Small Steps: All Natural Moisturizer

It's embarrassing to admit now, but when a Mary Kay Lady told me that the reason you're not supposed to mix and match skin care is because the differing formulas can react with each other and create "chemical warfare on your face", I believed her and imagined some logic there. Now, I wonder what I was thinking - shouldn't my first response have been "No way am I putting something on my face that is a viable contestant in chemical warfare!!"?

So when I dropped Mary Kay and started using up the last of my products, I knew for certain that whatever I replaced them with wouldn't come with any crazy warnings. I'd find things that worked and were perfectly safe - no matter what else I used them with! Also on my list of crucial criteria was that any new products had to be something I could make myself; I'm done using products that other people can change the formula on or cycle out at their whim.

Enter the absolute easiest product change I have ever made: Coconut Oil Moisturizer. I was inspired by the recipes over on Crunchy Betty, but the one I use is ludicrously simple: melt organic virgin coconut oil and add a few drops of Tea Tree and Lavender essential oils. Pour into a pretty jar (with a lid) and let cool (it will solidify). To apply, rub your fingertips on the top of the oil, picking up a thin film. Apply to your face (again, very thinly). Done! (Note: this works best after washing your face with warm water or taking a shower.)

I've always had oily skin, so at first I recoiled from the idea of applying straight oil to my face. But counter-intuitively, this moisturizer actually makes my skin less oily. It absorbs completely into your skin (and if you put on too much, the excess just wipes off cleanly) and leaves you feeling soft and healthy. Both coconut oil and Tea Tree oil have anti-bacterial/anti-microbial properties that help prevent breakouts, which is a happy bonus.

All ingredients are completely safe things you should have around the house anyway, and you use so little that it lasts forever and costs pennies per day. This Small Step is going to save me a huge amount of money, time and hassle this year. I'm still working through my back-stock of cleanser, but I hope when the time comes to transition off of that as well I'm able to find an alternative as appealing and effective as this one!

Small Steps: All Natural Hair Care

I've always had long, fine hair. Years of working in food service put me solidly in the habit of washing it every day to scrub out the odor of rancid grease which, as you can imagine, was rather hard on my hair. My husband has always been more generous about buying me good shampoo and conditioner than I have been about buying or using it for myself.  It was painful for my frugal heart to cough up good money on products I then washed down the drain when they frequently failed to give me the cooperative, non-frizzy hair I wanted anyway.

I read a lot about natural hair care; there's a tremendous amount of information online and honestly, it's not all encouraging. People talk about the horrible detox phase as they strip years of gunk build up off their hair, the off smells from bad vinegar rinses, time spent making their own products, and online sources for buying six different ingredients you'd never otherwise have in the house.

Rosemary Mint Herbal Shampoo Bar from Frugally Sustainable

Finally, I found something that looked like it might work for me: all natural Shampoo Bars from Frugally Sustainable. (The first link takes you to the recipe to make your own, the second to her Etsy shop to buy them pre-made.)

I decided to give it a try in the middle of December while thoughts about Small Steps were fomenting in my head. Since I was working from home for a couple weeks, I figured if it all went badly and my hair was a train wreck it wouldn't matter - no one would see me! Lol.

When my shampoo bar arrived, it smelled amazing. (Several scents are available, and I chose Rosemary Mint.) I washed my hair every day, and definitely noticed a change in texture when I made the switch. It wasn't sticky, exactly, just kind of coarse - like I could feel the build up oozing out. Rather unappealing, but it only lasted about three days - far less than I'd expected. I also started using a Cider Vinegar Conditioning Rinse (1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water, plus a couple drops of the essential oils of your choice [optional] for scent).

What a difference! The texture of my hair has completely changed since I started this new regimen. It is dramatically softer, no longer gets oily or frizzy, and is less prone to static. As an unexpected bonus, I discovered that it didn't need to be washed every other day (as had been my practice the last couple months). I use the cider vinegar rinse every other day but I now wash my hair only once a week! If you'd told me two months ago that I'd ever say that, I'd have told you that you were crazy! 

Needless to say, this Small Step has resulted in even more positive results than I expected and I'm very happy. For $6 a bar (which will last forever, even with my long hair since I only have to use it once a week), I don't expect to get into making my own any time soon - I'll buy a handful, stash them in the closet and be good for the rest of the year. As for the rinse, it works out to $1 a gallon... I think I can handle that!

Quick Tips:

Don't skip the rinse - there are lots of rinses out there, including herbal based ones that are equally cheap and easy to make if you decide you don't like the vinegar option, but the shampoo doesn't condition alone so make sure you pick some kind of rinse to use with it. Also, seriously consider investing two bucks in a spray bottle for your rinse. It's faster and easier than pouring it on, and you won't waste any!

Use the right shampoo for your hair type - I got the rosemary mint because I liked the scent, but probably should have gotten lavender because I have lighter hair. It doesn't really matter, unless you color your hair though.

Lather first - lather the shampoo up in your hands and then apply to your head. Don't rub the bar directly on your head - it's hard to spread out and work in, and you'll use way more than you need. You can buy little mesh soap bar nets for $1 that make it super easy to work up a lather, if that helps.

Small Steps: Dropping Mary Kay

Sunday I introduced my new blog category Small Steps. Although it happened last summer/fall, I decided that my decision to drop Mary Kay needed to be included in this category because it is was a catalyst for several Small Steps I've taken already.

Three years ago, in a time of serious stress and transition in my life, I was introduced to the “Mary Kay Opportunity”. Despite niggling concerns I couldn't really pin down, I decided to become a consultant, primarily because I desperately needed something that would let me set my own schedule without requiring costly or time consuming training to get started in. So I began both selling and using MK cosmetics.

This past summer/fall, however, I officially ended that period of my life. There were lots of reasons that I won't get into here (though if you are approached about the “MK Opportunity” I strongly encourage you to check out PinkTruth.com first). In keeping with the Small Steps theme, however, I'm going to focus here on the discord between the kind of life I want to be leading and selling/using MK.

Mary Kay, for all their advertising, is not a “green” company. The products are not cheap, and there's an endless push to buy lots of them (to the point that new formulas often don't work if not used in conjunction with the corresponding products). You have to dig to find the ingredient lists, and the products uniformly receive unflattering safety reports from Skin Deep. The company isn't honest with its consultants, and engages in business practices I do not want my money going to support. This was an area in my life that needed a change. 

So I resolved to use up my remaining product (because I hate to be wasteful), and started asking myself questions. 

What do I want in skin care/cosmetics?

What kinds of ingredients are safe, sustainable and healthy?

Do I have to be beholden to a company for this stuff? If people made their own cosmetics for centuries before modern companies took over the market, why can't I?

Since you can't take Small Steps without the right information, I'd like to share some of facts:

• Although cosmetics are a regulated industry, many skin care and cosmetic products contain dangerous or unhealthy ingredients. (Check out Skin Deep for product assessments and industry info.)
  
  
• Many products have all natural substitutes that are easy and inexpensive to make yourself or that can be purchased online from ethical, independent small businesses. (The sugar scrub I posted recently is a great example of this – why pay a spa or mall store big bucks for something you can do safer and more cheaply yourself?)
  
  
• Quality matters. Toxins that seep through our skin from cosmetic and skin care products can be just as toxic and bad for us as eating food that's full of junk. Whether you make your own products or buy them, it's important to pay attention to the ingredients.
  
  
• Finally, both personal experience and reading other people's experiences suggests that one of the biggest hurdles in switching skin care or cosmetic products is warped expectations! We are all so used to the consistencies, claims and containers of modern companies that initial forays into alternatives can feel odd just because they're so different. If you want to explore changes in this area of your life, go into with an open mind and make sure you're assessing products on their efficacy and “fit” rather than on how they compare to what you've used in the past.

This got long, so I'll end here, but stay tuned for info on the great alternatives I've found so far!

Lemon Sugar Scrub

Thoughts of transitioning to natural, non-toxic personal care products have been often on my mind in recent months. Initially, it stemmed from reading about the debut of Mary Kay's latest skin care line. Although it took the company years to roll it out, neither consultants nor customers were happy when it arrived. They'd long been asking for something natural. Something completely free of questionable ingredients that would fit the rest of their healthy lifestyle choices. What they got was nothing of the sort.

It was enough to spark my curiosity - I blame the business major in me. Was this another case of bad management through obliviousness and arrogance? Could it really be that complicated to create quality personal care products at a reasonable cost? Surely with the centuries that people had been self-reliant before mega-industry took over production of every category of goods there had to have been simple, reliable recipes using safe and basic ingredients that could serve as models!

As it turns out, the interwebs are ablaze with creative and smart women who asked exactly that same question - and answered with a plethora of simple, healthy and fantastic products that fit the bill. I've been quite pleased with what I've discovered so far, and want to share one of my finds: Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub from Under the Table and Dreaming. It's simple, completely safe and natural, and (happily) cheap to make! It can be easily customized to a different scent if you'd like, as well.

I look forward to sharing what I learn as I continue to slowly transition our home off of as many toxic commercial products to homemade, customized, healthy options wherever I can.

(If you're a Pinterest fan, get a sneak peak at what's on my to-be-experimented-with list by following my Holistic Beauty board!)