Shampoo or real poo ?

Right now, it's hot. I mean really hot. I mean everything's sliding off my face and the butter is liquid and even the cat looks hot-hot. Is it a sin to wish for Autumn? I've never been a summer person since I was a child, oh dear - how I long for misty, moisty mornings and the crunch of leaves under foot and skies that go all the way to the moon and back - ahh well!

In the spirit of the heat, I'm trying two things today - home made deodorant and home made honey shampoo. Both may provoke an 'ugh' reaction, but both commercial versions have a lot of gunk in them, not to mention aluminum particles in the case of deodorant which have been linked to breast cancer.

Not so yuck perhaps?

Well, I thought I'd give it a go. First of all, this is not an antiperspirant. If you sweat a lot, then there are other things to try such as diet and clothing which might help first - I find that I'm not a heavy sweater so that's why I'm prepared to give this a go. On the hottest day of the year. Oh well!

 To make it is easy-peasy I have to say. It uses baking soda in order to get rid of B.O, and then organic oils as the carrier.
It's a blend of 3 table spoons of coconut oil and 2 table spoons of cocoa butter or shea butter, with either 3 table spoons of baking soda and 2 of arrowroot powder, or just 5 of baking soda, which is what I used. Of course you can add scent by using essential oils, which yet I don't have so I went for vanilla essence which goes really well with the coconut and chocolate scents of the rest of it.
You simply add the oil and butters to a jar, stand it in a saucepan of water and simmer until they've melted, then stir in the baking soda and the scent. Job done.

Once it's cooled, you then have to decide how to apply, and that's easy -   get your wicked commercial deodorant, prize out the ball, wash everything, fill with your own mix and push the ball back in. Ta da!

Does it work?

 Well, it was the hottest day of the year and yes, I did sweat. But it didn't smell bad at all and I wasn't aware of the wetness. And I can say that now I'm sitting here post shower without having applied any deodorant, I can smell myself more now than earlier - which is probably too much information!




And now onto the 'shampoo.'

Having read up on this and people talking about the 'no-poo' method using baking soda, I've decided that's not for me, so I'm going back to honey again.

I steeped rosemary and lavender in boiling water for a few hours, then strained the water into a jar to keep in the fridge. A lot of people say you need to give your hair up to two months to adjust to not using commercial detergents on your hair, during which time you may need to wash every day - so I figured I'd need it.

The make the shampoo, I add three parts of the water ( 3 tablespoons) to a tablespoon of honey. I also rub some neat coconut oil into the ends of my hair a half hour before washing. Once the shampoo is mixed up well, you wet your hair well and then use it by rubbing it into your scalp and through your hair, it is more liquid than conventional shampoo and no lather. Then you rinse well with warm water them cold.
I've then set my hair to dry in pin curls, as I figured if it's going to be grease for a few weeks then it will look better curled - and......well, got to wait until morning for it to dry, but is combed through fine and smells lovey.

I'm not looking forwards to the adjustment period, but we'll see how we go tomorrow.

And finally - rubbing a few drops of olive oil on your legs, armpits and elsewhere before shaving works wonders - easy shave and lovely smooth legs and....elsewhere!