Sustainable self care

by Beatrice Cosner

How to take care of yourself and the environment at the same time

Most of the products we commonly use for personal care, such as soaps, toothpaste, moisturizers and so on, are harmful not only to our body but also to the ecosystem. Personal care is one aspect of our lives that needs change.

Why use natural cosmetics? The whole process of making cosmetics – from manufacturing to disposal– causes damage that we could avoid. We use Petroleum to make plastic packages, which releases CO2 in the atmosphere during the process. The petrolatum inside our products derives from oil and, together with the other chemical ingredients and rinse water, end up in the sewers and the sea. Moreover, many beauty products contain microplastics which account for most of the plastic that pollutes the oceans. Why self-production? Self-production is swimming against the tide. It’s cheap and fun. If you don’t like this type of activity, choose bulk shops, where you can find soaps on tap, bars of soap and refills for toothpaste. Or buy homemade cosmetics from people in your community so that you can support the local economy and have the container refilled once the product is over.

© Beatrice cosner

In short, when you buy soap or shampoo at the supermarket, you contribute to emissions, energy and water waste in manufacturing and water pollution. By making a different choice, you could do yourself a favour both physically and economically. By using natural products, the environment will thank you, but so will your skin and hair! For this reason, in this article, I recommend how to replace three products often, if not always, present in our bathrooms. I hope you’ll find these tips useful.

@Beatrice Cosner

1.Hand and body soap

This soap is made with demineralized water, an oil of your choice and caustic soda. I advise all people who have a fireplace to look for the recipe with ash instead of soda.As for the oil, for one kilo of each type, the amount of caustic soda and water changes. You can also use used oil: it will be a less valuable soap but still valid and at a much lower cost. I use regular olive oil, leave extra-virgin olive oil for the kitchen because it loses some of its properties in the process. So, what you need is:

-1 kg of olive oil

-134 gr of caustic soda in flakes

-280 gr of demineralized water

-essential oils of your choice or dried herbs

-a kitchen scale

-a wooden spoon

-gloves, mask and safety glasses

-immersion blender

-stainless steel pot

-silicone moulds or a pan lined with baking paper

Open the windows before starting, as the process emits gases that are best not to breathe. Wear gloves, a mask and glasses. Weigh the ingredients. Pour water into the pot and then the soda a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent a crust from forming on the bottom. The mix will heat up; do not breathe with your face over the pot. Wait a few minutes and then pour the oil slowly. Use the immersion blender until you get a creamy and thick mixture (if you try to “write” on it, it will remain imprinted). Add the essential oils and mix for a few more seconds. Pour the mixture into the pan or moulds. Now you can draw on it with a knife, for example, or print a stamp. Cover everything with a blanket or towel. After 48 hours, with gloves, you can remove it from the moulds or the pan, cut it and lay the pieces well apart on a tray. Cover it again and let it mature for at least 40 days. The older, the better!

2.Shampoo

Ingredients:

-7/8 gr. homemade soap I was telling you about

-230 ml of water

-10 drops of tea tree essential oil

-2 drops of apple cider vinegar

-5 drops of essential oil of your choice (optional)

Heat the water in a saucepan over low heat: do not boil. The temperature must remain low, so if you start to see bubbles on the bottom turn off. Pour in the grated soap and stir slowly with a fork to prevent foam from forming. When the soap has melted, turn off the heat if you haven’t already, and let it cool. Then add the tea tree essential oil, vinegar and if you want five drops of essential oil of your choice. Pour everything into the chosen container.

3.Deodorant

You will need two tablespoons of baking soda, 1 of corn starch and 15 drops of tea tree essential oil. You can choose to flavour with five drops of essential oil of your choice. It is applied by pouring half a teaspoon on the fingers and then dabbing on the armpits.

If, on the other hand, you want to make the spray version, reuse a particular vial we have at home and add 200 ml of demineralized water. Shake and leave to rest for at least an hour. I recommend shaking every time before using it.

Deodorant, spray version with half of all ingredients due to container size

© Beatrice Cosner