You can’t get more basic than this

Even Koko could do it.

Actually, Koko knows sign language, something which is beyond me, so don't use Koko as a measure of how easy or difficult this is. Especially coming from someone who's not only posted a picture of a gorilla that's not Koko, it's not even a girl gorilla! Hello Mr. Silverback! But he's got a great, grumpy expression so I'm going to use it anyway. Maybe that's Koko chillin' by the trees. She's relaxed because she's not worried about her skin care products any more.

So here you go: A super basic body care routine made up of stuff that’s either already in your home or you can get from your local supermarket. But you’ll probably already have everything.

Ready?

Here we go:

- Olive oil (cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil or EVOO)
- Apple cider vinegar (unpasterized – ACV for short)
- Baking soda

That’s it! No, really, this is all you’ll need to get far superior body care products that’ll not only not give you cancer or birth defects but is actually good for you! Here’s why:

EVOO: Olive oil is a healing oil that helps restore and keep skin health and beauty. It replaces the moisture and elasticity. It’s full of antioxidants. It’s great for dry skin and many skin conditions, like psoriasis and eczema and even plain old dandruff. It also contains squalane. Squalane is naturally present in the skin but your body’s production slows peaks at about 25 and drops of quickly from there. This can lead to rough, dry, aging skin. Squalane helps with all sorts of skin conditions, restores moisture and elasticity, especially to aging skin.

ACV: Apple cider vinegar’s a golden concentrate full of the healthy goodness of apples - it contains more than 30 important nutrients, 12 minerals, over 6 vitamins, essential acids and several enzymes. It helps to maintain healthy skin and hair by restoring a healthy pH level. It soothes sunburn, cleanses and disinfects wounds, helps to heal bruises, helps with itchy scalp, dandruff and hair loss and soothes aches and pains. Used in bath water or in a clay facial or body wrap it can help soothe itchy, irritated skin and even dissolve excess fatty deposits near the surface of the skin(!) The stuff is liquid gold. The only problem is... it STINKS! It’s very strong smelling but the smell goes away as it dries. Rly. Trust me, I wouldn’t steer you wrong. And when you see what it does for your skin and hair – especially your hair – you won’t care what it smells like.

Baking soda: Baking soda’s often used as a skin softener, which I’m not so fond of since what it also does is disrupt the PH of your skin. Your skin and hair is normally a little on the acidic side. This is called the “acid mantle”. It acts as a barrier to bacteria, virus and other potential contaminants that might penetrate the skin and do you damage. Most of these contaminants are alkaline so the skin’s mild acidity helps neutralize them. So you want to keep that mantle acid! This probably should have gone in the ACV section but I don’t care – it’s my blog, dammit!

Anyway, back to the baking soda. The reason you have to restore the acid mantle after bathing is because soap, even all natural soap, is alkaline. Soap is made from oil that has had a base (an alkaline material) added to it. This process is called “saponofication” and changes the oil chemically to something that bonds with water instead of repels it. That’s why you feel sqeaky clean after washing – the soap molecules have washed away with the water, taking oils and dirt with them. Go soap molecules! Now, baking soda is a very mild base. When you get it on your skin it feels slippery. This is because it’s reacting with the oil on your hands (or hair) to make soap. Because it’s a mild base, it doesn’t turn all of the oil into soap so you’re left with clean but not stripped skin. Unless you use too much. But don’t worry, I’ll be giving you proportions that’ll keep you from doing that.

See! With just three, common household products you can clean yourself in a healthy way that’s bursting with skin and body nourishing goodness! Go you!

Next post: Recipes! Don’t worry, they’re super easy.