Make this one change for Perioral Dermatitis, and you could heal at an insanely rapid pace.
“Must Be the Diet”
Stick with me for a second.
How I Healed My Perioral Dermatitis has been a very popular blog post. I wrote it around this time in 2014, and I still stand by everything I said.
It’s been three years since, and I do most things on that list consistently still. But not the GAPS Diet. I don’t do that. So when I started showing the Perioral Dermatitis signs around my nose again (I mentioned this in the September recap), I immediately thought, “It must be the diet.”
By no means did I go back to GAPS, but I did eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) various things that I thought could be causing any sort of inflammation.
Over a month later, and still no huge changes to the nose.
And then one day a few weeks back, I was brushing my teeth, and as I was doing so, I grabbed the toothpaste tube, and began reading the ingredients (it was this toothpaste):
Calcium carbonate, glycerin, water, xylitol, hydrated silica, natural flavor*, sodium lauryl sulfate, zinc citrate, carrageenan, sodium bicarbonate. *Peppermint oil
When I wrote How I Healed My Perioral Dermatitis, I specifically stated, “I stopped using all traditional toothpaste as well, and never buy toothpaste with SLS and/or fluoride.”
Somehow, over the years, grabbing Toms at Target was much easier than anything else. And besides, it isn’t truly a traditional toothpaste in the way that Crest is.
- Authentic natural ingredients and whitens with naturally sourced silica’s
- Fluoride free formula
- No artificial dyes, sweeteners or flavors
- Toms of Maine anti plaque and whitening fluoride free toothpaste is gluten free, cruelty free and halal and kosher certified
Good enough, yes?
One Change for Perioral Dermatitis
Click HERE to save this post for later.
Not so fast.
I don’t know why I assumed that Tom’s of Maine didn’t use SLS (maybe because it said fluoride free, so I thought I was in the clear?), but there written clearly on the label it was – sodium lauryl sulfate.
The EWG (Environmental Working Group) defines sodium laureth sulfate (same thing as sodium laurel sulfate) as an “ingredient derived from ethoxylated lauryl alcohol and used as a surfactant; may be contaminated with potentially toxic manufacturing impurities such as 1,4-dioxane.”
I immediately headed back to Amazon and ordered the Redmond Earthpaste 4 pack. The 4 pack includes flavors: Spearmint, Lemon Twist, Peppermint, and Cinnamon. Here is more information about the product.
Redmond Earthpaste
- Simple Natural Ingredients
- No Glycerine
- And no Flouride
- No SLS or Other Foaming Agents
- Only Five Ingredients – not all those flavors in one tube (Purified Water, Bentonite Clay, Xylitol, Spearmint, Lemon Twist, Peppermint, or Cinnamon Essential Oil, Sea Salt, Tea Tree Oil)
A couple days later, I swapped out the Tom’s for Earthpaste.
Two days later, my nose was 100% healed. 100%! (Top two pictures are before. Bottom two are after. Again, my nose wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it was in 2014, but it still showed me that something was not right.)
In fact, it hardly seemed real, and on the second day, I said to Ryan, “Look at my nose! Isn’t that unreal?”
If you have lingering Perioral Dermatitis issues, check your toothpaste. You may just need to make this one change for Perioral Dermatitis that could be your key, too. Turns out it wasn’t the diet, reminding me yet again that food is not always the enemy.
Order the Redmond’s HERE, seriously, do it now, and let me know if it works for you. (By the way, yes that is an Amazon affiliate link, but I promise that if you buy it, I make like 5 pennies. I also promise that this was my key.)
SLS is EVERYWHERE!
Don’t just think SLS is in your toothpaste. It’s everywhere. My passion with it lies within toothpaste and cosmetics.
Did you know that, if you use conventional cosmetics on a daily basis, you can absorb almost five pounds of chemicals and toxins into your body each year? Daily use of ordinary, seemingly benign personal care products like shampoo, toothpaste and shower gel can easily result in exposure to thousands of chemicals, and many will make their way into your body and become “stuck” there, since you lack the means to break them down. (source)
Right around the time I swapped out Tom’s for Redmond’s, I also began swapping out every last skin and body care item for things I make at home (like my makeup remover wipes and body wash) and Beautycounter. And it’s changing my life.
If you’re interested in learning more about all of this, join my FREE 12-Days of Safer Beauty Exploration Journey HERE.
Xox,
SKH
🤰 bloating be gone! weight loss through optimal gut health for women
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🫶🏻 founder gutbyome.com
Hi! So I have had Perioral Dermatitis 3 times in my life and I currently have it now, going on 6 months. I use that exact Redmond’s toothpaste and my rash is worse than ever. Any thoughts what to look at next? I know my gut is imbalanced and I was thinking of getting that thrive probiotic. I just want this rash gone 😩
Hi Jessica – It’s probably not the toothpaste 🙂 Are you currently using a probiotic? You could try Thrive. There are so many things that go into it with PD.
FYI– Cinnamon and mint oils (spearmint, peppermint) can cause perioral dermatitis flare ups for some people. I switched to a toothpaste without mint oils, SLS or fluoride, and my skin cleared up quickly. If you happen to be using the toothpaste flavors that contain mint or cinnamon, try switching flavors. I can still eat foods with cinnamon, but for some reason anything with cinnamon oil is a major irritant. Good luck!
Great thoughts. Thank you for sharing!
How do you find out exactly which things to avoid? I’m just starting on my journey and I don’t know where to look. Are Melaleuca products safe?
Hi! Great questions – everyone is SO different, though, so there is no ONE way. That said, I do have a blog post called, “How I Healed My Perioral Dermatitis Naturally.” Check that out for a ton of ideas you can implement immediately. Xox
Hi Sarah thanks for sharing with us all! I’ve also had about a 6 month flare up. Perhaps mine is also diet induced (I occasionally indulge in cheese and often times tequila. I was not aware about the SLS of which my body wash contains it as well as my flouridated toothpaste of which I started both around the same time I developed PD. I’ve taken your advice and now I’ve thrown those out to see what improvements can be had before further modifying my diet too much . Also I started a topical regimen using Step 1: DIY 3 ingredient mask made with plain yogurt, manuka honey, and turmeric. Step 2: I use a jade roller over the mask. Step 3: after rinsing I spray a rose water and witch hazel concoction, Step 4: finish with grape seed oil infused with melaleuca essential oil (Doterra). I will also start back up on a good probiotic. Hope this works if not my diet and perhaps and if needed an internal detox will be next. Thank you again.
You are welcome! Good luck – I hope you have success.
I just bought toothpaste with no SLS and a very very small amount of Flouride. I’ve had this flare once before and luckily I was able to identify it relatively fast so I went to the doctor and was prescribed an antibiotic that will kill off the bacteria and reduce the inflammation. Since my last flare I was religious with my skin care regimes, only using vegan hair and body gels, vegan makeup products (Dr. Hauschka- HIGHLY recommend) & Lavender Primavera Oil as my moisturizer. I think this flare has to do with stress & a hormone imbalance and since it’s only on my chin, and the rest of my skin seems unbothered, I know my products are not the issue so I’m hoping that the change of toothpaste will due the trick. Thanks for the tip!!
Most welcome!
I have tried to cure this flair up for months with no clear results. I will try this for sure! My shampoo, conditioner, and body wash all have SLS as well (dove) and I hate to stop using this brand because of how good it has been for me. What do you use?
Hi! I use a lot (most) of Beautycounter–> https://beautycounter.com/sarahhoffman I have written about it a lot on agutsygirl.com, too 🙂 Hope that helps!
Hey Sarah thank you for the awesome post. So my wife has stopped using SLS toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc.. we just discovered your post a couple days ago. When you stopped the toothpaste, did your PD get worse before it got better. Her skin was very very dry after a full day of no SLS and she is looking for a moisturizer to put on her face.. do you have any other suggestions besides hemp oil? I too believe that the coconut oil she uses makes things worse. Again, thank you for the awesome advise and tips!
Hi Josh – With both my gut and skin, it seems as though things always got worse before they got better 🙂 I’m constantly being asked about face moisturizers. I personally ONLY use Beautycounter. Here are a list of our moisturizers. https://www.beautycounter.com/sarahhoffman?goto=/products/skin-care My best recommendation would be to read the descriptions and see what might be best for your wife. Today I use the Countermatch Recovery Sleeping Cream, the Nourishing Day Cream and my favorite product (that can be used as both a cleanser and deep moisturizer) is the cleansing balm – https://www.beautycounter.com/sarahhoffman?goto=/product/counter-plus-lotus-glow-cleansing-balm Here is another post you might be interested in, too –> https://agutsygirl.com/2018/01/19/which-skincare-regimen-to-choose/ Good luck and keep me posted!!! All my very best.
Thank you so much for this post. I think you’re right on the money on this one. The PD started right when my wife changed toothpaste and it had SLS in it. We don’t use the same toothpaste and mine does not have it.
Oooohhh…let me know if the switch helps her!!