Cheap, Hot, and Green

My goal this year is to be cruelty-free and eco-friendly in my beauty and hygiene products. NOT by sucking on the corporate teat and consuming so-called green products. I could go on and on about the green revolution of consumer goods. It's a sticky issue because it is just another scan to get us to buy more crap. However, dollars are the best way to vote and use your power. Environmentally friendly products are definitely preferable over their counterparts and buying them will tell the corporations that there is money in caring about the planet.
Ultimately, the best thing for the planet, animals, and your pocketbook is to make your own beauty and cleaning products at home using simple ingredients and reusable containers.
That being said, this is something I've been sucking at. Being on the road, I've been using whatever is cheapest and most convenient because you never know, for example, the high altitude of the Rockies will cause your shampoo bottle to explode all over your car warranty papers so now every time you go in to get your car worked on they smell like patchouli and the mechanics look at you super weird, not that that happened to me, its just an example...
Anyway, sick of trying to find a vegan shampoo at Hy-Vee, shelling out 20 bucks for it, and using it up in a month, I decided to use an at-home recipe I found in Bust and altered for my taste.
The recipe is as follows:
Shampoo:
1 Tbs. Baking soda mixed with enough water to make a paste (1 tsp?)
Conditioner:
4 Tbs. Apple cider vinegar mixed with 2 cups water.
(fyi: the original recipe is 2 tbs. for 1 cup if you don't feel like being a rebel. I use more because I have dirty hair and lots of it).
Step 1: Get in shower. Once baking soda is in a paste, massage into wet hair. Start from the back, massage each section at the roots. It stimulates your scalp and makes your hair grow faster. Rinse out thoroughly or you will be able to shake white powder from your head like the girl from the breakfast club. Pour the apple cider mixture over your hair, emphasizing on your roots, leave on for one minute then rinse out. Scent with a few drops of essential oil (lemongrass, peppermint, and tea tree are my favorite) and use coconut or olive oil if your ends are dry. Naturemoms.com recommends using honey or leaving the baking soda on for less time if your hair gets dry.
The results (I've been shampoo-less for a month): I love it. Number one, I went from spending 20 bucks a month on shampoo to spending about 1.50 on baking soda and vinegar, which I use for baking too. Secondly, commercial shampoo is full of crappy ingredients like Sodium lauryl sulfate that destroy your hair and its pH balance, not to mention being tested on animals and packaged in plastic. Even that natural crap from Aveda that I love so much has an arm's length of unpronounceable ingredients. My hair is in the best condition its ever been (its less Jack White from the mug shot and more Jack White circa the Raconteurs now). Its growing faster and stronger. Its going to the Olympics and will beat everything and everyone, even Russia.
My next adventure: homemade deodorant. I was inspired by www.vanillaandlace.blogspot.com, new favorite blog. Abi is supercute and my new role model. The recipe is directly ripped off her, so go to her blog to find more about it.
Lemongrass Deodorant
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (go for the bulk bins or online)
4 tbs. coconut oil, in liquid form
10 drops of lemongrass (or any essential oil, such as peppermint, tea tree, or lavender).
Mix baking soda and arrowroot, add oils until it is smooth. Store in sealed container and melt slightly in your fingers before using.
Next quest: homemade shaving lotion.
Question of the day: What can baking soda not do? Seriously that stuff is like powdered magic.