Wednesday 27 October 2010

Natural Living update

I've got my groove on going natural and over the the past four months I've tried two new things.

1. Home made deodorant. I know it sounds kind of gross and I really resisted this one. However I had been using Tom's of Maine deodorant and during the peak of summer the deodorant just didn't cut it. I'll admit that I was sweating. I heard someone say that Tom's was designed for a Maine summer which is pretty different to a North Carolinian summer, both temperature and humidity-wise. So after a couple of smelly weeks I forced myself to make the deodorant. In fact it was simple. I have enough to last 3 months and it works. It WORKS! Just three simple ingredients: coconut oil, baking soda and arrowroot flour. The coconut oil makes it smell good. And a bonus is that you can use it straight after shaving.

2. Home made shampoo and conditioner.
My motivation has always been high to stop using shampoo. The ingredients list has always scared me. However I was definitely wary of doing this, especially allowing my hair to go through the transition period. However after 3 weeks my hair and skin had adjusted to the new regime. And my hair is very good. The shampoo is baking soda and water, the conditioner is apple cider vinegar and water.

So now my challenge is converting Andrew. At the moment he is using up all the old toothpaste, shampoo and soap bars that we had in stock. Once he's run out of supplies he'll be on the new scheme.

4 comments:

Cara said...

I am very interested. Slowly, trying to do similar things here... how do you apply the deodrant?? Will def try the shampoo when my current stock runs out...

Fiona said...

I just use my fingers to put on the deodorant. It's kind of like moisturizer and I rub the excess on my legs. I know some people mould it into their old roll on containers.

Cara said...

Ok, so my deodrant has just run out and I am up for the challenge. What quantities do you use? Could you also put tell me the quantities/ratios for shampoo/conditioner?
Am so over the marketing of all these products. Simple and natural seems to work for most things!!!

Fiona said...

Here are the sources:

http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/03/update-homemade-deoderant.html

Recipe is:
5-6 Tbsp Coconut oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch