I couldn't figure out what to title this post. To be truthful, I've been lacking in motivation for the past couple weeks in a major way, and I haven't had any really inspiring ideas for projects. All of this adds up to a bit of a fall off the blog wagon. And I was so gung ho for the first while!!
Anyway, I've been thinking of all the changes around the house that I've been doing since I started the blog and I thought I'd enumerate for you the "personal care" changes I've made in an effort to be rid of nasty chemicals and additives, as well as to save some moolah. Thanks to those friends who were able to help me with these changes and gave me great advice!
HAIR
- No 'poo. You can read about the process here. I've found that it works pretty well for me, though it seems as though my hair is developing a bit of an unruly wave that I'm not crazy about. If it was already slightly curly I don't think I'd mind, but going from definitely straight to neither-straight-nor-curly is kind of annoying
- I never really did use much in the way of styling products anyway, so this hasn't changed. Still using the straightener (darn wave!) and blow dryer at times
- Tried threading my own eyebrows to varying success. It's pretty hard. I broke down and went to a salon for this. Now I'll try to keep it up as long as possible on my own with plucking.
- Sugar wax. I love this, but it's hard to get the cooking time right. I keep overcooking mine and it turns into this great huge candy brick and doesn't work right.
DEODORANT
- I made this deodorant and am definitely satisfied!
- I started to use a Norwex cloth to clean the pits if they get a bit stinky. Then I use deodorant and I'm good!
FACE
- Also using Norwex cloth for my face (a separate one!!), washing with just plain water
- I have been moisturizing my face with either sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil. This is nice and light and won't clog pores
- Tea tree oil to disinfect, or spot treat any blemishes
- I got some 1% BHA gel from Paula's Choice on the recommendation of my favourite cosmetics advice lady. This exfoliates and smoothes the skin. I'll let you know how it works in a couple weeks!
- Mostly using the same makeup. Just a bit of concealer for spots, and powder mineral makeup for light coverage.
BODY
- Dry brushing! I've been doing this for about a month or more and have really noticed a difference in how smooth my skin feels. Apparently it also has loads of other benefits that I'm currently too lazy to look up for you.
- Natural soaps. My brother's girlfriend made a bunch of soaps as a gift for us this year, and when those run out I think we'll continue to use either Dr. Bronner's or Val's Veggie Bar. Or we might just beg her to make some more for us...
- Also using sweet almond oil to moisturize my whole bod! This feels totally luxurious. Though, I must admit, I still use regular commercial body butter to moisturize my feet at night. Sometimes the oil just doesn't cut it!
HANDS
- Oils for regular moisturizing. Olive, coconut, sweet almond.
- Lanolin for extreme moisturizing. This is pretty sticky though, so I only use it if I have time to just let it sink in for a while.
- Sugar/glycerin hand scrub. I just do this occasionally, but it's wonderful, and so easy!
- Nail buffer. This isn't something I would normally be interested in, but I've been working at this fancyish restaurant and I feel pretty self conscious about my drab hands. For a while I was occasionally painting my fingernails but A) it's not really me B) the polish is loaded with chemicals and C) it's not pretty if you can't keep it up. Oh, and D) who has the time to wait for fingernail polish to dry??? This nail buffer is fabulous. You just have to buff your nails with the rough side and then the smooth side. They get really shiny and smooth just as if they were painted with clear polish and it's quick and easy and chemical free.
TEETH
- I was brushing with a natural toothpaste that wasn't too bad, but it wasn't that good either, and it was pretty expensive. Then I tried using baking soda for a while, but that takes some getting used to. It's really salty! And sometimes I miss that minty fresh feeling of toothpaste. Who decided that minty = fresh anyway?
I might try to find some peppermint essential oil to add to the baking soda mix and see if that solves my toothpaste problem. Til then, I'm using colgate.
I hope this post was able to make up for the lag lately. I'm trying to get more jazzed about projects again. I think maybe if I go to bed earlier it'll help, which means this post is over!
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