One of the areas in which I want to live more “naturally” is
with my bath and beauty products. This is primarily because many of the
conventional products are packed with chemicals that can do one or more of the
following:
1) Disrupt the body’s natural oil production or self-healing
processes
2) Perpetuate skin irritation and/or acne
3) Act as carcinogens
Personally, I have experienced numbers 1 and 2…and while I
do not live in fear of number 3, I believe in being wise with my choices.
I actually started the process of choosing natural body-care
products a couple of years ago:
I switched to mostly mineral make-up (Everyday Minerals) and
Physician’s Formula Organic Wear Mascara. With fewer irritants on my face, my
eyes have been allergy-free and my skin is healthier.
I also started using Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean face wash. This is definitely the best face wash I’ve found for my oily/combination
skin. It is great for reducing breakouts due to external triggers (but hormonal
breakouts require a little help from my diet it seems).
I’ve also noticed a reduction in skin irritation when I use “natural”
body washes and lotions. The products I use are still somewhat conventional
though, containing mostly natural ingredients with a few sketch chemicals
thrown in. My skin is not entirely happy yet, so I am on the hunt for solutions
that are purer still.
I think the hardest part of this process is changing your
mindset. For some reason we think clean and healthy can only be accomplished
using store-bought products. It was hard for me to even think that products
from the earth or from food are actually acceptable as cleansers, moisturizers
or beauty aids (especially natural oils). But they are! This simple sugar scrub helped convince me of it:
I found the recipe for it linked on a blog, and decided to
make a bunch of scrubs in different flavors/scents as Christmas gifts. The only
ingredients are some kind of oil (I used sunflower), sugar (brown, white or both) and a flavor/scent
(easiest to use are essential oils). I made
pumpkin spice, vanilla, lemon, eucalyptus and lavender scented scrubs.
I was so surprised at how great the scrub feels! The sugar
exfoliates while the oil moisturizes the skin. I used it in the shower and found
I didn’t need lotion on my skin after using it. My skin was softer than from any
chemical-based lotion I’ve used. Perhaps natural oil is a good thing after all!
Since then I’ve learned that natural products can not only
make skin look and feel good, they can cleanse too. Natural oils help strip
away dirt without disrupting your body’s natural moisturizers (like
chemical based cleansers do which causes the body to produce more oils than it
should). Tea tree oil and honey both have anti-bacterial and healing properties
that make them ideal for cleansing the skin. Even baking soda can be used as a
scrub to rid your body of unwanted grime without damaging anything.
Over the past couple months I have been pinning ideas from
blogs onto my Pinterest boards about homemade natural body care products. I’m
starting with the simple ideas and working my way to the more complex. However,
no idea I’ve found is that difficult. Many homemade products use items from the
pantry and are as simple as following a recipe!
As I try more and more ideas, I will be sharing them here. I’ve
already started on one big change replacing a couple of items in my shower. I’ll
reveal it in a couple of weeks. ;-) I will also be exploring the world of
homemade face masks and lotion bars. (I love the ideas on this Crunchy Betty
blog!)
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