Author Michael Dejong

“If you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t stick it on your body.” Wise words from Michael DeJong, author of Clean Body, a new book that outlines Michael’s all-natural, personal-care system that’s good for your skin, good for the earth, and (best of all?) good for your wallet.

It all comes down to “Zen-Cleansing.”

Let’s back up a moment. To understand zen-cleansing, Michael is spreading the word that commercial personal-care products are made with chemicals — chemicals that aren’t good for the environment and (back to the above paragraph) shouldn’t be ingested. When you wash your hair with shampoo containing chemicals that “improve” your hair and then rinse, those chemicals get washed down the drain. Out of sight, out of mind.

Where are those chemicals going?

Zen-cleansing is mindfulness: considering the ramifications of what you do everyday. Mindful of where your packaging goes, and mindful of where the content goes when it goes down the drain. Every action you take, stop and consider it. Be mindful of the environment and your impact on it. Be mindful of your body and what you are putting on it. Be mindful with your money and what you spend it on — what your money is supporting.  Zen-cleansing is all about being mindful of every action and every ramification: ecological, personal, and financial.

So with zen-cleansing (and his own sensitive skin) in mind, Michael set out to create recipes from five NATURAL household items to replace his chemical ridden shower set:

(Drum roll please…)

Baking Soda, Lemon, Olive Oil, Salt, and White Vinegar

Michael researched and chose each for their useful properties on skin. He put the ingredients to vigorous testing on himself — body part by sensitive body part.

The ingredients come back to not only what is safe (again, for you and for the environment), but also what’s in your pantry already. Each one can pretty much be found in homes across the U.S. So you don’t have to run to the drug store every time you run out of Herbal Essences — just wrap a towel around yourself (optional) and visit your kitchen.

Try it Yourself

Michael’s favorite recipe: Citrus Derma Dip

• 3 cups salt
• 2 lemons, thinly sliced and rolled in the salt
• 4-6 drops of olive oil

Marinate for 15-20 min. – it breaks up the fruit and releases goodness.  Fill your tub with warm water and sit in the concoction for 45 min. It soothes any irritations on your skin. The acidity of the lemons softens calluses so they easily pumice off. Lock the door and relax!

Michael’s most surprising find:

Cut a lemon in half, and rub on elbows and feet. It actually brightens your skin. The acidity bleaches; it lightens liver spots and scars. If you chew on the lemon rinds, it whitens your teeth. When Michael was researching it, he thought, “This will NEVER work.”  But Michael emphatically assured me – it does!

Clean Body is available April 26, at Amazon.com.

Photo Credits: Cover image – Lynne Lancaster; Upper right -David Herrenbruck; sink – Stock Xchange; Lemons – Feikje Meeuwsen