For the last quite a few years I have not bought any body care products for me (Ken does still buy them for himself). I have made them instead. This allows me to use ingredients in them that I believe to be healthy and to avoid those ingredients that you have no idea what they are. It also saves money and most importantly for this month's theme - they are generally Zero Waste! Woohoo!
I won't go into everything that I do today (I think we will save hair care at least for another day) but let's talk about tooth care.
One thing that I have done for quite a few years now is Oil Pulling every morning. I am pretty addicted to this now and really miss it when I don't have time to do it or forget to bring my oil on trips. The concept is super simple. You take around 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in your mouth each morning (before doing anything else like brushing teeth or eating) and let it melt and then swish it around in there for around 20 minutes and then thoroughly spit it out (but not down a drain as you don't want the oil to harden in your drain). Rinse your mouth out well with water. When I first started doing this there was no way that I could do it 20 minutes so I just did it as long as I could. Now I can easily go an hour but that isn't necessary. I believe this has caused my mouth and gums to be far healthier and I think it has positively affected my over all health as well. You can google oil pulling and find a lot more information on it.
I have also been making my own toothpaste. I tend to do a lot of experimenting here and getting a little different batch each time I make it. The batches tend to last about 6 months or so and then I try something else. :-) Overall I have been happy with them I just like experimenting and using what I have on hand. This older post of mine tells some of my reasons for making my own. Here is another post with an interesting recipe. You can read about more toothpaste making here.
Our latest batch I like pretty well and I used raspberry leaf, stevia leaf, black walnut hull powder, coconut oil, water, baking soda, salt, bentonite clay, activated charcoal and peppermint essential oil in it. I didn't keep track of the amounts. I used the blender to grind things up good. It seems to work well. And yes, it looks ugly! :-)
For deodorant I have stuck with the same tried and true recipe for years. I am happy with it so why change. :-) You melt 5 - 6 tablespoons of coconut oil and then stir in 1/4 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup cornstarch and some essential oil if desired (but I don't recommend peppermint oil unless you want a burning sensation in your armpits). Put it in your old (You could wash it in boiling water first if desired) deodorant container and use as needed.
I also make lip balm and lotion bars from time to time. You can read about that here.
I will try to share some of the other things that I use and make another time this month. I would love to hear what you do if you make or use any natural/ homemade care products.
We use natural hair detangler. It is made from distilled water, glycerin, and aloe vera juice. There are recipes online. I also read one that doesn't use aloe vera juice, so I am going to try just the distilled water and glycerin to see if that also works. You can add an essential oil as well for scent, but we are allergic to a lot of scents. I use this on my youngest's hair which is very curly ringlets. I don't know how it compares with store bought as I never have used store bought due to allergies but I find it helps comb through her hair a lot vs. not using anything. When I am done, I wet my hands and "scrunch" her hair gently so it curls nicely again instead of just being puffy.
ReplyDeleteI have never used a hair detangler but this recipe sounds neat. I have all those ingredients and my Megan does deal with tangled hair at times so I might try this. I am also wondering about trying it on my hair just to keep frizz down....
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