Never fear, I have NOT stopped shaving my armpits or my legs…. Actually my legs could use some attention but that was certainly not intentional, just laziness & a lot of wearing jeans. Anyway, back to my original tangent…. As I was washing my hair this morning with apple cider vinegar & baking soda (read more about the ‘NO POO’ hair method HERE) it dawned on me that my bathroom that used to be FULL of various moisturisers, shampoos, serums, cleaning products, multiple hair products for curl, straight, dull, bounce, shine blah blah, were no longer…. I have not just ceased cleaning my bathroom & given up on all body maintenance, that would be concerning for me & my husband & and indication that I most definitely was a crunchy hippie (not that there is anything wrong with that), but I have transitioned to using more natural products in place of their chemical-laden counterparts.
Did you know that your skin is your biggest organ. It can be as quick as 26 seconds for the toxins in your personal care products to enter your blood stream & unlike eating food, substances absorbed through your skin don’t go through the digestive process & get excreted if they should not be inside us, they go straight to your blood, do not pass go, do not collect $200. These toxins can cruise around our body, act as endocrine disrupters, cause allergic responses & screw with our hormone levels not to mention give you cancer. They didn’t put that on the perfume bottle did they!? The average woman applies 500 chemicals/day to her body from that aluminum infused deodorant to your lippie. You can read more about safe cosmetics HERE.
You probably all now look at the ingredient list on your food labels to see what is in it but have you checked out the ingredients in your shampoo lately? Seriously, what the h$ll is sodium polystyrene sulfonate & what is hydrolysed wheat gluten doing in there?? If you wouldn’t put it in your gob, why do you want to put it on your skin?
So here’s where I have gone all au naturale:
* As you saw above I use the NO POO METHOD to wash my hair & occasionally will use 100% pure argan oil to smooth any crazy bits. I try to steer clear of any other commercial hair products in general but sometimes when you need hair spray, well you just need hair spray.
* I use a mix of white vinegar, eucalyptus oil & water as a surface spray & to clean the shower & sinks. A paste of baking soda and a bit of elbow grease can help with any tough grimy bits too.
* Clove oil is brilliant for mould. It is far gentler than ‘BAM’ or bleach & you will not be inhaling foul toxins.
* You probably read about my OIL PULLING as a way of helping remove toxins & increase dental health. I also clean my teeth with a paste of coconut oil & baking soda. My teeth have never been whiter. It doesn’t foam up like normal toothpaste but once you get over that, it’s brilliant.
* I use the OIL CLEANSING method to clean my face & remove make up. Mine is a mix of castor oil, coconut oil & tamanu oil & that seems to work for me aside from my bull$hit hormonal pimples that are resilient to everything right now.
* I use rosehip oil as my face moisturizer & coconut oil as a general moisturizer. You can check the safety rating of your make-up & skincare products HERE.
* My toothpaste mix doubles as deodorant. Just scoop a bit out with a spoon, smear it on your pits. Done. I know you may doubt that this works but honestly, if I can smash myself in a crossfit metcon & not make myself & those around me gag with the smell then I think I am onto something. Coconut oil is anti-bacterial & anti-fungal so it makes sense that it is ani-stink. I also have a back-up in my gym bag of the Miessence brand deodorant in case I need it.
So that’s my deal at the moment. Am I a crunchy hippie or just health conscious? If any of you other closet hippies have any great tips to share then get commenting! Peace out 😉
Photo from EWG Skin Deep
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Crunchy Betty is a great resource for crunchy hippiness 🙂 I think she may have pioneered the no ‘poo method! Theres a formula to use so the ph in your hair doesnt go haywire 😉 What a great article and a reminder to keep chemicals as far away from our skin as possible. I read a girls experience once about mould in her house and the people who took care of it told her that white vinegar kills mould, bleach takes the colour out but actually feeds it so you get more mould than before! Some food for thought 🙂
Thanks Kea I love the Crunchy Betty site! Thanks for stopping by the blog!
I have recently adopted the new crunchy hippie ways as well! I use the no-poo method, homemade deodarant, tooth powder, and oil cleansing! I am still transitioning my cleaning supplies though!