Wax and Bubbles

Most of us, when we are in a rush, will grab a shower gel on the shelf of the super market. But, have you ever really taken the time to look at what you are lathering on your skin? Some products contain sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl ether sulfate (soap) and dye. And, for your information, sodium laureth sulfate, isn’t really soap. It’s a foamer. Made mostly of man-derived chemical combinations that make a foamy, sort of soap texture. Most people expect their body washes, face washes, and even their toothpastes to foam-up when they are using them. So man has made a cheap and easy why to do this.

These chemical combinations go down our drains and into out water systems. So instead of just brushing your teeth or washing off the summer sweat from mowing the lawn, or raking the leaves from the walk, we are actually going to end up drinking these “man-made” chemicals after they hit the water-treatment plant. How do we stop this? One way to acheive this is simple, stop buying products that contain these ingredients. If the market is down for the product the company will begin to suffer and eventually change their product ingredients. Of course this all in a perfect world.

Another way would be to use these products sparingly and to make our products that we use on a daily basis. One being a body cleanser. And here’s how:

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh eucalyptus leaves
1 small cinnamon stick
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup mild liquid soap (can be found at health food stores nationwide)
1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin

Place the water and lemon juice on the stove and bring to a bowl. Place fresh herbs in a clean glass bowl. Pour the boiling water/lemon juice mixture over them, then allow mixture to steep for several hours until cool. Strain off liquid. Next, add the soap and glycerin and mix throughly. Store cleanser in a clena plastic container with a pour spout. To use, pour a dime-size amount of the gel onto an exfoliating sponge or wash cloth and gently massage your entire body. Rinse well with warm water, followed by a 30-second rinse-off of cool water. Do this routine especially in the morning during the winter months. It will not only wake you up but, but it will help keep your skin moist throughout the day during the winter months.

You can add fine grain sugar to this recipe as well and make your own body scrub. Or add salt and make a foot scrub. There is endless things you can add to this to make whatever you are needing for your specific body needs.

Don’t forget to ALWAYS label your products that you make.

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With the combination of cucumber, lavender essential oil and yogurt to cool the skin, this combination of ingredients helps soothe blemished skin and help ease the pain of blemishes. Cosmetic clay helps to draw out the impurities that lay under the skin, and the essential oil of juniper helps to rid the skin of bacteria. The main cause of blemishes on the skin is bacteria and what is the main reason for bacteria? Dirty skin. The most dirt on the skin surface the more bacteria. The more bacteria the more breakouts happen. The more breakouts the more there is of skin inflammation. The first step to help correct this issue is to cleanse the face throughly. always rinse with lukewarm water. This ensures you don’t inflame what is already flared. Pat your face dry and apply a soothing cucumber-melon mask to soothe the inflammation additionally. Here’s how to make this wonderful facial mask for problem skin.

Soothing Cucumber-Melon Facial Mask:

• 1 tablepsoon finely grated cucumber (without the seeds)
• 1 tablespoon finely grated cantaloupe (without any seeds)
• 1 tablespoon plain lowfat yogurt
• 2 teaspoons white cosmetic clay or green french clay (can be found at health food stores)
• 4 drops lavender essential oil
• 3 drops juniper essential oil
• 2 drops tea tree essential oil

Combine all the ingredients in a small glass bowl and mix throughly with a whisk. Apply the cucumber mask to clean skin, taking special attention not to get too close to the delicate eye area. Leave the mask on your face for 15-20 minutes. Rinse with luke-warm soaked soft washcloth. Pat dry with a soft towel. Do this just before bed for smoothe-textured skin all night. Be sure and was your face every morning and every night to avoid additional breakouts to the skin.

This mask is also great for older skin as well. When we age we loose water in our skin. In addition, we loose elasticity. So in order to help the skin retain moisture, use a water based mask to help the skin retain water.

**Keeping up with The Office? Now with the writers strike in effect, the writers have left us with the short-end of the rope. “Maybe it was on purpose”, says Christopher Gabel over at Grid Effect. Makes you wonder. Read the whole story by Christopher here.**

FUTURE POST LOOK-ON:

• Sore Muscle Soak

• Chocolate Facial Mask

• Herbal Facial Steam

• Herbal Massage Oil

• Antiseptic Mouth Wash

Blemishes are one of the main problems people complain about in skin care. To get rid of them you have to figure out the problem in why you are getting them first. Is it your diet, is it your heritage, or is it the simple fact that you just don’t have a good skin care process. If the last one is the case then why not try yogurt as a skin cleanser? Yogurt is rich in natural alpha-hydroxy acids, and lemon blam (Melissa officinalis) and lavender (Lavandula augustifolia) added to that calm the immflamation that most suffer from when blemishes arrive on our skin. Thyme (Thmus spp.) also helps fight the bacteria that causes the breakouts.

Try this Lemon Balm-Lavender Yogurt Cleanser and see if your skin makes a change.

1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 tbs. dried lemon balm leaves
1 tbs. dried leavender flowers
1 tbs. dried thyme leaves

Put yogurt and water into a wide-mouth pint jar and stir well. Add herbs and stir till well blended. Leave mixture in the wide-mouth jar in the refrigerator overnight. Strain herbs from the mixture in the morning, and pour into a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week while using the mixture.

To use, dampen your face with warm water. Soak a cotton ball in the cleasing mixture and gently wipe your face with the cotton ball. Repeat until the skin is throughly cleansed. Rinse well with warm water and pat your face dry. Never rub your face with a towel or rag when you have acne on your skin. The acne can become inflammed and at times it may cause the blemish to bleed and become larger.

**Think those energy packed snacks are good for your body? Think again. Stephanie over at Elementary Chef tells why they aren’t and how it’s better to grab an organic apple instead. Read the whole story here.**

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•Making decorative candles from things in your own yard.

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Make your own acne fighting soap. Can be used for troubled, oily skin as well. Here’s how:

You will need:

Sundried tomatoes (1/2 cup)
Clear Vegetable Glycerin (1 and 1/2 cups)
Pure Aloe (1/2 cup)
Pure peppermint essential oil (6 drops)
Stove or Microwave
Wooden Spoon
Stainless Steel Pot
Food Processor or the like
Ice trays or soap molds
Olive oil cooking spray
Wax paper
Butchers paper or plastic wrap
Marking pen or marker

*All of these ingredients can be found at any healthfood store.*

In a food processor you want to grind the tomatoes into a fine powder. Then sift them through a strainer to remove large chunks.

Heat the vegetable glycerin in the stainless steel pot and when melted add the aloe. Heat for 1 minute, stirring with the wooden spoon until heated through.

Add the ground tomatoes and the 6 drops of peppermint oil.

Heat again while stirring until well blended. Remove from heat promptly.

Spray ice cube trays or soap molds with olive oil spray. Pour mixture into the spouted measuring cup and then pour into trays or molds.

I like to stick mine in the refrigerator so they set faster, but you could leave them out at room tempurature as well. After soap sets and has cooled down, pop soaps out onto wax paper.

Let sit over night and then wrap in plastic wrap or butchers paper. Be sure and label your soap and what it does for the skin.

Makes roughly 2-3 medium sized soaps depending on your mold sizes. Smaller ones are great for traveling while the larger ones are great for home use. Make many and have them on hand.

If you are allergic to tomatoes, they can be replaced with dried grapefruit peel or orange peel. And chopped the same way.

**Do you have a Pet-Peeve? JM does over at Fiction Scribe with writters not wanting to use the word “said”. Read the whole story here and you might just agree.**

FUTURE POST LOOK-ON:

•Making decorative candles from things in your own yard.

•Coffee Wake-up scrub

•Sore muscle soak

•Candles made from soy

•How to make your own lip balm for this winter