Hello, hello! I’m back with a bonus episode for season one while you wait for season two to release this summer!

How often do you think about the clothing you buy? Where it comes from, where it was made, what it’s made from? When you think about all of the other things in the world to care about, why should fashion be one of them? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode…

Product Recommendations

Market45 – ethical fashion marketplace

Factory45 – sustainable fashion brands to support

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the CLOTHING episode here.

Source List:

Factory45

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

Hello, hello! I’m back with a bonus episode for season one while you wait for season two to release this summer!

How often do you think about the clothing you buy? Where it comes from, where it was made, what it’s made from? When you think about all of the other things in the world to care about, why should fashion be one of them? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode…

One of the first episodes of season one was about CLOTHING. I specifically talked about shopping second-hand and suggested thrift stores both online and brick and mortar. If you missed that episode on used clothing, make sure to check it out.

But there’s another side of the coin when it comes to clothing and it’s sustainable and ethical fashion — in other words, clothing that is made from environmentally-friendly materials and ethically manufactured in factories that pay their workers a fair and living wage.

Because, unfortunately, when it comes to the fashion industry — neither of those things are a guarantee. In fact, it’s more likely than not that the clothing is made petroleum-derived polyester and was sewn in factories in the developing world where safety standards and fair wages are not top of mind, to say the least.

If quote unquote “clean clothing” isn’t something you’ve thought much about, then you’re not alone. I understand why it’s so much easier to grab another black t-shirt at Target than it is to seek out the sustainable fashion brand selling a black t-shirt at 3x the price because it’s made from organic cotton by people who are paid fairly to sew it.

In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that I was a bargain-bin, fast fashion junkie myself. In college, I was notorious among my friends for going to Forever21 or H&M on a Friday afternoon after classes, buying a dress or shirt for less than 10 dollars, wearing it that night and then never wearing it again.

When fast fashion is that cheap, it becomes as disposable as a cup of coffee.

So what was my catalyst for change?

In 2011, I set out to start a fashion brand. The idea was to create a versatile travel garment that could be worn a bunch of different ways and be easily thrown in a backpack to take on adventures around the world.

Seemed straightforward enough — sketch out the idea, take it to a manufacturer and they’ll just make it for us, right?

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In the year and a half my then-cofounder and I spent looking for a factory to create our idea, we also started researching the fashion industry.

And we learned that it’s riddled with issues. From dye runoff going into public drinking systems, to modern day slavery, to fatal factory collapses, to massive amounts of waste, to microplastics in the ocean, the traditional fashion industry is one of the major polluters of the planet and one of the main contributors to climate change.

So, we decided: if we were going to start a fashion brand then we were going to do it the right way from the start — putting planet + people first. 

After months and months of dead-ends and feeling like we’d never be able to start our brand the way we wanted to, we finally got a break. We ended up sourcing 100% recycled fabric that didn’t need to be dyed, organic cotton notions and trims, real renewable wooden buttons, 100% recycled packaging and we found a factory in North Carolina that paid its workers above minimum wage. Our entire supply chain was set up within a 50 mile radius, which is basically unheard of in a fashion industry that is known for shipping thousands of miles overseas.

We went on to raise over $60,000 in pre-orders of our signature piece, we went on a sustainable fashion tour or the Pacific Northwest to talk to people about the detrimental effects of fast fashion, we were featured in the New York Times, tweeted by the Wall Street Journal — it was this huge whirlwind of success in early entrepreneurship.

But what I realized through that experience is that it should be easier to start fashion brands that are sustainably and ethically made from the beginning. Not as a way to backpedal because slave labor has been found in your supply chain or because your fabrics are damaging local water systems.

There was a greater conversation that needed to happen to shift the fashion industry and it was my belief that by helping to launch new sustainable fashion brands, they would help to pave the way in creating that dialogue for consumers — while at the same time, putting pressure on the bigger brands to clean up their acts.

Since 2014, I’ve helped entrepreneurs all over the globe, from Sweden to New York to Dubai to Australia, launch independent fashion and accessories brands that are made from sustainable materials in ethical factories.

These entrepreneurs are the ones spreading the word about why you should care about the clothes you buy. They’re collectively shaping a new future for the fashion industry and helping consumers understand the difference in fabrics, craftsmanship, product end-life, inclusivity and more. I’ll share links to check out some of these brands in the show notes at cleanlivingpodcast.com/sustainablefashion

And while yes, the price of a sustainably-made black t-shirt is more expensive than a black t-shirt from Target, the sustainably-made black tee is likely going to be more durable, timeless and longer lasting which ultimately means the cost per wear is actually lower than the Target tee.

We simply can’t care about creating a more sustainable world without caring about the impact of our own wardrobes. It’s one of the most impactful purchasing decisions you can make.

If you’d like to get involved in being part of the sustainable fashion solution, beyond your impact as a shopper, applications to Factory45 are opening on May 6th. Factory45 is the online business school for fashion entrepreneurs and I work with people, just like you, to launch their own brands in a way that’s sustainably and ethically made. You can learn more about Factory45 at factory45.co 

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you know someone who has an idea for a fashion brand but has been stuck at a dead-end or isn’t exactly sure where to get started, please send them this episode or a link to Factory45. I’d love to help them. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Mascara is the second most used cosmetic in the United States. But what are the ingredients actually used in our favorite mascara brands? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode.

Product Recommendations

Beautycounter 

ILIA

LUV + CO.

100% PURE

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the PSA episode here.

Listen to the FOOD DYES episode here.

Listen to the DEODORANT episode here.

Listen to the COOKWARE episode here.

Sources

https://blog.cleanbeautybox.com

https://www.ewg.org

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

My favorite (okay, lamest) mask joke is that the mascara industry must be booming from the pandemic. The point being that our eyes are literally the only part of our faces that get any attention anymore. I rarely put any makeup on, forget lipstick, but I’ll swipe a little mascara on my eyelashes when I want to feel fancy. But what are the ingredients actually used in our favorite mascara brands? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode.

Pre-pandemic, mascara was the second most used cosmetic in the United States — lipstick was number one. I imagine the popularity contest has changed due to “mask life” which is even more problematic given the common ingredients in conventional mascara.

I tapped into the research done by my friend and clean beauty advocate, Claire Molyneaux, founder of The Clean Beauty Box. Since the cosmetic market is largely unregulated, more on that in the PSA episode, Claire says most mascara brands on the market contain coal tar and other toxic chemicals to keep your lashes thick, long and smudge free.

I’m going to link to the list of 8 chemicals used in mascara that are harmful to your health, but I want to highlight five of them in this episode. Just to get my point across ; ) 

1. The first one is Parabens, which is a fancy word for preservatives. There are several different types of parabens but they all are used to extend the shelf-life of your mascara. Unfortunately, these chemicals are absorbed through the tiny pores around your eyes, thus entering your bloodstream. If you’ve listened to this podcast before then you know that parabens are in virtually every conventional beauty and cosmetic product and yet they have been linked to increases in breast cancer by mimicking estrogen and causing endocrine disruption. They have also been linked to reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and skin irritation.
2. Synthetic dyes — if you’ve listened to the episode on Food Dyes you already know that any synthetic dye is problematic. Even if it’s absorbed through skin pores, instead of ingested, it still enters your bloodstream. In mascara, the dyes are labeled as FD&C or D&C, followed by a color and a number (e.g. FD&C Red No. 6, D&C Green No. 6). They’re believed to be toxic and carcinogenic.
3. Aluminum Powder — we’ve talked about the effects of aluminum in the episodes on deodorant and cookware, and this known neurotoxin is also found in most mascaras. Long term exposure of aluminum powder can impair the body’s ability to detox mercury. This can result in making any amount of mercury that is in the body even more toxic.
4. Retinyl Acetate or Vitamin A Acetate is found in many brands of mascara, and has been targeted by the EWG as an ingredient of high concern because it can cause biochemical or cellular level changes. Other health effects include developmental and reproductive toxicity, and organ system toxicity. Acetate has been prohibited and restricted in Canadian cosmetics and yet it’s still used in the United States.
5. Formaldehyde is used as another preservative in mascara and is a known carcinogen. 

So yeah, that’s a starting list of harmful ingredients in most mascaras. And just to reiterate my message from past episodes, this isn’t about single exposure. Most of us use mascara at least a few times a week, if not every day, so it’s the repeated, long term exposure to these toxins and chemicals that is particularly concerning.

So, if mascara is a part of your beauty routine, then I first recommend searching for your particular brand on the EWG’s SkinDeep app or on the Think Dirty app. 

If you find that the mascara you’re using has a moderate to high level of concern then this episode’s “This for That” segment is a suggestion to switch your mascara to a clean beauty brand. I’ve used both Beautycounter and Ilia mascara and have loved both — no smudging issues and I get the same amount of lash extension as I did when I used Maybelline or Covergirl back in the day. I’m going to link to some of my other favorite clean mascaras, including a Black woman-owned beauty brand, in the show notes at cleanlivingpodcast.com/mascara

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. Did you know that there’s a clean living quiz on the podcast website where you can find out your own clean living score? Just go to cleanlivingpodcast.com and scroll down to the quiz. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Back in September, I attended CleanCon — a virtual conference hosted by the Environmental Working Group — that was focused on clean beauty and personal care products. Throughout the five hour event, there was one overarching message that I kept hearing over and over from clean beauty advocates, scientists, CEOs and small business owners…

Product List

Health Living app from Skin Deep and EWG (FOOD, HOME & BEAUTY)

Think Dirty app (BEAUTY)

GreenChoice app (FOOD)

Sources

https://www.ewg.org

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

Back in September, I attended CleanCon — a virtual conference hosted by the Environmental Working Group that was focused on clean beauty and personal care products. Throughout the five hour event, there was one overarching message that I kept hearing over and over from clean beauty advocates, scientists, CEOs and small business owners. In this episode, I’m going to echo that public service announcement because it’s so important for us to be aware of.

I’m going to start off this episode by sharing a little personal history for reference —  I am an Enneagram 8. If you’re not familiar with the Enneagram, it’s a personality test that focuses on 9 archetypes and how those personalities interact. An Enneagram Type 8 is “The Challenger” — we are assertive, self-confident, often too direct and the running joke is that we worry we’re the worst type.

And while yes, 8’s can be too blunt, hot-headed, and get a bad rep, we are also the archetype that seeks truth and justice and is very protective of others.

As a kid I had a tendency to challenge my teachers in class, while also having the tendency to befriend the underdog or new kid. As an adult, this has manifested into questioning the narrative and never taking anything at face value. 

So, where am I going with this?

For most people, if you see a product on a shelf or available to purchase online, you assume that it is safe. Why wouldn’t it be, right?

Why, in the world, would anything be available for sale — for us to exchange our hard earned dollars — and for that product, in turn, to cause us harm.

Fundamentally, that just doesn’t make sense, right? 

But here’s the thing — and it’s the thing that has been echoed over and over by clean living advocates:

There is no regulation, no legislature, no standard when it comes to personal care and beauty products. So that means that any company can claim to be “natural,” “non toxic,” or any of the other buzzwords without anything to back it up.

So you have two sides of the coin: You have companies claiming to be safe and non-toxic or “natural” and it not being true. Or you have companies that don’t even try to claim those things because it would be so far-fetched but they know it doesn’t matter because they’re household brand names and they know people won’t ask questions or necessarily care.

The truth is, it’s very hard to know which brands to trust because corporations don’t necessarily have your best interest at heart.  

You may be thinking, what about the FDA? They have safety standards in place to protect us. But the sad fact of the matter is, FDA-approved doesn’t mean a whole lot. Their standards are so laughingly low when it comes to beauty and personal care products that a product could contain several ingredients that are currently banned in Europe, but still get FDA approval.

The other argument from the FDA and big corporations is that some products may contain questionable ingredients, but they’re such trace amounts that it’s virtually nothing.

The problem with that is most of us use these products, like body lotion or shampoo or makeup or deodorant, every day.

So, let’s say your stick of deodorant has five questionable ingredients, but they all have trace amounts, combining those five ingredients together is no longer a trace amount. To top it off, this is a product that you probably swipe under each arm every day.

I know, I’ve gotten all doomsday on you — again. But that’s why this education is so important. The only way to truly know which products are safe for you and your family is read the labels, learn the ingredients or find someone you trust who can recommend products to you.

Because the real truth is, as cliche as it has become, is that the most impactful way to make change is by voting with your dollars. We’ve already seen just from the early movement of people in the clean beauty space that the market can and will shift. And when the market shifts that’s when clean products will become more affordable and accessible to everyone.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or family member who you know needs to hear it. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Personal care is one of the most toxic categories of household products. Shampoo is no exception. What are you actually lathering into your hair every time you shower and why should you be extra careful about the shampoo you use? In this episode, I’m sharing the top reasons to switch to a clean, paraben-free, formaldehyde-free hair care routine.

Product Recommendations

Evolvh

John Masters Organics

Alodia

Vivaio Days

Avalon Organics

CurlMix

Sources

https://www.webmd.com

http://www.safecosmetics.org

https://qz.com

https://www.madesafe.org

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

This past summer, my family was staying at a rental property in the mountains of Colorado. We were there for two months, and as much as I love cleaning living, I just as much hate plastic. So I avoided buying my own bottle of shampoo and used the Pantene Pro-V that was already in the house. Let me tell you, it was a big mistake. In this episode, we’re talking about shampoo.

So for two months, the skin on my back was uncontrollably itchy. Like, I would wake up in the middle of the night in a fit of scratching. At first I thought it was the mountain air drying out my skin but I eventually noticed that the uncontrollable itching would happen any night that I shampooed my hair.

And then it was like, duh, of course this is happening. You’re using Pantene Pro-V. 

This is the thing about clean living, you can know that there are toxins in conventional shampoo but tell yourself, “It’s fine… it’s only two months… it’s not going to kill me.” But did I wish I had just purchased the bottle of clean shampoo? Yes, 100 percent.

There are over 15 ingredients to avoid in conventional shampoo but for the purpose of this episode, I’m going to focus on three: parabens, formaldehyde and synthetic fragrances.

Okay, so Parabens. Parabens are used as a preservative to prevent bacteria from growing in a bottle of shampoo. Parabens can mimic the hormone estrogen and have been linked to increased growth of breast cancer cells. They can also affect fertility. 

Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen and has been proven to be absorbed through the skin. It can also cause asthma-like respiratory problems and skin conditions like dermatitis. It’s actually interesting because it wasn’t until I started doing more in depth research for this episode that I remembered spending years in my twenties fighting dermatitis on the base of my scalp. I actually went to my dermatologist a few times because it was so itchy and painful and instead of telling me to switch to a cleaner shampoo, she just prescribed me a steroid shampoo. It honestly wasn’t until I switched from conventional shampoos that the dermatitis went away fully.

And the third one is synthetic fragrances, which you’ll hear me talk about a lot on this podcast, because they’re in so many products, especially in the home and beauty spaces. But products that have “fragrance” on their label can contain thousands of hidden chemicals. Some ingredients in fragranced cosmetic products, like shampoo, can disrupt the reproductive system and cause cancer or asthma.

So, why am I telling you about this? Because I want you to have three reasons to switch from your brand name shampoos. If you need one more, Triclosan is another ingredient in conventional shampoo that was banned from being used in antibacterial soaps in 2016 but is still allowed in toothpaste, shampoos, and deodorants. It’s a chemical antibacterial agent known to cause hormone disruptions, which can lead to cancer and affect fetal development, among other things.

I’m sorry to always be the bearer of bad news, but in this episode’s segment of “this for that” I’m going to encourage you to stop using any shampoo that you grabbed off the shelf of Walgreens unless you know it’s a clean shampoo that doesn’t include any of the ingredients I’ve mentioned and will link to in the show notes. 

Some of my favorite clean shampoos to switch to are: Vivaio Days, Evolv (which is what I use right now), John Masters Organics and Avalon Organics. I’ll link to additional product recommendations under the product list at cleanlivingpodcast.com/shampoo

While cleaner shampoo is one of those products that is pricier than conventional, you can often use less of it. If you’re looking for the cheapest option, you can go try going “No Poo.” Our hair is actually self cleaning, meaning it can rid itself of oils on its own — if you want to learn more about that just Google “No Poo” shampoo.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you learned something today please share this episode with your friend — especially the one you know loves her Herbal Essence shampoo. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

When I found out one of my favorite cosmetic products contains neurotoxic lead, I was so tempted to turn a blind eye. But then I researched more and found clean beauty products that could replace the ones with lead in it. In the episode, I’m sharing my research and the brands I can personally recommend.

Product Recommendations

Ilia

Beautycounter

Marie Hunter

Sources

http://www.safecosmetics.org

https://www.ewg.org

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

A poisonous kiss? This discovery almost put me over the edge. In today’s episode, we’re talking about my one, true makeup love — and vice — red lipstick.

Before starting this podcast, I got almost all of my clean beauty advice from my friend Claire who owns The Clean Beauty Box. She knows so much, is incredibly thorough with her research and even has this giant chemistry book that she casually keeps on hand to look up ingredients.

So, when she told me red lipstick has lead in it, I wanted her to be wrong about everything. If there’s one thing I can’t part with it’s a bold lip. But of course, I knew in my heart she was probably right.

What I found is that until 2007, lead in lipstick was an urban legend. But then the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a study that tested 33 popular brands for lead in their lipstick. The results found that 61 percent of lipsticks contain lead, including cheap brands like CoverGirl and L’Oreal all the way up to a tube of $24 Dior lipstick.

Then in 2010, a follow-up study found that lead was actually in 400 different types of lipstick.

So, here’s the problem, there is no safe level of lead exposure. If there’s anything we’ve learned from the disaster in Flint it’s that lead is linked with a host of health concerns: neurotoxicity, reduced fertility, hormonal changes, etc.

That’s all to say, my Bobbi Brown crimson lipstick is dying a slow death in my makeup bag now. But thankfully, there are some clean beauty brands making bold lip colors. 

Ilia is my favorite red lip and while it’s not perfectly clean, it is one of those products I still only wear a couple times a month. For everyday use, I love Beauty Counter’s lipglosses.

As always, I will link my recommended products on the product list section of the show notes. Just go to cleanlivingpodcast.com/lipstick

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you learned something today I would love for you to share this episode with a friend. Maybe the friend who you know loves a bold lip as much as I do. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.