Skin Care

I had the most beautiful skin evening last night! I found this great site called Skin Care Recipes and Remedies and decided to try a few of their "recipes" out, modified according to what I had lying around. First, I massaged a mixture of jojoba and castor oil on my face. Then, I boiled water and held my head, with a facecloth draped over it, above the steam for about seven minutes. After that, I dried off a little, and put a mask of 1:1 honey and ACV. Finally, I rinsed and applied my kefir/yogurt moisturizer. I felt clean and yummy! The website is definitely a great resource and should be checked out if you have any skin issues - or simply want to try some natural ways to stay clean and hydrated.

Speaking of natural...if you're curious about the toxicity of your beauty products, from make-up to toothpaste, check out Skin Deep, a consumer's guide to the safety of commercial cosmetics.

And lastly, my new favorite use of castor oil: make-up remover. Off to steam my face!

Got Milk Update

I'm not crazy about the milk moisturizer anymore. It worked beautifully the first time, but since then, it's dried on and made me feel like I have powdered milk on my face...which I guess I sort of did. Alas, still searching...

Got Milk?

I may have finally found a face washing routine. I mixed a T of coconut oil with a t of kosher salt and used as an exfoliant. I then followed with a kefir-yogurt moisturizer (1:1). I smell like sour milk, but my skin is so soft! Maybe I'll experiment with essential oils that would add some scent. I did have to reapply once, but overall - great results! I don't think I'll be able to do the exfoliant twice a day, so I'm still trying to find that happy medium with the oils. Maybe I'll just use warm water in the morning to rejuvenate my skin, and do the exfoliant in the evenings? I'm hoping to try an orange mask soon, recipe somewhere on the site below...

Other skin care recipes

Throw out the sunscreen?

I can't remember a time when my mother didn't scold me for running outside without sunscreen. My father's (mythological?) cousin died of melanoma. My father has had several "scares" himself. My mother attributes her youthful skin to staying out of the sun. All in all, I've been pretty programmed to believe the sun is Public Enemy #1. That said, it's pretty understandable that although I cringe at the sight of my pastey winter complexion, I'm still hesitant to stay out in the summer sun without 45+ sunscreen. It wasn't until this year that I began thinking a little more about our friendly cellestial neighbor...

As my goal is to keep things simple, I'll spare all the details, but reference some of the sites where I've found this information at the bottom of the post.

My sunscreen research summed up in three simple points:
1. They contain powerful chemicals that may cause/contribute to basal and squamous cell carcinomas.
2. They block UVB but not UVA rays, leading us to believe it's ok to stay outside for as long as we'd like!
3. When wearing sunscreen, we do not absorb the vitamin D necessary for healthy bone growth.
4. Vitamin D synthesis occurs between the hours of 10am - 2pm!

Now, I'm not advocating for tanning beds or all-day lobster bakes, but I think there can be a happy medium. I experimented with coconut oil today on a two hour hike (parts of it were very shady) and ended up with slightly pink cheeks and a bit of color on my shoulders. I plan to forego the sunscreen, limit my bare skin direct sun exposure, and enjoy the upcoming summer without the sticky, smelly mess of sunscreen.

Oh, and don't forget to eat some liver to round out your vitamin D intake!

The Miracle of Vitamin D
Sunlight and Melanoma: The Surprising Connection
Conscious Choice

Skin Update

For the most part, any blemishes I had on my back/neck/shoulders are gone. I'm nearly certain now that it was from my products.

I like the OCM. I'm currently using 50/50/10, Castor oil/EVOO/Jojoba Oil. I'm way too dry afterwards though, so I have to rub some vitamin E oil and jojoba onto my cheeks and forehead. I think I'll play around with the ratio to see if I can eliminate this step! Overall, my face is pretty clear! Yay!

Day 15: It's an oily world...

I bought the castor and jojoba oil yesterday, and began a new skin routine. I mixed equal parts castor and EVOO, and massaged for a few minutes, just as I did with the coconut oil. I've done it three times so far, and though my skin feels really soft, it's so tight afterwards. I mixed two drops of Vitamin E oil and jojoba oil in my palms, and then massaged that in after "washing". I feel a little oily, but my skin looks great--dewy, fresh, and clean.

As for my hair...ugh. I conditioned it this morning, for the second day in a row, and the sides looked greasy. One of my students asked if I was still no pooing, and when I said yes, she replied that my hair didn't look dirty at all. Perhaps it's because I am obsessive with mirrors now, wondering if my hair looks as bad as I imagine it to, but I wasn't convinced by her comment. I've decided not to do two days of conditioning in a row, and opted to use BS (with a drop of jojoba) and ACV tonight. It's still wet, so I'll have to report tomorrow on the outcome.







I started to feel a little squeamish that my endeavors for simplicity and less waste were perhaps defeating the purpose, as my showers have become twice as long with all that massaging! So tonight, I massaged my face and head before I showered, and just did the rinsing in the shower. It still took awhile, but I think I'm improving.

I've been "brushing" my body with a long handled natural bristle brush I bought at Good Health . It's amazing how many dead skin cells we can shed in one day! I've developed a little hypothesis--if I stop using hair products, and slough off the dead skin cells, I shouldn't have any chest/neck/back blemishes...or at least their *occasional* appearance status should drop down to infrequent.

OCM - Oil Cleaning Method

I mentioned before that I've stopped "washing" my face with my normal face washes. I haven't washed in a traditional way in about two weeks now. It is important for me to note that I've always had pretty good skin, so as with *no poo* this wasn't a quest for beauty, or to remedy some problems. Rather, it's about sustainability, and purity. I've just been massaging my face twice a day with coconut oil. It looks great. In fact, once a month things usually get a bit iffy, but this month I only had one little zit, and it lasted two days, and stayed very small. However, I did get really dry, so I bought some Vitamin E oil to use afterwards. I've been reading that this little coconut oil experiment is actually somewhat legit. There are people who ascribe to the Oil Cleaning Method (OCM), which basically means that oils draw out oils. Most people use a mix of olive oil and castor oil though. The castor oil cleans and purifies, and the olive oil moisturizes. I think I'll go get some castor oil tomorrow and try it. In the mean time, I am totally happy with my glowing results!

This link gives you all the details about OCM you need to start:
OCM - All About

Here's a great link from Livejournal about OCM:
OCM - How To