Remember When Products Used To Sting (And You Thought It Was Normal)?
So I wanted to share a funny-but-not-so-funny story with you guys. This past Saturday I went on a hike with some friends in the San Gabriel Mountains, about an hour outside of Los Angeles. The hike was incredible, taking place mostly along a beautiful rushing river which we had to cross back and forth over—I mean in—about 100 times, making for happy hearts but heavy hiking boots.
Anyways, the sun was blazing and, because of said river crossings and a generally unpredictable terrain, what we thought was going to be a four hour hike actually turned into eight hours. Not a problem except that this girl (yours truly), being not always the smartest when it comes to sun protection, did not have any sunscreen with her. She had a hat though.
Around hour five I realized that what I could still barely call a tan on my arms was about twenty minutes from a painful red burn, and so I swallowed my pride and asked to share in the bottles of spray-on sunscreen being passed around. I’m talking about the dirtiest, most chemy stuff on the market—so much so they probably still use CFCs in their aerosol cans.
What a trip to spray this crap on my skin, though. While a few years ago I wouldn’t have given it a second blink, it felt so counterintuitive in that moment. First off, it smelled chokingly of hairspray. Secondly, when it hit a tiny little scrape I had it actually made me yelp in pain—it killed, like insta-eyes-welling-with-tears type of sting. Which then made me laugh because it hit me how I used to take that sort of thing as par for the coarse. You know, don’t get that product near your open skin because it’s toxic and will burn the dickens out of you but let’s just not think about the fact that it’s seeping into our pores!
The stuff I use these days would actually help heal the cut and protect me from the sun. I love those kind of marker moments when you realize just how much your paradigm has shifted for the better. Had any lately?
Nothing quite so painful, but I recently found an old dirty foundation that somehow escaped my “Great Product Purge of 2011.” It looked great on, but usually made me break out if I wore it for too many hours in a day or (oops!) forgot to wash my face at night.
Oh my goodness, this is so funny! (In a not-so-funny way, of course.) I used to think a face mask wasn’t working (deep cleaning properly) if it didn’t sting – I guess I associated the pain with the death of my spots? And exfoliators – the rougher, scrapier, scrubbier, scratchier the better!
Oh, this young jedi knight has learned so much from the NMDL team!
I have those can’t-believe-I-used-to-put-up-with-this thoughts when I encounter a horrible product (usually by smell) and I’m so much MORE sensitive after going all clean. My body must have been so overwhelmed! And as a teenager, I thought if I could just get even more squeaky clean, those pimples would go away. If a soap didn’t suck the life out of my skin, it wasn’t working, right?!?
My childhood memory of something painful (as well as unpleasant smelling) is mosquito repellant. I shudder to think of how many applications of this toxin I had on my skin while growing up and what kind of cell mutations will result. We often walk near wetlands and I swear I can smell that stuff coming from the water. Not exactly that fresh baked cookie smell, but a childhood memory trigger all the same.
Ha, these are funny.
@Naomi — totally with you on the face mask. That tingling sting was the sign of activity, right? Especially if it left my face all red, dry and irritated too. Same goes for any acne wash. :)
I put some spray on sunscreen on a slightly burned hand, because I was in a hurry and it made my hands blister. Ewww.
Yes, absolutely. I’ve stopped washing my face in the morning (just a quick rinse), which has made my skin so much happier. I also use only RMS un cover up as my only ‘foundation,’ and since that’s just used on spots, it helps heal the skin and keep things moisturized. The “less is more” approach has been really eye opening — my skin has never looked better. And my girlfriends are amazed when I tell them the routine.
One experience I had years ago was using depilatory cream on my legs. It stung soooooo badly and my skin turned all red, but I figured that was par for the course. UGH! I wasn’t with it enough to figure out that the burning was probably not a good sign.
The other day I bought shaving cream at the drugstore because I missed the sweet lather. Except when I went to shave my bikini line, my lady bits were burning SO BAD.
Unfortunate. And btw, any good shaving cream reccomendations that won’t make me feel like I have a UTI?
@Alyssa: Coconut oil. For reals! Slather some of that on and let it sit and soften everything and then razor away after a few moments. You will need to wash your razor out well to get all the oil off later. Works for me, and no more bumpy rash nonsense like I used to get from those creams. :)
I can smell the soap my roommate uses. The suave stuff that I thought smelt good before but now its just so perfumy that it makes me think of all the chemicals and toxins that they put it in it to make it smell like that. I asked her to not spray hair spray which is generously said she wouldn’t do. It makes me gag and wonder why did I put that in my hair. The can says flammable and we put it in our hair. Its crazy what we do to look good. Some people just dont care or deny the impacts of what is in products.. Educating everyone is the key..
@Alyssa Yep. We agree with Sarah on the coconut oil (careful not to get water in the actual jar though). I also have a natural shaving cream kicking around somewhere that I’ve been meaning to try but not sure it’s lady-bit friendly. Will report back!
@Melissa O to the M to the G. That is awful.
The other product toner you put on your face that makes it sting and get red but we said helped our skin.. I wont use anything that isnt a natural oil or something that you recommend. I just dont have the budget to buy the expensive stuff. I would love to find face oil.. I know organ works but are familiar with 100% pure. are they really pure?..
@Alyssa, I’m on board with Sarah, but I also add a little unscented Dr. Bronners soap to that scoop of coconut oil. Hair conditioner works well as shaving cream too (I think that one’s in the Book). I also use some bar soaps that are heavy on shea and/or cocoa butter for shaving.
im reminded daily, either by walking through a “cleaning” aisle at a store, a candle on a desk, someone walking by covered in chems, being forced to use something because i dont have my own with me, or because i truly cannot afford the clean version… one day i got stuck behind a woman SWIMMING in chemicals (hairspray, make up, perfume) and i felt like a test rat!! could not breathe :( here’s to optimism that ppl will wise up, soon!
Thanks gals! May try that coconut oil but would love to hear a review of the natural shaving cream too!
I got quite a wake-up call when I was trying to stop using shampoo. After three weeks I hated the way my hair smelled but the only thing I had was regular bad shampoo. After caving and washing with it my hair felt awful – totally stripped, flat and limp, my skull itchy and creepy clean. Haven’t touched that stuff again since! Can’t believe that’s what I thought my hair should feel like when clean!