Tried a new shampoo today. I hadn't run out of the other one, which I still like, I just found a couple more recipes that I thought would be easy and good.

Shampoo #2: 1 1/2 cups boiled water, steep 4 bags of chamomile tea. Take out tea bags and add 4 tablespoons pure soap flakes, let them disolve. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of glycerin. Mix, put in bottle and store where it's cool and dark. Only has a shelf life of 1 week (this is the only part I don't like). I gave some of this to the neighbor and I will report what she says.

Lemon Rinse: I have seen on many sites that you can/should rinse at least once a week with lemon/water mix for blondes and apple cider vinegar/water for brunettes. I have seen the recipes with 1/4 lemon/vinegar and 1-2 cups of water (depending on your hair). I decided to use the lemon toner (lemon, water and witch hazel blend for face from previous post) and see.

I like what I have going on so far (hair not dry yet to really tell). My hair feels good and was easier to brush. I also used a little trick I read online today. Someone said they only brush their hair a bit when wet, after towel drying. Then they really brush it good when dry completely. I decided to vary this a bit. I towel dried and then just brushed small sections, it was way better than it has been the last few days!! Will report more in a few days on the new shampoo.

Do I like it better for real, is it because of the lemon rinse or is it because of the brushing technique?? Only time will tell.

I have also been washing my whole body and shaving with the facial cleanser (from previous post). Seems to be just fine. I am looking at other facial cleansers as well.

I am not sure if I am going to continue to make the same things until I run out of the ingredients OR look for more recipes to try using some of the ingredients I have and buying just a few more (don't want to break the bank "experimenting").

I guess we'll see

Ha, my husband told me tonight I was going all "hippy" on him and asked if I needed wet wipes or if I was going to stand in the rain to shower. He was just kidding but funny anyways!!

Update on products:
Face lotion-I jacked this up big time trying to "fix" it but I think I have found another use for it. I use it after washing in the shower. We'll see if it moisturizes. I hope so because that is an expensive batch of nothing right now!!

Face Wash: Good so far. I have broken out a tiny bit but I think it's from my skin adjusting. I added finely chopped almonds for a scrub effect. Seems to work. I think I like it

Toner: I like it way better after putting it in a spray bottle!!! Plus after using the cleanser and toner I haven't used lotion on my face for days. No problems so far.

Shampoo: Good, even got a compliment on my hair today. Funny because don't think it looks good. I have researched this a lot and found interesting information. I will share tomorrow! I added some corn starch to thicken the shampoo a bit. Worked and Im almost out. Im going to try another recipe tomorrow and then maybe one more to compare.

Deep Conditioner: Haven't used since Saturday. I will use it again but after Im out I will try something else.

Lip Balm: I LOVE this stuff!!!! I plan to make it for every woman I know for gifts. It's easy, inexpensive and fun!!!! I also have a recipe for lip gloss. Im going to make lots of different flavors. I just need to find containers for the gloss.

Oh, plus I asked my husband when he was going to try this stuff. He said never, he doesn't trust me. He was again joking but funny because when all the other stuff is gone, then what is he going to do??? Go shopping, hahahahahahaha

Safflower oil by itself left my hair totally greasy looking. Made it feel better but that was about it. It's possile that I used too much so I will give it another go. Directions say put a couple of drops in your palm, rub together and apply by squeezing sections of your hair. I definately used to much for my short hair!!!

Ok, round two of homemade products went so much better!!!! Thank goodness! I made a lot of stuff today and used it all. I think so far, so good.

Shampoo: 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup liquid castile soap, 1/2 teaspoon safflower oil and 1 tablespoon strongly brewed chamomile tea. Mix together, lather well and rinse throughly. To make this is cost me $2.11 (soap from Vitamin Cottage and rest from King Soopers). I would have liked a shampoo with a thicker consistency (like the facial cleanser below).

Deep Conditioning Treatment: 1 part olive oil and 2 parts honey. Depending on how long/thick your hair is you may need more or less. I used 1/4 cup honey and 1/8 cup olive oil. Comb through hair, cover with shower cap or plastic grocery bag and leave on for 15-30 mins. There is no way I could have combed this mixture through my hair, it was really thick. I don't think it's an everyday thing. I am going to try just using the shampoo tomorrow and see how my hair feels then. Right now it feels good but Im not sure if it's from this treatment + shampoo. We'll see. I don't have a figure on how much this cost because I had both at home already.

Glycerin Facial Cleanser: 2 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 tablespoon glycerin, 1/2 cup water. Blend ingreadients together in a metal bowl or the top pot of a double boiler. Place in a warm water bath and heat gradually, do not boil. The mixture should be clear and be the consistency of pudding. My cleanser is not clear, maybe I didn't heat enough but the texture is good. It was a little weird to use it because Im used to cleanser with the scrubby balls in them. It seems like it worked good but only time will tell. This was inexpensive to make. I already had the cornstarch but the glycerin is only $0.86 an oz so it only cost $0.58 for the amount in this recipe!!!

Lemon Toner: 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 cup distilled water and 2/3 cup witch hazel. Mix together and put into a clean bottle, shake before each use and apply with a cotton ball. I liked the way this felt. I don't use toners everyday any more but I will now to see how this works. I would put this in a spray bottle instead of using cotton balls. Im going to get one later! This was inexpensive to make as well. I already had the lemon juice, the rest cost $2.50 and it should last a long time.

Lotion for Normal/Oily Skin: 1 tablespoon Rose Water, 2 capsules Vitamin E (800 IU's), 1 tablespoon each of the following honey, coconut oil and olive oil. Mix well in a small bowl, apply with cotton ball and refrigerate between uses. I just figured out that I used different amounts for this. I made my own rose water and used the whole thing (duh!!!) Well I guess we'll see how that goes for my face!!! Maybe it will be awesome (here's to crossing my fingers), I hate when I do this!!! Anyways, no wonder why this seemed so expensive (compared to the other products I made). The way I made it, it cost $7.26. There is a lot there so it should last a long time. I am going to have to figure out the percents and add more of the other ingredients. After that it will have cost a lot more!!!!! This seems really oily for an oily skin lotion but it's probably my lack of attention when making it. I will try it again and see how it feels.

Lip Balm: 6 tablespoons sweet almond oil, 3 chamomile tea bags, 3 mint tea bags, 1 tablespoon beeswax. Put almond oil and tea bags into a saucepan, cook over very low heat for 1/2 hour to release active ingredients from the herbs. Remove tea bags, add beeswax and let it melt. Poor into a jar (if you put jar on wood or newspaper before fill it is less likely to crack). Let the mixture set and put on lips. I added grapefruit essential oil (1 teaspoon) for fragrence. You can add any flavor you like. This cost me $4.35 with the oil and would have cost $3.07 without (grapefruit oil is more expensive than most other essential oils).

All in all, Im happy with what I've done today. I am not going to try any other products until these are gone or I am completely unhappy with them. Some will last longer than others and I will note how long each lasts as I run out.

Let me know if you have any questions or have any suggestions.

Ok, so after re-reading my first post I decided I should clear up a few things.

I went to CSU, that's what I meant by "our thing." I have also been thinking about what I said about Boulder. I know why we always thought people there were/are hippies. They have lots of hemp shops, lots of people with "dreads" (is that spelled right?) and lots of crazy laws that protect land, pedestrians, etc. This is what I thought being a hippy was. My sister now lives in Boulder, her daughter goes to Boulder High and they aren't even close to being hippies. I can't say that everyone in Boulder is any more :)

I also don't know why I mentioned that I hung a clothes line. I guess it was one last thing I did before deciding to create a blog. I actually love it!!!! My husband thinks I'm crazy but he goes with it!! I have dried 3 loads out there and can't wait to get the retractable lines.

Also, my obsession with making my own products comes from many things. I hate spending money on products that are made mostly of water anyways, my kids and I have sensitive skin, I hate the chemicals and preservatives, I don't like putting "no tear" crap on my kids head because it's not "no tear" for no reason and I figure it must be less expensive to make my own (well maybe not less than the $1 shampoo and conditioner I've been buying but it has to be better for us). I guess we'll see.

Moving on:

My first go around with homemade shampoo was not a total disaster but it didn't work. I was going for easy peasy so my first recipe was "egg shampoo:"

1 egg
1 cup water
Beat put on hair for 5-10 mins, should be a 2 in 1 (egg to clean and the protein for conditioning)

My hair is not conditioned, it's totally dry and yuck like I didn't use conditioner (which I really didn't). Not only that but the directions say to rinse in cool water because hot/warm water will cook the egg. I guess I didn't rinse well enough because when I was brushing (or trying to) my hair I noticed very small white stuff. Huh, guess I cooked my shampoo Gross!!!!!

My next step is to use Safflower Oil and rub a bit on for extra conditioning (when my hair dries so looks like I'm up for awhile longer).

Tomorrow I will get the right ingredients for the other shampoo I wanted to make and try again.

I will let you know how that fiasco goes!!

Green that is!!!!

Dirty hippy, dirty hippy!!! Ever gone to a CSU vs. CU game? You will hear this over and over again, it's kinda our thing.

Growing up in Colorado, where do all the hippies live, Boulder. Where is CU, Boulder. I always associated things like "natural," "organic," etc. with hippies. Why, I don't really know. No one ever said this is how it is, it's just what I thought. Who wants to be a dirty hippy?? Not me, I was a fancy shampoo/conditioner, premium face cleanser, bleach using gal all the way!!!
I guess you can say things have changed drastically for me. I'm not sure if it is having my own kids, realizing what I am actually putting in and on my body (and theirs), or what the trigger was. I can tell you that I will never turn back to my old ways (dirty hippy or not), the things I know will be forever engrained in my mind.

Yesterday I finally hung up our laundry line (it's a temp. one until can find a retractable one). I am also going to start making my own cleaners (shampoo, conditioner, face wash, etc.). This is the reason I wanted to start this blog. I would like to share with everyone what I find in my journey to become more natural. I am going to share recipes for cleaners, as well as, food and anything I may/have done to become more green. I hope in return that you share with me. I can always use new ideas and recipes.

I would like to say that we will all share the information and be able to go out and get the same ingredients and make the same products. I don't think this will happen because I think we all need to go through the trial and error of this process. What works for me might not work for you and vice versus but we will all get some good ideas!!!!!

Hoping for the best (i.e., my hair doesn't turn green too)