As I woke up this morning I dug my knuckles into my eyelids and rubbed them sleepily like a two year old.
Noooo I don’t wanna get up.
I’m not a jump-out-of-bed kind of person.
Squishing my eyelashes hard against my face and fingers, I thought Well shit, now I’ve got mascara all over the place. Nice start to the day.
See, I’m not good at washing my face before bed. Or in the morning, for that matter. Basically whenever I shower, that’s when my face gets washed.
And I’ve never been big on showers.
But before I finished my toddler impersonation I realized Wait I can rub these eyeballs all damm day!
Because I haven’t used any beauty products for well over a week.
That’s no shampoo, no conditioner, no makeup, no lotion, no body wash, no nada.
And I’m as susceptible as the next person to the promising personal care products at Ulta, Target and even my local grocery store. I could drop many a bill on wrinkle defying face lotion, sexifying hair volumizer, and Hong Kong themed nail polish (omgyes!).
But I usually resist by reasoning that there are better things I could spend my hard-earned (or long-saved) cash on, none of it is really necessary, and most insultingly, it all just exists because we’ve been convinced that we’re ugly without it.
For quite some time I’ve been trying out all-natural shampoos, trading lotion for plant-based oils and using organic makeup. But even those are expensive, unnecessary, and still reinforce the same ideas, namely: 1) our hair and skin aren’t good enough on their own, and 2) women need to do extra work in order to look “presentable.”
Those ideas have already bothered me for years and I’ve mostly ignored them, but lately I’ve gotten serious about the questions those ideas raise:
If skin is the body’s largest organ, should I smear stuff on it every day?
Do we really need Products in order to exist in modern society?
I’ve long been interested ancient natural-beauty philosophies such as Ayurveda, but decided that finding, purchasing and preparing herbs and oils is not really the answer for me. It’s a fascinating practice, but it’s far too complicated for me to stick to and doesn’t accomplish my goals of living both naturally and simply.
I’ve considered washing my hair with baking soda, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, but just never got around to researching those more.
Then I happened to read Karol Gajda’s blog post about How to Declare a New Holiday, which included the recommendation to try water-only hair washing. I followed some links, read up, and since it couldn’t get any more natural or simple, I decided this shit’s for me!
Of course I can’t do anything halfway, so I decided to try living entirely Product-Free.
[Note - I still use soap for bathroom and kitchen hand washing, toothpaste (all natural), and rock deodorant (my salt lick, as Handsome Mr. Mustache calls it). I’m not yet totally free from chapstick, and I’ll use sunscreen when necessary but I generally just stay shaded by a big hat. These things don’t count as Products in my mind because they prevent disease, cavities, stinkyness, lip loss, and cancer, respectively.]
Wanna know what I’ve discovered?
Living like this f*king rules.
Assembly of gorgeousification.
Here are some of the things I’ve learned:
The time I save in living product-free is greater than the sum of its parts. If I shower first thing in the morning, once the evening rolls around all I need to do is brush hair, teeth, and maybe change clothes for going out. No more need to “freshen up” or spend an hour getting ready for a fancy event. In fact, I thought my most basic hair and makeup routine was short, but I now have much more free time than I would have guessed.
I don’t feel oily or dirty. In fact, I felt ickier 24 hours after a standard product-filled shower than I do after 10 days of water-only.
My skin feels soft and smooth. And no I don’t mean hair-free soft and smooth, cause I totally hate shaving. (Although I do it. Grudgingly.) My skin is soft and smooth thanks to the good daily water-only scrubbing it gets with my natural fiber loofahs.
My hair is soft, thick and full. After shampooing my hair always felt thin and it hung flat against my head unless I added product, gave it a blow dry, and spent 20-45 minutes working on it. Now it has natural body and volume. I’ve heard it takes 4-8 weeks for the natural oils to balance out, so I’m curious to see how it’ll keep changing. I’ve also heard that around week 1 or 2 it goes through a “sticky” phase, which I was not looking forward to but haven’t yet experienced.
Nobody treats me any differently. This week I had two big tests of my new philosophy – I went to see a concert and a touring Broadway musical. Both were occasions to dress up and both involved after-parties with people involved in the shows. I put on my awesomest dress, stuck to my Product-Free routine, and didn’t feel a bit different from anyone else there. I confidently chatted up strangers and nobody acted like my face was naked or my hair was undone. It was no. big. deal.
I actually feel more confident. Now when I face the world, I really face it. This is me, take it or leave it. My eyelashes are sparse (maybe from years of mascara-wearing?), but my eyes themselves are awesome. My hair may not be shampoo-shiny, but it’s got good natural texture that I used to achieve through shampoo+conditioner+texturizer. Seriously. I bought products to take out and then put back a “natural” look. WTF, me?!
Earlier this week Leo Babauta wrote an article entitled you’re already perfect, which beautifully aligns with living Product-Free. Got freckles? Don’t hide them. Got wild curly hair? (I’m so friggin jealous, btw.) Set it free. There’s something about ignoring the advice from mainstream magazines that makes me feel f*k-you confident. In short, it suits me.
So join me. Kick the product habit, even if for just a week. Spare your body the chemicals, and save yourself the cash you might otherwise spend on that new product. Live simply and naturally for a little while.
Living product-free has been an incredibly liberating experience for me and I’m excited to see how my hair and skin continue to adjust over the coming weeks. I’m hoping that being soap-free means my skin eventually won’t need any moisturizer as fall and winter set in, but I’m admitting right now that I’ll moisturize with jojoba oil if necessary.
So finally – don’t let the details keep you from trying out the big picture. If you need the lotion, give up the shampoo. If you need the hair products, give up the body wash. Seriously, you’re hot stuff already. Don’t try to hide it. And please let me know how it goes.
Woohoo! Rock on Dena! I’m gonna go pick up some of that “salt lick” deodorant I’ve heard so much about today. :)
Thanks for stopping by, Karol!
The salt lick is great and I had ample proof of that this weekend: I forgot to use it Saturday night before karaoke, and I was definitely a stinky singer. On Sunday I salted up and even though I spent the day in the hot Arizona sun (yes it was 98 degrees here on October 2 – ugh) I was sweaty but not at all smelly!
The salt lick “rocks” my world! :D
wow, cool experiment. I read a lot about going “shampoo-free” but never think about going “product-free” I think I’ll give it a try. For two weeks from today.
thanks for the inspiration! :)
Thanks for stopping by, Claudia! Please let me know how it goes. I’ve been product-free for almost 2 weeks now, and I’m still loving the results. I can’t wait to hear how your hair and skin react to it!
Also, your site is suuuuper cool! Is that your art? Is it for sale?
I enjoyed my product free time as well. Now, however, that I pretty much live in a coating of baby spit up, lathering w my (all natural, of course) shampoo is one luxury i look forward to. Even if I know my hair is still clean because I just washed it 2 or 3 days ago, if I can get my hands on some shower time I’m definitely gonna celebrate with a little rose-chamomile scented hair product!
Haha! Yes I imagine having a baby would be a huge motivator to lather up and smell great when you have the chance!
Somehow even back in the day when I used fruity shampoos and fancy bodywashes I never smelled especially lovely after a shower. Maybe good smells just don’t stick to my body… :)