Makeup and external products ?

[jadexx]

Does anyone use/suggest using any special everyday products like makeup/deodorant/shampoo/soap/toothpaste ect. is this all unnecessary or will it help me to stay healthier with my raw diet to incorporate raw or natural health items?

[Aleesha Sattva]

lots of people here (including myself) don't shampoo... we just allow our hair to 'be'. it's called the 'no poo club' LOL

i don't need or use deodorant anymore. haven't in years.

never wear makeup - don't even own any LOL

soap doesn't touch my body unless absolutely necc. but we do buy natural soap instead of commercial ones at the store.

and as for toothpaste, normally i just use a tiny bit of sea salt on the end of my brush... or nothing at all.

[sport]

I am the same with the exception of toothpaste. I still use toothpaste but I buy a natural one with no glycerin.
I only use soap to wash my hands. It does not touch any other part of my body.
I use no other products.

[nadien alexandra]

i do not use soap for my body.
i do however, cleanse my face with coconut oil sometimes, or sesame seed oil, or i give myself a mud mask with river clay and rose extract. or a flax and lavender mask. stuff like that.
i brush my teeth with neem and peelu extract
sometimes i will switch it up and use baking powder and sea salt.
sometimes i will use coconut oil or sesame seed oil...

i wear a naturally made mascara sometimes for fun. it is organic and such and such. ..

i am secretly part of the "no poo" club. practice but have not joined officially. :D
but sometimes i will give my head an ACV wash or grace the tips with sesame seed oil or grapeseed oil because i spend so much time in the sun.
and sometimes i put honey in my hair for texture and volume. it works well and smells good.

[Aleesha Sattva]

here's some threads for you to read:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36089

and

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=40300

[beckyh]

I have a couple of questions about this:So some people on the site do not use shampoo and they just rinse it with water and sometimes baking soda, what my question is, I have very thick short hair, and if I don't use "product" in it it looks like a big puffy Q-tip, will it eventually "tame" down and not be puffy? Also with the toothpaste the ones that don't use toothpaste, at all what do you use? My daughter who is 3 1/2 won't spit out toothpaste, so the toothpaste that we use is a non flouride toothpaste because of swalloing issues, so what you are saying is that she basically could get away with just water and a toothbrush, and the same with my son? Do you still go to the dentist or not? I also noticed about the washing of the face and moisturizing? Can some of you tell me what you use on your body? I have only been raw for three months, and I have bad dry skin in the winter time, so I have been using mosturizer on my body, because when I get out of the shower I itch, what could I use instead. I do still use deodrant becuase I thought I had to, maybe I will go a day without it. Thank you for answering my questions

[nadien alexandra]

i use coconut oil (with lavender), sesame seed oil, grapeseed oil, and coco butter as moisturizer interchangeably.

i also made this nice salve out of yarrow, lavender, olive oil, and beeswax, and i use this for my hands in the winter.

i have thin hair, so i need to use things to give it volume, so i cannot help you there, although i can say that after not washing my hair for a while, it definitely changed the way it fell, and its texture and what not.

i do not go to dentist. too expensive. ha

[beckyh]

i use coconut oil (with lavender), sesame seed oil, grapeseed oil, and coco butter as moisturizer interchangeably.

i also made this nice salve out of yarrow, lavender, olive oil, and beeswax, and i use this for my hands in the winter.

i have thin hair, so i need to use things to give it volume, so i cannot help you there, although i can say that after not washing my hair for a while, it definitely changed the way it fell, and its texture and what not.

i do not go to dentist. too expensive. ha

Well that helps. Maybe I will give the no washing of my hair a try. I will have to wash it tonight because I do have product in it, so I will start tomorrow and see what happens. My husband will be happy with all the money we will be saving!! LOL!:)

[lovenlife]

coconut oil for brushing teeth, oil pulling for teeth and more
coconut oil for face n body moisturizer
olive oil for skin sometimes
coconut oil and salt(bit of essential oil) for shower scrub n moisture
hair...shampoo sometimes...other times just condition it
natural mascara
I like bare minerals makeup sometimes in winter

[beckyh]

coconut oil for brushing teeth, oil pulling for teeth and more
coconut oil for face n body moisturizer
olive oil for skin sometimes
coconut oil and salt(bit of essential oil) for shower scrub n moisture
hair...shampoo sometimes...other times just condition it
natural mascara
I like bare minerals makeup sometimes in winter

I use the bare minerals also. Do you use the coconut oil to wash off the makeup? And are you using the coconut oil that you can buy at the store that is unrefined, or the raw version? Becasue I have both, but the raw version I find very hard to get out of the jar. thanks!:)

[siennagray]

Supposedly you can wash your hair with baking soda even with product in it, as long as your hair product wasn't wax based. I am going to try this out soon. I read it hurts if it gets in your eyes though, so be careful.

You can also brush your teeth with baking soda. :) It's a good idea to use fluoride free toothpaste whether or not there are swallowing issues. My dentist uses unflavored pumice to polish my teeth, since I don't use fluoride.

Most oils make good moisturizers. Coconut, olive, jojoba, almond, apricot kernel...

[sport]

There is a post here with a link to a video of a 109 year old man and he has very few wrinkles. He puts olive oil on his skin.

[klomasius]

I'm also a member of the 'no poo club' :)

Face - mostly some kind of oil such as coconut or rosehip, or at a pinch, olive. In the summer or when I'm in the tropics, not much moisturizing at all.

Body - warm water and a washcloth for cleaning, no soap. For moisturising, maybe once every 1-2 weeks an all over with some coconut oil or rosehip oil.

Hair - baking soda rinse every 2-4 days (or sometimes longer), little rose water occasionally to control fuzziness. And lately a tiny bit of coconut oil massaged in before bed. Keeps hair extra soft and shiny and helps control wispy bits.

Hands - doctor bronners liquid soap.

Makeup - only natural, all vegan mineral makeup, usually Inika and also pure gaisha

My health/beauty care regime depends on the season as well as on what my body actually needs (i.e. if i have dry skin). I try to concentrate more on beautifying and cleansing from the inside, which is much more effective and longer lasting. :)

[terry brown]

Hi Raw Food Friends,
Can someone tell me why glycerine is a no no in tooth paste?
I just discovered the Avedas stores. Their products seem great and all natural.
I am realy working at getting rid of all unnatural products. I know the hair will be the toughest as I have dry frizzy hair that really needs a lot of attention to look decent.
~Terry

[klomasius]

Hi Terry,

glycerine supposedly prevents remineralisation of the enamel surface of the tooth, or so the wisdom goes. Many products also have glycerine sourced from animal sources, but there are lots of toothpastes that have veg sourced glycerine.

I usually use baking soda these days, or rarely a natural toothpaste I get for my partner. Baking soda is highly alkaline and is great as a mouth wash as well. It kills bacteria and other nasties and also raises the pH of the mouth, which is good as an acidic environment in the mouth can aid in the development of tooth decay.

[jadexx]

Wow thank you all for the advice. I had no idea one could go without shampooing at all .
So as i understand all your responses. external products are best if not used at all.. but if i personally feel the NEED to use them then go with all natural labels or make it myself with raw natural products? Am i getting that right??

So many of you dont wear deodorant... do you find you ever get odor with heat or exercise? Or is it the smell has gone away because your diet is so clean?

thanks again

[klomasius]

Wow thank you all for the advice. I had no idea one could go without shampooing at all .
So as i understand all your responses. external products are best if not used at all.. but if i personally feel the NEED to use them then go with all natural labels or make it myself with raw natural products? Am i getting that right??

So many of you dont wear deodorant... do you find you ever get odor with heat or exercise? Or is it the smell has gone away because your diet is so clean?

thanks again

Yup, you got it right jade! :) None is best, but natural is better than unnatural. It's a slow evolution for most of us, I didn't go this way overnight, it was a slow change toward this for me.

I don't wear normal deodorant, but I do wear a crystal (salt) deodorant when I remember.

Body odour reduces DRAMATICALLY on an all raw diet, and significantly on a high raw diet. I find I really don't need deodorant, but I put the crystal on just in case if I'm going to be exercising lots or if it's going to be stinking hot!

[margoss]

I mix coconut oil with a little tea tree oil, BS, cornstarch. Keep in fridge. We've no poo for almost 2yrs!

[margoss]

Nadeen, does the honey make your hair sticky? I do not use hair products either & would like a little volume sometimes.

[AdrianaH]

Hello... me again...:D

About 9 years ago, I started to get curious about Organic makeup... I found a sight called Evan's Garden... I bought a couple of things form her, a couple of them were lip gloss and blush and they worked great for me...
I also bumped onto an other sight called "Terressentianls?"... and I bought some body wash and shampoo... I enjoyed the body wash, but the shampoo, I didn't too much because it made my hair coarse feeling...
Well I lasted with my Organic body care products not too long before returning back to my SAD living....
And after 9+ years here I am again... sucking in all of this wonderful information everyone has to share...

Thanks everyone!!!

[RoseGreen]

I too am curious about the "no poo" method. I have read a lot about it, but there seems to be a lot of differing information on how to do it. Most versions I have found say to rinse with a dilution of vinegar at the end to neutralize the effect of the baking soda, or else the hair will be dry and straw-like. No problem, because I do the rinse already. But the baking soda- the one I have seen the most is making a thin baking soda/H2O slurry and working it in. If that is all, then that is so easy!

One of the benefits I have read about "no poo" is that your hair will tend to 'find' its natural texture after a while. Who has experienced this?

I don't use soap unless I am visibly dirty on my body or am very sweaty, and in that case I use natural soap. But at work I am required to scrub in up to the elbow with surgical scrub (I do sterile compounding and work in a clean room) and the detergent definitely dries me out and irritates. I also swim laps frequently, which is drying.

Because of the work I do, I don't wear makeup/nail polish. Not allowed, and why bother?

My skin on the whole is chronically very dry so I have been using coconut oil on my face and olive oil on my body, after I dry brush and bathe. So far so good. I am proud to say that people envy my skin! But certain areas of my body are still stubbornly itchy/flaky from the cold. Shea butter seems to help with that.

[nadien alexandra]

margo, i use it in VERY small amounts, and it does make it a little sticky when i first put it in, but that slight stickiness goes away fast.

i am the only person i know who does this. my friend tried it and said she didn't like the stickiness, so i guess its really something you need to get right in how much you use, as mine is not sticky atall :) aha, good luck!

rosegreen, my hair has found its natural texture for sure. in fact, one time i tried washing my hair because well, i like to note the differences you know? and it really made my hair flat and all i can say is that, it had no personality. so i will never wash again.

[jadexx]

Im a nursing student, soon to be a RN (I graduate this may - yay!) and working in the hospital I am required to use antibac soap/santizer while at work before/after every patient i meet. How much damage am i doing to my body with this vs all natural all the time? Is it even worth switching to natural at home if i will be exposed to all those chemicals daily at work? Or is any natural better then none

[EscapeArtist]

wooohoo I'm a part of the no-poo club! awesome. Do I get a button or something? :D

Hrrm but yes.. I'm a firm believer in not covering up symptoms that will delay the discovering of the cause... Thus if I smell bad in the pits, or if my hair is greasy, I know I'm doing something wrong!
I haven't washed my hair for a year, and that was on cooked! It was fine for awhile but eventually it began to get really greasy a few months in. Even just a few weeks raw completely changes that :) My body in it's natural uncovered states, always tries to tell me something, I refuse to cover that voice

[klomasius]

Im a nursing student, soon to be a RN (I graduate this may - yay!) and working in the hospital I am required to use antibac soap/santizer while at work before/after every patient i meet. How much damage am i doing to my body with this vs all natural all the time? Is it even worth switching to natural at home if i will be exposed to all those chemicals daily at work? Or is any natural better then none

Hi Jadexx,

I personally believe that every little bit helps.

I think people worry to much about particular ingredients and isolated products, when what they really should be doing is addressing their entire 'chemical load' as I call it.

To apply this to your situation, there's probably not much you can do about the professional products you must use at your work, but you have total control over what you use at home and everywhere else. REDUCING our exposure to toxic products is the best thing you can do for yourself, it's not all or nothing.

You might even find with a little research that there are safer options your hospital can use, or you can take along to your place of work that can get approval for you to use.

Check this Story of Stuff video about cosmetics and personal products, it's an eye opener.

http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/

Good luck with introducing more natural and less products into your lifestyle. :)

[DawnD]

I agree with Klomasius in that we should reduce our exposure to toxic chemicals where we can. I have a chlorine filter on my house yet I have a swimming pool filled with chlorine that I use in summer.

I still use some regular body care products just to save $$. I use Burt's Bees products and Arbonne and I think that is a step in the right direction. I wasn't really aware of the no poo club. I will have to experiment with that sometimes.

This is a great thread. Thanks!!