Hi, I’m Sophie Uliano, and I’m here with my great friend, Finola Hughes. “Hello.” And, I’m going to show you in this series how to make your own skin care and healthcare products at home out of very simple ingredients. And today, Finola, I’m going to show you how to make mouthwash. “Do I need some?” This is actually for bad breath. “Oh, it is?” Yes, and it’s antibacterial as well. But, here’s the thing with mouthwash. The reason why I don’t like to buy commercial mouthwash is they often contain really toxic ingredients. “That’s crazy, isn’t it? I mean, you’re putting it inside your body.” Yes. Well, in your mouth. And they contain a lot of alcohol, and then what you gargle and spit out goes down the sink. And remember, it’s toxic. And the other thing is they’re real expensive. So, this costs next to nothing, it’s a fraction of the price, and it’s really easy to make. I love it, as does every member of my family. So, all you need is, I suggest hanging on to an old mouthwash bottle, because that’s one of the best things to store it in. Or not, it’s ecological, you can find another bottle. So, you’re going to start off with distilled water. So, it’s distilled, not regular water. “We’ve got half a cup.” You’re going to put half a cup in. Get yourself a funnel, a funnel is so incredibly useful, funnel-y useful for all of these recipes. “Ok, so this is half a cup of distilled water.” Yes. “Now, why is it distilled and not just regular water?” Because you want distilled water, it lasts a lot longer. It’s what you’re going to use in virtually all your skin care and your home care recipes. “Good to know.” Now, the next thing you’re putting in is one cup of aloe vera. Now, aloe vera juice, what I use for so many different things, and I buy when I can a big gallon-size. This, you can actually get from Trader Joe’s. “Ok, great.” And, it is phenomenal. You can drink it, it’s completely safe. “It’s really good for your intestines.” It’s great for digestion, it’s great as a gargle and perfect for a mouthwash. “Alright, so we’ve got a cup here?” One cup. So, half a cup of distilled water, one cup of aloe vera juice. So, the other thing that I do is with my recipes, because I like to have very quickly at hand—“She’s very organized.”—very organized. So, I write things on little post-it notes. But here’s the thing, for the green girl, is that these are post-it green, so they are made out of recycled paper. “Ah, that’s genius. Well done, Post-It.” So you can have your cake and eat it, too. Well done, Post-It. So, here we go, the next thing that we’re going to put in is two tablespoons of baking soda. Regular Arm & Hammer is the brand I like. Arm & Hammer baking soda. “We’re going to get that down the funnel, are we?” You’re going to get it down the funnel. This actually needs a little bit of manipulation—“Shakey, shaky.”—to get it all in there. Don’t worry too much about shaking that, because the next ingredient that’s going in is one tablespoon of witch-hazel, that you can get from any drug store, and it’s really inexpensive. “I love the smell, too.” And then, you might have to give that just a little bit of a shake, just to get all that down there. And then, finally, the last ingredient to go in is peppermint essential oil, which is phenomenal. It tastes good, which is why it’s in toothpastes and mouthwashes traditionally. And, it’s also antibacterial. That’s perfect. Now then, 20 drops of pepper mint oil, in they go. It’s completely non-toxic, you could swallow it and you’d be absolutely fine. Shake it up. I keep it in the fridge, actually, because I love it when it’s so cold. And that’s it, there you go. Now, you’re going to try it, Finola. So, we’ll pour a little bit into here for you. “Smells good.” And you really got to give it a good swill around. “It’s great. It tastes yummy.” And it leaves your mouth very fresh. So, there you are, for a fraction of the price, you can make your own with very inexpensive ingredients. So, remember, instead of buying all those toxic, expensive products from the store, remember each time you can do it gorgeously.
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