The care of of the largest organ / Chemicals and your skin

I feel I must touch on a subject I feel very strongly about. Although it has not always been such.

The devilish ways of the cosmetics industry and what it is doing to you!

They lure you in at a young age. Pictures in magazines and beauty add campaigns showing you how fabulous you will look using their products.

I, up until the last year or so fought with my inner vanity so much so that I could care less about the chemicals I had been slathering all over my body. In fact I still have not gotten away from some products that I am just so happy with that I do not know what I would do with out them ( aerosol hairspray...I know, awful right!?).

So here is the question I ask myself and you the reader. What do you consider an acceptable balance between natural products and the ones that most of us have been using all our lives?

I feel that the balance is different to each individual. We have to decide weather we care about cancer causing chemical or are we going to pretend it is not true because we love our scented body lotion so much it would just die thinking about not being able to have it.

It is a hard change to make. Harder than I would imagine. Who can say they aren't excited every time they walk into a fancy body product store. Well it is even harder to just walk by and not go in anymore....lemme tell ya from experience.

The soapbox ( no pun intended ) that I am jumping on here kind of came out of necessity for me. My body started rejecting all the usual chemicaly products I had been using for years. I looked everywhere but at the obvious. I thought food allergies maybe, or could it be something I am living with in my home. Never mind the things I was using everyday on my skin. So I stopped using fragranced products, but even that was not enough. They had to be specific brands too. They were the more expensive brands, boasting to have "natural ingredients". I thought to heck with this. Why can't I make my own beauty products that are more cost effective, suited to my tastes, not harmful to me or the environment and just plain made me feel good about doing something smart for myself.

So I started with skincare. Well that backfired at first, but I am here to say, that with a lot of things, it was trial and error. I had to scale it back, one thing at a time. I now use an oil blend I make myself of unrefined coconut oil, sweet almond oil, olive and hazelnut oils to moisturize with as I finishing a bath or shower. My skin feels how skin should. Nourished. That's it. No weird greasy layer sitting on the surface of my skin. As for my face, I have been slowly transitioning into things. I have stopped using all acne controlling chemical products and will soon be switching to the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). Sounds freaky to clean your skin with oil right? Well check out Crunchybetty.com and there are many others who explain why and how it works. My next battle will be my hair. And oh boy will it ever be one. But that is a whole different blog post.

I will say that being pregnant has turned my thoughts to something completely different. How are all of these products affecting my unborn child and once she is here would I dare put them all over her? Well the answer is yes they are effecting her, for the skin is the largest organ and amazingly great at protecting us as well as absorbing all the things we come in contact with. So what I absorb so does she. Would I put them all over her, well no way jose! That's because I also believe that our children are born into bodies that do not need the chemical baby products that line your local super center shelves.  All the products in the world are no match for the mother nature made alternative. So sue me if I am being a little radical or hippie chick here, but I plan on hopefully making most of what I put on my little pea pod or buying the natural alternative.

So what I am currently doing is lots of research. Teaching myself the better alternative. I am slowly purging the things I feel are harmful. I am also one to not waste money, so I am forcing myself to use up things I have already spent hard earned money on. Little by little being a little bit more "down to earth" and not feeling like I am fighting with my own body to feel great everyday. Here are some links that have helped me in my pursuits, hope they can be helpful to you as well.

Oil Cleansing Method

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

http://www.crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method

Living more naturally for myself and baby

http://simplehomemade.net/natural-homemade-baby-care-recipe-baby-massage-oil/

Back in the Saddle

Probably my favorite thing in the whole wide word to do is cook. I cook with how I am feeling at the time. I like to find flavors that I miss from places I have been. It is an escape. I can distract myself from emotions or stand in the kitchen crying like a baby...not from the onions, delicious caramelized onions...sorry...tangent. Until recently I have been a little out of touch with my inner kitchen diva due to pregnancy hormones and a super sensitive....well everything. Nose, pallet, stomach. How many times can you say "Anything but carbs gives me heartburn" really fast.  I am now feeling a bit like my old self and have jumped back in the saddle, chef knife in hand, ready to go.

The last two days I have been a busy bee. Zooming from garden to kitchen. Harvesting flavors that come winter I will crave.

Yesterday was the day to dry peppers. Anaheims, Jalapeno's and Hungarian carrot peppers. Testing out yet another item in the wonderful and amazing " EXCALIBUR DEHYDRATOR" (said with voice of guy trying to sell you a great buy on a washer and dryer in a cheesy add on late night TV)

Today was a little trip to Italy to make pesto then a quick zip to Mexico to roast some peppers...oh then back to Italy to make pizza dough in mass quantity to freeze. Then I decided that was not enough so I made a yummy batch of one of my favorito oatmeal recipes. Carrot cake oatmeal...healthy and delicious. Recipe courtesy of CrunchyBetty.com. Here is the link people, I highly suggest you try
http://www.crunchybetty.com/yum-crunchy-sisters-hearty-carrot-cake-oatmeal

I like to make oatmeal also in large quantity, freeze in muffin tins, pop them out into a large freezer bag and when I want some home made oatmeal, not the instant funky stuff, I grab a couple frozen muffin shaped oatmeals. I stick those babies in the microwave, nuke em a couple minutes and add whatever I am in the mood for. Milk , butter, more brown sugar, coconut...and the list goes on. Not sure if you all are familiar with Trader Joes, but they have frozen oatmeal and its not cheap. At least not in comparison to the low cost of buying oats and doing it yourself.

Tomorrow I will commence Indian food Thursday ( just this week probably but it sounds good). I am going to attempt a crack at making naan bread. For dinner, not for the squeamish but definitely for the adventurous, I am making a curry groundhog dish. We shall see. I do like groundhog, and curry can make anything edible. At least my brother in law seems to think so, so I will try it. If you are interested, here is the link to the naan recipe with a very concise video from an Indian woman I wish I could steel and have cook for me regularly  http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/05/22/naan-bread/

Speaking of heartburn, I must attend to mine. Happy cooking all (: