Dry Skin Quick Fix: Milk & Honey Cleanser

Posted by:  Jordan

Be it the weather change or just some more end-of-pregnancy hormonal changes, my skin has been extra dry the past week.  I decided to swap my morning cleansing routine with a simple homemade milk and honey cleanser.  I just combined a small spoonful of honey with a couple tablespoons of milk in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to allow the honey to dissolve into the milk.  Then soak a cotton square in the milk & honey mixture and apply to your face.  I like to leave it on my skin for a couple minutes while I brush my teeth and then splash clean with cool water.  I was amazed at how quickly my skin became rehydrated.  The lactic acid in the milk also helped to gently exfoliate the little dry flakes away.  After a few days of this simple, cheap home remedy my skin is feeling extra smooth and hydrated.

If your skin is feeling in need of a moisturizing & exfoliating treat, give this a try and let us know if you have as much success as I did!

Guest Post: Natural Hair Removal

Today’s guest post is from Maria Bastet, a beauty enthusiast specializing in hair removal. You can find more of her articles located at HairRemoval.org.

Many of us want to find the best way to remove our unwanted hair, but not necessarily at the cost of the environment. Luckily, there are several ways in which hair can be removed with minimal, or at least less, impact. While a tweezer  can last a lifetime and suffice for facial hair, tweezers are never a practical solution for larger areas, such as the legs, in which case other green and natural methods are available.

While shaving may not be thought of as natural hair removal, it is possible to find recyclable razors as well as organic soaps which can be used in the shaving process. While blades will need to be replaced at some point, handles are often made from 100% recycled plastic and will last for a long time. Shaving with environmentally friendly products can be acceptable but there are better natural, longer lasting methods to try.

Sugaring and waxing are two similar methods that are often thought of as being the same; however, there are some important differences. Wax often contains resins but sometimes also chemicals and artificial fragrances. Not only are these ingredients not green, but they can also cause allergic reactions. Sugaring is the more natural solution because it uses only sugar, lemon juice and water. Also, wax can stick to the skin, while sugaring does not.

 DIY Sugaring Recipe

Measures will wary depending on who you ask: two cups sugar, and a quarter cup each of lemon juice and water will make a batch of sugaring paste. This mixture needs to be heated in a sauce pan until it reaches a boil, where after it needs to be removed from the heat and cooled down. Using a dull knife or the back of a spoon, the mixture can be spread over the skin where after a cloth strip would need to be applied over it, and then ripped off.

Thin organic fabric can be used for sugaring, and used cloths can be washed and used again. However, it is possible to do sugaring without using fabric. It’s all a matter of finding the right consistency, so that the paste can be kneaded between fingers and spread over the skin. This refined technique will need tons of practice, but with persistence it can be done. In fact, millions of women all over the world use sugaring without the use of any fabric.

Any type of organic sugar and organic lemons can be used, and those allergic to lemon can try other liquids such as lime/orange/grapefruit juice or even vinegar. Those who use sugaring for hair removal have their unique methods, which are a result of tons of practice. Some trial and error is a must in order to find a recipe and method that works. While the method of sugaring certainly needs some practice, it can be well worth it in the long run. In addition to having smooth skin for weeks, the environmental impact is minimal compared to other temporary hair removal methods!

Thanks so much for sending along this great info to our readers, Maria!!  I can’t wait to try out this sugaring recipe at home.  

DIY Deodorant: Rave Reviews from a Deodorant Convert

Posted by:  Jordan

See, I’m not the only one who think this homemade deodorant recipe works!!!  DIY deodorant review from PJR friend, Jamie:

“Recently I was fortunate enough to receive a sample of Jordan’s homemade deodorant cream (eucalyptus scent!) and after the past two weeks of use I felt compelled to come to my good friend’s blog and share my feedback. THIS THING IS AMAZING!  Now, it should be stated that I am one of those girls who has fought the deodorant battle for many, many years. It’s not so much that I sweat profusely, it’s more smelliness that is my issue (ha!). I’m not kidding though – I could run 6 miles and not drip one bead of sweat, but I will stink to high heaven! And although I am new to the natural deodorant scene, I have definitely tried EVERY deodorant on the market. And sadly I will admit that for almost the entirety of the last ten years Old Spice for Men has been a staple in my medicine cabinet. Yep, that’s right – full strength men’s Old Spice. But I think it’s also important to note here that while Old Spice was the best that I’ve been able to find – it still had its “off” days and didn’t hold up against the hottest of summer days.

Listen, while I’m fully ashamed of my dirty little secret, at least I haven’t taken the “botox” route!  Have you guys heard about this? A good friend of mine from high school who shares in our armpit woes has recently told me that she has resorted to botox. After countless years of visiting dermatologists to battle her demons and trying every prescription deodorant on the market –  an actual member of the medical profession advised my friend of a “new fad” that seems to be working. Yep, you guessed it – botox injections in her armpits every few months! Girls, I can’t even tell you the shock when I heard that she was going to go through with it. And apparently it has cured her “ring around the armpit” so completely that she is sold on the entire process and gone back three times over the past 9 months. I’ve tried everything in my power to convince her of the harm she is doing by blocking her pores with this unnatural substance – but sadly, to no avail. (Completely off the subject but I thought that I might share this tidbit of information and enlighten the natural deodorant community of this new & horrifying occurrence).

OK back on track…enter my new hero…Jordan’s special homemade recipe deodorant! As I mentioned, it has been a little over two weeks of use and this product has withstood the test of time in my book (OK maybe I’ll have to get back to you after the heat of August but for now – I’m sold). Once you get used to the fact that you kind of have to scrape the solid material a bit with your fingernail to gather a small amount (and truth be told it almost turned me off to trying it but I’m glad that I held strong) and then spread it onto your armpits with your bare hands for a few moments, it’s dryness and smell resistant capabilities are god-like. At the end of each day (and I’ve had a rough two weeks between juggling work, classes at night, a two-hour commute each direction and a new house to unpack) I am so satisfied and I can’t say enough good things. So ladies, please either try a batch according to Jordan’s recipe or join me in encouraging Jordan as to how she is going to make her first million – bottle this crap and get it on the market, girl! All you need is a line of like 4-6 different scents (I will even design all of your packaging!) and make a go at it. I think that you’ve got a real winner here, Jord!”

While Jamie’s enthusiasm made my day, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to make a million by packaging something SO incredibly easy to make at home.  If you’ve been wanting a natural deodorant that actually works, stop your searching, go to your kitchen, and whip up a batch.  If you’re half as enthusiastic as Jamie is about the outcome, I think you’ll be satisfied!  And a note on the consistency:  the deodorant cream solidifies in the cold and becomes creamier in the warmth.  So just warm a little of the cream in your hands before spreading on your armpits until the warmer months come.

Again, here’s the recipe I’ve been using:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup corn starch
4 tablespoons coconut oil
5-10 drops essential oil depending on the strength of your oils (*a note on essential oils–any scent you like will do, but some oils have more naturally deodorizing properties than others, such as Geranium, Lavender, Tea Tree Oil, and Lemon. I’m recently loving doTerra’s “Purify” oil blend which includes lemon, lime, tea tree oil, pine, and cilantro.)

Just mix everything together and spoon into a jar…no heating required!

The Great Deodorant Hunt, Part 7: DIY Deodorant Recipes!

Posted by:  Jordan

We’ve tried the craziest thing yet…homemade deodorants!  And guess what?  They actually work surprisingly well!  Dare I say it and risk jinxing it?  I think they *might* be the best natural deodorants I’ve tried!  There are a few but’s though, and we’ll get those right out in the open…such as the biggest one: Emily can’t use either of them.  She found that she’s allergic/sensitive to baking soda in her deodorants, unfortunately.  Our friend Amy said the same thing about the Miessence deodorant (which contains sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda) giving her a red rash under her arm.  I’ve occasionally experienced the red irritated skin too (strangely only on my left armpit), so I sometimes have to switch between deodorants that contain baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and those that don’t.  Problem is, I think the sodium bicarbonate is the essential ingredient in natural deodorants’ ability to keep you from getting stinky.  The other drawback to these homemade recipes is that they’re both a little high maintenance in that you have to either scoop them out of a jar, or, as in the first recipe, you can freeze them into pucks.  But whichever method you choose to contain them, you have to deal with temperature variances: if it’s really hot outside, you get a liquified deodorant.  If it’s freezing, you get a rock-solid jar of deodorant.  But those drawbacks aside, these deodorants are pretty incredible and SO cheap too!  Both recipes make large batches, so it’s wise to either share with friends, as Emily and I did, or to cut the recipe in half.

Emily and I tested out these two recipes back in August, when it was still prime sweating weather.  With her air-conditioner on full-blast, we decided to see which recipe was our favorite!

 

Emily making up a batch of DIY Deodorant

 

DIY Deodorant Recipe #1 from Angry Chicken’s blog:

3 Tablespoons shea butter
3 Tablespoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons cocoa butter
2 vitamin E oil gel caps (puncture and squeeze out the oil)
Essential Oil

I melted all the ingredients (except the oils) and gave it a good stir. This only took about 30 seconds in the microwave. Then added the oils, stirred again, and poured it in a jar, then placed it in the fridge to set. This recipe filled the jar in my hand, which is a 1/4 pint.

 

Stirring up some deodorizing goodness

 

For this recipe, Emily and I chose a few different scents to make: one was unscented, one scented with orange essential oil, and the third with lavender essential oil.  Because the cocoa butter smells a little like chocolate, we chose scents that complimented that smell.  We decided to take the suggestion to freeze the mixture into muffin tins, thereby make deodorant “pucks”.  This was a really handy way to store and apply the deodorant…unless you live in an un-air-conditioned apartment, like I do.  So I had to store my deodorants in the freezer during the summer!  Not exactly convenient.  But during the cooler months, it’s a great idea!  So, what were the results?  Well, here’s my email I sent to Emily on the first day I tried my homemade deodorant puck:

“It’s 96 degrees outside today. I tried a puck and I was sweating up a storm, but still smell completely normal and odor-free!  Amazing!!!!  The only thing that isn’t great is that when you sweat, like I did a LOT this afternoon when I went up to Harlem to visit Matt’s school, the butters tend to feel a little wet and slimy in your armpits.  Kind of gross…But at least I don’t smell!”

 

We chose mini muffin tins to make our mini deodorant pucks. Note the tape, telling us which scents were which: unscented, orange, or lavender

 

I also tried the suggestion that someone made in the comments section of Angry Chicken’s post to pour the still warm deodorant liquid into an old deodorant container and let it set.  This did not work.  I couldn’t get the deodorant dial to push the solidified deodorant up at all.  So I had to end up digging my fingers into the deodorant container to get it out.  The pucks were much more convenient.

 

Jordan scooping some cocoa butter into the mixture

 

DIY Deodorant Recipe #2 from How About Orange blog:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (What the hell is arrowroot powder?  Emily and I substituted corn starch, which we had on hand)
4 tablespoons coconut oil
10 drops essential oil

Just mix everything together and spoon into a jar…no heating required!  It really doesn’t get much more simple than this.  I think I like this recipe just a little bit more because it doesn’t get the slimy feeling, like the first one did, in 95+ degree weather.  Of course if it’s a normal day both recipes are great, but I think this recipe is my preferred one simply because it’s as easy as can be!  Be sure to store it in a cool, dry place (but not too cold like your refrigerator because then it becomes too solid).  I made two different scents with essential oils I had on hand: one was grapefruit and the other was rosemary-peppermint.  I love the rosemary-mint scent!  It really only smells for the first 10 seconds you put it on, but it’s a rather nice 10 seconds.

I have given samples of both of these deodorants to friends and both have given them thumbs up.  My friend Melissa even went as far as saying it’s the best she’s tried!  Do we have a winner, Great Deodorant Hunters?

Guest Post: DIY Clear Mascara & a New Treatment for Wrinkles and Scars

Posted by:  Jordan

I’m so excited to introduce our first Guest Post from a reader (not just my husband who I begged and pleaded to write a product review).  Reader (and talented writer), Tina, emailed us wanting to share her enthusiasm for natural and homemade cosmetics.  We knew Tina would be a perfect match for us after reading her blog, Smashed Picket Fences.  Tina is such a witty, funny, and honest writer that Emily and I knew immediately we’d love to feature her views on the world of natural beauty with our readers.  So, with that, I’ll let Tina take it away!

When I was a young girl, someone taught me a trick using Vaseline. It was during the clear mascara craze and I was experimenting with different types of make up, but too young to really wear a lot.  The older lady said that if I curled my eyelashes and then put some Vaseline on them it would give it that same “wet” look as clear mascara.I tried it and it became my little secret. People always commented me on my nice long wet looking lashes, begging me for the name of the brand I used. It wasn’t until I was older that I discovered that Vaseline was petroleum and now that I am a natural junkie I can’t quite bring myself to put that anywhere near my face again.

I set out on a quest to make my own Vaseline type product. Through trial and error I finally found a great mixture that has the same consistency as Vaseline and will give your lashes that wet look clear mascaras give, but without all the pesky additives, preservatives, and chemicals.

Ingredients:

• Beeswax
• Oil (almond oil, grape seed oil, olive oil, are all good choices)
• Vitamin E (optional)
• Baby food jar or other small container

Directions:
Melt one part beeswax to two parts oil in the microwave or over the stove. As soon as the wax is melted mix and pour into a glass or tin container.  Add Vitamin E while the mixture is cooling and off the heat.  Vitamin E is a natural preservative and will help keep the mixture fresh for longer.  Mixture will last for 6 to 9 months. To apply just curl your eyelashes as usual and then put a small amount onto your fingertips and coat your lashes with a thin layer.

If you are looking for good deals on beeswax, oils, or containers I usually find the best deal at Mountain Rose Herbs

But wait, there’s more!!  I also want to share another recent find to Product Junkies Rehab readers: Rosehip seed oil.  This oil has been used in studies to test its properties and it was found that Rosehip seed oil could reduce the appearance of wrinkles and scarring. It is also safe to apply to your face in small amounts. Since the oil is similar to our own sebum in our skin it is less likely to cause breakouts than other products. Rosehip seed oil may sound familiar because it used in a number of natural products on the market. The one caveat to using the oil is it’s recommended not to use on skin with recent or active breakouts.

Thank you to Tina for these wonderful tips!  I just tried a wonderful Rosehip seed oil from Melvita, which you can buy for about $27 on SkinBotanica.  And I’m incredibly anxious to try out this clear mascara recipe to replace my former long-standing fascination with Vaseline.

Rose Water and Chamomile Water

Posted by:  Jordan

Recently I’ve been loving two other floral waters in addition to my Springtime favorite, orange blossom water.  The first one is from the same brand as the orange blossom water, Al Wadi, sold for $2.10 at the  local Brooklyn favorite, Sahadi’s Middle Eastern market.  I use this 100% natural rose water in the same manner as the orange blossom water, which I discussed several months ago; mainly,  as a toner, a hydrating mist to set my makeup, and mixed with some Dr. Bronner’s unscented liquid soap and essential oils to make a subtle, relaxing body wash which is perfect for sensitive skin.

1/2 cup rose water
1 cup liquid castile soap
15 drops lavender essential oil
15 drops chamomile essential oil

There are so many uses for floral water, I’d love to hear what anyone else uses these beautifully scented waters for. I’ve even heard of using them as a breath freshener–much more elegant than Scope, I’d say!

The second floral water I’ve come to enjoy as part of my daily routine in the past few weeks is Melvita’s Chamomile Water.  Packaged in a beautiful cobalt blue spray bottle, Melvita’s water is 99% organic!  At first I thought the scent was a bit overpowering and strange, but now the distinctive, yet calming, scent is something I look forward to in my morning and evening regimen.  I’ve been spraying 4-5 spritzes on a cotton pad after cleansing to tone my skin and prepare it for its nightly serum or lotion.  Chamomile water is wonderful for alleviating irritated, red eyes.  Simply spray some of the water on a couple of cotton pads, chill in the refrigerator for a couple of minutes, then apply as a cold compress to your eyes while lying down.  Melvita’s website even claims that this product is recommended for treating dark under-eye circles!

DIY on the Huff Po

Posted by: Emily

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

Here’s a link to a great slideshow on the Huffington Post about DIY green beauty treatments! The slideshow itself links to many other articles, recipes, and videos! Enjoy.

(Thanks to our friend Ryan for passing along the link!)

Orange Blossom Water

Posted by:  Jordan

For the past few weeks I’ve been obsessed with a bottle of orange blossom water that we bought for a mere $4 at the grocery store.  If you’re not familiar with orange blossom water or its sister, rose water, I’d like to enlighten you, because my world is so much more pleasant now that I’ve been playing with different uses for this product!  The intended use for this product–which is available at most specialty and Middle Eastern markets–is for culinary and bartending recipes, but I’m discovering new beauty uses all the time.  Orange blossom water, sometimes called neroli water, is made from the water used during the steam distillation process to make essential oil from blossoms of the Seville orange.  Its beauty benefits include helping to refine pores and restoring suppleness/vitality.  Due to its mildly astringent properties, orange blossom water supposedly also refreshes oily skin and prevents blemishes from forming.  There are claims that it also naturally soothes sensitive, irritated skin.  These all sound like things my skin could benefit from, and all this for only $4 for a big bottle!!!  Plus it smells insanely Spring-y.  Here’s what I’ve been using it for so far:

• I have a great chocolate mask that needs to be mixed with water or milk to form a paste.  I tried mixing it with the orange blossom water instead and it smelled heavenly!
• I pour a little straight from the bottle onto a cotton ball and use as a gentle toner after cleansing.
• I created a refreshing toner spray.  I saw this toner on Saffron Rouge selling for $20, and I thought, “well, I can make that!  It’s just vodka and orange blossom water.”  So I did just that, at a fraction of the cost…and it’s unbelievable!  All I did was combine a very unscientific mixture of the two ingredients (maybe about 3/4 orange blossom water and 1/4 vodka?  Totally guessed at what proportions to use!), then I poured the mixture into a small spray bottle to use as a toner.  Or try spritzing it on your face after applying your makeup to “set” it.  I’ve read this advice from beauty pros several times in magazines, and I still don’t understand how spritzing your face with a liquid sets your makeup, but apparently it works.  A tip for the summer: store the spray bottle in your fridge and then spritz on your face, neck, chest, and hair for a beautifully scented refresher on a hot day!
• I made a shower gel using this recipe, found online:

1 cup orange-blossom water

2 cups liquid castile soap (like Dr. Bronner’s unscented)
30 drops peppermint essential oil

30 drops lemon essential oil

Because I didn’t have lemon essential oil on hand, I substituted lemongrass essential oil.  I also reduced this recipe by a third because I wanted to make a smaller batch.  It’s a really uplifting scent!

• I’d love to make this simple, citrusy perfume sometime soon, but I need to get a few more of these essential oils that I don’t currently own:

4 drops Grapefruit essential oil
3 drops Lemon essential oil
2 drops Patchouli essential oil
3 drops Coriander essential oil
40 ml (1.3fl oz) vodka
40 ml (1.3fl oz) Orange Blossom water

• If none of the above sound at all enticing to you, try pouring just a tiny bit of orange blossom water over vanilla ice cream.  So delicious!  After all, the best beauty tip I could possibly give you is to eat ice cream (or whatever makes you as happy as really good ice cream makes me!).  Happiness equals beauty, so if ice cream equals happiness…well, you get the idea!

So, that’s the fun I’ve been having experimenting with orange blossom water.  I’m excited to learn about additional uses…if you know of any more ideas please share your tips in the comments!

 

Facial Exfoliators

Posted by: Jordan

A couple friends have asked for some reviews of good facial exfoliators.  I’ve tried a couple recently that I really enjoy, but when it comes to exfoliators, I personally believe that you can create just as good of one at home, with products you have on hand.  So, here are a couple reviews of products you can purchase, as well as one you can easily make at home.

The first product I’m reviewing today is the Pineapple Facial Scrub from the truly awesome company, 100% Pure.  As the name suggests, all of their products are 100% natural.  Which takes a lot of the confusing guesswork out of trying to read labels to see if some synthetic chemical is potentially dangerous.  This scrub, a birthday gift from my ever thoughtful mom, is very gentle and smells just like summer.  It gets the job done without irritating my skin.  I also noticed on their website that they have a carrot scrub, which sounds equally delightful.  Both sell for about $18.  Their products are sold on their website, but perhaps even more conveniently, also on on Beauty.com, which is currently running a fantastic special until July 24, 2010.  With every $20 purchase from 100% pure, you get a free caffeine eye cream!  It’s very tempting for this product junkie not to go purchase something immediately.  (As a side note, 100% pure is based in Oakland, CA and they’re hiring!  Can someone out in the bay area please apply to this job?? What a cool company to work for!)

My second facial exfoliator to review today is a two-in-one product called Suki Exfoliating Lemongrass Cleanser.  It’s an exfoliator, but it’s also a foaming cleanser.  How brilliant is that?  It’s a phenomenal product and the scent is divine. I’ve been obsessed with lemongrass scents ever since I had an incredible massage on my honeymoon in St. Lucia; the Balinese women who owned the spa made all of their own massage oils and you got to smell all of them and choose the one you wanted for your treatment.  The lemongrass one was out of this world and the scent lingered on my body even after showering.  So, ever since my honeymoon I’ve been a bit of a sucker for anything lemongrass.  This product is a tad more expensive at around $30, but I don’t think it’s overpriced for what it is.  This exfoliator is also 100% natural and feels charmingly elegant in my medicine cabinet.  What more could I ask for in a product?  It’s sold on Suki’s website, but I bought mine at Whole Foods.

Finally, a DIY scrub that is so easy and inexpensive, it’s worth a shot to see if you like it.  I found this recipe in a fun book I have called “Return to Beauty” (kind of sounds like an Enya song, doesn’t it?).  It’s full of inventive homemade skincare recipes that are, for the most part, really easy to make with ingredients you can find at your local produce market.  This facial scrub, ideal for dry wintertime skin, was the easiest I found in the book. 

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1 Tablespoon of honey

1 Tablespoon of sparkling mineral water

Now, when I made this scrub I found that the tablespoon of the sparkling mineral water was way too much liquid for the scrub.  I like a scrub to be kind of thick so it stays in place when I’m massaging it into my face, and the water made it just slip through my fingertips and run down the drain.  So I tried it again with just a teaspoon of the mineral water.  While this does work a bit better, I’m still unsure why I need to add any mineral water at all.  I think I would just as easily prefer simply honey and sugar.  But test it out for yourself and let me know your thoughts.

Home Spa Day

Posted by: Jordan

 

So, if I haven’t complained enough about how cold and miserable the weather was this weekend, let me repeat it again.  I DETEST cold weather.  I’m still not quite sure why I live in this environment when I could be pleasantly living in a warmer climate.  Nevertheless, I thought a home-spa day would make good use of being indoors this weekend.  I chose to do a mask and a hair rinse.  Here are the reviews of both treatments.

 

Treatment #1 Honey-Spice Mask

  

Recipe for the mask found on Bella Sugar

Recipe:

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp ground nutmeg—I used whole nutmeg and then grated it myself

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix the above together until they form a chocolatey-colored paste, adjusting as you go until you get the consistency you like. Let sit for about 30 minutes, then rinse off, using the nutmeg crumblies as a natural exfoliant. Just don’t wear a cute shirt while you’re doing this, since it’ll drip.

Ingredients and their properties:
nutmeg:  soothes and heals

cinnamon:  stimulating and warming, has slight astringent properties

honey:  moisturizing and has antibacterial properties

 

Results:  I followed the recipe as it’s written, and it was really easy to make.  I sat in the bathtub for 30 minutes and read a book while letting the mask do it’s work.  It does tend to run a bit (probably even more so since I was sitting in a warm bathtub).  No problem though, I just licked up whatever was running into my mouth–it tastes really good (maybe you should drizzle the leftovers on top of ice cream!).  Just be sure to keep a washcloth nearby in case it starts to drip in your eyes–that might not feel so comforting and spa-like.  When  you first put it on, it’s really warm due to the cinnamon.  I looked in the mirror and noticed my neck getting extraordinarily red, and I started to worry that my redness-prone, sensitive skin would have some strange reaction to the cinnamon.  So after 30 minutes of fretting that I was going to have to call in sick to work today because my face turned the color of a beet, I rinsed it off.  The recipe recommends scrubbing it off to maximize the exfoliation with the nutmeg.  I did that, and then wearily peeked into the mirror.  My face is NOT the color of a beet, thankfully.  But it is very soft, smooth and has a pleasant glow to it!!  I’m going to try this out a few more times to see the long-term benefits of it, and I’ll report back.  But so far, so good!  I’m a fan!!!

  

 

Treatment #2 Mocha Hair Rinse

 

My hair is naturally what is lovingly referred to as “dishwater” or “mousy”.  I’ve been dying it for years–in my high school/college days, blond.  And for the past 5 years, dark brown.  It’s going to be a VERY difficult task to give up traditional hair color and test out intimidating natural ones like henna.  So I thought this hair rinse was a fairly easy way to dip my toes into the world of natural hair color.  It’s supposed to just give your hair a nice tint and bring out brown highlights.

 

This recipe was found in my copy of The Green Beauty Guide, which I highly recommend reading as a great resource.

 

2 cups purified water (do not use mineral water)

5 tablespoons dark roast ground coffee

1 ounce dark chocolate

 

Boil the coffee in two cups of water in a shallow pan for 10 minutes.  Add the chocolate while the coffee is hot.  Strain the liquid into a bowl.  

Let the mixture cool, and then pour the rinse over your hair.  Cover your head with a shower cap and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Rinse and shampoo as usual. 

 

One word of caution.  Use old towels and be prepared for your bathroom to look like you just murdered someone whose blood is made out of hot chocolate.

 

 

Results:  My hair is an oily mess!  I went to bed with my hair wet, so when i got up this morning and re-wet my hair to blowdry it, I was wondering why it was taking so long to dry.  Because it WAS dry, it was just so oily that it looks wet!!!!  I’m guessing it’s because of all the oils in the coffee beans.  This is disgusting, and unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to rewash my hair again this morning, so back into a slick, stringy ponytail it went.  I would not recommend this treatment unless you have extra dry hair–maybe then it would be good.  But for all the mess it created, and not much difference at all in my hair color, this treatment is NOT getting my stamp of approval. 

Let us know if you try either of these treatments yourself, and what your thoughts were.