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!