Unpolished. Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey into Nail Polish. 

Unpolished. Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey into Nail Polish. 

by Rebecca Grace || Earnest Mom ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The first installment of the “Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey.”  A blog series that will feature a monthly change that earnest mom will be making for the green – I mean the better, making for the better. 

Ok. I earnestly love to have manicured, painted and pretty nails. Really. I do – I am a huge supporter of a popular, kitschy named, bright colored square shaped nail polish brand. And I mean HUGE fan; I’ve counted and in my nail polish bin there are twenty seven of those bad boys (and that’s just the one brand). I just love nail polish – particularly pink as I have learned for most of the twenty seven are variations of the color.  I enjoy matching colors to shoes, tops and even purses. I love glitter on one finger or glitter on all, tips, ombré, all kinds of color combos – um, I think you’re getting the picture. Polish-a-holic. 

A few years ago I remember a coworker telling me that I should check out what chemicals are in nail polish so I would know what I was putting on my nails every week. At the time I thought, “I love my polish, I don’t care what’s in it.”  Well, late night nursing sessions leave me WIDE awake at odd hours of the night so naturally I use this time to read articles about chemicals in nail polish – well at least I did last night and oh my! These earnest eyes were opened!!

First of all, every one of you earnest followers need to earmark, bookmark, favorite and save the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Website where they feature hundreds of articles and safety ratings for the chemicals and toxins in just about everything. 

Ok. So back to nail polish. One word: Formaldehyde. Yikes! Know that over 90% of name brand nail polishes on the market do contain it, and it is mainly found in their top coats, base coats, strengtheners, whiteners, and other “enhancing” nail treatments. Be on the look out for this culprit which receives a rating of 10 (out of 10) by the EWG for its toxicity and hazard level. Formaldehyde has been linked to cancer as it is a carcinogenic impurity that is released by the nail polish itself. 

Next is an ingredient found in just about all current market polishes, aluminum powder which is used as a colorant in the polish itself. This metal compound being made up of particles of aluminum and other toxins has a only a score of four but when it has repeated exposure (likely bi-weekly or monthly manicures) can lead to mega toxin absorption. Aluminum powders are linked to neurotoxicity as well as organ toxicity. These are just a few of the hundreds of chemicals that get placed on our nails to make them “better” but at what cost?!

I know I sound like I’m giving nail polish a bad name, I promise I’m not trying to. I’m just looking at some small ways that I can rid my earnest home and body of unwanted toxins.  Sadly, unless we invest in Piggy Paints and other all natural polishes out there – we will keep exposing  ourselves to some earnestly mean chemicals. 

So I ask you earnest followers to join me. This summer I’m campaigning for naked-nails (both fingers and toes). Show off your natural side and go naked-nail with me! On the upside, I know naked-nails will save my pocket book from more money spent on not only polish but remover as well.  And have you ever wondered why nails turn yellow after they’ve been painted for a long time?!  It’s because the nail bed is actually unable to breathe being covered by polish – luckily nail polish companies have come out with more chemicals to fix it…yikes. Note: nails also turn yellow from pigments found in the nail polish too (as mentioned earlier these pigments do contain aluminum powder and stain causing synthetic coloring).   No yellow nails for me. Let’s do it then, naked-nails!

Stay tuned next month when I update on my naked-nail campaign and share another way I’m getting a bit greener. 

x. 

earnest mom. 

Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey

Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey

by Rebecca Grace || Earnest Mom ♥ 1 Comment

Hello my earnest followers.  I am earnestly excited to introduce to you a new series to Earnest Mom’s Blog called Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey.  This series will focus on an aspect in earnest mom and family’s life where we are making the transition to a more greener version.  This series will appear monthly as the first post of the month.  It will feature and array of topics from cleaners to beauty products to baby products and some giveaways.

Together we will take this adventure and see how far we can go to ridding our homes and bodies of unwanted toxins.  I am no billionaire…as a matter of fact I am not even a thousandaire (which is a word in the earnest dictionary) so my transition will be affordable, practical and reasonable so we can all enjoy this journey together.

If there is anything that you earnest followers would like to see featured, please feel free to comment here or email me suggestions.  Stay tuned to tomorrows first edition of Earnest Mom’s Crunchy Journey where we will delve into the world of nail polish (which is really hard for me – I am an admitted polish-a-holic).

x.

earnest mom.

To Plan or Not to Plan? Earnest Thoughts About Birth Plans.

To Plan or Not to Plan? Earnest Thoughts About Birth Plans.

by Rebecca Grace || Earnest Mom ♥ 4 Comments

To plan or not to plan? Earnest mom says PLAN!

Okay – so I have to admit, a year and a half ago while chatting with my sis-in-love about her delivery she said the mysterious words “birth plan.”  And my earnest brain thought, “pfft, I planned on having a birth so I had a birth plan right?!”…guess not.  If you are just as mystified as I was, I will earnestly try to help!

A birth plan is something that you write out BEFORE you go into labor, you then make copies and give it to your practitioner, partner, hospital when you register and anyone else that will be supporting you while you experience the delivery of your child.  The purpose of having a birth plan is so when you are in the middle of such a life changing event you will not have to be bombarded with questions like – if you want aromatherapy, or music, would you like a birthing ball or an epidural, etc.  It may not seem like a big deal now but when you are in the middle of a contraction or the doctor is checking dilation – trust me when I say the last thing you want to be doing is making what will feel like, a million decisions.  Your birth plan is a simple plan that is well thought out to communicate how you desire to experience the birth of your child. Flexibility is a must though, life can be unpredictable and so can child birth, so know that depending on how things go, be prepared in case your plan may need to be modified.

I can only speak to my own experience having delivered earnest boy five years ago with no birth plan and delivering earnest baby nine months ago with one.  I had no idea that going into labor I had so many options, and most with no previous patient instruction, are choices that will be made for you. My hospital provided a concise template for my birth plan (was available for my first born but like I said I was CLUELESS) which can be found here at Birth Plan – Beaumont Hospital.  I printed this plan out, filled in my preferences and gave copies to the hospital when I registered, when I was admitted, then to my practitioner, while keeping the original for earnest dad and I.  Because of my birth plan I was able to immediately have access to lavender aroma therapy, a Jacuzzi tub birthing suite and dim lighting (all were arranged prior to my earnest arrival).  I was also able to plan to have limited visitors during labor, have earnest baby placed on me immediately after delivery for skin to skin bonding (no bath until first feeding was established), wait to clamp the cord until it had finished pulsing, of course to have earnest dad be the cord-cutter, and to have earnest baby room in with all procedures (bathing, assessment and tests) while remaining roomed in for the duration of my stay.  I felt so in control with my delivery, especially knowing we were going to do everything that had been planned, it was earnestly liberating and comforting, and I loved knowing that I made my own decisions.

If you are currently pregnant or trying, earnestly consider making a birth plan to keep you, your partner and ultimately that tiny little baby stress-free during what can be the most stress your body and your babes may ever experience.  Below, I have included some easy, some lengthy and very informative birth plan templates to help you on your way.  Happy planning earnest followers!

x.

earnest mom.

The Bump Magazine’s Birth Plan

The March of Dimes’ Birth Plan

Earth Mama’s Birth Plan (which I actually would have used had my hospital not provided one)

United Health Care’s Birth Plan