Going Curly

It has been a month since to starting using chemical fire beauty products and I do have to admit I was skeptical but very much surprised at the results. My complexion has gotten better and my skin has never felt so soft and smooth for a while. Two weeks ago I dumped out my liquid makeup for a DIY recipe I found on Scratch Mommy that I tweaked to fit my skin tone. I also found an awesome powder foundation recipe by Live Simply, also tweaked to my liking. My skin feels like it could breathe and my breakouts have been minimal. I make the video below so that you guys can see. I do use a few store bought products like mascara, brow powder, VS face flash (LOVEEE this product) and this lip gloss I really love. There are recipes online for making this items but I did not venture down that path yet. Soap Delicatessen has great beauty DIYs and also sells her products if you do not have time to make your our stuff.

HAIR: I have written a draft about my hair issues. 20+ years of hair dying, flat irons, curling irons, blow drying, many many products with lots and lots of chemicals etc., started to take its toll on my hair. It was lifeless, dry, broken, damaged. Fearing that I would wake up one day and have no hair I had to make a stand and save this hair of mine. The hair I got loads of complaints for during my teens and 20s. I had thick curly hair that I straightened both chemically and with heat tools. Noticing that my thick beautiful hair was becoming thin and dead I had to bring it back to life. My husband LOVES my curls and had been telling me to embrance them but then I listened to others that were like your hair looks bad curly make it straight. But I was going against the...curl. It was more work to keep my curly hair straight so I decided to put my old products and tools to rest and start reviving this hair.

HAIR JOURNEY: I starting research online mostly on YouTube looking for demos on how to care for curls. Yep that's right, this curly girl had no idea how to care for her locks. I found that all these girls had one thing in common, they all raved about The Curly Girl Handbook, a bible for curly girls. The last time this hair felt a flat iron was in November 2013 and my hair has been getting more healthy. It took some self control not to reach for the flat iron a few times in the beginning but my hair has gotten used to it and it is growing!! But it still has a long way to go. What I did was I changed my normal hair gel that was drying my hair to a cream curl enhancer and purchase a more conditioning conditioner and used coconut oil in my hair before shampooing.

 


CHEM FREE HAIR: For the past 2 weeks I held an experiment with my hair, I wanted to see how it would be if I only used natural shampoo, conditioner, and gel. I have an herbal shampoo for dry scalp and a apple cider vinegar rinse as the conditioner (it goes hand in hand with the shampoo because the vinegar rinses out the shampoo and anything else but keeps your natural oils). Dr. Bronner's liquid soap is great for making natural shampoos and facial cleansers. Before I shampoo, I detangle my hair with coconut oil and my fingers. Then I shampoo and rinse with the ACV conditioner and then I use Mane & Tail and comb out my hair in the shower with the conditioner in my hair and then rinse out. Wrap my hair in a cotton t-shirt. I did more YouTube research to find a natural hair gel. Now if you do not have the time or the items to make these products you can purchase them at whole food stores, but really it only take some time and then you can store in your frig for 3-4 weeks keeping only a week's worth in the bathroom and it really saves money. So I found a really cool video on how to make hair gel using flax seeds. OMG!!!!! so easy and it works!!!! I was also very, very skeptical. I watched so many videos about this gel and everyone seemed pleased with the results so I figured what the hell. Boil some water and add flax seeds, how easy. Check out Natural85 and search for more videos about this gel while your there. Yes, it was and the gel works so nice. It enhances your curl and feels natural. I don't feel like my hair is weighed down with product. And you can customize to your liking. This is my recipe and it lasts for 3 weeks in the frig. Using the gel right out of the frig works great to seal my cuticle and the curl - frizz free curls. Apply the gel and DO NOT touch your hair until it dries and then flip your head upside down, shake curls and you are done. I also made a lavender spray for next day curls. I put in a little honey for hold and it's also good for your hair, a tablespoon of coconut oil and a few drops of lavender essential oil. I try to keep a black tea rinse in my frig (it lasts for two weeks in the frig) to keep those grays at bay. Check out the video below.

July 2013 Curls

May 2014 Curls

This is my first real video hope you like it and sorry about the audio being so low. Still trying to get the hang of this. And don't forget to subscribe!

Beauty Product Series: Intro

Out with the old and in with the new. I never thought that I would be tossing out my makeup and to go chemical free, but that day has come. For the past two weeks I have search the internet high and low reading about the chemicals we use and looking for the best natural recipes. I did loads of internet research for you guys also with the help of a book a good friend lent us called, Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles. This book is great because it covers a lot. For 2 days I had my head stuck in this book soaking up lots of info to share with you guys.

There are a lot of scary chemicals in many of the products we woman use. And women use a lot more product then men so we really need to be careful. Just like the prepackaged food sitting on the shelves of the supermarket so does our beauty products, sit on the shelves with preservatives and things that were made in a lab and now we put them on our bodies and face. We get sick, have no idea what happened, go to the doctor and get more chemicals. Now we are eating chemicals, taking chemicals and putting chemicals on the body. Chemical overload. My mom has allergic reactions to many of these products and I never bothered to do any research because my reactions to these chemicals were not too bad. Recently, I started using liquid makeup mixed with lotion to reduce the amount of foundation on the face. I will address this more in the second part of this series. You choose what you buy and use and eat. Do you care about what you put on yourself? Yes? We need to be more wise and look at those ingredients because no one cares about you only your dollars. Don't believe me? Here are few sites to check out on the leisure:

List of harmful chemicals found in cosmetics
Treehugger
Cleaning With Ammonia
Clinique Makeup Ingredients
Breast Cancer and Cosmetics
Chemicals in Cosmetics to Avoid
Baby oil is Mineral Oil and Fragrance

And it all started trying to find a body scrub recipe online. Searching for one thing led me to fall down the rabbit hole into a whole plethora of new information that I was absorbing like a small child. For the past two weeks, I tested out a bunch of recipes. Some were good, some not, and some I had to do over. But through it all, you can see a difference in my face (skin is so clear), hair and nails alone within days of changing products. I have broken this up in a series because I have so much to tell and show. All the store brought deodorants, lip balms, hair dyes, cleaning products are not welcomed here anymore. We have more products to get rid of still to be totally chem free in this home. First in the series is Pre/Post Beauty: cleansers, lotions and toners. Second is Makeup Madness: liquid, powder, blush cream, lip balm, with links to DIY mascara, shadows and liner. Third is Get Clean: toothpaste, shower soap, shampoo and conditioner. Fourth is Men: shaving cream, aftershave and more. Fifth is Get That Place Clean: detergent, scouring scrub, and various cleaners.

Yesterday, I finally purchased my first essential oils; lavender and tea tree at Nature's Pantry. Some tea tree EO in toothpaste because it is a very safe essential oil that has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties. Some drops of lavender EO in a jar half filled with Epsom salts makes a great room deodorizer. Be creative.

Enjoy the series!