No Brainer Natural Beauty Recipes

Writing this, I’m wondering, “Do I do the beauty angle, the money angle, or the environmental angle?” There’s also a “we’ve been manipulated far too long” angle. (Damn gluttonous corporations.)

Here, it all started with cleaning products. About the time I had to call poison control because my toddler licked commercial furniture polish, I switched over to more natural cleaners. Mostly baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and some tea tree oil. Years later it occurred to me…if I’m so concerned about the chemicals in the stuff I clean my house with…how incongruous is it to not be concerned about what I put on my body & down my shower drain? (You might have gotten there faster; I’m slow to change.)

PSA: The secret to great hair, skin, and teeth is to do less, with less, and pay a LOT less. Bonus points for lessening your impact on the environment. How’s that for a secret?

I'm really happy with my hair. Shiny, soft, manageable, smells nice, and it cooperates with me daily. The purpose of saying that is to add this: I haven’t used shampoo in going on 2 1/3 years.  It started as a way to manage an increasingly sensitive scalp. Research drove home the environmental benefits. I forgo several more body products now. The thing that strikes me the most is how much BETTER everything feels and works. It’s like….wait for it….they were completely unnecessary all this time, and even caused a few problems.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the human design is pretty fantastic & quite low maintenance if we’ll stop screwing with it.

After the hair thing went so well and my scalp was no longer itchy/dry but my skin was, it seemed logical to try different methods of cleaning skin as well. So I did, and the laughably simple “recipes” are below, and my skin is great. Different method for face & body. Then there was this weird bump on my face and—via other research-- I stumbled onto the “no fluoride” thing. Stopped using fluoride. Teeth got whiter. Bump went away. Found a “no fluoride” dentist. Teeth are great.

Going “green”/lessening my negative impact on my body and on the environment is a work in progress. The more I become aware of, the more I want to do, and because I research a lot that “to do” list is overwhelmingly long. To make it manageable, I try something, do it for a while, then add a bit more, do that for a while….and if I am to give advice here, I’d say slow change is best for me but you do it your way.

What to Buy or Upcycle:

Products: Baking soda, Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), tea tree oil, essential oil of your choice (I like mint), pure olive oil soap, organic virgin coconut oil, pure aloe.

Containers: 6 oz-ish tub container with tight fitting lid, squeeze bottle

Recipes:

Main Mix: Fill the 6oz-ish container with baking soda, a few drops of tea tree oil, and a few drops of essential oil. Add enough water to make it a paste. Stir well. Secure lid.

Shampoo: For long hair, get into shower, put 2 Tbs Mix into squirt bottle, add warm water, shake, pour over dry hair, give yourself a little head massage, rinse hair and squirt bottle.

Conditioner: For long hair, while in shower, put 2 Tbs ACV into squirt bottle, add warm water, shake, pour over shampooed hair, massage in, wait a few minutes, rinse well.

Face Wash: Smear a thimble sized amount of coconut oil on face, concentrate on areas where makeup was applied, rinse off with washcloth and very warm water. Reapply if mascara is stubborn. (My advice is do this at the sink so you don’t risk a slippery shower floor). Your face should not feel greasy.

Face lotion: After cleaning with face wash, apply a little more coconut oil to really dry areas, apply aloe to the rest of face/neck.

Body wash: Put some of the main mix on your hands or a wash cloth and get busy cleaning body parts. Unless you are super dirty, using lots on drier areas like legs, arms, & torso isn’t really necessary. Focus on areas that stink. You know what they are.

Body lotion: Mix equal amounts of coconut oil and aloe in palm. Rub palms together to emulsify, apply to dry areas.

Toothpaste: Scrub toothbrush against olive oil soap, the dab brush in Main Mix (a tiny bit will do ya). Don’t forget to floss. (Bet you were wondering what that olive oil soap was for, huh?)

Expect:

·        fewer skin/hair problems over the course of a few weeks

·        a need to wash hair less often

·        more manageable hair

·        a fatter wallet

That’s it. As for shaving…I’m still working on that. Coconut oil works well but as stated earlier, can make your shower slippery (note: Main Mix cleans well too). I usually steal some of my husband’s all natural (yet, commercial) herbal conditioner. Deodorant…well, some would argue to just keep armpits clean….but there are interesting recipes out there. One on my list to try has coconut oil, cornstarch, tea tree oil and essential oil.

Shout out to http://ohsailyes.com/, friends living out their dream on a boat, for inspiring this post after quite the hiatus. 

Gone Flexitarian (got my ADULT card)

We all have our ideas of what makes an adult. Until this week I didn't have a grasp of what my criteria was, just that it wasn't met yet. Then my doctor's assistant handed me my adult card, in the form of lab results. Adulthood is having to worry about your cholesterol. "The doctor wants you to improve your diet," she said. Oh, and come back to take a test for diabetes.

Something deep inside said: "AHA! Now you're a GROWN UP."

As long as I could essentially eat and exercise in the same fashion as I have since childhood, I felt like a kid. Turning 18, 21, eligibility to drink alcohol, diplomas, degrees, marriage, having babies, divorce, jobs, gray hair, home ownership, hypoglycemia, teenagers, parents with health issues....none of that sealed the deal. But high cholesterol is for adults. Feels like I've joined a new club. Now I can discuss my cholesterol like a grown up. Casually, yet with knowledge, concern, and experience. 41 is the new 18.

Am I taking this lightly? No, although I'm enjoying the humor. Going to improve diet? Yes, going to try "Flexitarian". Neat Guy is on board to try it with me. The doc gave him his Adult Card a few months ago. I am going to buy "The Flexitarian Diet" however until then I'm defining it as eating mostly organic vegetarian...and when you do eat meat, eating lean, grass fed, free range, antibiotic & growth hormone free smaller amounts. 

Aside from a life-long challenge of following directions, it should not be too difficult. For years now I've been graduating toward cleaner eating thanks to a James Cameron-esque increased awareness.

Soap Box Alert

If you look at any huge meat industry practices, they are well...inhumane, gross, and dangerous to people and our planet. If you look at Big Farming, it's an exchange of increased quantity for crappy quality...like cubic zirconia vs. diamonds, not to mention depleting the soil, poisoning us via our water supply, GMO's...  It wouldn't shock me to find out Mars is actually the first planet we screwed up. That's the short version.

Going to doc now for that A1C diabetes test. More on being an adult as it plays out. After all, I'm new to this.

I No Poo, U Can 2

Here ye, here ye: I have not shampooed since October 2012. I'm excited to tell you this in part because I actually followed through on a goal. As anyone with ADHD can tell you, that's something to celebrate.

I'd like to say it was a pious sense of environmental consciousness that prompted this journey, but it's really much more basic than that. My head was itchy. Chemicals (i.e., shampoo, conditioner, styling products, and color) aggravated my scalp to the point of insane itching and embarrassing flaking. Dermatitis, basically. The more stressed I was, the worse it would be. One day while I whined and scratched, Miss Daisy mentioned some folks forgo shampoo altogether. A few Google searches later and I had a plan. I was going "no poo".

Barring disastrous results my plan was to give it 6 months. If I liked it in 6 months, I would give it a year. If I liked it in a year I would tell the world. So here we are.

Features & Benefits: My scalp feels great. My hair feels great. Both look great, IMHO. My hair dries faster, is slower to develop split ends, and isn't bleaching out at the ends as rapidly. It feels and looks thicker and has more "body", resulting in easier styling. Also, I only wash my hair once a week now.
Knowledge: Of how our bodies work, and how completely unnecessary most body products are.
Added Bonus: I have saved a lot of money.
Global Bonus: Less water pollution, and more water conservation
Unexpected Result: my face doesn't sunburn as easily (more on that later).

If you want to know how, keep reading.

Note: I began with just the Apple Cider Vinegar rinse with a few drops of Tea Tree Oil, to help calm my scalp down. From what I recall, my hair felt a tad oilier than I like, but didn't appear so. Still, several weeks in I added a baking soda rinse and occasional dab of almond oil. That has been my perfect combo for about a year now.

Supplies:
Water, Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar, Tea Tree Oil (optional). Squeeze bottle (like you put mustard and ketchup in). For dry/frizzy hair, Almond Oil (and you can add a drop of essential oil for fragrance)

Mixing:
Step 1: Mix about 2 Tbs of baking soda with at least one cup water in squeeze bottle. Shake to mix. Using tip of bottle, squirt the solution onto your scalp. Next, give yourself a little scalp massage. Rinse well.
Step 2: Mix about 2 Tbs of the vinegar to at least 1 cup of water, put in a few drops of tea tree oil (if desired) and shake to mix. Then squirt it onto your scalp and massage through your hair. Let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing well.
Step 3: Towel dry, comb through. If your hair is on the dry/frizzy side, put a small amount of almond oil in your palm and apply it to lower 3/4 of your hair (I have longish hair and use about 1/2 tsp). As it dries, any residual vinegar smell will dissipate.

Styling:
I don't. Well, ok...when it looked frizzy I used a flat iron to tame a few pieces. Otherwise, I don't blow dry and I let the curls rule. Early on I used some styling wax but it wasn't really needed once my hair balanced out. A boar bristle brush is a great investment for shine and manageability. Use it daily and clean it once a week with a little baking soda and water.

Expect:
A change in texture. This was pretty interesting. Hair actually gets a little waterproof as the natural sebum of the scalp is allowed to re-coat and protect it. That's what makes it feel/look thicker and dry faster too. Also expect a lack of fragrance unless you add the essential oil.

About that Unexpected Result: Apparently human sebum has an SPF of 4-6. Who knew?

I'll post a few pictures soon. Meanwhile, if anyone else wants to add tips or ask questions, I'd love to hear from you!

The Therapist Is IN: Why do I feel like crap?

It's a bit odd that we often view mental health as different and unrelated to physical health, as though our psyche was a balloon floating above yet barely tethered to our bodies. I've learned to take a wholistic approach with clients in which we ponder the psychological, lifestyle, and medical contributors to their problem. If your psychological health is average, but your thyroid is on the fritz, or your blood sugar is whacky, your hormones are off, you've had head trauma, or you have undiagnosed allergies, or you are vitamin deficient (the list goes on)...you probably feel like crap physically and mentally. Finding out why is paramount to effective treatment. If something stands out as a medical contributor to the client's mental health, I refer them to their physician, and I offer to consult with that physician if needed.

Example 1: A woman in an eating disorder program to treat obesity and depression that seemed to be getting worse despite her best efforts. She also happened to have an "apple" shape, chin whiskers, and thinning hair. I recommended she have blood work done including thyroid panel and a hormone panel run to rule out Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. Why would this be a therapist's business? Because I was treating her for psychological issues related to obesity and depression, both of which can be caused or made much worse by those physical ailments. Imagine the therapeutic benefit of addressing the medical issues, of the client realizing she wasn't just inept but actually had a medical condition.

Example 2: A child referred to therapy for anxiety, lethargy, and personality change. A month or so into therapy--with some progress made-- the child reveals they had a severe concussion about a month before starting therapy services. Concussions can have a range of symptoms that last months to years, including anxiety, lethargy, and personality change.

Moral of the Story: Therapy isn't going to fix your thyroid disorder. Neither will Prozac. However, lack of proper medical treatment can certainly contribute to your mental health getting worse.

Salud.

A Year Today

A year ago today I went out with the most wonderful guy...and decided to keep him. My journal entry for that day reads, "Wow! Maybe I've actually met a genuine, mentally sound, intelligent, nice guy! And I find him attractive. Bonus!"
And later, upon commute inspired reflection: "He seems to be both secure/accepting of himself and of others. He has boundaries and limitations, hopes, values, dreams with enough flexibility to allow for another person."
That was just after talking, texting, and lunch. And y'know what? I was right.

Love

You get to almost 40, and you think you know stuff. If you're a shrink raised by shrinks, you think you know the capacity of human emotion. Yet, there's always room for humility and growth. I find myself there with Neat Guy. I really, truly, had no idea love was like this. It's similar to the love I have for my children in its naturalness and depth. Yet also a passionate and abiding love like that modeled by my mom and stepdad. To experience it myself...I search for words. "Wonderful" barely covers it. It's this great mix of wonderous, comfortable, warm, heady, exciting, tender, safe, natural, inspiring, and joyous. I feel lucky, blessed, fortunate. I feel loved.

Neat Guy and I are going on 10 months together. I'm thrilled to say that he's all the things I've written previously, and a few extra. Exhilerating top notes of infatuation have lifted to reveal the comforting heartbeat of a relationship that both nurtures and stimulates. That's a fancy way of saying the new has worn off and what's underneath is even better. This is different than what I've known before.

I think this might even be normal.

Our daughters were talking marriage 8 months ago. We call that "Disney Princess Speed". In fact, I think it was on the second meeting that my oldest told Neat Guy, "We're gonna need a bigger house." She wasn't joking. There are 5 kids between us.

Asking if there is a future for us is like asking if we plan to keep breathing.  The big picture requires a good balance of pragmatism and romance. I think of how good this journey with him has been. And that it has been healthy because we've been honest, laughed, and taken our time. The result is a relationship that is "comfy and joyful" [his words :-) ] and better than I ever imagined.

10 Great Things About My Relationship with Neat Guy:
1) He is always himself.
2) I can see how much he loves me in his eyes.
3) We laugh together.
4) His family is a wonderful bunch of people. You can see how he got that way.
5) My family adores him. My mom brags about him to other people.
6) Our kids get along.
7) Our kids want us together.
8) We have common goals.
9) We have mutual respect and appreciation.
10) I trust him.

Birthday

Today I am 39. Its already the best bithday in a decade. Today I have peace, friendship, and love. Nothing tops that. Last weekend my parents worked with my daughters to throw a family party. All day long they worked on steak, presents, and KitKat(my 11 y/o)baked our favorite chocolate cake from scratch. KitKat and my parents got me tickets to see Cake Boss on Tuesday, which also gave KK and I much needed bonding time. Throughout the week I received handmade cards full of touching poetry from my sensitive 9 year old and carefully formed letters spelling "I love mom" from my adorable 6 year old. I love my family.
Wednesday Neat Guy asked what I wanted to do on my birthday. Thursday and Friday he counted down via text. I'm not used to having my significant other do that...which made it all the sweeter. Last night I enjoyed laughing through dinner with his daughter (Miss M)and son (H) then snuggling with Miss M in our new matching fleece jackets. And best of all, they gave me a framed photo of the 3 of them smiling and talking. I love my man, and his kids.
Later I logged onto FaceBook to find a birthday tribute from my best friend Miss Daisy (yeahisaidit@blogspot.com). With humor and insight she beautifully described our 11 year friendship. I love my bff.
It's my birthday and I am blessed.