One of my goals this year is to go totally green. For the last few months, I have been using my reusable bag to the grocery and have been refraining from taking plastic bags from shops and boutiques. Hopefully, everyone would follow suit and become aware of the harmful effects plastics can do for the environment.

Good news or bad news? It depends. If you’re the business owner or manufacturer, this is good news. It means no extra expenses, manpower, liabilities etc. So what does this mean for the rest of us? Bad news for the consumer who is always on the lookout for safe and effective personal care products. We are oftentimes misinformed or misled.

There is a lot of confusion about “natural” products. If it contains orange extract or aloe vera extract, is it natural already? What about the other ingredients mixed in?

Ingredients of my former shampoo: Water (Aqua), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Ammonium Laureth sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Ammonium Chloride, PEG 5-cocamide, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Fragrance, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Tetra Sodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Citric Acid, Aloe vera extract, Vitamin E acetate, Blue 1, Ext. Violet 2.

This is a deep cleansing shampoo with natural ingredients. Yeah right. There are a couple of natural ingredients thrown in but I’m actually paying for those two actual ingredients I need and artificial additives they call parabens that my computer does not even recognize. What more my hair and body?

Have you heard about the dangers of parabens? I’ve recently switched to paraben-free products. Why the switch? To lose weight, of course. This is my no. 1 goal if you haven’t noticed yet. No, just kidding. But it is partly true. Parabens can mimic the hormone estrogen, which can interfere with the production of the body’s natural hormones leading to weight gain. But more importantly, parabens can play a role in the development of breast cancers. Parabens can be found in shampoos and conditioners, moisturizers, underarm deodorants, shaving gels, toothpaste and other personal care and pharmaceutical products. So, look for products that don’t contain any parabens or ingredients starting with words like methyl, propyl or butyl.

Now, let’s compare that to my shampoo today: Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Wheat Germ, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Citric Acid, Arctium Lappa (Burdock Root Extract), Panthenol Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Hydrolized Soy Protein, Rosmarinus Officinale (Rosemary), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender), Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine).

This is a shampoo for normal to dry hair. No artificial ingredients and colors and best of all, it is paraben-free. After using these products for a week, I’ve noticed that I have less falling hair and the fragrance and softness stay longer. Aside from my shampoo, I’ve added a few extra to my personal hair and body care.

These products are available at Whole Foods Market. For store details, click here. At Whole Foods, you can be sure that they’ve screened all products and they only carry those which are considered natural and safe for you and the environment. And they even raised the bar in the industry by coming up with their Premium Body Care.

Be conscious of what you use for your body. What goes on the body, goes in the body, too. Never doubt that for a second.

: art by mike monteiro

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It’s been more than a month since I started this blog. I was surprised I enjoyed blogging so much that even if I don’t get enough sleep at night, I still surf the net for a good read. Even the book I started more than two weeks ago is just accumulating dust and cobwebs. Is this good or what?

I’ve shared with you thoughts and feelings I don’t share even with my mom. Though, it’s not too many. Still, they are a part of me. I hate being melodramatic so enough already. I’ll give you updates, instead. This will take five minutes, tops.

My Weight Loss
I’ve lost a bit of weight but not in the vicinity of someone recognizing it. But some of my clothes don’t recognize me anymore. They don’t stick to me like they used to.

My Daughter
After much deliberation and thinking twice and a hundred times, I’ve decided to enroll my kid in a special school. Now, the only question is, which school? I have four choices and they’re all in Quezon City.

My Son
He’s already helping around the house and only gets to play computer games in the morning. Up until last week, he still did nothing pretty much. But after telling him that he gained weight and has a round tummy like his uncle, he began his exercise program which consists of badminton every Thursday and Saturday and he also goes jogging every Sunday morning. But the rest of the week, he just bums around the house. And he only gets Php50 allowance daily which he keeps telling me is not fair. I told him if he needs extra, he has to work for it which he finds more unfair. Right now, it’s 50 pesos or nothing.

My Reading
I aspire to read at least one good book a month. Two if a day has 48 hours which will never happen in this lifetime. I’m only halfway through Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and I have 5 more books waiting in queue:

Cross by James Patterson

Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

My Advocacy
What triggered something in me to care about the environment so suddenly are my kids. Sounds cliché but have you ever thought of it this way? Our kids would stay in this world longer than we would ever hope for. Unless by some unforseen event that they would go before me but I sure hope not, our children would be most afflicted with the effects of global warming. I can’t imagine my kids experiencing extreme flood or storms, or drought or famine. I hope I can protect them for as long as they walk the earth but I can’t. That’s why I wanna do good now while I still can. For them.

My Partner (In crime)
We don’t see each other quite often this past month. He has been busy with cockfighting and derbies here in Metro Manila, Cebu, Tarlac, Batangas and as far as Zamboanga. He even went to the US last year and stayed with my sister in California to meet with a breeder and bought some “panabong”. I like our setup now. There’s a lot of freedom and room to groove. Hope it stays that way and eventually, you know…

So far, so good on all aspects. By the way, I plan to go out of town more often while it’s summer and take photographs of the places I’ll be visiting. I want to tour the Quezon Province and experience Viaje Del Sol. I would also like to go swimming in the beaches of Bolinao. I heard that more and more locals and foreign tourists are discovering the beaches of Bolinao. That’s why beach resorts have sprouted like mushrooms in the past year. I wish I could to Boracay or abroad but it might be too much for my daughter. When she’s five, probably.