Tested on This Animal

This phase of the blog has forced me to break up with vanity and forgo my addiction to chemically toxic cosmetics and toiletries. If only I understood in my teen years that self-esteem and self-worth didn’t come from a CoverGirl bottle, I wouldn’t have let advertisers perception of beauty entrench their ideals in my brain. I also wouldn’t feel the need today to replace my make-up with all natural alternatives, but go *gasp* sans fards.  I will write about this exercise for you, dear readers, on my journey of being more comfortable in my skin, and my stank.  Maybe you’ll get a laugh, and maybe you’ll join a few of my friends who are now calling me crazy hippy girl, but secretly using some of my recipes.  

To prepare I have let my shampoos (yes all 3 different kinds), perfume, deodorant, and some of my make-up run their course and recycled their plastic shells.  I also waited until the weekend that I spent with my cohort to unleash a few of my all natural concoctions.  :)  That being said, here is a run down on what has happened so far.

Shampoo

The way my hair looks has never been a huge concern for me. I rarely color it, don’t have any hair products, and my entrust my grandfather for regular trims. I have a low maintenance approach to my hair. At the same time, I don’t like looking like you can fry an egg on my head.  After some internet research, I came up with a recipe for shampoo.  This consists of castile soap, water, chamomile and lavender flowers. 

 Sounds pretty right?  Wrong.  

I tested this concoction after going for a run, and it made my hair as flexible as a bale of straw that has been sitting in the sun for a week.   So I added a touch of jojoba oil.  Big mistake.  I gave my hair dryer a workout trying to dry out some of the oil to no success.

 In my medicine cabinet I found gold bond powder.  I will spare you this part of the story that is painful and pathetic.  The next few shampoos washed out some of the grease, but I still felt dirty.  I added some apple cider vinegar which made my hair softer, but after a few hours my hair starts to grease out.  I don’t like the texture of my hair and it feels like it has a wax coating. It’s time to go back to the drawing board with this one.  Will keep you posted, and take it from me, never put gold bond medicated powder anywhere near your head.  

Deodorant

For 2.5 days, my cohort was holed up with me in a classroom as they experienced the double assault of greasy hair and case of the underarm stink.  They said I didn’t smell bad. I think they are very nice people.   I used Trader Joe’s all natural deodorant which is akin to slapping cotton fibers molded with essential oils on your pits.  Does not work.  Lately I’ve been using a salt rock from Whole Foods which has been working out.  Tonight will be the big test as I am attending a formal at Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel, we’ll see how nice people are after I get off the dance floor.

Perfume

Easy one.  I love perfumes, as I always link smells with emotions and situations.  In my chemistry lab (aka kitchen) I mixed jojoba oil with lavender and ylang ylang essential oils, and dabbled some drops on my neck.  It smells great and lasts all day. 

With regards to make-up I started using tinted moisturizer from Organic Wear, but am having a hard time separating from my mascara.  These past few weeks have been fun playing chemist. Future posts will have me working on all natural alternatives for seasonal issues such as allergies and sunblock.