Flying time and my "no-poo" adventures

What do you know... I got sick for a few days, then family came into town for Thanksgiving, and now it's the end of November and I don't understand how that happened. I feel like I spent the last week stuck inside a hamster ball. I'm all disoriented and have a bizarre urge to drink from a drippy water bottle.

For all 0 of you reading this, I'm back now, and I think the next topic I'm going to tackle will be hair: a little bit about hair in general, a lot about curly hair in particular.

Here's a few things about my hair routine that will give you an idea of where I'm going with this:

• I almost never use shampoo (once per month, if that, and that's only if I end up using a hair product that can cause buildup).
• I make my own hair gel.
• Diluted baking soda and diluted vinegar are my cleanser and conditioner, respectively.

For an idea of why I have chosen to do such a crazy thing, please see this insanely informative post. For those of you who would prefer to not read through all of that just now, here is a basic rundown:

• Shampoo contains harsh and harmful chemicals such as mineral oil and sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate.
• Shampoo is a detergent which strips your hair of its naturally occurring oils, which help keep your hair healthy.
• You truly do not need shampoo to keep your hair clean, and you can save moderately-sized bucks by going without.

Tomorrow I will begin a two-part series on green hair-care, beginning with cleansing and conditioning. Some of what I cover will apply more to those with curly hair than those without, but I will try to keep everything generally informative for all hair types.

Potential Experiment: Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been obsessing over DIY laundry detergent the last few days, poring over powder and liquid recipes until my eyes water and using every ounce of my brain power to psychically determine if using these will cause my washing machine to implode. I think it would be fine but I like to make extra sure before I go diving in.

I research things like this at full tilt on my lunch break at work, and as I have yet to develop a system for getting the most useful results back to myself at home (I know, it's so silly that I haven't just started e-mailing myself the links. What the frig is wrong with me?), I tend to forget where I found things. After a bout of rough-and-tumble cursory Googling, here are some links I remember looking at earlier that were helpful:

• Instructables: Homemade Laundry Detergent
• The Simple Dollar: Making Your Own Laundry Detergent: A Detailed Visual Guide - this article not only has plenty of pictures and detailed instructions, but he even does a cost breakdown comparing the DIY detergent to store-bought in terms of cost-per-load.
• Detox Your Home: In the Laundry Room, Part 1 - this isn't a guide to making your own detergent, but rather details some of the ecological and health-related reasons why you might want to consider doing so.
• Planet Green: Make Your Own Laundry Soap
• diy Natural: Jabs Homemade Laundry Detergent - another cost breakdown, plus some helpful comments from readers.

From what I understand, the Fels Naptha soap mentioned in most of these articles is a petroleum-based product, so that's probably something I'll avoid. I think I remember reading that the Zote is as well, but don't quote me on that. Several commenters mentioned using Dr. Bronner's bar soaps instead, which, since they are castile soaps, would eliminate the petroleum issue.

Another common additive is baking soda as part of the soap recipe and white distilled vinegar as a fabric softener. Apparently the vinegar dissolves any soap residue in the clothes, which is part of what makes them stiff without the use of fabric softener. The smell completely disappears once the clothes are dry, and it helps to keep the drains in the washing machine clear of gunk. As for avoiding static cling, Grinning Planet says you can do this by stopping the dryer before clothes are fully dry and allowing them to air-dry the rest of the way. I imagine this would save a bit on the electric bill as well!

Most people seem to find that using a food processor with a grater blade is more efficient than grating by hand. A few people said they use "Salad Shooters" they found at thrift stores. Still other people say they microwave the soap or let it sit out to dry for a long time before grating it because dried-out soap crumbles into a much finer powder.

Our washing machine is an HE model, which, if I understand correctly, needs to use soaps that don't suds up as much. Since everything I've read indicates that DIY laundry soap doesn't suds up at all, it should be a non-issue. I'll do a bit more research before plugging ahead and see what I can find. Hopefully I'll be able to try it soon!

Not into the Oil Cleansing Method?

It's cool. What works for me may not work for you. I will suggest, however, that products like Clean n' Clear might not be your best option; for instance, Clean and Clear Morning Burst Detoxifying Facial Cleanser scores pretty badly on the Cosmetics Database, meaning it's got some toxic ingredients. I also find that products like that can  be really harsh and drying on the skin.

My reasons for loving the oil cleansing method are explained in my post on the matter, but if you are really not digging the idea, there are other things you can do to keep your face clean that don't involve oil blends.

• Face washes with tea tree oil are a good option for people with acne troubles or complexions that are oilier than they might like (though keep in mind that excessive oiliness may be the result of using harsh soaps to try to strip oil from the skin). I have this one in my shower right now and I use it every once in a while, though it can be a liiiittle bit drying for me. I tend to only use it when I'm having breakout issues. It's pretty inexpensive and a little goes a long way! It doesn't suds up like other face washes, but it does the job beautifully (in fact, it's best to sever the mental link between suds and cleanliness. You don't need a lather to be clean).
• Think outside the drug store! Etsy or other sites with handmade goods often have great natural options available. This shop in particular has a few that look good. I have the Strawberry Face Scrub and it cleans and exfoliates really gently. My skin always looks so nice after I use that one. It's a bit pricier and the container is tiny, but you only have to use an itty bit of it and I also save it for special occasions because I am a cheapskate.
• It's okay to just use water all by itself. I started doing this when I was in a hurry but I find that it's actually pretty great. Just take some lukewarm water, splash it on your face, and use your (clean) fingertips to rub at your greasy spots (sides of the nose, chin, etc.) It helps break up concentrated areas of oiliness without stripping your face. Since I've almost completely stopped wearing makeup (it's too expensive and low on the priorities list), I don't have to worry about getting that off my face, and regular old water seems to do the trick pretty well. Here's some more anecdotal support for this method, if you can call it a method. Please note that using straight baking soda on your face as she mentions there is a bad idea, which the blogger says in a later post.

There ya go! Three easy (on the wallet and the skin) ways to keep your face clean  that don't involve bombing it with the harshest chemicals you can find. And as I've noted, I use a combo of ALL of these things and the oil cleansing method, and I feel like my face looks better than it ever has. It's all about doing what works for you on any given day.

Semi-Successful Experiment: Replacing antiperspirant with baking soda and corn starch

I realize that in sharing this I risk shunning by friends and family who are proponents of antiperspirant, but hopefully none of my personal relationships are so shaky as to be severed by any underarm-related decisions I may make now or in the future. Right? ... Right?!

As a person who wants to be considerate of others, I try to avoid producing offensive body odor as a general rule. I want people to smile when they see me coming, not wince. But even though the American Cancer Society says it ain't really a thang, the idea of antiperspirants makes me nervous. Plus I hate the idea of buying and throwing away all of that plastic packaging.

Enter le Google. I found this post by Angry Chicken about homemade deodorant, and it occurred to me that I didn't have to buy deodorant from the store. I don't know why making my own never occurred to me, but it hadn't. Her recipe looks awesome, but it involves lots of ingredients and steps and it's probably not that hard but I can be lazy and I wanted to find an easier solution. I still want to try that recipe someday (soon-ish, hopefully), but what I'm using in the meantime is way simpler.

I can't remember exactly where I came across this idea, but general googling led me to understand that you can use plain baking soda as a deodorant. Let me qualify that by saying that while using straight baking soda will work, it can be a bit harsh and irritating to the skin. So it's better to mix it with cornstarch, which makes it feel smoother and even provides some antiperspirant-like qualities, as it is somewhat absorbent. Shoot for a 6:1 ratio of corn starch to baking soda. I didn't really measure, to be honest, I just put more cornstarch than baking soda into a tupperware container, shook it up, and called it good.

It worked pretty well, but I have to say, I missed the nice smells you can get with conventional deodorant. So I took it one step further and bought a powder puff (to make me feel fancy when I apply the powder) and some scented body powder from BonnynClyde on Etsy. I take the scented powder and mix a little of it in with the baking soda/corn starch mixture. It doesn't change the texture or the effectiveness at all, but it makes it smell nice (in a pleasantly subtle way).

I still sweat a bit, which I don't mind too much because that's a thing your body does on purpose. I have occasionally noticed a bit of BO towards the end of particularly long work days, which can sometimes be exacerbated by the fabric of the shirt I am wearing, but I check myself on the regular to make sure I'm not ruining the olfactory lives of my coworkers. I'm currently trying to figure out a way to make this whole operation portable so I can do touchups if I'm going to be out for a long time. Other than that, this is an extremely cheap, "green" solution to a problem that had been bugging me since puberty, so I'm pretty happy.

Here's a post from The Greenest Dollar with a few other homemade deodorant ideas, if you're interested.