Monday, April 22, 2013

No Shampoo?!

"What an interesting thought", I said as I read a few articles last week on this subject.

This whole time I have been barking up the wrong tree in the wrong forest in the wrong field!!! 

I had been looking at:

1- Expensive but organic shampoos 
2- Making my own shampoo
3- Saving money but using chemical detergent shampoos
4- Using a shampoo bar (around $5-6 a bar)

None of these choices made me very happy. I have been getting rid of the clutter in my life, freeing up my time to spend it more wisely and trying to fit in being frugal AND healthy together all in one sentence! 

Now that I am figuring out how couponing works I can get what I call "conventional" for free or close to it! Now THAT is frugal! 

However frugal it is NOT healthy. Not for me, my husband, my kids, my neighbors, or my ground water! (I am picky about that now considering the recent experience we had last year with ground water quality!!! Another story for another day!)

So, moving on to choice #2. Making my own shampoo. I'm all for being independent, frugal and healthy but I have not been looking forward to attempting this. All the Pinterest recipes I have found and re-pinned but never made due to the amount of ingredients, time and space issues. Plus the idea of trying to convince my husband to use "messy" homemade shampoo just does not appeal to me.

Sure choice #1 is the easiest and least time consuming but then we run into the problem if the shampoo even works, smells good and all that. 

Choice #4 is nice because then it would eliminate some clutter because a bar of soap takes up less space than a bunch of bottles does.

SO, when I found out about this "No shampoo" method I was a little sceptical but decided to give it a try because it sounded and looked easy, not too cluttery,
extremely cheap and super healthy! 

I've tried it for almost a week now and I. am. impressed!

All you do is mix up 1-2 Tablespoons of baking soda with about 1 cup of water in a *gasp* dollar store mustard/ketchup bottle (I am looking for a better option right now, open to ideas!) then you just wet your hair really well, squirt it onto your scalp and massage well. Target your scalp, not the length of your hair, just focus on your scalp because your length gets plenty of runoff as it is. The best tips I have found from numerous sources is to get this "wet" or "slipping" feeling when you are massaging your hair. Then you know you have the proper Baking soda to water ratio! Rinse, rinse, rinse. 

Then to condition your hair you take 50/50 white vinegar and water and squirt that on the length of your hair, not your scalp this time and let it sit on your hair while you finish up in the shower, then rinse out and that is all!

Prior to trying this method out I had been using an organic, low lather shampoo so I didn't really have a period where my hair felt like straw which was nice but had I gone through that I would have still stuck it out because this is way easier than using shampoo, incredibly cheaper, works in hard water, safe and I'm loving it! 

If you want to know more on how you can do more deep conditioners then go ahead and do a search on the "no shampoo method", maybe it's already on Pinterest too! 

I just had to share this extremely cheap AND healthy way of taking care of your hair. I used to spend a lot more money than I would like to admit keeping my hair nice and healthy. Not any more! Now I can put my money to better use to help other people and still have healthy, healthy, healthy hair!


 
 


Now my next mission is to find something simple, frugally healthy and time wise for facial care!!!


~KT~
HAPPY SPRING! (I think, it is rain/snowing here...)
 

Monday, April 8, 2013

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and let's catch up!

As it gently rains this cold, rainy Monday, I thought it would be the perfect time to grab a hot cup of tea and do some catching up!

 
 
Now we are into the month of April and we still have plenty of snow, ice and sitting water strewn about. Quite the opposite from last year! We are completing the camper for us to use out west! I did have quite the upset with the paint in the bathroom. . . I accidentally gave the lady mixing the paint the wrong paint sample. Classic mistake, yes, but I am going to make do and work with the paint. Sure, paint is 'cheap' enough to re-do unless, of course, you happen to be on a budget! I will have to show before, during and after pictures once we are all done! I prefer to show before/ after side by side instead of in installments on blogs. So, stay tuned for that post to show up sometime this month!
 
In other news I got my seeds in and I am just waiting for my ramp bulbs to come in the mail yet! I am going to have most of my tender plants in pots so I can put them all together in case of drastic temperature changes. Plus I am going to experiment with decorating with plants and flowers together so I have settings that are functional and showy. I am so excited and am looking forward to beginning that project!
 
 
I am hoping the health problems I have been dealing with are behind me now. I only pray they are anyways!  I did have to make some diet changes such as no dairy except butter. Thankfully my skin is clearing up and it seems that butter does not have the same effect on me as regular milk, yogurt, and cheese does. I am doing the best I can to avoid plastics, parabens, PEG's, and other icky things like that. I can only wonder if my body is affected by those things how much more are my kids bodies affected by them? And my kids are still growing? Such a scary thought!
 
That brings me down to another point of Simplify, Simplify, Simplify -HDT. . .
 
I want to simplify my family's life. Less truly means more. More family time, more quality time, more time to help others in need, more time to listen to family, friends and most importantly God. Technology is helpful but in a way it has taken away the true aspect of community. People interacting with other people. Just a thought to keep in mind.
 
Time to go pull out my sweet potatoes and finish prepping dinner!
 
~KT~