Natural Shampoo: Does it work?

I haven't used any synthetic moisturiser or cleanser on my face for a number of weeks now, (following a horrible allergic reaction to a 'posh' skincare cream).  My facecloth, witch hazel and walnut oil routine is proving to be ideal for my face.  And this got me thinking about my haircare routine.

I do like my hair to look nice (who doesn't?) and over the years I have gone through several phases of using expensive shampoos and conditioner sets, to then swinging to buying whatever is on offer at the supermarket.  My current shampoo has been dictated by what is on bulk-buy at the wholesaler we use. 

But in a desire to reduce the rubbish I am putting on my skin and to reduce the rubbish I am producing (check out the picture of the shocking pile of plastic bottles I have for recycling at the moment!!) I stumbled upon the idea of using soap nuts to wash my hair.

I have been a recent convert to soapnuts for washing my clothes.  They are the fruit of the Soapberry Tree, which is dried and harvested by hand in India and Indonesia Check out Living Naturally Soap Nuts for more info..  By my thought process they must be better for the environment than synthetically produced, plastic bottled, water polluting, detergents.

The information blurb that comes with the soapnuts has pretty much 101 uses for soapnuts!  One of which is as a shampoo.  So, always up for a challenge, I thought I would give it a go. 

Turning the soapnuts into shampoo couldn't have been easier.  You just had to put 15-20 nuts in six cups of hot water, bring the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes are up, you simply wait for it to cool down, then add a few drops of your favourite essential oil (I used ylang ylang) and bottle it all up.  I had too much for one bottle so put the spare into labelled glass jars, ready to refill the plastic bottle.

So, what was the result?  I washed my hair last night.  The soapnut shampoo did not lather at all (I expected this, as the blurb warns you it won't). So I treated it like conditioner, by pouring it on my hair, rubbing in, then leaving for a couple of mins, before rinsing out.

I then used an apple cider vinegar rinse.  Basically a few spoonfuls of cider vinegar diluted in glass of cold water, poured over my hair (I did this over the sink; I am not brave enough to pour cold water over myself in the shower!)  This is an old-style treatment for hair that I have read about lots of times, so wanted to try it instead of conditioner.

And you know what, my long hair is soft and shiny and smells fresh and clean.  So it worked.  (I doubled checked the smell with JW, who didn't know what I had been using, and he confirmed my hair smelt 'very nice'.  So no trace of vinegar then!) 

I will keep using the soapnut shampoo and vinegar rinse for a couple of weeks and report back on it's success or failure in the longer term!

Easy on the honey: Natural skincare

My new regime of using only natural Witch Hazel and Almond Oil on my face is going well.  The extreme dryness (caused by a reaction to a really 'posh' skincare cream I was given) is abating. 

Cheered by these results I wanted to try a natural skin polish, in order to help get rid of those last pesky flaky skins cells.  So last night I mixed up some honey with a teaspoon of porridge oats, added a little dash of milk, to the mix to help with the consistency and then rubbed the mix onto my face.  I was really dubious about this, but had read so many times about this type of mix that I thought it would be worth giving it and go.  And it absolutely was! 

The whole process was a bit messy, as the oats dropped off as I used them, so I had to lean over the bathroom sink to catch the mess.  But as I worked the oats on my skin, the oats became really soft and the honey mix meant that it really glided over my skin.  It felt absolutely gorgeous! 

I used one of my trusty face-cloths to wash the mix off and my skin felt really super smooth afterwards.  I even had to get JW to feel it, so that he could check-out the difference too, (he humoured me and made the appropriate confirmation of softness; he is a good husband!)

It only took a couple of minutes to mix up (if that) and another couple of minutes to rub on and wash off.  100% natural, quick, cheap, packaging free and effective.  What is not to like!  Oats, Honey and Milk Mix will now be part of my regular routine.

Make-up, Make-up, Make-up; Is there a more natural approach to skincare?

I have to admit that I am not a big make-up user.  A bit of concealer, a swipe of mascara and rub of lip-balm and that's about your lot.  When I was a teenager and then a twenty-something, I definitely spent lots of money on lotions and potions to (supposedly) make me look better; I would feel the pull of the make-up counter a mile off.  Whenever we were in town, my sister and I used to have a saying about going to Boots (Chemist and Cosmetics mecca of the UK), it went "Do you need to go to Boots?"  standard reply, "Of course I do, there is always something that you need in Boots!!!".

But, as I have got older I feel that the whole luxury, must-have, cosmetics industry, endorsed by beautiful celebrities, is a major rip-off.  And I don't like the way that it plays on women's concerns and worries about their looks.

However, that said, as I am about to turn 34, I do feel that I should start taking better care of my skin.  A quick rub with a face-cloth just isn't cutting it!  When I look in the mirror now, I can see that wrinkles are beginning to show around my eyes and although I don't really mind that, I also don't want to age really quickly and end up looking older than I am.  Ageing gracefully is the name of the game!

As part of my New Year's Resolutions I pledged to spend more time doing things that I really want to do; and spending a bit more time looking after myself fits that bill.

With that in mind, I was really pleased to receive a bag of expensive goodies from my mother-in-law, from a really well known cosmetics' brand.  She had got them as a freebie with her usual moisturiser.  I pounced on them gratefully and immediately slapped on the 24-hour-amazing-miracle-wonder-moisture-balm along with the shrink-your-bags-in-a-blink-of-an-eye-cream.  Feeling rather good, I went about my business with the knowledge that my skin was now being well looked after.  Alas, within a short time I felt that my face was mildly itchy and when I looked in the mirror later on, I saw that it had swollen up over my cheeks and under my eyes and was all red and blotchy.  I had taken an allergic reaction to something in the creams; not a good look!

That was a couple of days ago and my face has calmed down since then.  Though I won't be using that brand again!  Instead I got to thinking that there must be a more natural way to look after my skin.  I have been reading an old fashioned mother's handbook lately and it mentions skincare lotions made up of ingredients such as beeswax, almond and avocado oil.  So, I set off for the supermarket to pick up a bottle of Almond Oil and some Witch Hazel, which I remember an old friend swearing by.

I found the Almond Oil in the cooking oil aisle and the Witch Hazel in the medical aisle, and purchased both for about £1.50 each.  Which is a whole lot cheaper than a pot of even the most basic moisturiser.  I used them last night and this morning and my skin is feeling better already.  The Almond Oil is great for my dry dehydrated skin on my forehead, cheeks and under eyes.  I just pour a really small amount onto my hand and rub it lightly into my skin, (I figure that this way is a whole lot less faffy than making up a handmade skin balm).  While the Witch Hazel is calming down the irritation caused by the expensive cream, I am simply applying that with a cotton wool pad.

I now have plans for natural facemasks and foot-soaks!  So more to follow.