← Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark
Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark
The Shocking Reality of ‘Safe’ Baby Wipes & Candles—What You Must Do | Branch Basics' Allison Evans
00:58:37
Loading summary
Transcript189 lines
- [00:00]
Alex Clark
What is your like diaper rash hack?
- [00:02]
Allison Evans
Oh, we don't get diaper rashes. My child is seven months old and I don't know if he's ever been introduced to a wet wipe. We bring these products in in efforts to create a clean environment and they're some of the most toxic things that we're exposed to and they're undermining our immune system knowing that God made our bodies in such a way that we have so much power and we are not the victim of our genetics. We're not the victim of some diagnosis or disease. As long as we are breathing, we can heal.
- [00:51]
Alex Clark
Today's guest is someone incredibly special. Allison Evans, co founder of Branch Basics and a dear friend. Allison has an incredible, incredible personal story of healing. Having overcome one of the most severe cases of PCOS her doctors had ever seen, all by removing toxic products from her home and embracing a clean lifestyle. Her journey didn't stop there. She also faced and healed from chronic pain, mold exposure and Lyme disease. Now a thriving mama four, something that she once was told would be impossible. Allison is passionate about helping others experience the power of pure. She's a true believer in the body's God given ability to heal when we simply get out of of the way. Watch this episode on the real Alex Clark YouTube channel or culture Apothecary on Spotify. They have video now and don't forget to leave a five star review. Make it juicy. It takes like two seconds and it's a very, very powerful free way to support this show. Join the Cuteservatives Facebook group. If you are looking for like minded female friends and fans of the show and want to discuss more of what was said in this episode, please welcome co founder of Branch Basics, Allison Evans to Culture Apothecary. You went from chronic pain and being told that you would never have kids to having children.
- [02:00]
Allison Evans
I still can't believe I have four children. He's only six months old. So I'm like, yeah, I do have four kids.
- [02:04]
Alex Clark
How did you do that?
- [02:05]
Allison Evans
God. But really that's why the company exists, is our own personal Health Journeys. Because I started Branch Basics alongside my aunt and my best friend. But yeah, so I was diagnosed with the worst case of polycystic ovarian syndrome that my fertility doctor in Houston had ever seen. I was only in high school. I had had one period in sixth grade and then never had another period. So went in and got a sonogram and my ovaries were literally covered in cysts and I was given birth control. I was Told that there was nothing that I could do about it. I remember specifically asking the nurse practitioner who I now adore, and we have a great relationship with, but at the time was just, she was just in the dark about healing. Um, and she basically said, no, this is becoming more and more common. There's really nothing that you can do to change it. Um, you'll be on birth control indefinitely. You won't be able to have children naturally. But when you're ready to have children, come back and we will help make that happen.
- [03:03]
Alex Clark
Yeah, with like, I'm Disney, where dreams come true.
- [03:05]
Allison Evans
It's like, you know, so I kind of owned that, honestly, like, I didn't have anyone speaking any other voice of reason into me. And so I kind of just wore that as, like, I'm the girl with pcos. I'm the girl that can't have kids naturally. Fast forward to college and I started coming down with mysterious pain, literally from like my neck to down my back, down my leg, sciatic nerve. I started with pt, acupuncture, raw thing, all the way to. I'm getting regular steroid injections, painkillers, muscle relaxers, twice a day, hydrocodone. I mean, I was in the pits. No doctor could agree upon what was really happening. There were like some stage, like early signs of early stage Ms. So merrily, my hippie, crunchy, amazing co founder, aunt at the time I thought was just a little bit kooky, lived out in the hill country, didn't have a cell phone, you know, used like beet juice, you know. And I'm thinking, what are you going to tell me? What value are you going to bring to me at 21 years old when I've been to the best doctors in the nation? But I had nothing to lose. And Alex, she started asking me questions that nobody had asked me. Where were you when the pain started? Had you recently moved or remodeled? Was there a mold exposure? Can you send me a three day diet diary? And I'm thinking, lady, like, what does this have to do with any of my symptoms? I, I have been to the best people in the country and there's no credentials, you know, that you have. Like, what, what is this? But at the same time, there was this, like, hope rising in me. Like, wait a minute. These questions are things that, like, I have control over. Like, I can change what I eat, I could change, you know, she's asking me what cleaning products I'm using. She explained to me how all of these products have toxic chemicals in them. And yes, we can Use them our entire lives. And yes, everyone around us can use them and seem like they're perfectly healthy and fine. But number one, is everyone healthy and fine? Right? Is the number one question. What is healthy? And two, we all have that spillover, right? Like, we all have that threshold that, you know, disease doesn't happen overnight. It's in the microdoses. So all of these products that I was using, like, at some point they're going to catch up to me. The things that I'm putting in my mouth, the things I'm putting on my body, the things I'm spraying around my home, using to clean, using in my laundry, you know, we now know science shows that virtually every single disease, symptom and malfunction of the body can be traced back to toxic accumulation. You know, but at this time, I mean, this is 2007, so I'm like, okay, non toxic, you know, so anyway, I threw away the Windex and changed my laundry products, stopped eating Splenda. And I noticed that I was able to get off of a lot of the medications that I was on. The inflammation was decreasing. So I'm thinking, like, through this, like, we're onto something. So I went to live with Marilee in the hill country of Texas the summer of 2008, with my best friend Kelly, my roommate at the time. And that's basically when everything changed. I mean, we spent the summer eating real food for the first time. I didn't know that I wasn't eating real food. It turns out I probably hadn't gone a day of my life since my soy formula that I had not had. Fake food. Yeah, in some version, right? So for eight full weeks, we ate real food. We grounded. Like, this was not a thing back then. We were drinking juice when everyone was drinking orange juice. Like, we were putting something through a machine, like lemon and a ginger and a beet and like, I had never seen kale go through a machine and come out as a liquid. Right. I mean, like nowadays, like, everybody, even if you're not drinking juice, like, you know what it is. And I came off that summer off of all medication, no pain. I have not taken a prescription drug since.
- [06:44]
Alex Clark
Whoa.
- [06:45]
Allison Evans
Ended up going back to the original doctor, of course. Merrily was like, get off the birth control. That's not part of my, you know, clean protocol. Went back to the same fertility doctor, I guess. I think it was about 10 months later and the cysts were gone and I still hadn't had my period. But after, I want to say, two or three more years of just living this lifestyle, choosing clean things. I woke up one day and I had my second natural period of my entire life. We have tried, I'd like to say three times and had four children, all born at home. I mean I kind of went like the extreme opposite way because once you, once you feel it and know it, it's like you, you're. The passion just rises up and you can't unknow it.
- [07:23]
Alex Clark
Well, you've said our bodies have this God given power to heal if we just get out of the way. And you kind of just got out of the way.
- [07:33]
Allison Evans
The quickest source of healing is to remove the thing that is keeping you, that is holding you back. Right. Like you don't step on attack and go take a bottle of Advil, like you remove the tack, you know. And I think nowadays it's like we're trying to figure out what are the symptoms, what's the diagnosis, what is the treatment and medication I can put you on. It's about adding things. And like at Ranch Basics we're all helping people heal by removing the hindrances so that our body can run in the God given direction of healing.
- [08:01]
Alex Clark
Was it the cleaning supplies in your house that was the first thing that you kind of dumped and got rid of when you were starting this process?
- [08:07]
Allison Evans
Yeah. So we start with cleaning because it's the easiest first step and it's one of the most toxic things that we're exposed to every single day. We all clean like male, female, young, old, like we're always around cleaners. Right. And you know, sadly our, the indoor air in our home is usually two to five times more toxic than outdoors. Except after it's, the home has been cleaned, it's up to 10 times more toxic. So the irony in that is so thick. Right. We bring these products in in efforts to create a clean environment and they're some of the most toxic things that we're exposed to and they're undermining our immune system. So when Merilee works with clients, which she has for 45 years and I should tell her story kind of in a nutshell in a second. But she always starts with cleaning and pesticides because those two things are some of the greatest underminers of our health. A lot of the cleaning products actually have EPA registered pesticides inside of them.
- [08:56]
Alex Clark
Okay, so tell me about her story.
- [08:59]
Allison Evans
Yeah. So Marilee grew up in Houston. She is in her mid-70s now. She was premed, her mother died of cancer and she was always going to be the girl that was going to cure cancer. Right. So when she was in her 20s, she had basically kidney failure. She was going to go through dialysis, get a kidney transfer. Yeah, transplant. The doctor said there was just no other way around it. And she had this kind of like mama bear thing rise up in her and say, I know there's another way. Like I'm not going to do this right now. Of course the doctors are like, no, like we're telling you you need dialysis and you need a transplant. So she ended up finding out about the idea of food as medicine. Like during this kind of critical period of her Life, she went 10 full days eating a fully medicinal. It was a macrobiotic specifically, but it was a medicinal diet. And all of her dialysis numbers were back in normal range. She avoided the transplant. And that's when she really understood this idea of using food as medicine. She actually became a macrobotic chef at a resort in Jamaica. She's incredible. Okay, so, but fast forward and her son, who's my first cousin, is 10 years old and he was exposed at school to a now banned pesticide called chlordane. So he picks, she picks him up from school. He was a, you know, brilliant, obedient, athletic, strong, smart little boy. And he now cannot walk a straight line. His lymph nodes are swollen up like bbs. He's blue, his tongue is blue. He can't spell a three letter word. He was chemically injured. Just his brain and his immune system were just obliterated.
- [10:31]
Alex Clark
How did he come in contact with this? It was like on, on the recess field outside or something.
- [10:35]
Allison Evans
They had sprayed the, underneath the auditorium, it flooded and the, the kids were all in the auditorium and the water had come up and so the pesticides kids were also exposed as well. So she was told, your child will be a bubble child. He will never recover. He'll be on 16 shots per day. You need to create a safe room for him. Like basically a place that he can go and not have anything in it because he will react. His immune system is too badly damaged and the brain does not regenerate. Well, this was before we understood neuroplasticity and how much the brain can heal. But again, that same feeling rose up in Mary and she's basically was like, I'm glad, with all respect, I'm glad you're not God. Like, watch my son heal. She takes him back home, she decides, I'm not going to create a safe room, I'm going to create a safe home for him. So this was really her aha moment. About how much the environment also affects our health. So she understood the. The dietary piece. And then through Douglas's healing journey, he basically reversed through the autism spectrum. So he was severely autistic after this, like, presenting in that way. Seven years. She says it would have gone much quicker had she had the information, but it was a trial and error, you know, she and her son basically figuring this out. But after seven years, he fully recovered. I mean, they lived outdoors in cots. He couldn't go inside the house. And so her aha moment was when she removed this last box of perfumes and lotions and scented sprays that she had. And she thought, I'm just going to see if that makes any difference. Like, there's no way this is going to work. This sounds so crazy because he would come in the house, he would be super irritable. He couldn't stay for more than a few minutes.
- [12:08]
Alex Clark
Minutes.
- [12:08]
Allison Evans
So she removes this box. Okay. The next day, he comes in, she's making lunch, and he says, mom, what'd you do? She's like, what do you mean? He's like, I'm. I feel fine. Like, did you. What happened to the house? She's like, nothing. She didn't say a word to even her husband. And she's, like, questioning herself. That night they're sleeping outside again. They slept outside at night. And she's at the grocery store the next day, and she's going down the cleaning aisle, and she's like, oh, my gosh. Like, I can smell all of these chemicals. They're sealed and shut. And yet my son is the canary in the coal mine. You know, he is the one that's reacting on a parts per million, billion, even trillion level. And so that box was like his cleaning aisle. Right.
- [12:45]
Alex Clark
She had started eliminating things. So her walking down the aisle and being able to pick it up. When you start eliminating the fragrance and the chemicals, you can smell that stuff from a mile away.
- [12:54]
Allison Evans
You're unmasked.
- [12:55]
Alex Clark
Yes. Even when it is bottled up, because I can smell it too. I know exactly that. That feeling.
- [13:00]
Allison Evans
We should be able to smell it. We shouldn't have this mal adaptation where we're like, oh, I don't smell this. You know, it's like I always make the joke about a smoker. Like, you don't smell it and then you stop smoking. You can't be around it, you know? So anyway, that was really the crux of his healing. I mean, that was the turning point, no pun intended, for him. But he fully recovered. He went. He went to the Naval Academy. He was the first homeschool child to get in, like, top of his class athletically and academically. He has three kids. He's in his 40s. So it was just an amazing story. So after that, she became a environmental health consultant for people all over the nation. And that's when I entered her home having 30 years of consulting.
- [13:35]
Alex Clark
And so you guys were like, based on this story, we've got to come up with, like, a cleaning product that's not going to have all.
- [13:42]
Allison Evans
We take these walks with Merrily in the evenings and in the mornings. And, you know, no cell phones were, like, doing lymphatic work and enemas. I mean, we were, like, all in 2008.
- [13:52]
Alex Clark
You know what Gen Z calls walking? Going for a walk after dinner without your phone.
- [13:56]
Allison Evans
What?
- [13:56]
Alex Clark
A raw walk.
- [13:58]
Allison Evans
A raw walk. Raw dog that walks. That is so good. Oh, my God.
- [14:03]
Alex Clark
They're like, we're gonna go for a raw, raw. There you go.
- [14:06]
Allison Evans
That's, like, so revolutionary. We were raw walking all summer long, and we just kept saying, we've got to get your brain on the Internet. We've got to get your brain on the Internet. So that's when blogs were starting. Facebook was a thing. Right? This was like, before Instagram, maybe. Instagram was maybe.
- [14:21]
Alex Clark
No, what did you say? 2008.
- [14:22]
Allison Evans
8.
- [14:23]
Alex Clark
Instagram 2012.
- [14:24]
Allison Evans
Okay. Yeah, exactly. There you go.
- [14:25]
Alex Clark
Instagram.
- [14:26]
Allison Evans
This was my space there. Okay. Yeah. We started blogging. Like, my mom and my dad would read it. You know, I mean, we had nothing going on. And we were selling originally, like, air purifiers and infrared saunas and organic mattresses and water purification systems, and we had this one cleaning product, but everyone just kept saying, I'm so overwhelmed. Where do I start? And that really kept. Kept going back to the clean.
- [14:53]
Alex Clark
So I was reading this article the other day about how most natural floss is still made with polyester and can be coated in pfas, AKA Forever Chemicals. Cute, right? Microplastics in your mouth. That's why I only use zebra floss. It's made of real silk infused with peppermint oil and xylitol. It's tested for no detectable pfas, and it's clean, effective, and doesn't have you wondering what the heck you just dragged across your gum line. And while we're talking oral care, if you haven't tried Zebra's toothpaste tablets, they're the easiest switch you'll ever make. No fluoride, no hydroxy appetite, just chew brush and dye.
- [15:24]
Allison Evans
Done.
- [15:24]
Alex Clark
It Foams up like regular toothpaste, but it's totally clean. Even kids love them. And trust me, when a toddler asks to brush their teeth, you're gonna hold on to that magic, right? I know that from my mom. Friends don't wait until your mouth stages a rebellion. Head to yayzebra.com and use code Alex for 10 off. That's yayzebra.com code Alex. Picture this. Every Sunday you do meal prep, okay? Big batch of chili, roast chicken, maybe a veggie curry. But here's the twist. You don't eat it all that week. You freeze. Dry it with your harvest right? Home freeze dryer. And then you can take your Sunday meals and preserve them for years. Not even just days, not weeks. Years. So on those nights when you're exhausted, the fridge is empty and you just got hit with a storm, you've got homemade meals ready to go. Just add water, heat, and done. And I grew up in the Midwest. I know what a Midwest stormy summer is like. It's healthier than takeout. It's way cheaper. And you never have to worry about what's for dinner. Meal prep isn't just for the week anymore. It's for the future. Build your food supply with real food you love. Visit harvestright.com and that's harvest right.com. what exactly are these chemicals doing to our bodies? When we are cleaning with the conventional.
- [16:32]
Allison Evans
Stuff, we hear, oh, gosh, these toxins are so bad. But it's until we are actually sick, we say that either have to be really sick or really smart to jump on this train. What's really happening? They're creating oxidative stress in the body. They're lowering glutathione. Glutathione is our master antioxidant. In fact, studies show people that live the longest and have the least amount of disease have the highest amount of glutathione. So when you are, you know, essentially being exposed to these toxins every single day, you are clogging those detox pathways. It's hard for chemicals to come in and I mean, sorry, for nutrients to come in and chemicals to go out. You're creating, you know, DNA damage. And so we think, oh, I'm fine. I. I've been using these my whole life. They don't affect me. Well, then starting around 60s or 70s, all of a sudden, all these predisposed genetic things become expressed in your body. And you wonder why. Well, there's a threshold again where there's a spillover, right? And then you have from an endocrine standpoint, I mean, early onset pub and, you know, infertility and the cancers. We one and three women and one in two men will get cancer in their lifetime. I mean, and these toxins are specifically studied to be shown that they are carcinogenic. They're crossing the blood brain barrier. You know, they're creating brain fog and insomnia. So it's not just these kind of, oh, gosh, these are not that good for us. But, you know, I'll be fine. It's like, are we fine?
- [17:53]
Alex Clark
And I would say the data points to not. I love my best friend Nicole's husband. One thing that he does, anytime they go out to eat, when they are wiping the table for them, he will pause them and he'll say, I'm so sorry, would you mind going into the kitchen and asking for some white vinegar? Can you just wipe our table with that instead? And I'm like, what a man? Like, that is goals. But, yeah, they do that when they go out to eat, which I love.
- [18:15]
Allison Evans
That's so good.
- [18:16]
Alex Clark
Is it true that there is a cleaning chemical in conventional cleaning supplies that can make you fat?
- [18:22]
Allison Evans
What's funny is that I talk to nutritionists and even my aunt will say, like, when you start talking to people about the health, you know, ramifications of using cleaners and chemicals that have these endocrine disrupting ingredients inside, people are like, oh, well, you know, but as soon as you mention that they are obesogens, they're like, oh, wait, so you're saying that I could maybe lose weight if I stopped using these things. And it's true. Marilee works people all the time. They'll start working with her because their son is having a behavioral disorder or their husband that's having some lung issues, or there's chronic eczema, One of their babies is having, you know, colic, whatever it is. And the mom will call and say, I lost 12 pounds. I don't understand. She's like, oh, well, it's because all the plastic storage containers and the scented candles and the perfume and the harsh disinfectants and the dryer sheets, and these are all endocrine containing toxins that will latch to your hormone receptor sites and throw off your hormones. And you have to understand, too, that these chemicals have a metabolic impact in the body. So in or God is so good. And when we inhale, absorb, or ingest these chemicals in order to keep them from clogging up our vital organs and causing cancer of the organs our body will actually store Them in our fat cells. Cause it's so smart. And when we have gone kind of, we've reached that threshold, our fat cells will either expand or they will reproduce. So we will literally create fat cells and in order to buffer toxins from our organs. So yes, if you would stop, you know, using some of these chemicals, a lot of times people will find that that stubborn weight will come off.
- [20:00]
Alex Clark
We're told that the only way to get really bad germs when you're sick is that we have to use these disinfectant wipes. My question is, do you really need disinfectant wipes to have a truly clean home?
- [20:10]
Allison Evans
Yeah. Never. Not once.
- [20:12]
Alex Clark
But what about the really bad germs?
- [20:14]
Allison Evans
The really bad ones, right? Never. And I will say this is from not just me and experience and like, okay, my co founder and best friend Kelly, like her husband's on. He, he's a doctor and he was on the Covid team during COVID I mean, he still was like, no, we don't need disinfectants in the house, you know, but we're talking even the cdc, who, I wouldn't say I trust them in all things. But regular soap and water will remove germs and still keep intact the good bugs. Right? Versus using these disinfectants, which will quote, unquote, kill the bad stuff. They're not, it's not fully obliterated. Plus they're killing the good stuff. So to kind of say that in a different way. And we, we bring these disinfectants in thinking that we are creating this germ free environment, but we need the good friendly germs to actually keep our immune system high. And so we're obliterating our microbiome. We are creating super bugs. So when we actually do need the antibiotics and the antibacterials, they're not even working. So I would say, guys, that you'd never really need the sanitizer and disinfectant, that it is doing more harm than good. Just get out the regular soap and water we have. Obviously, I love branch basics. It's a great general surfactant, but you don't need it. All you need to do is just spray with a gentle soap and wipe.
- [21:35]
Alex Clark
I have a theory, and this is going to be crazy to some people, but I refuse to use hand sanitizer. I feel like hand sanitizer is doing way more damage than helping. Would I be wrong or right?
- [21:46]
Allison Evans
Oh, a thousand percent correct. And there are studies that show that the more sanitizer you use, especially on children, the higher the allergies, right? Because you're literally our skin is our largest organ. And so when we are breaking down that barrier, we have like antigens come in like peanuts can actually now cross in through the skin. It's called the atopic march and can get into the bloodstream. And now we wonder why we're having so many nut and seed allergies. You know, gluten allergies. A lot of times it's because we, we are just totally obliterating that skin barrier.
- [22:16]
Alex Clark
I walk into Whole Foods, I see this whole aisle of, you know, allegedly like cleaner cleaning supplies and stuff. How much of those are actually safe, actually non toxic, or we just kind of getting tricked by a fancy label?
- [22:29]
Allison Evans
We are the most confused consumer. I mean, first of all, the cleaning product industry is unregulated. So whereas the food industry and the skin industry, you have to list all the ingredients, you do not have to do that in the cleaning product industry. So essentially we are the experiment, right? So until enough people get sick and enough people fight back, you know, industry will say, oh, that's why we have tort law. Sue me, take me to court. But it's like the David and Goliath story that doesn't ever really work out. Right. And so we have to be our own advocates here. We're not like Europe where there's the precautionary principle says that a product is guilty till proven innocent. Like the products are innocent till proven guilty. So there are, you know, some cleaners that are better. Yes. But sadly, even at Whole Foods, like there's so much greenwashing where you can have the words green or natural or the leaf or the lady or whatever it may be. And if, until you turn that bottle around and look at the ingredients, if they're not, if the ingredients are not there, toss it out. There's something they're hiding. Right, but if there are ingredients, you want to start really with the last ingredients on the bottle. Right? Because those are usually the most toxic. And people could argue, oh, but the do dose makes the, the poison. You know, it's just a small amount. But the study of epigenetics now shows that even a very tiny amount of a toxic chemical exposure can express a genetic, you know, gene. So if you have a predisposition to something, having that regular exposure to a chemical canal can honestly turn on that genetic expression.
- [23:56]
Alex Clark
Okay, so that's huge. Write that down. Write that down, what she just said. That's huge. Had. Have never heard that. When you're looking at the label then on a cleaning product, what are some of the like words that like, oh, do not use this.
- [24:08]
Allison Evans
If it has this great question. Okay, so one, if there's no ingredients, toss it out. If it says warning or danger, those are EPA kind of signal words. So it actually means that there are certain ingredients in there that kind of trigger the mandatory usage of those words. Mask, ventilation or gloves required, needs to go hazardous.
- [24:28]
Alex Clark
Any Lysol, Clorox type of stuff.
- [24:30]
Allison Evans
Right. Which are all EPA registered pesticide containing ingredients in their disinfectants. And we just covered that. You should never have those products in the home. They're unnecessary and they're undermining the immune system of everyone living in your home.
- [24:42]
Alex Clark
Wow.
- [24:42]
Allison Evans
Yeah. And honestly, even like skin, eye and lung irritant, like you want to make sure that there are absolutely no irritations in this product. You should be able to hand it to your child. They should be able to clean their own messes with the cleaning product. Right. And then the word fragrance or parfume, those are endocrine disrupting chemicals. And those two words have, you know, hundreds and hundreds of chemicals that can be lumped over under them. So all of those need to go.
- [25:08]
Alex Clark
What do you think is like the biggest myth in non toxic cleaning products?
- [25:11]
Allison Evans
That it doesn't work.
- [25:12]
Alex Clark
Yeah, Talk about that.
- [25:13]
Allison Evans
Yeah.
- [25:13]
Alex Clark
Because there is this misconception and here's what I, I want to discuss. We have been conditioned to believe, I think by marketing, that your home isn't clean. If it doesn't have a certain smell.
- [25:25]
Allison Evans
Yes.
- [25:26]
Alex Clark
Or if it doesn't burn your skin when you use it, then it's not actually getting you clean. I think that those are all like marketing tools.
- [25:33]
Allison Evans
Totally, totally. I mean, we've been lied to and we need to retrain our brains. That's all I can say about that. Because like I mentioned, after a home gets clean, it's up to 10 times more toxic than it was before it was cleaned. You have a 64 chance of getting pulmonary illness or higher. Higher chance of getting pulmonary illness As a professional cleaning person. I mean, these chemicals were never meant for the home. They were created for chemical warfare. They came into our homes after World War II. And we are in a giant experiment being around these chemicals every single day, using them around our children, wondering why our kids can't focus in class. They have brain fog, we can't sleep, we have eczema, we have headaches. We just keep piling on more medication. When really, what if we needed to just go around our house and remove the very things that are creating the symptoms in the first place.
- [26:23]
Alex Clark
Okay, so what about your kid smears, poop on the wall or whatever? I mean, bleach?
- [26:27]
Allison Evans
No, not necessary. I mean truly. So number one, which is really interesting, if you read the fine print of a disinfectant, you are actually supposed to clean a surface before you disinfect. So the disinfectant claims of saying we will kill 99.99% of bacteria, that is after that surface has been cleaned. It is not part of the cleaning process. That kind of crazy. No one talks about this.
- [26:48]
Alex Clark
No, I didn't even know that.
- [26:49]
Allison Evans
You think I'm just going to spray this? That's part of the cleaning. It's not. So first you clean the surface and then you disinfect. But like I said, the idea of removal is actually getting rid of more germs and toxins than the idea of killing.
- [27:07]
Alex Clark
If how to get clear skin is somewhere on your search history, same. And that's exactly why I started drinking Cowboy Colostrum every day. This isn't just another beauty supplement. It is literally nature's first food packed with skin supporting nutrients. Nutrients like vitamins A and E and natural growth factors that support your gut, reduce inflammation and not only help clear up your skin, but make it radiant and help your immune system. Plus, it's full fat, it's unstripped, meaning all the natural goodness is still intact. Just how your body likes it. Cowboy sources only the first four to six hour milking colostrum, which is when it's the most nutrient rich. You'll feel it. Trust me, my skin's clear, my digestion's better, and I just feel more stable, like my body's not running on empty. If you're ready to support your skin, your gut and immune system all in one scoop, go to cowboycolostrum.com use code Alex for 25% off your first order. That's cowboy colostrum.com code Alex sip your way to clear skin. In basically every tragic American health story, there's one common thread waiting too long to look under the hood. We wait until something feels wrong, right? We don't get blood work done often enough. Or worse. The tests we get are so basic, they miss what's really going on. Jevity is the exact opposite of that. It's proactive health optimization based on D deep data. So Jevity sends a phlebotomist to your home in under five minutes. You're going to do a 90 biomarker blood test. Yes, 90. Then you will get a virtual consultation with a personalized health team, and they're going to build you a plan based on your results that supplements peptides, even access to advanced testing like a Dutch or GI map. All of it is designed to help optimize you now so you're not playing catch up later. And all of that is only $129 a month with continuous support anytime you need it. Retesting every six months in an app where your whole plan lives. Be proact active, not reactive. Go to gody.com use code ALEX for 20 off your first purchase. That's gonna code Alex. So what was like the one cleaning product that was conventional, that you loved and it was the hardest for you to give up, and then what do you now use instead?
- [29:08]
Allison Evans
I mean, that's tough because I was in college and to be honest, I just probably wasn't cleaning as much as I should have. But I would say Windex. I mean, I'm not one. I. We do not name other names, but I feel like that's a pretty generic name. I can say, yeah, that one gets to me the most. But now, knowing what I know, it's probably laundry. I mean, because when you think about it, like, your laundry follows you around everywhere you go. You are never. Not with your laundry. Like, you're naked in the shower and you probably have a washcloth that was laundered, right? Like, you cannot escape your laundry. It is coursing through your veins right now. I mean, if we took your blood and sent it to some German lab, they could probably tell you what you use in your laundry. And I could probably tell you when I hug you, you know, not you, because I know you use Ranch Basics, but I'm just saying, I. You know, it's one of those things that our bodies are made to restore and regenerate. Our liver and our gallbladder clear naturally at night, but they can't when we are breathing deeply into a pillowcase that contains carcinogens and endocrine disrupting toxins and obesogens and skin irritants and lung irritants. And we wonder why we're having all these symptoms. So I would say laundry is number one.
- [30:09]
Alex Clark
Do toxins affect kids different than adults?
- [30:12]
Allison Evans
Yes. Yes. Adults are not little humans. Like, they're not. They pound for pound, they are breathing, drinking, absorbing. They have more skin pound for pound than adults. And their immune systems are not yet fully developed. And I think, you know, what's happening with these children is so sad because, I mean, Alex, like, I have Four children and two of them are getting to the age where they're starting to have opinions about things and they're wanting, you know, to bring home this party favor, this scratch and sniff, you know, whatever it is. And I have to sit down and explain to them, hey guys, like, I love you too much to let you use these things. And I know I may seem extreme right now, but what's extreme is that so many kids your age are suffering unnecessarily. And so my way of loving you is to keep you from these toxins. And, and I think that that honestly is questioning status quo and allowing a child to think critically are lessons that they should have for life anyway. So if, by all means, if I need to use toxins to help usher them into that new way of thinking, like, so be it.
- [31:11]
Alex Clark
How can somebody on a really tight budget still make their home safer without buying a bunch of expensive non toxic products?
- [31:16]
Allison Evans
Oh, you just remove everything. You don't need to buy anything non toxic. I mean that is probably the number one message that I want to get across here today is that living a non toxic clean life is not some bougie thing where you need to go out and invest in all these amazing non toxic treatments or even supplements. Like, like we're talking go back to basics. Like eat real food, open your windows, take your shoes off, filter your water. Like there's. We have on our website, we have so many different ways like you can do these things in a budget friendly manner. If you can't afford an air purifier, get a 20x20 box fan and a filtrate filter and stick that on the back and filter your air and get rid of your perfumes, get rid of your scented lotions, get rid of all these things we think we need.
- [31:59]
Alex Clark
Yeah, you know, it's like the hack is actually don't. You don't need to keep buying more actually get rid of.
- [32:06]
Allison Evans
Yes, yes. And I send product to people all the time because I own the company and I'm like, I'd love to see my product. And I'm like, but there is one thing I'm asking you to do is do not sit it next to your Clorox bleach in your Windex because the point of me sending you this is so that you can remove the toxins. I'd rather you never buy Branch Basics and never use Branch Basics and get rid of your toxins and use vinegar and water and baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and go to your bar and get some vodka because that's what you really need to disinfect. Then feel like you need to go buy some expensive cleaning products.
- [32:35]
Alex Clark
And I think what's also cool about Branch Basics is it's literally one product.
- [32:39]
Allison Evans
Yeah. I mean economic wise, I mean people are like, oh, but is it too expensive? I'm like, nope, it's not. I mean when you break it down, it's a concentrate and then once you dilute it, you're virtually cleaning your entire home with one thing and it comes down to less than $3 per spray bottle. So it's, it's absolutely, you know, know not a, a bougie way to clean.
- [32:58]
Alex Clark
What is one surprising place in the home that is hiding toxins that people don't usually think about?
- [33:05]
Allison Evans
Your walls. Mold walls? No, not even mold. I'm talking the dust on your walls. So we have a deep clean protocol that is similar to what a mold company would do when they're doing like a remediation and abatement process. But it is, what if we are really smart and we think about how our home is where we are healing. We can't control things outside of our home. But when we come inside of our home, that is the place we restore and we heal and we rejuvenate. And if we could invest in a true deep clean where we are getting a HEPA vacuum and we have a whole protocol on our website, but you literally HEPA vacuum your walls. If you put a new filter in your vacuum and you HEPA vacuum your walls and you open up that vacuum filter, it was gonna be full of dust. And we have to remember that those chemicals that we bring inside of our homes, the candles, the dryer sheets, you know, owners from the pesticides that were sprayed, they ride on dust. So when we remove the dust, we are actually removing the flame retardants from our furniture. You know there's flame retardants right here. Right. And so the dust is going to have walls that contain the flame retardants that are outgassing from the things in our home. So I would say our walls are like a sneaky toxic thing. And if we could really do a wipe down once a year would be amazing.
- [34:15]
Alex Clark
How does your faith affect your non toxic living?
- [34:18]
Allison Evans
Oh, it's everything thing. I mean people ask Kelly and I a lot, like how are you not so freaked out by this or that? Like because I have Jesus. I believe that this is my calling. Like I believe that I am here on this earth to help people understand the ramifications of toxins and how we can live the power of pure without him, like none of it matters. And the thing is he is so much bigger than the most toxic thing that we are exposed to. So I think as a Christian, like we're called to step it up and do the good that we know and not to conform to this world and to steward our bodies and to present our bodies as living sacrifices. That's what I always say to my kids. I'm like, listen, like this is the body of the Holy Spirit, you know, like we gotta treat this thing right. It's not even ours. Yeah, borrowing it. Yeah, exactly. And so I always bring faith into it. But our mission is for everybody. We always say we are, we are not a company. Yes, the three founders are strong Christians and we're really strong about that. And our, if you follow us, you'll figure that out. But our message is for everybody.
- [35:19]
Alex Clark
What does the name Branch Basics mean?
- [35:21]
Allison Evans
Yeah, so it's based on John 15, 5. I'm the vine, you are the branches. We were originally calling ourselves, calling ourselves three branches healthy living because we thought there's three of us, you know. And then Branch Basics kind of just became like an offshoot of that.
- [35:34]
Alex Clark
So you're raising these four little non toxic kids and obviously not everybody raises their kids like you. What sorts of differences, health wise, do you notice in your kids versus other family's kids?
- [35:45]
Allison Evans
That's a good question. And I mean one like I never ever want to sound judgmental. And we tell our kids all the time, listen, we are the Evans family and we make different choices. And just because something is easy does not mean that it's right. And you know, we bring faith back into that as well. We kind of, we take the narrow road, the road less traveled when it comes to the things we use and the things that we eat. But I will say I actually have some hard facts about my 8 and 6 year old. I did genetic testing on them because I have Lyme disease. I wanted to see what was kind of going on with their methylation pathways and help make sure that they were strong. And we got the report back from them and the medical doctor that was on the geneticist team basically reached out and said, this child is so lucky to have you as a mom. I think she knew like what I had, what I, what I do for a living. I mean she might have like seen it in my signature. She said she has the markers for extreme adhd, eczema, behavioral disorders. My child is the most focused, non allergic, beautifully skinned. I mean she doesn't have any of the things that could have been genetically expressed. And I truly believe it's because we have chosen this pathway. And you know, like I said, the epigenetics shows how much our choices are affecting our health. And even if we have the dirtiest genes, they don't have to be expressed. Trust, you know, we can make choices that will actually suppress those genes, like genetics loads the gun. But our environment and our dietary choices are what pull the trigger.
- [37:23]
Alex Clark
You guys know that I'm all about natural, effective ways to support your body. And acupuncture has made a huge difference in how I feel. But I'll be honest, I don't have time to drive across town, sit in a waiting room, and then get all this, this stress when I'm supposed to be going to something that's to help me feel less stressed. That's why I started using California Mobile Acupuncture and now they're in Arizona too. Arizona Mobile Acupuncture. They come straight to your house or even your office and give you a full personalized treatment. Acupuncture, cupping, medical massage, it's all included in one session. Their practitioners are incredible. Totally, totally, totally root cause focused. Their license, their experience truly focused on you. Whether you're working through hormone issues, fertility, chronic pain, sleep, or just want to feel more balanced and focused, they've got you covered. And what I love most, they're rooted in faith, family and freedom. And they really believe in the healing wisdom God gave our bodies. Just text or call 949-228-9588 and mention this podcast for 50 off your first treatment. Or go to californiamobileacupuncture.com or arizonamobileacupuncture.com to book, text or call, call 949-228-9588 or go to arizonamobileacupuncture dot com or californiamobileacupuncture dot com to see why I've made acupuncture a part of my weekly wellness routine. You know what nobody tells you about adulting? That you're five to nine after work is just as important as your nine to five. And if you're tossing in bed sweating through your sad sheets from college, it's time to level up. I made the switch to Cozy Earth's Bamboo sheet set, and it's one of the best decisions I've made for my sleep and my sanity. These are made from 100 viscos from bamboo and I'm telling you they are next level lightweight, super breathable, and they somehow feel cool all night long. I didn't know sheets could actually help regulate your body temperature but now I literally look forward to getting into bed. They offer a 100 night sleep trial and a 10 year warranty so there's no risk in trying them. Go to cozyearth.com use code Alex for up to 40% off. That's cozyearth.com and don't forget to tell them that you heard it here by taking the post purchase survey seriously. Treat your sleep like it matters. Cozyearth.com code Alex for 40% off.
- [39:39]
Allison Evans
How.
- [39:39]
Alex Clark
Does the co founder of one of the most non toxic brands in the entire country handle being gifted? Like you know, bath and body works lotion or, or you're like at something where you like get a gift like that or you're at someone's home and like the only soap there is to use is like conventional soap. Like what do you do do?
- [39:57]
Allison Evans
Thankfully I feel like most people kind of know by now but it still happens. It definitely still happens a lot. And so like I've trained my kids like we don't use restaurant soap, we don't use any soap. You know when we're out do you.
- [40:11]
Alex Clark
Just not wash your hands or you bring your.
- [40:12]
Allison Evans
We do not we. So ideally we have range basics on us and we'll spray and rinse, right? But I would rather not wash my hands and I would rather get them get some dirt and grime and germs in their body than obliterate their microbiome.
- [40:27]
Alex Clark
So I feel the same way but I haven't been able to get the courage to like see people in the bathroom and then just walk out and not wash my hands when I'm in public because I'm like the judgment like what a nasty girl.
- [40:39]
Allison Evans
Totally. So I'm in the stall the other day and my 6 year old comes out and she clearly wasn't washing her hands and she was about to leave the bathroom and there was a woman that was standing out there probably just being like a sweet, you know, kind of grandma figure and was like oh sweetheart, do you want to wash your hands? She goes, goes oh no, I don't use the toxic things. I was like oh my gosh, I'm sitting in the stall. I'm like I think I'm going to stay in here a little bit longer before I walk out. I'm like that mom, you know, that was my kid.
- [41:02]
Alex Clark
If you're using the typical dishwasher pods that you can get at any grocery store, are you eating Those chemicals?
- [41:09]
Allison Evans
Oh, 100%. And the thing is, you don't realize it until you stop. Okay. And then you start using something that's cleaner and you go to a friend's house or you go back home to your parents and you, you are using the dishes that you use growing up, and they're still washing them with the same thing that you use growing up. And you never tasted it growing up. And now you're spitting out your food.
- [41:28]
Alex Clark
Yeah.
- [41:28]
Allison Evans
Because you're like, oh, my gosh, I can literally taste the fill in the blank. It's absolutely. Think about that. I mean, not only does the plastic wrap around the pod, ours are plastic free. By the way, those microplastics are being heated in a metal container with a bunch of heat. So they're. The volatile organic compounds are being, you know, expressed even more.
- [41:51]
Alex Clark
Yeah.
- [41:51]
Allison Evans
Plastic is not a tightly bound molecule, so it's going to ingress into whatever it's coming in contact with, I. E. Your dishes. But then you have fragrance and you have chemicals that are actually put into these products that give it that like, staying factor. Like phthalates make fragrances stick and adhere. Right. So these phthalates and chemicals that are inside those dish pods. Pods are literally ending up in our bodies.
- [42:14]
Alex Clark
Your dishwasher pods or, or whatever, however you call them tablets are like, probably one of my favorite branch basics products. Yeah, I like, love those. I go through those. Like, I really, really like the dishwasher ones. Do you trust non toxic, non stick pans?
- [42:31]
Allison Evans
Ooh, Alex, good one. Okay. I do. Until I don't. Meaning if you use a metal, My gosh. Utensil and you're scraping those eggs off and you see any sort of chipping, that thing is trash, in my opinion. Like, you really don't want to see any chipping at all. And it's just hard because they don't have the forever chemicals in them. Then the kind of adhesion is not forever, so to speak. You know what I mean? Like, so the, the conventional nonstick pans have forever chemicals, and that's what makes them so strong. And they can withstand all this kind of. Of banging and cooking and high heat. So, I mean, there's definitely better brands out there. And I, you know, made what. Oh, my gosh. Made in caraway, the always pan, but they just don't last too long.
- [43:23]
Alex Clark
So this is my argument to Allison is that when I tell people, like, I would not use those, I think it is a huge waste of money. Yeah, it's because why in the world, like, you can't even use them over More than medium heat.
- [43:36]
Allison Evans
Right.
- [43:36]
Alex Clark
And I feel like they do get trashed within like a year or two. It's like. And they're so expensive. But you're right because they're not using the toxic stuff. Then they just fall apart. So my thing is, like, it's a waste of money. They literally fall apart. Like it's not an investment. I, you know, have stainless steel all clad pans that I know if I take care of these, I could literally pass them down to my child for their first home or whatever. Like these are ones that are, they can be multi generational. The stainless steel, the cast iron literally.
- [44:01]
Allison Evans
Last multiple ceramic and it heats more evenly. It cooks the food better, like the energetics. And the food is better. That sounds woo woo. But it, it really is the way to go.
- [44:09]
Alex Clark
We spend a third of our lives on our mattress. Are you using organic mattresses in your house?
- [44:15]
Allison Evans
Oh, yeah. It's the most important piece of furniture in your home.
- [44:18]
Alex Clark
What brand do you like?
- [44:18]
Allison Evans
Hands down, so Savvy Rest and avocado are what we have in our home right now. We have an original omi, but that's the thing about organic mattresses is they last. I will pass those down as well. And my mattress that I sleep on right now, I want to say is five years old. But the one before that, my husband and I shared a queen. Like our first, first, I don't know, 13 years of marriage and now my daughter sleeps on it.
- [44:39]
Alex Clark
So with, you know, they. What do they say you're supposed to replace your mattress every eight years or something?
- [44:43]
Allison Evans
Oh, that's if it's fake and made of plastics and can. Oh, yeah. If you have a solid, like you have latex and wool and you have these natural materials, they're not going to attract the dust mites because they're natural insect repellents in the wool.
- [44:56]
Alex Clark
Because see, for me, I'm like, man, these are way more expensive. And then you got to buy that every several.
- [44:59]
Allison Evans
Oh, the whole replace after eight. No, that doesn't apply to organic mattresses.
- [45:02]
Alex Clark
Oh, I love that. Okay, I didn't know that kids toys, you people don't think about that. But there are toxic chemicals in kids toys that we should really be looking out for. Like, does the material of a child's toy really matter?
- [45:14]
Allison Evans
Yeah. I mean, listen, developmentally I'm always about, you know, using wood and using more natural materials because it helps kids actually understand the weight of the material. And I just think it's important to mimic nature as much as possible. Do my kids Play with Magna tiles and Legos.
- [45:28]
Alex Clark
Those.
- [45:28]
Allison Evans
Heck yes. You know, I'm not going to be some like extremely. They're not eating them, right? Like we're not rubbing them all over our bodies and you know, hot water. But yeah, I think especially when they're young. Like I have a seven month old and there's no reason for that kid to ever come in contact with one anything of plastic. Not a thing. You know, and there's so many great options out there. I mean you can Amazon like awesome, solid, great toys.
- [45:50]
Alex Clark
So you're doing glass baby bottles and stuff?
- [45:53]
Allison Evans
Oh heck yes.
- [45:54]
Alex Clark
Okay.
- [45:54]
Allison Evans
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean everything you're putting in that bottle, like whether using formula or breast milk, that is a high fat, usually a little bit warm kind of heated material. So that plastic is going to transfer readily into the contents of that bottle. And your baby's just drinking plastic. And again like there's. When you have alternatives that are easy to get that work that you know, you can put a silicone sleeve around the glass. So I mean we've never broken one. They're a one time purchase. My question is like, why not?
- [46:29]
Alex Clark
What is your like diaper rash hack?
- [46:31]
Allison Evans
Oh, we don't get diaper rashes.
- [46:33]
Alex Clark
Interesting. Has to do more.
- [46:35]
Allison Evans
I think it has to do with, I think it has to do with what I'm eating when I'm nursing My baby. 100. That has a lot to do with it. And then I think it has a lot to do with these wipes. There's not a wipe on the market right now that I would use. I really do not use a wet wipe on my child.
- [46:50]
Alex Clark
So what do you do?
- [46:50]
Allison Evans
If you think about wipes and you think about the manu manufacturing process of a wipe, ripe even the cleanest one out there. I don't approve of it because you have to use a certain amount of preservation. Because you're introducing a liquid to a cloth and you're going to have mold within five to seven days unless you have preserved that liquid enough. Okay. So just because it's the last ingredient, just because it's that 0.1% again, we're going back to epigenetics. So you're introducing this preservative which is usually an EPA registered pesticide. Think about this. Onto the genitalia, really highly absorbent area of a child multiple times a day. Okay. So it is going into their system. And when the thing about the skin is because it's one organ, you're not just putting it on that one area, it becomes Systemically available in the body within seconds. Like you can rub garlic on your foot and you can taste it in your mouth within a few minutes.
- [47:45]
Alex Clark
No.
- [47:45]
Allison Evans
Okay, now I gotta try to try that right now.
- [47:47]
Alex Clark
That is why, right? Somebody who family do that.
- [47:50]
Allison Evans
We should do that right now. So you're rubbing this preservative on your baby every single day and we wonder why it's red and why it's irritated. And then they get a rash and then we just put some sort of petroleum type ingredients on top to quell the rash. Instead of thinking what should we take away that's irritating my child?
- [48:08]
Alex Clark
Well, I'm tracking with you now.
- [48:09]
Allison Evans
I'm.
- [48:09]
Alex Clark
My mind is blown, but I'm like, okay, I'm with you. But then I. What are you doing?
- [48:12]
Allison Evans
What do you use? I do wipe my children. Isn't that crazy?
- [48:16]
Alex Clark
I'm assuming just water.
- [48:17]
Allison Evans
I actually use. I use honest company makes these really great dry wipes that come in like a wipes container. I am is on them. I'm on subscription with them. And then I spray either the all purpose branch basics or I just spray water. And I make my own water wipe and I have the spray bottle and I have the wet wipe, y' all. It takes an extra five seconds. Like my child is seven months old and I don't know if he's ever been introduced to a wet wipe.
- [48:41]
Alex Clark
Whoa. And then what brand of diaper we use?
- [48:43]
Allison Evans
Coterie right now. I'll kind of switch. Hero H I R O I recently was introduced to and they're like super, super clean. I feel like you could even like put them in the earth and they become like a plant or something crazy. I think you can bury them.
- [48:56]
Alex Clark
What should you look for when buying candles?
- [48:58]
Allison Evans
Candle. I love candles. We actually just came out with a candle last year and with candles you want to make sure that it is 100 beeswax. We are all about fragrance free. When your candle has essential oils, you want to make sure that they are solvent free, organic, wild crafted essential oils. Because if you think about what's happening with a candle, it is creating a smoke. That smoke particulate is. Is one of the worst because they are so tiny they can get lodged in your lungs. And so you're basically smoking off those chemicals into a readily available pulmonary irritant. You know what I mean? So make sure that your candles are 100 beeswax. Wax. Even the wick should be free of any sort of additives. Petroleum. You want it to be 100. Organic cotton. Ideally, yeah. So you can burn Clean.
- [49:45]
Alex Clark
What is an exciting announcement? The Branch Basics has.
- [49:49]
Allison Evans
Well, should we drop the news?
- [49:51]
Alex Clark
Yeah.
- [49:51]
Allison Evans
We are officially in Target.
- [49:54]
Alex Clark
Wow.
- [49:55]
Allison Evans
I know. As we speak now we're not. And as we air, we are, I believe.
- [49:58]
Alex Clark
Yeah.
- [49:59]
Allison Evans
So. Yeah. How did that. Exciting. You know, we. I got the call from my CEO about a year ago, and I'm going to be really honest, I had some mixed feelings. I mean, Branch Basics is our baby. And it was like. It was like a call saying, like, hey, I'm gonna take your kid to boarding school. Wait, no, we're still in the small phases. No, we're. I'm not ready yet. And it just felt like such a huge step and we had a lot of reservations about. You know, we have owned the relationship with our customer from the very beginning. I mean, the company's about 15 years old and I recognize so many of our customers. I mean, I'm in our DMS personally all the time. We have a slack channel through our Toss the Toxins program where customers can come or followers. Even if you're not a customer, you can just be a follower of ours. We have a lot of those don't even use our product, but we talk to them directly. We answer all of our dms. We get hundreds and hundreds of DMS a day. So many things are about health and not even about cleaning. So, like, we love that community that we've built around our brand. And we are by far more of a community and a content creator type company than we are commerce and product. So the Target thing felt like, gosh, like, are we selling out? And then like, honestly, the more Kelly and Marilee and I prayed about it, like, it became so clear that our. Our goal has to. Has been from the very beginning to become a household name so that we can educate people through our products. Products. And Target seems like the most amazing first step for us because the breadth and the availability of our message now to toss the toxins to go back to basics. Here is an alternative if you want, but don't even buy our product, go follow us and get a bunch of free information. Like, to be able to partner with Target and in efforts to help people heal is just such an opportunity for us.
- [51:47]
Alex Clark
And what you guys sell at Target is Branch Basics in a plastic bottle, which you have that option, which is less expensive. But then also on your website, which is what I use, you guys sell these stunning, stunning glass spray bottles. They're so beautiful. It looks beautiful on your counter, beautiful in your cabinet. And they have like a little color sticker so you're like, oh, the green one is for my bathroom.
- [52:08]
Allison Evans
Or the orange is for the silicone sleeves. They don't break.
- [52:10]
Alex Clark
Yes, yes. And silicone sleeves. And so they're really nice. And you just buy those one time and then you buy your bottle of the concentrate. Great. Now, when I first got this, I was overwhelmed. I feel like I texted you and I was like, what do I do? So wait, this one product does everything. All the rooms in my house, this does my bathrooms, it does my floors, it does my kit. Like so explain the concentrate from Branch Basics. What all it's capable of.
- [52:32]
Allison Evans
Yeah, yeah. So we have a human safe. Okay. That is what differentiates us from every single product on the shelf. Because our ingredients are so clean. We have third party skin irritation and ocular testing that show we're as basically as clean as the control, which is water. So we have zero irritation in our product. I bathe my babies with it. I clean my floor with it.
- [52:54]
Alex Clark
You can use it as body wash.
- [52:55]
Allison Evans
It's the only thing my kids have used on their bodies.
- [52:57]
Alex Clark
Oh, you're kidding.
- [52:58]
Allison Evans
Oh, I remove my eye makeup with it. I've put it in my window washer. You know, liquid like I. We literally use it for everything.
- [53:06]
Alex Clark
Oh, that's hilarious. As your window.
- [53:08]
Allison Evans
Right, right.
- [53:08]
Alex Clark
Windshield.
- [53:09]
Allison Evans
It's like one of my best hacks. I love it. But yeah. So it's a 32 ounce concentrate and it comes with spray bottles. So you never just buy the concentrate. We have a starter kit. Right. For $55 is like the kind of the basic starter kit. It goes up from there in terms of glass or if you want to add the dish tabs or the, the laundry powder. It comes with an all purpose, a bathroom, a streak free, and a foaming hand wash. All of these bottles are empty. They're either glass or plastic. They have on the sides a fill line that says water and then soap right above it. So there's an exact ratio of what you use in each bottle and you pour according to the fill line. It is DIY for those who feel like they want to be diy, but it's not. It is very easy and streamlined into the water.
- [53:52]
Alex Clark
First you fill the water up and.
- [53:53]
Allison Evans
Then you just add a little bit of the concentrate. Yeah. Based on the bottle. I'm talking from toilets to windows to floors to babies to hands. I mean, it takes care of everything. And you never have to buy those bottles again. If they break, we'll send you a new one. So we have 80,000 people on subscription, so they, they're just buying a concentrate. So we also make an oxygen boost which is a sodium per carbonate and sodium bicarbonate mixture. And it's basically boosting the power of the concentrate. So it cleans grout, it cleans porcelain, you know, sticky eggs stuck on your pan. When you burn them every single morning, put it in your laundry so it boosts your whites and brightens your brights. I never do a load of laundry without felt the oxygen boost. I will say though, we just came out with a laundry powder that kind of the OGs. And I am still using the concentrate and the oxygen boost for laundry. But you don't need to anymore. We basically combine the two into one powder. For those folks who didn't want to do the two steps, it's just one scoop of laundry powder in the drum.
- [54:55]
Alex Clark
On girl's laundry powder. Do you put it in like the little pull out drawer or whatever or you throw it loose on your laundry.
- [55:02]
Allison Evans
Loose under the laundry ideally. And then you put the laundry on top.
- [55:05]
Alex Clark
Oh, like you put it loose on the drum.
- [55:07]
Allison Evans
Yeah.
- [55:08]
Alex Clark
Okay. This isn't. That's very helpful for me.
- [55:11]
Allison Evans
I need to come over and do your laundry.
- [55:12]
Alex Clark
Yeah, yeah. I love that you guys have the mini concentrate. You have like a mini trio or something like that.
- [55:18]
Allison Evans
Like a travel size approved. So good. Yes. I mean I use it all the time. Guys, I got a stain on something from last night after having dinner with you. I looked down, I had a stain on my shirt. I literally got home to my hotel, clogged the, you know, plunged the sink up, put a little bit of the branch basics concentrate in some warm water, put the shirt in overnight. Pulled it out this morning and the stain is completely gone.
- [55:40]
Alex Clark
Oh, fabulous. Okay. And I have a discount with them. Alex. 15 if you guys want to try branch basics. It really is like the creme de la creme of non toxic cleaners. I'll never use anything else. It's like it has been the best godsend to me and man, it felt so nice to especially being someone that's in a very tiny one bedroom apartment. I do not have extra space.
- [56:00]
Allison Evans
Yeah.
- [56:01]
Alex Clark
Being able to throw out all this other cleaning crap and just have one thing was such a lifesaver and a breath of fresh air. Literally. Because I have extra room.
- [56:11]
Allison Evans
You streamline everything and you realize you don't really need a cleaner for everything. We have been so brainwashed and yeah. You know what I want to say is like if people would really think about the cleaning aisle, it's kind of like the water aisle, but Then you've added some toxic chemicals to the water aisle. Right. I mean, you're essentially selling water. People are transporting water across the country and so it's not nice to be able to just, yeah. Have it in that concentrated form.
- [56:32]
Alex Clark
If you could offer one remedy to helicit culture physically, emotionally or spiritually, what would it be?
- [56:38]
Allison Evans
I would say taking charge of your health. I mean, number one, faith. But just like knowing that God made our bodies in such a way that we have so much power and we are not the victim of our genetics, we're not the victim of some diagnosis or disease. As long as we are breathing, we can heal. And the power of removal, which is really the mission and message of Branch Basics is to get back to basics and allow our bodies to do what they were meant to do.
- [57:04]
Alex Clark
Alison, I love that I got to have you because you and I have become friends now. It's been so fun and I've gotten to become friends with you and Taylor Dukes and Bethany, who's the CEO of Primally Pure, and Kelly, the other co founder of Branch Basics. And it's just been so fun. Like these are all amazing, God fearing, exciting, encouraging, godly women that have just been such a blessing in my life.
- [57:26]
Allison Evans
So speak into each other's lives. It's been beautiful.
- [57:28]
Alex Clark
It's been so nice and I. And yeah, it's just been like the be most beautiful friendship that has naturally blossomed. And then it was honestly like meeting you guys through Taylor and then it was like, well, we love this and we're friends and like we want to sponsor the show. It's just, it's been like such a cool little thing that has developed. Yeah. And you know, we just align on all the same values. And so it was exciting for me to be able to talk about you guys and introduce you to my audience and you know, I'm very picky about who I work with and. And so it's just been the best little.
- [57:59]
Allison Evans
We love our Alex Clark. Thank you.
- [58:01]
Alex Clark
Thanks for coming on.
- [58:02]
Allison Evans
Thanks for having me.
- [58:07]
Alex Clark
I love, love, love Alison and I never get tired of hearing her story. She walks the walk and her entire family is a testament to that. Don't forget to use code ALEX15@Branchbasics.com if you want to try out the Branch Basics concentrate. We're on a mission to heal a sick culture. Twice a week, new guests bring their own unique remedies to do just that. Subscribe to Real Alex Clark on YouTube. Follow me on Instagram at realalexclark or the show Ultra Apothecary. I'm Alex Clark, and this is Culture Apothecary.