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Natural products

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k2peeps
  4/26/2015 21:52 EST

In order to stay away from as many chemicals as possible, I make most of my family's cleaning and personal care products (everything from dish soap and laundry detergent to toothpaste and deodorant). Unfortunately, this means that we won't just need to switch from Crest, Pantene, and Dawn (etc.) to locally produced products.

Can anyone tell me if the ingredients I use are available (readily, or even at all) in Uruguay? (While we plan to stay in smaller towns, I have no issues going into a bigger city every so often if that's where they sell what we need.)

...I'm assuming that using Amazon.com isn't a viable option...?

Specifically:
-coconut oil
-baking soda
-essential oils (like lavender, chamomile, tea tree, and oregano)
-apple cider vinegar

Thank you in advance for any information you might be able to provide.

Heather

edykizaki
  4/27/2015 06:20 EST

-coconut oil
I buy the jar of white stuff (hard) at the health food store
-baking soda
I bring the non aluminum one from US but get some at health food store... expensive... don't know if it has aluminum
-essential oils (like lavender, chamomile, tea tree, and oregano)
have been working with my health food store lady to get tea tree oil, will ask about the others
-apple cider vinegar
no problem, they have it

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crazyfarmer
  4/27/2015 12:39 EST

Hi Heather. My wife makes her own laundry detergent, soaps, and lotion also.

We get coconut oil from Tienda Inglesa. Geant probably has it sometimes also.

Baking soda (bicarbonato de sodio), we get this at Drogueria Paysandu near the port in montevideo. We also get parafin and borax there, although you might have to go across the street to Drogueria Montevideo to get a different grade or pricing.

Essential oils, not so sure. My wife makes some of her oils, like a lemon peel oil extract for her soaps. If you find a source for this stuff, please let me know.

Apple cider vinegar - I think we saw this one at Geant.

We also recently bought bees wax from a guy named Marcos Levy. He appears to be able to get all kinds of things. His email address is [email protected] He speaks english.

brian

k2peeps
  4/27/2015 13:27 EST

edykizaki,

Thank you!

Tea tree is definitely the most important one of the bunch (lavender being 2nd). What is the name of the health food store you're in talks with? I'll add it to my resource list for when we come down (hopefully, your efforts will have paid off by the time we make the move). ;o)

Would love to find some Thieves oil, too, but as that is a specialized blend, I'm thinking that one will be the one I try to bring in w/ us in our suitcases.

Heather

k2peeps
  4/27/2015 13:40 EST

Brian,

Glad to hear I'm not going to be the only hippie down there. ;o)

I had forgotten about the borax, so I'm glad you mentioned it (and that it's available).

edykizaki (above) is trying to get some essential oils brought in...maybe we can tip the supply and demand scales with our interest.

Thank you for the contact info for Marcos - I will see what sort of things he sells. I don't mind "going native" for most things when we move, but I'm really sensitive to chemicals (especially fragrances), so any resources that allow me to control that are very much appreciated.

Heather

Morell
  4/27/2015 15:21 EST

Maybe try these folk? They are in Punta del Este

Swiss Just. They sell essential oils I believe.

http://www.puntaweb.com/cgi-bin/listados/item.pl?canal=empresas&id=271

People say you can get most things here, you just need to know where to look.

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k2peeps
  4/27/2015 15:35 EST

Morell,

I'm gonna have to brush up on my Spanish before I get very far w/ those two things, but I will definitely save them as resources for when I am able to understand the websites better.

Thanks!
Heather

crazyfarmer
  4/27/2015 18:56 EST

In my experience the soaps and detergents here have even stronger perfumes and are more likely to irritate the skin than those in the US.

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