Oh. My. Gooooooodness, I’m incredibly happy to report that I completed looking at every, single brand on my personal care/cleaning lists yesterday after ~8 months of chipping away at it (there are 155 brands there currently)! The last update to these lists was in 2019. That was the 3rd revision since I initially shared them almost a decade ago. Between 2019 and 2023 I was so burned out from researching and blogging that I pretty much walked away from it all completely. And the idea of refreshing this project was way too overwhelming for a really long time. I don’t get paid to do this, it truly is something I’ve always done altruistically. There were times I acknowledged it needed to be done, but if I felt like I had to make myself sit down and do it didn’t happen. The desire had to come from within.
At the end of last year I had a renewed desire to work on this project. While it did feel completely overwhelming to begin with, I gave myself a pep talk to focus on 1 entry at a time and not think about the project as a whole. That if it took a year, or even 2 years, that was fine. And it worked!!! It only took 8 months. I started at the top, with my Approved List, and worked my way down. Every now and then I’d switch over to my huge list of suggested brands that weren’t already on there and look into them and add them where I felt they belonged. There is a date next to each update or addition, and also note if I moved a brand from where they used to be and why. I’m very happy to report that in the 2019 update several brands I had noted did not disclose ingredients on their site, but that is almost unheard of now. So that is fantastic, and makes it much easier for me to share my opinion.
Here are the stats: There are 26 brands on my Approved List, 77 on the So-So portion, and 52 on my Not Recommended list, for a total of 155 companies. I still have a long list of brands to look into that are not on there. So this project is not done, it’ll always be a continual work in progress. And I’m really excited to look into those new (to the list) brands, that’s my favorite part. Discovering new brands for my Approved List excites me every, single time! I kinda’ wish I’d kept track of the number of hours I spent on this, but part of me doesn’t want to know either. Some entries go pretty quick. On average I’d say I spend 1/2 hour per entry. The Not Recommended portion is the easiest because most of them are full of icky ingredients and I can click through multiple products quickly and know I definitely don’t recommend them. The Approved entries take the longest because I truly look through almost every product offered to make sure they aren’t sneaking some icky ingredients in here & there. I take my Approved portion very, very seriously and only the very best brands on the market land there. I do feel quite good about the So-So portion, I think it’s great that there are a lot of options that aren’t terrible, many that landed there are making quite a few pretty decent products, just not 100% across the board for me to be able to fully recommend them.
Here is a link to the Master List. You can click on the full listings from there. I’ve had people ask me to make this info into a pamphlet/book. My take on that is this: as soon as something gets written down it runs the risk of becoming inaccurate due to new formulas, etc. And with everyone having phones these days, I feel keeping these lists here is the best way to keep the info readily accessible. I’m 100% okay with these lists being FREE, I do not expect anything for them. I truly enjoy sharing my opinion on what products are great, or not so great. I know many of you are on super tight budgets, like me. But I also know some of you utilize these lists pretty heavily, and maybe aren’t on a super tight budget. All that being said, if you truly value these resources and have a few extra bucks you feel like donating, I would be flattered and appreciative of your donation. I felt like adding those details here is not out of line. My PayPal is: ecofriendlymamausa@gmail.com. My Venmo is @Jessica-Brandt-56 (last 4 digits of my phone are 1282 if it asks). And for real, I do NOT expect anything in return for me sharing my thoughts with you.
Using my Affiliate links when you do shop with these brands is 1 way you can give back a little something to me: https://ecofriendlymamausa.com/affiliate-links/
Also, I took a break from working on this project to sneak in a sunscreen recommendations post, which you might also find helpful! There are new (to me) brands on this sunscreen list that I will be looking into for an overall recommendation too! https://ecofriendlymamausa.com/2024/06/15/fun-in-the-sun-my-top-recommendations-what-i-consider-so-so-and-those-i-dont-recommend/
And finally I just want to say, this project is a great analogy for other things in life. Sometimes things feel completely overwhelming. Sometimes it’s okay to not focus on the big picture. Take a step back and tackle one thing, one day, at a time. Baby steps add up to giant leaps & bounds over time. They really do!! I hope everyone is having a great start to your summer. I sure am, and tomorrow my baby girl turns 11!
Eco-Friendly Mama: Safe product recommendations with a focus on organic and Made in USA! 