The Attached Mother

This is a guest post from Sara of the Flutterby Gifts blog. You can check out her soaps and lotions at Flutterby Gifts.

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I will admit, I was the picture of consumerism when I first started my adult life. As I studied and grew my views on how I desired to live my life changed. I started dreaming of a farm and self sustainability. I started to wonder what I could rely on myself for instead of being a consumer. My family started to make their own meals, breads, yogurts and ice creams. I started to make my own clothes and felt good about my garden. Something that I had over looked was my bathroom. After all there is a plethora of plastics in the bathroom! Yet, it had escaped me and I the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I was so used to going to the store to get my soap, and other bathroom goodies.

Then a friend of mine started reading a book on soap making. The pictures were so pretty, filled with colored and shaped soaps. I started to wonder, but I was so fond and even a little addicted to my shower gel. While in massage school we talked quite a bit about body products, what they do to the skin, what is in them, how they affect the skin and therefore the whole body. It was starting to sink in, I needed a change.

I’m a huge fan of anything that I can make with my own two hands, so I gave soap making a try. Not with the intent to use it myself, (again, I still disliked bar soap. I was just sure of it.) but to give away as gifts and whatnot. I made my first batch and I was hooked on the process. It was so much fun to watch the oils mix together, change consistency and become�soap! I started to research more about oils, what they do for skin and get more in-depth about how the process of soap making worked. I created my own recipe and when I tried it I learned that the bar soap I had known was not what I thought.

Most store bought bar soaps are actually a detergent and not a true “soap”. Soap is the process of mixing lye and oils together to create a chemical change turning the oils into solid, bubbly cleansing soap. A detergent is described as any non soap that uses surfactants and commercial cleaning products.

In one of my classes we were asked to look through our shower space and find the longest word on the bottles. Everyone came back with things we couldn’t pronounce, most of us couldn’t spell and no one in class knew what they were, or why there were going onto our body. (and thus, into our body)

I was sold. I did a large purge of all lotions, balms, detergents ect. that was in our bathroom. I enjoyed making soap, so why not practice what I preach. My skin is softer, my natural oils keep my moisturized and my environment is a happier place.

My soaps come from my kitchen, to my bathroom. There is no shipping process, no large factory and no packaging. Most of my soaps contain only natural colorants made from powdered herbs, and essential oils for fragrance. I have some that use fragrance oils instead of essential oils but well, we can�t all be perfect all of the time!

Bottom line is that there is always some small change, some little thing that you can do in your life to help the earth, be more self reliant and be better for your body.

Sources:

soap, lotion, natural products, natural living, DIY