Natural Beauty Products Part 2

Ha, I found it. A natural deodorant that works, is inexpensive and easy to make. Yep, you can make it yourself. It's a little too easy and you may not believe me that it works but I have been testing it for over a week and under several circumstances and it has come out with shinning colors. It is..... drum roll please.... baking soda and coconut oil! That's it.

I cannot even remember what amount of each. I just took a Tablespoon or two of coconut oil and poured and worked in enough baking soda to make a thick paste and then I crammed it into a small film canister so it would be small and available for use. I just press off enough to make a small paste and smooth it on and it seems to soak in and disappear.

I have used lavender essential oil sprayed right from a refillable perfume bottle for some time in the past but for some reason it seemed to stop working after several months.

I also heard somewhere that you can put a drop or two of tee tree oil in the coconut/baking soda mixture to help with antibacterial effects. So far I haven't found this necessary but will try it if the effect wears off over time. (I really do not expect it to)

Everyone's body chemistry is different and I'd be interested if anyone else has had similar success (with this recipe or any other particular one.

I'm sure you have baking soda on hand and if you do not have coconut oil you can usually pick it up at any health food store nowadays or even a grocery store that has a Health Food section. You will need only a small amount to try it so be sure to use the rest of the coconut oil in cooking. It is wonderfully fragrant and has many, many health benefits.

Below is an excerpt from an article by Dr Mercola talking about the dangers of using common drug store deodorants.

".... I need to explain that one of the simplest, least expensive and non
toxic alternatives to deodorants is simply plain soap. Antiperspirants are far
more dangerous than deodorants, but I haven’t used either for over two decades.

An additional benefit of stopping these CHEMICALS is that you will stop
producing the yellow stains in the armpits of your shirts. Those stains are NOT
due to your sweat but rather caused by the chemicals you are putting on and in
your body."

Putting chemicals on your skin is actually far worse than ingesting them, because when you eat something the enzymes in your saliva and stomach help break it down and flush it out of your body.

When you put these chemicals on your skin, however, they are absorbed straight into your blood stream without filtering of any kind, so there's no protection against the toxins. Instead, they are in large part going directly to your delicate organs."

Using natural deodorant is such a benefit as there are loads of lympth glands under the skin in the armpit area. It is downright dangerous to put chemicals on the skin in that area that STOP perspiration. The intent with natural deodorants are that you do not stop perspiration, just stop any bacterial growth that cause odor. We do that by creating unfavorable conditions that are not harmful to the skin nor the underlying lymph nodes, and allowing proper drainage as it should be. On another note, the less toxic you are internally, the less troublesome body odor will be. Perhaps that is another post, internal cleansing!

Living a Lifestyle of Learning daily

Natural beauty products Part 3

On to skin and hair care again as I have found some really great additional tips and tricks.

The best things to use on your face as a scrub is steel cut oats, Epsom salts warm water, and an egg yolk.

A good natural moisturizer has always been unrefined sesame oil or coconut oil as I have already tried and love using coconut oil.

A good mask for dry skin is mashed avocado! Nothing beats plain old diluted cider vinegar as a toner. ...and last but certainly not least....drink water and practice good sleep hygiene! Nothing beats a good night sleep....zzzzzzzzzz

And for the occasional break out use an all natural acne fighter- Rubbing just a drop of oregano oil on a breakout can speed up the healing and prevent unsightly scarring without resorting to harsh commercial acne medication (remember to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards).

For the hair, I have tried this and IT WORKS! Add a Tablespoon of baking soda to a cup of water and keep in a squirt bottle in the shower. Instead of using shampoo, just soak your hair with the soda mixture and your hair will come out soft and clean without shampooing! This will save your hair from being stripped everyday or, in my case, every other day and gives it time to rebuild it's natural luster. I have been skipping the conditioner as well as it seems it was simply a film that attracted dirt and making frequent shampooing more necessary. I have used in the past, with good success, a diluted solution of apple cider vinegar to make the hair nice and shiny. (1 T or so to a couple of cups of water)

That same vinegar solution is also good as a skin toner and apparently so is Witch hazel. I haven't tried this yet so if you do try it let me know what you think.

Another thing I found in my research, (but have not tried) is the use of peelu vegetable fiber toothpastes. (don't have a clue where to get these)

Apparently, you can also use the same deodorant mixture-coconut oil and baking soda as a natural toothpaste. (sounds weird doesn't it?) I think I will try this next.

I have also been told that coconut oil massaged into the scalp before bed stimulates hair growth and makes the hair stronger.

And yet another use for Baking soda. I substituted baking soda for regular dish washing powder and it worked! I have been looking for a natural replacement for several months (maybe years) I have tried borax and it seemed to work for a while but so I hear that it may not be a good choice anyway. I plan on using baking soda for a week or so and access the outcome. If I feel it does not do a good job of disinfecting I may add a little Hydrogen peroxide. Anyway, I will let all who are interested know how it comes out, ...er... in the wash... (Sorry couldn't resist.)

My next post, Part 4 will be on natural hair colors. Until then, have a non toxic clean day.

Living a Lifestyle of Learning daily

Natural beauty-skin deep! Part 1

I have been exploring some natural skins care products over the years looking, searching for something to replace just about everything in my makeup case over time. I am a confirmed label reader but as you might agree nobody can even pronounce the ingredient list on your average eyeshadow package let alone actually understand what most of the ingredients are. Not only are they too small to read(intentionally?) but the words are seemingly not even in English. They appear to be all words you should have learned in your high school chemistry class, but didn't. AND with the recent news over the very common use of lead in lipsticks, and quite a few other chemical hazards, I started tightening my intent on finding something better.
So, if you do what many do and turn to your local health food store for any product they have to offer you will need to get a second job to afford them. And the ingredients are still questionable. Just because you CAN pronounce some of them doesn't mean that they are good for you or your body in general. (arsenic is totally natural, is easy to pronounce but completely lethal)

Below is an article from Dr Mercola's newsletter listing some the shocking ingredients in some common skin care and make up products.

Grab the bottles of skin moisturizers you currently use. You might find that your personal care products contain one or probably more of many potentially dangerous ingredients. Here are a few of the most common suspicious ingredients:

Mineral Oil, Paraffin, and Petrolatum – Petroleum products that coat the skin like plastic, clogging pores and creating a build-up of toxins, which in turn accumulate and can lead to dermatological issues. Slows cellular development, which can cause you to show earlier signs of aging. Suspected cause of cancer. Disruptive of hormonal activity. By the way, when there’s an oil spill in the ocean, don’t they rush to clean it up – fast? Why put that stuff on your skin?

Parabens – Widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic industry (including moisturizers). An estimated 13,200 cosmetic and skin care products contain parabens. Studies implicate their connection with cancer. They have hormone-disrupting qualities – mimicking estrogen – and interfere with the body’s endocrine system.

Phenol carbolic acid– Found in many lotions and skin creams. Can cause circulatory collapse, paralysis, convulsions, coma and even death from respiratory failure.

Propylene glycol – Used as a moisturizer in cosmetics and as a carrier in fragrance oils. Shown to cause dermatitis, kidney or liver abnormalities, and may inhibit skin cell growth or cause skin irritation. Acrylamide– Found in many hand and face creams. Linked to mammary tumors in lab research. Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate (SLS), also known as sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)– Found in car washes, engine degreasers, garage floor cleaners… and in over 90% of personal care products! SLS breaks down the skin’s moisture barrier, easily penetrates the skin, and allows other
chemicals to easily penetrate. Combined with other chemicals, SLS becomes a
“nitrosamine”, a potent class of carcinogen. It can also cause hair loss. SLES
is sometimes disguised with the labeling “comes from coconut” or
“coconut-derived”.

Toluene – Poison! Danger! Harmful or fatal if swallowed! Harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Made from petroleum or coal tar, and found in most synthetic fragrances. Chronic exposure linked to anemia, lowered blood cell count, liver or kidney damage, and may affect a developing fetus. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) contains toluene. Other names may include benzoic and benzyl. Dioxane– Found in compounds known as PEG, Polysorbates, Laureth, ethoxylated alcohols. Common in a wide range of personal care products. The compounds are usually contaminated with high concentrations of highly volatile 1,4

Dioxane, easily absorbed through the skin. Dioxane’s carcinogenicity was first reported in 1965 and later confirmed in studies including one from the National Cancer Institute in 1978. Nasal passages and liver are the most vulnerable. Dioxane is easily removed during the manufacturing process by “vacuum stripping”. Warning: It is a synthetic derivative of coconut. Watch for hidden language on labels, such as “comes from coconut”. So, do you want to put these chemicals on your skin? Hopefully not... You’d be better served by switching to skin care products made of plant names you recognize, can pronounce, and could even eat (if you had to).

So my path to more friendly products have taken me to some interesting finds. As usual the answer is usually in your cupboard (or fridge) and it is this time as well. To replace any skin cleansers, soap, antibacterial cleansers, use food grade almond oil. For many years, even into ancient times, oil was used as a cleanser and it really does help break down just about any dirt or skin debris from everyday wear and tear. You will find blackheads dissolve, skin sloughing will happen daily and moisturizing is built right in. Almond oil is filled with antibacterial properties and vitamin E, a skin supplement and supporter. You can find almond oil in just about any drug store in with some other natural products such as caster oil and witch hazel. You will probably have to ask the druggist where it is as they are usually way down on the bottom shelf hidden in some obscure isle. (not big money makers, obviously)

I use almond oil in the evening to remove old make-up and moisturize for the night, or better still might be my most recent try, raw coconut oil. You will need to protect your pillow case as it will lead some dark oil stains on anything it comes in contact with for the night. Coconut oil has wonderful anti bacterial/anti viral properties, is helpful both internal and externally against acne and yeast problems.

To remove mascara safely use caster oil.(if you use mascara at all) Caster oil is a safe thick oil that can be applied with a q-tip. Here's how I do it. I first lightly scoop warm water onto the closed eye to soften mascara then dip a Q-tip in the oil and apply right away. Both the water and the oil together does an excellent job.

In the morning apply almond oil again as a night time clean up and toxin removal and then the next step you will need to dampen down the oily look with a homemade powder mix. I tried every ground product in my cupboard (rice flour, millet flour unifine ground even) and found each of them too grainy. Then I read in "The Cure for All Cancers," the chapter on natural personal products.

Use cornstarch or arrow root powder and (what I had already tried)-beet root powder.

Ha, At least I was on the right track, but going the wrong way with which powder to use. It worked great! I had purchased beet root powder from Azure Standard several years ago and it has faded somewhat but provided enough color to help me experiment and take the stark whiteness of the corn starch.You don't have to worry about getting the right pink color either. The redishness of beets seems to work well to pinken the powder and that is really all you need for now.

Next, lipstick. I discovered that glycerin has multiple uses. I mixed my beetroot powder with food grade glycerin and painted it on and found it is not only delicious (which is actually a problem) but it also gave a really nice glossy look. You can adjust the tint by adding more or less color. This is so far an OK alternative for stick lipstick although it is a little impractical for everyday use. It is just so good and I kept tending to lick it off! Oh well, at least it was not harmful going down!

Newsflash- just in- check out my daughter-in-law's site for a post on sending a free container of mineral make up - all you have to do is pay the shipping of 5.00.

Check out this site for keying in the name of specific make up products to see their ingredients and safety levels. Shocking!

Living a Lifestyle of Learning daily