Oil Cleansing Method

Recently, my friend Christy posted about something new she was trying for facial cleansing. My initial reaction was, “Ewww.” Getting over that, I was intrigued.

Have you heard of the Oil Cleansing Method? Basically, you combine caster oil with either olive oil or sunflower oil and clean your face with it rather than your normal, most likely chemical based facial cleanser.

Sounds simple, right?

It totally is! The hardest part was finding caster oil. Let me save you some time, head for Walgreens because I live in a fairly large city and they were still the only place that carried it.

You can experiment with how much of each oil you’ll need. I have crazy skin that’s oily in some places and flaky dry in some so I started with mixing a small amount in case I needed to adjust. I started with 20% castor oil and 80% extra virgin olive oil and that seems to be working well for me. Read the article to find out what mixture will work best for you.

I had some fears going into this. First, that I’d smell like an Italian hoagie. Not at all! While I’m massaging the oil into my skin, the smell of the olive oil drives me batty. As soon as I’m done, the smell is gone. I have even asked my husband if he can smell it and he says that he can’t.

I was also afraid that I’d have problems with this making my skin really oily. Sure, I’d read that the castor oil actually breaks up the oil on your skin but the thought of rubbing oil on my skin seemed contrary to taking the oil off. Believe it, friends. It works!

My final fear was that I'd have to use a seperate product to remove my mascara. This works as well as any cleaner I've used in the past (and I think I've used them all!) at removing all of my eye makeup.

I have been able to eliminate my nightly moisturizer since I started using this method just over a week ago. On top of that, I hadn’t yet found a “green” facial cleanser and this keeps me from having to try out all of the expensive ones.

If you have tried this method, please let me know! I’d love to hear how you like it.

**Photo credit: Liv Friis-larsen - Fotolia.com

Well, Well, Well

I'm sure you guys probably thought I was gone forever, didn't you? I have been away from this blog for way too long and I have been itching to get back.

The truth is, I haven't written here because I didn't feel like I had anything new to share with you. We have been cruising along quite nicely with all of the changes that we made to make our lifestyle more green but hadn't tried anything new.

It occurred to me that I originally wanted this blog to be about sharing my journey with you but I also wanted a dialog with you about what you are doing and how this journey is working for you. I wanted to share products with you that I'd either heard about or tried...the good and the bad. I wanted to encourage each other as we tried to make our lives better and take care of the world we live in.

I'm ready to get back to those things. I'm ready to talk. Do you have something that you want to hear about that I haven't covered? If you guys are still reading, let's chat. I'll have at least two new posts up this week and in two weeks, there will be a giveaway here that you won't want to miss. So, bring your ideas, questions and tell your friends because I'm back, baby.

Fabkins

School is about to start here and we have been gearing up and getting all of our supplies ready. It occurred to me as I was making my lists for school shopping that I may have to start buying paper napkins again to use in lunch boxes for the kids. I don't have enough of a supply of cloth built up yet at home to let them take those. Plus, all of our home ones would be rather large for a lunch box.

Luckily, I found Fabkins! These are the most adorable cloth napkins in just the right size for a child's lunch box! I was so excited about these that I let my kids pick out which they wanted and went to order right away. Unfortunately, the ones Sister chose were out of stock. I emailed the company to find out when they'd be in and I got an almost immediate response from co-founder Paige Rodgers. She explained that the ones we wanted were out of stock until October. Sister picked out her second favorite and we had an email saying they were shipped in less than 24 hours. How's that for customer service? I'm beyond impressed.

I'll let you know how they work out when we start using them. For now, I'm just glad that I don't have to buy paper napkins again!

Apologies

Folks, I haven't forgotten about this blog or you. I promise! I'm still trying each day to make strides in a more green lifestyle but I haven't had the energy to tell you about them. We have had one crazy summer and these past couple of weeks have just gotten crazier.

I will tell you that the big strides that we have taken lately are going really well. I'm still using the re-usable cloth bags on shopping trips. I've even take recently to refusing bags at places where I'm just making small purchases. We also haven't purchased paper napkins since I shared with you that I've made the switch to cloth! I've got to say that this is the biggest thing for us because I loathe laundry. But, I haven't noticed any extra laundry and I just throw them in with whatever load I'm working on. I've gotten comments from friends who are dining with us about how great they think it is. Of course, the follow on is that they don't think they can make that switch and I get to explain how easy it was for us.

Another thing I've noticed recently is that I cringe when we are out and I see a lot of unnecessary packaging. Restaurants are notorious for this and an overuse of Styrofoam. A year ago, I wouldn't have given it a passing thought but now it really grates on my nerves.

So, there you have it. I'm still around and posting will pick up here very soon. I've just got to catch my breath first.

I've Got a Beef To Pick

While I'm vacationing with my family for a few days, I've asked one of my favorite ladies in the world to stand in for me. She has no idea that she has been an inspiration to me in my green journey. I remember way back when she was the first of our group who was bold enough to try cloth diapers. She was also the first to make her own baby food. I love her, admire her and can't wait to share her with you! Enjoy Amy from Wake Me When It's Over and make her feel welcome!



I am so excited Heather asked me to guest blog on here! She's been such a huge motivator to step up my going green. With the sheer abundance of info out there it can be so overwhelming to figure out what step to take next. But with Heather here passing all her information along I've really been able to step up my game. So thanks Heather! You've been a huge help!


I've been throwing around the idea of switching to grass fed hormone free beef for quite a while. There are so many reasons that grass fed is better for you and the environment. Cows are meant to be grazing creatures. Instead they are fed corn because this fattens them up faster, which in turn causes the animals to become ill. Think acidosis, rumenitis, liver ulcers and bloat. So thanks to all those nice little illnesses the cows are pumped full of antibiotics. Oh and to get those tasty little cows off to slaughter sooner they get loaded up with hormones. Mmmmm...... I'll take 1 hormone riddled antibiotic laced steak please.

Antibiotics and hormones. Those are big one for me. I've heard time and again that our bodies are growing more resistant to antibiotics. Could this be because we are exposed to it almost daily through our foods? Seriously. I don't know, but it makes sense to me. And hormones? We have girls going through puberty earlier and earlier. It's been suspected that the hormone laden meats could be a cause for this but I haven't been able to find a full blown study. And breast cancer? Again, no study. It would be nice to have these studies done wouldn't it?

So all in all grass fed hormone free beef seems to be the way to go. The animals are raised more humanely. When it's time for slaughter you won't find them jam packed in a trailer cruising down the freeway to the likes of Hallmark Meat Packing Co. You know, the place where those videos of abuse and neglect surfaced a while back. Nope, generally they are slaughtered on site or at small independent slaughter facilities. And with all the meat recalls this would help me breath a little easier. The meat it self is higher in nutritional value. So I guess that leaves us with cost. Sure, it is a bit pricey. And I know every time I start looking into it I shy away because of the price. But then I think about it and realize I can't put a price on my families health.

I'm sure I'll take the plunge sooner than later. But I just can't shake this nagging feeling that I might be setting my boys up for some teasing in the future. I mean if the majority of other kids are eating hormone riddled beef will they have an advantage? Will they be bigger? Stronger? Faster? I know. It seems kinda silly. But Kids can be the most vicious creatures out there. I'm just trying to think of their emotional health too.

Winner!

The lovely winner of the Organic Cotton lounge set from Maggie's Organics is the Sassy Pink Boutique! Congrats! Thanks for entering guys!

What Not To Wear....And a Prize!

I have a chance to share something with you that I'm really excited about. Recently, I read a post by Shaun Groves that made me want to research more before purchasing clothing for my family. I followed the links within the story to other posts detailing a recent trip he took to the Dominican Republic with Compassion International and immediately felt convicted. Of all the things I've been trying to change within our family, I have given little thought to our clothing, where it comes from and how it's made.

Ideally, I'd love to be able to support companies that use organic cotton, safe dye and support fair trade. I realize that this is often difficult to do given the extra expense involved and time it would take you to research in order to find such a company.

Maggie's Organics is a company that I am proud to introduce to you. They use only organic materials in making their apparel and were instrumental in creating the Fair Trade Zone, "a 100% worker-owned Sewing Co-Operative in Nicaragua that has helped hurricane refugees create a new life for themselves and their families."

Further, they are currently helping a group of displaced textile workers in rural NC (an area that owns a piece of my heart because I am originally from there!) by helping them start a sewing company owned by the workers themselves.

This company is getting it right. Click here to find out more about how they are putting back into local communities and using materials that are sustainable and safe. If you're curious, Maggie's Organics is also very reasonably priced. I know that is a big issue for me when finding companies to support.



Maggie's recently sent me one of their lounge sets to try out and let me tell you, I'm hooked. I love pajamas and these are soft, comfortable AND cute! They were also kind enough to send along a pair for me to share with you! I have this one in a size large and to win, go to Maggie's Organics site and browse through their products. Come back here and let me know what you love the most and I'll randomly draw a winner from the comments on Wednesday, July 30. In you post about this contest on your own blog, I'll give you three extra entries! (Be sure to let me know that you've done this!)

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them here in the comments or click the link on your right to email me! Good luck!