The shelves in the shops are just bursting under the weight of all the body care products. You can find toothpastes with almost any flavours you want, shower gels with tropical smells, shampoos with magical and unique ingredients for all kind of hair. But have you ever carefully read the ingredient list? Do you know what each one of those ingredients are, why they are added and how they work? Have you ever thought that instead of "taking care" of your body, you are actually harming it? In September 2017, we decided to stop this. We stopped using any commercial brands with endless ingredient lists and have switched to purer and simpler products (or none). We are not using any shower gels, soaps to wash our bodies, we make our toothpaste, and I sometimes make my own hair "wash".
When you switch from commercial products to home-made body care, it can take a while to get used to them, to changed your routine or getting used to the different texture/taste/smell. It took us a while to get used to our own toothpaste. We switched from these foaming and overly sweet toothpastes to this gritty and salty tasting one. The taste seemed a wee bit unpleasant at first. We knew that other people add sweeteners, like stevia, which is a natural sweetener, but we did not have access to it at the time. After a few times of using this healthier toothpaste, we got used to the taste, thus we decided to keep it simple and not add any unnecessary additives. (One day we got our hands on Stevia and added a wee pinch of it to our toothpaste, and it tasted just wrong! So no more sweeteners in our toothpaste.) As we did not add any essential oils (e.g. peppermint), we did not get the fresh aftertaste in our mouths, but we did get a clean feeling. Note! Essential oils have anti-bacterial properties, which is not good for your oral health. Your mouth has both, good and bad bacteria, it is essential to maintain a balance of good bacteria in your mouth for good breath and overall oral health. Anti-bacterial products kill both kind of bacteria (obviously!?). This was one of the main reasons why we did not add any essential oils for refreshing aftertaste. Nevertheless, it is everyone´s personal choice, and I choose what is better for my own well-being. However, it is apparent that most people are just terrified by any kind of bacteria anywhere! You see all these hand cleansers, anti-bacterial soap that kills up to 99.99% bacteria, touch-free toilets flushes, soap dispensers, automatic doors and so on. What most people do not understand is that we need to be exposed to these bacteria to gain and improve our immune system. By isolating ourselves from this exposure, we weaken our immune systems and can have serious complications even when we come into contact with the simplest and least threatening bacteria. By trying to protect ourselves this way, we are actually harming our health and body.
Additionally, as our environment is so polluted, we need to make sure, even when we do choose a healthy, chemical free lifestyle, we leave ourselves to some exposure now and then. Otherwise, we can develop serious allergies from all the bad things around us. Along the way we met some people that have gone so pure in their lifestyle that even the surrounding environment makes them sick. We always need to find the perfect balance to avoid going from one extreme to another. Undoubtedly, the air, water and soil is highly polluted everywhere, it is hard to avoid it. We also know that this aspect won´t change very quickly if ever.
TOOTHPASTE
It has been over a year since I have used my own simple toothpaste and finally I had my dentist appointment. Normally I have quite bad teeth and at least 1 or 2 holes to fix. Surprise, surprise, I had none this time! It might be just that all the teeth that could go bad, have already done that.. or it could be that my toothpaste actually works. My dentist looked at my teeth and they seem healthy. She said I can use my own toothpaste as long as it works. There was no trying to convince me that this is a bad idea. Thus, I am happy and I will continue using my own toothpaste. I cannot imagine using any of the commercial brands anymore.
Here is my recipe, which is SO simple! I use only 2 ingredients (sometimes a wee bit more). I mix bicarbonate soda (baking soda) with coconut oil. The proportions are random, whatever feels right for you. I tend to add more coconut oil so it not too salty and gritty. I like to add some activated charcoal powder, diatomaceous earth or bentonite clay time to time to boost up the health benefits of this toothpaste. As I mentioned before, if anyone prefers sweet toothpaste, feel free and add some natural sweetener. I would recommend to use stevia and definitely AVOID any chemical sweeteners, such as Sorbitol, Splenda, Aspartame, ACE-K, etc. You can read more about some of the worst artificial sweeteners here: https://draxe.com/artificial-sweeteners/
This information might become also quite useful when you are evaluating the food you put in your body, because many processed foods contain some of these harmful food additives.
My dentist asked if my toothpaste contains fluoride, which apparently is essential for my oral health. However, I am aware of the adverse effects it can have on my health, thus I choose to avoid it as much as possible. Again, this is something everyone need to make up their own minds about. You can read more about fluoride and its possible affects on your health here: https://draxe.com/is-fluoride-bad-for-you/
Well, all I can say is, try it for yourself and see if it works for you. Experiment to find out what ingredients in what combination suits your needs.
Educate yourself and know what you put in your body or use to take care of your body.
HAIR WASH
When you make your own shampoo or hair wash, it is important to get the pH level of your product right. I have never been very good at chemistry in school, but after conducting some research, I came to a reasonable conclusion that the pure baking soda wash is a terrible idea! Especially if you plan to wash your hair with apple cider vinegar afterwards. Do not make your hair suffer like that. According to the info I found online, the pH of baking soda is 9, which means it is alkaline. Whislt, apple cider vinegar usually have pH level between 3.5 - 5, meaning it is acidic. There is a big difference between these two products, which would just shock and damage your hair. The best is to find a pH balanced shampoo recipe. The higher the pH of your shampoo, the harsher it is to your hair. Ideally your hair needs a shampoo with a pH level between 5 and 7. Your hair consists of tiny shafts which are made up of scales, called cuticles. Water and alkaline-based hair products cause these scales to open, exposing the interior of your hair shafts. This can lead to very damaged hair. I have learnt a lot throughout the last year, whilst experiencing what works best for my hair. My ideal recipe for my hair wash consists of raw honey (According to the National Honey Board, the acidity of honey ranges from a pH of about 3.4 to about 6.1, with an average of 3.9.), lemon juice (pH is around 2), water (average pH level is 7) and a pinch of baking soda. I learnt that my hair feels and looks better, cleaner and healthier if I add more lemon juice and less baking soda. The pH balance in my hair wash is probably not perfect, but I am sure I can get it right one day. But I definitely know what I put on my hair. There is no one recipe that will work for everyone. To get the perfect shampoo means that everyone needs to experiment with various ingredients to find the best solution for their hair.
Well, just have fun trying out different recipes!