Adventures in Homemade: Aloha, Borax.

Arbonne. If you will, please say that word with me aloud, with a rrroll on the rrr. Arrrbonne. Here is a company I've heard so much about yet knew so little about, for so long. No, I'm not trying to sell you anything here, (and no, I'm not a consultant) but if you don't know what Arbonne is, I can sum it up by saying they are a company which caters to (mostly women) looking for high quality skin care products with less garbage than your average storebought cream / gel / moisturizer / whatever.

A few weeks ago, I attended my first Arbonne O'Naturel night at a friend's house and learned, you know, the stuff we hate to learn about the contents of our daily products. Essentially, my shelf of skin care products is um, carcinogenic, to say the least.

So, home I went, tail between legs, with the intention to throw out every single product on my shelf... and replace them, stat. But then there was a little financial reality check and a husband who is ever so good at bringing me back down to earth and those two things got me on track. I decided to make a plan to reduce the carcinogens I'm exposing my skin (and therefore, bloodstream) to on a daily basis.

Here's a list of the stuff I actually use - which means the contents actually make their way in my body:

1. Shampoo / conditioner.
2. Facial moisturizer
3. Body moisturizer
4. Makeup
5.  Dish soap
6. Laundry soap
7. Nailpolish
8. (My hubby uses) Hair wax
9. Lip balm
10. Soap

Some of these products are very complex (like nailpolish) and should really be purchased from a supplier who uses as many natural ingredients as possible (Arbonne being one of a few great options). However, not all of these things are out of my reach. So I've decided to embark on the adventures of homemade: turning my kitchen into a laboratory and creating my own homemade personal products.

Over the next summer months, join me in the successes (and probably failures) of homemade personal products. This week, look out for my first creation:

homemade laundry detergent.

(Also. If you do want to just buy Arbonne products, I know a lady and would be happy to hook you up!)