I can't say exactly when natural skin care caught my attention but I'm guessing it was somewhere around the time puberty made its entrance. I do remember my dad once saying, upon entering my room and seeing my face slathered with a thick layer of oatmeal, "Laurie Daurie, you put more food on your face than in your stomach." I would guess that by high school I'd have nixed the "Laurie Daurie" the moment it crashed upon my ears.
Anyway, for the sake of argument, let's say that oatmeal, egg yolks, honey, strawberries, and papaya, etc. have long been necessary to my core existence - but mostly as a Sunday night relaxing kind of ritual.
But about three years ago I attended a lecture at Contour Body Works (right off Fort Myers Beach) about the ingredients in skin care products. I won't mention names because I'm certainly not knowledgeable enough to speak with authority on such things. But suffice to say I was given long pause upon hearing that a particular - and widely used - cosmetic ingredient I was partial to is also used to remove barnacles from boats. There's another that has a use in brake fluid. I'm all for using all parts of the buffalo but even a gal who's dad said she's 1/16 Cherokee Indian has to draw the line somewhere.
And then, there's the possible relationship of these and other ingredients to breast cancer. Whether you buy into such a connection or not, it's interesting to read the labeling of the products you use. Each contain a plethora of difficult to pronounce chemicals most of us know not a thing about. How many different products do we women use on our bodies in a day? How many chemicals are we then coming into dermal contact with? Breast tissue is said to be ultra sensitive and according to BreastCancer.org, aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the one most commonly diagnosed among U.S. women.
Common sense seemed to dictate that a few consumer related changes might be in order.
So below are a few of my favorite recipes. Some I've developed myself and others I've tweaked from some of the many books available on natural skin care.
My greatest discovery is baking soda. I haven't used soap on my face in years thanks to this less than a dollar a box fountain of youth. You simply make a paste, rub it lightly over your skin and then rinse it away.
You could use plain water to create the paste, but I prefer organic cucumber juice and fresh aloe. I use a Jack LaLanne juicer but you could put a 2-3" slice of cucumber and 1-2 aloe leaves (with the sides cut away if the edges are prickly) in your a blender just as easily. It will keep, refrigerated, for a week.
And it's wildly versatile. If your skin is dry, add a little whipping cream or olive oil. For even greater exfoliation, add 1-2 blender crushed strawberries. If you're not convinced it's cleansing your skin as deeply as you wish, add 1-2 teaspoons of grapefruit seed extract (easily found in health food stores). The paste can be as thin or as thick as you desire although I tend to like it thinner.
Anyway, for the sake of argument, let's say that oatmeal, egg yolks, honey, strawberries, and papaya, etc. have long been necessary to my core existence - but mostly as a Sunday night relaxing kind of ritual.
But about three years ago I attended a lecture at Contour Body Works (right off Fort Myers Beach) about the ingredients in skin care products. I won't mention names because I'm certainly not knowledgeable enough to speak with authority on such things. But suffice to say I was given long pause upon hearing that a particular - and widely used - cosmetic ingredient I was partial to is also used to remove barnacles from boats. There's another that has a use in brake fluid. I'm all for using all parts of the buffalo but even a gal who's dad said she's 1/16 Cherokee Indian has to draw the line somewhere.
And then, there's the possible relationship of these and other ingredients to breast cancer. Whether you buy into such a connection or not, it's interesting to read the labeling of the products you use. Each contain a plethora of difficult to pronounce chemicals most of us know not a thing about. How many different products do we women use on our bodies in a day? How many chemicals are we then coming into dermal contact with? Breast tissue is said to be ultra sensitive and according to BreastCancer.org, aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the one most commonly diagnosed among U.S. women.
Common sense seemed to dictate that a few consumer related changes might be in order.
So below are a few of my favorite recipes. Some I've developed myself and others I've tweaked from some of the many books available on natural skin care.
My greatest discovery is baking soda. I haven't used soap on my face in years thanks to this less than a dollar a box fountain of youth. You simply make a paste, rub it lightly over your skin and then rinse it away.
You could use plain water to create the paste, but I prefer organic cucumber juice and fresh aloe. I use a Jack LaLanne juicer but you could put a 2-3" slice of cucumber and 1-2 aloe leaves (with the sides cut away if the edges are prickly) in your a blender just as easily. It will keep, refrigerated, for a week.
And it's wildly versatile. If your skin is dry, add a little whipping cream or olive oil. For even greater exfoliation, add 1-2 blender crushed strawberries. If you're not convinced it's cleansing your skin as deeply as you wish, add 1-2 teaspoons of grapefruit seed extract (easily found in health food stores). The paste can be as thin or as thick as you desire although I tend to like it thinner.
There is always more cucumber and aloe juice than I need to make the paste, so I keep that in a separate jar for use as a toner. It smells heavenly and while my face is still fairly damp I apply a layer of mink or emu oil. Once that's dry I'll put on moisturizer if I feel the need.
Do I need to mention those with sensitive skin should test their concoction on a small patch of skin before applying to their entire face? There's no need to proceed with haste!
Here are a couple of more recipes:
Rich Facial Mask
Rich Facial Mask
In a blender mix 1 tablespoon each of avocado, papaya, and honey. Add a teaspoon of whipping if desired. Slather generously on your face and rest for 15-20 minutes. Luxurious comes to mind here.
Nail Oil
Blend 1 tablespoon of hazelnut oil with 10 drops of essential oil of lemon. Rub into the cuticles and nail beds of your fingers and toes.
For more I'm going to send you to the Tea and Beauty page of my GLily.com - http://glily.com/tbeauty.htm
If you'd like to investigate for yourself the ingredients in your own skin care products, you might want to visit www.safecosmetics.org
Health, happiness and beauty to all! Have a lovely weekend my friends.
Nail Oil
Blend 1 tablespoon of hazelnut oil with 10 drops of essential oil of lemon. Rub into the cuticles and nail beds of your fingers and toes.
For more I'm going to send you to the Tea and Beauty page of my GLily.com - http://glily.com/tbeauty.htm
If you'd like to investigate for yourself the ingredients in your own skin care products, you might want to visit www.safecosmetics.org
Health, happiness and beauty to all! Have a lovely weekend my friends.
Laurie,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. In my teenage years I was really into the organic natural products our grandmothers used to use. Some of the recipes taken for old books and such. Now due to convenience I purchase off the shelf. I think I will be taking a step backwards and doing ti the old fashioned way once again. Its true we are poisoning ourselves and using natural cosmetics is a pretty inexpensive way to keep ourselves healthy