I grew up in the 1980s. I remember bars of soap in the bathroom when I was very little and, later, colourful bottles of body wash and shampoo.
I liked those bottles. Whenever a new scent appeared, I was excited to try it.
That was me for many years.
When my second daughter was little, I came across news reports raising safety concerns about talc-based baby powder and possible links to cancer.
I had used familiar baby products without thinking deeply about what was inside them. The news unsettled me. It did not make me an expert, but it made me begin reading labels and questioning the ingredients in the bottles I brought into our home.
In the years that followed, natural products became more widely available. I hoped more people would create thoughtful alternatives, and that larger companies would reconsider their ingredients and formulate their products with greater care.
That is still something I hope to see.
For my own family, I continued making handmade natural soap and balms and using them in our everyday lives. This became part of the reason I created AOOS.
I did not begin AOOS because I believed everything commercial was harmful or everything natural was automatically better. I wanted to offer simpler choices made with carefully selected ingredients — products I could understand, use, and feel comfortable bringing into my home.
Do my children use my products?
Yes, they do — but I do not force them.
My son now uses my soap from head to toe. My daughters use Castile soap for their hair and body, although they also try different conditioners. And that is perfectly fine.
I had more than thirty years to try different products before finding my way back to simpler care. My children also need the freedom to discover what works for them.
For me, AOOS is not about making strict rules. It is about offering another choice — one that feels simpler, more thoughtful and closer to the way I now want to live.
For the past three years, Castile soap has also been my regular hair wash. Before that, I spent several years travelling, trying other products and returning to Castile again and again — becoming my own test subject along the way.
But that is another story for Amy Tries It First.
Amy xo