My Chemical-Free Morning Routine
Photo Credit: lorigami
I don’t wear makeup. Nope, not a stitch. Maybe I should. My skin is dry as dust without moisturizer, and I could probably use a bit of concealer to cover the fact that those lovely dark circles under my eyes are a permanent fixure of never sleeping — too much to do! — but I don’t.
I have asked Michael on several occasions, “Should I start wearing makeup?” He never even stops to consider the answer. “No,” he says immediately. ”I like that the woman I go to bed with is the same one I wake up to in the morning.”
I gotta tell you, I simply adore my husband.
So what does my normal beauty routine look like? Well, I get up, and check my hair out. Because I wear it so short, the “bedhead” look works for me quite well. So if I can make it work, I don’t wash it. If it isn’t salvageable, I hop in the shower and wash it. Michael gave up shampoo some time ago, and I am following suit. I’m moving on to a “no ‘poo” recipe — baking soda and water, with a spray bottle of diluted apple cider vinegar. I asked Michael what his experience has been and he loves it — saves him buying the $16 specialty shampoo for his sensitive scalp. Plus, it’s virtually pennies per wash! He said he does find his scalp gets greasy faster, but since he showers every day, he doesn’t find that to be a problem. (For an interesting review of a no-soap routine, check out my friend Niall’s take on it, which also features my friend Spyros.)
After the wash, I get out and dry off. I moisturize with either coconut or olive oil, whatever is most plentiful. More expensive than a cheap-o moisturizer, yes, but far better for your skin. And I brush my teeth with straight coconut oil. Most people add baking soda, but the baking soda can be too abrasive and can damage tooth enamel, so I just stick with plain coconut oil. I’ve been doing this for several weeks now and I gotta tell you, my teeth feel great! :D
I’m on the last of my commercial deoderant. After it’s finished, I’ll be making a batch of homemade deoderant, and then there will be only one chemical-ridden beauty product in my arsenol — hair paste. And that’s only until I can come up with a better solution. I haven’t found a recipe for it that works yet. If you have one, won’t you please share?
And that’s it! I am fresh and ready for the day! On days when I need a little something extra, I sneak into the back of my baking cupboard for the vanilla extract and dab just a tiny bit behind my ears and smell delicious all day!
And that’s me! (Almost) chemical free!
This post is a part of No Mom Talk Mondays, hosted by Mommy Matters.
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miniMOMist is an account of Mike, Nada and Naomi's journey into realistic minimalism, with the goal centered around simple living, and enjoying each other rather than things. We are a faith-based family and blog about our belief in God regularly. Our love for one another and our passion for a simple, minimalist life brings us much joy and pleasure.
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Hey, thanks for the mention, Nada! I hadn’t heard of using coconut oil as toothpaste before. I’ll have to try that some time
Let me know what you think of it, Niall!
Lovely! I’m currently using “natural” purchased products, but they’re not as truly natural as I’d like. I had come across Becoming Crunchy’s post on homemade beauty products a couple weeks ago & got really inspired! Still need to make/try the recipes I’ve gathered, lots of coconut oil needed! I’m so excited to see that you’ve loved going homemade & natural as well! Yaay!
ps – Your weakness is hair product; mine is mascara.
Ooooo, Rosemary, Michele @ Frugal Granola did a post on homemade natural mascara. *quick google search* Here ya go!
I’ve experimented with making my own laundry detergent, etc. but never with my own deodorant. Thanks for giving us a little peak inside your morning! Thanks for linking up to Me Time Monday!
Hope you have a fantastic week!
You too Courtney! I haven’t tried laundry detergent before. That’s on my adventure list!
i LOVE my homemade deodorant. what is hair paste? gel?
i’m intrigued about the coconut oil as toothpaste…
Hair paste is a kind of gummy hair styling product. I use a drug store brand, but I’m trying to come up with an alternative.
I’ve been using coconut oil for my hair and skin for awhile now (olive oil is too greasy for me) but hadn’t considered brushing my teeth with it! Great post!
Thanks Ani! It took a bit of getting used to, because the coconut oil doesn’t foam up. But once I started it was fine. And my teeth feel so clean!
Try aloe-vera gel.
For an alternative to hair paste?
Milk of Magnesia works as a deodorizer, though it may need refreshing the application with more frequency than commercial stuff.
Mix some fresh ground coffee and a mix of olive oil, coconut oil and either sea salt or sugar to make a mud you can keep in plastic canister in the bath area for scrubbing your feet, and occassionally your whole body–at least the scaly rough parts!
For managing your hair how about 100% Aloe gel? A bit between your wet fingers to distribute and then through your tossled locks will help set the look.
Wow, Katheryn, what a great list of tips. Thanks a lot. I especially like the body mud. That sounds so luxurious!
Another alternative to smelling really nice, and maybe you could add some to your milk of magnesia–bruise a sprig of fresh growth rosemary and the oils are very pleasant–mix with some fresh mint even, or together.
Mmmmmmm, that just sounds heavenly!
Great post Nada! The no soap revolution continues!
A word of caution on the coconut oil deodorant, I made some of my own, and it was great, until we got a nice and hot day when it turned completely liquid and was unusable. I thought, “no biggie, I’ll just throw it in the fridge” at which point it became too hard and I couldn’t use apply it to my armpits.