apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I started wearing my hair curly. I use "no-poo" to clean it and only wash it once every 3 days or so. It's cut down on the amount of time I spend getting ready in the morning and looks much better than when I was straightening it daily.

I use tom's toothpaste but i'm going to switch to homemade in a month or so. I also only use the hair dyer about 5 times or less a year. i never use shaving creams either. ...

For years, I've substituted hair conditioner for shaving cream. It's one less bottle in the shower, I'm using it quite slowly anyway, and I avoid the rust rings! Plus, it makes my legs really soft.

I never blow dry, I only use conditioner, no shampoo, I use "natural organic, fair trade" etc etc toothpaste (I love Kiss My Face products, they're my favorite!) and I wax anything that I once shaved.

I even make my own "wax". Google for sugaring wax recipes; they're easy and you can make them if you've got sugar, water and lemon juice in your house (ignore the suggested 1 to 2 week shelf life, though, they last just fine in your fridge pretty much indefinitely). Use strips of muslin or old woven shirts, and just wash them and re-use them.
I don't really recommend doing your tender bits yourself, though, those are ENTIRELY worth having someone else do, but legs and underarms are totally doable at home.

I'm a big fan of Dr. Bronner's soap as a replacement for all of the following:

- Shampoo
- Shower soap
- Hand soap
- Shaving cream
- Laundry detergent

There are many great varieties (peppermint being my favorite) and it's usually available in bulk from many co-ops. Whole Foods carries it in large quantity bottles.

Baking soda makes the best face scrub! I spent years of my teenage-hood using medication and 'clearisol' stuff, and then finally discovered scrubbing baking soda during regular face-washing did everything I need!

"HAVING your nails buffed"?! Does no one, not even the homemade-toothpaste types, do their own nails anymore?

I've switched from shower gel to soap and use solid shampoo, conditioner and cleanser from Lush. Really cut down on the plastic waste, and the bathroom looks much classier without those branded bottles.

Great thread! Love castile soap as well. Baking soda is another favorite for brushing, gargling, facial exfoliating (add just a pinch to liquid castile soap). I use natural toothpaste daily; but, often add baking soda to my toothpaste. I also use it for clarifying my hair while cleansing with diluted liquid castile or conditioner.

Coconut oil is nourishing & moisturizing (a little goes a long way):
- make-up remover
- skin moisturizer
- hair moisturizer
- conditioner (apply to hair at night, sleep in plastic cap w/ scarf over it & shampoo in morning)
- deep conditioner: blend avocado w/ coconut oil, strain it, apply to hair & put on plastic cap & leave in for 20-30 minutes before washing hair
- use mixer to whip coconut oil & raw, organic shea butter into great moisturizer

I'm really not convinced by natural toothpaste-is it really protecting your teeth as much? If anyone has any unbiased sources/info on that please leave links.

Sharing the shower with your partner can be a more fun version of the navy shower; while one person lathers up the other can be rinsing. It saves quite a bit of time/energy and the closeness is lovely, especially if you both work long hours.

Hair: I don't actually blow-dry my hair at all now, without the procedure described above (I've never heard of it!). It wouldn't work for everyone, but since I have naturally reasonably straight hair, I just make sure my haircut is one that my hair will naturally fall into-so I have layers to disguise potential kink spots. My style looks better for not being blow-dried, when it would look too 'regimented'. My hair is below shoulder-length and I have a side-fringe (aka bangs, I think!) so it is possible with longer hair. The key is using conditioner and combing your hair into the style AS SOON AS you get out of the shower.

I don't do any homemade products EXCEPT my face mask-natural yoghurt and honey. It works well, smells lovely and I always have the ingredients around. It's also cheaper than the shop-bought types, since the quantity you need is tiny, like a tablespoon of yoghurt: 2tsp honey.

I meant to say I began not blow-drying my hair to try and reverse heat damage-my hair looks healthier and shinier now.

We do modified Navy showers. It's just too dang cold to completely shut off the water when shampooing, shaving, etc. But, it's pretty easy to find a shower head that has a low-flow switch to turn down the water pressure when you don't need the full stream.

@ Sian: Tom's of Maine has (at least) one type of toothpaste that has been approved by the American Dentists Association. Not all of their toothpastes have been approved, so check the labels. I love the fact that their aluminum tubes can be recycled.

My recent greening efforts:

- Wash hair every other day, not daily (maybe less frequently in the winter, when I sweat less): reduce use of water and shampoo.
- Tom's of Maine toothpaste (only the ADA approved one) and floss: containers are recyclable.
- Soap or conditioner for shaving cream: one less item to recycle.
- Bar soap wrapped in paper instead of shower gel in a plastic bottle: recycling paper instead of plastic.
- Bar soap with 10% benzoyl peroxide instead of face wash in plastic tube: nothing to recycle.
- Menstrual cup instead of pads (it's really not uncomfortable or gross, once you get used to it!): sorry if this is "too much information," but it radically reduces waste (and saves money, too!).

Despite all this, I must confess that I still use WAY too much water when I shower or bathe. I just can't seem to give that up!