My story is like many of yours. When we have our kids, especially our first, we stumble around trying to figure out what is best for them. We gaze in their eyes, we look for clues and then sometimes we find answers in unexpected places.
When my son was 5 he broke out in the most amazing rash. I say amazing because I honestly could not stop staring at it. The rash consisted of bright red, raised round circles, very much like the size of nickels. All over his body. Seriously, he was so heavily covered he had more red raised circles than his regular skin.
And there he sat, on the couch binge watching Nick Jr. without a care in the world. They didn’t itch him (thankfully) but they looked pretty angry. We went to our pediatrician for answers as we went through an exhaustive search for the culprit. Oddly enough, what was identified as the instigator was a natural personal care product. I couldn’t believe it! I told our doctor I was using natural products on my son because of his sensitive skin and sporadic eczema. Our doctor said that some ingredients in natural products can cause reactions. In our case, it was the essential oils.
So, no – I won’t name the product we used. It wasn’t good for us, but it may be for others.
For us? I went on a quest to every drugstore I could go to in NYC and did searches online for something we could use on our son. What we were looking for was a cleanser that was simple and do the job it was intended to do – to clean kids – without any harsh ingredients and limited ingredients – i.e., no fillers. Fillers are essential oils, additional oils that are unnecessary to do the job, and water. Yes – water is the first ingredient in just about any liquid soap or shampoo. But don’t take my word for it – head over to your bathroom and look at the ingredients in the products you have. It is my assumption you have products with water, or “aqua”, as the first ingredient. As you know, the first ingredient is a products’ main ingredient, and subsequent ingredients are in lesser amounts in the order they are listed.
You are paying for water.
I didn’t want to pay for water or anything that wasn’t essential to clean my kid. When I couldn’t find a suitable product, I decided to formulate one on my own. I made a list of all the ingredients I wanted, and all the ingredients I did not want. I used as a guide the Whole Foods guidelines since I considered them to be an excellent benchmark.
I found a cosmetic chemist and manufacturer that works in small batches with organic and natural ingredients. We created what is now called the 2 in 1 Shampoo and Body Wash. It is a simple ingredient list with nothing you do need. No fragrance added, no essential oils, no water… also, it is proudly gluten-free and vegan. This stuff was so good! We tested it out on our lovely friends and family and got great reviews – so, we decided to start a product line with companion products and offer it to other families that are looking or a simple way to clean their kids.
And that is how Raising Junior began.
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