Chemical to Natural: The Detox

Making the switch from chemical nasties to pure organic products is a great decision to make, and will bring health to you, your family, and the environment around us. Your body is used to chemicals. It absorbs them every day. It's gotten accustomed to the ones you put on your skin and hair regularly, and it's (amazingly) learned to cope. When you make the sudden switch to natural products though, it can take some time for your body to adjust, and you may experience a few little side-effects. These are only temporary - think of it as a detox.


Hair Care


The first few times you use natural shampoo and conditioner, your hair can come out looking dry, frazzled, frizzy, or maybe oily. To speed up the detox process, mix some plain white vinegar with water (50:50 ratio) in a small jug or bottle, and rinse this through your hair after shampooing.


If your hair is really dry and you're getting a flaky scalp, use a nourishing oil (such as Rasasara's Nourishing Oil here) and give your hair and scalp an intensive moisture treatment by leaving the oil in your hair for 20 mins wrapped in a warm towel.




Deodorant


Adjusting to a natural deodorant can be challenging! After years of spraying anti-perspirants on your armpits (which chemically obstruct your sweat glands from releasing sweat, and therefor toxins), it's like your body wakes up and says "Hey! I'm allowed to release toxins the natural way now!" and suddenly you're sweaty and smelly from all the toxins being released out of your armpits at once. Never fear - it does end. Eventually your body will adjust, and after a detox period, it will all be running a lot smoother.


It should be noted that if you wash your armpits with chemical-based soaps, this can disrupt the skin's pH level and create an environment where odour-causing bacteria can thrive. So if you're going natural, it's best to go all the way, and switch every product. If you do a lot of excercise, or work in a stressful environment, you may need to re-apply deodorant during the day, or keep a small vial of perfume handy.


The best thing about switching to a natural deodorant is you'll no longer be absorbing harmful chemicals into some of the most sensitive glands of your body - it will thank you for it in the long run.




Skin Care & Cosmetics


The most important thing to remember here is that the skin is on an approximate 3 to 4 week cycle. Stick to a new routine for at least a few weeks before judging the results, especially when you've suddenly stopped using chemically-laden products. Your skin could react in any number of ways: dryness, oiliness, pimples, patches. It's also hard to judge results if you're still using that favourite eye creme or just want to use up that great mascara before throwing it out. Mixing natural and chemical products can muddy the waters, so to speak.


If you've struggled on for 4 weeks with unhappy skin, the most likely problem is that you've misdiagnosed your skin type and you've simply chosen the wrong products for yourself. This is very common! When using chemical products, the skin is in a constant battle to balance itself against the unnatural potions being lathered on it every day - it may appear to you to be oily or dry or sensitive or combination, but in reality your 'oily' skin is producing too much oil because it's overreacting to a lack of moisture, and is hence actually dry or dehydrated - and vice versa, it may appear dry because it's been stripped of its natural moisturising oils. So it's not surprising if you can never find a product that just works.


For help with skin types and problems, see the menu items to the left.