I'm super lucky to say that my husband, James, is going along with my zero-waste household initiative. He recently has called me a hippie for all these changes, but I don't mind. Perhaps I am a hippie! It's taken a few months to go through what we currently had for James's care routine, but I now have transitioned everything to where I can write a solid blog post about it! Gentlemen, take notes, and ladies who do their man's shopping, jot this down.
SAFETY RAZOR: After we went through his last disposable razor (and giving the rest to a homeless shelter), I bought James his first manly-man razor. It's the kind of razor that your grandpa used to shave with! This safety razor is from a company called Albatross, and the cool thing about them is that they will take back your razor blades for recycling.
The weight of the razor is much heavier than the disposable ones we are
all used to, and it will take a small learning curve to figure out how
to shave again. You let the weight of the razor gently glide down your skin, you do not apply much pressure at all. James came to me with a cut up face the first time, but after the third or fourth time he got the hang of it, and we assume it might have also been the new razor blade.
SHAVING CREAM: guess what? You don't need shaving cream!! I bought a local homemade soap bar that I thought smelled nice, and James uses it for his shaving needs. So far it's worked perfectly!
DEODORANT:
I have read quite a few tutorials on how to make your own deodorant.
The biggest problem I had with them is that it required ingredients that
I couldn't purchase zero-waste, such as shea butter and arrow root
powder. I did find a recipe with Coconut oil in it, and I have been told
that coconut oil could leave grease marks, but so far it hasn't for my
man. He also has not been complaining about it, and he leaves smelling
great, so let me tell you the zero-waste recipe I found works well for
him:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons baking soda
10 drops essential oil (I used lemon grass)
In
a small jar combine the ingredients, and use a chopstick to mix
together. I felt that I needed to melt the coconut oil first in order to
effectively combine it all together, so I put the jar with the closed
lid in some hot water in a bowl, and the oil melted so I could mix. You
can also melt the coconut oil before hand in a microwave. When finished
mixing, place in the refrigerator for the oil to harden back up. Tada!
Deodorant!
SHAMPOO: We found this shampoo bar from a local Connecticut woman on Etsy. I originally bought this bar so that our whole family could use it, and I liked the ingredients that she used. But when we first got the bar, found that it had a very manly smell, and it didn't smell like something I would want to use. I have since gotten used to the smell, and James uses it on his own hair. I can say confidently that I was right about the great ingredients in this bar. This really leaves hair feeling clean and nourished. James smells great when he gets out of the shower, so this is a bar that I suggest would be perfect for men. You may love the smell of the essential oil combination she puts in, as smells are a personal taste. She has other bars too you can try, or you can ask her to make a bar without the essential oil (I am going to try asking that next). I say give it a try! Just be sure to ask that she ship her soap without plastic.
That's it! Wow, that was so easy, wasn't it? James is completely zero-waste now in his personal care routine! He was much easier to transition than me, I still am working through finishing my own products from before my zero-waste change. I hope that this will inspire some of you to ditch the disposables, and opt for some fun, cost effective, and environmentally loving alternatives. The planet thanks you!
Cheers!
Laura
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