I Didn't Mean To Do That

Rumor has it that I'm stubborn and a bit head-strong. And yeah, I have a little bit of a tendency to do things just to be contrary. Not intentionally contrary, just more of an "oh yeah, well you're wrong and I can do xyz." I'm not at the Marty-McFly-drag-racing-to-prove-he's-not-a-chicken level or anything. Just sometimes I have trouble backing down from a challenge. Even one I accidentally issue myself.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I were talking about different toiletries that we use, specifically whether we go gluten- and corn-free, respectively (as my mom is Celiac). She trends towards the going gluten-free products and my stance was basically "it's too hard to go corn-free".

Sigh. I didn't even realize I had challenged myself.

Too hard. Bah! I laugh in the face of "too hard"! Or rather, I spend hours searching the internet for allergy-friendly alternatives to things and ways of making my own household products instead of buying the corn-packed commercial versions.

So that's what I've been doing lately. And I'm having perhaps more luck than my wallet would prefer. I already use a corn-free toothpaste (Squigle, if you are wondering) but now I'm switching over to corn-free soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. I've found Gluten-Free Savonnerie, which has a variety of gluten- and corn-free items. (I got their sample set and so far I can say I like their shampoo, love their conditioner, love their lotion and really like their liquid Castille soap.) I've also found their sister site, Dakota Free. Not all of their stuff is corn-free (though most are) but they have the allergens checklist on each item so it is easy to check. I haven't purchased anything from here yet but there are a few things I think I want to check out. I've also found a nifty seller on Etsy, HaloSoap, that has some corn-free goodies and is currently mixing up some special order body butter and toner without glycerin (the glycerin she uses is from a palm/corn mix) to make it corn-less. And if that weren't enough (because, okay, it isn't), I've been scouring the internet to find easy DIY things that I can attempt to make once I run out of whatever it would be replacing (laundry detergent, spray starch, deodorant... it's sort of ridiculous how much corn is still in our how) and have been collecting them on Pintrest.

So basically I'm turning into a big hippie.