The Oil Cleansing Method

Many would find it shocking to hear that lot's of people don't wash their face twice a day. And they have beautiful skin. Crazy huh? I read some interesting articles on the oil cleansing method today. Basically, it's using oils to cleanse your skin and to regulate the oils on your skin. Being very open to new suggestions, I decided to try it straight away. The basic guide tells you to use extra virgin olive oil and Castor oil, but after reading different forums and tips, I decided to try Castor oil with walnut oil. Results? Wonderful, soft, smoooooth skin! It's fantastic! I definitely will keep it up and see if it really does regulate oils, etc. I recommend you read a bit about this topic as well. Here are some links:
The Oil Cleansing Method (OCM)
Forum thread on OCM

Hair & Herbs

Something I think is absolutley unnecessary are shampoo's that claim to 'bring out this and that color'. I don't think I've ever seen one that works. Even if it did work, what the hell is in that shampoo?? It's just another hair dye...

I have been using herbal hair rinses for almost a year now, and they are a great natural hair helper. You simply boil some herbs (specific ones for different hair needs) , wait for them to cool, strain the little herb bits from the infused water and pour over your hair. I use them after shampooing and conditioning, and they make my hair smell wonderful. Be aware though, herbs are not as strong as chemical dyes or treatments, so you might not see effects after one rinse. However, from my experience, my hair did go shiny and nicely smelling after one time. After a few weeks, my hair had subtle and natural hightlights and it was SOOO soft. I urge you to try it!!! It is real nice.

I've listed some herbs below, and you can mix and match them for your specific needs. Personally, I would mix 2 or 3, but not more than that.

HERBS for HAIR RINSES

Burdock - good for hair loss, dry and dandruffy (great vocab usage) hair
Calendula - brings out natural auburn highlights (good for red heads)
Chamomile - great for blondes and bringing out the light highlights, healing and calming effects
Horsetail - lot's of silica and good for brittle hair
Lavender - good for greasy hair and actually, it's good for any type of hair (soothing, stimulating)
Marigold - brings out light and auburn highlights
Nettle - From personal experience, I know it's good for dandruff, dry scalp and thinning hair ( not recommended for blondes or light hair)
Peppermint - stimulating and smells soooo good
Rosemary - good for darker hair, gives warmth and color, excellent for dandruff
Sage - good for dark hair and also for coloring graying hair
Thyme - greasy, oily hair and dandruff

There are probably a thousand more herbs you could use, but these are the most common I think. Try a herb rinse for your specific needs (ex: for dandruff, I would mix some nettle and rosemary) or just try any of the herbs to condition your hair and give it a nice shine.

Simple Homemade Hand Cream

Recently, I've been reading a lot on making your own cosmetics. I was very anxious to try something, anything, that was a little harder than just putting baking soda in a jar :)
I bought some beeswax pearls (little pieces of beeswax - picture below) and searched for a recipe simple enough that I could do quickly with at-home ingredients. I found a bunch of similar recipes for a hand cream using beeswax, and here is the one I made!


Ingredients

• 1/2 ounce (14g) beeswax

• 3 ounces (89ml) olive oil - extra virgin if possible

• A couple drops of favorite essential oil (optional)

1. On top of a double boiler, stir the beeswax and oil (medium heat) until it the wax melts completley.

2. Remove from heat. Add the essential oil (if using) and continue stirring.

3. Before it cools completley, pour the mixture into a small jar (preferably glass jar).

4. Wait until the cream cools completley, then place the lid on the jar.

I found that this recipe makes a pretty nice cream. It is not creamy in the jar, its actually quite hard, but once you take some out with your fingers, it melts nicely on the skin. Also, I find that a little goes a long way with this cream.
Last tip: If you want to substitute the olive oil for another oil, I think it should be alright. The texture/smell might change a little, but go and experiment!!

Update on the "Challenge"

This is a quick update on my little baking soda experiment.

First of all, it was impossible (at least for me) to wash my face with baking soda for 10 days straight. I don't have overly sensitive skin, but I noticed that my skin hurt on the 3 day using baking soda. Instead of keeping it up (and walking around with a red face!) I stopped the baking soda. Bottom Line: If you have very sensitive skin I recommend NOT using it at all. If you have normal-sensitive skin like me, I would use it every 2-3 days, not every day. Or maybe once a week even. On the plus side, I think it made a nice improvement in my acne, as I haven't had any big outbreaks this week. Baking soda is a great exfoliator and cleaner, but I would go slow when starting with it. Get used to it.

P.s. I read somewhere that people mix it with honey so it doesn't sting that much. Maybe you should try that if it's too irritating.

Experiment: Baking Soda

I was reading through some natural remedies for acne on acne.org and I found a bunch of people who cleansed their face with baking soda. I thought that was kind of weird, since I would usually clean my counters with it (not my face!) Still, being the kind of person who will try anything to cure her mild acne, I decided to give it a go yesterday. I mixed some water with baking soda and applied it on my face. It feels really nice when you're massaging it in. Thinking that I would get the full effect if I left it on for 5 minutes, I waited patiently and felt it dry on my face. BIG MISTAKE. Washing my face was like scrubbing it with sandpaper. I was near tears! Owww.... After washing it off though, my face felt baby smooth. It was sooo nice. I applied some almond oil to moisturize and in the morning I was glowing!

So I washed with baking soda this morning, but instead of waiting, I just cleansed with it and washed it off. This didn't hurt as much and my face wasn't red afterwards (yay). I've decided to keep washing with it for 10 days and I will post my results. Hopefully it works! At the moment, it's looking smoother already :)

Burt's Bees Lip Balm Review

I'm sure many of you have seen burt's bees lip balm. It's that familiar little tube or tin with the yellow bee on it. This is how Burt's Bees describe it on their site:

"This natural lip balm moisturizes lips with ingredients like ultra-emollient lanolin, coconut oil and sunflower oil, and seals in hydration with beeswax. You can use it on healthy lips for a little peppermint tingle. Take your pick of an old-fashioned yellow tin or a recycled plastic tube. No wonder it is our most popular product."

I totally agree :) I purchased this lip balm a few years ago for the first time and used it to moisturize my lips during skiing season. I guess I forgot about it, but recently I passed a shelf with burt's bees products in my health food store, and I bought this lip balm again :) It's wonderful. It moisturizes well enough and it really does give a tingle! Not even kidding, my lips felt so... alive! I think the main reason I buy it is for the tingle...Anyways, I really recommend you try it. It's not very expensive, I think I payed 3$ for it and it lasts a while. I think the tube version is better because it's more handy and also spreads less germs (you're not sticking your finger in it like you do in the tin). So anyhow, give it a go because it is very natural and it works and it feels nice and... oh just trust me 'kay?

[Oh, I also tried this lip balm in honey, and it does have a stronger fragrance which you may or may not like. Personally, I loved it and now I switch between the regular and the honey one.]

Parabens 101

"British researchers have found traces of chemicals called parabens in tissue taken from women with breast cancer."
While this doesn't necessarily mean that parabens cause cancer, it doesn't sound ok either.

Let's back track a little. What the heck are parabens?
Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics and even food. They are frequently used in shampoos, cleansers, moisturizers, lotions, toothpaste, etc. In fact, 57% of all products contain parabens (!!!) which is why it's not exactly easy to avoid them. You can find parabens listed on the ingredients list on your products as 'methylparaben','butylparaben', 'propylparaben', 'ethylparaben' and any other word containing -paraben in it.

Why aren't they so safe? Parabens can mimic the hormone estrogen, which is known to play a role in breast cancer development. They can also affect the male reproductive system in bad ways. Research and studies have been made on both sides of the argument (paraben is good vs. paraben is bad), but honestly, if there are studies that say it is NOT healthy, why take the risk? There's no harm in not using products with parabens :)
Cosmetic companies don't necessarily want the best for your health. They want to make the most profit, which is why they use cheap s**t like parabens.

Even though it is hard to find products 'sans parabens' more and more companies are have begun phasing out parabens by marking their products "paraben-free". This is good news for us (consumers)! Here are some of the more popular companies that do not use parabens in any of their products:

• Aubrey Organics
• Burt's Bees
• Dr.Hauschka
• Earth Science
• Terressentials
• Tom's of Maine
• WELEDA
• more*

Of course, there are more companies that do not use parabens in some of their cosmetics, but to be on the safe side, you should ALWAYS read the ingredients listed on the back of your product.
If you find that your product does contain parabens, I advise you to throw it away and buy a different one or finish it and don't buy the same one again. Remember, things that were thought to be safe in the past have sometimes been revealed to cause lot's of diseases. There is no harm in being careful with our health...

*For the full list of Parabens-Free Cosmetic Companies click here.