I wanted to get rid of store made products and cosmetics for a while. I wanted to no longer buy all these bottles, spend all that money, throw away so much plastic, use so many chemicals, and buy palm oil which is devastating to animals.
I tried so many things, but not many recipes were effective. If cleaning naturally was so simple, everyone would do it, because it's cheap, offers aromatherapy and is less worse for the environment than storebought products. But for every product I finally found a solution that makes it work.
Makeup is very hard to make yourself, I tried it over and over, bought books about it, and it just doesn't work. This article is more about the wet cosmetics like face soap, and the household cleaning products.
I thought of keeping these tips for myself because so much has been written about it, but when I looked at a bottle of dish detergent yesterday and saw the warning labels, how it burns the skin, the eyes, I could only think about the animals in the environment dying from this product, even though most of it probably gets filtered out. I know that even in Belgium, a pretty clean country, streams are still directly connected to people's toilets and bathrooms in some places. You can see the oils and the foam in the water, there is no life in those streams. Revolting.
So hear is a handy list that is very cut-to-the-chase, with what I think is an efficient alternative. The key is that some tips aren't 100% crazy environmental friendly, which makes it harder to achieve. If we all did this, there would barely be any household product sold in store.
1. Scouring
The number one sollution is using water. For scouring, that's pretty logical. Heat some water in the sink and pour some lavender oil in it. The hot water will soften grease and the lavender will kill bacteria and provide a natural clean scent.
2. Removing chalk traces
You don't even need product for this, just polish the affected area with a buffing cloth. If there is too much chalk, let some white vinegar sit on the area for half an hour and rinse.
3. Cleaning windows
Mix water with white vinegar, spray and wipe. Then, the trick against traces is using a clean, soft towel and buffing the windows. Voilà.
4. Bleaching
Coffee stain in the bathroom porcelain? I have to admit, bleach is very effective, but try hydrogen peroxide first, spray it on the affected area and wait.
5. Face wash
Take a warm cloth and dip in lemon juice or honey, this will clean your pores.
6. Scrub
Mix sugar with lemon and honey for a lightening, cleaning, polishing, anti bacterial treatment.
7. Body wash
Use pure olive soaps, they will improve the skin overtime with their moisture, compared to alkaline soaps that dry and age skin overtime.
8. Conditioner
Use pure honey.
9. Shampoo
I'll be honest, I haven't found a good "natural" shampoo yet. Most natural shampoos still contain a lot of chemicals. So I decided to just keep using the shampoo of my preference.
10. Laundry softener
Add half a cup of vinegar with some lavender essential oil.
11. Dish washing detergent
Melt flakes of olive soap (buy them like that because it's hard to flake off soap), in hot water. Mix with half a teaspoon of glycerin (can be found in health shops), a table spoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of vinegar and 15 drops of lavender essential oil.
12. Heat protective hair product and hair shine product
Using pure aloe vera gel from the plant on hair as a heat styling product will give you hydrated, shiney and souple hair.
13. Toilet cleaner
Scrub with vinager and baking soda or let sit for an hour and flush.
14. Room fragrance
Get a glass oil burner, poor water in the dish and add rose, vanilla or lavender essential oil. Bam!
15. Declogging
Screw open your sink lid and use a sharp object to pull out hair and grease. Flush with boiling water. Scrub the rims with baking soda. So fresh! If it doesn't work, poor in pure lemon juice against the grease and let sit, then flush with hot water.
16. Cleaning wipes
Cut thin cloth and soak in a mixture of water, vinegar and lavender oil. Don't use too much liquid. Do this in a reusable plastic storage box that closes airtight.
17. Bath soak
Instead of store bought "bath oil" that only turns your bath into a health hazard, add a bottle of full fat milk to your water. It turns the water into a beautiful milky colour (goes well with red roses). Oatmeal will only block your drains, unless it really is coloidal. If you do want bath oil, mix almond oil with rose essential oil.
18. Hand scrub
Scrub with a paste made of strawberries and milled oatmeal (can be found at the health store, in the flour section, it is used for making flour free pancakes).
19. Aftersun
Use aloe vera juice to heal your skin.
20. Lightening aftersun scrub
Mix coconut oil with sugar and a few drops of lavender essential oil.
21. Lightening plumping face mask
Mix turmeric, milk, rice flour, lemon juice and yoghurt. Use on any body part you want to lighten, improve circulation in and rejuvenate.
22. Cleaning floors
If you just want to use water, the easiest way is to get a steam cleaner, which comes as cheap as 50 euros. All it does is shoot hot water on the floor and it's very effective, it is streak free, lightweight and it dries instantly, kills bacteria. Essential oils can be dripped on the floor to spread a nice scent as well. The bad part is buying the steam cleaner and using electricity. If you want to work even more naturally, clean the floor with a mop, warm water and lemon essential oil.
23. Muscle relaxing oil
Use coconut oil as a base. Now in summer it is nicely melted all the time. Add three drops of rosemary essential oil and three drops of lavender.
Always make sure you buy real essential oil from a trusted brand and preferably with the European bio label on it. I use physalis and it's wonderful.
x
Helena
0 Yorumlar