"Is the government trying to kill us?!"

For the most part, I'd say I'm a fairly "healthy" person. The majority of the time, I eat healthy foods, workout regularly, wear sunscreen, and am conscious about things like storing foods in glass instead of plastic, etc. etc. Obviously, there are times when none of this holds true. I'm not going to pretend I never drink, eat crappy food, "forget sunscreen," or simply say eff that to getting in my sweat sessions. I'm human. But I think after graduating especially (why? I don't know), I have become more in tune with the whole idea of, 'what I put into my body is what I'm going to get out/my skin is organic so what I put on it should be too,' mentality. This covers food, the lotions/soaps/hair products I use, etc.

A few difficulties that come with this process:

• It's a real drain on the bank account. My plan to combat this: start phasing my current products out. Unfortunately I don't have the funds to just throw out all my chemical-filled products and start fresh. So I'm going to use what I have and when I need a new lotion for example, try to buy something organic/paraben-free to try out. I have also heard of many DIY products such as a coconut oil based lotion or this apple cider vinegar toner. When I have the time I'd really like to try these as well. Then I can have something to blog about if they work! Yayyy!
• I like my chemical-filled products. What can I say, they work. I have yet to actually try natural shampoo and conditioner, for example, but a few friends I know have and told me it leaves hair feeling waxy and greasy. Yuck, who wants that? So I've come to the inevitable conclusion that I'm going to stick to some of my old ways and probably will never be a full-fledged "organic gal." Gotta pick your battles?
• After watching the video below [science exp't growing regular potatoes/organic/farmers market; conclusion: cancerous chemical called "bud-nip" is in a lot of the produce we buy at the grocery store] and having a conversation with my roommate about all the chemicals we're filling our bodies with, it was like she had an epiphany: is the government trying to kill us. Watch this video and tell me it's not screwed up that we as consumers don't know that this kind of crap is going into our food. Is it weird that just because I choose not to splurge on the organic potato that I should ingest cancer-causing chemicals? I think not. WTF.  
• The evidence behind organic claims/what's healthy/what's not is continuously changing! So frustrating! Take agave, for example. Months ago, I started using agave nectar to sweeten things like plain yogurt and oatmeal because I read many things about it being a healthy alternative to other sweeteners. But I recently read it's very processed and has a high content of high fructose corn syrup. Holy hell. How do we distinguish what the true claims are? 
• As I said, I'm human. I like french fries from the Golden Arches, vodka tonics, and not spending an arm and a leg on a small tube of moisturizer. 

My conclusion is simply that I am going to try my best. A few things on my list of brands to try: Korres, a crap-free (no paraben, GMOs, sulfates, etc.) brand from Sephora that has everything from this toner (that sounds spectacular), to blush and other makeup; the Yes to Carrots brand that is available at Target and has semi-affordable stuff like this moisturizer; and Stevia, which from what I gather, is a natural, and safe, non-caloric sweetener. 

Woof. This will be interesting.