I can’t believe how much my personal care routine has changed in these past few months.  I use far fewer products, spend less time in the bathroom, and my counters and cabinets are much more organized!  Now that we’re a few months into the Beauty Detox, I thought I’d share an update on my routine.

Here are the 28 “essential” products I was using before the beauty detox.  (28?! “essential”?!  wow. How things have changed in a few months!)

Here were the substitutions I started with.

And here’s what I’m doing now:

• Teeth: I’m still using my sage tooth powder, but I also alternate with a natural peppermint tooth powder I bought at a bio shop in France.
• Body Moisturizer: Almond oil mixed with a few drops essential oil.  I like geranium essential oil.  Or frangipani.  I keep this pre-mixed in a pretty bottle on the counter.  I like that it’s really easy to make, so I can try lots of different scent combinations … for a former product-junkie like me, this is important so I don’t get ‘bored’.
• Body: Shower with castille soap.  Getting a bit bored of this. I think I’ll buy unscented next time, and add my own essential oils!  Using natural crystal deodorant.
• Face – morning: Rinse with water.  Every couple of days, I do a baking-soda scrub.  Just make a paste with baking soda and water, and scrub!  Face moisturizer – just a little coconut oil in dry spots. (My skin is generally on the oily side.)  Ok ok, I haven’t totally given up makeup, but I’m only using Bare Escentuals products, which I think are pretty natural.  I’m not using this toner in the winter, but will probably start again in warmer weather.
• Face – evening: After a bad bout of breakouts, I’ve finally found a routine that works for me.   I’m using the Oil Cleansing Method (google it for more info, I’ll write about it soon) on my face every evening.  I also do a face mask at least once a week, usually a honey mask, but I also use green clay when I feel like my skin needs a deep cleaning.
• Hair: I finally figured out the secret to living shampoo free!  Of course, I still wash my hair (breathe a sigh of relief!), but without shampoo.  You can read the details of natural haircare here.

I admit I cheated a couple of times.

I cheated and used hair dye.  I know, that’s the most toxic of toxic products!!!  But it was a weak moment.  I’ve since bought several types of henna, and am going to experiment with those soon.

I’ve also used real anti-perspirant a couple of times, for stressful work days when I couldn’t take the risk of mine not working.

So what’s next?

I want to make my own peppermint tooth powder.  I’d like to make a wider variety of body creams and scrubs.  And more bath bombs. I absolutely loved these lavender bath bombs, and want to start making them in different scents and shapes.  Now that I’ve got the basics covered, I want to experiment with spa-type indulgences – things that aren’t necessary, but that make bath time fun!

What products would you like a natural alternative for?? Let me know what you want, and I’ll test some handmade versions!

You might remember when I started my quest for shiny, bouncy hair without shampoo … it was angst filled and stressful!

But finally, after a couple of months of bad-hair-days, I have solved the mystery to going shampoo-free.  My hair is soft, super shiny, and has good natural wave.  Amazing!

Before I get to that – let’s quickly recap why you might consider ditching your shampoo.

1) More shampoo = more greasies. The theory here is that normal shampoo is a detergent, so it does a really good job removing oil from your hair.  That’s why your hair is so bouncy & shiny right after shampooing.  But then your scalp freaks out because there isn’t any natural oil, and starts producing oil like crazy, giving you greasy hair … so you wash again, and the cycle continues.

You might have noticed that if you wash your hair daily, you HAVE to wash it daily. But if you start training your hair to go 2 days, or 3 days between shampoos, it doesn’t get all that greasy in-between.

Stopping shampoo has similar results – you still ‘wash’, but with baking soda & vinegar, and your hair stays in a happy balance.

2) Shampoos are loaded with chemicals. Standard shampoos usually contain icky ingredients like Sodium Laureth Sulphate, DEA, and artificial fragrances (which is a generic term that can hide a multiude of sins).  If you want to know more, here are some chemicals you might want to avoid in your beauty products.

3) Simplify your life! One less product to buy, store, carry while travelling.  Plus, needing to wash your hair less often saves tons of time!

4) Think of Grandma – all of this daily hair washing is a relatively new invention.  Somehow people lived for millenia without commercial shampoo, and without greasy, stringy hair either.  Remember how your grandma had her hair ‘done’ only once a week?  Seriously, if you let your hair do its thing, it might surprise you.

So how did I make the transition to no shampoo?

I tried the baking soda and vinegar plan before (see this article for complete instructions) but didn’t have much luck.  Then I switched to all-natural, organic shampoos while I was working up the courage to try it again.  This article from Crunchy Betty inspired me to give it another try.

What did I do differently this time?

* Give your hair an adjustment period before going No ‘poo.  First switch to natural (non-detergent) shampoo.  Then try going 2 or 3 (or more) days between shampoos and let your hair adjust to less-frequent washes.  Then you can eliminate the shampoo completely.

* Patience!  Pick a week when you don’t have any big meetings/events to eliminate shampoo.  You’ll need at least a week, if not 2 or 3, where you’ll have a lot of ‘ponytail’ days.  The first week  I didn’t wash my hair at all, and it was ugly.  Not horrible, I did leave the house, but a bit greasy and definitely not silky and shiny.  After that first week, things improved dramatically.

* Dissolve the teaspoon of baking soda in warm/hot water, and make sure it’s really dissolved!  Then pour it through your wet hair, massage into your scalp, and rinse, rinse, rinse!  At first I was using cold water so the baking soda never really dissolved – and it got all gritty on my scalp.  I suppose that could be an exfoliant of sorts, but not really what I was looking for in a shampoo!

* If you’re still struggling – check your water.  We moved house between my first and second attempts … and the water seems to make a huge difference!  In our old house the water was very hard, and my hair always felt tangled.  In this new house I can rinse out the baking soda and my hair is really soft & smooth.  If you do have hard water, try using boiled-and-cooled water to rinse your hair and see if it helps!

Are you thinking about ditching your shampoo? Have you tried it? Let us know your experiences in the comments!

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 free with lots of positive comments.  Unfortunately it hasn’t worked for me.  Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

1) Baking Soda – Following these instructions, I washed my hair with baking soda dissolved in water, then rinsed well.  While rinsing, I could barely get my fingers through my hair it was so stuck together – not a pleasant feeling!  When dry, I liked a bit of the texture it gave my hair (lots of natural curls and no flyaways) but it definitely looked greasy, and not shiny.  I tried this for a couple of weeks, and it didn’t seem to improve!

2) Homemade herbal shampoo – I got this recipe from my Rosemary Gladstar book – it’s a combination of castille soap and a herbal infusion (rosemary and sage for my brunette hair).  Smells good.  Foams very little.  Slightly more clean feeling hair than with the baking soda, but still not very good!  Still left my roots looking greasy.

I read somewhere online that if you have very hard water (which we do in London), you should rinse with distilled (or boiled then cooled) water.  I will try this when I get up the courage to test the baking soda again!

I’m a bit frustrated at the moment.  I love the idea of having low-maintenance hair, and being able to travel without numerous hair products … so I really want this to work!  But so far it has just been a greasy disaster.

Have any of you successfully gone shampoo-free? How did you do it?  Please send any tips & tricks my way.

For the moment, I’m going to start testing organic/natural shampoos from the health food store… stay tuned!