Cat Puzzle
This is a picture of my cat that I had fun with in Photoshop. Enjoy!
You are looking at posts that were written in the month of March in the year 2007.
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This is a picture of my cat that I had fun with in Photoshop. Enjoy!
Over at Fragrance Free World , I occasionally review the search criteria that brings visitors to the site. Recently, I noticed a lot of searching for fragrance free products. So I thought that this week’s tip would address a few of my products of choice:
Bath Soap:
Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Soap – I fell in love with this soap from the moment I first heard about it for one reason – its ingredient list: Saponified Olive Oil, Water, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid. That’s it. How simple can you get. (I had someone tell me that they couldn’t use Kiss My Face because of the preservatives, but they must have meant another soap. ) Be warned: not everything at Kiss My Face is fragrance free, so read the ingredients.
Shampoo & Conditioner:
By far, this is one of the hardest things to find. I found some by Earth Science called Pure Essentials. They make Fragrance-Free Shampoo and Conditioner. I find this at both Whole Foods and Sun Harvest.
Hair Mousse:
I don’t think there is one. There must be some really nasty smelling stuff in mousse that they have to add fragrance to cover up. I see that Kiss My Face
Hair Spray:
I don’t think there’s one of these either. The last “fragrance free” one I bought had a “masking fragrance” in it (see below). I took it back and decided that I could live without hair spray.
Laundry Detergent:
All Free & Clear is the only thing I have found that I can use. There are probably some others but I’m sure I would have to order them. I’ve looked at some online, but they are expensive. All Free & Clear works for me so I haven’t really been spurred to buy anything else. Beware though, I once tried an similar product from a major warehouse store. It caused a lot of itching.
You have to be very careful when evaluating products. The laws are rather vague about what labeling is required. It’s not enough for it to say “fragrance free” or “unscented”. Read the ingredients. A lot of products have a “masking fragrance”. If your problem is like mine and it’s actually the VOCs that bother you, well, they’re in a “masking fragrance” as well!
Next week I’ll provide tips on cleaners around the house. Have a question or comment? Got a product to add to the list? Leave a comment.
The first time I read this article “Visiting Kathy – A Severe MCS Sufferer“, I literally cried. But that was only one of many reactions I had. I wanted to print the story and send it to every one I know – friends and family. By the grace of God, I’m not there, yet. But I fear I may be someday. It can be very frustrating trying to explain to people why you don’t want to visit their house, or get in their car, or ride in a car with them.
I would also like to talk with Kathy. To find out how she finds the strength to keep going. My guess is that Kathy doesn’t go out much. There’s so much you encountered when you go out in public. Vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke, perfumes and other personal products. And then the “air fresheners” as they are so (mis-)named.
I’ve had to severely limit the places that I go, but I still get out. My reactions seem to get worse, in spite of the doctor’s best efforts. I’m afraid that one day I will become a prisoner in my own home.
And yet, we still keep going.
Laundry products seem to be some of the most heavily scented products on the market. I have never been able to use scented laundry products. It was more than 10 years ago that I noticed I could not be outside near my neighbor’s dryer vents when their dryer was running.
For years, I used the unscented dryer sheets, although I’ve since learned there are not so chemicals in them either. Worse, they’re manufactured in the same place as the scented sheets, and stored there too. So, they still have fragrances. What’s a girl to do?
All Free & Clear
Baking soda – This actually helps get odors out of clothes. Be sure it dissolves completely or else you’ll wind up with white spots on your dark clothes. I run the cup full of baking soda under the water while the machine fills. We buy 12 pound bags of baking soda @ our local warehouse store. It comes with a measuring cup!
Vinegar – Helps remove some of the soap. Actually does the same function as all the fabric softeners but it doesn’t stink and it costs a lot less!
Aluminum Balls – I take sheets of regular aluminum foil about 6-8 inches long and crumple them up. Eventually they begin to disintegrate and will need to be replaced. They help to get rid of static cling. They’re noisy, but they don’t stink!
In the washer:
In the dryer – 4-6 aluminum balls. Take sheets of aluminium foil, roughly 12×12 inches and crumble them into balls.
This was the news piece that put me right over the edge. America Sniffs Secret To Scenting Success
My sister sent me that link one month ago, and my response to her sums it up:
Just what we need. I knew there were places that liked to put fragrance in the air. I didn’t realize that there was an industry just to provide such systems. A well-known lingerie company has done it for years – for ‘branding’. There are hotels and even outdoor venues that do it. The worst is that hospitals have fragrance running through their systems!
The number of people bothered by fragrances is larger than many realize. It isn’t just migraines, but also asthma sufferers and anyone with COPD. You are, after all, ingesting it through your lungs. It’s my belief that there are many people who don’t even realize that fragrances are the source of their problem.
On the other hand, Nova Scotia has gone fragrance-free – in public places. Marin County, California has fragrance-free seating in restaurants. Now that they’ve run the smokers out of most places, fragrances will be the next battle.
I hear people say that they have a “right” to wear perfume. Sure they do, but I have a “right” to be in public w/o being ill.
The love of my life just asked if I had been reading “The Piranha Club” in the comics this week. Seems the whole series has been on perfumes. Hard to believe I didn’t know about it til Thursday. We only have Wed. & Thurs. papers in the house.
So in today’s comic (3/15/07) we have Ernie and his girl Doris Husselmeyer standing by Ernie’s canary cage. Doris has on enough “Eau De Toillette” that there’s a cloud around her. Reminiscent of Pigpen from Peanuts. Ernie has a gas mask on and Doris is trying to pop the question. When suddenly, there’s a BANG from the canary’s cage and Ernie says “My canary’s head just exploded”.
Interesting that there’s a canary in the comic. I read something recently that suggested that those of us with MCS are like the canaries in the mine. When we stop singing, everyone’s in trouble. Thankfully, so far, I’m still singing. Though I have changed my tune of late.
I wonder if the cartoonist, Bud Grace has a problem like MCS? Did you know that he was an atomic physicist as well? I tried to find the comics online and was led to here: The Piranha Club
But they only have the first week of the previous month online. Unless you want to subscribe…
