DYI Toothpaste

Up to this point I have replaced all my shower items.  Organic Shampoo, organic conditioner, soap, and shaving products.  Then as I step out of the shower, I reach for my organic deodorant.  I have managed to avoid the chemicals that I was using on my body every day, and I feel clean and refreshed and happier about what I am doing.

The next few products that I will blog about will be the products used everyday in front of my bathroom mirror.  Toothpaste, I used at least twice a day!  I did a lot of research on toothpaste.  The last toothpaste I was using was Crest Toothpaste, whitening with Scope.  Here are the list of ingredients from it:

Crest Whitening with Scope
Active Ingredients: Sodium Fluoride 
Inactive Ingredients: Hydrated Silica , Sorbitol , Glycerin , Tetrapotassium Pyrophosphate , PEG-6 , Disodium Pyrophosphate , Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate , Flavor , Sodium Lauryl Sulfate , Alcohol 1.14% , Xanthan Gum , Sodium Saccaharin , Carbomer 956 , Polysorbate 80 , Sodium Benzoate , Cetylpyridinium Chloride , Benzoic Acid , Domiphen Bromide .0002 wt% , Titanium Dioxide , Blue 1 , Yellow 5

It has a lot of stuff in it that is just not good for you.  And I put this in my mouth twice a day, every day!

I started researching better alternatives to toothpaste.  There was a lady who found a kind of toothpaste made from goats milk, but she bought it from a local farmer.  After researching more, I found a way to make my own, that included only 3 ingredients.  Baking Soda, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Mint Extract!  It took me a little bit to get used to, but wow, I like it.  And my teeth have become whiter.  (what a trade off).

Use a half Cup of Baking soda, mixed with a fourth cup of Hydrogen Peroxide, and then a few drops of mint or peppermint extract or peppermint essential oil.  (I usually add more hydrogen Peroxide for a better consistency).

My first batch I used mint extract, my second batch I used the essential oil which seemed to cut the salty taste.  Extract is cheaper, but if you can find a good essential oil, it does taste better.













My recommendation would be to make sure to keep up with dentist appointments when doing this.  I still let me son use regular toothpaste since his teeth are still forming.  I didn't get cavities till I was in my early thirties, so I don't mess with a good thing (or my sons teeth).  He has a cleaning every 6 months.  I have one every 4 because of some plaque issues and gum issues.

I have been very happy with this change(and my teeth look cleaner).

Again, any comments would be great.  Thank you again for reading and following me as I become a little more Organic every day!

DIY Laundry Detergent

For most of my life, I used Tide laundry detergent.  I grew up on it, my mom still uses it. I never questioned it because of this.  I have used powder and liquid, and they both worked just fine.  I had to change to unscented once I had our son, so he wouldn't break out in a rash.



Here is the list of ingredients in Tide liquid detergent:


water
alcoholethoxy sulfate
linear alkylbenzene sulfonate
propylene glycol
citric acid
sodium hydroxide
borax
ethanolamine
ethanol
alcohol sulfate
polyethyleneimine ethoxylate
sodium fatty acids
diquaternium ethoxysulfate
protease
diethylene glycol
laureth-9
alkyldimethylamine oxide
fragrance
amylase
disodium diaminostilbene disulfonate
DTPA
sodium formate
calcium formate
polyethylene glycol 4000
mannanase
Liquitint™ Blue
dimethicone

Then I switched to Purex.  Actually, my fiance has used this as long as he can remember(what his mother still uses), and I did notice it was much cheaper than Tide.  So I have used it for the past three years.  I have only used the liquid version.



Here are some of the ingredients in Purex liquid detergent.

Water

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Ethoxylated Alcohol

Sodium Carbonate

Sodium Dodecybenzenesulfonate

Sodium Chloride

Polymer

Fragrance

Sodium Edta

Brightener

Preservative

I ran out of Purex and decided to make my own detergent.  I opted to make the powder detergent since I had most of the ingredients already.  The recipe listed below is pretty standard and you can find this all over the Internet.  I have used it for over a month and it works great!  It smells nice too.

1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Bar of Fels-Naptha- grated







Mix and put into a jar or a plastic container with a lid.  Put between 1 to 2 tablespoons in every wash.

Fels-Naptha you will find in your laundry aisle.  It's bar laundry soap.

There are certain ingredients in Fels-Naptha that I'm not super happy with, and I might try another soap, but I'm still on my first batch, and it works great.

It was very difficult to find ingredients for the other detergents, so that is why I am posting them here.  I hope this information was helpful and look forward to all comments?

DIY Dishwasher Detergent and Rinse

I will get back to the bathroom products, as I need to make some adjustments, so I will now talk about homemade dishwasher detergent!

I have never been in love with doing dishes by hand.  I grew up with a dishwasher, and when I haven't had one, my dishes don't get washed very often. Right now I have one of those dishwashers that rolls around so I can hide it in my pantry when company is over

Once I started my organic trend, I decided that every time one of my products was empty, I would look for a more natural, less toxic product.  I started to read about Homemade Dishwasher Detergents, and the recipe is hit and miss when dealing with where your water source comes from. If you have hard water, dishes may come out cloudy.  My dishwasher is old, and they were slightly cloudy when I used the store bought stuff(I do plan on buying a new one in the future).  So I thought, what do I have to lose?

Here are the ingredients to what I would normally buy at the store:

Aqua 
Sodium Laureth Sulfate 
Sodium chloride 
Cocamide DEA 
Triclosan 
Aloe barbadensis 
Cocamidopropyl betaine 
Glycerine 
Parfum 
Citric acid 
Benzoic acid 
Benzyl alcohol 
Benzyl salicylate 
Butylphenyl methylpropional 
Methyparaben 
Methylchloroisothiazolinone 
Methylisothiazolinone 
Magnesium nitrate 
Magnesium chloride 
Propylene glycol 
Triethylene glycol 
Cl 42090 
Cl 19140
AAlu OOH2pCO2
Pks

There are only 4 ingredients to the Dishwasher Detergent.

1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Cup Borax
1/2 Cup Salt
1/2 Cup Citric Acid(or two small packets of unsweetened Lemonade- don't use another Kool Aid, or you will dye your dishes- Lemonade is colorless).



Here are the ingredients in Washing Soda- which you can find in your laundry detergent aisle.
100% Sodium Carbonate




Here is a description of Borax- which again you should be able to find in the laundry detergent aisle.
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.

You can use Regular Salt or Kosher Salt.  Supposedly Kosher Salt works better, I have been using what I have, which is regular.



Here is the definition of Citric Acid from Wikipedia:

 a weak organic acid. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods andsoft drinks. In biochemistry, the conjugate base of citric acid, citrate, is important as an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, and therefore occurs in the metabolism of virtually all living things.

Citric acid is a commodity chemical, and more than a million tonnes are produced every year by fermentation. It is used mainly as an acidifier, as a flavoring, and as a chelating agent.

Combine these four ingredients, the citric acid or lemonade will make your new powder dish washing detergent stick together, so it's best to shake it a couple of times the first few days so it doesn't stick together.  The lemonade (if you use that instead of Citric Acid), does make a nice fresh lemon scent.

It's best to rinse your dishes so they clean well, but again, my old dishwasher hates all food particles, so I was already doing this prior to the change.

Now you ask, but what about my rinse?  Yes, dishes do dry better when you have a rinse agent.

Replace your Jet Dry, with white vinegar.  It works great!!



And now you have it.  Your own dishwasher detergent.  And when you run out, you make another batch, and don't have to run to the store.  It's one less product you have to buy!

Again, all comments are welcome.  I hope you enjoyed this entry and look forward to hearing from you.

Mouthwash

My next post would be about lip balm or lip gloss, but I am still working on perfecting my own recipe for it.  Again, my friend Emily has her own line of lip balms at A Precious Welcome-Herbal Skincare.  She makes them in 5 great scents.

I will move on to Mouthwash!  There are tons of information about mouthwash and how they have alcohol and toxic ingredients.  For instance, Listerine is an antiseptic mouthwash, but look at the list of ingredients for it:

INGREDIENTS: Alcohol, Sorbitol, Aroma, Poloxamer 407, Benzoic acid, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium saccharin, Eucalyptol, Methyl salicylate, Thymol, Menthol, Sodium fluoride, CI 42053, CI 47005

So I started looking into a Do It Yourself version of mouthwash.  Most of what I found directed me to a a video by Sophie Uliano, and her version of how to make a non-toxic mouthwash.  I made it and it worked wonderfully.  It is made for bad breath and are also anti bacterial.  Here are the ingredients to make your own.

1/2 cup Distilled Water
1 cup Aloe Vera Juice
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Witch Hazel Extract
20 drops Peppermint Essential Oil

Witch Hazel does contain 14% alcohol, but you are only adding a tablespoon into this mix.  You can find it at drug stores, and I was lucky enough to find it at the dollar store, for $1!  


I was stuck on the Aloe Vera Juice, and yes, you can purchase it at Trader Joes,  or even Walmart for about 8 bucks, but I thought, hey, why can't I make my own?  So I started searching for ways to make it.  I ended up spending about 70 cents on an aloe vera leaf at my local international grocery store.  I cut up the leaf(pulling just the gel out), and put it in distilled water in my refrigerator over night.  I did read up that you can boil it and make it quicker this way, but that kills the "good stuff" in the plant, so I went for this option.  


Once you put these ingredients together(in a used empty bottle of mouthwash- or a container you can seal), store in your refrigerator and it will last since it has the witch hazel and essential oil in it.

It lasted me a month, and my fiance LOVED the fact that I didn't taste like chemically mouthwash at night.

I have posted the video on how to make this on my NEW Facebook page at
Becoming Organic- My Inner Hippie Facebook Page

If you "Like" this, go ahead and like my page.  I will update more info about information I find.

Thank you again for reading, and I look forward to any and all comments.

Natural Powders

I am still trying to figure out a good homemade moisturizer for my face, and have been using straight up oils, but I want to skip that for now till I find a good remedy for that.  Oh the joys of trial and error.

So, makeup has been a part of my life since I was in Jr. High.  I was a child of the 80's!  Eyeliner, bright eye shadow, mascara, and whatever lip sticks I could get my hands on. (no, the pic is not me- but it's a good example).

As I got older, I found less was better.  I live in St. Louis, Missouri, where the summers are very hot and humid, and wearing makeup during the day is kind of silly since it just melts off your face anyway.  I thought when I was younger that freckles were a curse, but have found that they are nice on my face in the summer, and why would I cover them anyway?  :)

But when I do want to go out on the town, I still want to look put together just a little bit, but with me moving to the organic side of life, maybe putting on all the chemical filled makeup on my face seemed counter productive.  So I started searching and searching and searching for alternatives to my powder and blush.  Then I found a very simple solution that was confirmed on some other all natural blogs on a simple way to make your own face powder.  

So, if you want to just give yourself that fresh powered look, it's SO SIMPLE it's silly.  Corn Starch and Cocoa Powder.

And, you smell nice too!  You will need one of those powdering brushes too, but if you are like me, you already have one.  Just blend some corn starch with cocoa powder and put it in a small container with a lid, shake, and see if it's close to the color you normally use.  Fair skinned folks don't need much cocoa powder to add, but enough to give it a "tint".  And it smell WONDERFUL!

I had also heard about using cinnamon.  So I did the opposite that I did with the power, more cinnamon and less corn starch, and I have made a tint for my cheeks.  You don't need much, because cinnamon is so fine, but it works, and I smell great!

My next goal is to use beat powder, but I am still working on that process, but for now, both these allow me to continue my make up routine, and to stay natural.

Again, thank you so much for reading.  I have come up with some new things to add to this page.  Be on the look out!  Please response or comment, love to hear them.  

Organic Face Scrub

A few months ago I was invited to a organic beauty party.  At this point I had not been inspired to change my ways with products, but I enjoyed hanging out with my girl friends and not being pressured to purchase anything(which is why I normally do not enjoy those types of parties), but I did buy some bug spray, cause I had used it the year before, and liked the fact that it didn't smell like, well, bug spray!  Our friend Emily started this process of making organic products after the birth of her daughter.

My friend Lori ended up lending me some of her Lavender Almond Oat Face Scrub that Emily made, and after a day or two, I was HOOKED!  I used to have acne when I was a teenager, and used all sorts of products to help me with that.  In my 20's I stopped using soap on my face, and it helped a lot, and it was great, however, I still would break out during that "period" of the month.  Once I started using the Face Scrub, I actually made it through that time with no acne.  It was AWESOME!

Here are the ingredients in the Lavender Almond Oat Face Scrub:

Grapeseed oil, colloidal oatmeal, almonds, vitamin E oil, essential oil of lavender, raw sugar

It's food!  So if you get a little in your mouth, you don't taste chemicals.  It's wonderful!  And because of the oil in the product, your face feels better after you wash.  Make sure to rinse with warm water after you scrub, and to pat your face dry with a towel.  

An 8oz. jar costs $11.50 off of her website.  The product is NOT 100% organic, but it is all natural, and free of chemical preservatives, stabilizers and fragrance.

Update: Here is her website!  A Precious Welcome  Go to the herbal skin care section. All her products are organic.

I learned a long time ago that chemical washes on my face made my skin worse, the reason why I washed with just water for so long.  Using this product has helped my skin more, and I love it.

Thank you so much for reading again.  Any and all comments are welcome.

Shaving with Olive Oil and Baking Soda

I was still determined to replace all of my shower products!  So, I started reading on what were good products for shaving that are considered "organic".  Not much out there to purchase that are truly organic and not expensive.

Then I started to read on how to Make an organic shaving cream.  Most of the recipes were very, very involved, all involving a double boiler.  I kept thinking(um, this is shaving cream), and started to remember that back in the day, I used to shave with all things, baby oil. Yes, it also made my bath tub VERY slick.

I started searching for alternatives to shaving cream, and found that Extra Virgin Olive Oil was a great substitute.  It's nice to your skin, and you don't need much. After talking to my friend Lori, she said that a friend told her that Baking Soda was another great alternative to shaving(make the hair dry out so the razor has something to grab).  We both didn't realize that if you use a both, Olive Oil AND Baking Soda, it softens the skin and helps grab that hair(which is what she found out later from that same friend).






I put my finger tips in the Olive Oil, then grab a little Backing soda, rub it together, and put on the area that I plan to shave.  Yes, your razor will need to be rinsed out well after you shave that area, because it gets filled with the Baking Soda.  It does work though!  Getting used to not seeing where you shaved might bother some, but I have always used my hand as a guide(feeling) to see if an area was shaved enough.  It works great!  And your skin is smooth because of the oil.

I keep the Olive Oil and Baking Soda in separate containers that can be closed near my shower.  I just open them and set them to where I can reach them when I plan on shaving.

It works! I am very happy with it!  And I don't have to run out and buy shaving cream anymore.   I WIN!

If anyone has another recipe or idea for shaving, let me know.  Thank you again for reading and following my path to becoming Organic.