I first became interested in making my own deodorant when I found out most store bought deodorants contain aluminum chloride, which can encourage the growth of cancer cells.  How friendly.  Most store bought deodorant also contains various compounds/ingredients that mess with your hormones.  Sounds great, right?

If you read Part 1 of this (I’m hoping you have) you know that I researched a TON before diving into going no poo. If you HAVEN’T read it yet, here’s the link: http://herbivorehomemaker.com/my-no-poo-experience-shampoo-free-part-1/ Anyways, despite all the research,  I failed (but, you already know that).  Since that moment of defeat (a very greasy haired moment of defeat), I have tried to figure out what went wrong. Call me an optimist, but I’d like to try to go no poo again.  So, I have researched EVEN MORE since ending the no poo experience. If you are wanting to go no poo or if you’re simply curious as to why I failed (which is an interesting enough reason on its own I think) keep reading!  Hopefully these tips and suggestions come in handy. Failure has its perks. 

Upon reading other natural health and DIY blogs a couple of years ago, I came across the idea of going no poo.  For the many crunchies out there, this seemed like THIS was the ultimate in going all natural and DIY (the ‘Mecca’ of DIY/natural health if you will).  One of the main reasons for this was because of all the crazy chemicals in shampoo.  What’s absorbed into our skin goes straight to our bloodstream, so what we’re putting on our scalp is important!  This post is already on the long side (as you’ll soon find out), so I’m not going to go into all the toxic chemicals in most shampoo.  If you’re curious, check out this great article on it: http://naturalsociety.com/5-toxic-chemicals-probably-found-shampoo/

There are three reasons I started making my own toothpaste.  Reason #1 was to save money.  Reason #2 was because I wasn’t happy with most of the ingredients in store bought toothpaste.  For some information about chemicals that are commonly found in toothpaste that really aren’t that great, please see the following link: http://www.livestrong.com/article/1005590-toothpaste-sodium-lauryl-sulfate/.  Reason #3 was to help heal my mouth and teeth.  My teeth had become super sensitive and I was getting bad geographic tongue.  This isn’t a post on geographic tongue, so I won’t go too into it.