Toiletries

The obvious ones don't need going over - toothbrush, toothpase, floss, nail clippers, tweezers, face cloth.

Strategy:

My overall approach to many things in life is "optimization". This has elements of minimalism, but that isn't strictly the goal. I also try to figure out ways to live life that require minimal time and effort and have the lowest cognitive load. I also try to be environmentally friendly to a degree, and also use low-cost solutions.

You'll see a lot of the same benefits with my approach to toiletries as with my "ideal meal". Not only the ones above, but also I use the fewest ingredients possible, and have a system that requires the least amount of shopping, which also results in the least amount of waste (not as many chemicals going down the drain and not as much packaging being thrown away). I can also buy in bulk so that I'm using less packaging (or in the case of the deodorant crystal - it doesn't look like much but it lasts over a year!) This system also makes it easy to pack when I'm traveling (in fact, I always have a month's worth of toiletries in my everday backpack). And because I mostly use natural, low-ingredient products, I feel this is pretty healthy as well!

Hair and Beard:
The main "life hack" is buzzing my hair and keeping a short beard. I've been doing this since I was in my late 20s and it is SO much easier.

With my hair short I don't have to worry about any products or tools. I have no specialized shampoo or conditioner, no comb, brush, gel, hair spray, blowdryer, etc. I don't worry about bed head, hat hair, helmet hair, etc. People ask if my head is cold in the winter, but it's actually warmer because I can use warm hats and toques, which I didn't used to do because it messed up my hair. My hair is almost completely dry with a towel-off and I spend zero time styling it. If I shaved my head that is something I'd have to do regularly.

With the beard and hair trimmer I just do my hair and a more thorough job on my beard about every 2 - 3 weeks (this takes literally 10 min to do a thorough job - I've timed it). For maintaining my beard - every few days I remove the guard and trim my neck up to my jaw line, as close to the skin as I can get it (never smooth, but with a beard it doesn't really matter I don't think) and trim back my moustache from my upper lip. I also trim any flyaways from my beard. No beard products, no beard comb or brush, no razor or shaving cream or aftershave or styptic pencil.

Deodorant crystal:
These last a year or more, and leave absolutely no trace on your skin. It's like rubbing a very smooth, wet stone on your armpits. It totally doesn't seem like anything but water has come off on your skin (you apply it to wet armpits, or wet the crystal before using it), but as long as you apply it thoroughly (for around 15 seconds per pit) you don't stink. That's the only way you know it's there. There's literally zero residue and no scent.

The crystals have one ingredient only: Potassium alum (potassium aluminum sulfate). It is a much larger chemical than what's normally used in most deodorants (aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium). The size of the molecule means it can't penetrate the skin (there is a concern by some that the smaller aluminum molecules in commercial deodorants can lead to absorption). It is a deodorant only, it is not an antiperspirant. As such, it doesn't block pores and allows skin to "breathe" naturally. It just inhibits bacterial growth on the skin. If you sweat a lot and want an antiperspirant, this will not work for you.

Body Wash:
The body wash I use is just liquid castile soap (pronounced "kah steel") mixed with vegetable glycerine, honey, and a small amount of jojoba oil. I mix this myself and use no scents. (recipe at the end - scroll down)

Castile usually comes in a bar, but I prefer a liquid - I can easily make my own body wash blend (just dump in ingredients and shake), and it's easier to get exactly as much as I want with a liquid, it's easier to wash off, and it doesn't get nasty after a while like a bar of soap does. I can also buy it by the jug.

Castile soap is made from three ingredients - plant oil (mine is pure olive oil), water, and an alkali (potassium hydroxide in the case of liquid castile). The alkali reacts with the oil in a process called "saponification" - turning it into salts of fatty acids (sounds yummy but it's not) and glycerine.

I add extra glycerine as a thickener and humectant (it's moisturizing - castile can feel drying and literally "squeaky clean" when used on its own). And the honey I add as a do-all antimicrobial, humectant, antioxidant, it soothes skin and minor irritations, and it helps create lather/foam.

Jojoba has antioxidant properties that helps keep the soap from going rancid, it's lathery, and it is very close to the natural sebum oils on human skin, so it is soothing but non-greasy (it's actually a liquid wax, not an oil).

I use this for my face and head as well. Since I buzz my hair short, I don't exactly need extra bounce, extra shine, full-body shampoo and conditioner.


I feel like this is a pretty optimized set-up. In Buddhism they talk about "requisites", which are the bare necessities for living that monks are allowed to possess. I feel this approach to grooming is pretty close to the minimum needed for health and looking/smelling presentable and "normal" in public. It's also the lowest-effort/least mental effort to accomplish these goals.

Soap Recipe:
The recipes for the soap are quite varried in the recommended ratios of each ingredient. For example, starting with a cup of liquid castile, you could add anywhere from 1 tbsp to 1/4 cup of liquid honey and vegetable glycerine (each), and anywhere from 1 - 3 tbsp of jojoba oil. Just try it out and see what you like, basically.

I tend to use the minimum amount of additives because I find this cleans best, but it is a touch on the "squeaky" side - a bit more honey and/or vegetable glycerine would help with this if you don't like that. The vegetable glycerine tends to make it thicker, but honey, for some reason, tends to make it a bit runnier I find. You can experiment by just taking a small amount of castile and adding each ingredient a small amount at a time and testing to find what you like. If you want to add a few drops of your favourite essential oil you can do that, too.

Once you find the ratio of each ingredient you like and you've done it a few times, it's pretty easy to eyeball it as you're filling your bottle, then just pop the lid on and give it a shake - done!