salad dressing or facial cleanser?

As a teenager I could have never imaged in a million years putting oil on my face... I wanted it all gone. My face needed to be so squeaky clean and tight feeling that it felt like I was wearing a mud mask. That was the indicator that I've successfully rid myself of all this hateful oil. Little did I know at the time that stripping my skin of this oil was not only not helping my breakout problem...it was making it worse. I learned later on that...depriving your skin of its natural surfactant causes it to go into overload producing more to protect itself. I've also learned that oil it itself does not cause breakouts... dirt, bacteria, hormones and other genetic and enviornmental factors...many of which are completely out of our control do.

Anyway, 10 years later I've come full circle... oil is now becoming my friend... as my skin has matured I'm starting to crave a texture on my skin that can't be confused as a beach. And as I've become more environmental and health conscious naturally I look for a safe and healthy alternative to my usual over the counter chemical beauty regimen. I'm starting to take the philosophy that if I cant pronounce it my body probably doesn't need it. To be honest I cant remember where I first heard about using olive oil on my skin...but looking for an alternative to the dryness and texture problem Ive been having I went online and started researching. Now I'm sure you know that skins best friend is water... so there really isn't any better alternative to moisture than drinking the recommended amounts of water everyday. (something by the way i am terrible at remembering to do)... once you get the water in there... you add a surfactant to protect and smooth the skin...keeping the moisture in. Olive Oil is a fantastic surfactant...plus it has loads of antioxidants that help rid your skin cells of free radicals that cause environmental skin problems. Vinegar is a natural toner and cleanser..helping to rid your skin of harmful bacteria that hide in pores causing those nasty breakouts (skin infections). Sugar is a really excellent exfoliant removing dead skin cells, promoting circulation and regrowth of fresh new surface cells. I have been using this regimen for about a week now and I can see a dramatic difference in the texture of my skin... now if I can only remember to drink the water everyday and I'll be in good shape.

Need some ideas...Apple Cider Vinegar?

As you know Katy-Ro just passed her third birthday. I have been racking my brain to come up with some ideas for a fun princess party. She was so cute in the car the other day when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She replied "Green presents and a green cake...on the cake I want pink polka dots and pink candles." Uuuuh you got it Ro-Burger! The reason we are doing her party so late...I did not want her birthday to get confused with the holidays. I think we will always celebrate her birthday earlier or later to avoid the mix-up. I am trying to avoid having it at my house...but it looks like with January weather and the cost of doing it someplace my house may be the best bet. Suggestions for fun 3 year old games or activities?? OOhhh, perhaps I could get wooden crowns for Michael's and have the girls decorate them???



Recently my skin has been wrecked with psoriasis...I'm trying to avoid steroid creams or pills, but I recently heard from a crunchy friend of mine that Apple Cider Vinegar cured her family of psoriasis...all be it burns like a you know what....but to tell you the truth the burning feeling is satisfying compared to the intense itching that psoriasis brings. I tried it last night and it stunk up the house..but the itching was gone immediately...today I itch again but I feel less scaly than I did yesterday...(in my head...or is it working already) I will keep you posted on the progress. I also hear that apple cider vinegar helps many other issues such as arthritis, acne, sore muscles, reflux and heartburn... I tried to drink a swig of it.... BLEH... burns my throat as well...maybe I should have diluted it.

Lucy's Magic Necklace

My husband makes fun of me for many of my "crunchy mommy" good intentions. Lucy recently started teething and I had heard of "Amber teething necklaces" from a friend. This is not a teething toy, but a natural remedy for teething pain. Here is what this site said about amber necklaces. Andy doesn't get it and jokes about "Lucy's magic necklace"...which BTW he does agree that its pretty darn cute :)

~A natural analgesic, amber will help calm a baby without resorting to over the counter drugs and remedies.
~Amber is a fossilized resin, not a stone. It is therefore warm to the touch, and light to wear.
~Wearing Baltic amber necklaces on the skin can have a soothing and calming effect on teething babies and toddlers.
~When amber is worn on the skin, the skin's warmth releases minuscule amounts of healing oils from the amber which are then absorbed via the skin into the bloodstream.
~Amber's anti-inflammatory and therapeutic properties are also recognized by allopathic medicine. In Austria, Switzerland and Germany, it is common to find amber teething necklaces sold in local pharmacies.

So far I'm not sure if its in my head or what...but it does seem to be helping a bit. The first night she got to wear it she slept nearly all the way til morning. I haven't had to give her any Tylenol for teething fussiness either. I'll give it another week of trial to see for sure.

Whats your experience with Amber teething necklaces??

"You want me to come over and do what??????"

LOL... no no no...its not what you think. So I have a fab friend who I am blessed to have living right across the street from me. She is mostly mainstream, but is very open to alternatives and new ideas. Anyway, I get a cryptic phone message from her the other day that she needed help with this "ear coning thing..."...huh... Sure that this was certainly blog material, I brought over my camera to document the event.

So she had heard from a friend that "ear coning" or "ear candling" was a very effective and natural way of getting rid of the swimmers ear problem that she had been suffering from. It involves using ear candles (hollow tubes of beeswax coated fabric about 12" long), fire and oil drops...normally you'd pay up to $75 from a homeopathic doctor to get this treatment done...but of course she thought ...my crazy friend Becky would be happy to do this procedure for me. She was right.... :)

One site states "The benefits include, improved hearing, vision, taste, smell, balance and sharpened mental ability. Ear candling helps to detoxify the sinus, lymph congestion, sore throat, earache, swimmers ear, chronic headaches and even allergies. Every body is different, yet candling is a therapy that adults, children, and even animals can benefit from. All who experience candling agree it is safe, soothing, relaxing, painless, and non-invasive."

STEP 1: trim the ear candle to fit the ear canal.

STEP 2: light the broad end of the ear candle and plug the narrow end of the hollow candle with my finger until a vacuum is created pulling smoke down and out the bottom of the ear candle.

STEP 3: Insert the candle into a plate to protect the person from wax burns.

STEP 4: Insert the candle snugly into their ear and hold there until the candle is about 3/4 of the way done burning.

STEP 5: Apply a couple drops of the ear oil.

We finished both ears in about 30mins... She said that she could hear better and felt a huge difference right away. It was easy to do with the help of someone else, the only thing that would have made it more fun would have been marshmallows and Graham crackers...lol.

When it was all done, we were grossly curious to see what this procedure pulled out of her head.... YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM a good friend LOL :)