Hair Products ands Tips

Ok as much as I like to save money making beauty products, sometimes, I'm tired of it, I'll admit it, some things really aren't that bad to make, others take longer... like when I was looking up how to make my own hairspray.... too long, no thanks.  I really like this product, as usual I get it off iherb.  They really should pay me for these plugs but my audience isn't that big so oh well....


Andalou Naturals, Hair Spray, Perfect Hold, Sunflower & Citrus,

 

I hadn't used hairspray for a really long time because of the chemicals and sometimes, my hair does need it.  I love this, it smells great, decent ingredients and has great hold if you ask me. Unless you're looking for Aqua Net...;)  I have been using Andalou Naturals, Styling Cream, Sweet Orange & Argan for a long time.  I may try the hair gel next.  All these smell really good, as does the shower gel that I just got not long ago, and the conditioner.  Though I don't think I can afford to keep getting the shampoo or conditioner.  I checked out these ingredients once upon a time and they were ok.

Another hair tip.  Soft water.  We got our old one going again and I hated my hair a whole lot less. ;)  It seems to get cleaner, softer and is easy to comb out.  I noticed a difference in the kids hair too.  If you don't have soft water and hate your hair.. I do believe they sell shower heads that soften your water.  And never under estimate the power of getting your ends trimmed.  I still can't tell you I have found the perfect shampoo, price, ingredients and performance as I struggle with scalp build up issues.  I just have to spend a lot of detailed scrubbing time when I wash.  At this point I use Nature's Gate which is what I consider a lesser evil but not perfect in ingredients, it was it has fragrance but it's phalate free fragrance.  I would rather it be all out NATURAL fragrance.  And speaking of making crap, I DID make some hair serum that I am pleased with actually.

Hair Serum Recipe:

2 tbsp. Aloe vera gel ( the kind you can eat)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

2 tbsp. almond oil

a few drops of peppermint oil and rosemary.

  Shake each time and use sparingly and not too far up towards the roots, you can use on wet or dry hair.  I mix it with my styling cream sometimes too.   AND  I have in the past few days started using some on my face since it's been such a dry winter... so far so good but I am not to the point where I would say forsure put it on your face!!  But it's something you wouldn't need to rinse off your hands and if you have some irritated itchy skin, it works pretty darn well.






Natural Face Products

Here are some products that I get off iherb that I wanted to throw out there.  First off is a moisturizer I got for my mom, who has had rosacea in the past, and was using almond oil for her skin, but it just wasn't cutting it for her this winter.  After one night of using this, her face felt much better and very soft. Ingredients: Olive (Olea europaea) Fruit Oil*, Beeswax (cera alba)*, New Zealand Manuka Honey, Bee Pollen Extract, Royal Jelly, Bee Propolis Extract, Glycerin (Plant-Derived), Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Tocopherol (Non-GMO).



 Also if you're looking for a great alternative to Burts Bee's 2.99 lip balm. Sierra Bees, Organic Unflavored Beeswax Lip Balm   This brand is great for less than a buck.  They have many other scents that are naturally scented if you prefer.

Another all time fave of mine that I started using often at night, after toning and before using oil as a moisturizer, is Reviva Labs, 10% Glycolic Acid Cream.  I used it years ago and came back to it for quite a few nights a week, the ingredients are simple and glycolic acid exfoliates.  It can be irritating as you're getting used to it.  They have a 5% version too.

And here is one more. Abra Therapeutics, Alpha Enzyme Peel If you are looking for a glycolic peel to try, this was one is nice and all natural, 6% glycolic acid. It doesn't take much, just a thin layer.  I did try leaving it on all night, but my face got irritated and little itchy in places.  The jar says 15-30 mins I think. I use this about once a week,  leave it on for a couple hours, then rinse it off with a wet washcloth, skip toner and moisturize as usual.  ( it makes my skin feel very soft) I do NOT use my glycolic cream after this, I do my Mychelle Serum, or if I do this in the day, I do my daytime moisturizers, my almond oil mix ( essential oils added) then spf moisturizer which I have blogged about previously.  Check the labels if you're interested in that.


*and in case you were wondering, no, I don't get paid to endorse any product and I had to pay for the products.  I just spend way too much time researching and shopping around reading ingredient lists and reviews and pass along my opinions and faves to you.

Greener Cleaning

One of the last things to go for me was my blessed Comet Bathroom spray.  Nothing could compare to it's cleaning abilities, or so I thought.

This is going to be a hopefully a not too fancy, not pinterest worthy, no pic post.  Most of them are. ;)

What I have in every bathroom:

Spray bottle with half vinegar half water.  I like to keep them in the shower to spray a little afterwards too.  Vinegar is antifungal and combats mold and hard water and odors.  Don't like the vinegar smell??  Well you get used to it, really, and it fades away to nothing once it dries.  And let me tell you, you won't build up toxic fumes that weaken lungs and immune systems in your home.  You can even add some antibacterial and or antiviral essential oils, like clove, grapefruit, lemon, tea tree, the list in endless (and some essential oils are very affordable, to your spray bottle).  The bottle I have with essential oils I under the sink to protect it from light.

Washing soda and/or baking soda.  I recentely saved the lid of a shaker of parmasean cheese and put it on an old mason jar with a half and half mix of baking soda AND washing soda,  it works amazingly well at grime!!  AND natural!! No more pausing to hack up a lung and open a window while I clean.  And no lingering toxins.

Windows:

Half vinegar half water.  Old hand towel.  You will think at first, THIS isn't working!! But it does it really does, as good or better than windex.  Just don't get your cloth overly damp.

"Armorall" for vehicles:  A little water, a drop of dishsoap, and a little olive oil.

Cleaning and shining up your wood table( mine gets a water film and this brings it back to rich shiney life):  Half vinegar/half sunflower oil.  Olive oil is fine too.  Wipe with the wood grain.  Test a small area first just to be safe.

Hand soap:  this I have been doing for 5 years now, and it's so easy and doesn't dry out your hands and you are avoiding all that junk we talked about in the hand sanitizer post.  You will need a foaming hand wash dispenser and castile soap.  I do about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch in the bottle with castile soap then fill up the rest with water, shake and voila!  As you can see, I avoid exact measurements at all costs if I can, it wastes my time. ;)  You could also add germ killing essential oils if you prefer. 

*A note on Tea Tree oil:  I have read not to let boys use it as it can disrupt their hormones.  So for something that the whole family is using often throughout the day, you can choose from many other essential oils.

Laundry:  I have gone back and forth with making my own with kirks unscented castile soap and using ALL free and clear.  The best homemade I ever made was with the borax, washing soda and Dr. Bronners bar of soap.  But that wasn't cost effective enough for me.  And darn it, it takes TIME when you make your own stuff.  I have practically eliminated fabric softener.  1/4 cup vinegar in the rinse.  I have also read that if you dry on a lower setting, it doesn't get so staticy.  Sometimes if I have a load that's real bad in the winter. I'll use a sheet of unscented.

Ok, that's all I can think of at the moment. 

A documentary if you have the time.

Laundering Your OCM Washclothes

Once again, story of my life blogging, I've been meaning to post this for a while and blah blah blah.  So if you do OCM cleansing you have probably discovered how the oil can build up in your washclothes and start repelling water like a duck's back.  I had searched online and hadn't found any good advice on this, so I had to trial and error it on my own. 

What I did that finally worked for me:

Whatever towel load you usually wash the clothes in, start with just the washclothes on your longest sturdy washing cycle, small load, HOT water.  I use All free and clear detergent ( yes I know, not homemade but I keep coming back to this...) use what you would for a full load especially if this is your first time getting the oil build up out, you may then be able to decrease the amount you use once you are getting them properly clean everytime and also depending on how soft your water is.

Use about a half cup of Washing Soda< not to be confused with Baking Soda, they are NOT the same, but it is natural.  I had been using oxyclean free, but I discovered that not only did this work better, it was cheaper too.  I didn't measure, I dumped some in and I''m guessing I did about that much. ;)  It's an excellent degreaser and it works wonders dry on a damp sponge to get that brown dirt, oil goo build up off your washer tub.  And the ring around your bathtub.

Put about 1/4 cup of white vinegar in the softener dispenser.

I then start the timer for 9 minutes and let the washer clean the crap out of washclothes.  When the timer beeps, I move the water setting to warm, and load size to a full size and then put in the rest of my towels and launder as normal.  The cycle on my washer still has another 10 minutes or so, so the towels didn't miss regular clean time. 

Aw yes, I get my washing soda at Walmart.

Homemade All Natural Hand Sanitizer

 Sick season is upon us, well it's upon our family ALL freaking year long- anyway,  homemade hand sanitizer it is!!  First of all why not just use the crap alcohol gel at the store, read this from  The Holistic Mama:


"They are harmful to the Environment. Most anti-bacterial products contain Triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria. Some scientists are calling for the removal of triclosan from consumer products because it is building up in the ocean’s food web. One-third of the bottle nose dolphins tested off South Carolina and almost one-quarter of those tested off Florida carried traces of triclosan in their blood. The concentrations found in the dolphins are known to disrupt the hormones and growth and development of other animals. Studies in bullfrogs found that triclosan disrupts the endocrine system – blocking the tadpoles’ development into frogs at concentrations found in the environment. In addition, a 2008 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention three-quarters of people tested in the United States had triclosan in their urine. A substance that can cause hormone disruption and growth problems isn’t something we want in the human body, or in animals for that matter.

They are damaging to your immune system. Hand sanitizers kill bacteria on your hands. The problem is that there are good bacteria and bad bacteria and the sanitizers aren’t selective. Some bacteria may be the cause of getting us sick but other bacteria actually protect our immune system. 
Killing off the friendly bacteria can damage our natural defenses against other infections. We definitely don’t want to kill off that bacteria. In regards to the bad bacteria, or the ones that can cause sicknesses, it’s not certain that its in our best interest to kill them either. There is considerable evidence that some exposure to bacteria in the environment is actually beneficial because it helps the immune system develop. Some studies have shown an increase in allergies and asthma in people who were raised in an overly sterile environment. Mothers are always trying to keep their kids away from germs but some exposure is not bad. That’s not saying that kids shouldn’t wash their hands but using a harsh hand sanitizer even a few times a day probably isn’t helping a child’s immune system.

They might cause superbugs. In some countries, like Canada, the use of anti-bacterial products are not recommended because of resistance. Resistance is already a problem with antibiotics because they have been overused. Triclosan is thought to cause a similar resistance especially because it is very widely used. The concept is easy to understand. If a product doesn’t kill all the germs, it’s the susceptible ones that get killed first, leaving the hardier ones behind. These can multiply and eventually outnumber the susceptible bugs."

Let me say first thing , that Clove Oil is my new favorite essential oil. " Clove essential oil killed more than 60 types of bacterial strains, 15 strains of fungi plus several viruses (Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2004)" And like I say, that's just scratching the surface of it's uses, I have a friend that used it for her baby's teething and it gave him relief!!  And it smells spicey good.  I even put it vinegar water spray to kill a puke virus in our house and it stayed to only 2 out of the 5 of us, thank You Lord!!  It's also a very warming oil.  When I was coming down with a cold a couple weeks ago, I took my vitamins, zinc, caprylica acid, etc etc.. I also put some of this on my wrists and breathed it in a few times in the day, the cold never got a chance to really materialize and fizzled out... so placebo, who knows, but I'll try it the next time I'm fighting off something.  I read if you put some on your skin it does get in your system.
Recipe:
 
You will need a 4 oz spray bottle, ideally, glass and amber or blue to preserve the integrity of the essential oils and protect them from light.

-Water

-2 tsp Aloe vera gel, the real kind you can eat.

30 drops of essential oils that are anti bacterial/ anti viral  I would be careful about using tea tree oil on boys, I read it can disrupt their hormonal system.  You can use any combo  I believe I used eucalyptus, clove and grapefruit.

Put your aloe and oils in the sprayer, fill the rest of the way up with water and as my 3 year old would say " voila!"

*I use a 2 oz bottle so you can half the recipe for a 2 oz bottle for on the go.

All Natural, Alcohol free Citris Toner

My apologies for not having a smartphone for better pics and being too lazy to take pics with my camera and upload them, so this is better (maybe) than nothing...  so here I am, FINALLY posting my toner recipe.  The ingredients are simple.  I use a  4 oz bottle so I will post the recipes in "parts" vs. measurements.  It's water, lemon juice, from a freshly squeezed lemon, and Thayers Alcohol -Free Witch Hazel.  Oh yes and grapefruit essential oil.

- Lemon juice helps lighten dark spots and helps to cleanse and exfoliate the skin.  Do put on sunscreen as it can make you more sun sensitive.  Avoid your eyebrows... unless you're looking to lighen them. ;) I found that out this summer, nothing drastic but I could tell... oops. 

-Witch hazel helps to sooth the skin and reduce inflammation and is an astringent.

-Grapefruit essential oil unlike other citric oils this does not make you sun sensitive.  It is anti bacterial and anti fungal < a common cause of acne.  Just google it, essential oils have a wide array of uses.  I'm barely scratching the surface!  It will smell citrisy good!!

Recipe:

1/2 bottle with witch hazel

1/4 bottle with real just squeezed lemon juice. ( no big deal if seeds or pulp end up in there)

1/4 bottle with water

a few drops of grapefruit essential oil.

*if you find this is too strong for your skin, instead of a 1:1 ratio of water and lemon you can 2:1 ratio doubling the water and decreasing the lemon juice.

Shake before each use.  I love this and have been using it for I can't remember how many months now.  I won't go back...since over hauling my skin regimen, while a bumpy road... has been totally worth it. I don't think my skin has been clear since I was in the 6th grade!!

Some random thoughts on Skin issues.

I have been battling my skin since a teenager, I blogged about that previously.  But one thing that I think might actually be something worth noting is the candida(yeast) imbalance acne connection.  I am no stranger to yeast imbalance, aka my constant need to ward off my foot fungus, which I have made an all natural treatment for that, that is working better than anything else I've tryed and is chemical free.  I will post that hopefully soon.  Anyhow my point, overall my skin has been doing way better and I think part of it is the role of baking soda.  Baking soda is alkaline.  Let's talk PH balance for a minute, I'm no dr or expert, anyway the balance is between acidic or alkaline.  Yeast thrives in an acidic environment, we all have yeast on our skin and in our intestines, which isn't a problem, it's when the balance gets thrown off that the yeast overtakes.  A big part of helping the skin and immune system is maintain a healthy balance.  I have done so much research this summer because after mowing on a really humid day, I was so itchy from a sweat rash that I deemed candida because it would NOT go away after I cooled down for weeks.  So I tried to cut way down on sugar that feeds yeast, and take acidolpholis, caprylic acid, garlic oil, bentonite clay, aloe vera gel, apple cider vinegar.  Sound desperate? oh I WAS!!  I also made up aloe vera gel to put on myself with tea tree, and grapefruit oil.  At one point when it was disrupting my sleep, I ( and I quote my husband) went against everything I stand for and sprayed Tentactin on my back for a week.  I will still get a little itchy if I am out the humid heat for very long.... annoying.  But back to the point, from the inside out, yeast can be dealt with.  My body obviously wants to be acidic and yeasty.  ANYWAY back to this and acne.  I use baking soda on my face every night.  Sometimes, I have only been doing oil cleansing if I have makeup to remove but either way, I scrub my t zone with, only really scrub my nose and chin and smooth the baking soda all over my face and let it sit and wipe with a washcloths at the end of showering.  Anyway I am thinking it helps alkalize what I think is yeastyness that wants to thrive.  So random skin tip.  I have more... I just don't have the time to post them.

So coming up, someday,;) footfungus oil, face oil, astringent and the role of the all natural glycolic peel.

Citronella and Alcohol Free Bug Spray

Sorry for the low quality ugly pic on my ugly counter,  I should take pics on my table, I'm that lazy I guess.. but it gives a visual of the brands of products I used to make my own bug spray.  The skeetos, as my 3 year old calls them, have been bad this summer because of all the rain we have gotten.  I've looked over a couple bug spray recipes that I had pinned and ended up tweaking them and forming my own.  The field testing has been limited to just this weekend.  I sprayed my son who was getting bit and afterwards he said nothing was biting him.  And my husband who usually get attacked while mowing, said he was left alone except for one on his ankle at the very end of the long job of mowing and he said that's because he probably sweat it off.  Very humid.  So yes after a while of being outside if you are sweating it off you will want to reapply.  A lot of recipes call for citronella essential oil but I opted for other bug repelling oils as I read citronella can be cancer causing.  Didn't research it for myself it's just what I was reading as I was going over recipes online.  And there are so many anti bug oils to choose from it really wasn't a big deal.  I chose lemongrass, clove, peppermint, and eucalyptus oil, all around 5$ or so.  A sidenote, I believe clove is also an anti fungal, so if you're like me and struggled with ,what I self diagnosed myself with, candidal sweat rash this summer, you get that added benefit.  So here is the recipe, it makes 4 ounces and I used my old bug spray bottle, but in an ideal world, this would be better in a blue or amber glass spray bottle, because light deteriorates the essentials and essential oils can break down plastic.  So I keep it in the cabinet when we aren't using it.

Recipe:

2 TBS Witchhazel <alcohol free if you prefer.

1 TBS Aloe vera gel, the kind you can drink.

20 drops of Eucalyptus oil

10 drops Clove oil

10 drops Lemongrass oil

10 drops of Peppermint

Water.

I used my pirex cup so I could see the ounces,  I put in all the ingredients except the water, then filled the cup with water up to the 4 oz mark.  Shake before applying. ( I ordered all this from iherb)

Of course you can google all the different kinds of essential oils that repel bugs, these are what I landed on personally.

Tip: works for the 3 year old.  Bentonite clay for itchy bug bites.  (I keep a jar with clay mixed with enough water to make a mask-like consistency) 

I'm still here.

School is just around the corner and I plan to get back to blogging, not just for the sake of blogging but because my skin has been doing so good over all and I want to share about that. AND I made my own deodorant that WORKS!!  I've made my own toothepaste, astringent and foot fungus treatment.  All of which I am very happy with.  The toothepaste I may tweak to be a powder but really, I'm happy with it... and I'll be back. ;)

A Word About Phytic Acid

Click on the picture to read the whole article about why grains are a natural part of our diet but you should avoid wheat and gluten.  Two things I have yet to do.... and I do not believe evolution is correct at all.  With that said, this about phytic acid was interesting:

"Some arguments against grains lament the presence of phytic acid, something that is said to block the body’s ability to use zinc and calcium. Not only does some research show that phytic acid serves a purpose in the human body (it works as an antioxidant, helping to protect against heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases according to EarthSave), but once the grains are leavened, the phytic acid’s negative effects no longer apply.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, whole grain consumption “substantially lowers total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad) cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin levels.” That means a decreased risk of heart disease. The fiber triggers anticoagulant production which then prevents blood clots, and the antioxidants interfere with an interaction between LDL cholesterol and oxygen, an introduction that could contribute to the clogging of the arteries. In addition, Harvard points out that the fiber decreases the likelihood of experiencing constipation and helps sweep toxic residue out of the body"

No Poo I Think I Hate You

 Argh, I have to say it, one, blogger screwed me out of what I just typed grrrrr. And I also have to say, no pooing, it poo crapped on my hair. I hate it. Ever since I colored my hair I can't get it to breakdown the build up. I had to rewash my hair before I could go somewhere yesterday cause I had no pooed just the night before and it looked so GROSS. Powdery junk and greasy awful. Why WHy WHY does the chemcially laden conditioner they give you with your box of haircolor have to make your hair so darned silky soft??? :( If I were rich I'd buy some all natural awesome stuff. So my next try will be using my kids Everday Shea Shampoo.  And see how it performs.  to be continued....

How I Beat My Child's Ear Infection Naturally

I meant to get to this post done a couple weeks ago while the whole deal was fresh in my mind but here goes anyway.  My son who is now 7 would get an ear infection about once a year, (none in his first year of life though)  Usually when he would get infections it would be him running 102.9 temp and one cough would make him lose everything in his stomach.  Once he puked 7 times in a morning and also at the dr's.  The ear infection before this last one I'm sure burst his ear drum because it drained for days once we got him on antibiotics and he was up crying in the night from the severe pain even while on ibuprofen (more often than he should have been).  And he has a high pain tolerance, as in, not even two and wouldn't cry for his flu shots.   Yes yes flu shots, this may have been our last year from what I've been reading lately.  Back to the point, a friend told me a while ago about Wally's Ear Oil, it's all natural with anti bacterial essential oils, you could use it even if your ears are just itching.  On his ear drum bursting infection, I got the oil in the mail too late in the game.  Let me back track a moment, LAST winter my son didn't have any ear infections, he seemed to grow out of them!! But then last spring he had another, and another this fall, and ANOTHER a few weeks ago.  Why?  Snot sniffing, constant packing of snot from a cold back in his ears of his own doing.  We have had LOTS of talks with him about this. 

Anyway, another cold, most of us got, but he ends up with an earache. I believe it was Tuesday late afternoon.  So we do some drops... no fever... yet.  The next day, low grade fever maybe 99.5 and ear pain, we keep up on the drops every 3 hours or so.  I also heat up a rice pack for him and make him rest on the couch, one thing I did differently this time around was refuse to let him play the wii, so he wasn't tempted to sniff, and use up energy, and also didn't give him tylenol unless he couldn't find relief with the drops and the heatpack and PBS. :)  I wanted to let the fever burn the infection as much as we could and let the fever make him feel tired enough to lay low. His fever got higher as the day went ( I did give him tylenol once inthe afternoon to sleep, and then he woke me in the night hurting so I gave him some then)  I really thought we were headed for the dr. I kept thinking I need to call the dr, antibiotics are the only way to kick this, but I thought, just wait another day.  Tuesday night and Wednesday night were rougher nights, the tylenol and ricepacks seemed to help him not be completely miserable and sleep  and we kept on the ear drops but I would do every four hours or more if he was sleeping and I did BOTH EARS because I think the infection can shift as it did in his ear draining infection.  We got up with him at 1a.m. on Thursday morning, he was hurting and I took his temp, 101.6.  I thought that's it, calling the dr in the morning.  Well, he gets up Thursday morning and says his ear feels a lot better!  I say, reallly?? let me touch your ear, usually he won't let me NEAR it.  He let me pull on it gentley.  I took his temp, 97.9.  Thank you Lord.  And he continued to improve the fever did not return, not even a little. I did do the drops a couple times a day for day or two, then just did them at night for a couple more days.  I have never had this happen so I was so encouraged to not have to spend the money, and put the antibiotics in his body!

Recap what I learned from this:

1. Wally's Ear drops, use them at the first ache in the ear, or if your child is prone to ear infections use them during the initial cold to prevent infection.  I used 2-3 drops every 3 hours, but don't wake the kid to the do it, I did not make him stay long with it sitting in there, about a minute then let it drain out.  Do BOTH ears.

2.Elevate the head with pillows so the ears can drain.

3.  Use a humidifier to thin mucus.

4. Hydrate with water, and eat healthy, he ate lots of fruit and we avoided crap foods and unnatural sugars.  Eat organic yogurt or something probioticy. ;)

5.  Rice packs ( so easy to make yourself, sew a rectangle, dump a bag of long grain rice in, sew it up, heat in the microwave for a few minutes) use as often as needed.

6. Rest and Sleep, make your child take a break from all tv and see if he falls asleep in his bed.  Sleep is critical to healing.

7.Tyelnol only when pain is too much or it's keeping patient from sleep.  Otherwise, let that fever burn.

8.  Know when to fold, if the pain becomes severe, fever gets high, ear is draining or puking is involved time to call the dr.

9. Do not put anything in a draining ear

10.  Go with your Mommy gut, don't have a hippie spaz freakout if your kid needs antibiotics, we do our best and that's all we can do right?  Right.

No Poo, for You.

I do a lot of dumb things.  I research stuff, I do things my own way and sometimes it backfires... I have rubbed oil on my scalp and expected water and vinegar to wash it out.  Wow that looked great.  I've put straight powdered baking soda on my scalp, ineffective.  Back to my title, No Poo, it's all over the green living hippiville blogs online.


What is no pooage?  It's washing your hair with the following:

1 tbsp of baking soda dissolved in 8 oz of water.

Rinse with 1 tbs of vinegar mixed in 8 oz of water.

Let me tell you about my hair, more TMI but hey that's me.  Scalp= scummy, build up no matter WHAT or how much I wash my hair, oh I can do clarifying shampoos but then my hair ends up oilier.  Ends, dry, fly away, some of my hair is fine, my childhood hair, that never mutated with most of hair through puberty to coarse thick and curly, looser curls I guess you could say.  And I have plenty of grays so I color, which I hate that I do but I do and I have to because I hate grays.  Lately I have been trying to train my hair to go longer between pooing.  I could go 5 days.  Before shampooing I started rubbing castor oil on my scalp and then vinegar and letting sit for a few minutes, it did seem to licquify my scummy nasty build up and help some.  But like I say no matter what I would get some measure of white waxy gunk if I scraped my nails even right after shampooing and I was really scrubbing.  So, two times last week I no pooed  so I haven't used shampoo for over a week.  I am still working out the kinks but as far as step 1 goes, I'm a believer.

10 oz of water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, a couple drops of tea tree oil and my nalgene bottle.  It will all dissolve into clear water. ( we do not have a working water soften btw) Shook up and carefully poured on my already wet head in the shower. I made sure to get every segment of my scalp soaked.  I then proceeded to scrub a few minutes, yes minutes, and some crazy cool happened just like one blogger said, I could see a very fine lather on my fingers, it's got something to do with how soap is made, one of the components of how soap is made with animal fats and how your own sebum acts a component in your no pooing and a tiny lather forms, so my relaying is as lay person and probably erroneous as it gets but all I know is, my hair oil mixed with the b.s. ;) made some lather. 

Scalp results?? I could FEEL water hitting my head, I guess I forgot what that felt like, gross and weird, I could feel the temp of the water.  My scalp shined, I could no longer scrape scum.  It was amazing!!!

No mind you that was only the first half, the second half is a work in progress.  I then sprayed my hair with my bottle of half water half vinegar.  The result was straw like awful frizzy poopy crappy hair.  my roots were swell and that was it.  Two days later, I did step one, step two and after vinegar put truckloads of Nature's Gate Hemp Conditioner in my hair. < not exactly green but a lesser evil.  I was very happy with my hair then.  One thing though that is just status quo with my hair is, it gets flyaway frizzy as the day goes and that still happened even with my "product" in it < which is also a lesser evil for sure, I'll post that sometime I can't remember the name.  So, 3 days later THIS is what I did, after the vinegar, I put a little of my OCM mix in the ends and rinsed it, then put much less conditioner in.  THEN when I got out, on the bottm half of my hair hairs ends I used my beloved grapeseed oil.  It was a gamble, church was the next morning.  I woke up with softer hair and it looked like I had product in it to make it look a little wet and it was really curly.  I curled my hair as usual and used no product at ALL. This pic is my hair 12 hours after I did it  I've slept on it and fried catfish, usually it's much more frizzy and way ward at this point in the day.

  And now check out the root of the hair... no shampoo for over a week, just no pooing.

Bottomline, I am on the right track I do believe, the next thing I am going to try is to actually just do the one cup of water to tbs of vinegar, and then do some leave in grapeseed oil and see how that goes.

(why the angle makes my head look like the Queen of Hearts from the new Alice and Wonderland I do not know and good gravy my eyeballs look HUGE here...)And while you're here, a pic of also my face so you can see how it's doing with the OCM, sure it's at the end of a long day, complete with like I said, some catfish frying and my makeup has been on 12 hours.  no touching up, no more powder, no dabbing of oil. perhaps a small amount of shine but 12 hours of make up, with my face that would have normally had little oil rigs bobbing up and down on it.  Another thing I'm trying... seeing if I can make it without my serum and just use some grapeseed oil mixed with my tea tree oil and see the same results.

Stupid Sebum Plugs

 

Whilest my skin has been doing pretty well lately, I was having this annoying problem which I had before I started OCM of sebum plugs on my chin and on the sides of my nose, SO annoying, nothing was getting them out!!  I even thought I would try my microdermabrasion scrub and that didn't even seem to help and it broke my face out.<idiot.  Dang, I can't believe how many products I am finding are obsolite in my quest for more natural skin care.  So I did a lot of running about on the web and had read before about baking soda for microdermabrasion.  sure... I thought, but I had nothing to lose so I just made a paste of it with some water and after I oil cleansed spent a couple minutes rubbing it on my face and paying special attention to my stupid pluggy areas.  Once I felt some tingling I decided it was time to stop, I rinsed my face with water, and checked my pores.  Smooth!! no pluggies!!  And my skin felt nice and resurfaced.  It was wonderful and surprising!! My best friend tried it too and it worked for her as well.  Now keep in mind the plugs do return and you have use your scrub every few days or so, but it's so nice to find something that worked, better than my 20+dollar microderm scrub.  So nice to put on makeup and not have it show off stupid plugs even more!! Thanks baking soda!

Grapeseed Oil, My Face Loves You.

I recently got some grapeseed oil at the grocery store.  I have been using it in my OCM routine for about a week and I wish I would have done it from the start!!  Right now my mix is about 25-30% castor oil and some flax oil I'm using up ( the next time I mix it will be omitted) a drop or two of tea tree oil and the rest grapeseed.  This oil is AMAZING, I don't want to be overly dramatic but really I am loving it!!  It's light and  a couple nights I only steamed and wiped my face once with it for it to feel so soft and clean.  I was not wearing make up on these days though, like most days... My skin is actually less oily, like barely shiny it's so weird!! but good, it's more glowy and even.  Read things like this a couple different places:

"Grapeseed oil is fantastic for your skin. By itself the oil is a wonderful moisturizer and because it is absorbed quickly by the skin, does not leave a greasy feeling. After being taken in by the skin, the oil really starts to go to work by infusing it with antioxidants, which help make the skin stay young-looking and elastic by protecting it against damaging free radicals. Many studies suggest that grapeseed oil is a more powerful antioxidant than either vitamin C or vitamin E, both of which are commonly used in antioxidant face creams and serums. In fact, there’s also evidence that the oil is as effective as vitamin C at evening out the tone of skin, resulting in a more uniform, radiant complexion." 

And:

 "Grapeseed oil contains a remarkably high concentration (73%!) of linoleic acid. One of the extraordinary properties of linoleic acid is its ability to mix with oxygen in the air to form a stable, water proof film. This film is why linoleic acid is good for skin: it not only traps moisture in the skin but also leaves it feeling dry and supple, not wet and greasy. If that weren’t enough, linoleic acid has anti-inflammatory effects that can help combat acne when applied topically to the skin." (source  http://www.vocoterra.com/blog/when-in-doubt-grab-a-grape/)

I am truly amazed at how much better my skin has gotten since starting OCM in January.(you can check out my posts about OCM here)  My forehead is really clearing up, every part of my face is!  It is softer, less oily, it's been, all happy and balanced the past couple days, even with skipping washing in the morning.  Is it perfect?? No.  But so so SO much better!!!

Face Stuff

Random, today my face seemed dry, I know, dry?? The pulling kinda dry.  So I revamped my oil mix to this, 25% castor oil, the rest flax and grapeseed, eventually I will probably phase out the flax, it's more expensive and needs to be fridged.  Alsoooo stuff I wanna try, making my own toner, I've been  back and forth, getting bloodshot eyes researching about making your own vitamin c serum and also your own toner.  I am leaning towards a toner with water, lemon juice and witch hazel.  I have never purchased it before but it's in every toner I've ever used.  I am unsure and thinking of going with one with no alcohol in it.  Though the one I'm looking at has grapefruit seed extract, which I read that how they make the extract isn't exactly natural... oh my head.  How die hard do I go here?  Sometimes it bogs me down.  Anyhoo I've been pinned these possibilites to my pinterest.

Why Eat Flaxseeds Whole

At least sometimes anyway!!  I have never eaten chia seeds but I heard because they get all gelatinous when wet they are good for detoxing.  I also read on another side about some soaking flaxseed and using the gel.  So I thought I would check out what I could find online about them and detoxing here tis from this site: http://www.whole-body-detox-diet.com

"Flax seeds are the main super seed that the Egyptians and Asians were using thousands of years ago. These nutrient-rich seeds have become well-known for their high Omega-3 content and are the common vegetarian source for this important heart-healthy fatty acid (typically found in fish oil).
Flax seeds are a decongestant, emollient, demulcent, expectorant, laxative and purgative. They are high in potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, niacin, lecithin, and vitamin E. The seeds contain several essential fatty acids that inhibit tumor growth and are therapeutic for treating cancers, high cholesterol, mood disorders, and liver disorders. They are very helpful for cleansing the colon and relieving constipation. They also enrich the blood and strengthen the nerves.¹
These seeds are also gelatinous like chia seeds and swell to produce a gelatin, though not as thick as chia. The soaked seeds can be used as a thickener or vegan egg replacement in recipes. Use the soaked seeds to make our popular flax crackers.
Flax and chia seeds are important detox aids for cleansing the colon and relieving detox symptoms. To relieve slow elimination, add 2-3 tablespoons of freshly ground seeds to a glass of water and drink on an empty stomach - preferably first thing in the morning."  

This interested me because I had heard that it was almost pointless to eat them unless they were ground.  And they are cheaper than chia seeds but not as amazing apparently.

Oil

"Healthy oils like olive oil... canola oil..."  Ever heard it before???  Have YA?!!  Well I did for years!!  From that little brunette nurtionist on the Today Show, from my mom who is into nutrition.  Then my mom told me, Canola oil really isn't good for you.  And I just officially quit buying it.  Read this from Food Renegade. 

Olive oil is what I'm using, I intend to get some organic unrefined coconut oil to have on hand.  I have also been getting unrefined sunflower oil the cost was cheaper than olive oil but a little more than canola at my least favorite place on earth, (next to Chuckie Cheese) Walmart.  While we aren't fans of it in baking or as a dressing at this point, it is YUM for sauteing and frying eggs in.  It's also supposed to be great for skin.

I Done Soaked Me Some Beans

Beans oh beans.  So many cans of you in my lopsided lazy susan... enough about my living in a "before" kitchen for the next few years...
Back to beans.
 
Canned Beans -bad for you.  Dead beans, not as nutrious and harder to digest resulting in musical fruit. :)  Improperly prepared so as to not release as much phytic acid as with soaked beans.  BPA leaches into canned food.

Soaked beans-  take everything above and make it opposite. ;)  Or I can do it for you, LIVE beans, more nutrients, no chemicals, more phytic acid released out of them, easier to digest.  I have read the longer you soak the easier they digest.  I also read to soak for days... I didn't try that my first time around.  Though I did try to keep the temp close to 140 degrees,  I read a couple different places to do that.  I also, to help with some fermenting, put in a little vinegar.  I used white, cause that's what I had, I know I need to get some organic apple cider vinegar but, one thing at a time.  I also read to cook them low and slow.  I sorta did that.

I decided to try my first bean soakage with black beans, it's the bean we use the most and I usually buy 2-3 cans a week all swimming in BPA goodness. 

One 16 oz bag of beans gave me 4 - 1.5 cup + (1 cup I used the day of) bags of beans I put some in the freezer, I put a bag of them next to a can a beans and it looked about right.

My process: (that may be subject to change but I was pretty happy with the intial turnout )

Rinse beans, put in my crockpot, covered them with water about 2 inches above them. 

*CORRECTION* from when I posted yesterday, I filled my crockpot with water 2inches from the TOP of the crockpot.  I realized I posted wrong info as I got some great northern beans soaking, just now upstairs, so I raced down here because ONE person maybe just tried to soak beans in not enough water!!!  NNOOOO!!

Added a tablespoon of vinegar, I read you could do 2 but I didn't want the taste to be weird.  Next time I will try 2 because I couldn't taste anything at all.

Turned the crockpot onto warm.  I checked the temp as it got going with my food thermometer.  I wanted to keep it at 140 degrees,  I ended up putting the lid adjar and that kept them at about 150 and I was happy with that.  I let them be for about 8.5 hours.

I then drained and rinsed the beans, put new water in with a tsp of salt, which I will double next time. covered with water above 2 inches again and cooked them high for 4 hours.  And that was it.  Not too bad.  Next time to avoid the all day affair I will just soak them the night before or who knows maybe give them a full 24 and then cook them in the morning for the 4 hours.  You may now gaze upon my beautiful beans :

As to the gas question, I had some tonight, so I will have to see if somehow things feel different. :)

Disclaimer: I am a rookie and NOT a professional bean soaker, are there better methods out there?  Probably but out of my research, this is what I came up that for me I thought was fairly effective and in the range of work I was willing to do.  I haven't gotten to the point where I want to soak for days and change out water and all that.  Maybe someday.

Food Cooking

Food and cooking, cooking and food, I like food, I hate to cook, I would rather clean, organize, almost anything, except grocery shopping maybe... and public speaking... but back to the point.  In my quest for a healthier family I am realizing, girl's gotta do a lot of cooking, a lot of caring about food and preparing.  Also to save money, we have all but quit eating out all together, a win win really, but I have relegated myself to the fact that after a long day of... whatever, cleaning, kids, budgeting, that I don't get to cop out at the end of day and order pizza.  Changing my mindset has helped, all the reasons to cook for the fam are good, healthier, less sickness, less chemicals, more money.  When I think of it as a priority right up there with clean clothes, then it gets easier, for the most part.  Lately I have been learning about grains and beans, with the whole Paleo craze, I told myself, aint nobody taking my bread or beans OR cheese, I love cheese. so much.  Stupid fad diets anyhow.  Well some of what they are saying makes some sense, again, check this link.  I also read how beans are the same way with the phytic acid.  Hence I soaked beans for the first time.  I am trying to eliminate canned foods as well.  Check up in my links I have some good resources up there.  I don't have enough hours in the day to learn it all but slowly I am building on my information.  So come, learn with me, hate to cook maybe a little less with me because you know the benefits are real food are so far reaching...

Oil Cleanse and Exfoliate

Random simple tip to add to your OCM Regimen to amp up your exfoliation.  Fine sea salt.  I did about an 1/8 tsp in my palm before I poured a quarter size amount of my oil mix in my palm.  It felt so pampering and my face was so soft afterward.  I started doing this last week, I suppose, a month into oil cleansing because I had some flaky areas when I put my make up on.  Easy, cheap, natural, effective.  Can't beat that.

No Knead Pizza Dough, ya know?

I know for a fact that so many greenie blogger ladies are light years ahead of me on the spelt-sprouting, grinding, but I'm in transition here, as in used to buy that weekly poisonous frozen pizza.  I would still like to know if letting your dough sit for 8 hours helps along any fermenting and breaking down of phytic acid.  Big word, yeah I just learned it, this week, HERE and it overwhelms me to think that grains are probably doing more harm than good unless they are fermented and sprouted ugh, dang.  It practically makes this post pointless but whatever it took me months to find a pizza crust, THIS easy and THIS good.  What do I mean by good??  Like not bready biscuity, but chewy, bubbly awesome.  I found this online here.

As I am notorious for using recipes as a guide and follow it, for the most part, I did skip some of the last steps, cause that's how I roll, sometimes it backfires, though most of the time, not. ;)

"No Knead Pizza Dough

This dough is very forgiving. The second time I made it I only let it rise for 5 hours in my hot Arizona kitchen. I also didn't let it rest after shaping for as long as the recipe directed and it still turned out wonderfully.

Yield: about 3 balls of dough (you can easily double this recipe)

Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups (500 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour <sprouted organic wheat or spelt, if you're awesome, I'm not... yet.
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast < if you're awesome, yeast I didn't know existed
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (be sure not to use really hot water as that will kill the yeast)

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Gradually add the water, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the water is incorporated and a shaggy dough forms. You may need to use your hands to fully incorporate the water. Just remember, you don't need to knead!"

So I have made this twice, loved it both times.  The second time I made it first thing in the morning, once you mix it, put it in a greased bowl with plastic wrap, and let it set out for alllll darn day.  It, was, SO good.  We used to eat a lot of Papa Murphy's and my husband and I liked this crust better, my best attempt yet and finally I was satisfied with my dough!!  I used a big pizza pan with the holes, cooked it for 10-15 minutes at 450 on the bottom rack.  Pizza Perfection.  And I've had a lot of floppy disappointments when it come to homemade pizza

Facewash: we are never never never getting back together. Oil Cleansing Update

The play by play, hey when you struggle with breakouts detailed info matters right?!!  If not then you must have great skin.  So recap.

Let us preface us with what I USED to do, for like, EVER. 
-I meticulously washed my face with BWC alpha hydroxy cleanser twice a day.
-blemish control lotion (toneresque stuff)
-eye serum ( I'll post what I use soonish)
-blemish touch stick
-mychelle serum
-mychelle spf moisturizer in the a.m.

Anal for clear skin, that is me.  I also used a microdermabrasion scrub twice a week.  Which I will share that with you too sometime.  All... two of you.

So starting Jan 5th, I decided because of running out of my serum so I thought I should dial back on the product usage to save some money.  I started researching, do you reaaaaallly have to wash your face in the morning/oily skin etc;  I stumbled across a plethora of blogs about this oil cleansing method.  Heresy I tell you, but I was intrigued by the oil skin breakout stories that had turned their skin around,  that using the proper oils helped skin to function as it was meant to.  And it does make sense that companies would love to compound your problems and keep you coming back for the NEXT thing that was finally gonna help.  *Tangent alert*  I am just now realizing and learning how amazing our bodies were designed, how man has dinked with that in hopes of bigger and better but we're in worse shape healthwise, stresswise.  Look at how our bodies heal themselves when treated correctly, given the right nutrition ( netflix docs I'm telling you!!  Hungry for Change, Food Inc etc) naturally our bodies can do what they were meant to do.  We forget how amazing the Creator designed all these amazing details of nature and our bodies to work together and function.  Countless benefits to getting your sleep, not living such a fast paced stressed life, eating healthy, exercise.  Anyway enough about that, so that is how I came across OCM.

My skin status before starting OCM, oily, pore clogged always, under control but always clogged areas.  It was also prone to itchy breakouts and irritation in times past.  Skipping washing my face in the mornign didn't seem to make it worse tho it did take getting used to,  do I tone or not tone? serum or not?? splash some water on face? dab my forehead with a tissue?  nothing?  put, dare I say it, moisturizer OVER my unwashed skin??  I've been all over the board here.

Day 1- (or night I should say)I can do this, I have clogged pores oily skin and I. am. rubbing. oil. on my FACE.  I prepared to wake up for church with a disaster.  Morning came and I was no worse off than usual. relief.

-Few more days, finding that I needed to changed my castor oil ratio, it was drying me,  from 60-70% to50/50 currently.  Discovered that putting my oil mix on my eyes irritated them.  So used almond oil for eyes and they were happy again.  I have also been trying this on makeup days, to rub the oil on, then tissue the makeup off before I get into the shower to do the the oil cleansing routine,  I notice my toner cottonball was much cleaner this way.  I started getting zits in places I didn't usually and my pores were releasing grody little plugs, some hard like sand, others softer.  Gross but hey if you have zits you get it!

-Days 8-10  Skin looking crappier than it had in a while, while some pores and the sides of my face were smoothing out, I had some stupid zits that, dad gum it I picked at. GRRR  you know the battle goes in your head, " I can help this resolve faster if I juuuust...."  So while we are talking about " pore clearing" ;) Here are my tips, wait as long as you can, or don't even pick or poke at ALL most zits resolve on their own.  If it's real obvious something needs to be done:  This is what works best for me, sterile needle, sterile comedone extractor, after a steamy shower, prick it once with the needle to make channel, then you use a rocking back and forth motion with the extractor, don't push too hard, you'll make it worse, if the zit won't yield after 1 or 2 times, you're done, walk away, it's not time and it may be itjust needs to resolve on it's own.  I broke my own rules on two zits last week and kept going back thinking THIS time we'll clear it!!  Ok so at this point in the game, I kept thinking, that's it, I have to use my cleanser... I need to do my microdermabrasion!!  But I took the advice of the blogosphere and stayed the course so as to not confuse my skin, let it work itself out.  Ok ok.... ok.

-Day 11, discovered something, almond oil, my newest bestest friend, it downright awesome, I put on my cheeks the night before, my skin there was looking good,  I even put it on my oily forehead, it wasn't as oily in the morning... HUH?  And more zit talk sooorrrreeee, but it brought 2 zits to a head within hours and they cleared easy.  Gross, yes, I'm sorry but other pore clogged suffers need to know this!! 

-Day 12  I think I made it through the wilderness...somehow. ;)

-Day 14 continued improvement!!  Face smoothing out, bumpy forehead getting smoother, I'm really amazed.  really.  No, my skin is not perfect, and it's still working out some cloggs but it keeps getting better and better and I haven't felt my face this smooth in years!! ( since getting off the pill in 2008 my breakouts got worse, tho it is so worth it to be off them fyi)

The Routine Rundown Thus Far.

OCM at night.

If makeuped, oil up and wipe with tissue then procede.

-Wet face

-Massage in oil blend ( I use half castor oil half flax oil with a few drops of tea tree oil)

-Wet your clean washcloth with real hot water, not to burn you, but warmer than you could stand pouring on you in the shower, ring it out, and press on to your face gently till it cools down to room temp.  Wipe the oil from your face, get everywhere, leave no area unwiped.  I then rinse it out.  Heat it up again, use the other side of the cloth, steam and wipe once more.

-now maybe eventually I will get this down to a science where my skin is just fab and well balanced it's good to go with nothing else to do for the face routine but I need to make things are harder on myself, more time consuming and expensive. so next:

-blemish toner lotion stuff
-eye serum
-blemish touch stick on breaking out areas
-mychelle serum
-the little magic bullet that's done so much for me lately, almond oil on the orbital bone eye area is that right?? orbital bone?  And now I've been patting it on my cheeks and forehead, I'm going to get real crazy and let my chin in on this too tonight!!  I also have been putting it around my nose, it always gets flaky and porecloggy and it's helping it, it's so strange!!! oil on those problem areas.

Now morning time, it's not set it stone but here is what seems to be working, no washing, no toning, a splash of water on my forehead and eyes, pat dry, blemish touch stick on zits, almond oil around eye area ( not upper eyelid or makeup will slide all over probably) and forehead clogged area.  IF I plan on being outside that day, spf mchelle.

-unexpected goodies from OCM. longer thicker lashes, not falling out nearly as much!!!  When I'm oiling up my face I use some on my chest, another bumpy unhappy area, I don't steam or anything just gently wipe with the washcloth,  it's so much better, smooth and clear.

-A general guide to the oil mixes:

25 -50% Castor oil to any of the following oils:

Olive Oil, best for DRY skin.

Flax, grapeseed, jojoba oils for normal and problem skin.  Heck, who knows maybe you could do a tiny percent of castor oil to these if you have dry skin, probably so but it takes some tweaking at the beginning.

Play with the ratios, you'll be able to tell if your face is feeling tight and pulling this is not the goal, you don't want the tight feeling.  This may even make a difference from winter to summer how much your castor oil portion varies.  Also my fave to add for anti fungal and anti bacterial, some drops of tea tree oil,  I put maybe 2-3 drops into 2 ounces of my oil mix.

-Tips

-Prepare yourself for your skin to look worse than it did before you started at the beginning, but don't be afraid to adjust your oil ratios while your skin is working things out.

-Stay the course, you're going to want to cop out and use a scrub, a facewash " just this one time..." but be strong, it will mess with your skin adjustment.

-optional : take some lysine for a few days, I did for about 5 days.  Did it help??  It certainly didn't seem to hurt.

-ask yourself, what other products am I using on my face? does your moisturizer you're putting on afterwards, contain fragrance(parfum), parabens and other chemically crap?  This won't help your cause.  Check out the Skin Deep Data link at the top of the blog to see what your products and ingredients rate.  I am a really big fan of using the almond oil or something like it, grapeseed or jojoba on your face,dry, breaking out, where ever.

*if something crazy happens and you break out in HIVES on your face then I would stop, or see what is in your mix you could be reacting to, though in my own research I haven't come across these stories, doesn't mean they aren't out there...

 To think that maybe I can start my daughters on the right foot when they get older and not have them enter into the wretched cycle of crappy skin is pretty exciting for me.

Now, when I slather that oil all over my face, it actually feels good and not freaky weird anymore, my face is smoother and happier.   Now face says " welcome, oil. welcome." ;) 

Flax Oil and..

 Click the pic for this person's take on flax oil for beautifulness.  I also researched jojoba oil and grapeseed oil and castor oil today.

*Castor Oil ~ Studies Support Castor Oil's Efficacy as an Antimicrobial, Anti-Inflammatory, and Immunostimulant

All of these oils are oils that are anti germy pore clearing.  I keep reading to make sure it's organic when you buy it.  All of these oils are supposed to help with acne.  Crazy, I think it just must be getting the hang of using it and your own little personal mix, which I'm still working on.  But gotta say this, it hasn't made my hair greasy around the hairline like I thought and on my 3rd day when I wash my hairline is strangely LESS greasy.  This was a concern for me, also, strange but true, I feel like my face itself is less oily and greasy.  So my face status today, about 1 ugly zit and 3 annoying lesser ones I am riding out.  High hopes, people... high hopes...

ps I also started to take some lysine while my skin, *ahem* "works out" it's nasties while I'm getting use to OCM.  I have no intention of taking it long term.

Oil Cleansing

 

Hmmm so shaking up my face regimine since after the new year, first, I stopped washing my face in the morning, did nothing in the morning for a week but went back to everything, toning, serums but not washing in the morning and just started the oil cleansing last night.(last saturday)  I'm, on the fence, just not sure, I read different things, for and against.  Some people love it, some gave it up.  So far I'm a few days in and my skin is breaking out a little more than usual but I'm willing to see what happens in the next couple weeks to give my skin a chance to adjust.  THIS article I just read today says no, it's crap.  Then there are articles like this that say it's great and why.  I have also read various mixes.  half castor oil for normal skin, 2/3 for oily and a 1/4 for dry, combined with the remaining percent of various oils, flax, evoo, sunflower, jojoba, grapseed, etc;  "Another example: In terms of the blend, it will depend on your skin type. I have very oily skin so I used 60% or so Castor Oil to start off
with but after a few weeks lowered this amount as my skin was getting quite dry. It might take a bit of trial and
error. The basic rule is:
- Oily Skin: 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.
- Balanced Skin: 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.
- Dry Skin: 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil."
http://www.mommypotamus.com/oil-cleansing-for-clear-baby-soft-skin-video-tutorial/ check out this link for even more info and a video tutorial.

So I started about 5 days ago, I started with, 2/3 or maybe even 75% castor oil then the rest Flax oil which I didn't realize had some additional ingredients  and that I need to OOPS get in the fridge pronto.  The ingredients :
Organic flax seed oil (cold-pressed, unrefined and non-GE) and a natural antioxidant blend of organic sunflower oil, organic rosemary extract, natural mixed tocopherols, ascorbic acid and citric acid.
Contains soy derivative. < soy dang and I just read how it's no so good, but it's not going in my body so maybe that is not so bad???  Now Foods Castor oil is the brand I got for castor oil.  Anyway so initially it felt wrong, soo soo so wrong, to rub oil on my oily skin. Oh yes and I also added a drop of tea tree oil for it's anti bacterial properties.  I probably have only made.... an ounce to start out.  First thing, believe it or not after a few days, I had to up my flax oil ratio to half because that castor oil CAN dry.  I did start to pull gunk and little plugs (yum!) out of my face and empty out pores a lot easier.  I have started to break out a little more than normal this far into it.  But I really want to give it a chance,  I feel like the zits resolve faster than normal too, so we shall see.  The first night I did it I was wearing makeup and I used my "toner" Home Health Blemish lotion and got dirty looking dark stuff on my cottonball.  So I don't know if I need to try oil then wipe the makeup off with a tissue, then oil again and steam?  Still figuring this out.  The other nights I have  not worn makeup I have not gotten dark stuff to come off on the cottonball.  I also do not know if I should be using the oil mix with the tea tree oil on my eyes, though it does just great at getting off eyemakeup, I do use almond oil to get off whatever is left when I get done.  I know most women just oil cleanse and that's it, nothing else, maybe a little moisturizer if needed.  I think this will take some figuring out, if anyone has insights and tips please let me know!!  I keep using my serum and eye serum because I love just so much but could there be just a good stuff, cheaper made at home stuff out there??  I need to do more research.  Saving money and having great skin with no chemicals, that just sounds awesome!!
Gotta go refridgerate that flax oil.... and one more link for you from Detox Diva. And more info from her on the various oils...maybe I should've gone with jojoba??  More to come I'm sure...

Lysine = Great Skin??

Once a upon a time, many years ago, my husband struggled with canker sores, I asked the pharmacist what could help.  She said Lysine.  And they've been a staple in our med cabinet ever since, they really do heal them FAST.  I don't get them often but when I do, I use this.  I told my BFF about them of course and she told her sister, who had the side effect of suddenly really great skin, enough she got notice form co workers.  Google Lysine and skin.  I was all geared up to start this daily then read this . "Lysine is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth at recommended doses for up to one year, or when applied to the skin short-term. It can cause side effects such as stomach pain and diarrhea."  So use with caution.

Soy, Good, or Bad?

Answer... bad, unless it is  non GMO-fermented which most is not.  Cancer, hormonely disruptive to all ages, think soy formula???  This article was super duper informative.  I always wondered, soy, good, right, health food, right? tofu, good right? nope.  Soy milk, good right? Pretty much all of it, not good.  We were drinking soy milk for a while... my mom kept telling me negative things about soy she read and heard, but it was right in the health food area of our grocery store... it had to be healthy right??  Isn't it funny the stuff we are pumping in to most all our food, GMO corn products, and GMO soy, it's in almost everrrrrrything we are eating.  Read those labels people, read, those, labels!!  And read this article ;) and spare yourself.

Phthalates, Hormones, Makeup, Yay!

 A Surprising Cause of Early Menopause more info from this blog.  (from k.snyder blog)
"A recent study, however, suggests a very surprising cause of early menopause: wearing too much makeup. Yes, it’s true! Makeup can affect your body’s sacred hormonal cycles. Who knew? Many types of makeup contain chemicals called pthalates – a family of chemicals also known as plasticizers. These chemicals are present in a number of petroleum products, and have been found in a number of articles humans use and absorb including makeup, nail polish, household cleaners, air fresheners and food packaging. Along with exposure to phthalates via makeup and household cleaners, packaged foods provide a significant source of phthalate exposure.
According to the study, women with the highest levels of phthalates in their urine went through menopause an average of 2.3 years earlier than their lower phthalates counterparts, and some women were going through menopause as early as 15 years prematurely.

Dangers of Phthalates

According to the Environmental Working Group, phthalates present a number of health hazards to humans, including:

• Disrupted endocrine function
• Reduced sperm counts in men
• Testicular atrophy
• Increased risk of liver cancer

Scary stuff. Further, the EWG states the effect of phthalate contamination in the human body is cumulative and the negative effects compound as levels increase. About 84 percent of the population shows phthalate contamination at any given time, according to the EWG. It’s so prevalent now that we’ve all most like had lots of exposure. Don’t let that dishearten you though, as there is lots we can do to prevent lots more future exposure (keep reading).

My Newest Little Gem

Almond oil.  Hmm, who would've thought.  What led me here?  Looking for all natural hair serums and in my google submersion came out deciding to give almond oil a try.  I like it. I do.  Just a drop for the ends of your hair when it's wet.  I also wanted to stop using petroleum jelly to get my eye makeup off.  I tried it for a while to make sure it didn't irritate my eyes.  And it didn't, not at all.  It even made the skin around my eyes really soft.  So I started using it as a moisturizer on that ocular bone I think is what it is, every night.  One night I did notice I had a couple light red bumps and I thought, blasted oil you always break me out!!  But they were gone by morning and haven't been back and I then I ended up reading about in the oil cleansing method (which can use almond oil the mix) that it can draw impurities out of your skin and you can break out at first.  I also tend to get bumpy and itchy on the sides of my neck around the jawline so I put some oil there, it's not your oily oil, not like EVOO is.  Anyway, that area of skin is much softer and smoother.  Read about all the uses here!! "

Healing Purposes
Since almond oil is high in unsaturated fat, it brings down the level of bad cholesterol in the blood. When applied on the skin, it heals eczema and skin rashes.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/almond-oil-uses.html

   

MyChelle Face Serum

                                

MyChelle Dermaceuticals, Clear Skin Serum, Oily / Blemish Control.  I'm on my second bottle and before that I used MyChelle vitamin A serum which I liked very much, but I needed more pore cloggin acne help and I really love this.  At Iherb, it's 25$ which you can drop no problem as chemically laden crap at walmart.  And if you spend 20 you get free shipping, if you spend 40 it's free 1-3 day shipping.  There's my little IHERB plug, too bad I don't get paid for that.  This has great ingredients, retinol, tea tree oil, witchhazel and minus the crap ingredients.  "Always free of harmful ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, ureas, petroleum-based chemicals and artificial colors."  Check out the link for more info.  I did not find this irritating at all, though it's not my first go around with retinol.  And it's probably been the thing that's cleared up my skin the best in a very long time. Along with getting rid of my crappy aveeno spf moisturizer that contributed to my itchy breakouts and also I think it helped to use better more natural hair products.  I did start using this in the morning also and it really seemed to help clear things up.  Now that I've quit washing my face in the morning I'm still working out on what exactly I do to my face in the morning.  If I could get by I was hoping to save money by not using it in the a.m. to go through it half as fast.  We'll see, the oil cleansing method is awaiting me, and I just got my castor oil and flax oil in the mail from IHERB yesterday!!  A little scared still... ;)

They're Everywhere

Original post date 5/27/08

AWord from EWG

What is it?Phthalates are a common industrial chemical used in PVC plastics, solvents, and synthetic fragrances. They've been around since the 1930's, and now they're pretty ubiquitous; when they tested 289 people in 2000, the CDC found phthalates in all of the subjects' blood at surprisingly high levels. They're often referred to as a plasticizer, which we think sounds rather like a kind of exercise to be done on the living-room floor in front of videos hosted by Jane Fonda. But we digress.
What are the possible health effects?Phthalates are endocrine disruptors linked to problems of the reproductive system, including decreased sperm motility and concentration in men and genital abnormalities in baby boys. (Oh, and did you know that average sperm counts have decreased significantly since the 1940's?) More recently they've also been linked to asthma and allergies.
How can I minimize my exposure?Avoid these, and you'll also be avoiding phthalates:
Nail polish: Dibutyl phthalate is often used to make nail polish chip-resistant. Look for it on the ingredients list, where it may be shortened to DBP.
Plastics in the kitchen: Take a critical eye to your cupboards. Phthalates may be more likely to leach out of plastic when it's heated, so avoid cooking or microwaving in plastic.
Vinyl toys: Phthalates are what make vinyl (PVC) toys soft, so don't give them to children. Opt instead for wooden and other phthalate-free toys, especially during that age when they put everything in their mouths!
Paint: Paints and other hobby products may contain phthalates as solvents, so be sure to use them in a well-ventilated space.
Fragrance: Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is often used as part of the "fragrance" in some products. Since DEP won't be listed separately, you're better off choosing personal care products, detergents, and cleansers that don't have the word "fragrance" on the ingredients list.
Vinyl: Vinyl shows up in a lot of different products; lawn furniture, garden hoses, building materials, and items of clothing (like some raincoats) are often sources. Aside from carefully choosing materials when you're making purchases, there is one easy change you can make: switch to a non-vinyl shower curtain. That "new shower curtain" smell (you know the one) is a result of chemical off-gassing, and it means your shower curtain is a source of phthalates in your home.
Air Fresheners: Just like fragrances in personal care products, most air fresheners contain phthalates. http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/05/cheatsheet-phthalates.htm
Kid-Safe Chemicals Act: It's Time for Change
You deserve to know your family's products are safe. The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act, which was introduced last week in Congress, will protect your family and force chemical companies to prove chemicals are safe before they use them.
Seems like a no-brainer, right? But current law is so deficient that the Environmental Protection Agency couldn't use it to ban carcinogenic asbestos. In the past 30 years, EPA has evaluated the safety of just 200 out of 80,000 chemicals, and banned only five.
Pollution in people is associated with serious diseases like childhood cancer, autism, and ADHD, but right now the government has almost no authority to protect people from even the most hazardous chemicals.
At EWG, we've worked hard to get Kid-Safe introduced and we're dedicated to passing it. Look for more campaign information soon and click here to learn more. http://www.ewg.org/kidsafe
What is it?Bisphenol A is a toxic plastics chemical found in polycarbonate plastic and the resinous lining of food cans.
What are the possible health effects?In April of 2008, the National Toxicology Program raised concerns that exposure to BPA during pregnancy and childhood could impact the developing breast and prostate, hasten puberty, and affect behavior in American children.
How do I minimize my exposure?
Limit canned foods. BPA leaches into canned food from the lining. When possible, and especially when pregnant or breastfeeding, limit the amount of canned food your family eats. Particularly avoid canned soup, pasta, and infant formula.
Avoid polycarbonate plastic. Hard, translucent plastic marked #7 is probably polycarbonate, which leaches BPA, especially when heated. Ditch your polycarbonate water bottles in favor of a stainless steel bottle. Don't microwave plastic -- use ceramic or glass instead.
If you're formula feeding your infant, consider using powdered formulas packaged in non-steel cans. Also, choose baby bottles made from glass or specially-marked plastics that don't leach BPA (like polypropylene or polyethylene).
Where can I learn more?http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/04/cheatsheet-bisphenol-a-bpa.htm

Makeup 1.5

Original post date 1/26/08 ( man how time flys)

More thoughts on Sheer Miracle.

Yesterday I put makeup on for the first time in 8 days. :) I used my sheer miracle for the second time and I really really like it. I think I am getting the hang of the yellow concealer. I just put a very thin layer on my finger and used it on my inner eye circles and around my nose. You have to layer it and I also put a little of the foundation in those areas to tone down the yellow. I think I may have also found a use for the sample foundation that was too light, I used that on top of the yellow concealer. I love the glow finishing powder. Really pretty. Maybe I need to take a before picture, but do I really want to show people that? I'm not sure. Anyway here are pics of me making some neat faces, taking pics of myself in the bathroom. I don't know ifyou can look at them in the orignial large size to really see the makeup when I did it yesterday. The only foundation/powder/concealer/bronzer I have on is sheer miracle.

update* I don't use the yellow concealer anymore, I use the wideawake concealer even on blemishes and the foundation itself for concealer.

Makeup 1.0

Original post date 1/24/08

My Preliminary  Sheer Miracle makeup review
I sent emails recently about mineral makeup and also the link to http://www.safecosmetics.org/, it has a list of companies who have signed a pact not to put hazardous ingredients in it's products. There is also http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=%2Findex.php where you search products, companies, ingredients etc; it's daunting esspecially if you are on a budget and just can't order awesome organic stuff off the internet. (http://www.sheermiracle.com/) (they signed the safe cosmetic pact)
Back to my sheer miracle review. I've only used the products once since I haven't been out of the house but once in the past 2 weeks! I ordered samples of the foundation, 2 different colors, the glow finishing powder, the bronzer and yellow concealer, all loose powder. I also got the small flat bronzer brush. The foundations I tried were light warm and medium light neutral. At first I thought the lighter would match since I'm pretty fair but it made me look pasty and lighter than my neck and chest. (I don't tan in the winter) I then did the medium light neutral and it matched very well. It was the first foundation that didn't make me look pasty or orangey. It matched my neck a chest, a more olive tone. The trick for me was to get a small amount of powder in the lid each time and swirl my brush in it and make sure it had a light, even coat, they have application tips online. I thought the finishing powder was very pretty too. You have to work with it, at least for me the first time lots of blending and adding a little at a time, the bronzer I thought was very nice as well, nice non orangey adjustable color, a little goes a long way. The only thing I'm not sold on yet is the concealer, I think I needed to moisturize my dry spots better, it's really important to be well moisturized before applying the makeup. I also didn't have a small brush and I just didn't think it hid my dark inner eye circles very well, but like I say, I didn't have a small brush as I would've liked and I've used this all once. I wore it for an evening grocery shopping, I thought it stayed in place very well. I believe, no matter what you order it's 5.50 to ship and I ordered friday evening and got it the next thurs. They are out of Arizona. Also my friend Katie just started using Sheer Cover which she loves but to compare pricing, I believe she said she pays 14.99 for 4 grams and Sheer Miracle is 18.50 for 10 grams weight ( 30 grams volume) Sheer Cover has not signed the safe cosmetics pact. So that's my latest thoughts on Sheer Miracle. I'm really interested in trying their emu oil. But only as resources allow! :) Any feedback is welcome!

Makeup 2.0

Original post date 3/28/08
For the 4 of you that have expressed interest in my beauty blogging, this is for you, ha! Ok after noticing that in one of the pictures from Easter that my face looked darker than my neck, the king of all makeup offenses, I went back to my clinique training days, got out both of my sheer miracle powders and did the stripe thing on the jaw line, took a mirror the front window and let the analyzing begin. I did about six stripes on different parts of my face and analyzed how they blended etc; I thought the lighter of the two shades, the light warm, seemed to disappear and blend the best. So even though the shade I thought was my shade, the medium light neutral which is their most popular shade is a smidge too dark. Another thing I figured out today is that the foundation works as good as their yellow concealer at, well, concealing. I got out my 2$ shadow brush from walmart that I use for the concealer and it worked great. So the great news is, before I purchased the big size, I figured out my color, that only took 3 months...:) and now I can just use the foundation as the concealer so I saved money not having to buy the concealer. I'll probably just use the darker in case, yeah right, my face gets darker in the summer...Also, I have barely put a dent in my little samples! I wear makeup about twice a week but really that's awesome I think! I am planning on ordering the foundation, Sienna Rose Mineral Blush, Copper Shadow.

*update, if you can believe it I still have not run out of the blush!!  I still have my sample of bronzer I use a lot in the summer and I use the medium light neutral in the summer as well.  Also for a more smokey brown I mix their black shadow with the copper shadow, probably 1/3 black to 2/3 copper.  All their stuff lasts a long time.