Why I went through a can of dry shampoo in 3 days...

So I've decided to take my hippiness to the next level and make my own beauty products. I read a lot of natural, homemade, granola-eating blogs and I've learned a lot about the yucky chemicals in commercial shampoos, soaps, and lotions. I already replaced a few things (like make-up remover and shaving cream) with coconut oil, but I stepped it up a little this past week. After an internal struggle over crossing the line and diving into full-fledged hippie living, I went out and bought more coconut oil, along with a few other ingredients. It was actually super cheap for the amount of stuff I got, so I'm saving money too. After a few failed disasters, about five hair washings a day, a lot of trial and error, and seriously, an entire can of dry shampoo to try to fix my disaster before work, I finally have some success stories.

But first, here's some of the gross stuff I found out about what's supposed to make us clean:
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate- This stuff is in shampoo, soap, toothpaste, oh and engine degreasers. It's main purpose is to provide a cheap way to cause products to foam up. In laboratories, this is used to burst open cells during DNA extraction and to denature proteins. This is what it does inside your body. It degrades the cell membranes in your skin and hair follicles. Another problem with this chemical is when it gets absorbed by your skin and enters your blood stream. It mimics the effects of estrogen and disrupts your body's natural hormone balance. It has also been found to linger in the blood, heart and liver long after use. It has a high penetration level even at low levels of use so it causes skin irritation in very small concentrations, and in higher concentrations, it can actually corrode the skin. When it does penetrate your skin and reacts with compounds containing nitrogen, a powerful carcinogen is created.  Shampoo is one of the highest reported irritant reported to the FDA, with most of the complaints being eye irritation, scalp irritation, tangled hair, and split ends. It literally strips your hair and skin of its naturally occurring oils and dries it out, which is why we have to replace that oil with more pore clogging, dangerous chemicals.

A healthier, more natural, safe alternative is castille soap. It's made from vegetable oils and gently dissolves dirt and oil rather than stripping your skin. You can use a much smaller amount than you would have to with regular soap and it leaves your skin feeling softer and clean without drying it out. There are a lot of different brands, but I got Dr. Bronner's, which comes in a lot of different scents. i used the eucalyptus because it goes with the peppermint tea and oil and the tea tree oil I already had. Plus I have a little bit of a stuffy nose right now, so the hot shower and the eucalyptus smell has been allowing me to breathe a little easier.

So my attempt at homemade stuff started about 2 weeks ago. I started with a stupidly simple recipe for shampoo and conditioner. For the shampoo: 1/4 cup baking soda, 2 cups water. And for the conditioner: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 cups water. I was really skeptical about this, but I read some rave reviews and I had the stuff on hand anyway so I tried it. I was really surprised at how amazing and soft my hair felt after, and there was no smell of the vinegar. People always say you're not supposed to wash your hair everyday, but I've always had to; my hair would feel disgusting if I didn't, but with this, I didn't have to. I did, however, feel like I was wasting a lot since it was so thin, and it was just going down the drain. And, although the smell of vinegar didn't stay in my hair, I couldn't get over the smell in the shower.

I then tried a recipe that I saw with slight variations all over the hippie internet world. DISASTER!! It was basically equal parts Castille Soap and water, with a teaspoon of oil. This made my hair feel so gross and greasy and I could not do anything with it. It left a disgusting film that would not go away. I tried this recipe in different proportions and with different ingredients but nothing worked. So try and try again... After a brief relapse into sodium lauryl sulfate, I literally could not brush through my hair. It felt dry and damaged and gross. So I decided to go back to the baking soda and vinegar. My hair is much happier, and I switched bottles so not so much is going down the drain.

I did have a few recipes that worked on the first try that will make me never buy these products again. Mine work just as well, if not better, than store-bought chemical-laden goop. I started experimenting on Thursday, which was stupid because I had to look presentable for work Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but it all turned out ok. The only downside to my final products is that, because these are made with a lot of food, they can go bad if they sit for too long. That's why I made small batches, when possible, and took a lot of precautions to try to preserve them.

Homemade Conditioner
2/3 cup peppermint tea made with distilled water
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp grapeseed oil
5 drops tea tree oil
Vitamin E squeezed from 2 capsules

Just blend it up until it's emulsified and transfer it to a squeeze bottle. The xantham gum acts as an emulsifier. It can be found in the baking aisle, and you can substitute guar gum for this too. The Vitamin E acts as a preservative, plus it's good for your hair. The distilled water helps make it last longer without going bad. It's a little thinner than regular conditioner, but a little goes a long way. It smells really good too. This was supposed to go with my shampoo, but since that failed, I use this one as a leave in conditioner to protect my hair from the blow dryer and curling iron.

Homemade Lotion
The recipe I found for this was a little sketchy so it took some improvising and about 6 variations until I finally got it right.
1 1/2 oz. beeswax, grated
1 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
4 tbsp coconut oil
2 cups peppermint tea made with distilled water
Vitamin E squeezed from 3 capsules
10 drops tea tree oil

Grating beeswax is awful. If you can find it pre-grated, definitely buy that rather than doing it yourself. Melt the beeswax and coconut oil in a double boiler. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients. You may have to return to the heat if it starts to harden again. I used a handheld immersion blender to combine everything, but you could use a regular blender. If all the water doesn't emulsify, add a little more grapeseed oil until it does. It takes a little while of blending, but you end up with a really soft, creamy lotion. This makes a lot so I put some in a small container and put the rest in a larger container to keep in the fridge to keep it from spoiling.

Homemade Toothpaste
1 tsp coconut oil
2 tbsp baking soda
5 drops peppermint essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil
1 packet stevia

Just mash everything together until it is a consistent texture. Sounds weird, works great. Tastes a little funky, but it's only 5 minutes a day you have to deal with it.

Homemade Face Wash
1/4 cup raw, unfiltered honey
3 tbsp baking soda

My face has never, ever looked so clear and bright. I will never use anything other than this.

And my most hippie recipe yet...
Homemade Deodorant
Yeah. Really.
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp baking soda
2 tbsp corn starch
10 drops tea tree essential oil

This isn't an antiperspirant because those are bad for you. The aluminum-based compounds in antiperspirant block your sweat glands and stop you from sweating. There are warnings that people with kidney disease should stay away from these chemicals because their bodies will have a hard time excreting the toxins that are absorbed. There are claims of the aluminum in antiperspirants causing Alzheimer's and cancer, but the claims have not been validated. Still, I'm not taking any chances.

Last one...
Homemade Body Scrub
1/4 cup each sugar, salt, and coconut oil
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
5 drops each tea tree and peppermint oil
Vitamin E squeezed from 2 capsules

Mix it up and put it in a jar and use it when you want extra soft skin. Be careful if you use it on your feet so you don't slip and die.

Now that I'm done being a mad scientist, my skin and hair are very happy. My kitchen will now be used for making food instead of soap, and I will smell like a minty tree or something. Haha, come over to the green side and try one of these recipes out!!