My Bathtime Essentials v2011

Eversince I posted this confession, I've been swamped with a truckload of imaginary email probing for organic or all-natural products that I use to spoil my scalp and skin. Just like you, I dream to throw away products with harmful chemicals like parabens, triclosan and others and employed cruelty in my closet and maintain this healthy stash without breaking the piggy bank and the mutual funds. I'm glad YOU asked.

The Dalai Lama named spending solitary moments every day as one of the twenty ways to get good karma. Does bathtime count? It is my favorite me-time and it marks when I officially start and end my day. In addition to that, I feel most creative and in touch with my subconscious (next to REM) during shower. I've had myriad of Eureka moments while inside the confines of my favorite sanctuary. In my humble opinion, being extra seksi begins in the mind. And I take care of mine by choosing and continuously looking for what's best for the rest of my body.

What's been taking care of my scalp, you ask?

2011 saw me experiment in my product hunt. After using mostly Human Heart Nature for a year and realizing I've gone immune to their products in March, I opted to welcome other brands. I interchange HHN's strengthening and moisturizing shampoos with high preference for the latter as my hair dictates. For the hair mask variants, I love mango over gugo bark & avocado. It's refreshing!

This year, I ordered Ilog Maria's honey propolis shampoo, grabbed Nature's Gate's hemp nourishing shampoo from Healthy Options, Changpo Magic Straight Shampoo from The Face Shop and O.N.E. Naturales' solid shampoo and conditioner from The Nail Boutique & Cafe (also available in Watson's).

I appreciate how light and silky my hair felt with honey propolis shampoo. My best friend Atong told me it didn't work for her, though. It's the hemp nourishing shampoo that gave her the bounce she's looking for. When my hair was still a combination of natural curls on top and digipermed curls on bottom, it didn't welcome this particular shampoo. However, it responded well to hemp after the rebond. Interesting, eh?

Solid shampoos!

Atong once pointed out how weird it is that I use liquids like body wash and shower gel as soap and something solid as my shampoo and conditioner. How funny. I took me a long while selecting among their variants such as Goldilocks (for blondes, so it's out of the question), Hair Biscuit and It's Green. For P498 each, I had to choose well. (Just 2 rubs against your hair and it's bubbly enough. This shampoo is estimated to be equivalent to 3 eight ounces of liguid shampoos. Sulit!) I prefer Hair Biscuit's stimulating smell yet I eventually fell for It's Green's promise to give my dry locks its much-needed help. After all, organic products' scent typically don't last long. I don't regret going for It's Green, but I wished I didn't try the Hair Boost conditioner. It resulted to dandruff when I used it as a leave-on conditioner and it's not that impactful when rinsed. Good thing I bought it for P199 when it was on sale in Watson's.

Also, it claims to be eco-friendly but, as my best friend Lakapati pointed out, it's a lot of packaging for something so small (imagine the metal casing for the solid shampoo itself and the cardboard that houses this metal casing) which translates to more trash in landfills. Still, I'd like to give them props for such goal. In addition to that, I like the fact that it doesn't consume much space and it's my usual shampoo when I go on travel.

Changpo Magic Straight Shampoo

After having my locks rebonded, I decided to give Changpo a try. I wanted to know if I might not need another expensive procedure to tame my natural locks [and temporarily assure my boyfriend that I won't go the curly top route again]. The back of the shampoo bottle reads the shampoo is slightly acidic and one whiff of this shampoo and my nostrils detected it's far from organic. I don't like how it strips my hair of moisture but I might keep it until my natural curls start to show up to see if it really works. If the hemp nourishing shampoo worked after the rebond, this one just might work when the rebond lapses. Perhaps I should give the Changpo conditioner a chance? Let's see next year.

Food for my skin!

As you can tell, I use mainly HHN for my skin. Their shampoo doubles as body wash (how economical!). I love their facial and body scrub but I'm still looking for something with more texture. I particularly like the aloe and guava facial wash but I'm afraid it's already phased out.

Since I've heard Joyce Jimenez admit on national TV (I think I was in college that time) that she uses body oil after bath to lock in moisture, I was quick to follow suit. I gave up on this habit when my skin can't tolerate the discomfort when I get lots of sun exposure. (Yeah, I refuse to use my umbrella since day 1.) Now that I've evolved as a nocturnal desk jockey, I use Carica's extra virgin coconut oil and, with the discovery of my dosha, I'll try sesame oil next year. Any recommendations for me?

What else I've tried? Eucalyptus bath gel from Ilog Maria that I may not re-purchase. I enjoyed their calamansi & ginger soap and bamboo charcoal bergamot & lime soap and I'm intrigued to try sandalwood and honey soap and lavender soap next and see how the latter will help this insomniac experience deep sleep.

Giving the spiced vanilla variant a chance!

I've also tried The Body Shop's vanilla shower gel and, as expected from vanilla addicts like myself, I can't move on from the fact that they already discotinued it. How else will I seduce my boyfriend? Let's just cross our fingers that the soon-to-be-phased-out spiced vanilla shower gel will do wonders.

The deodorants I can rely on!

Aaaaand let's talk about the last product I use before I step out of the bathroom. The ones available commercially have aluminim content which causes Alzheimer's disease. Gasps. Switching to organic deos can be problematic for a Curacha like myself. As mentioned earlier, organic products don't really last long. Give it 8 hours or less and you should be re-applying it or rushing home. Take Alba Botanica's lavender deodorant stick, for example. I love its scent as I'm typically sucker for lavenders but it's not the kind that I will use before going to the gym or all-nighter activities.

Then there's All Organics' deo-spray. Sure, it also has aluminum but it's been broken down to tiny pieces and won't be as harmful. I tend to avoid it being sprayed on my face as much as possible. Plus, I love the fact that they have refill bottles.

I made a recent temporary switch to VMV Hypoallergenics after hearing about their Buy 1 Take 1 sale. Atong read about the raves in the forums, that this antiperspirant is stain-free, quick-dry and very reliable. It proved to be true! Waldo and I even had a tug-of-war episode as I refuse to give it away. But, hey, it contains aluminum zirconium and aluminum chlorhydrate. Sighs. Maybe I should really give it away. To someone else, yes? Definitely, I'll replenish it with All Organics' deo-spray.

Phew. That's quite long. I'm sure you have a longer list compared to this. How about you, what are your bathroom staples? Let me take a peek!