Au Naturel Update

[St.Vincent]

Now that I'm back from school and giving my mascara longing looks, I guess I can post a happy update about my no makeup experiment I started at the beginning of 2010.

Good Things
-I haven't put on any makeup since I decided to ditch the mascara and the lipstick. It's easy to do because I threw almost everything out.
-My skin has been moisture balanced since about January, I got through a new england winter without moisturizer
-I gave up shampoo and conditioner, and now use a mild soap to wash my hair, body and face
-People tell me i have really good skin and really soft hair, so cool beans
-The guy I like is really impressed that I look good without makeup and tells his sisters to try it, too.
-Eyelashes longer, lips softer
-The expenditures for my experiment are currently totaling at 20 dollars.

Annoying things
-Still break a bit out every once and a while, when I have stress/anxiety peaks.. and I have no tube of chemical acne killer, so I have to wait it out. On the other hand, it almost never happens because my skin is clean enough that my pores don't get clogged that much. And when I'm talking break out, I am not talking zits, I'm talking about a little red bump that only I seem to fret about.
-The "gross" factor. People like to assume that if you don't shower every day, or don't use shampoo, then you're a greasy and smelly troll. It's funny when people compliment my hair and ask what I use and then I'm like.. erm.. soap?
-I don't use deoderant. But then again, I never did. No one has ever complained, and I've asked.
-Still working out the kinks in keeping my "products" uncontaminated.
-Still need to figure out what to do about sunscreen.
-Do not trust natural toothpaste. My toothpaste is the most chemically of the chemicallty and I don't care. I want to have teeth when I'm old.

The routine

Dr Bronner's soap. Figures, y'all could have predicted this one. Basically, I bought this back in the winter and it's been my soap/shampoo/dishsoap/cleaning fluid etc for the past few months. I'm actually in the process of changing to an organic olive oil thing but I haven't decided whether I want to try to make my own, or buy it at the farmer's market. Dr. Bonners is minty, and it does make a good shampoo as long as you only wash your hair every other, or every third day. You don't need conditioner after it, and it makes your hair shiny and smooth, but also if you go to sleep with a wet head, gives you hilarious bed head, no joke (this will probably be replaced, along with the below product, with some olive/coconut oil/jojoba oil mix I will learn how to make)

Organic coconut oil. I use this to clean my face every other day (I shower every other day). I do the oil cleansing method but lame, so you take some, rub it into your face for a couple minutes, then run a washcloth under hot water and press it to your face, and then wipe most of the oil off. Oil does not make you break out, and it doesn't make you greasy. Oil takes off oil and oily grime.. just make sure not to contaminate the tub if you do use this.

Rosebud salve. I use this on anything that looks dry. I think petroleum is supposed to be non-eco conscious,but it's not non-toxic to humans and this specific one, like the dr. bonners, is available everywhere and it's effective.

Essential oils. As perfume. I'm probably going to mix my own when mine runs out. The one I have now is a floral musky smelling thing my grandmother gave me, and before you get the over perfumed grandmama impression, no, it's light and very sexy and guys agree.

So, that's all... that's all I use, except for toothpaste and floss you know. Because I floss. I think it's cool that I've been able to cut down so much, and I'm sure I could cut down more if I had to, but I've noticed it's a lot cheaper to cut down then to branch out, and I'm happy about that.

Here's some stuff I've thought about lately about no-makeup.

Pseudo-natural Prodcuts
One of the things I have to say is, read your ingredients. Do not buy some expensive-ass item that claims to use natural ingredients because what you'll probably get is a bunch of chemicals and preservatives at the end of the ingredients list. Some of them are pretty harmless, some are not. I don't feel like doing the research, so I use things I can ingest. If you're going to use products, do your research before you spend money on some apple concentrate flavored stuff. It's still toxic, even if it's got some natural ingredient in it. Tricky.

The cycle
I think that is is a good way to sum up why natural products get the job done. They break the cycle of:
1. cleaning chemicals destroying your natural oils
2. your skin/hair getting dry and needing synthetic oils
3. your skin/hair compensating for being dried out by making more oil
4. the natural oils reacting with the synthetic ones and making an icky mess and
5. needing something to clean up that mess, probably a chemical soap.

The only problem with breaking the cycle is that you're basically letting your face do it's own thing and using a mild soap to get the everyday grime off. This system does not sustain makeup or hair product, so if you want to wear that stuff, you might need a harsher cleanser, which means you might need a moisturizer, and then you're back up to the cycle.

For me, though, the whole point was to give up all of it, and I think it's paid off because now I usually don't feel like I need anything to make myself look better.

So, that's my midyear report, I guess. Any thoughtz?

[Speechless]

That sounds really amazing. I've never heard of Dr. Bronner's soap before

Really glad your experiment worked out for you.

I may give it a go myself at the end of the year. Need to fix that skin.

[Pilmedium]

It is disappointing that someone who goes to such lengths to avoid chemical products would continue to use the "most chemically" toothpaste on the questionable basis of it better protecting teeth. People in the U.S. use more chemical toothpaste than in any other country, but also have higher cavity rates than in some places where chemical toothpaste is scarce. If it really worked so well, I doubt this would be true. Effective toothpaste requires only a cleanser and an abrasive (and possibly fluoride), not the long list of unpronounceable chemicals found in most varieties. The most common cause of tooth decay, it turns out, is sucrose or table sugar, so avoiding that would go a long way.

Staying out of the direct sun from 9 to 5 is actually quite easy and should preclude any need for UVB-blocking sunscreen. To be out early and feel the refreshing, cool air before the sun really starts beating down kind of makes me wonder why everyone seems to go outside in the hot afternoon sun. Even water activities that require hot weather can be done late in the day after the sun's burning rays have already weakened.

I wish more people would realize that chemical deodorants are unnecessary. Most body odor is caused by smelly food or warm clothing, so lathering up with chemicals is a weird solution, indeed.

[The Morrigan]

I'm glad it all worked out for you and it has inspired me to go without make up for a week every month but I don't use much make up anyway.

I don't think I could give up shampoo and use soap instead though but I do get natural shampoos since all the others irritate my scalp

[her_beautiful_mistake]

This is so awesome! I really wish I had the guts. I might contact you about some kind of in between stage. Ever since your thread I have been wearing less make up but I can't go to absolutely zero all the time.

Well done

Originally Posted by Pilmedium

People in the U.S. use more chemical toothpaste than in any other country, but also have higher cavity rates than in some places where chemical toothpaste is scarce.

Because that is defintley about the toothpaste. And defintley not about the diet.

[Algernon]

Dr. Bronners is great, I used that when I got my lip pierced.

[Kitty.]

Congratulations!
I have no clue how you do it xD
I love my eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipgloss, perfume, etc.
You are really awesome for taking this step and doing this.
Keep going strong!

[St.Vincent]

Yeah I guess I can talk to my dentist about the toothpaste, I just don't want to risk it on my teeth. I'm going to stay out of direct sun until I can find a decent sunscreen, I guess, hopefully the soap I use will be able to get it out of my pores? And my skin doesn't react to it? Lol. I guess I'll experiment with that stuff.

It was fun reading vogue and looking at the makeup ads and being like.. hmm does not apply, do not need, do not want.. not interested. But as they say, do not read beauty magazines they will only make you feel ugly.

Thanks for the encouragement guys It feels nice that it's been inspiring out there on the interwebs.

[Kitty.]

Good luck! Your welcome!

Although I use eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lip gloss, I never use any foundation, powder, blush, etc.

[Pilmedium]

Originally Posted by Darth Cara

I don't think I could give up shampoo and use soap instead though but I do get natural shampoos since all the others irritate my scalp

I feel the same way about that. However, if a special soap works as well as has been suggested here, it might not be as bad as we think.

Originally Posted by her_beautiful_mistake

Because that is defintley about the toothpaste. And defintley not about the diet.

I did not mean it that way at all. While there is no proof that toothpaste makes anything worse, as some radical naturalists have claimed, it is settled science that diet actually does have a role in tooth problems. As I noted in the above post, sugar causes tooth decay. Americans, as a group, eat way too much sugar. The message here was twofold: A low-sucrose diet is the best way to protect one's teeth, and the most popular toothpastes contain chemicals that do nothing to help. Getting professional advice as to which alternative toothpastes work might be a good idea, though I would be wary of trusting a dentist who also performs corrective procedures. Those people have a financial incentive to steer patients toward bad teeth.