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?

Granola Happenings

 This week on Granola Tendencies...

- The Battery that Almost Exploded 

- A Week of Vegetarian Meals

- The Spice Market restaurant review

- Homemade Dish Soap

- Homemade Mouthwash

- Alikay Naturals Product Review

 

Sugar and Coffee

I've pretty much given up coffee completely. Since December of 2009 I've only had two coffee drinks. I've also given up most forms of sugar even raw. I only use raw sugar for cooking and/or baking.

 

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I sweeten most things with agave nectar. Mainly my African Nectar Mighty Leaf tea. Because I've come to love agave nectar so much, I won't even use honey. Honey only comes in handy for baking, cooking, and homemade products now. Now if I run out of agave, I'll just have my tea by itself. Eventually I won't even need the agave nectar anymore!

I can't remember the last time I purchased granulater sugar. I like that. And the coffee that I still have in the house...that's just used for my Brown Sugar Coffee Body Scrub.

Taking coffee and sugar out of my daily nutritutional intake...adding more fruit, water, and vitamins, I've noticed my body feels lighter. Things are processed better. I wonder how enlightened I'd feel if I went completed raw. Perhaps I'll try going raw for just one day and then vegan for a day, just to note the differences.

Do you notice a difference when you eat only vegetarian meals versus raw meals versus vegan meals? How often do you drink coffee? What do you use to sweeten your drinks and foods?

"My Elective Blackout"

I came across this article in Real Simple a long while ago and I LOVED it. My goal is go on a couple elective blackouts this year as long as my schedule allows. If I'm working on a show, that's not possible but if I can, I want to have a weekend of candles.

Click each picture for a larger view. It is worth reading the article.

 

What do you think about the article?

The Uniform Project

Have you ever heard of The Uniform Project? I first learned about it through one of my favorite websites.

One of the comments I wrote about the website was....

1. Posted by Sheena - 06/13/2009
   I actually really like the project. Even if its not completely sustainable, or someone has done it before, or there are better ways to go about doing it….I really like it. Its creative and inspires me to think of ways in which I could simplify my wardrobe. I won’t wear the same dress for a year but it makes me realize I can do a lot more with all the pieces in my wardrobe. So if this has prevented me from buying another dress because I’m thinking of new ways to wear the ones I already have, then unclutterer has succeeded in being helpful to me. Plus the girl is just so adorable and while some of the outfits are crazy, many of them are just too cute! I want that black dress!
   
   First, I must mentioned the woman behind the Uniform Project has the same name as me, SHEENA! Yea!
   
   
   One of the reasons for this project is to raise money for school children. But I like the sustainable implications. Can you take one dress from your wardrobe in wear it in seven different ways? After following The Uniform for quite some time, I was inspired to look at my clothes in a new way. Perhaps if I layered things or added accessories I could find a new way to wear something.
   
   And it works.
   
   But first, back to Sheena from U.P. Here are some of my favorites of hers. (Look at her site and see some of her creative or crazy outfits. I can't believe it's almost been a year!)
   
   
    
   
   
   My favorite is the one with the hat! So so cool!
   Eventually the black dress which can be worn both ways will be for sale. I will definitely be purchasing it. Sheena borrowed friends accessories until her site became so popular that people were donating accessories for her to try.  At one point, she asked that people stop sending accessories. She even had an event where she put the accessories up for auction to raise more money.
   
   
   So with her encouragement I have tried mixing things up with my clothes.
   
   
   
    
   This white dress has been in my closet for over a year with the price tag still on it. I was never able to wear it to work because its spaghetti strapped and the cut is pretty low. And I just never had an occasion to wear it during the summer. But after some creative layering, its not one of my favorite things to wear to work. Now I need to try it with some other color than black!
   
    
   One of my favorite dresses but because its sleeveless, its limited to certain seasons. Or not! I add a long sleeve tshirt, leggings, and even knee length socks with boots. And now I can even rock the dress in the winter!
   
    
   Another sleeveless dress that works for the winter by adding a long sleeve tshirt, leggings and boots.
   
    
   And one of my favorite shirt/dresses..Its more a shirt at this point. But with leggings it doesn't matter. So with this one I went color crazy. Green leggings. Orange leg warmers. Brown boots.
   But sometimes I wear the shirt with jeans.
   Or just with brown leggings and boots.
   
   
   But even still, that's three different outfits.
   
   
   So I encourage you to mix and match.
   
   
   Right now I am living out of three suitcases while the rest of my belongings including my clothes are in storage somewhere in New Jersey. I'm pretty much stuck to the three suitcases and I really don't want to buy more stuff. Therefore, I've been trying some pretty different looks with the clothes that I have. Who knew layers, leggings, and accessories could give you a whole new look.
   
   
   
    
   
   
   Associates at work actually thought this was a new dress because of the belt. And I wear the dress a lot. A least once a week but this time with the new accessories I was frequently asked if this was a new dress!
   When you can't find anything to wear do you shop for something new, borrow from a friend, or try old clothes in a completely new way? Any ideas for other ways and colors and styles I can try to make my limited wardrobe fresh and new. (Also do you notice a theme...I love dresses!)
   
   

Homemade Apple Crisp

Awhile back I made homemade apple crisp with some apples from work. Rather than throwing them in the garbage. I've also brought bananas home and made banana oatmeal cookies too.

Here is the video I made.

After making my video, I felt bad that I didn't look for a more organic way to make my apple crisp. So I searched for a healthier version to try in the near future. So I'm going to be trying this one soon.

Electrical Overload

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I recently moved to New York for a job relocation and while I'm still getting situated, I'm staying in corporate housing. I am grateful for the benefit of corporate housing. It ties me over until I find a home. It's close to work and pretty much at the center of everything. The apartment comes fully stocked since most of my belonging are in storage and so I am able to survive until I find my future home in Brooklyn.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was all the things plugged into the walls.

 

This is a partial view of the kitchen. It's pretty nice. Lots of room and counter space. But let's count what's plugged in.

1. The fridge

2. The stove.

3. The microwave

4. The dishwasher

5. The toaster

6. The can opener

7. The coffeemaker

SEVEN THINGS! Just in the kitchen. Remember my old lovely apartment?

 

 At any given moment throughout my ENTIRE apartment only THREE things remained plugged in. The fridge, the stove and my internet router. Even the lamp featured in the photo was only plugged in when in used. Which was rare because you see how much light i get in my apartment!

So seven things for just the kitchen. Well, I immediately put the can opener, toaster and coffee machine in the cabinet. I haven't used any of those things since I moved in.

Now what you can see in this picture...

8. Floor lamp

9. Table lamp

10. Ipod/Radio player

What you can't see...

11. Flat screen television

12. DVD player

13. Cable box

14. Router

15. Desk lamp

16. Telephone

17. Heater/Air conditioner

Oh, I forgot to mention

18. Telephone in kitchen

19. Telephone in kitchen (yes there are two. One that connects me to the doorman)

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Now on to the bedroom.

20. One nightstand lamp

21. Another night stand lam

22. Heater/Air Conditioner

What you can't see.....

23. Another television. (A television in the bedroom. AAAAAHHHH!)

24. Cable box.

25. Yet ANOTHER telephone

And while its not plugged in there is a hair dryer in the bathroom.

25 things plugged in at all times! Are you serious! I can't even imagine what the electricity bill is! This isn't even counting the other things that you plug in every now and then. My phone chargers. My laptop charger and such! WTF!

I was excited to have received a $15 electricity bill in my old apt and now...holy crap. Luckily I don't have to see the electricity bill.

I've unplugged as many things as I can and have even considered moving the television in the bedroom into the closet but since its not my place I'm a little hesitant to make changes like that.

I find that its challenging to live a sustainable life when you don't have control. Like when I go home to visit my family, I eat what's presented to me. I'm not going to impose my lifestyle on them and change how they shop. And since this isn't my own apt, its just challenging. But I do what I can.

For the first few weeks I had a great deal of trouble sleeping. Part of me believes is due to this electrical overload. I can't wait to have my own apt again where the only things that are plugged in will be my fridge, stove and router.

How many things do you have plugged in?