Oil Cleansing Method

I should probably start off with I get breakouts... ALL THE TIME! I also have rosacea... My T-zone gets the worst of it... but really it happens all over my face... I used to buy any cleanser that promised to rid my face of blemishes or rosacea. Really, I tried them all. 

Have you seen the strange chemicals that are in facial cleansers? I don't even know where to begin with how many of them are toxic to your body and to the environment. Pick up your bottle and just do  a simple google search. That should be enough... 

Second thing about facial cleansers is that they can increase in price just because its for your face... Why? To make more money... 

So off I went on a search for a cheaper alternative that contains more natural properties.

Halfway through my last year of university I ran out of my facewash and decided it was time to go natural and cheap (student living and all). 

To my surprise I found Oil Cleansing Method.

Pardon, you say? Doesn't Oil + Face = Breakout!!!! Wrong!

No, this isn't true. Your face produces more oil then what is required due to drying effects. Your hair pores get clogged via dust/debris and other junk you get from daily living (or products your using in your hair/face cream) and this is what causes blemishes. (There are many other reasons for clogged pores, we are just talking about oil.)

I used the oil cleansing method for 6 months, wrote down what it was like week after week. I found out everyones skin is very different and you have to test out different ratios of the 2 oils you use that best suits your skin. 

Oil Cleansing Method:

This is a basic guide for your skin:

• Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
• Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
• Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I suggest using a glass bottle with a lid. You can find them at Walmart/Dollar stores. Make sure you clean your bottle before re-filling it for the next batch.

Pour a small amount on your fingers and rub gently in a circular motion all over your face for a minute or so. Ensure the oil is completely rubbed in. Next take a facecloth and put it under a tap of running hot water (not too hot it scalds you, just enough that you can stand it). Place the facecloth on your face for a few minutes until it cools. It is suggested that you do this a few times. Gently rub the excess oil off your face. Ta da! Done. Do this every night before bed.

Here are my results:

Week 1: Awful! Incredibly greasy face. Pimples and rosacea present.

Week 3: Face is feeling refreshed and grease level has decreased significantly

Week 4: Blemishes are clearing up and staying away

Week 6: Rosacea is gone! Still blemish free and my blackheads on my nose even look like they have decreased!

Week7-6 Month: Face feels great! Only get blemishes the odd time. Rosacea is completely gone. I stopped using coverup on my face after week 7!

Now I have stopped using these 2 oils combined on my face. Not because it stopped working but because I am that lazy to go buy Castor oil and it takes some time to sit with a facecloth on your face... Did I mention I am slightly impatient? I only go when I am out... Its always sold out at the Walmart close to me and a little more expensive at the grocery stores that I shop at... So I stopped using it.

I have since switched to Coconut oil as mentioned in a previous post. I find I can rub it in every morning and rub a little in just before I hop out of the shower (after rinsing my face with water). Only once a week I find I need to use a hot facecloth to open my pores. This seems to be good for me during our cold winter.

Happy Natural Living!

How to Get Rid of Pre-packaged Food

I have been working on changing my habits from buying cans and pre-ackaged foods to making homemade meals from as scratch. (as much as someone can)

This year was the first year we had a garden... unfortunately we started it too late and they died before they ripened. So next year we are starting early and going to reap all the benefits of garden life! Including canning, thrifty living and going into the backyard to pick pick pick.

First off I have to admit, I am no saint. Sometimes I still buy frozen pizza and other unmentionables...

Why not buy things in a can or jar pre-made? They are filled with preservatives and proven toxic and cancer causing chemicals and hormones that I am choosing to help myself and my family avoid. There is also unnecessary sugars, fats and salt in most pre-packaged food that I know for a fact is not healthy.

Want to know my secrets?

So far I think the first secret might be making double batches of everything and freezing the left overs!

The second secret is don't let yourself buy the pre-packaged things! I know, harder said then done... but if you stop buying the prepackaged food and are at home you either starve... or you start making things from scratch!

My final secret to getting rid of pre-packaged foods? Buy a crockpot! You don't need a brand new one. Someone gave us their old one and it works fine! Or I see them at garage sales all the time. We have made sooo many meals and snacks in our crock pot. My latest DIY homemade foodies is apple sauce! I could eat apple sauce all day straight from the jar... Gross? Maybe... I use it in almost all of my baking as well as a substitution to butter and its a great dessert! I like to leave it a little lumpy for extra texture :)

Here are some links that might help out:

26 Things to do with your crockpot
Things that can and cant be frozen
Recipes that you can freeze
Way too many crockpot recipes
Allrecipes.com (they have made this process the easiest! People rate the meals and leave VERY helpful comments

We all have a choice to make and this just so happens to be mine. I'm not saying your going to die if you eat pre-packaged food, I am just trying to make a small change in my family's life that I believe in :)

Make your own MILK?!

Pardon? Make your own milk? What kinda statement is that? Yeah... I know I wrote it...
I have been doing some reading and watching documentaries on milk (as I am a lover of cheese and want to ignore that they are under the same food group). The documentary that tug on my heart strings was called Food Inc. This is a must watch! Deconstructing Supper was also pretty good, but thats for another post.

Anyways back to the milk. I decided around the end of June to start drinking either Almond milk or Coconut milk. Not Soy milk as it has an abundance of hormones. Why you ask would someone stop drinking milk? My poop started to get really runny and my stomach was in knots every time I drank it. So milk is now off the list for me. (My man likes the taste of chocolate anything but not the original so he has officially switched to organic milk. :) Since I have made the switch I feel sooo much better. I don't feel bogged down, my poop went back to normal and my stomach isn't in knots anymore.

Almond and Coconut milk are both just a little bit more expensive then regular milk but for me the health benefits outweigh the cons.

Ok, so I started buying chocolate almond milk and regular coconut milk. I looked at the expiration date which didn't expire for a whole month. Is that normal? Why is it lasting in the fridge for so long? Hmm... Did you know like everything else they pile preservatives into it? This does not really sit well with me as I am trying my darndest to get rid of at least some preservatives... I know they are in everything but I am going to try...

So what do you do when you don't like something about a product that you need? Cereal duh! Research it and find out how to make it without dumb things like preservatives in it!
Did you know Almond milk naturally only lasts in the fridge for about 3 days... that is 3 weeks and 4 days shorter then what the store bought milk lasts.

Soooo I found a recipe and tweaked it a little bit to suit my taste buds of a new almond milk drinker.

So here is how you make Almond milk.
1. Take 1 cup almonds and soak them overnight.
2. Drain almond water out and put almonds in a blender with 4 cups of water. (the amount of water can be changed depending on how thick you like your almond milk.
3. Blend for about a min until the almonds are tiny chunks.
4. Over a bowl/container you want your milk to go in (I put mine in 2 Mason jars) drape a cloth over it that catches the almond chunks
5. Put almond chunks aside for later brownie/banana muffin making (yes I did both)
6. Ta-da you have almond milk!
I like to add a little bit of vanilla syrup to give it a little bit of a sweeter taste, but other wise

Almond Milk in my Mason Jar                                     Amazing Almond scraps that went into brownies   .                                                                                       and Muffins

Shake and enjoy!