Want to have clean, shiny, silky, good-smelling hair without having to use detergent-based shampoo??

So do I.

I have tried, really I have!  But so far, no luck.  I hit rock bottom the other week when my boyfriend said “You know, your hair really doesn’t look very good.”  Which means it must have been really obviously greasy for him to even notice it!

The rest of my beauty detox is going pretty well.  I’m loving making bath treats (like bath bombs, body scrub and herbal bath bags), infused oils and lovely scented creams.  I’m even dealing with my homemade toothpaste and experimenting with face cleansers.  But my hair has been much less successful.

In internet land, there is a cult of “No ‘Poo” converts who preach wonderfully manageable hair by stopping shampoo completely.  I read a great summary of how to go shampoo … Read the rest of this post >>

Do you want to detox your beauty routine? Reduce the amount of chemicals you put on your body?  Use greener products?

If you watched the Story of Cosmetics and want to clean up your act, here are 9 easy tips on how to green your beauty routine.

Inventory what you actually use – Spend a few minutes on a product inventory.  What do you have? What do you actually use?  Rather than throwing out the unused products, maybe you can do a product swap with a friend.  Figure out what your essentials are, and then… Multitask – Lots of times one product can fill multiple needs.  Do you need separate moisturizer for body, feet and hands?  Or separate face, neck and eye creams?  How about using hair conditioner as shaving cream?  Or using some lipstick as a cheek color? Buy less stuff – Buying fewer … Read the rest of this post >>

We’re a few weeks into the Beauty Detox, and I wanted to give you an update on my current beauty routine.   If you remember, I did a product inventory and found my 28 frequently used products.  Here’s the original list, and what natural substitutions I’m using at the moment.  I’m not totally happy with all of these products yet so this list will change during the year.  Overall, I’m finding them just as easy to use as the store-bought kind – they just require a bit of work up front to make!

Face cleanser – I made a cleansing cream, recipe to come soon. Face scrub – almond oatmeal cleansing grains from Rosemary Gladstar’s book Face moisturizer – using a lightweight sage and yarrow moisturizer from the Natural Beauty Book Acne spot treatment – using teatree or lavender oil Facial mask – using honey as … Read the rest of this post >>

If you want to lighten the chemical load of your beauty routine, how do you know which ingredients to avoid?

First, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database.  You can look up any of your existing products to see their rank on the toxicity scale (0-10, 10 being most toxic).  While they don’t state which products to avoid, you can us the information to set your own threshold.   During this beauty detox I won’t use anything higher than a 5 (and hopefully won’t have to use many purchased products at all, if I can help it!).   My biggest surprise was that my favorite NARS blush scored a 7, and contains BHA which is a known immune system toxin, possible carcinogen and has been banned in Europe.  And I used it daily for about 7 years.  Awesome!

Also check out their What Not to … Read the rest of this post >>

I’m struggling a bit with my skincare routine, and it’s starting to show in my face.  I’m especially missing my concealer to cover the dark circles and spots.  And the spots are abounding.  I attribute this to the fact that my skin is a product testing ground at the moment.  Every few days I’m trying a different homemade cleanser or moisturizer, and it’s not going well.

My new plan will be to pick a couple of homemade products, and try them for several weeks at a time.  After all, I do have a whole year to experiment.

So, my first ‘stick to it product’ is going to be a homemade toner or astringent.  We’re having warm summer weather here in England, and I really need a decongesting product to keep away the greasies.

This recipe for Queen of Hungary water has intrigued me for awhile.  I found this … Read the rest of this post >>