I get a lot of questions about how Whitney and I make our bath and body products, what we use, and how we found recipes. When we began this waste free journey about two years ago, we utilized the Zero Waste Rockstars already in the game (Trashisfortossers.com, goingzerowaste.com, litterless.com, etc). We dabbled with many different recipes before we found what worked for us and our body types. Everyone will be different, but that is part of the fun- learning as you go!
Our bath products are super simple. I use a shampoo bar, a dentangler, bar soap, and lotion. If I practice a little self-care, sadly not very often, I dry brush followed by a nice hot bath with some floral bath salts.
Self-care. Now that could be it’s own blog post because my goodness do I need to practice it more often. Occasionally, I enjoy a calm candlelit bath (a post on my homemade beeswax candles is coming soon!), soaking in steamy water with floral essence. I buy plain, no fragrance bath salts in bulk at Whole Foods in a mason jar. To spice them up a bit, I add dried flower petals or lavender buds that add a nice aroma. To exfoliate, I use a compostable, bamboo dry brush to stimulate lymphatic flow and slough away dead skin cells.
After trying out countless shampoo recipes with variations of coconut oil, essential oils, baking soda, and you name it, I finally gave up. My hair always looked greasy after about three washes. Out of frustration, I bought J. R. Liggett’s Original Formula Shampoo Bar. The bar is made out of olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, and palm kernel oil- that’s it! It lathers easily and rinses out well, leaving my hair soft without the need for conditioner. The bar lasts a little over a month. It is wrapped in paper that I can compost easily.
There are multiple varieties of non-packaged bar soap at Whole Foods. I typically buy soap there or locally made bar soap at the Farmer’s Market during the summer. I have dabbled in some soap making as well. I whipped up the lavender soap seen below when I had bushels of lavender in the early summer. I will discuss soap making in another post soon.
I typically use an apple cider vinegar based detangler after shampooing. I only need it when my hair is longer, and could probably get away without it, but it has now become a habit. I use a recycled amber glass bottle and mix 1 part apple cider vinegar to ten parts water. I buy a very large glass bottle of apple cider vinegar at Whole Foods that I recycle after use. I plan on experimenting with making my own apple cider vinegar from apple scraps in the next few weeks. More on that to come. Just a little bit of this detangler goes a long way. I usually comb my hair in the shower after using the detangler and don’t brush my hair again until the next shower. My hair doesn’t mat or get tangled throughout the day, so I call that a win!
After showering, I slather on some whipped body butter. This body butter is incredibly hydrating and alleviates even the most dry of skin. I will post on the body butter recipe soon!
Hope ya’ll enjoyed learning about some of our waste free routines. It can be a creative project, experimenting with various ingredients, and allows for quality body products without harmful toxins. It is healthier and better for the planet. This is part one of a series on waste free living I will be working on over the next few months, so more is to come!