New Year's Solution #1: A Natural Woman

Sorry, this is not a baking post. These are the ingredients for my no'poo hair cleaner!

Very handy to have if you are going no 'poo: a funnel and plastic bottles to hold your concoctions.

If you read my last post, you know that I had decided to try the no 'poo method of hair washing. This was just one of the steps to eliminating harmful chemicals from my life and that of my family's. There are lots of horrid chemicals in commercial shampoos, conditioners, soaps and facial cleansers (and many other products we use every day, but for now I overwhelm you.). And though there is debate as to how unsafe these chemicals are, I say why risk it? If I'm going to take a risk, I'd rather do it on something fun like bull riding or sky diving, or even eating a hot dog from one of those vendors in New York City. (O.k., really I don't want to do any of those things, but you get my drift right?) Or maybe going out looking for big foots (feet?) or wearing leg warmers. (Sorry, got off track a bit, huh? :^)

So, in addition to going no 'poo, I also started washing my face with honey. (I'll be giving a list of links for more information on all of these things.) It really works and my skin is super soft. The only draw back is that right now my skin is going through a transition period of break outs (And I nearly sprained my tongue trying to lick my face- just kidding!). But this is normal, so I'm sticking to it. I also swapped out my store brand Oil of Olay moisturizer for a drop or two of glycerin and an olive/vitamin e oil mix. I was really hesitant about this, as I have REALLY oily skin, but you really only need a drop or two and I haven't had any of that winter time flakiness. (Not on my face, anyways!)

The next step in my heave-ho the chemicals was to swap out my body was for an all natural castile soap. I opted for a bar of Kirk's Natural Coco Castile soap. There are other companies that offer castile soaps, but Kirk's is the most budget friendly. I was afraid it would dry out my skin, but it hasn't. In fact, my skin is super soft and smooth. I've even used it to shave my legs and underarms with. Of course, my legs still needed lotion, but they did even with the supposedly super moisturising body washes, too.

Speaking of under arms, I was running out of my Secret Coco Butter Kiss deodorant, and figured I might as well take the plunge into homemade deodorant. I've decided to take baby steps on this one, which I figured is o.k. to do since it's winter. (You can read more at Kitchen Stewardship about taking baby steps in this process, as well as some recipes for the deodorant.) This morning after my shower I used a cotton round to apply some baking soda to my under arms. So far, so good, I don't stink. (O.k., so it's only been about 4 hours and the most strenuous thing I have done so far is hefting a gallon of milk into the house. But it's start!)

So, here is the run down on my morning routine. I'm not always so good at explaining things in paragraph form, and I'm a take-it-a-step-at-a-time sort of girl, so here it is, step by step.

1. remove my eye make up with an olive/vitamin e oil mix and a cotton round if I didn't remove it last night (I'm not good at washing my face at night or removing makeup)
2. turn on the shower and get in. (did you know you actually have to be in the shower for it to work? Shocking, I know!)
3. wet my hair, using my finger tips to make sure my roots get wet.
4. apply my baking soda/water hair cleaner, working it into my scalp with my finger tips
5. let the BS solution sit while I wet my face and apply a quarter size dollop of honey to my face, avoiding the eye area for now (once or twice a week a dd a little sprinkle of baking soda to my honey to exfoliate)
6. rinse out the BS solution very, very well, then apply my apple cider vinegar/water solution to the ends of my hair.
7. let the acv/h2O sit while I later up with the Kirk's bar, then rinse off
8. take a tiny bit more of honey to clean my eye area and then gently use a wash cloth to rinse my face of all honey
9. rinse the acv out of my hair, turn off the water and dry off
10. get dressed, put on baking soda under arms
11. apply my acv/water toner to my face, let dry and apply glycerin/oil
12. apply make up, comb out hair and dry

Some helpful tips for making your baking soda cleaner and ACV "conditioner:

• I mix up 6 Tbsp. of baking soda with 6 cups of water in a half gallon mason jar. This makes my mornings go quicker than having to measure out every thing every morning. I just use a funnel to pour it into my "shampoo" bottle, and set the bottle in a quart size jar of hot water so that I don't freeze my self
• I use a condiment bottle for my baking soda "shampoo", you know the type with a narrow tip. This really helps in getting the solution all over your scalp. Before I used a regular travel type bottle, and it was taking me forever and I had to turn my head upside down and get the stuff in my eyes. This is a real winner of a tip, believe me!
• I keep my ACV in a pint jar, and pour just a little bit in the bottle (using my funnel, so no mess!) then add warm water.
• You can add essential oils to help with certain hair issues, or just so that your hair smells good. (the ACV smell really does go away once your hair is dry) I'm using tea rose right now because I like the scent. (Wish I could say that it drives my DH crazy, but so far I've only had a kindergartner tell me that my hair smelled "different" and not to put that stuff in my hair again. Thankfully I'm only a substitute!)

And here are the links. I'm not going to put a link for every blog post, but both Crunchy Betty and Heidi at Frantically Simple have multiple posts on the no 'poo method and washing your face with honey, just search their blogs!

Crunchy Betty, No 'Poo
Crunchy Betty: Washing Your Face with Honey
Frantically Simple: Honey Face Wash
Frantically Simple: Going No 'Poo

There, you probably learned more about my grooming habits than you ever thought possible (or cared to know!) I hope this has helped someone out there make a conscious effort to ditch the chemicals in their personal grooming. Of course, this is just the beginning. There's more to learn, make and do. (Bet you can't wait to read more about my personal routine, can ya? ;^)

Blessings,
Kelly