Dry Brush:

The skin is your body’s largest organ.  It is an eliminative organ.  If you have dead skin cells clogging up the surface, you won’t be able to sweat out the bad stuff.  I’ve known about the importance of dry brushing before showers for years, but stopped doing it mostly because my skin felt too dry afterwards.  Good soap and natural moisturizers (see below) cured this for me.  This is one ritual where you genuinely feel the difference.  It’s very energizing.  You’ll start to crave it if you get in the habit.  Here are some tips on selecting a brush.

Dr. Bronner Soap:

I wrote a short blog post about my favorite shower soap here.  What’s important is to find a soap you like that doesn’t contain a lot of funny chemicals, and that doesn’t leave your skin too dry.  It pays to read ingredient lists!

Sesame Oil:

A nice, natural moisturizer to use if your skin feels dry after showers.  I think sesame oil has been a skin care / health care staple in India for a long time - I’ve heard it recommended by multiple Ayurvedic sources, including Elemental Embrace, where I spent a week in August 2007.  Youthing Strategies is a really nice brand.  Care to compare to the ingredients in Vaseline moisturizers?

Jojoba Oil:

Not as rich as sesame oil, I like to use this brand of refined (clear in color) jojoba on my face.

Towel Heater:

This Brookstone model makes getting out of the shower a lot more pleasant.  “Towels go from damp to wonderful.”  What more do you need to know?

Toothpaste:

Even on my favorite tube of toothpaste - Arm & Hammer - there is a warning that says “If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.”  Am I supposed to feel good about this?  I’m confident that it’s impossible to brush one’s teeth without swallowing a little toothpaste.  If swallowing a lot means calling poison control, why do I want to swallow a little?  Other ideas:

1. -Weleda Salt Toothpaste: you have to get used to the fact that there is no foam.  Most toothpastes add foaming agents because people associate foam with cleaning, but I’ve always found “foamy mouth” annoying.  Also I’m not sure Weleda does a great job of whitening.  I kind of alternate this toothpaste on and off as a result.  No poison control warning (yay!).
   

2. -Tom’s of Maine: people crapped on Tom’s because they are supposed to be a health-conscious company (which is why Colgate snapped them up), but they kept a purported cancer-causing ingredient - Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, or SLS - in their toothpaste.  Amusingly, they now have an SLS-free line, which is probably the way to go (but it still has the poison control warning).
   

Tongue Scraper:

I think a lot of people wake up with a thin coating of gunk on their tongue in the morning.  Is this stuff waste that your body is trying to eliminate, or is it just a harmless source of bad breath?    I don’t know.  Either way a tongue scraper is an improvement over the toothbrush when it comes to tongue hygene.  Important to do before your brush vs. after.

Listerine Whitening Strips:

These are so much easier to use than Crest Whitestrips: they don’t slide around, they don’t irritate your gums, and you don’t have to use a timer.  Walgreen’s sells them for $27; I saw them at Costco for $13.  Yes they contain a bunch of chemicals I can’t pronounce but you only need to use them for a couple weeks at a time and I don’t think the hippies have come up with a comparable natural product!  Update: Listerine Whitening Pre-Brush Rinse is even easier to use than the white strips (although some people feel it burns the inside of their mouths).

Laundry Detergent:

I’m sticking with Arm & Hammer.  It’s cheaper than Tide.  I like the one that’s perfume and dye free.  After using this for a while, the idea of your clothes smelling like a chemically-replicated spring meadow becomes weird!