The Bossticks - How To Create A Non-Toxic Lifestyle To Improve Your Life Ft. Emilie Toups, Founder Toups & Co.

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

#676: Today, we're sitting down with Emilie Toups, mom of five, homesteader, and owner of Toups and Co Organics, a skincare and makeup brand dedicated to creating the cleanest products on the market. Emilie was first introduced to nontoxic skincare when she healed her daughter's eczema with tallow balm, an ancient remedy made from beef fat. Since then, Emilie has become a pioneer for "ancestral skincare" and nontoxic living, inventing and reimagining products that are effective and safe enough to eat. We have a conversation today about making the shift to a non-toxic lifestyle, what changes happen when you ditch toxic household products, and the truth behind the food industry in the US.   To connect with Emilie Toups click HERE    To connect with Toups & Co click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE To Watch the Show click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential    This episode is brought to you by Toups & Co Visit www.toupsandco.com and use code SKINNY for 15% off your first order.   Produced by Dear Media  

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Dear Media in real life is back and we're showing up bigger, better, and louder than ever. Join us for the ultimate live podcasting experience with intimate conversations from your favorite dear media hosts. Yours truly, too, will be there. We can hang out. We have the best schedule. So we have morning bites and beverages in the morning, lots of coffee, morning panels, lunch, then afternoon panels, and then an amazing happy hour where you get to meet all the hosts. hang out and get the best tips and tricks for potentially starting your own podcast or business. It's all live in Austin, Texas. Explore tickets and hotel packages on dearmedia.com slash

irl slash. That's dearmedia.com slash irl slash. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you alone for the The ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her. Our bodies are amazing.

We have really great detox pathways, but that only goes so far. And so eventually, as those detox pathways are clogged up, then we start seeing symptoms. And those symptoms can start with something as little as a headache. Some people don't have, like, this health crisis that makes them want to make a change. And so either you have a health crisis or you just come. come to the realization that, hey, this really is toxic. Someone else has a story or has something that's happened to them and you're like, it's time to wake up. You know, I don't want to wake up when I'm 70 and I have cancer and I'm like, now I'm going to make the change. Today we're sitting

down with Emily Toops, Mama 5, and the owner of Toops and Co-organics. This is a skincare and makeup brand that I have been talking about for a while that creates truly the cleanest products on the market. You guys are going to die when you hear all about non-toxic skincare. She became a pioneer for ancestral skin care. She's all about non-toxic living, inventing and reimagining products that are effective and safe enough to eat. So in this episode, we're going to talk all about raw milk and the truth about it, how she discovered the reality of harmful products, the U.S. food industry, where pasteurization comes from, how beef tallow is a true healer, and small steps that you can take towards non-toxic living. I was taking notes during this episode.

I am so excited to welcome Emily Toops, the owner of Toops and Co-Organics, to the show. This is the skinny confidential, him and her. What inspired you to create a skincare line that is so based in tallow? So I'll just start with our story. We had one child, and we were just kind of dealing with some health issues. So my husband was just dealing with, like, debilitating migraines. I was on thyroid medication. and then our oldest daughter had just really severe eczema.

And we were just kind of living thinking, you know, like normal, everybody has a little something that's, you know, not, no one's perfect. He continued to get these really debilitating migraines that he started to get while he was in the military. He had gotten a series of vaccines to go to Iraq. And one of them was like anthrax and a bunch of other things that he didn't know, you know, like out of the box.

vaccines and started getting really debilitating migraines. And so after we had our first child, I had to go back to work. So I breastfed her for maybe six months or so. And I started giving her formula, which of course she rejected. We moved on to soy formula, even worse. Her skin was just doing so poorly. And at the same time, I was dealing with hormones and thyroid issues, horrible menstrual cycles. And so we kind of just got to this crux where we were like, we need to make a change, but we were eating a standard American diet. So we were like, you know, what do we do? And we sat down in from the TV and watched these food documentaries. And both of us, we were looking at each other and we were like, we had no idea. Like, we really

didn't know. So we got a black garbage bag and went into the kitchen, personal care products, all the things. And we just started throwing like everything away. Cold turkey. What did you see that you felt compelled to start throwing? Like, what kind of stuff were you throwing away? Processed food. Anything. fragrances in, you know, cleaning products. I had it and actually cleaned out, like, our personal care products. We really just started with food and cleaning products. And we, cold turkey, like, we cleaned everything out. And we were kind of like getting to this point. We were like, what next? We didn't have anything to eat that night. We were like, what, you know, what do we do now?

And so we went really hardcore into, like, juicing and like, you know, this was 2012, 2013. And so, yeah, we're juicing. eating low fat, a lot of veggies, some lean meat, but honestly just getting rid of all of the processed foods and the cleaning products, we immediately started to feel better. Going on from that, you know, we started seeing some healing, but like not a whole lot. And we were doing more research. And we came across the Westonay Price diet, which is very animal-based. And so we started doing that more. And we found really not being able to get the quality of meat and things that we wanted.

So we sold everything we had and kind of went out on the whim and we bought this farm. Neither one of us had any farming experience, like literally zero. But I was so dedicated to our why. Like, you know, when you have a child who's suffering with anything, you're like, we're going to fix it. We're going to do whatever it takes. And so we wanted to raise like healthy meat for our family. So we bought this farm. And we bought our first milk cow there.

And when I was like raw milk, we were going to start milking this cow. Did you milk the cow? We did. I want a cow? Wait, so are you actually, you were actually milking the cow? We, I bought this cow before we closed on the house. My husband likes to tell everyone this story. He's like, she had a deposit down on this cow.

We didn't even close in the house yet, which is true. But we bought the house. We moved in. We bought this cow. And she was pregnant. So we didn't have to like milk right away. We were watching YouTube. And we were looking at books.

And the day she had the baby, the very next day, we both went in the barn. He looked at me and I looked at him. And he's like, we're going to do this thing. And so we did. And so that was probably like eight years ago. You know, that was just part of like the learning process. We raised chickens. We raised beef.

And we really just saw our health just, you know, really transformed, especially in our children. In that house, we had our third baby there. And I had my first homebirth. And so it was just kind of. of like all these layers, like kind of like peeling an onion. We got to the next thing. We learned another thing. And we were really dedicated to this holistic lifestyle because I was feeling better. I had previously been taking thyroid medication and was unable to get it. It was like a natural thyroid medication, but still was a medication that I was going to be on for the rest of my life.

I was like, well, I can't really get it. And I just quit taking that cold turkey as well. really focused on our health was eating animal based, living on the farm, and we just saw so much change in our life. We were like completely hooked. I know a lot of people, our family, thought that we were crazy. They're like, Emily and Turner's living on a farm. You know, it's so funny because I'm listening to you talk and I read a lot of, I read a lot of history. And even when Lauren, her reaction to you potentially, or you milking a cow, was like, what? And my dad, he's older now. And he grew up on a farm and it's like, it was just normal. that's how they got the milk.

And I think we've gotten so far away, and technology's advanced so far as humans, you don't realize, like, the vast majority of human existence, this was just, this was a normal way of it. It was just milk.

It wasn't raw milk. When I imagine milking a cow, I imagine that it's like a ball sack. Like, like, like the thing looks like a ball sack. That's a different kind of, Lauren,

I think you're thinking of a different kind of milking. No, like with like an octopus, like how do you even, you just, I guess you said you went on YouTube, but do you just squeeze it? You just squeeze from the top down. And it's obviously that you can drink the milk right then and there. Right then. You know, I love raw milk. Yeah. So is it like the best raw milk you've ever had when you just milk? It really is. Okay. Straight from the utter. Yeah. My kids like to put like a little cinnamon,

honey in a cup and they'll come out and we'll just milk straight into it and drink it warm. What you said earlier, which before there was no such thing as raw milk, this was just milk. This is how people got milk. There was no, they didn't, there wasn't a buzzword. There's a new phenomenon that exists, which is all of these processes. And so I think, like, we are so far away from how we've always been now that people just, they can't fathom. Well, I think people start, the pasteurization started because they were bringing cows closer to the city. They were putting a bunch of them together. They were living in filth.

And the milk was not safe to drink. And so when you're, when you have one or two cows on a personal farm, obviously, I know that the milk is clean and the animals are healthy. And so happily, my kids have been drinking it for the last eight or so years. And they're vibrant. It's no, it's undeniable that they're vibrant. And so, like, I have a younger sister who's about 11 years younger than me. And she has, like, nannied and babysat a lot of kids.

And she'll come to our house. And she's like, how come your kids don't have X, Y, Z? Or how come they don't have double ear infections? And I'm like, Caroline, they have really great nutrition. they have access to outside and in the grass and really, you know, playing in the dirt. But they're in their drinking raw milk. And I think that makes a huge difference when nutritionally they have everything they need to be healthy or to fight a bacteria because they're not not exposed to it.

They definitely are. And they do get sick, but they're able to recover quickly, you know, and kind of get over it. And raw milk, just you can say it more eloquently than me, has way more vitamins, minerals. What are the benefits that you see? Well, one, it's full of all the enzymes that helps us to digest the milk. And when the milk is pasteurized, those enzymes are denatured and broke down. And so that's a lot of reason why people have a hard time with dairy. A lot of people are dairy-free because of that.

But I have spoken with, you know, even myself, are able to drink raw milk, no problem. But if I would go back and drink sorbought milk, I probably, you know, would have an issue or upset stomach or something like that. That's exactly how I feel. I feel it's my body craves it intuitively. And I think if I went and drank store-bought milk, I wouldn't feel good. Right. Because it's really weird. And once you start drinking it, you have like a nose for it. Like I could, I feel like I could do like a taste test or a smell test and know exactly which one was raw milk. Well, I'll say this too. I am not a milk drinker, never have been since I was a kid, never liked it. But now that she gets the raw milk, I have it all the time. Which is interesting.

because I did not start drinking milk until I was 36 years old. I mean, I must have had it when I was a baby, but I like, never, ever. And now I'm like, oh, and I want it, which is interesting, too, because even I, like, you haven't told me. What? But it's strange. Wait, so you're saying I'm right. Yes. But what I'm saying is strange is like I never like would touch milk before. And now I feel great with this milk. When do you drink my milk? In the morning when you're not around. What do you put it in your coffee? I do that sometimes or since I have it in a little shake. Yeah, yeah, all sorts of stuff. Anyways, when you, so when you first, when you guys kind of first decided, I don't want to say get off the grid, but when you decided to go into a farm and kind of get away from some of the chemicals or some of the things that you had in your previous house, what are the first things you noticed? Well, we were sleeping better. I was feeling better. Energy levels were better.

And so during that time, I was researching for Elisa's eczema. And I was like, you know, we were going to the doctor and they are giving you petroleum-based products, steroids, things like she'll grow out of it. And I was like, there's got to be something else. And so I researched beef tallow. And I was like, that's really interesting. But I was a little wary at first. So I called a local beef farmer and asked for a beef tallow. And she was like, you know, I'm going to have to call the butcher and get back with you.

Like we don't have any to sell. or we don't get that back. And so she called me a week or so later, and she had five pounds of unrendered beef fat, like just a block. Love it. And so I met her. I picked it up, and I came home. And I was like, I don't want to do this.

And so we ground it up, and we rendered it and made some salve for her and started put it on her just that. We didn't add anything to it. It's like a bomb? It was just like a bomb. Yeah. And so I called it liquid gold because when it's melted, you know, it's nice and golden. It looks like an oil.

And we started putting that on her. I was just so blown away. I didn't know the reason at the time why it was so anti-inflammatory. Her skin was looking better. You know, the redness was decreasing. But, you know, as I began researching more about it, then I started learning that it has conjugated linoleic acid and vitamins A, D, E, and K, all the fat-soluble vitamins. And it's feeding the skin.

You know, we were feeding her and nurturing her from the inside, which is really important. and it was the first step. But, you know, feeding the skin from the outside was like the ticket to really getting rid of her eczema. And so I was just so enamored by the beef tallow. And so I started sharing and telling like family and friends. And there everyone's gut reaction was like, that is so disgusting. And you're putting what on your face, beef fat on your face? And I was like, guys. I should have called me. Guys. Can you send me some of that? Yeah. And it was before beef fat was a thing. they were like, are you serious? And so I started just, you know, making them and sending them to family and friends. My sister, when she got married, it was her favor for her bridal shower.

And so that was when I was able to like all the family who was really skeptical. If you were going to describe using beef tallow or beef fat, but you weren't allowed to call it beef tallow, you're just allowed to say what is in it in the benefit. Like, what would you describe you were giving? Like if someone's like, hey, what is this? You're like, I'm not going to tell you, but these are the things, these are the ingredient components in it. What would you say? Yeah, I would say it's versus 98 percent bioidentical to our own skin's oil, number one. So it is so much more nourishing and so much more absorbable to our own skin than plant oils. It's full of fat, soluble vitamins. It's not going to find that in plant oils. The amino acids that are in it, same thing.

Our body's skin, our skin cells crave that. And so if I told someone that, I think that they would try it. And then I would tell them that it was beef tallow. Yeah, well, because I think that's the big thing now. There's been, as you guys all aware, there's been a lot of press and a lot of PR around not going towards animal products. And so I think as soon as people hear this is, but what makes sense to me in all of this, and I told you, I'm a big history buff, is a lot of the resources we're talking about right now. This is all humans had for a long time. There was not, they didn't have all the, like you weren't, we're going to the skincare store and buying 18 chemical formula products. Like there was, there was animal products and plant products and things you got

from Mother Nature, and that was it. People had beef fat, pig lard, and an olive oil. Olive oil is an oil that you can express without, you know, mechanical expression. So that was it. That's what they had and that's all they used. If someone wants to try a beef tallow product and they don't want the smell, how should, like, what's the first product that you would, like, give them to break their virginity?

Probably the frankincense bomb or the original bomb. just because they've got great essential oils. We use USDA certified organic essential oils. And so, one, you know they're safe. They're in great dilution rates. And it doesn't smell like beef tallow. And even the unscented balm barely smells like beef tallow. And so we render all of our beef tallow in-house.

And so I think that's super important because we can control the temperature, which makes, you know, all of the essential fatty acids and everything that's in tallow. you don't want to denature that by heating it too high or doing any kind of like refining processes to it. So when you buy beef tallow in bulk or places, you know, there's so many places now that you can get beef tallow, sometimes it's high extraction, heat it really high, and you're not going to have all of those really delicate amino acids in it that are so anti-inflammatory. So you guys have everything that's like the right way when it comes to storing the tallow. Yes. I want you to talk to me about what people don't know about their medicine cabinet.

What would shock us? Like, tell us between the Advil and the serums and the body oil and the lipstick and the shaving cream, Michael Bostick. And we have a stat here. It says, like, the average woman uses 12 products a day containing 168 chemicals in them. And, you know, I think when someone hears that stat, they're like, well, not me. I just thought that. Not me.

Not me. But when you look at everything that you use and you use it every single day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, what is that toxin burden at the end of the year? And then over years, you know, because like deodorant, we're putting that on maybe twice a day, every single day. That's one of the products that I always say start with deodorant. Because if you're not going to wear makeup, if you're not going to do skincare, or you're going to skip something, deodorant is you're not going to skip.

And so that's one of like the icebreaker of like changing to a new product would be deodorant. But I would say we would be shocked by the parabins and the thallates and the fragrance, which fragrance has up to like 1,300 chemicals can be guised under the word fragrance. And, you know, they're disrupting our hormones, our fertility, men and women. And so, you know, removing all of that or just turning the package around and reading, actually reading the ingredients and you can't read half of them. And then you start realizing, hey, you know, maybe these are endocrine disruptors. Maybe they are affecting my hormones. Maybe that's the reason why I have headaches or tiredness or bad menstrual cycles. There's just so, it's so complex

and there's so many things that add up that we use every single day. What I've realized too is that if you don't feel good in some way, like if you have a heavy menstrual period or, or you're experiencing infertility or thyroid or whatever, your body's trying to tell you something. And what I've realized is when we cut, like changed our whole house to non-toxic living, now when I get around someone who's wearing downy or bleach their clothes or their dry cleaner,

you're, you almost become so sensitive to it that it's almost like to be, not to be mean, but like it's insulting to like smell. The biggest fight that I have with people that are close to me and I'll just call out our family specifically. My mom is when people are like, well, I feel great and nothing's wrong. And I'm like, yeah, but like we are very adaptable as humans. And you start to adapt to what is uncomfortable.

And I think what my argument to people that are resistant to this kind of conversation that maybe they're sitting there with the nostalgic 80s, 90s brand and they can't get rid of it because it's what they've always bought. there's no downside in switching and trying to go back to see if you could feel better. Does that make sense? That's like that's always my argument is that you feel okay, but would you, is you not interested in feeling better? I don't think we realize how bad we feel until we don't feel bad until we feel better. And, you know, all of, and some people don't have like this health crisis that makes them want to make a change.

And so either you have a health crisis or you just come to the realization that, hey, this really is toxic. Someone else has a story or has something that's happened to them and you're like, it's time to wake up. You know, I don't want to wake up when I'm 70 and I have cancer and I'm like, now I'm going to make the change because the cumulative effect over so many years can be so toxic. And our bodies are amazing. We have really great detox pathways, but that only goes so far. And so eventually as those detox pathways are clogged up, then we start seeing symptoms. and those symptoms can start with something as little as a headache or just brain fog. And, you know, I had, I experienced a lot of brain fog and didn't even know.

You know, I was like, you kind of get to the point where this is normal. But when you break through that and you really clean everything up and you're living non-toxic, you're just like, I cannot believe how good I feel. And so I have five sisters. And so I'm the oldest. So to all my sisters, I was like, yeah, I have got to get rid of this product. or go home to my parents' house and, you know, all the girls getting ready in the bathroom and they're using all the stuff that haven't smelled in, you know, months or a year.

And I, Julia, why are you using that? Or, you know, asking one of them, yeah, I've got to get rid of this. And they're like, they kind of shrug it off. But now all of them are married in their mothers. And they come back and they're like, what product do you use for this? Because they are seeing the, you know, the benefits and the clear mind and, you know, decrease in headaches or horrible menstrual cycles. I think that might. be something that just was kind of common in our family and the girls. And getting rid of all the toxic products, like a light switch, changed that. And so that's kind of an eye opener. And people say, what else can I change? Or what else am I consuming that's toxic? That just kind of helps

make a change. What are things that people would not know are toxic? For instance, I've noticed when Michael gets delivery from Postmates, he gets hot food. And it comes in plastic. And I started to think about that. And I'm like, you're heating up this beautiful food and you're putting it in plastic. And by the time it gets to you, there's got to be, I don't know if I'm right, but there's got to be tons of microplastics. One, is that true? But also, what are these hidden things that we're not seen? I mean, there's so many toxins in water bottles. or, you know, plastic water bottles for sure. Tupperware, Ziplock bags.

I mean, there's just so many things in your house. And it really is, it can be very overwhelming. And so when I'm talking to someone new or they're asking me things, I tell them that, you know, this is a cumulative of many years that we have just kind of peeled the layers off this onion and definitely, you know, took one step at a time and it started with food. And then it was non-toxic products. And then we started, you know, cookware and things in our house.

house and then, you know, moved on to like EMF protection. And it just took a couple of years of, you know, educating yourself and learning. Because I went to a conference about two years ago and listened to a lady talk about EMS and, you know, the damage that it was doing to your nervous system. And I was like, we sleep with the Wi-Fi on. And, you know, maybe that's another change that we need to make. And so just kind of one thing at a time. Did you turn it off? I did. And? Sleep so much better. Yes, can you turn the Wi-Fi off?

I ask him, I've asked you to do this. It's like a switch, right? Can you get a Kill Switch? Yeah, you can get a Kill Switch. You can get an automatic timer. For my birthday, that's what I want for my birthday. I'm not being funny. I want the Wi-Fi turned off at night for my birthday.

I think all you have to do is just install that timer that you're talking about. It just automatically switches it up. What are other, like, things that you said like when you talk to someone who's just stepping their toe into this non-toxic lifestyle, you give them little tips. But what about someone who already has a lot of the bases covered? What are some, like, things that you might, like, people might be like, oh, my God, you're crazy. I have my phone and a safe sleeve. Okay.

And I talk with it closed. Love a safe sleeve. You know, no radiation. Okay. Same thing for your laptop. You know, an EMF protector for your lap. One of my sisters posted a photo in our little group chat. And she was sitting on her computer.

And I was like, get that off of your ovaries. you have children that you're going to have in the future. You don't want that there, you know. So put something between your computer. People roll their eyes when I say that we turn off the Wi-Fi for sure. People think this stuff's crazy and I maybe fell into the hesitant camp before. But here's what's happened in my life. There's been so many instances where now I'm, again, I'm reading history and I go back and I see stuff

that people deem safe that they later say is not safe. And if you start to look at some of these, even the warning labels that come on the phones, like don't hold it to your head. try to use external external speaker. It says don't touch it actually is what it says. If you go read your Apple phone, it says don't touch it. It says if you put it in a metal phone case, it could accelerate whatever it's in there. And I'm just sitting there.

I'm like these companies are smart. They're covering their bases. They also know that people do not know how to get away from this stuff. It's going to become more and more integrated. And to your point, there's maybe no short term immediate things that we could sense. But I start to think like long term, if you can make these simple changes, and get back to a more natural way of life. Like, I don't see the, I don't see the downside in that, I guess, is what I'm saying.

So I'm not like one of these woo-woo people. I just don't, people, there's not yet been somebody to come on as like make the argument for more chemicals and more artificial fragrances and more EMF and tell me why that's going to be good. And there's nobody that's come on and said, I can guarantee that this will not be harmful. Maybe the government. Do you know what I'm saying? We should interview the government. You can almost guarantee if you don't do a lot of these practices. and you just live a natural life.

It's very less, like these chemicals. I think most people just think it's an inconvenience. Yeah. But, you know, you either pay now or you pay later. And so my midwife explains it like this. You know, it's like a symphony. So in your body, all your hormones and all of the receptors have to each play a part one at a time. And when you have something that like one of the players in the symphony is not playing the song right,

The whole entire song is off and it's not right. And so each thing that you do, whether it be food, EMF protection, water is another big one. Can you correct each one? Then that player can play the song correctly as we go because all of these are disrupting or they're going into our hormone receptors. You know, and they're an artificial hormone mimicor. And so like the products, for example, when you have endocrine disruptors and, they're coming to that receptor and they're mimicking estrogen or mimicking testosterone or something like that, that player is playing the wrong song and it throws off the whole thing. And so,

you know, when we take each one at a time and then try to correct those things, then we see overall health and vibrancy. And so our end goal is just to be as vibrant as possible because we don't want all of this to add up. And then, you know, we're of an advanced age and we're in our 70s. and I'm starting to realize, hey, you know what, maybe I should have done that. Or I can look back and say it didn't hurt to sleep with the grounding mat and grounding sheet. It didn't hurt to have organic mattresses and make sure that we were sleeping on natural fibers. And I really believe that we'll see the culmination of that with other people as we, you know, get into more years and there are more studies that come out and they say, well, guess what?

We were sleeping on these polyester sheets and all those microplastics were being breathed in all night. you know and so especially in children because when we were growing up those kinds of materials weren't even available so we can say oh I you know my parents didn't worry about that and I'm an adult wait what is a grounding mat in the bed first of all let's start there because I have a hundred questions all what you just said what's a grounding mat in the bed there's grounding mats so it's like a grounding sheet it's got you know silver running through it and you plug it into either to the an outlet just into the ground or out of a window into the ground and so I haven't I don't have it into the window into the ground. Wait, so it does, it plugs into like a plug? Not into the electrical

part, but into the ground. Because you have to ground any, let's not get into electrical, electrical, wiring issues with one, but you have to ground outlet. Right. So it's a neutral ground. And so how do you have, what do you do? So your house is grounded. Already. We're going to be, yeah, we're going to be lost. Yeah, we can start talking about ground. Wait, so, so you get a, is there a brand that we need to look at for this grounding mat? I don't even know the brand that I have. Maybe you can send it to me later in all. Okay. And. And. And. Okay, so and then you also said you sleep on an organic mattress. What's this mattress? Do you know the brand? Naturepedic. Okay. Yeah. And then when you buy sheets, what do you look for?

A hundred percent natural fibers where I would be cotton and I recently just got a pair of linen sheets that I adore. And my husband at first, he's like, these are, they're scratchy. Like, no, why? And I got them right after our youngest was born. And I was reading about the frequency of linen sheets. And I was like, this baby needs to sleep on linen sheets. So we were going to. asleep on linen sheets. And after you wash them a couple times, they're really soft. And now I absolutely adore them and recommend them to everyone. We sleep on linen sheets. But the point is, is like, again, I think a lot of people that are so resistant to these things, I mean, I actually don't, of all the things that people kind of like plant their flag in the sand, I don't really understand why people are so resistant to these kind of things. Because I'm telling you, I say this all the time when there's someone who is an expert at non-toxic, there is an essential.

nostalgia, warm feeling associated with some of these brands that makes them go back to their childhood where they have this warm feeling and it feels almost like you're breaking up with a product. So like a great example. My mom bought it. You know, it's where we ate our whole entire life. When I was sick, we ate Campbell soup. When I was this, when I was in college, I ate top rom and I want my kids to try that. When I, Windex smells like your whole fucking childhood, Michael. Windex was your childhood. Yeah, but I don't know. I mean, I think like there's so much information out there. And again, and I think we've done this big, like we're kind of doing this big loop where we got so far away from natural practices. And now people are coming back to natural practices. And I intuitively, my entire life, have followed diets and practices based on what I believe was available to our ancestors as they evolved. Does that make sense? Absolutely. And I don't like, I don't have a specific eating way. And I don't. And I don't. And I, and I,

and I just intuitively say, okay, if it was available 100 years ago, I know that the people that were evolving then were able to evolve and I was able to be created because of this. If there's something that is new now that we have never evolved with, I'm usually like, that's the thing I want to get on. At least be skeptical. Yeah, of course. I would love to know what the Gaps diet is. Okay. So the Gaps diet is called Gut and Psychology Syndrome. And that's the name of the book. It was written by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. And I discovered Gaps when I was looking, because I realized that her eczema was a result of a gut dysfunction. And so I immediately was like, well, then we're going to heal the gut dysfunction, especially when we were going to the doctors and they were saying, there's nothing that you can do. The steroid is what that is all, that was. was all they had to offer. And I left just shaking my head and saying that there's got to be another way. And so I came across the gut and psychology syndrome book, ordered it and read it. And it really is

just nourishing the gut with broths. And so there's a couple stages. You start with stage one. And I was putting broth that I had made at home in a glass bottle and feeding this baby broth to, you know, try to heal. And so a lot of kids will reject all of the, diet foods in the beginning, right? They're used to eating banana, something sweet, drinking milk and all these things. And so she definitely was like that. And so they were like just push through. They're not, a child will not starve themselves. And it was one of the hardest things I've ever done is to take away everything and everything off the counters because if she saw it, she would point to it and she would want it. So everything in the entire house was

removed. And I gave her soft cooked vegetables, boiled meat, anything really soft and easy to digest in lot of broth and with thick fat on top. And so it coats the lining of the gut. Makes sense. And then just helps that gut heal. And then you introduce more foods as you go through the stages, which would be like fermented dairy at first. And then things like sauerkraut and a lot of fermented foods to build up the gut microbiome. And then you progress to what is called full gaps. And at the end, you know, there are a lot eggs and a lot of more, a lot more foods are incorporated. it and then you stay on that diet until you start to introduce things that you knew were sensitivities to the child or to an adult.

As they can tolerate them, you know, you move on. You can see that there has been gut healing because they're able to eat those foods. And so we would introduce raw milk. And then maybe some veggies that weren't cooked as much. And as she could tolerate them, we moved on. But during that process, her eczema disappeared for the first time. And I was. And you can do this as an adult.

You can do it as an adult, yes. And there are so many more guides on how to do it and recipes and all these things. But when I did it with her, it was newer. And we did, there was no recipes. We did just the most basic boiled meat, what you would boil in the broth, or when you made the broth that you would just cook the whole chicken or beef, the vegetables that you also boiled in the broth when you made them. So those vegetables, that meat, and then tons of broth.

Anytime they were thirsty, offered broth, until and with good like Himalayan or good salt, Celtic Sea salt. So they were getting electrolytes. We were coating the lining of their gut. And we just saw incredible healing. And we decided to do it for ourselves as well because it's already making the food for the baby. I was pregnant. I was trying to get her well.

And so our entire family did gaps together. And my husband had some skin issues too. Everything started clear enough and we were just like, wow, why aren't, why is the medical establishment telling us this? We were just so shocked and maybe even a little bit naive that we had never heard this before. Well, it's crazy. We've heard, I mean, we've done this show for so long now. We've heard too many stories like this where people have come on and talked about non-traditional paths healing them. And they say, and I think what happens with many people is they will hear a story like yours, like, yeah, well, that's, that's only, they don't think that it's applicable to a

greater population. And I always say, well, like how many people are actually talking about and trying these things and how many in the medical establish your point are actually pushing or testing these things. You know what I mean? Right. There's no scientific studies. It's anecdotal. Are you a colostrum fan? I am. I bet you are. Is there like a certain way that you eat it? So when a cow first freshens, which means they have a baby, they have colostrum for about like four days. Okay. So traditionally, our ancestors would have only had colostrum. during that time, that period when their animal would freshen, the goat or the cow. And so during that time, we would, there's so much extra.

It's not like you're stealing colostrum from the calf. You're not. There's a lot extra. So we'll milk out the colostrum and make what's called colostrum pudding. And so it's like with maple syrup and raw egg yolks. And then you temper it and bake it and it makes like a custard. And I have my kids eat the colostrum custard whenever the cow freshenes in the spring. I don't want a handbag. I don't want shoes. I don't want a trip. I want a cow with

colostrum to make colostrum pudding. Lauren, I've talked to you about like, you can have all these things if you are going to participate and actually take care. I will milk the cow. I'm actually really inspired. Do you imagine? I milk you. I can milk a cow. You could barely take care of our three-count chihuahua. I think I can make a cow. Milk a cow. I really do. I think you can. Yeah. Me and my husband have a really great relationship now. He milks the cow. Okay. and I processed the milk. And so I filter it. I put it in the jars.

I date it. I put it away. And that's kind of our little exchange. I feel like that's the extra. I would not want to do the processing. I would do the milk. What are you? The process, you just put it through like a thing.

So we're using a milking machine now. Okay. We milked by hand for many years. And then we got this milking machine. We were like, why did we milk by hand for so long? This is amazing. It's like churning butter. It is.

And so he goes out. He milks her. He comes back in. And I pour all the milk and fill. filter it and then wash everything and then put it for the next day. And that's kind of our trade off. I think I'll do the milking of the cow though. No, I do the, I'm in for the how long do do cows like live for? You can probably milk a really healthy and well taking care of cow to their 10, 12. Okay. And do you fall in love with their personality? Depends. Is it like a dog?

Sometimes yes. What is your cow's name? We have a Claire. Okay. And a blueberry. Cute. Okay, you are a huge fan of dry brushing as I am too. I love dry brushing. I was joking with Michael today that the lymphatic system needs better PR. Can you speak on why you like dry brushing, how often you do it, all the things? So I'm a mom of five. So I would love to dry brush after took a shower every single night, but maybe three times a week. And so I get out of the shower while you're still wet, put on your body oil and then just start brushing. down, you know, away from the heart, clearing out the lymphatic system. Same thing with guasha stone. I put the, you know, after I do my skincare routine, I'm walking around the house, getting everybody ready for bed, gwashing. They're like, mom, what is that? I was like, for my lymphatic health, babe. How do you have five children and run a business? What, what is the hack, the secret? How are you waking up? What time are you waking up? Give us the details of how you manage that because it's it's that's a symphony are you okay you want to talk about a symphony that's a

symphony blink if you need help it is at we homeschool as well so it's definitely you're milking the cow dry brushing as you're running a company with five kids that you homeschool yeah damn it's a lot yeah it definitely is a lot my husband and i we we each have our own roles he does his thing and i do my thing i will say that we had gotten into this like let's wake up before the sun we're going to get you hustle. And over the last maybe two years or so, we wake up when the sun comes up. We do breakfast together. I cannot even tell you how much lower our stress level is. And we can even get more done. Because we're waking up with the kids. We do breakfast. Everybody gets set up to do school. And then he and I, we walk out. He does the milk and I start, you know, start working.

I got my phone's blowing up. It's time that, you know, it's go time around 9 a.m. And that's when they do school. And so he comes in with the milk and then we just, boom, get started for the day. But I will say at 5 o'clock, comes around, both of us have signed off like we're done. And when we do nighttime routine with the kids. And so that's just kind of how our days go every day. There's something that feels very primal and intuitive about waking up and going to milk a cow. I mean, I also think it would be really cool to have like bees like David Beckham has where you get the honey and then you have the cow. I think you love the romantic vision of her with the cow and David. It's fun.

It's like you're out in nature. You're grounding. You're touching the animal. But it's not. Is it my wrong? It is work, Lauren. It is. You just run a farm and just like chill back and like watch the bees.

It's very satisfying work. It's a lot of work. And when people look from the outside in, maybe it does look romanticized. Definitely like on Instagram. It looks like it's just, you know, a walk in the park. But it's a lot of work. But as long as you're happy doing that amount of work. and it's very fulfilling, then our kids are big help.

You know, they're a huge help. Yes, we have five, but we have a 13-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, and they can do a lot too. They're 100% in charge of the chickens. Like, that's their thing. So good for that. I have not walked out and fed a chicken or done their water or picked an egg probably in two years.

My husband makes sure that, you know, everything is taking care of and that they're doing what they're supposed to, but they're doing it. What do you think that as a mother that this is instilling in your children? Because to me, this sounds so healthy. They're outside. They're in nature. They're touching animals. They're interactive.

They have chores. They have responsibilities. They see where their food comes from. You know, what our main goal in all of this is to raise children who think outside of the box. You know, their thought pattern is not that person said so. So that must be it. You know, I really want them to question the narrative.

We question the narrative. But I didn't grow up questioning. And so we're raising them to question everything as they learn information. They come to us and ask why. And I think it's really important because they're learning so much. They're learning the value of hard work, one. And two, just to question the narrative and think outside the box and have creative ideas, which is really important raising kids who, you know, come up with their own thoughts or they're not so scheduled.

And that was really important to me because I kind of got into that. you know, life where we were going to horse ride and then we were going to baseball and we're doing all the things. And we came to that point where we're like, okay, we have to decide what we, one thing that we really want to do because it's so important to be home and learning to say no, which can be kind of hard. It has been a huge learning curve, both of myself and my husband because the most important thing, one is our family and two is our business. And so that's what we stay home and do. And we say no to a lot of things. But our kids have tons of opportunities because they might do school three, maybe four hours a day and they have more time in their day for things that they enjoy

or they want to do. Yeah, you know, I think my, it's no secret on the show that I've been very critical of school and higher learning in many cases. And I'm not saying there's not great educational institutions. Personally, in my life, I have educated myself mostly through reading and trying and doing different things. I do not feel personally for me that I extracted much value out of the educational system that I went through. I'm not saying, again, there's not going, but one of my biggest problems with most modern education systems is it teaches people to follow the rules and to stay in line and not question the assumptions of what the greater population has agreed to not question. And I think it is really

unhealthy for many areas of life later because the fact of the matter is there's more stuff and more vulnerabilities and more risk now and you have to question every I mean if the last two or three years hasn't proven to people that they should be questioning everything and everyone then you're you're just asleep at the switch you're just like you're not you're not you're a zombie walking the planet and with no clue what's going on and and I think that there is a shame factor built into a lot of modern education systems where it's like this is what we believe in what we do and how we think. And if you don't think that way, you are an outcast. And I think it creates a situation where a lot of young people especially feel very scared. And peer pressured. Yes, and peer

pressured. I mean, you see it now, right? See all these people rallying around and doing all these crazy marches. They don't even know what they're there for. You know what I mean? And it's because it's just, this is what people are doing. And the biggest thing I try to articulate on this show is that to question everything, even what I'm saying right now. Right. Skin care. One of our favorite topics on this show, a little plot twist. I love to give the audience one thing that they should try or two things that they should try from a line. For me personally, I really like your oil cleanser. I think it's really beautiful and it does a really nice job of removing makeup in a gentle way. I also like the bomb and I want to make sure I'm saying that right that you can put on the baby.

Towns has a cut. We put like a... The hydrating tallow stick. The hydrating talism. stick, this is it right here. I can show it on YouTube, you guys. And it's grass-fed tallow, raw unfiltered beeswax, and emu oil. What is so amazing about these products? Is it kind of is like the branch basics of skincare. It takes all of the stress out of it. Sometimes it's overwhelming when you're trying to find non-toxic. It's not really non-toxic. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. I'm on Amazon searching non-toxic, but then I'll look and I'm like, I read the reviews. and it's like, this has this is not non-toxic. Right.

How do we know it's non-toxic? What should we look for and what products would you recommend? So how do you know it's non-toxic? You really have to take some accountability and know the ingredients. And so turning around products and reading the ingredients is number one. And when there is a laundry list of ingredients and that you don't know what they are and you can't even say half of them. Chances are that there are some issues in there. And almost every product has fragrance.

And fragrance is one of the most toxic ingredients on that ingredient list. So automatically, if you're seeing fragrance on there, I'm going to put it back down. And so, like, for the makeup, as my daughter's gotten a little bit older, and she's like, mom, can I wear mascara? Can I wear lip gloss? It's like, maybe you can wear tubes mascara. I'll give this to my daughter, too, when she asked this is good. And it's so nice to be able to say you can pick anything. here and I know that you're good. And so, yeah, definitely turning around the product and reading

the ingredients. It's so important because we don't do that. We see this beautiful packaging. It looks so wonderful. It's got great reviews. And we're like, I want that. And then we get it and we're like, gosh, this gives me a headache. Or I put it in my lips. My lips are burning or peeling. And so just read the ingredients. Which product would you recommend? What's your favorite? Out of Toops Line. Yeah. My favorite product is that C. Buckthorn. But I absolutely love the deodorant. I have used so many deodorants and they either don't work most of the time or they leave gross stains on your clothes or it leaves a white cast. So love in the deodorant. The deodorant, no aluminum, no propylene, glycol. I can barely say that word, paraben, phallates.

You guys, there's also a body oil with vanilla and almond. Tell us you're very specific about the oils that you use. This one has hajoba, olive oil, all of. almond extract, vanilla, we mentioned off air that you're very thoughtful about seed oils. Why no seed oils? Well, seed oils oxidize on the skin and they're just produced so, it's just so gross. And so when you're using plant oils that are cold pressed and fresh and organic, our skin is just drinking that up. You pair that with some beautiful beef tallow that's been rendered by hand. And our skin, you'll just know when your skin reacts so well and you see results, which I think is one of the main reasons why people like really don't want to go non-toxic because it's not effective or it doesn't work. Or they've, in the past, you know, in the 90s, when you go into a health food store and you would pick something out that was non-toxic and you're like, this is this is not like the conventional product that I've been using.

And I would prefer to use that because the lipstick stays on or my foundation is, you know, beautiful. And what I really love about the Toop's products is in addition to being non-toxic, they're also really effective. You know what's strange, though, and I would just say this is like a sidebar. We did this whole conversation with Michelle Pfeiffer around her line, Henry Rose, which is a non-toxic EWG verified cologne perfume. Anyways, I got, I used to be a big cologne perfume. And I got all that. And now when I am around people that are wearing, I guess, colognes and perfumes that I used to find attractive, my body is like, I cannot. It says no.

Yeah, I'm like, go away. It's so weird. I can't stand the smells anymore. It's offensive. Like when you get in an Uber and they have the Christmas tree, when I get in an Uber and they have the Christmas tree, I'm like, oh my God. Maybe a lot of men and women don't inherit it. But even the colognes, like, I hate to like throw brands, like the Calvin Clines or the stuff that like people, I used to be like, oh, that's a trap.

You loved it. When you get rid of it and you realize you don't want these artificial smells. Immediate headache. Yeah, it's an immediate like, whoa, what is that? And our friend, Sherivine, to his credit, who's runs a company called Symbiotica, he's been on this, like, massive. crusade. He goes into like every fragrance store in the airports and like just like berates and like tears him apart. But I always looked at him like, what is this guy talking about? Until I started doing it myself, I'm like, oh, that's what it is. As soon as you remove it from your system and then

you see it, it hits you like a slap in the face. And that's our body saying absolutely not to that. And you know, as you remove those toxins and they're transient. So they're the second you stop using them, they're gone. And you walk in and you're exposed to that again. It's so, it is. It's so offensive. And so like when you go into an Airbnb and you walk in and you're just like, I message, like when I come to a new city and I'm looking for an Airbnb, I will message like 10 that look like, it's a good idea and see who comes back. And if they're like, I don't really know or no, we don't use fragrance free, immediately, no. And if one person will come back and say everything is fragrantry, we don't have plugins or candles, sign me up. You know, I just found out that you can also call hotels before and request for your room to be cleaned with non-toxic cleaning supplies. That makes a big difference.

I have to bring my own blanket now because it's like I just want my own blanket at hotels. We rented this Airbnb. You would have died. There was a clay plane in in every corner. I walked in. I'm like, what's that smell? I kid you not. I ran around this house for an hour.

There was glade plugins in every single outlet in the house. There's a big house. I would have died. That was, I was. We almost left. And we were there for a month. No, I wanted to leave. He wasn't left.

I wanted to leave. I was like. Listen, we got a big deposit. We got to get this out. And it was like the word like lavender vanilla. It was. No, no. By the end of it, we had a giant trash bag.

And here's the thing. I think like a lot of people, if they're unaware or they haven't removed a lot of these things, would check into that place. I'm like, oh, this is nice. They got the fresh. And then you wouldn't notice. But when you wouldn't notice. But when you.

go, I think here's the experiment for people to do. Do this for two months. Just even for like, just get the stuff out and then try to reincorporate it back. Why not? Yeah. And you, when you try to, I can, I physically now cannot reincorporate this. I like, even now, she jokes that I, like, like, I am hard on her. Like, when I got there, I'm like, we can't, like, this is terrible. Like, my system's going to shut down. The main thing that I've noticed about, about switching out my products is that my nervous system is more relaxed. For sure. It's the weirdest thing. And I think when you're really self-aware with your body and, like, you really feel your nervous system just relax. I don't know if that's a thing.

Never Googled it. But that's how it makes me feel. Yeah, well, when we're constantly bombarded with these toxins, it builds up, builds up. And you do. You feel more stressed and you just have a barrage all the time. and your body's constantly trying to detoxify itself and the detox pathways are just so overwhelmed that I think even in your, you know, in your brain and your day to day, you feel overwhelmed. And you don't know that you feel that way until it's gone. And then you just kind of sit back and almost like it's quiet in your body because all of that is, you know, gone. And then when you come back and you smell that smell or that you're hit with that is an immediate reaction. And you're just like, wow, I can't believe I lived with that for so long.

Because we, you know, we used brand name. And I never use a dryer sheet. I can actually say I've never used a dryer sheet. But when other people did, or we used scented laundry detergent, at the time I didn't know that I couldn't smell it. I didn't even smell it on myself or my kids. But now when I pick up a child and they smell so strong, and I'm like, oh, your mama's using scented laundry detergent.

Uh-oh. You're like a detective. No, it's funny. I mean, we went to a hotel and they did our someone, our launch because we travel a lot and we got the, I couldn't wear the clothes I got back. And here's the thing, I don't want to create, like, people are listening, well, you don't want to not be able to use some of these things. I get that. But at the same time, I guess what the argument I'm trying to make is, what are you not noticing that is in your life that you should be noticing?

Right. You know what I mean? Like, why can something one day smell what I believe to be good, say it's a woman's perfume to the next day, like, this is repulsive and I want to get in a fight with you. I don't want to, I'm not going to fight a woman, but you know what I mean? Like, it's like, it triggers this thing where's this is like now gross and I'm turned and I need to get away. It's like a fighter flight. And to Lauren's point, even if some of these things are placebo's, which I don't think there are, why would you not want to feel less strength? Even if it is a non-physical and it's a placebo effect, you just feel better and less stress. Like, why would you not want to feel that way anyways? I think that every mother or father who is listening should go check out your brand.

If you're not going to pick out some products for yourself, I would just go look for your kids. this is like no brainer. I feel it's so nice to be able to like trust a brand and not have to look at all the ingredients. I think beef tallow is the key. I think you're right. It is liquid gold. And I love how you guys process the tallow. I'm so happy with all the manipulations that you've given my husband. Now he's even more on my side. I want to try the shampoo, the dry shampoo. But I got to get the dark one. Yeah, the dark one. Thank you for coming on. What's the code? Where can everyone find you? So if you go to tubes and code.com for slash skinny. Okay.

The code is Skinny 20. Okay. And you can get a discount on your first order. Definitely get the hydrating tallow stick because you can put this on cuts, burns, I mean, anything, your lips. Your lips. Talons has a little cut. We were putting it on his nails. Yeah.

Everything. And I also, big fan of the oils, the body oil and the cleansing oil. Use code Skinny 20 at checkout. and where can we find you on Instagram if they have questions. You can find me on at Toops & Co. Organics. Okay. Same thing on Facebook. Thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you, Lauren. Thanks for making the trip. I'd like a cow.