How to Make Your Own Natural Bodywash: Liquid Castile Soap

This project is almost too easy. So easy that I can’t believe I never thought of it before.

Having already dabbled in homemade shampoo, I’d wondered a few times whether I could DIY my bodywash myself, since we like to use Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap. I couldn't find anything online, but then I got to thinking...

If you look at the back of any liquid soap bottle, you’ll see that the first ingredient in there is water. Now, many soaps add other stuff in to make the soap thicker and more like a gel. But at its essence, it’s just a soap and water mixture.

Another thing you’ll likely also notice is that liquid soap costs more than a bar of the regular stuff. The cost of convenience, right?

Not necessarily. Because as I discovered, it's quite easy to make your own simple, natural bodywash for a fraction of the price...





How to Make Your Own Natural Bodywash

Ingredients:
1 bar of castile soap
6 cups of water

Other Equipment You’ll Need:
vegetable grater
large sauce pan or stock pot

Instructions:

• Take your bar of soap, and shred it using the vegetable grater. I selected a bar of Kirk's plain castile soap, but if you’re committed to the peppermint-or lavender-scented Dr. Bronner’s soaps, they make those in a bar form, too. (Alternatively, you could probably add essential oils to the plain one when it’s melted down, but I haven't tried that.)
  
  
• Heat up 6 cups of water on the stove until it's almost boiling. Add two cups of soap flakes. (I shredded one bar of soap, measured out 2 cups, and still had a handful of flakes left over that I’ll use next time I make a batch. If you want to make a bigger or smaller batch, you can easily do that. Just keep the soap to water as a 1:3 ratio.)
  
  
• Stir the mixture, and the soap flakes should start melting. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit there for an hour or so. By this time, all the flakes should be melted.
  
  
• Now you’re done. Just let it cool, and then pour it into containers. This amount filled up one large 32-ounce bottle and I still had two more cups of bodywash left over that I poured into another lidded container.

A Note About the Bodywash:
If you're familiar with Dr. Bronner's soap, you'll know that it's pretty liquid-y to begin with, since there aren't any additives to make the soap thicker. You'll find that's true with this recipe, as well. If you don’t like a runny consistency, another option is for you to pour it into an empty foaming hand-soap container (like this). Fill it about halfway with the castile soap mixture, then add water to fill it up the rest of the way. Screw the foaming lid on, and you'll have yourself some soap-sudsy foaming bodywash!

P.S. If you are new to this blog, thank you so much for stopping by! You can feel free to browse all my other posts about my journey toward a lifestyle of simplicity and DIY, as well as some of the ways my husband and I are learning to save money. I also write about my faith, my marriage and everything in between, which you can explore in the archives.

Plus, if you like this tutorial, click here to pin it to Pinterest. You can also follow me on Pinterest here.

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Your Questions Answered: More About My Baking-Soda Shampoo

In my last Q&A, I answered some of your questions regarding using my baking soda shampoo. As it turns out, you had even more questions about making and using your own homemade shampoo! So, here's Part 2...

Q: You mentioned in your first post that you use herbs. Do you use fresh or dried and how much? Also what type of herbs do you use since I have a similar hair type...

Well, the first couple times around that I made my baking-soda shampoo, I did include herbs, specifically dried rosemary, which is supposed to help if you have dry scalp. The first time, I just dumped some dried herbs into the mixture, but that ended up turning the water a brownish color and ended up stuffing up my pump at times.

Then, I decided to try to make a little sachet, putting about a teaspoon of dried rosemary into a square of gauzy fabric and tying it at the ends so the herbs couldn’t fall out. Then I submerged it into the mixture. That worked better at keeping the herbs from clumping in the pump, but after a few times it seemed like a bit more work than I felt like, so I’ve since stopped including rosemary at all.

After all this, someone recommended using essential oils instead of the herb itself, and just add a drop or two to the mixture. That way you take advantage of the natural properties of the herb without the mess of the herb itself. I have yet to pick up some essential oil and try it, myself, though.

Q: Did you miss having the lovely smell of highly fragranced shampoo? What does your hair smell like now? I am curious since if I skip a day of washing, my hair has this oily smell that I do not like.

Well, to be honest, I don’t think my hair smells like anything other than hair! I’ve never put much of a priority on how my shampoo smells, anyway though, so the lack of a strong fragrance doesn’t bother me at all. I care more about how well the shampoo actually works!

However, if you do miss a perfume-y smell, you can also try experimenting with adding essential oils to your mixture. As I mentioned before, I haven’t tried adding essential oils, but it seems like a great way to personalize and perfect the smell you want, using natural fragrances rather than synthetic ones.

Have you tried adding essential oils to your baking-soda shampoo? If so, please share your suggestions or combinations of ones to try in the comments!

Q: Does your husband wash his hair with this solution too?

Good question, because the answer is that, no, he does not use my baking-soda shampoo! He keeps his hair pretty short with a closely cropped buzz-cut, so he doesn’t really need to use shampoo at all. Instead, he just uses Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, which we use as our body wash of choice, as well. I think for him, it’s just easier to keep using that.

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on tattoos and some kitchen insights, so those and more to come!

READ FULL POST >>

Your Questions Answered: My Baking Soda Shampoo

Q: I have been wanting try your baking soda shampoo! Are you still using it? What are the results? I have thin/fine slightly oily hair and I cannot imagine washing it every other day!

I first posted about using my baking-soda shampoo back in June, when I’d been using it consistently for about two months. It’s now December, and I’m still using it as my sole shampoo. I went to the salon a few weeks ago, and the stylist raved over how healthy my hair looked—the first time in my life I’ve ever received that compliment! I give all the credit to the baking-soda shampoo!

When I first started, I was almost immediately able to drop down to washing my hair every other day. (I documented my experience over the first couple of weeks here.) Like you, I tend to have thin, fine and oily hair, and had never imagined I could go more than a day without washing my hair! (I shared a little bit about that in my intro to the shampoo.) Since the shampoo is so simple to make and hardly takes any resources at all (just a tablespoon of baking soda!!), I’d really recommend you at least give it a shot and see if it works for you. I was able to see results even by day 2.

I was curious how this would affect other hair types. The other day, I received a glowing comment from someone with thick, curly hair who has also had great luck switching to a baking-soda shampoo. She said, “I have difficult curly/wavy hair and since washing my hair this way I finally like my hair. Wish I had tried this in high school. I never have a bad hair day now, and my hair is less frizzy, less greasy! It's been a year and a half and I don't think I'll ever shampoo my hair again.”

(I have read that those with thicker hair are recommended to use an apple-cider rinse as a conditioner. But I haven’t had a need to use it myself. Some have asked about using this—does anyone have any insights on how and how much to use? If so, please leave your insights in the comments! A few people have also asked about whether the baking soda shampoo is suitable for color-treated hair. Anyone know? I haven't dyed my hair in almost a decade, so I have no clue!)

A couple people have said that they've tried baking soda shampoo in the past without not-so-great results, but it seems that the overall consensus (from what I've read in the original post comments) is that people are finding that the baking soda shampoo works well for them. So, I figure, what's to lose?! If you want to give it a try, here’s the link to my experience using the baking soda shampoo and directions for making it yourself.

Q:I had a random question about how you "apply" your baking soda shampoo to your hair. I think my method ends up wasting a lot of it and I'm not even sure I'm getting the right amount on, so I was curious how you did it. I've just mixed it up in a cup and then poured some into my cupped hand and tossed it onto my head, flinging a lot of it over my head at the same time. Then I tried cleaning out an old hair spray bottle so that I could spray it onto my hair, but after my first attempt with that I realized that I didn't get the bottle completely free of hair spray. So...before I make my next attempt, I thought I would ask you!

I do find that I go through the baking-soda liquid pretty quickly (maybe every two weeks?), because I would much rather make sure that I'm getting enough on my hair rather than too little! But I use a little squirt bottle (a repurposed bottle with a pump head that used to hold face wash, see photo below). I just made sure I rinsed it well, and then ran it through the dishwasher (top shelf) for extra measure.

I’ve found that using the squirt bottle has been really helpful, because it controls how much of the liquid comes out and does keep a lot from going to waste. When it comes time to apply it, I just pump the baking soda solution on various parts of my hair; I’m guessing about 10 squirts per application.

That might be a lot, but since it is runny, I like to make sure I’m getting a good covering all over! I also like to keep an extra batch made up and ready in the shower so that when my first bottle runs out, I’ve already got a back-up waiting. Do a little digging around and I’ll bet you can find containers or bottles perfect to repurpose for your shampoo!

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on tattoos and some kitchen insights, so those and more to come!

READ FULL POST >>

Clairvoyant Beauty Skincare Products Review

clair·voy·ant: "able to see beyond the range of ordinary perception."

That is the way that the ladies behind Clairvoyant Beauty see their cosmetic line: creating beauty products that go beyond the ordinary. They not only make you look good, but are good for you (using 100% natural and organic ingredients) and good for the world, using practices, ingredients and packaging that are socially responsible, environmentally friendly, cruelty free, vegan certified and certified organic. All rolled up into one little package.

Recently, I received one such package to try out for myself. As I've mentioned before, I've made it an effort to be aware of what I'm putting not only into my body but onto my skin, one of the reasons fueling why I started making my own shampoo and would like to someday try my hand at making my own make-up. So the chance to add some of their beauty products—free of chemicals, artificial fragrances, parabens, sulfates or anything synthetic—to my growing arsenal was right up my alley.

Their list of products covers all your skincare needs, including all-natural cleansers, creams, scrubs, serums and toners. I was provided with a set of cucumber-themed products to try out: Light & Refreshing Cucumber Cream and Depuffing Cucumber & Cranberry Eye Gel.

Light & Refreshing Cucumber Cream

I've been using them for about a month, which has been perfect timing as the weather has turned a bit chilly, even down here in Atlanta. Although I love the excuse for wrapping up in fuzzy scarves and warming my hands with a mug of cocoa, the weather does a number on my sensitive skin, causing it to tighten and dry out. So moisturizing becomes a top priority. I normally use Aveeno moisturizer, which works well but is sticky. The moisturizing cream from Clairvoyant soaks right into my skin without leaving a tacky film and rehydrates my skin for the rest of the day.

Depuffing Cucumber & Cranberry Eye Gel

I've used a depuffing cream for a couple of years now to help make me look more awake in the mornings. But one of the things I loved about the Clairvoyant product was that (first and foremost) it worked but also the cucumber oils infused in it were cooling and refreshing to my sleep-worn skin and to my groggy state of mind.

Even down the packaging—a recyclable container with teensy tiny inspirational quotes about beauty printed backwards on the labels—the products have not only caught but also kept my attention and become key products in my skincare routine.

Thanks to Clairvoyant Beauty for providing these products for review. Check out their website at www.clairvoyantbeauty.com.

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Recipes for Making Your Own Cosmetics

Having already succumbed to making my own shampoo (and still going strong, months later!), it's likely not too long before I try my hand at other beauty essentials. So when I came across this article in ReadyMade (thanks to my mom's subscription she sent me recently!), I immediately ripped it out to hold on to: "MacGyver Your Makeup."

There's a recipe for whipping up your own lip/cheek stain, eye liner, eye shadow and mascara. That's more than my daily makeup routine right there!

Caveat: I haven't tried a single one of these recipes, so I can't personally vouch for them. But I love the idea of at least trying them out and giving them a-go to see how well they do perform. Let me know if you get around to trying them before I do...

Make Your Own Lip and Cheek Stain
You'll need:

• Raw, organic coconut oil
• Beeswax
• Beet root powder (available at fromnaturewithlove.com) or a beet
• Bowl
• Grater
• Pot
• Glass Jar 

1. In a bowl, spoon out 1 tsp dried beet root powder.
2. Add 1½ tbsp coconut oil and mix.
3. Grate 1½ tbsp beeswax into your oil paste and put it into an old pot (better if you don’t care about it). Heat on low, being careful not to let it burn, until melted.
4. Remove pot from heat and pour the mixture into a glass jar to cool. Once it hardens, use your finger to apply the best, easiest lip and cheek stain out there. Will last 6 months unrefrigerated.

Make Your Own Mascara
You'll need:

• Activated charcoal capsules
• Aloe vera
• Mascara wand, cleaned 

1. Empty an activated charcoal capsule into a small bowl.
2. Put in ¼ tsp pure aloe vera gel and mix.
3. Using an old (but thoroughly cleaned) mascara wand, sweep it onto your lashes. Make and use (don’t store) as needed.

Make Your Own Eyeliner
You'll need:

• Activated charcoal capsules (available at drugstore.com)
• Small angled-tip eyeliner brush

1. Empty the contents of an activated charcoal capsule in a dry, clean bowl.
2. For a liquid-liner look, add a few drops of water, dip in your angled-tip eyeliner brush, and sweep it neatly. If you want a more smoldering eye, put it on dry and smudge to the desirable smokiness. Make and use (don’t store) as needed.

Make Your Own Eye Shadow
You'll need:

• Spirulina powder (available at the vitaminshoppe.com)
• Coconut oil (optional)
• Round eye-shadow brush

1. Spoon ½ tsp powder into a clean, dry bowl or into your palm.
2. With shadow brush or your index finger, smear it onto your lids. For a glossier look, first apply a little coconut oil to your lids. Shadow will keep for months, but check the spirulina bottle for storage advice to be safe.
(They say that this recipe will create a naturally pigmented, "universally flattering blue-green" hue.)

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Coffee Does Not Go to Waste In This Household

 

My husband is the one who made coffee a daily habit for me. Before marriage, coffee and I were acquaintances who spent some time together when I was with friends and we wanted a low-key place to hang out or I was at work and needed something to warm up my hands.

But now, it's an everyday affair. For our one-year anniversary, we even bought a new coffee maker (all glass, non-electric) that we'd seen at a coffee shop that looks like it's out of the '70s. Hippie, skippie!

My husband gets up in the morning, boils the water, measures out the grounds (soon we'll be grinding our own when our grinder shows up from Amazon!), pours them through the filter and hands me my cup of fresh, hot coffee. He takes his black, I add in my requisite half-and-half and homemade simple syrup. (You can click here to read more about my favorite coffee-making essentials.)

And when we're done, there's usually a few tablespoons of coffee left in the pitcher. We used to just pour it down the drain, but now I know better. Those tablespoons add up, and now I collect them in a glass jar we keep in the fridge for making cold coffee on a warm summer's day. (Way better than coffee shops' "iced coffee," which ends up being watered down and only a few sips!)

But lately, I've found another use for our cold coffee collection: Soaking your feet! I'd spent a lot of time on my feet and decided to look up a recipe for a foot soak. Lots of them called for epsom salts, which we don't have.  But then there were a few that recommended using coffee, because the caffeine in it brings down any swelling. I've been soaking my feet in coffee about once a week ever since!

So last night, while my husband and I sat on our couch and watched the latest episode from the John Adams series we rented from Netflix, we sat with our feet soaking in our coffee spa. It was the first time I got him to try it, and I think he's discovered yet another reason why he loves coffee, now, too!

Try it for yourself:

Simple Coffee Soak to Soothe Your Feet!

• Find a large basin (we've even used a large stockpot), and fill it about 3/4 of the way with hot water. You want the water to be as hot as you can stand it, because your feet will thank you.
• Pour about 1/2 cup of coffee to the water and stir. The water will be a rusty brown color, which is perfect. You really can add as much as you like, but I find that to be sufficient.
• Find a comfy spot to rest in, and soak your feet until the water has cooled down. Your feet will be nice and soft and totally relaxed!

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Recipe for Making Your Own Shampoo

Yesterday, I shared about why I decided to make my own baking soda-and-water shampoo, as a healthy shampoo alternative and a way to keep from having to wash my hair daily. Today, I wanted to give you a glimpse into what it was like to use this stuff to clean my hair, followed by the recipe to make your own!

My Experience Using Baking Soda Shampoo

Day 1 - Can't tell whether it's working, since there are no suds to go by. Fingers crossed!

Day 2 - What do you know, but my hair has not yet turned oily. Hallelujah! This might just work!

Day 3 - Still not oily, but I figure I shouldn't press my luck. Let's kick the every-other-day routine into gear!

Day 6 - Yesterday was a wash day, but for some reason today my hair decided to turn oily all of a sudden. I ended up washing it halfway through the day. Hoping it doesn't let me down!

Day 12 - Hair seems to be adjusting to baking soda shampooing and oil levels evening out. I think I figured out that the culprit is the fact that it's gotten hotter outside and likely more sweat on the brow, so to speak. I expect that when the weather turns cooler this fall, I can start experimenting with going two days between shampoos.

I'm now about two months into the process, and I just finished my second full bottle.

The main thing I've noticed is that my hair's texture/oil is much more consistent now than before; usually after shampooing my hair, it would be on the dry end (even with conditioning) and by the end of the day or the next morning, it'd be super oily to compensate. Now, whether it's right after a shower or the end of the day, it's about the same oily-ness.

Around the middle of day two, sometimes it will start to feel oily, though often when I go to check in the mirror, it doesn't actually look oily. By hour 48, the oil does start to show (some days more than others), but even then, it still has not gotten as oily as it used to at hour 24.

Which, for the simplicity of the product, I count as quite impressive. I wouldn't claim it to be a miracle solution (but, then, what is?), however I do think it's much more reliable and effective than previous shampooing, which is why I've decided to stick with it.

Recipe to Make Your Own Baking Soda Shampoo
All it is a mixture of baking soda to water; I took a bottle with a pump-head that I'd saved (there's always some use waiting!) and filled it 1/8 the way with baking soda, the rest with water. (The ideal ratio is about 1 tablespoon of baking soda per 1 cup of water.) I'd read online about adding rosemary to your mixture if you have dry scalp, so I added some dashes of that, as well.

Then you shake it up and are ready to go. (If you end up adding rosemary, like I did, the water will start to turn brownish like in the photo above. In my first batch, I just dumped the herbs in but after awhile they started clogging the pump and also would sometimes squirt out into my hair--not quite the accessorizing I'm often going for. One alteration I made with my second batch was to bundle the rosemary in a swatch of gauzy fabric, kind of like a homemade tea bag to avoid that, which has worked exceptionally well so far.)

One thing is that the mixture is really runny, which means it takes a little longer to get my hair fully coated with it because I keep squirting more on. Once I can feel it's coated my hair, I let it sit for a minute and then rinse it off. Some people choose to use an apple-cider-vinegar rinse for conditioning, but I don't need to do that at all.

I can finally go more than a day between shampoos. Who would have guessed the answer would be as simple as a kitchen staple?!

P.S. If you are new to this blog, thank you so much for stopping by! You can feel free to browse all my other posts about my journey toward a lifestyle of simplicity and DIY, as well as some of the ways my husband and I are learning to save money. I also write about my faith, my marriage and everything in between, which you can explore in the archives.

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Why I Started Making My Own Shampoo

You have no idea how many times I've tried to get my hair to comply with my wishes. How many times I've tried to be patient with its disobedience as I wean it off its preferences and wait for it to catch on. All the way back to sixth grade when I got a home perm (oh yes), it has had a mind of its own. What I anticipated to be loose, bouncy ringlets became poodle kinks. (Fortunately I think all photos are destroyed from that era.)

Over the past few years, the latest plea I've presented to my tresses is not having to wash  them everyday. All I'm shooting for is every other day. They get their washing wish. I've tried all sorts of shampoos, dry shampoos, baby powder, conditioners or no conditioners at all to try to make it to the 48-hour mark. Yet when the 24 hour mark hits, the oil gushes forth and there's no hope for going even an hour more.

Especially because I have such fine, thin hair, I know it's healthier for me to not be washing my hair everyday. But until now, there seemed no feasible (or attractive) solution. Forgoing my collection of shampoo and conditioner bottles, I have started using the shockingly simple answer of: baking soda and water. Yes, not a soap sud in sight. But it works.

When I went to the hairdresser last, I absolutely loved the shampoo they used on my hair. I really, really wanted to buy some because a day after getting my hair done, my hair was still not oily. This was the first time I'd ever experienced such a thing! Such freedom! But when I looked it up on Skin Deep (a site that rates how safe certain cosmetic and beauty brands are for you and the environment), it was marked as having "developmental/reproductive toxicity." Whoa. Which sent me on a search to find a shampoo that would be kind to my hair and to me.

After looking up a half a dozen "safe" shampoos to no avail, I happened upon a recipe to make your own shampoo using just baking soda and water. I was a little weary how this solution would work, but since I had both ingredients on-hand, I decided to give it a go.

Tomorrow, I'll post my day-by-day reactions to trying this new "shampoo," as well as the recipe for this ever-so-simple little concoction, if you'd like to try it for yourself. Skip ahead to Part II.

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Buying beauty for 99 cents...

Yesterday, the sky was bleak and gray and depressing. At the grocery store, I saw this cheery handful of daffodils on sale for $0.99. I couldn't resist. I brought them home, placed them in a little vase (actually a pilsner glass!) and then propped them up right in front of where I was doing some reading for work.

Bringing a little sunshine in on a dark, dreary day...for less than a dollar!

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