I had become more intentional about products I was using. But what about those around me?
My wife and I had gone away for the weekend for a friend’s wedding and we were out walking around. I finally had to tell my wife that the scent that was coming from the products she was using were continually bothering me. How does one ask their wife to change her makeup??
We went into a makeup store and we selected something that was a base product that had no chemicals or scent to it. Forget the skin test that beauty products recommend the user do. It was the canary test to see if I would react to the product or not. But we found one.
And I quickly found out it helped.
New makeup, new brushes, new makeup bag. It all helped.
This was the first realization that makeup and beauty products were also a factor that caused me to be chemically sensitive. I started to look deeper into the information that was out there on brands and products that we used.
I started to realize that certain members of my staff also impacted my health. And so I implemented a scent free office policy. At first people just stopped wearing perfume and cologne. But it wasn’t enough. They had to start looking at lotions, laundry softeners, laundry detergents, after shave, deodorant. Each time we removed more from the environment, the better I felt.
I had to be vigilant. I had to remind people over and over again.
The thing is that all the people you live with and are around each day are on this journey with you. They are impacting you. Either in a good sense or bad.
The people in my life had to change and sacrifice as I had to. They may not be as affected by it as I was, but they have to change because I was effected by them.