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Blog: Salt for Grooming (January 14, 2015)Yes, this is not exactly a skin care topic, but it is close. And as I've been talking this up with my friends for some time, now they want details. Grooming uses of natural salt. (1) Deodorant, (2) tooth powder, and (3) hair volumizer. For the deodorant, I use 2–3 drops of sole (a salt-and-water solution described below, pronounced "so-lay") as needed, usually in the morning and before going to bed, applied to the armpits with fingertips; this quantity is sufficient for hair-free skin, people who do not shave their armpits (guys!) may need more. For tooth powder, I combine equal quantities of a finely ground natural sea salt with a montmorillonite clay. For the hair volumizer, sprinkle 2–3 drops sole into palm of one hand, slide hands together to distribute the sole, then squeeze it into your hair. Use more as desired. How they work. Salt is a natural bactericide and antiseptic. Applied to armpit skin, it kills the bacteria that cause underarm odor. The liquid form is easiest to apply to skin. The powdered form is easiest to apply on a tooth brush and scrub the teeth and gums. Clay, especially montmorillonite clay, is effective at drawing out impurities and healing abraded tissues. It lifts off dulling film, removes mouth odors naturally, and acts as a gum stimulant. It has a fine grit that combines well with dry salt for a tooth powder. I also use a sole to heal gum infections: I slosh it around in my mouth, undiluted, with special attention to the infected gums, hourly. In my experience, the infection is gone in less than a week. Not any salt. Natural salt is NOT common table salt. Morton table salt contains sodium chloride, calcium silicate, dextrose (sugar), and potassium iodide. Table salt is an industrial product; pure sodium chloride is actually a poison. Natural salt contains all the elements of which the human body is comprised. Natural salt is obtained from sea water and from solid mineral deposits—rock salt—which are themselves fossilized sea water; in the former case the water is evaporated leaving the salt, in the second case the solid salt is dug from the ground. Technically all salt is "sea salt," however natural sea salt is salt that has been manually harvested from sea water, dried only by sun and wind, retains natural moisture, and is not refined or combined with additives. An area that has for many centuries produced natural sea salt is the Atlantic sea coast of Brittany, a traditional Celtic nation employing traditional Celtic methods of harvesting sea salt. Use caution in buying sea salt: Most salt labeled as "sea salt" is an industrial product, it has been dried with mechanically-applied heat and refined. I buy Celtic Sea Salt brand salt from Selina Naturally. Sole. At its simplest, this is water with salt dissolved in it. More specifically, it is water that is saturated with salt, that is the water cannot dissolve any more salt. A sole is 26% salt. Interestingly, sole is neither water nor salt, but a higher energetic dimension than either the water or the salt alone. Making a sole. Place enough natural salt pieces (salt is available in different grains from fine to stones)—you can use natural sea salt or pink Himalayan crystal salt—in a glass jar with a lid of glass or plastic (but not metal) to about one-fifth the volume or about one inch in depth; choose a glass jar with a capacity between 16 and 32 ounces. Cover the salt to within one inch of the top of the jar with artesian spring water, water filtered by reverse osmosis, or distilled water; avoid chlorinated and fluoridated water. Check after about 24 hours to see if the salt pieces have dissolved. If they have, add more. Repeat until the salt pieces no longer dissolve and some remain at the bottom of the jar. (The greater the capacity of the jar and the larger the salt pieces, the longer this will take.) The presence of salt crystals at the bottom of the jar is your assurance that the water is saturated. When you need more sole, you can either add more salt and water to this jar, or begin a new sole in a second jar. Did you know that what is marketed as Himalayan crystal salt is pink rock salt from the Salt Range in Pakistan, a location that is nowhere near the Himalayan Range? I've taken to calling it Pretty Pink Pakistani Rock Salt. |
