No Shampoo, No Deo, No Shower Gel For Years — The Result

I haven’t used chemical products on my body for about 2 years.
I don’t use hair shampoo or conditioners, I don’t use deodorant, I don’t use shower gel, I don’t use makeup, I don’t use nail polish, hairspray, or hair gel. I don’t use any chemically perfumed body products anymore. I still use hand soap (self-made with castile soap), but I am very conscious that I don’t let any chemicals on my skin.
Do you want to know if I stink? Do you think it is gross? Stay with me!

When I worked full-time, my sweat smelled very nasty, my morning breath was terrible, and my belly was bloated. I started with a never-ending self-discovery journey around 2013.
Back then, I had no intention of giving up my toiletry products. I loved them. I spent almost every evening polishing my nails (fingers and toes) with a new fancy colour.
Every other month, I would try out a new hair colour. I had it all. Red, Black, Blond, Highlights. I got frustrated with my body and hair regularly, and as soon as this feeling came up, I was looking for a change, just in the wrong place at the time.
I tried to change my outsides, while I should have changed my insides.

This picture shows the person who I used to be. I used to be blond, always elegantly dressed, and most likely to be found in an important business meeting.
I always put on deodorant and also some sweet perfume to make sure I smelled nice.
Funny how things can change.
Today, I find the smell of strong perfume in buses, trains, or bus stops quite off-putting. It doesn’t smell nice anymore to me; it smells weirdly chemical and just too much for my sensitive nose.
I had no idea that the human body only smells bad when it has too many toxins in the body. Nobody ever told me.
Did you know that the human body smells actually quite nice in a naturally balanced state?
Our Western lifestyle is so against human nature that we don’t even have an idea what a human body should look and smell like. We eat poison (processed food, white refined sugar), we drink poison (sodas, energy drinks, alcohol), and we barely move our bodies.
Let me explain.
Think of a clean, fresh lake.

Does it smell? No. It is wonderfully refreshing to swim in a clear mountain lake. But if the water in a lake turns, and develops the wrong bacteria, it will start stinking like crazy.
With your human body, it is more or less the same thing.
You need to feed your body right, treat it right, and move it regularly. If you fail with these elementary things, you will end up like a dirty lake. And I mean this in the most loving and kind way.
It is all about awareness.
No judgement. I have been a dirty little lake myself for more than three decades. I did what advertisements and society told and taught me, and ended up with skin and hair problems which got worse and worse every year.
My psychedelic journey didn’t just alter my mind, massively, for the better, it also helped me to feel myself again.
I am connected stronger to my higher self and my body than ever before.

Over the last years, I changed my whole lifestyle. I adapted my diet, I quit high amounts of white sugar (still fighting the last little bit), I started to take my workouts more seriously, and I started with a daily meditation practice.
I have stopped going to the hairdresser every second month. Travis, my husband, cuts my hair, and that works great as I only cut 1–2cm off the ends. Super easy. Super cheap. My hairline has completely grown back. My hair looks much fuller and healthier in general.

My hair has its natural colour back, and my scalp was never better.
I used to have a very itchy scalp, and it made me crazy. My morning breath is not bad at all these days. My breath doesn’t smell at all.
I use natural toothpaste with Neem and Cinnamon at the moment. My gums even recovered in the last years and grew back!
My skin and my hair never looked better, my body never smelled better, naturally.
To enhance a nicer odour, I am taking Fenugreek supplements, together with some Turkey Tail, Lion’s Mane, and Cat’s Claw (this is not medical advice). I always go through phases with different supplements. My body tells me what it needs, and I follow the lead.

I wash my hair every second day or so with filtered water, and every 1.5 weeks, I use a mixture of a little bit of baking soda first, followed by filtered water mixed with organic apple cider vinegar on my hair and scalp.
Update: I will exchange baking soda and apple cider vinegar and try soapnuts. Thanks, Aline S., for this recommendation!
After washing it with warm water, I put some oil on the ends of my hair (coconut or castor oil are my personal favourites).
Sometimes I boil rosemary for about 20 minutes, let the water cool, and put this rosemary water in my hair. After a few hours, I wash it out and end up with slightly darker and even shinier hair. It is incredible what you can do with 100% natural skin and hair care.
Sometimes I make a slimy paste out of water-boiled flax seeds; it is a great conditioner. I rinse it through a cheesecloth and keep it for one week in the fridge. I use it on my facial skin and as a hair mask. It feels amazing in the hair and on the skin.

I don’t need day or night creams anymore. My naturally produced oils on the skin protect my skin and moisten it perfectly. I don’t have oily or dry skin. It is perfectly balanced. I still shave my not-so-much-wanted body hair, but I either dry shave it or shave under the shower. It might take a bit longer without soap, but in the worst case, I use a tiny bit of baking soda. That works just fine.
I have never smelled better in my whole life, from the inside — out.
Please note, this was not the result from the beginning. My hair and skin needed months to find the right balance. In the beginning, my hair looked quite greasy, my face looked very shiny, and the odour of my armpits didn’t smell like a bunch of red roses. This process won’t happen overnight.
My old self would try to cover bad body odour for others, but today I just smell like maple syrup, thanks to Fenugreek mainly, but also because I managed to change my whole lifestyle.
I became more grounded and more in touch with my physical body. My two different lifestyles feel like two completely different worlds.

My body used to feel so heavy and sick; today my body feels light and strong.
Here’s my recommendation. Next time before you put deodorant on your armpits, make sure to smell yourself first. How your body smells is important information for you and says so much about the health status of your body.
Good smelling! :)
Feel loved, feel hugged.
Namasté
Alina
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