no right way about it. 

Other Products We Use

Since beginning to write this article we have made a couple more changes. We ran out of bleach for cleaning the toilet so have swapped that out for Ecover toilet cleaner. There are other more natural and cheaper solutions to this particular part of the house work but neither of us have had the time or the headspace to do it, despite it probably being very very simple. This bottle cost £2.60 and boasts natural ecofriendly ingredients. The smell isn't over powering and its less toxic than bleach. 

As we will be making our own cleaning products in the future, we will be needing some spray bottles. We opted to buying Method Anti Bac surface cleaner so we have the inital cleaning product and then can repurpose the bottle in the future. This was in expensive for something that should last a while and it smells dreamy. 

Summary

We are both really happy with the results of these first experiments into the non chemical/all natural changes. Our clothes and skin feel/smell amazing without the harmful toxins affecting us and the environment. I am sad that I couldn't get on with the clay on my hair but I know there are still plenty of options open to me. There's a world of natural products out there…literally. I think I will try the Hemp Soap available from the Natural Spa Supplies on my hair next although I know I really do need help detangling. If I don't get on with that I will try the premade Miniml shampoo and conditioner. I am very keen to continue on this path and to learn more about the natural methods we have substituted with unnecessary pollutants. The more produce we are planting in the garden, the less we will need to rely on the low nutrition fruit and veg we have in our shops the more medicine we will be able to grow ourselves (although I know switching out the sugary treats maybe a bit harder for us, quick convenient munchies). When there are chemicals in everything from toilet paper to apples it's no wonder we are sick and depressed as a society. I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you and hope you’ll share your experiences with us! 

Have you found a natural product/life hack you now can't live without? Let me know in the comments below. Are you also removing chemicals from your lifestyle and would like to share your experiences? Are you a natural products company that would like to be featured on BuddyMary.co.uk?

Get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Drop me a message on any of my socials or email buddymary@gmail.com