Natural Body Care

Beauty mud bath circa 1985 (?)

When I was a kid growing up in the woods, my parents never bought many "products." Imagine a household of five girls--- and yet nary a moisturizer or spritz or hairspray to be seen in the bathroom cabinet. Actually, nary a bathroom was to be seen, since we had an outhouse. In any case, it wasn't until college that I started to learn about the wide world of products... and how desperately I needed them in spite of never having missed things like "Jergens" before. I remember one of my first roommates laughing at me because neither I nor my mom knew what 409 was; the first of many such experiences. Being rather self-conscious, I was susceptible to the opinions of roommates and decided to hop on the product train. I lusted after designer perfumes and magic lotions of all sorts. Unfortunately, it wasn't until just a couple years ago that I finally started to remember why we hadn't used these things back home in the woods........ because they are toxic. 

Reasons to chuck the "products"!

Just peruse the label of an average shampoo or toothpaste or perfume bottle, and see how many ingredients you can recognize. Well, I certainly need a chemistry class or ten to comprehend much of that! So, do I really want to slather it all over my body? After all, skin is the body's larges organ. It is permeable. We communicate constantly with the physical world through this organ. I don't know why it took so long for me to realize this, but I now feel quite strongly about not using body products that I couldn't also ingest.  Now let me say here that I'm definitely not as thorough about this rule as I sound... I'm still hoping (in vain!) that products prescribed by the dermatologist will eventually clear up my acne. But one by one I continue to banish this or that store-bought item from my regimen and replace it with a homemade concoction. Following are a few I've discovered/invented/heard about/experimented with. It's an evolving process, one of trial and error. You've got to enjoy the mad-scientist-mixing-things-up experience because there are messes and failures involved, for sure!

First, a shameless product placement. My mom always used Dr. Bronner's castile soap for everything, and recently (spurred on by nostalgia and a desire to consolidate products) I've been recreating this part of my childhood. Wow, the smell brings me back! And it is a lovely smell. With very few ingredients and almost all of them organic, this stuff really is "all-in-one." I use it in the bath, on my face, as shampoo, as shaving cream for legs and armpits (gone are the awful pressurized shaving cream bottles; Myer even uses Dr. Bronner's for shaving his face), for hand-washing clothes, as dish soap, for rinsing food, and of course as general hand soap. How great is it to replace so many different bottles with just one? Pretty great, in my opinion. Also you simply can't beat the electrifying tingle of fresh mint oil on your skin. It comes in many scents, and I enjoy the lavender, but peppermint is definitely my standard. Seriously guys. Don't miss out.

Bath & Body
There are many natural body cleaners one can come up with based on just a few ingredients. For shampoo, baking soda works great on its own. Just sprinkle it on your head and lather away. Various body scrubs can be made using either salt or sugar plus some sort of oil. I like crystallized raw honey with lavender oil, or chunky sea salt with coconut oil. My favorite go-to body moisturizer is virgin coconut oil ($5.99/pint at Trader Joe's), but I also like to mix things up. I recently did a combination of coconut oil, beeswax, and cocoa butter that is absolutely exquisite! It smells like heaven and feels pretty dang sexy going on. I've also experimented with different types of body scrubs. One I'm LOVING is a scar-fading, anti-cellulite body scrub that I made with finely-ground fresh dark roast coffee beans, natural cane sugar, and castor oil. You could use any noncomedogenic oil, like jojoba; I had castor on hand. The scent is fantastic, and after you rub it into your skin and oil is absorbed, you can easily rinse the sugar and coffee off in the shower. Seriously luxurious. I swear it helps with stretch marks.

Coconut oil + beeswax + cocoa butter for moisturizing the body.

Coffee + sugar + castor oil cellulite-reducing, scar-fading body scrub.

  Facial Care

I've experimented with a plethora of cleansing facial masks. Some of my favorite combinations so far: clay (I like French green or Aztec) with baking soda, clay with activated charcoal, clay with apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil, and clay with raw honey and coconut oil. Just smear it all over your visage and let it dry for 45 minutes or so, then wash. I am always tempted to pick rather than wash, but this is kind of hard on the skin. A good way to follow the facial mask is by toning and moisturizing. I like to use apple cider vinegar (get unpasteurized) or rose water as toner, and both work well. If you have tender skin, ACV might sting--- but it helps eliminate bad bacteria and also has an alkalizing effect, which is usually helpful. For facial moisturizer, I enjoy either coconut oil or argan oil. Both sink deeply into the skin rather than just making a greasy slick on top. To moisturize lips, I swear by lanolin. I've never used anything else. Some might not like the smell, as it is rather "sheepish" (haha) but I actually enjoy the natural scent. It soaks in deep and stays on for hours. 

Toothpaste, Deodorant, Feminine Care 

Botanical illustration of coconut plant

Two additional products one can replace with homemade versions are toothpaste and deodorant. Plain baking soda works just fine as tooth cleanser, but you can get fancy with other ingredients if you want. Activated charcoal + baking soda + coconut oil + peppermint essential oil makes is a lovely recipe that gives you a legitimate paste rather than a powder. Deodorant is often extremely toxic as purchased in-store, so it's very important to chuck that stuff and make your own. Actually, Myer and I don't really use anything these days; if your diet is clean, you don't stink much! But there are fabulous versions you can mix up yourself if need be. Finally, for the ladies, I think it's worth mentioning "feminine care" in this post. The products provided to us for this need are so wasteful and often toxic--- it's sad how long it took me to find the right alternative. My mom used to make and wash her own, but I'm too lazy for that! However, natural sea sponges are a wonderful in-between answer. They are super easy to use and completely safe for you and the environment. I was enlightened! Tip: put a drop of tea tree oil on it before using. It helps with scent and to keep bad bacteria away.

Scents

I have a large collection of essential oils that I use in various ways. Mostly I put them on straight out of the bottle as natural perfume. I wear different ones according to my mood and the physical state of my body. If I'm feeling sluggish or weighty, frankincense, tea tree, pine, peppermint, citrus, eucalyptus, or myrrh are all uplifting/invigorating. For particularly stressful days, lavender, rose, jasmine or neroli help to relax me. When I'm extra energetic, I like something musky such as patchouli, amber, sandalwood, or vanilla. My favorite brand is Wyndmere, partially because the quality is very fine, and partly because they come in the most gorgeous little cobalt glass bottles. Besides perfume, these oils are also wonderful in candles, as aromatherapy, in other bath products, and just to sniff now and then. Rose is probably my all-time favorite; surprise surprise.