Switching to natural products

[Cookie]

I'm becoming a hippie and switching to all natural products after learning about the stuff that gets put into toiletries.

I've switched shampoo, all soaps, laundry detergent, and face and body lotion. Initially I thought it would more expensive, but it has turned out to be a rather mustachian move! The other great benefit is the natural products are working 20x better than my expensive old products. Win-win!

Anyone else only use all natural products? I'm also going to try making my own perfume out of essential oils which sounds fun. Any tips for a newbie hippie would be great :)

[Ynari]

Perfumery is fun!  I've had general success using a balance of 3 parts top note EO, 2 parts mid, and 1 part base. (You can google to find lists, and a lot can count in multiple categories. A favorite of mine is bergamot as top, ginger mid, and cedar wood base.)  I was inspired by BPAL, and I can't really beat my favorites from there (more mustachian than typical perfume, but I usually just get my perfumery kicks by buying samples from other people on BPAL forums and only buying a bottle if it's truly my favorite. I don't wear perfume very much so everything lasts forever.)

I really think simple is often better with a lot of products, though. Dr. Bronner's castile soap for general purpose cleaning, olive/coconut/other oil for body lotion, and stuff like that. I also consider packaging - environmentally, buying something in bulk or with minimal packaging is a good choice.

[MMMaybe]

I have pretty much switched all of my household cleaning and laundry products to all-natural. I am just using up the last few things in my toiletry cupboard and then I will be going for a more minimalist approach.

I am already making my own deodorant but will be trying to make skin creams and toners etc myself too. I have switched from body wash to bar soap as well. The one thing I have noticed is how much more sensitive I have gotten to artificial frangrances, now that I have stopped using products containing them...

[Cookie]

Oh deodorant is something I am still looking for an alternative. I have two requirements: 1. not something you have to put on with your fingers 2. can't have baking soda (I'm pretty sure that is what my husband is allergic to in the all natural deodorants.

I have yet to find a replacement that fits that criteria. Of course, it has to work well too.

[MMMaybe]

You could try this recipe for deoderant: Use an old roll on deo stick container

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon beeswax
1/8 teaspoon tea tree oil
1/8 teaspoon rosemary oil
1/8 teaspoon lavender oil (optional)

Combine oil and wax over a water bath, till wax melts. Take off heat and mix in oils. Pour into the deo container.

* from Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen.

[ltt]

Oh deodorant is something I am still looking for an alternative. I have two requirements: 1. not something you have to put on with your fingers 2. can't have baking soda (I'm pretty sure that is what my husband is allergic to in the all natural deodorants.

I have yet to find a replacement that fits that criteria. Of course, it has to work well too.

Tom's of Maine for deodorant.  Double check where the ingredients are sourced.  It gives a complete listing.

[swick]

I would do some searching through the forums, I know there are a couple of threads on this. In some of the Homemade Christmas threads there is lots of discussion on homemade beauty products.

One awesome resource is: http://www.crunchybetty.com/ great basic info, recipes.

I also really love Humble Bee and me: http://www.humblebeeandme.com/ There are some basic ideas here but it seems like it is a step up - more different ingredients, more techniques and variety - lots of skin care as well as perfumes.

Solid perfumes are a really easy place to start if you want to start with perfumery. I find experimenting so satisfying - and it can be a cheap source of presents once you have the basic ingredients. 

For deodorant - you can use arrow root powder in addition to or in place of the baking soda. It doesn't work quite as well as having some baking soda in there - but it is a good alternative for those who can not  use the soda.

On that note - spend some time figuring out what you like and what you want to do before you go out and buy a bunch of oils it is really easy to go, oh that looks good and at a few bucks each it is easy to end up with a lot in your shopping cart. On that note - NewDirections Aromatics and Mountain Rose herbs are your best bet for supplies and Specialty Bottle Company is your best best for packaging.

[GuitarStv]

What exactly is the definition of 'all natural'?

Tea tree, rosemary, and lavender oil extracts are certainly not available without heavy processing by humans.  Baking soda is chemically made, not mined from some baking soda pit.  Olive oil is lightly processed, but still processed.

So where exactly do you draw the line between human made and all-natural?  It's a question that has always confused me, as 'all-natural' is pretty common in advertising and doesn't appear to have a real solid definition.

[swick]

What exactly is the definition of 'all natural'?

Tea tree, rosemary, and lavender oil extracts are certainly not available without heavy processing by humans.  Baking soda is chemically made, not mined from some baking soda pit.  Olive oil is lightly processed, but still processed.

So where exactly do you draw the line between human made and all-natural?  It's a question that has always confused me, as 'all-natural' is pretty common in advertising and doesn't appear to have a real solid definition.

Good points. There is a lot of mis-leading advertising out there, and just because it is "all-natural" doesn't mean it won't be toxic or kill you. I kinda go on the theory that if you can make it yourself with ingredients you know, pronounce and are safe, then you'll come out ahead.

My turning point was in high school I did a project on what some of the common ingredients in beauty products actually were. I came across the Environmental Working Group which at the time had just built their "Skin Deep" databasehttp://www.ewg.org/
 You can look up commercial products or individual ingredients and it will give it a safety rating with links to the studies they are drawing their info from.

Once I started looking at ingredients I thew out full garbage bags of products (between my mom, sister and I) and I was pretty devastated by 1. what I was putting on my body in the name of "beauty" 2. How much money we had spent 2. How much packaging and garbage it created.

Now we just create our own stuff as far as body care, I think I have worn make-up once in the past 4 or so years. Save time, save money and have fun making your own.  I do love making my own perfumes, it's a really fun creative outlet and I could easily sell them if I got my butt in gear.

[PMG]

I've gone through phases with this.  The EWG website is very handy.  I dabbled with making my own, before I discovered that the organic and health food shops had options that were reasonably priced, so I decided to let the science to the scientists. 

I use a crystal deodorant stone.  There was a definite adjustment period between my old antipersperant and my crystal. The crystal is just a deodorant and does nothing to stop one from sweating.  That was something to get used to as well, but I've been using it for almost three years and am very happy.  There is debate online about the types of aluminums in deodorants and crystals.  My conclusion was that the crystals may not be the perfect option, but that it works for me.  It is better than regular deo/antipersperant.  Very portable, not messy like some naural options.  Inexpensive and creates much less packaging waste.

I've noticed that since I switched to more natural options, many of which are unscented, that I am much more sensitive to strong scents.

[Cookie]

Swick thanks for the website links!

What exactly is the definition of 'all natural'?

Tea tree, rosemary, and lavender oil extracts are certainly not available without heavy processing by humans.  Baking soda is chemically made, not mined from some baking soda pit.  Olive oil is lightly processed, but still processed.

So where exactly do you draw the line between human made and all-natural?  It's a question that has always confused me, as 'all-natural' is pretty common in advertising and doesn't appear to have a real solid definition.

What I mean is that I've learned about what the synthetic ingredients are in my products and I want to turn to simpler ingredients that aren't completely man made. Essential oils are processed, but they come from plants.

I know some people are weirdly opinionated about the subject and like to argue this sort of thing until they are blue in the face.

[GuitarStv]

What I mean is that I've learned about what the synthetic ingredients are in my products and I want to turn to simpler ingredients that aren't completely man made. Essential oils are processed, but they come from plants.

Not trying to be pedantic, but nearly everything every made in a lab comes from either a rock, animal or a plant initially.  If we're going to ignore processing you could make the argument that every substance produced is all natural.  Hence my confusion about the term.

[theadvicist]

I make most of my own toiletries, and my tips for a newby would be these:

Save every container from everything you finish (thoroughly cleaned, obviously). Many times I have made a bigger batch than I was expecting and scrambled around for extra containers before things set.

Use beeswax pellets rather than the bars which you have to grate. It's much easier to handle, plus much more accurate, especially if dealing in volumes rather than weights.

My favourite recipe (after much trial and error) which I use as face cream and also as handcream and lotion (since it's cheap, so I don't see the need for seperate types of lotion) is:

10g beeswax
2 tablespoons each of coconut oil and sweet almond oil
1/2 cup aloe vera gel
10 drops essential oil (I use rose I have dry skin).

Melt the oils together in a double boiler (I just use a pyrex bowl over a pan of simmering water). Allow to cool until solidifying, but still stirable.

Whisk in aloe vera gel and the essential oil. Whisk until cool. Takes a while, but such a nice cream at the end.

Do allow the oils to cool - otherwise things will separate later on.

I just scoop it into clean jars. That recipe make three good jars for me.

[SisterX]

Posting mostly to follow.

I've made my own face lotion.  I don't have exact amounts (I was just eyeballing it) but I used cocoa butter, coconut oil, a few drops of tee tree oil, and some jojoba oil.  Melted it all together and put it in a jar.  When it's cold in our apartment I have to scrape it out but it melts quickly on my warm hands, and it stays soft when it's warmer.  However, be warned that it is EXTREMELY dry in my area.  I cannot emphasize that enough.  It's perfect for here, but when I visit family in the rainy PNW I can't use it or my skin breaks out.

I also use just baking soda in water as shampoo and diluted apple cider vinegar as conditioner.  I didn't like it for a while, then I cut my hair short and now it's working beautifully.  No one would ever think, "She doesn't use shampoo" and I get to go four or five days between washing my hair.  If I do a sweaty workout in between washes I rinse with water, let dry, then use a homemade dry shampoo of arrowroot powder and cocoa powder.  If you have light colored hair, you could probably just use the arrowroot powder.

My husband saw me mixing up my baking soda "shampoo" and said, "I'm glad to see you're putting the potions class you took at Hogwarts to use."  Lol!

[mrsggrowsveg]

I make everything myself except mascara and shampoo.  I haven't found a good replacement for either of those. 

My favorite homemade product is my sunscreen that I got from a mustachian recipe:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/typical-mustachian-saturday/?topicseen

I make lotion and beauty products with a lot of www.wellnessmama.com recipes.  I love her homemade deodorant also.