Dear SafeMama: Lip Balms and Bath Mats

Filed Under Dear SafeMama 

Q: There is a great range paraben & phthalate free lip balms out there, but I can’t tell if they have any sun protection in them. Are there any safe options specifically for lips?

If there is anyone more addicted to lip balms, glosses, tints, sticks, pots and pens… it’s me. I have literally 7-8 different ones in my bag at any given time. What I’ve found once I switched to using safer lip products that are free of parabens and petroleum and other icky junk is that they tend to not contain any SPF. Which hasn’t put a stop to my addiction, I just go without. But for some, that’s not an option and people want to protect those smoochers. I found two possible options, but I only feel comfortable recommending one of them. *buzzer* See below! Eco Lips… I stumbled on them recently but have yet to try it out. They use as many organic ingredients as possible and don’t use any petroleum, are non-GMO, free of hydrated oil, gluten, petrolatum, synthetic fragrances or other icky junk.

Eco Lips has a line of regular organic lip balms, a vegan option, tinted lip balms, and a few enhanced with b vitamins for healing.

*BRAKES SCREECHING* Stop the presses… In the words of Dr. Jake Houseman of Dirty Dancing “When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong…” SafeMama Beth wrote in to point out that the sun blocking ingredient in the lip balms are done with Octinoxate (7.5%) and Oxybenzone (3%). Oh well, back to the drawing board on this question. Oxybenzone is one of the sunblocking ingredients under fire with the EWG so I’ll have to pass on recommending those. The rest of the SPF free line looks delicious though. Sorry about that folks! They also carry a few with SPF 15 and SPF 30 in their Sport Balms. I’m going to have to give them a try myself… I could use something for the beach with SPF 15. They’re packaged in BPA free plastic (polypropylene) and are working on a 100% recycleable package soon.

I’ll repost this question tomorrow with another alternative.

Q: I have made sure my baby has safe tub toys, and a PVC free shower curtain. However, I can’t for the life of me find a safe tub mat, or tub treads!!! I’ve searched EVERYWHERE, and am shocked to not find anything listed PVC free, or phthalate free. Is there a mat I’m missing? Please help us have a safe slip free tub!

Boy have I looked. And looked and looked and to no avail. I have only found one company that sells a PVC free non slip bath mat and shower stall. VitaFutura carries a bath mat made of natural elastic material (Caoutchouc) obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus). Suction cups cover the back for non-slip assurance and they have 4 colors available: Orange, Blue, Grey and Off-white. I ordered the blue for my bathroom to give it a try. I’ll report back my findings when I have some!

Get one here: VitaFutura

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Posted by: Kathy on July 23, 2008
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