Oil Cleansing Method for Your Face

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a blog entry about cleansing your face with oil.  I thought it sounded crazy, but I'd been looking for a way to incorporate carrot seed essential oil into my facial products, and this seemed perfect.  I had previous read that carrot seed essential oil was a powerful tool to help with aging skin, but that it had a distinct smell. I got the oil, and it does indeed have a strong, distinct smell.  Not necessarily unpleasant, but one that would probably make others look at you a bit strangely, so I wanted to use it at night.  I read about the Oil Cleansing Method on wellnessmama.com. She describes the various proportions and details on how she uses this method in detail on her site.  I will just share my method and results here.

What I used:

A couple teaspoons Castor Oil
A couple teaspoons Olive Oil
Several drops Carrot Seed Essential Oil

Castor oil is an astringent oil, so it is great for cleaning deeply, and may help with oily skin.
Olive oil is nourishing, and moisturizes.  The carrot seed essential oil is rich in Vitamin A and help the skin to rejuvenate.  I just put these together in a small jar I had saved from some previous skin care products.  It worked perfectly.  

The Procedure:

Using a foam wedge (normally used for applying foundation), I dip it into the oil and spread it across my face and neck.  I go over my face a couple of times with the foam, then use my fingers to massage it in for a bit longer, maybe a minute or two.  I let the oil sit for just a bit longer, depending on how much time I have.  After that, I soak a wash rag in hot water, and gently wipe the oil off my face, being careful not to rub too hard.  I have, at times, rubbed enough that my face actually felt dried out after the procedure, which is not what I want.  I use this method at night, so I can have the carrot seed oil on my face all night, without worrying about the scent.

The Results/Verdict:

The first week or so of using this, my face felt pretty tingly, almost a bit warm for sometime afterwards.  I'm not sure if that was from the carrot seed oil, the astringent affect of the castor oil, or an unrelated factor, but that no longer occurs.  I first noticed that my face felt very soft and moisturized.  It was lovely.  However, that great revelation and benefit came after a week or so.  I noticed that the hyper-pigmentation I had on my face, which was particularly bad after a summer of long bike rides and weeding in the garden, has faded dramatically, and is in fact almost completely gone.  I am amazed.  I have used various methods in the past to get rid of those spots, and none have worked nearly as well, and certainly not as fast as this method.  I think it is the carrot seed oil that is mostly responsible. In any case, this is a method I definitely recommend, and will continue to use.

One Additional Note:

The big concern, I think, with putting oil directly on your face is going to be that it will clog your pores and cause breakouts.  The theory behind this method is that (as we learn in chemistry), like attracts like, so the oil will pull the oils that have accumulated on our face and in our pores out and off our face.  In practice, I have not seen an increase in breakouts or clogged pores since using this method, with two small notes.  For a couple of days, I had a few blackheads, but I was hiking and camping during that time, which generally leads to blackheads anyway.  Second, I had a few spots the day after using a clay mask, which in my experience generally leads to a small break out as the clay pulls things to the surface.

Overall, very pleased, even delighted with the effectiveness of this method.  I used Castor Oil and Olive oil, but other oils could be sunflower, avocado, hazelnut, and coconut oils.  I'm going to look into other essential oils that might help with anti-aging as well. 

Shampoo Bars: The Basics

Our family stopped using shampoo about 2 months ago.  It's true.  Like most things, it all came about as a process, as one thing led to another.  It all started because I felt like my hair was starting to feel extremely dry and damaged, as well it might since my hair is highlighted and straightened frequently with a flat iron.  For the most part, I greatly reduced blow drying, and used an argan or other conditioning oil on it, but it just didn't feel like I wanted it too.  I started reading into which shampoo and conditioner might help.  In the course of my search, I read some articles about the chemicals used in conventional shampoos, especially sodium-laurel-sulfate.  Since we were simultaneously trying to reduce our use of chemicals and plastics, and shampoo is mostly unpronounceable chemicals, it was an easy jump to looking into alternatives to shampoo altogether.  I didn't have to look long.

I first came across the idea of No-Poo.  No-Poo is simple, with a few variations.  The most common is to use baking soda.  Just common baking soda. Mix a couple teaspoons with warm water, massage it into your scalp and rinse.  Usually this would be followed with a conditioning rinse of apple cider vinegar (ACV).  Other methods would be to use nothing, just scrub your hair with your fingers, or use a combination of herbs.  I tried the baking powder for a while, and my hair felt clean, but still quite dry.  After some further research, I found that the pH was actually quite damaging to your hair over time, so I looked for another method.

The second alternative we tried was Castile soap, diluted in a ration of 1:4 with water.  I used Dr. Bronner's Castile soap, which comes in about types, depending on the essential oil used.  I chose Lavender.  Since it was very thin and watery, and I didn't want the kids to use too much, I put the mixture in foaming pump containers, and that worked great.  Everyone seemed to like using it, and I continued to use the ACV rinse.  However, I wasn't 100% pleased with it, as my hair seemed a little greasy. I should note, when switching from conventional to natural shampoos, I've heard it can take up to several weeks for your hair and scalp to adjust to the proper oil production.  Still, I didn't think it was the perfect solution.  However, we had discovered Castile soap, which is a wonderful product, and will replace every chemical cleaner in our house.

After further research, I learned about shampoo bars.  Actually, I had read about shampoo bars before I got the Castile soap, but I could not find any at local health stores, so in the end, I had to order them online.  There are A LOT of varieties and suppliers out there, and it was confusing to try to choose.  I took a recommendation from another blog and decided to try Beauty and the Bees, which is based in Tasmania.  Needless to say, shipping direct from their website was far too expensive, but I found some an Amazon.  They have 8 or more varieties, and I wasn't sure what kind to get, so I ordered a sampler box of 6 small bars.  They came with a sticker on each one saying what kind it was, and what type of hair/results it was best for.  Each of us choose what we wanted to try, which worked out great since there are 6 of us.  I ended up with one called Moroccan Mud.  It smelled great, and when I tried it--wow, it was terrible!! After the second wash, my hair felt like it was loaded down with sculpting paste.  I could push it in to any position, and it would just stay.  It was just so greasy and gummy and heavy. It was weird for me, since I never use any product on my hair.  To make matters worse, I had to talk in church that day! Yikes.  I braced myself for a couple of weeks of hiding in the house during the long adjustment time.  Then, the very next time I washed my hair, all that just dropped off, and my hair was light and clean and wonderful.  I credit the time using the baking soda and Castile soap for the quick adjustment time.  In fact, I would recommend using the baking soda for a week, then trying the shampoo bars, for a quicker adjustment period.

I decided to try another shampoo bar type, called Voodoo Bamboo.  I guess I was just attracted to it because of the super cool name, and that it contained bamboo charcoal.  This bar is a bit different in texture than the other bars, more of a gel or glycerin feel, and the smell is just heavenly.  I love the smell so much.  After washing with it about 2 or 3 times, I felt like my hair was very dark; so dark, in fact that I went and had my highlights redone, even though I would have normally waited another 2 or 3 months! After getting the highlights, I felt it hadn't changed my color at all--it was still very dark. In addition, I felt my hair didn't feel as clean--it was just a little less bouncy, maybe a touch gummy. I went back to the Moroccan Mud bar today, and my hair feels bouncy again--and much lighter in color!  Too bad, because I loved the smell!

More on Shampoo bars and Castile soap another time.

Crazy? Maybe!

Last week I was talking to my mom about some things that happened at the homeless shelter where I volunteer one a week.  (This is not a scary dump of a shelter, it is fabulous--the Food and Care Coalition in Provo).  My mom made a connection and informed me that the sister of someone we know is homeless in Provo.  My mom said this person went kind of crazy.  According to my mom's account, first she started homeschooling, then she went "natural", and the next thing you know, she's homeless on the streets of Provo. I was thinking, "Ummm, mom???"

So this is the first year in a long time that we haven't had any homeschoolers.  Keaton is graduated. Carson has followed Keaton's footsteps to Karl Maeser Prep.  I was extremely worried about him going there because of the rigorous academics.  However, he loves it and is thriving socially, at least. (Can you believe he didn't make ANY friends at Timberline Middle School last year?  Remarkable for a kid like Carson) I think coming from a charter school background, public school was just too overwhelming.  He has made tons of friends already, and is on the drama team, just like Keaton.  Did I mention he just wants (and I'm not sure he even realizes he's doing this) but he just wants to be like Keaton.  In any case, his grades are not stellar, even with a 504 that requires his teachers to supposedly let me know of all upcoming assignments.  So the verdict is still out on the academic side.  Makenzie is in middle school (6th) at Mountainville, and her grades are very depressing.  I will need to homeschool her to get her up to speed in her Language Arts eventually, but she is adamant against it.  She's a socialista. McKay is back to Mountainville after a year at public elementary.  I think when kids start out at a charter school, it is hard to adjust to the more chaotic and open style of public school.  It is a relief to not have 4 kids in 4 schools, and also to see McKay dressed decently, since he is required to wear a uniform.  (On a tangent, having kids with sensory issues is more expensive than just burning money).

When I look back at the way my life is different from about 2 years ago--wow, it is nuts, just crazy.  Almost like waking up from a long, deep sleep.  Sometimes I wonder how and why events happen, but I know chance meetings and events are not chance at all, although it often takes a great deal of time to figure out the meaning.

In the course of my education in Landscape Architecture, my main interest was the design side, and not so much the environmental side.  Seeing all the issues we face as a country and world regarding pollution (been to SLC in the winter lately?), drought (we've been on water restrictions for 3 years now), and chronic illness possibly caused or aggravated by chemical toxins (fibromyalgia, lupus, CF, MS, Lyme), I'm much more interested in seeing what I can do to help.  Our family has been slowly getting rid of chemical cleaners, reducing plastics and waste (easier said than done, everything comes in a package), and looking at renewable energy sources for our home.  Fortunately, there are SO many websites and blogs from like-minded people.  Need a recipe for homemade deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc?  You can find more than you need.  In fact, we just made a batch of detergent today.  Trying it out now, so no verdict yet.

The culmination?  We're mulling starting a natural product line, using all natural products like beeswax and honey from our hives, olive oil, castile soaps, essential oils and so on.  To make what?Well, first of all, shampoo bars.  Yes, shampoo bars.  Yes, a little crazy.