For years now, I've bought only all-natural personal care products. The reason for this is that I believe that natural ingredients are better for your body, and I desire to avoid the unpleasant and possibly harmful chemicals in most commercial products.

Deodorant was my last hold-out, until two years ago when I switched to natural. Gross, yes, and I've probably freaked out all two of you who read this blog. Fortunately many of the people who read it are at a solid geographical distance from me and have nothing to worry about.

However, more recently I've begun to experiment with making my own natural personal care products. There are several reasons for this.

One, natural products can be quite expensive. Specialty creams, lotions, soaps and shampoos often come at a hefty price.

Secondly, making your own products allows you to completely customize what you put into them and to experiment with ingredients and proportions in a way you can't if you buy ready-made stuff.

Thirdly, and perhaps most compellingly for me, is the satisfaction you get from making things yourself. There's a real pride of accomplishment that comes from crafting something from simple ingredients that most people assume you have to buy. I love discovering and formulating new mixtures that mean I don't have to rely on someone else for that item.

At the real risk of freaking out any of my friends and acquaintances who read or happen upon this blog, I'm going to post a series of recipes for the things that I've made and found to work. Hopefully somebody out there may find them useful.