Share your story!

 Our coconut-free advocate, Lee, who has been working hard to make coconut-free products is doing research for a book she is writing on coconut allergies.

To help her gather information, she would love for you to share your story with her:

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Thanks everyone and I'll try to find more interesting content for you soon!

Becky

Another soap, liquid soap, and shampoo to try!

I got an email from Laura, who has tried out some soaps from SunGold!

She writes:

I recently found your coconut allergy blog and was relieved to find others struggling with the same plight as myself and two of my daughters...

My allergy’s is most severe.

Anyway I thought you might share Arizona Sun Gold Soaps with those on the blog.  They have a full line of NO COCONUT soap, shampoo and hair spray.

I’ve used to shampoo and liquid body soap For 6 months now and no reaction at all!!  The shampoo can get that greasy build up feel but I find using a small amount, not too hot of water and a ACV rinse does the trick!  We love love love the body soap!

You can buy small size to try and then buy larger sizes to save tremendously!!

http://www.azsungoldsoaps.com/products.html

Thank you so much, Laura, for taking the time to share this :-) 

A New Shampoo- made with soap nuts!

The soap company, Pectolite LLC has been working hard on their latest invention:  A truly coconut-free shampoo with no weird chemicals.  

It is called Coconut-Free Probiotic Shampoo and yes, it lathers!  Pectolite sent me a free sample and I have been trying it on and off for a week and want to share my opinion.  

My first response when using this in the shower is "OOPS I think I got it in my eyes!"  This shampoo really stings and I think I am really an in-shower eye-rubber.  So I don't suggest using it on kids. 

When I consciously worked hard to NOT get it in my eyes, the next time, it was okay.

I have medium-length fine hair and it did have a decent lather.  Not like bubble bath or anything, but better than other coconut free shampoos I have tried.  It smells like plain yogurt or kefir.  Not a bad smell, and it washes out so my hair just smelled plain afterward.

The shampoo did a remarkable job at getting my scalp clean and my hair was very clean afterward.  I am not sure this could be an every day shampoo because it felt like it did strip my hair more than usual.  I felt like I needed to use some conditioner with it.  

I highly suggest trying it for yourself. Here are the ingredients: 

INGREDIENTS: Artesian Spring Water, Wildcrafted Soap Nut (Sapindus saponaria), Makrut Lime (Citrus Hystrix), Elephant Apple (Dillenia indica), Wildcrafted Indian-Laurel Leaf (Calophyllum inophyllum), Wildcrafted Amla Fruit (Phyllanthus Emblica), Pineapple (Ananas comosus), Probiotics (Lactobacillus casei, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Saccharomyces cerevisiae)

It also has a warning that people who are sensitive to latex might have sensitivities to soap nuts.  

Test it out and let Pectolite know what you think!

PS:  If you are already planning on buying some soaps, etc: 

Use the promo code 1211LIVE  if you purchase $60+  to get $5 off your shampoo order. 10 oz full size is $22 or 2 oz sampler is $5. So essentially, you can use it to get a free sample until January 31, 2020. 

Coconut free children's toothpaste- yay!

A huge thanks to Dan, who found coconut-free toothpaste for kids at a UK company called Green People.  Dan said:

"We found your blog online, and it has been helpful in dealing with my daughter’s coconut allergy.  I thought you might like to know that we found this company in the UK who has toothpaste that is SLS free and uses glycerin that is coconut free.  https://www.greenpeople.co.uk/shop/by-product/natural-toothpaste  We are going to be buying this for my daughter who has a coconut allergy.  Up until now, the toothpaste options have not been great for kids, and it has been difficult to get my daughter to brush meaningfully as a result.  They have at least 2 kids flavors and several adult flavors."

 emailed the company and they confirmed that the glycerin in the toothpaste is not derived from coconut.  Here are the details they sent on their products:

We use different grades and sources of glycerin in our products. In most cases the organic glycerin we use comes from nuts of the Karanja tree which grows in India.

However, some of the plant extracts we use in some products (e.g. Green Tea, Rosemary leaf, Marshmallow root, etc) are bought as ready-made hydro-glyceride extracts. The glycerin used in these extracts is also organic, but could come from any number of different oils, including palm, coconut oil or palm Kernal.

All glycerin in our Toothpastes are derived from Karanja oil and can confirm none of the toothpastes contain any ingredients derived from coconut.

Pepperoni with Coconut

Agh!  I hope this putting coconut oil in meats stops really soon.  Can you imagine having allergic reactions to random pizza at parties or for take-out? 

Luckily, I have only seen coconut oil in pepperoni in Volpi brand pepperoni.  And it is only maybe in there depending on whether palm or coconut oil is cheaper at the given time of production.   

Stay safe, coconut allergic friends!

Closys toothpaste has sadly changed its formula!

Shame on you, Closys! 

Our coconut allergic people can't use your toothpaste anymore. 

It's true, the formula has changed on us and now "sodium lauroyl sarcosinate" is in the ingredients.  I looked on my old tube that is half full still and it's definitely a new formula now.  Their might be a few old tubes on amazon with the old ingredients, but beware, they may have just not updated the ingredients yet on third party sellers.

Coconut free lotion!

THIS.  Coconut free lotion is what fills my inbox almost daily with emails begging for ideas, help. . . asking what to use for certain conditions, multiple allergies, on babies, on scent sensitive kids, and the list goes on.

I usually suggest coconut free lotion-type things found at the drug store that are almost straight off the periodic table:

Mineral Oil (Baby Oil is just a scented version of this) 

Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline)

Vitamin E

Lanolin (like in breast feeding ointments)

Aquaphor (a mix of several of these elemental ingredients- one of my most used lotions)

Despite being able to use these generic ingredients, I miss "real" lotion.  But, there is a new one that just came out from Pectolite called none other than "Coconut and Palm Oil Free Body Lotion".  

Pectolite sent it to me to try out and I've been using it for a couple of weeks once the cold chapped air finally got to me and I'm happy to report it is really good stuff.  

It has some really creative (and coconut-free) ingredients: 

Water (Aqua), Cupuacu (Theobroma Grandiflorum) Butter, Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius ) Seed Oil, Rice (Oryza Sativa) Bran Oil, Jojoba (Simmondsia Chinensis) Seed Oil, Hydroxystearyl Alcohol and Hydroxystearyl Glucoside, Hydrogenated Olive Oil (and) Olive Oil (Olea Europaea) (and) Olive Oil Unsaponifiables, Kokum (Garcinia Indica) Butter, Camellia (Camellia Oleifera) Seed Oil, Avocado (Persea Gratissima) Oil , Xanthan Gum, Lactobacillis Ferment, Gluconodeltalactone (and) Sodium Benzoate, Fragrance and/or Essential Oil(s)

The lotion absorbs well, isn't greasy at all, and is long lasting.  Some of you with bad reactions to petroleum products might especially enjoy it.  My lotion was completely unscented and it just smelled faintly of olive oil.  You can order it in several scents that their coconut free soaps also come in.  I did have to shake it up after it sat for awhile since I didn't use a pump and it has a tendency to separate a little bit.  I didn't use it on my face, but it moisturized and was very healing on my hands, legs, and even feet! My skin seemed rejuvinated and it never made me itchy or red!  

If you want to try it, go to Pectolite.net (not .com)

Happy Winter!