Mrs Green’s rather odd confession
This week Small Footprints has us heading to the bathroom, where we are to take a look at the soap we use on our bodies.
She writes “This week review the body soap you are currently using. Include information such as how the product performs, how it was packaged and the ingredients. Perhaps do a little research on the ingredients to determine if they are all environmentally and personally safe. “
Ahhh, well, how do I break this to you my friends?
I don’t use soap on my body!
I don’t use ANY products on my body.
Does that make me weird and a bit stinky? Let me check.
Nope, I’m definitely not stinky, but maybe I’m a little weird 😉
When I was pregnant I learned that everything I put ON my skin could end up in my bloodstream, so I went on a bit of a products detox.
I gradually whittled down all the products I was using – soap, shower gel, body lotion, cleanser, toner, moisturiser, antiperspirant – the list goes on and on and makes me feel quite dizzy at the thought of it – to virtually nothing. I even went ‘no poo’ for three years.
In all honesty I just didn’t see the point of using soap. Maybe I’m missing something.
Now, when I’m washing my hair I’ll ‘wash’ under my arms with a bit of baking soda, rhassoul clay, a drop of essential oil on a damp flannel or even the shampoo that is left on my hands and I’ll wash ‘down below’ in a similar vein. Once a week I might exfoliate my skin with a wash mitt or some sea salt and honey or some yogurt and oats mixed together. But apart from that, no other area of my body gets ‘washed’ apart from by the water I’m showering or bathing in.
Put it this way; my husband and daughter have never suggested they don’t want to get close to me, so I guess I’m doing ok!
What about you – does the thought of me not using a product to clean my body horrify you?
Do you use soap to wash your hands? During my 6 months of ‘no poo’ I didn’t use shower gel either (just a bit of aloe vera to help with shaving) and I didn’t use anything on my hands for a bit either… Now though I use olive oil soap to wash my hands… I also use bicarbonate of soda as a deodorant when I need one. What made you go back to ‘poo’ after 3 years?
Hi Zoe, I don’t often use soap, no. If my hands need a clean I use a bit of ecover washing up liquid or bicarb!
I went back to washing my hair because my hormones changed so much after stopping feeding my daughter that my hair looked utterly awful. It was like having to go through the ‘withdrawl’ again and I just didn’t want to do it. I’ve considered starting up again, but I won’t pretend it was easy – my hair is very fine and gets oily quickly and if I’m perfectly honest, I’m just not prepared to add this as another ‘chore’ to my lifestyle right now…
I gave up on no poo as it really wasn’t working for me. Might give it another go though, but I can definitely understand needing a break from it! On the hand soap thing, this might sound weird, but recently I have been washing my dishes in a mixture of vinegar, lemon juice, salt and water(I put them in a spray container) and sometimes I spray it on my hands to wash them. At one point I was taking my dish spray mix into the shower and using it on my hair too!
I have been no poo for years… not hair either.
AV
I think you are doing awesome! I use very little products on my skin and the ones I do use we make. That way I know exactly what is in the products that I am using!
When I was a kid, and spent summers with my grandmother, she just shook her head at us teenagers because we were obsessed with soap and thoroughly scrubbing our skin. She kept saying that we were washing away the natural oils and not letting our skin behave as it should. She used water on most days … occasionally she used a bit of natural soap (which was probably made by a neighbor). When her skin was dry (especially in the winter), she used olive oil to moisturize. Her skin was beautiful and she always smelled fresh and clean. I think that sometimes we get a little carried away with our need to remove dirt.
Ahh…baking soda! How I love thee and your multiple uses. I now brush my teeth with baking soda, taking it for heartburn, clean with it, and use it to wash my hair sometimes (although I’ve started doing double duty with my all natural soap).