Homemade Wood Floor Cleaner

I am a bit anal about cleanliness. On top of that I'm extremely organized. It makes for a perfectly run house. If I was a wife and mother, I'd get an award for House Manager of the Year! :)

One of my favorite things about my last three apartments has been the wood floors. If I don't own the place, carpet scares me. Therefore I have been lucky enough to have wood floors.

Let me tell you my method of cleaning my floors.

First I sweep the floor.
Second, I sweep the floor. Again.
Third, I dry swiffer it. (Yes, swiffers are not eco friendly, but if you know a none-gross alternative, let me know. I've asked Eco Mama and she's looking into it too!) I dry swiffer after two floor sweeps because the broom doesn't pick up everything.
Fourth, I wet swiffer.
Fifth, I use a wood cleaner.

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Yea. That's how I "sweep" my floors once a week. And even still, I feel like there's crude on the floor or something. I need to stop wearing shoes in my apartment completely!

With this method, you can easily see how un-sustainable that is. Right now, I'm not willing to change the whole swiffer section. Finding a cloth type thing and touching it and washing it grosses me out. Plus I'd need a whole load of cloths to wash to justify washing one. I could never mix it with my regular laundry. Yuck!

The part I'm willing to change, if the wood cleaner. I want a homemade recipe. And seeing as to how anal I am, you do know, it has to be exceptional.

On Ehow, they had a simple recipe for Wood Cleaner.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of vinegar
• 1 gallon of water
• A few drops of your favorite essential oil (I threw that in there)

Preparation

•  Mix ingredients together
• Dip sponge mop in cleaning solution
• Squeeze until mop is almost dry
• Rinse mop out frequently (while cleaning)

 Another recipe on EHow, explains a Tea Wood Cleaner.

Ingredients

• 10 tea bags
• 1/2 gallon of water.

Preparation

• Same as the vinegar and water mixture, except let the tea steep until very strong.

This tea wood cleaner would be great, if I didn't love my tea. Seriously, the tea i drink is an investment. It would make the light of heart faint. I don't want to use it to clean my floors. Its a great idea to use one thing for many different purposes. I currently use my conditioner as my shaving cream. No, its not the luxurious men's brand that I used to use from The Body Shop. But its effective and moisturizing. But the idea of putting my high quality tea on my floors. That's just not going to work.

After a couple searches, I think I'm going to use some sort of combo of vinegar, water, lemon juice, castille soap and essential oil to create my perfect wood floor cleaner. We will see what happens.What I love about this mix is that all the ingredients are already in my pantry. I don't have to purchase a single thing. Don't you just love that.

A simple google search yields tons of recipes. As I often do, I'll find something, mix it up a bit and put my own spin on it. I'll let you know how it turns out. How do you clean your wood floors? What essential oil should I add to the mix so my apartment doesn't smell like vinegar? Or is the vinegar so powerful, that adding essential oils would be fruitless?

simplehuman and simple people

 Are you aware of simplehuman products? I really enjoy them. The quality is impeccable. The aesthetics please me. The efficency to make my life at work and home, saves time. It's an organizational lover's fantasy. And considerings the quality, the cost is relative.

I just purchased another product by simplehuman and it made me wonder what their sustainable standards are. I've started becoming REAL picky about where I buy things from. I put aside convienence to make a statement with my money. "Oh you suck as a company, then you won't ever get my money again," I say to them in my head. People are going to always buy stuff. (Listen, I'm all for creating my own products, but unless you know a good way to 'create" a toilet brush cleaner", the I have to buy it. And until I have a massive garden, I have to buy food. And so it goes. Since I have to buy, I perfer to be an eco conscious consumer as much as possible.)

As I purchased two more simplehuman products for home..this puts me at 5 things, I wondered who they were as a company. I know they promote recycling like its nobody's business and they also promote public health safety.

But what are the conditions of their factories? What are the workes exposed to? What do they do with their waste water? Do they use all virgin materials? What kind of food do they serve in their breakrooms? What is their carbon footprint? It would be great if this company where completely sustainable. Then I wouldn't even hesistate to purchase some of their most expensive brands.

"Green" has been the it term for the last few years. I am grateful for that because its made my professional research much easier since everyone wants on the bandwagon. But being "green" is more than eating organic fruit and drinking from a cup made of corn.

Living a life of sustainability touches every aspect of your life. Are you an eco-conscious eater? Not just vegetarian or farm raised meat eater. But do you eat locally and in season as well? Are you an eco-conscious shopper? Do you know how much energy is required to maintain your life?

Listen, I think its cute that everyone wants to recycle now. But I think it would be beyond powerful if everybody raised their level of consciousness a little higher than that.

This isn't meant to demean anyone. There are aspects of my life where the level of my tree-huggingness is so high, I'm practically makes salads with the leaves. And then there are other areas of my life, where I'm the one with the chainsaw just hacking away.

Are you conscious of how you live? I'm afraid many people are not. And that's scarier than an ocean full of trash.

Alikay Naturals - Product Review

The philosophy surrounding the maintenance of my hair changed a few months back. This is personal growth for me.

I started wearing my hair natural instead of chemically straightening it so that I could become even lazier. I thought if I wore my natural curls, I wouldn't have to actually do my hair. I could just wake up and go. That's the perfect world. I never ever have to touch my hair. Unfortunately that's not realistic unless I just completely shave my head and trust me, considering how godly Erykah Badu looks, I'm always tempted to go there.

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Over the past year, I've learned just how important it is to take care of my health. But I also placed semi importance on taking care of body. Health...brush teeth, wash face, stay clean, eat right. Blah Blah Blah. Taking care of my body...hmmm, I'm not sure of the right terminology. It's the sort of thing of using body butter to moisturize my skin. That sort of thing. (Not particular about my health but not as superficial as makeup and clothes) As much as I was moisturizing my skin, I was just saying whatever to my hair. I wouldn't wash it for weeks. (Not as gross as you think.) I hardly ever added moisture..not even water. I wore it big and puffy and just never took care of it.

Now, I at least moisturize it and keep it pinned away 5 to 6 days out of the week. I'm not infactuated with styling, although I see amazing styles by women. I'm not infactuated with color, hair type, length or anything like that. Those things mean nothing. But keeping it healthy, moisturized and clean...that's simple and important to me.

For the last few months I've been intentional about moisturizing my hair. Mostly this just means adding water each day. I've been intentional about cleaning it. One a week I have a whole routine. And with that, my hair has thrived. I style it less, keep it pinned back and hardly let it wild out...but I know each night that its healthy just like my skin and such.

I've been in the market for some organic, natural and perferably homemade products for my hair. Therefore, I've been scouring the internet to find a shampoo, leave in conditioner, deep conditioner, detangling conditioner, and moisturizer.(Eventually I've make my own but I don't have the time right now.)

I found Black Onyx World. More specifically Alikay Naturals Hair Products.

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Black Onyx is a young lady who makes these hair products herself. She also makes jewelry. A lot of it looks amazing! I am impressed with the sheer variety and volume of her stock considering these are homemade. After watching many of her youtube videos.in which you see her using her products and you see the results, I was convinced I should try this. (Note to self, one thing may work for one person and not another.)

This is Black Onyx below. I think she has creative styles and her hair is healthy. My hair will never be styled like that because I don't know how to do that and I'd never pay someone else to do it but my hope is that it would be healthy.

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 My products arrived last week. I ordered her Black Soap Shampoo. Honey and Sage Deep Conditioner. LemonGrass Deep Conditioner. Shea Yogurt Moisturizer. and Betoninite me Baby Clay. (The clay was just an impulse. I've seen people use it and thought it might work. I haven't tried it yet.)


First Impression

The presentation was lacking. I know when you purchase products in the store, more often than not you are paying for the pretty little containers more than the product itself. I get that. I sometimes willingly pay more for something because it is packaged attractively. I know its a small thing and has little to do with the product itself but as a consumer and creator, for me presentation plays a significant roll. But the lack in hers was not enough to deter me. I saw it from the website and knew what i was getting myself into. But I wish she'd do a little more to make the presentation and packaging of it better.

The cost. I pay an average of $6 for my shampoo or conditioner. I splurged and paid over $15 for an Aubrey Organics deep conditioner but it is worth it. So cost is really relative. $2 more for her shampoo than my store bought organic one is fine...especially considering its homemade. But if you are on a tight budget maybe some other product is better for you.
  
Aromatic Qualities. Smell is important to me. I have posted in other blogs about my personal offense at crappy hand soaps in people's bathrooms. I'm snooty like that. I wear Marc Jacobs or Prada perfume and then I come to your house and you want me to wash my hands with Apple Spice scented soap. Oh my goodness. That is just gross to me. Its one of the unreasonably horrible things about my personality but if I don't like a certain scent, it might as well go straight to hell. So....Alikay Natural's. The lemongrass leave in conditioner and the honey and sage deep conditioner gave my nose an orgasm. Seriously.  The black soap shampoo didn't really have a smell. The shea butter yogurt moisturizer. It's no fault to her but I do not like the smell of shea butter. I love cocoa butter as a base scent to build off. But most naturals bow their heads before shea butter. So I tried it. And it was hard to keep putting it on my hands and then in my hair...because I really do not like the smell of shea butter. I'm going to assume that her other concoctions have just as much power of seduction with their aromas.

Quality. You know how you feel a product and it feels right.Or something is too chunky. Or too soupy? The shea butter. Along with not liking the smell, I didn't like the texture. I prefer creams in my hair. Butters can go on my skin. The shampoo...I just didn't know what to make of it. I couldn't tell if it was working or not. I think if it had a stronger smell, I'd know if I evenly dispersed it throughout my hair since its so concentrated and so soupy. Maybe i'll have to add my own essential oils to the rest of the bottle.


Quantity. I think the size and proportions relative to the cost are good. I wonder if she has a detangling conditioner. That would be more telling in regards to quantity since I go through a LOT of that.

Effectiveness. That is still pending. I used all the products last night. My initial reactions. I couldn't tell if the shampoo was effective. It needs a stronger smell to reinforce that its in my hair, if that makes sense. The deep conditioner seems effective..although I mixed in another deep conditioner too. My hair is THICK. The leave in conditioner is fine. Although for it to be as effective as my own concoction I need to actually mix it with other things like rosewater, vegetably glycerin, essential oils and water.  The shea butter...well, my hair is still pinned up right now. I'll know tonight the effects of it when I take my hair down to twist it tonight. I'm hoping that it works.

(Although I must say, using something once, may not be the best way to judge its effectiveness. I've been using my new regime for a few months and it was only until a few weeks ago that I noticed the huge difference in my hair. I'm going to have to use these products for a few weeks to even begin to know the true effects on my hair.)

Transparency. This was probably the area I had the biggest conflict with. While Alikay Naturals is a homemade natural product line, almost each product I purchased had a "special blend," or "secret blend" of natural ingredients. At this point in my life, I'm uncomfortable NOT knowing what is going in or on my body. I think its important that no matter how big or small the company, you as a consumer have a right to know what you are purchasing. Perhaps there are different rules for people who sell their own products from home, but even still there should be some sort standard. Since I purchased a number of the products, for now, I will continue using them. However, I'm not sure I could buy more of her products knowing that I don't know each ingredient. I'm sure she wants to protect her recipes, but I want to be an informed consumer. However if you don't mind not knowing, this could be the product for you.

I will post photos soon as well as keep you update to date with the effectiveness of this product over the coming weeks.

Would you purchase a product that had "secret ingredients"? Do you have any recommendations for homemade products being sold by entrepenuers? What scents do you love or hate? Do you have a hair care regime?

Homemade Toothpaste and Other Products

In October of 2009, after dropping over $80 on facial products at the Body Shop, I realized I needed to make a change. I wrote of my musing about this in a post titled. Natural Products vs. Homemade Products.  Everyone has their opinion on which better. Natural Products, Homemade Products, Unnatural Products.

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Is it better to use Neutrogene to wash my face? Yes to Carrots? Or my own Homemade Face Wash?

I can't answer that for you. I can only inform you of why I decided to make my own natural products.

I wanted to decrease the amount of things I purchased.
I wanted to spend less money on products.
I wanted to treat my body better, more naturally, and gently.
I wanted to generate less trash.
I wanted to know EXACTLY what was going in or on my body.
I wanted to take control of my life.
I wanted to live a simplistic life.

Another added benefit towards creating and making my products was a sense of empowerment! That feeling was amazing.

So if you prefer to use products seeping with chemicals and things you can't pronounce, use it. Plenty of functioning healthy people do. If you prefer to use natural products from sustainable vendors, do that. And if you prefer to make your own products...email me so we can swap recipes! Because that's what I'm interested in.

Currently, I am looking for the best recipe for a homemade toothpaste and mouthwash.

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I feel as if I've mastered my face wash, toner, exfoliant and mask. After mastering it, now I've been playing around with scents and consistencies and such. More recently, I've been playing around with mouthwash recipes and so far I haven't discovered anything that is amazing. Some of the recipes I've tried were listed in a previous post.

The problem is I can't get the scent that I want. And if I'm going to be swishing something around in my mouth for more than thirty seconds, I need the scent to be pleasant. When I tried making my toner, at first I was taken aback by the smell of witch hazel. Eventually the smell grew on me....essential oils help! (Which by the way, now that i use them for EVERYTHING...I need to find a wholesaler that sells them by the bulk! Any suggestions?)

So with my mouthwash...I can't get the taste right. I want a winterfresh type of taste. Hmmmm.

I've also changed my "toothpaste." Most recently I was using J/A/S/O/N's. That was a switch from a lifelong attachment to Crest. I had tried Nature's Gate, which has amazing hair products, but their toothpaste and deodorant...not so much!

Now I've tried just baking soda dipped in water or mouthwash to brush my teeth. And my teeth seem clean and I'm pretty sure my breath is fresh but I just want more. And perhaps a little flavor..since again, its going in my mouth. I came across a seemingly simple toothpaste recipe that I plan on trying. I found the recipe on  Fat Free Kitchen.

Ingredients

• Baking soda (5 teaspoons. This serves as your whitener)
• Salt (1/4 teaspoon. This serves as your antiseptic.) 
• Vegetable Glycerin (5 teaspoons. This serves as your base) 
• Peppermint, Spearmint, Pudinhara essential oil (10 drops. This gives you fresh breath)

Preparation

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Adjust the quantity of glycerine to get toothpaste consistency. Store in a wide mouth bottle. 

 This recipe is so simple. It also yields itself towards having the right consistency. And I keep those ingredients in the house readily. Remember my Sustainable Guidelines ? Now while those guidelines are geared towards products I purchase, they can also work for products I make. In addition to those guidelines.....

The homemade products that I make must... .

• Contains ingredients that I readily keep in the house such as oatmeal and honey and essential oils.(I know I'll have to buy a few things I don't normally keep such as rosewater or glycerin...but there are many other uses that I'll find for them. And isn't that sustainable...to have 100 ways to use oatmeal?)
• Is simple to prepare. (Five steps or less. I don't want to spend five hours creating a face wash that has forty ingredients. I don't have time for that. Even if I had time, I don't want to spend time doing that.)
• It eventually works once I use it. (If after trying the homemade recipe the results are not as effective, it's not gonna work.)

 I found another toothpaste recipe to try as well. This recipe came from Christian PF. 

Ingredients

• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Hydrogen Peroxide (Is it really okay to use this? My dentist uses this to whitenen her teeth and it just seems really weird to me. I'm going to have to google this and find out more. Does anyone know?)
• Peppermint Oil
• Stevia

Preparation

• Pour 1/2 cup baking soda into a mixing bowl
• Add a dash of salt
• Add 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide
• Add 1 drop of peppermint oil
• Add a dash of stevia (more if you want it sweeter)
• Mix it all up until it becomes paste like. You may have to add more hydrogen peroxide to get the right consistency.

I am running out of toothpaste now, so I will try these recipes this weekend.

There are a few other products I'm looking to make from scratch.

• Deodorant. I found a good recipe on SimpleMom I believe.
• Shower Gel. I cannot find one for this. Yes, I could use soap but I love the texture of shower gel. My mother found a vendor who makes it and is shipping it to me some time soon. The vendor who even made it said a prayer over it and though I'm not a praying woman, I like that my shower gel has been blessed. I think that's holy.
• Ultimate All Purpose Cleaner. Yes vinegar and castille soap and baking soda and all those wonderful things are great cleaning agents. But what I want to do is make the ultimate perfectly scented all purpose cleaner and I've been playing around with some recipes.
• Body Butter. I LOVE body butter. Lotion, Creams and Oils don't really do muchf or my skin. But some how my skin has a love affair with body butter. Specifically the Coco Butter Body Butter from the Body Shop. Yes there are a BILLION recipes for Shea Body Butter but I really DO NOT like the scent of Shea Butter. I like the scent of cocoa butter. Any good recipes that you know of.
• Facial Moisturizer. This is the last thing on my list to make my facial products complete.

Do you know how I can create a winterfresh flavor using essential oils for my homemade mouthwash? What do you use to brush your teeth? Is hydrogen peroxide safe?

Homemade Body Products

Soooo. I've made homemade face wash, exfoliating face scrub, body scrub, and face toner.

But I'm also looking to make homemade shower gel, body butter, face moisturizer, mouthwash and pretty much anything else that I use. I keep saying I refuse to give up my perfumes because no one does it like Marc Jacobs but Sam made a good point in a recent conversation and maybe I'll consider using oils instead. I would save over $50+ but I love how Marc Jacob smells!!!! Can someone make a Marc Jacobs substitute with essential oils? I will pay you!


Any hoo! My goal is to pretty much make many of the products I am buying, including my cleaning products. I'm not focusing on those just yet because I still have more than half of a bottle of most of the things. But I am running out of mouth wash. And I found a recipe.

Now for toothpaste, most websites are saying to just use baking soda. Dip your brush in either water or mouthwash and then dip it in the baking soda and then brush your teeth. Simple! Uber cheap! More sustainable!


I found Homemade Spearmint Mouthwash on Ultimate Cosmetics.

You will need

• 6 ounces water
• 2 ounces vodka
• 4 teaspoons liquid glycerine (is liquid glycerine the same as vegetable glycerin? if so, I have all the ingredients at home except the vodka)
  
• 1 teaspoon aloe vera gel
• 10-15 drops Spearmint essential oil

Preparation

• Boil water and vodka, 
• add glycerine and aloe vera gel. 
• Remove from the heat, let cool slightly. 
• Add spearmint oil, shake well. 
• Pour into bottle, cap tightly.

I found the following three recipes on Associated Content. Cinna-minty Mouthwash.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 3 drops cinnamon oil
• 3 drops spearmint oil
• 3 drops peppermint oil
• 3 or 4 drops tea tree oil
• 1 tsp vodka

Usage

• Swish this in your mouth for 30 to 60 seconds and rinse. Be sure not to swallow! It's pleasant, but strong!
• Best kept in a sealed glass bottle or jar.

Now maybe you aren't into the whole alcoholic thing. I don't keep alcohol at home, except for rubbing alcohol. I came across an Alcoholic Free Baking Soda Mint Mouthwash. What I like about this one is that I already have ALL of the ingredients at home. No extra shopping.

Ingredients

• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 drop pure peppermint oil
• 1 drop tea tree oil
• 2 oz. water

Preparation

• Mix well, then swish for a few seconds and rinse.

This one seems so intriguing since I love the scent of rosemary. Alcohol Free Cloves and Rosemary Mouthwash

Ingredients

• 1 oz Cloves
• 3 oz. Rosemary
• Glass Jar with lid
• 2 cups water

Preparation

• Boil the water in a saucepan. 
• While cooking the water place the Rosemary and Cloves in the jar. 
• When water comes to a boil, pour it in the jar with the herbs and allow to steep overnight. 
• Drain and use the next morning. 

I just ran out of mouthwash this morning so I will try using the baking soda mint mouthwash this evening and will update you on the results.
 

The Price of Convenience

For the past year I have been consistently purchasing my facial products from the Body Shop. I enjoy MANY of their products. This is a picture inside my bathroom mirror where you can see I have almost the entire line of their seaweed facial collection.

I tallied the cost from their website.

Face Wash 12.00

Toner 12.00

Exfoliating Scrub 14.50

Mask 22.00

Did you calculate that? Thats $60.50 for my freaking face.

I will say that it yielded impressive results. My skin wasn't in the perfect shape this time last year and after I adopted a regime after the best facial in the world, my skin became better after using the Body Shop products.

But this isn't about who's version is better. From what I could feel after making my own products, it felt the same. My toner was too potent in smell and needs a stronger essential oil. But then, my exfoliating scrub was a lot gentler but still just as effective.

What this is about is taking more control in how I spend my money. This is about having a sense of freedom in knowing exactly what I am putting on my body. This is about finding other ways to spend my time that shopping and consuming and purchases nonstop. This is about finding somewhere else to invest $60.50 since I have the ingredients in my pantry. This is about me attempting to generate less trash and stuff. And tonight, I found simple, easy, quick ways to do that.

I like that instead of products, I have ingredients...to make whatever I want to concoct.

I know have completely natural, organic facial products. I can tell you every single thing I put on my face and I kind of like that. I like having full control over my body and my choices and my money. (well, sort of. Uncle Sam still takes what he wants)

Now, I'm not saying everyone should start making their own products. Although I encourage you to at least try. What you have to do is way what its worth. The price of convenience no longer outweights the price of all natural products, the price of trash produced, and the price of money spent.

I will say, essential oils are costly. I'm sure there are some websites that sell them in bulk for better prices that I found at Wholefoods. But it is an investment. However, essential oils can be used for EVERYTHING. So it may be worth it to buy an essential oil for $15..knowing that you have all the other ingredients in the house to make your own products and knowing that you'll use that oil for many other things as well...as oppose to spending $15 on a toner or something.

Just saying.

Homemade All Natural Face Mask

While I am more excited to try the rose face mask that I found, today I tried the simple face mask found on About.com.

This face mask is suitable for all skin types and is super simple to prepare. It will cleanse and rejuvenate your skin. Prep time is three minutes
.
The ingredients are

• 1 tbsp oatmeal, finely ground (I'll use my blender to grind the oatmeal)
  
• 1 tbsp live, organic yogurt (no flavored kind)
  
• A few drops of honey

Preparation

• Add yogurt to oatmeal in a small bowl and mix together.

(I ground the oatmeal very finely with my blender)

• Warm a few drops of honey (to do this,  warm a spoon under hot water for a minute, then add a few drops of honey to the spoon
• Stir the honey into the yogurt and oatmeal mixture.

(not the best picture but it gets the point across)

• Apply the mask to the face. Leave it on for 10 minutes, then rinse off with several splashes of warm water. Follow with a warm washcloth.

(insert scary face here)

• Apply moisturizer.

End Results.

Well, the recipe calls for the perfect amount to use in one setting. And it was so so simple. One tablespoon of oatmeal and yogurt and about one teaspoon or so or honey. And it smelled so good. Probably because that's around what I eat for breakfast, if I remember to eat.

Did you know, The Body Shop has an Oatmeal Honey Mask that they sell for $16.50?

Oh the error of my ways for buying all this crap when I have the ingredients right in my pantry and under my bathroom sink. Ridiculous.

Homemade All Natural Exfolianting Face Scrubs

I googled a lot of different recipes for exfoliating scrubs and again, the simplicity was remarkable. Most recipes simply said to put a small about of brown sugar in the palm of your hand with olive oil. Then you massage onto your face once it has turned into a paste.

I always have brown sugar and olive oil in the house. For many reasons. Brown sugar is put on many of the things I bake and my snacks like almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon. Olive oil is used for a lot of my cooking but it the main ingredient that I put in my hair. I never really run out of either of these two ingredients because in order to function they pretty much have to always be be in the cabinet.

Here is the brown sugar in my hand. Just enough to fit into my palm.

 Then I added a bit of oil and mixed it up.

If it feels off, add more brown sugar or more oil. And start to scrub.

(yes my hair is pointed in many different directions but my skin is thanking me for putting my vanity aside for a second to show you how this works)

 By making it in the palm of your hand, the exfoliating scrub ended up being the perfect amount. The scrub felt a lot gentler and smoother than my store bought brand. As i began to rinse it off, however, my skin felt too oily and that scared me a little bit. Once, the scrub was completely rinsed off and blotted dry with a face towel, the overly oily feeling was gone. My face just felt smooth. I think my pores were even singing.

The exfoliating scrub I purchase before from the body shop. $14.50

All I can saw is, "Wow."

How many $14.50's could I have put else where by just mixing brown sugar and olive oil.

Crazy!

Homemade All Natural Face Toner

The next recipe that I tried was the toner. This was very easy to make. I found the recipe on Homemade Beauty Recipes.

The ingredients are

• 4 oz of witch hazel
• 10 to 20 drops of your Essential Oil.
  

Preparation

• Mix ingredients well into the bottle. (you can find a bottle at a beauty supply store. I buy bottles to house my oil concoctions for my hair.)
• Shake well before each use
• Apple to face with cotton ball after cleansing.  

I like that this recipe called for only two ingredients.

But listen. I have to be honest. The witch hazel smelled horrible! But I guess alcohol smells too potent too when you sniff it. No wonder they say to add 10 to 20 drops of your favorite essential oil.

You can't really tell that the toner is in there because its clear, but its all in there. For this recipe, I made half of what they suggestions.

(again, not the cutest picture but its for research purposes)

The toner felt the same as my store bought toner. Although the store bought toner seems to smell better. Although, I'm sure the store bought kind because its full of horrible things.  In the future I may need a stronger oil than tea tree because it did not combat the smell of witch hazel. Or perhaps its just an acquired smell.

Despite the smell, the quality and feel of the recipe was the same as the kind that I buy from the Body Shop.

Homemade All Natural Face Wash

A friend asked what I was doing with the rest of my evening and I told her with excitement about the body products I was making.

"I've heard that homemade ones are just as rough on your skin as the natural ones," she said.
"I don't know whether that's true or not. But my reasons for doing as to cut down on my consumption. I also don't want to keep buying something for $25 all the time when I can make it with ingredients I readily keep at home, and I want to cut down on my waste," I said.
"That's true," she said.

And I hoped that in that small conversation, some of my granola tendencies were started to spread. :)

Tonight, I tried the face cleanser that I found on What Would Ginger Do.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces of grapeseed oil
• 1 ounce of lemon juice
• 2 ounces of raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 ounce of agave nectar
• 15 drops of tea tree oil
• 5 drops of lavender oil

Preparation

• Mix everything together
• Store in the refriderator
• Shake well before each use. (do not get it into your eyes and do not ingest it.)

Usage

• Twice every day, moisten your skin with warm water
• Squeeze a teaspoon of the cleanser in your hand
• Massage into your skin on your face and neck for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Rinse off with a clean soft cloth and warm water.

 I kind of split the recipe by 1/3 or 1/4. I can't really remember which because I lost track of my calculations and that probably explains why my version seemed overly lemony. I cut down the recipe because I didn't want to make a lot, in case it sucked. (Just being honest)

From what I can remember I used about ......

2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil (had it in the house because i use it for my hair)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice (i usually keep lemons in the house for my citrus chicken recipe. Although I'm going to have to figure out a veggie version of that)

1 tablespoon of raw apple cider
almost 1 tablespoon of agave nectar
10 drops of tea tree oil
5 drops of lavendar oil

Trust me my recipe was all off. You should keep better measurements if you try this. I made the concoction in an old cream cheese fruit dip container. (one point for repurposing a container)

Mix it all together and apply to your face.

This isn't the best picture of my face but for the purpose of showing you how it works and whatnot, I took various pictures. (my hair is pinned back weirdly, because I'm just trying to keep it off my face). This picture is with the cleanser on my face.

I still had face cleanser leftover, so I squeezed it into an empty grapeseed oil container. (another point for me for reusing something else!)

And that has been placed in my fridge...after I relabeled it so I didn't forget that its not just grapeseed oil in it.

REVIEW

I thought the cleanser was going to be a bit watery but when I put it in my hand, it was a little thicker than I thought. Perhaps that was the agave nectar that gave it the "face wash" consistency. Despite the fact that it was thicker than I thought it was, I wish it was a bit more creamy or soapy. After I've used all of this mix, I'll try and find another recipe.

It smelled a little too lemony to me. But I believe that's because I lost count of my measurements and should have put less lemon juice in it.

After I washed my face off, my face felt very fresh and I could smell the tea tree and grapeseed oil. It was subtle.

Granola Happenings

One of my granola goals was to become more active in sustainable community events and activities. I realize that in just over a week, I've already started to work towards those goals.

Tonight, I will be attending a speaking engagement and reception hosted by Blacks in Green where Dr. Greg Watson will be the guest speaker. Dr. Watson is the Senior Adviser for Clean Energy Technology within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Vice President for Sustainable Development with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative...amongst many other things.

Photo Credit

In order to promote awareness about 350, tomorrow afternoon I will be participating in the Chicago 350 International Climate Action Day bike ride. The group will cycle around the city riding past many of the other 350 action day events. I'm hoping that this event will spur me to ride my bike more often...even to work.

Also...I've been telling everyone about the International Climate Action Day and I have a colleague that's going to be joining me for the bike ride!!!!

Photo Credit 

This weekend I will also continue to make my homemade body products including a face cleanser, toner, exfoliating scrub and mask.  I recently made a Coffee Brown Sugar Body Scrub and can't wait to try out some new recipes. I will also be tracking the cost versus what I normally spend at the Body Shop and hopefully there will be some savings. (I'm assuming so, since all the ingredients were products I readily keep at home except for the Witch Hazel.) I can't wait to tell you about what happens.  I am researching recipes for shaving cream, shower gel, and body butter too. What other things should I make? I suppose once I run out of my green cleaning products, I can look into creating my own. I'd need an all purpose spray, a glass cleaner,  and a disinfectant cleaner. I'll also poke around under my sinks and see what else I keep in there.

my homemade Coffee Brown Sugar Body Scrub

This weekend...tonight actually after the Dr. Watson event, I will be making a vegan black bean soup. Now I realize many of the meals I eat are vegetarian with a high percentage of them even being vegan. Therefore I'm on the right track. But what i want is to be more intentional about making vegan meals. And after calculating  my carbon diet I'd love to steer more towards a vegan approach to life with hints of raw food. Therefore I'm going to start using some of the recipes in four interesting cookbooks that I own. 

Raw: The Uncook Book.

The Voluptuous Vegan 

The Yoga Cookbook: Vegetarian Food for Body and Mind

Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy and Creative African-American cuisine

This weekend I'm also looking forward to posting an interview with my granola friend Sam as well as starting to process how I can become an eco-conscious theater artist and what that means for me as a writer and stage manager.

What are you doing intentionally to become more eco-conscious?

Do you know of any other events or things in the Chicago area that I could be a part of?

Coffee Brown Sugar Body Scrub by SLY

Ladies and Gentleman,

Let me announce the beginning of my personal luxurious product line SLY.

Or maybe, Sheena LaShay. (not sure which has the better ring to it) Yes.

Welcome to my personal luxurious product line by Sheena LaShay! The first product to be released to the general public is...

Coffee Brown Sugar Body Scrub

(Your body will thank you!)

I looked at a combination of the recipes I had found earlier. And decided to do a combo and see what happens. The ingredients I used were olive oil, almond oil, brown sugar, coffee, rose essential oil and patchouli essential oil. The combination seemed to create a subtle and yet intense scent. Subtle enough to enhance whatever perfume or lotion you might later put on but intense to stand on its own.

Combine half a cup of brown sugar......



Two tablespoons of coffee grounds.....



Some olive oil....until you find the almond oil that was hiding in the pantry.........
(not sure how much oil. I forgot to measure. Just mix and if it seems to dry add some more. If its too soupy...add more sugar or coffee)

Add drops of the essential oil and mix well.

If something seems off...add more coffee grounds or sugar or oil...until you have the consistency and smell that you like.

And then get in the shower and rub a lavish amount on your skin all over.

After a few minutes rinse off. My skin felt so SOFT and MOISTURIZED. And it smelled so so so good!!!!!! I had a small amount left over so a scooped it into an almost empty body of old body scrub. I can't wait to make it again.

What would I do differently next time?

I would put one tablespoon of coffee grounds into the mix instead of two. (One recipe I found even said you could use used coffee grounds. So make your coffee in the morning and then in the evening instead of composting them, treat yourself to your own personal spa.)


Instead of using olive oil, I would use almond oil. When I began making the recipe, I couldn't find where I left the almond oil, so I used olive oil instead.  Its not a major problem. But I just wonder what the different would be.

So next time I will use less coffee, almond oil instead of olive oil and I'd try some different scents of essential oils. But for the first try..... I give myself so many brownie points!

Also...can you imagine how much money I will be saving from now on? Sorry, Body Shop...you are slowly losing me after years of such a committed relationship.

Make your own body scrub and tell me how it goes for you!

Homemade Body Scrubs

I've started looking up homemade body scrubs. That's another product I buy on a consistent basis. According to my tally, I spend $240 a year on body scrub alone. The only kind that I use is the Cocoa Butter Body Scrub from the Body Shop. I use the body scrub because it makes my skin feel great. I use the cocoa butter scent because it doesn't compete with the perfumes I then wear later. Therefore, I'm searching for the perfect recipe that is simple and has a basic scent. I came across a couple interesting ones.

The most basic thing I found was that a body scrub should have equal parts brown sugar and olive/almond/jojoba oil. (Some websites says you can get as simple as baby oil and granulated sugar. Although you should double the amount of granulated sugar since its more fine). I'd say throw in a drop or two of your favorite essential oil as well to add a hint of flavorful scent.

Photo Credit

I found a Brown Sugar Scrub on Thrify Fun.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 heaping tablespoons almond oil
• few drops of honey
• 3 to 5 drops of your favorite essential oil

Preparation

• Mix ingredients thoroughly
• In the shower, gently scrub all over your body
• Rinse
  

I have the sense that the next recipe might be too strong a scent for me but I think I'm still going to give it a try. I found a Coffee Body Scrub at Associated Content.

Ingredients

• Two tablespoons of fresh coffee grounds
• A half cup of Olive Oil
• Two tablespoons of baking soda
• One tablespoon of salt
• One tablespoon of sugar
  

 Preparation

• Mix all of the ingredients together. (It will be coarse and pretty thick)
• Use your hands to apply. (A cloth is NOT recommended)
  

 I found an even simpler recipe but can't remember where it came from.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of ground coffee
• 1/2 cup of sugar or sea salt
• 2-3 tablespoons of massage oil of your choice

Preparation

• Mix and enjoy.
  

 The next recipe made me think of my mother. I think I might make it for her and send it as a gift. For the chocolate lovers there is a Chocolate Body Scrub that I found a  Ezine article.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tespoon of vanilla oil (extract will work)
• Olive oil as needed (you could use vegetable oil too, but not if you have oily skin)

Preparation

• Mix all the ingredients except for olive oil.
• Start adding olive oil, gradually until the mixture starts looking like a paste
• It should be applied on moist skin, the best time is after you took a shower. It will help the skin cells slough off faster.
• Use circular motion and massage gently using your fingertips.
• Rinse off with warm water.

I will be making some of the new found recipes tonight, Friday, and Saturday night.

Shopping for Witch Hazel

On Sunday morning I went shopping for the ingredients for my homemade products. Many of the items, which I readily keep in the house were out or down to their last drop. I haven't gone grocery shopping in well over a month. I started the day by making a conscious choice. Instead of renting a Zipcar for a few hours, I decided to take the bus. I thought this might take up more of my time. However, there is an express bus one block from my apartment that jumps onto Lakeshore Drive and drops me off right downtown. Point being...it took me less than 15 minutes and I didn't have to look for parking.

The first part of my trip involved returning all the products I had purchased from the Body Shop. I returned the following..

FaceWash: $12

Shaving Cream: $10

Body Scrub: $20

Face Mask: $16.50

Two Burning Oils: $15

There must have been something else because the total refunded came to almost $85.

When I walked into the store I felt uncomfortable. I knew they'd question me.
"Was there anything wrong with the product," she asked.
"No. I just found alternatives to them," I said.
It had taken me the whole bus ride to come up with what my answer would be.

I was shocked at how much money I received back. $85. That's crazy. I go through the Body Scrub like it's nobody's business. At least one container a month. $240 on body scrub a year?! Yeah, I was going to have to find an alternative for this one. (By the way, I found a recipe for body scrub and will write about that later)

After returning the items, I made my way to Wholefoods. Yes, I acknowledge that Wholefoods rips people off. I've heard stories of people leaving with three items and a $50 bill. I also acknowledge that many of the items I purchased are probably available at cheaper prices in bulk online or through other places. However, since I'm just testing things out, I bought smaller, probably more expensive ingredients at Wholefoods.

I made my way around Wholefoods looking for items. I was tempted to purchase J/A/S/O/N products. But for everything I saw, I thought...I could probably make this product. I'm feeling very empowered!

After finding many of the products easily, I realized I had circled the store three times and still could not locate the Witch Hazel or Vegetable Glycerin. I went up to a sales associate, "Hi, I was wondering if you could direct me to Witch Hazel and Vegetable Glycerin."

He looked down at my cart and looked at me and then looked funny. "The Glycerin might be by the vegetables. And we don't have witch stuff," he said.

I tried to figure out his weird look. Then I looked at my cart. It consisted of honey, coarse sea salt, lemon juice, plain yogurt, almond oil, grapeseed oil, tea tree oil, lavender oil, sandlewood oil, rosemary oil, rose water, rose otto oil, and rosewood oil. And here I was a few weeks from Halloween asking for Witch Hazel and Vegetable Glycerin as well. I might as well had asked for a black cat, a virgin sacrifice, and the blood of a pure spirit.

Photo Credit

A few minutes later I found another sales person and they did in fact have everything I was looking for and not only did she point me in the right direction, but she also took me there and pointed out the different flavors and sizes. (I love great customer service having worked in the industry since I was fourteen years old.)

On the way home, I thought of all my demons or voices of judgment that would hinder me from fully embracing the practice of making my own products. I thought of the people who would think I was some homely girl trying to count pennies, probably a homeschool hanna, tree hugging granola extremist who wanted everyone to milk their own cows.

Then after naming those demons. I dispelled them.

Not only am I environmentally conscious and feel the need to be a responsible respectful steward over everything, but I also love the sense of empowerment. I love the idea of taking full control over my finances and spending money exactly how I want to. Freeing myself from over $200 in body scrub a year is joyful. Creating my own scented body products geared towards my body and not a mass market feels good. Learning what my skin likes and dislikes, what works, what's amazing...I love this exploration of self.

On a side note...I was homeschooled. On a side note...I am a bit of a granola. On a side note...I live by a budget. But I dispell any assumptions of what kind of person you may think I am. Perhaps homeschooling is better for the environment too? I might have to explore that. :)

Point being...some people pay more because they don't have the time to make their own products or they don't want to or they have a million other reasons for doing such. To each their own. I would much rather use my money towards other things. And I love the idea of having a product that is all mine completely catered towards me. I like the idea of knowing exactly what I'm putting on my body. I do that with my hair. Why not with my entire body?

If you are interested, I implore you to take more control of your life. This is one of a million ways to do so.

Or be a complacent wasteful unaware consumer? Its your choice.

Natural Products versus Homemade Products

My name is SLY and I am a product whore.

Photo Credit

Sure I can toot a horn that many of the products, toiletries and cleaning supplies that I buy are Eco-friendly, natural, organic and promote fair trade but if I want to push myself further... perhaps I need to look at the whole consumerism issue.

STOP BUYING STUFF.

We are groomed to think we need to keep buying things. You work so that you have money so that you can buy the things you want and need. It's your American right to shop. I remember a radio shack commercial years ago that came out around Christmas time. People were in line buying all the other things they needed to go with all the things they'd already purchased. They bought the toy car but forgot to buy the batteries. They bought the digital camera but needed to buy the media stick. I can't remember the tag line but it mentioned something to the effect to buying more stuff for the stuff you already bought. It sickened me. But I am guilty of it.

It's not just buying more natural products. Maybe we need to realign our thinking. Shift our paradigm. Perhaps it's to stop buying in general. Or to decrease the things you are purchasing. How much money would I save if I made half the things I use at home? Plus every time I buy a product...its just continuing the cycle...even if its an all natural face wash put inside a biodegradable container. It still took energy, resources, money, and more to make that natural product.

I remember my great grandmother, who recently passed telling me the only things they bought while she was growing up were shoes and their Sunday clothes. Everything else they made or planted. She was born in 1925. Things were different then.

Yesterday, I went into body shop to buy some shaving cream. I love their men's line. It's THE BEST!!!! But because it was buy two skin products, get one free...I bought an all natural face wash. I'm almost out at home and an all natural face mask since that container is almost empty too. But then I bought...two more fragrant oils. Even though I have a basket of about 15 and way too many incense that I need to go through. And a couple other things.

This morning I felt a little bad about buying it, since what I NEED is a new pair of jeans and a coat. But as I went through my list I rationalize my spending by thinking, "I need a new mask because it's out. And I need face wash because its almost out. And I need shaving cream because that's almost out. It wasn't a random shopping spree."

True. But what if instead of continually buying things, I made a simple face mask with household products? Then I could return the one I purchased for $15. Honestly, I don't even know what I paid for it. The price wasn't listed and I haven't glanced at the receipt. It could be $5 or $35.

So I'm taking back at least half the things I purchased and I've looked up some simple recipes.

Simple for me means the handmade products.....

• Contains ingredients that I readily keep in the house such as oatmeal and honey and essential oils.(I know I'll have to buy a few things I don't normally keep such as rosewater or glycerin...but there are many other uses that I'll find for them. And isn't that sustainable...to have 100 ways to use oatmeal?)
  
• Is simple to prepare. (Five steps or less. I don't want to spend five hours creating a face wash that has forty ingredients. I don't have time for that. Even if I had time, I don't want to spend time doing that.)
• It eventually works once I use it. (If after trying the homemade recipe the results are not as effective, it's not gonna work. Some things you will just have to buy. I say that now, but perhaps my rationale will change later)

I've looked up things that will lead to me taking back the products I bought

• face wash
• face mask
• face toner
• shaving cream
• face exfoliant
  

For a simple face mask I found a recipe on About.com.

This face mask is suitable for all skin types and is super simple to prepare. It will cleanse and rejuvenate your skin. Prep time is three minutes
.
The ingredients are

• 1 tbsp oatmeal, finely ground (I'll use my blender to grind the oatmeal)
  
• 1 tbsp live, organic yogurt (no flavored kind)
  
• A few drops of honey

Preparation

• Add yogurt to oatmeal in a small bowl and mix together.
• Warm a few drops of honey (to do this,  warm a spoon under hot water for a minute, then add a few drops of honey to the spoon
• Stir the honey into the yogurt and oatmeal mixture.
• Apply the mask to the face. Leave it on for 10 minutes, then rinse off with several splashes of warm water. Follow with a warm washcloth.
• Apply moisturizer.

I can do this face mask. My current regime has my washing, toning, exfoliating, masking, and then moisturizing my face once a week. I have the time on Saturdays to prepare this. While the oatmeal will be my all purpose mask, I also found a more luxurious one I'll treat myself to perhaps once a month or every now and then.

For the rose face mask, I found the recipe on About.com as well.

This mask, based on roses, is perfect for balancing out the oily and dry areas of your skin.

The ingredients are

• Optional: 6 fresh rose petals
• 2 tbsps rosewater
• 1 tbsp natural yogurt, room temperature (not lowfat or non-fat)
• 1 tbsp runny honey (to get honey runny, you can warm it in a microwave for a few seconds).

Preparation

• Soak rose petals, then crush them in a bowl.
• Add the rosewater, yogurt and honey.
• Mix well and apply to the skin. 
• Leave on for 10 minutes. 
• Rinse.

Lovely. I'm excited to try both out. I also looked up an exfoliant. The simpleness of the recipe is ridiculous. I found it on multiple websites. It simply says to mix a tiny amount of brown sugar with olive oil in your palm and massage it into your face once it has turned to a paste. I honestly can't believe the simplicity. I always keep brown sugar in the house because I bake as a hobby. I ALWAYS ALWAYS have olive oil because i use it to cook and I use it for my hair. Finding another usage for this makes me happy. Now I don't have to buy it anymore!

For a simple toner I found a recipe on Homemade Beauty Recipes. 

The ingredients are

• 4 oz of witch hazel
• 10 to 20 drops of your Essential Oil.
  

Preparation

• Mix ingredients well into the bottle. (you can find a bottle at a beauty supply store. I buy bottles to house my oil concoctions for my hair.)
• Shake well before each use
• Apple to face with cotton ball after cleansing.
  

The recipe is so simple!!!!! I love simplicity. I always keep essential oil in the house...I use it for home fragrance, my hair and sometimes I drop it into the laundry. A new ingredient I will have to purchase is witch hazel. But a simple google search shows that you can purchase it even at Walgreens. I also saw that there are other uses for it. On Wisebread.com they outline 15 uses. Some of which will apply to me directly. Therefore its a wise purchase. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about making my own mask, toner, and exfoliant. Also, I love that I will have something in my house called "Witch Hazel."



While I didn't find a good recipe yet for Shaving Cream, I did come across some other products in the house that could be used instead of shaving cream such as baby oil and hair conditioner. Both of which I have tried with amazing results. Perhaps I'll continue using those alternatives until I find a concoction I can make. Years ago I read an article in the paper about using baby oil in the summer to do a quick shave and what I like is that after you're done shaving, your skin is already moisturized. I used the conditioner once and at first I balked at the idea because I love my conditioner so much and felt like I was wasting it. Is it wasteful to find multiple uses of a particular thing? No. Its innovative, time saving, and cost effective. Two bottles of conditioner comes out cheaper that a bottle of conditioner and a bottle of shaving cream. (At least the kind that I use!)


For the face cleanser, I found the recipe on What Would Ginger Do.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces of grapeseed oil
• 1 ounce of lemon juice
• 2 ounces of raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 ounce of agave nectar
• 15 drops of tea tree oil
• 5 drops of lavender oil

Preparation

• Mix everything together
• Store in the refriderator
• Shake well before each use. (do not get it into your eyes and do not ingest it.)

Usage

• Twice every day, moisten your skin with warm water
• Squeeze a teaspoon of the cleanser in your hand
• Massage into your skin on your face and neck for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Rinse off with a clean soft cloth and warm water.

The recipe again seems fairly simple. Actually very simple. Even now the only ingredient I would need to purchase is the agave nectar. But only because I am out of it. I use agave to sweeten my tea. Its hard to believe that I have most of these ingredients in the pantry and yet I keep buying products I could readily make. Its so crazy. I will have to purchase some reusable containers to store them in however...but that's worth it.

I am excited to make these things and to begin altering the recipes to my own liking. I will keep log as I make these recipes with pictures and post as well as attempt to track the money that I am saving.