The Shaving Cream Experiment

I'm still quite frustrated that my post about this disappeared, so I'll try this again with fingers crossed. Quite frankly, it probably will not be as detailed and witty as the other one was, because to be honest I've been too tired to even post lately! But, here goes nothing...

I have a love/hate relationship with shaving - I hate to do it, but others might not love me if I don't. To be honest, this was born out of frustration. When we went on vacation in July, I ran out of shaving cream. Knowing where the nearest Target was, we stopped in and I grabbed some more...only to be disappointed to find that it took like 5 minutes to get enough gel out for one leg. Once we returned home, I began researching. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:

2/3 c. Shea butter (unrefined)

2/3 c. Coconut oil (heated to liquid state)

1/4 c. Grapeseed oil

5 drops of peppermint essential oil

10 drops of lavender essential oil 

2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Combine Shea butter & coconut oil in a pan and melt over low heat. Stir in essential oils. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until solid (I know, seems counterproductive).

Take out and let soften. Add baking soda and whip with hand mixer until it looks good enough to eat. 

Leave a comment if you find the Grinch face ;) I put mine in 4 oz canning jars - I made 5 jars total. 

Review:

My initial thoughts were..."what have I done?!" Just being honest. I do love the smell of this though! When I put it on, it went on clear, which I was not expecting since it's yellow! It almost made me feel like I was dry shaving *shudder* but without the pain. You only have to use a tiny amount (maybe dime sized) for each leg. It did freak me out a little bit when I tried to wash it off...you know how oil doesn't mix with water? Yeah...it rolls off like water off a duck's back. What I figured out though is that I can rub the leftovers into my skin and pay dry - it made my legs super shiny! Another trick I learned was with cleaning off the razor - obviously rinsing with water doesn't work, so I keep a cup and put a little bit of body wash in it & swish it in there to clean the blades. I do not buy expensive razors...although cheap razors gave me razor burn with regular shaving cream, the expensive ones never got all the hair for some reason. This shaving cream works great with cheap razors, and the best part - no razor burn!

Cost breakdown:

I'll admit, the initial costs of this one were a little more than my other projects since I had to buy shea butter. But, here it is -

Shea butter - $6.99 for 16 oz (so I do have a good bit left)

Coconut oil - $5.29 for 32 oz

Grapeseed oil - $5.99 for 32 oz

Baking soda - $.50 per box (I now buy it in bulk)

Overall this recipe seems like a keeper. David tried it and did not like it. I tried to get him to give it another shot, but so far, no luck. I'm not giving up though! 

Ruh Roh Raggy!

Nooooo! I had posted about the shaving cream a few nights ago...and it's gone! Oh my. That was quite a long post too. Things are a bit nuts right now, but as soon as I have a chance, I'll post again 😢

The "no poo" Experiment

Oooooohhhhh shampoo. Well, I've already gone into my frustrations with my hair, so I won't bore you with that. But I did want to make a short post about my "no poo" experiment. Haven't heard of no poo? That's ok, neither had I until I started researching natural shampoos. No poo was actually the first thing that came up in my searches, and also my first "natural" experiment. So what exactly is no poo? Here's the breakdown:

Ingredients:

-Baking soda - 1 tbsp

-Water - 1 c. 

The end. 

Directions:

Mix baking soda with warm water. Put in a spray bottle & shake until mixed. **Be sure to shake before each use to make sure the formula is well mixed...otherwise it won't work as well** In the shower, spray on the roots of your hair. Rinse thoroughly. 

Bonus:

You can use apple cider vinegar (ACV) as a rinse for conditioner - 2 tbsp with 1 c water. I left this step out as I didn't have any. 

Review:

In all honesty, I thought this sounded completely crazy (as with most of my experiments). It was met with mixed reviews on the sites I found. Some people said it made their hair feel like straw (some only after using the ACV)....others loved it. My hair is thick & wavy with an oily scalp. When I first got out of the shower, I hated the way my hair felt (looking back, it was worse than the coconut milk shampoo). Again though, as it dried, it felt soft. I really expected to have a white residue or film to my hair, but thankfully that didn't happen. My hair wasn't oily the next day like it is with regular shampoo. Overall I liked what it did for my hair, but not shampooing just felt SO wrong!! 

Cost Breakdown:

-box of baking soda - $.75

-water....well, you know :)

-ACV if you choose to use it - $4.99 ish

Oh oh...I already know what my next post will be on - shaving cream! I made it over the weekend & tried it this morning. If you have dry skin (or just like really really soft & smooth legs), you will seriously love it. As long as you don't try to eat it ;)

"The Oils" and Why I Use What I Use

I've had a lot of people ask me about "the oils", so I'm going to take a few minutes to explain how I got on the natural path. I apologize if you've read this on the other blog, but there is a bit more info here. Back in March, my little B was hospitalized for a week with bronchiolitis & RSV. Anyone who has been through this with a child (especially a one year old) knows it is not fun. This was actually our second round with it as he had it back in December just before their birthday. We were fortunate that neither D nor M got it. Anyway, back in December, he had been given an inhaler to use "as needed", which we gave him every 4 hours at a minimum. While he was in the hospital, he received treatments every 2 hours. For a week. Plus CPTs. And the results were minimal. After he was released, I was taking to a friend at church. She was telling me about these oils and how she was using them for her daughter's diabetes. She said there was one for respiratory issues if I wanted to try it. Although I was extremely skeptical, I said sure, go ahead & order it. We were literally at a point of desperation. Holding down a 1 year old for a breathing treatment isn't fun. We started using it as she recommended, and we started noticing that he was wheezing less. We were able to drop back on his inhalers and eventually come off of them completely (ok, so we've used it 3 times since April). I used it for myself and noticed a huge difference. So I ordered the elusive "kit" (at my husband's urging...still skeptical) and started learning about what all they could do. Researching, learning the science behind them, the history behind them...I don't want to admit to how many hours I researched, but 3 digits are involved. After getting "the kit", I realized how useful these things were. D's random allergic reactions...M's severe ant bite allergy (which made me extremely thankful for them...except for when she woke me up at 2:30 am for oils)...headaches, backaches, allergies, sciatic nerve issues - all things we've been able to treat with the oils. I honestly can't remember the last time I took a Tylenol. 

So what are they? I use Young Living Essential Oils. There are literally hundreds of companies out there produce EOs. So why them? Yes, that's who I was first introduced to, but I did a lot of research before buying that first bottle, and even more before the kit. I chose them first of all because of the quality. From my research, I learned about distillation. Long story short, there are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and complete distillations. First is the most pure, and that's what YL uses. They were the only company I found that used that. The $5 bottle of peppermint you buy at the local health food store? Not 1st distillation, and a lot of them use additives (which they can do since EOs aren't regulated by the FDA). You also probably don't need to be ingesting them, while many of YL's are safe to ingest. 

This thought popped into my head one night - how is it that unnatural things seem natural to us, yet natural things seem unnatural? And I realized how true that was for me. I wouldn't hesitate to pop a Tylenol for a headache, but to rub peppermint on my head? That's crazy! As my mindset started to change, I researched more natural things, which had led to the shampoo, face wash, etc. Don't get me wrong, I do not consider myself "granola" by any means (although I do like to eat it for breakfast). But now when I look at ingredients list, the fewer the better to me. I don't want anything I can't pronounce in or on my or my family's bodies. It's a process...and it takes time...but I'm getting there. One step at a time. And this was my first step -

I literally have a story for each of these oils, plus a few more. I won't bother you with them (unless you ask). But if you think you might be interested in taking this step into a journey like mine, let me know and I can help get ya hooked up. I think I may have fixed the comments issue from earlier. Sorry. So when you see "essential oils" listed on my recipes, this is what I'm using. 

The Shampoo Experiment, #1

Over the weekend, I went on a making spree. I had a few minutes (which is really all it took), got in the kitchen, and had some fun :) I haven't tried everything I made yet, but I decided to give my shampoo recipe a go yesterday morning. 

For as long as I can remember, I've been told how bad shampoo is for your hair. Only use clear shampoo, only shampoo once a week, only shampoo the roots...all easier said than done. I've tried more kinds of shampoo than I should probably admit. What worked great on my scalp made my hair frizzy & dry; what worked great on my ends made my scalp oily. Pretty much a no-win situation. I tried "no poo", which I will probably blog about next. While I liked it, it just felt wrong! So I searched for other alternatives, and this is what I came up with. 

This is coconut milk shampoo. Here's the breakdown -

Ingredients:

-1/4 c. Coconut milk (I used the unsweetened carton kind - whatever had the fewest ingredients. I've read about some other versions using canned & not turning out as well. You can also make coconut milk, which I haven't tried, but it looks sooooo easy)

-1/3 c. Castile soap (I used Dr. Bronner's peppermint...just what I had)

-20 drops of essential oils (I did 10 lemon for extra cleansing and 10 rosemary, which promotes hair growth and is just generally good for hair)

*for dry hair, you can add a few capsules of vitamin E oil. I'm thinking I've read that honey can also be used...I can research that some more if anyone is interested. 

Directions:

Mix in a bowl using a spoon until combined. Put the mixture in a dispensing container (we used a foaming soap pump, which worked really well, but you could also use an empty shampoo bottle). I stored half (4oz) in the refrigerator so it wouldn't go bad...it's supposed to be ok in the shower for up to a month. If you don't use a foaming dispenser, 1 tsp per use it recommended (possibly more depending on hair thickness). Shaking before use is recommended. 

Cost breakdown:

-coconut milk - $2.35 for the carton...I used maybe 1/8 of the carton, so for the batch about .30. 

-Castile soap - $10 for a 32 oz bottle...I used about 3 oz. and the rest of the bottle for so many other things. 

-essential oils - already had...depends on where you get them, I use Young Living (which will be a post for another day :) )

Review:

This smells AMAZING to me. I really love it. The peppermint gives almost a tingly clean feel. David was my first guinea pig. When he got out of the shower, he said he didn't like it. He reported that his hair felt dry & like it had product in it. My heart sank. My first fail. After it dried and as the day went on, he informed me that it wasn't so bad, and that his hair felt soft. He said he would give it another try. Yesterday morning, I decided to try it. I used two pumps because my hair is really thick. I massaged it into my scalp & rinsed. Again, not sudsy because no detergents. I decided to forgo the conditioner to see what the shampoo alone did. After I towel dried, I understood why he meant by his hair feeling dry. It was very odd. As it dried, my hair softened up significantly. It was a little fluffy (probably because I need a hair cut), but not frizzy. This morning, I expected to find an oily mess as I usually do, but to my surprise, it looked like it had just been dried. Since my hair's natural oils have taken over, it's not really fluffy any more. I may try the conditioner recipe I found & see if that makes a difference. I will definitely give it a few more tries, but I think this one is a keeper. 

The Face Wash Experiment

**edtied to add suggestions for dry skin, cost, and picture**

Ok, so this wasn't my first natural experiment, but it was the first one I made using the oils. I'll get into the other experiment later :) I have determined that Castile soap is my new best friend. If you don't know, Castile soap is an oil based soap, organic & fair trade. A little history: I have had extremely oily skin as long as I can remember. Frequent break outs like I'm still a teenager. Annoying. I looked into the oil cleansing method, but I wanted to try something a little more like what I was used to. So I found a recipe and tweaked it (of course...I can't follow directions). Here is what I came up with -

Ingredients:

-2 oz Castile soap (I bought the sample size bottle of Dr. Bronner's lavender...what can I say, I was skeptical)

-1 1/2 cups of hot water

-1/2 cup witch hazel (like I said, my skin is oily. You can do 2 c. water instead if needed)

-15 drops of essential oils (I used frankincense for anti aging, tea tree or melaleuca alternifolia for breakouts, and rosemary for oiliness - 5 drops of each)

**for dry skin - omit the witch hazel. Add a little bit of honey or natural aloe vera. See below for moisturizer suggestions. 

Directions:

Mix it all together....and you're done! 

*note* it will kinda separate each time. I put mine in a large container & swirl it around with my finger before each use. Also, it is not sudsy...there are no detergent ingredients in here so it won't produce suds like a soap. I didn't think I'd like that, but....well, I'll get there in a minute. I've been using it for about a month, and have given some away, and I'm pretty sure it's going to last me forever. I just put a little on my hands and rub in, rinse off. I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine this would be awesome in a foaming dispenser. 

Cost breakdown:

-Castile soap - $2 for the travel bottle. I have since wised up & bought a large bottle, so the cost per ounce would be cheaper

-witch hazel - $1.30 for the bottle, and I only used a small amount (less than 1/4 of the bottle)

-essential oils - depends on what you use. I already had these for other things, so really that part didn't cost me anything

-water - depends in where you live, but still probably not enough to make this more expensive than the face wash you typically buy. 

Review: 

Although I was *extremely* skeptical, I am totally in love with this face wash! It smells very clean, and my skin is insanely soft after washing. Breakouts have been minimal. The minimal suds took a few trials to get used to, but now it doesn't bother me. 

Added bonus:

I don't typically put moisturizer on my face because it is so oily and I've never found anything that didn't make my skin glisten like snow in the morning, but I started to after using this. My face was not dry by any means, but I'd heard about coconut oil being great for skin. When I realized I put that on at night and my face wasn't dripping with oil in the morning, I kept it up. BUT - after doing further research, I discovered that coconut oil is not noncomedogenic (which means that it can clog your pores), I switched over to grapeseed oil with a drop of frankincense and either rosemary or grapefruit (which has astringent properties, but you have to be careful in the sunlight) added (depends on my mood honestly). So that's my first little experiment! I have tons more lined up...from shampoo to laundry detergent to steam cleaning solution and everything in between, but I definitely want to use them before posting about them, so patience is appreciated!

Welcome!

So, this all began a few months ago when one of my sweet babies was sick and I was introduced to essential oils. Long story short (if you don't already know it), we were able to get him off all steroid medicines using natural methods, particularly essential oils. Well, my little researching brain went into overdrive. Realizing how many bad things were in the daily products we use, I started looking for more natural alternatives. I mean really, if I can't pronounce it, do I want it in my body? Don't think so. So anyway, that's where this blog comes in to play! Honestly it's more for my benefit than anyone else...I've just been taking iPad screen shots of recipes, and well honestly that's a little more difficult to organize than I'm willing to put in the effort. So if you enjoy any of these or have a suggestion, feel free to leave it in the comments! Enjoy!