Review on Shampoo/I am crazy. :)

This is more jumbled then the last two. Sorry.
     A review on the shampoo is a bit more difficult, because I am not conditioning my hair. Another reason this is not as easy to give a review on is because I recently just started using bar soap. I know everyone out there is probably thinking I'm crazy. I also know in the past I have banned my brothers from using bar soap, but I am using gentle handmade or natural soap with lots of oils and such. :-)
      I have been quite happy with the way my hair has been acting. The first day took me aback, I mean, it was a bit frizzy and such... But the next time I used the natural stuff instead I had smooth hair that behaved - at least as much as my hair will behave lol. One of my girlfriends at work couldn't believe I wasn't using conditioner or anything. I think that first day was my hair getting used to being clean without extra chemicals and such. If I had longer hair I'd probably use the shampoo I made, but with my hair being so short I feel like it is just easier to use the bar. My mom says she likes the shampoo, though, and she is not as hippie etc as I am. :-)
     Another thing I love so much about using this method is that I can smell like any essential oil or combination of essential oils that I want, and I prefer those scents to most other scents found in shampoos and soaps.
  A VERY convenient aspect of my new routine is my new ability to feel comfortable going to a shower (as long as I don't need to shave) armed only with a bar of soap, vs soap for the face plus soap for the body, along with shampoo AND conditioner. Quite a difference!
      So! My review and opinion on the use of natural soap/shampoo is that it is worth it. I have a hard time figuring out if it is better value or not, but I feel like if is more, it isn't by too much. This choice does make my hair more manageable, making my life easier. Also, this stuff smell great, making my shower time a better experience. :-) 
     Final decision: this is a change I will stick with.

My Opinion on My Homemade, Natural Deodorant.

So, I all but promised an update. The deodorant seems to be the most logical choice. I had already been using a deodorant spray that uses mineral salt and aloe vera for areas other then my armpits. 

Application for the homemade deodorant is simple, almost just like store-bought stuff. The only real difference is that you have to warm it up in your pit a little before trying to rub it in as (like I mentioned previously) it is kept in the fridge. So far it is working better then the stuff I've been buying…. and I buy the "good" stuff! I really haven't noticed a point where I start to smell, and sometimes I sweat a LOT.

As I sweat throughout the day the first thing I start to smell it the coconut oil, so if coconut is not a smell you like then this deodorant is not for you! At times, later in the day, I can smell a whiff of the essential oils I added. I don't know if I feel anymore wet OR dry then normal, but it is not enough for me to get bothered by it, and getting too sweaty/smelly is something I am pretty conscious about…..

I am a fan of the deodorant spray I am using as well. I plan on continuing to use that product. :)

SO. To wrap it up… Overall I feel that in regards to performance this is a better choice. Considering you can get almost a quart of coconut oil for less then $7, that the other ingredients are SUPER cheap (especially in the quantities used), and that this yielded more then a normal-sized "stick" of deodorant, it is a better choice value wise. Just add that this is a more natural, and I'm thinking more eco-friendly choice this is MORE then worth the fact you have to store it in the fridge. :) Totally great and easy way to dip your toes into to natural and/or diy water. :)

Hippie at Heart - Making Toothpaste, Deodorant, and Shampoo

     I am what I refer to as a hippie at heart. I love the idea of being more natural and environmentally friendly, but I am so sold on convenience. With a busy college and work schedule as well as the lack of money associate with going to school I thought becoming more environmentally friendly just wasn't something I could make a priority. The upside to my situation is that I am pretty adventurous, willing to try almost anything at least once, and usually giving whatever I am trying a sporting chance. Wait, I may have lead y'all astray just a bit…. I'll give most things a try as long as it doesn't take too much time or effort lol.

     My favorite cream shaving cream (Eos, I LOVE their lip balm as well) was getting hard to justify shelling out dough for, so I started a google search for homemade shaving cream. As Google often does, it was completing my sentence for me, and one of the options was homemade shampoo…. I was intrigued and tired (leading to easy distraction) so I temporarily abandoned my original search and persued this new idea. Upon investigation it took just a few ingredients to make this shampoo, and already owning my favorite essential oils meant I could have it smell like peppermint and lavender, AWESOME! In my distraction I also stumbled across homemade deodorant. I set out the next day to obtain some ingredients. I went to HEB first, but the location I went to was lacking. I could have likely gone to the less ghetto one, but a natural food store was closer, and I DO like supporting the local economy. :)

     I am glad I decided on the natural food store instead of the other HEB because the employees where even able to give me all kinds of help, including discussing a recipe for toothpaste. The toothpaste only required maybe one item I wasn't planning on getting already, so I decided I was going to try that as well. 

     Ever the passionate, excited person that I am I tweeted and facebooked about making my own shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste. I made my mother some tea tree shampoo first (she loved some tea tree shampoo she had obtained one time, but couldn't justify spending  so much on it regularly), then proceeded to make the other care items for myself. The number one thing I was pleased and shocked about was how easy it all was to do. I literally just poured a few things in a bottle for the shampoo. The hardest one was the deodorant, and that because with it's relatively low melting temperature it was difficult to get it into the old deodorant tube I had washed out without just a bit off mess. Other positives include getting to smell like whatever combination of essential oils I want, the sheer amount of deodorant yielded (a good bit more then a normal tube) and then of course the fact that all of this is more environmentally friendly and natural. The biggest 3 cons I have found is that I literally have to keep my deodorant in the fridge, and that I don't yet have a convenient way to bring my toothpaste in my backpack and that the toothpaste isn't exactly tasty. So as far as I'm concerned, no major problems. 

     I will be posting later some more information on how these, and other more environmentally-friendly choices I have made/tried are working. :) ta-ta!