Moving jitters

I've managed to stave off my moving jitters. How? Simply not thinking about it and being buried in all the details of getting into a new job, getting out of an old townhome, getting into a new apartment, getting out of a lot of mess and getting into a new organizational mindset.

Today I took a little time off of the packing and worrying about moving and....

1. Got my back adjusted at my adorably sweet chiropractor. I had many well-wishes and hugs.
2. Went to my BFF's little boy's 3rd birthday party and watched him delightfully open gifts, say thank you, and give good-bye high fives to all his guests. Did I mention he's faithfully saving coins in his bank for a new train? Precious!
3. Went to a bizarre relaxation Himalayan simulated-salt cave for an hour of meditation/nap.
4. Ran some errands and sang along with the radio on a very zooming car ride with my guy. (Wind in your hair riding in a BMW with someone who's an excellent driver is reallllly fun).
5. Ate a delicious meal complete with fried pickle spears as an appetizer. Southern mac and cheese with grilled salmon and broccoli, yes please.

Did I get all my work done? No. My to-do list is quite extensive.

But it's do-able, thank goodness.

And a couple things have come to mind. I found a post card in DC when I was out and about with my dear friend Shelley several years ago. It stated, "Due to the lack of experienced trumpeters, the end of the world has been delayed for 2 weeks." My take away? If it doesn't get done in the next few days, it's either not that important, or it can get done in Colorado. Ah, there's my breath. I found it.

Another quote that comes to mind as I'm trying to sort through the disaster that is my former bedroom (no, really, it's a disaster)...a cross-stitch that hung on the wall in my childhood bathroom, "Home is Where the Heart Is." Is it? My heart has been a lot of places. My decorations, photos, dishes, linens, and furniture sure made this little townhome have my character. It was my home, but all the stuff that made it "me" is either packed, back in my mom's house, or given away on freecycle. {Or will be by the time I'm done here!}

The Eddie Vedder song "You're True" is in my head-- and I've been listening to it on repeat, like a mantra. The narrative of the song is a woman saving a man from all the things that were wrong and him becoming a better person because of her...but the line that has always risen above all the rest for me in that song..."Nothing ever goes my way....now I'm at home in my own skin...like an ocean's tide come in..."

I'm at home in my own skin.

That's the meaningful part with the chaos of reconfiguring everything I've ever known. The strength I need to do it is in my bones, my heart, my mind. I'm at home in my own skin.

So, in less than a week, I'll be 2 time zones, 1000 miles, 3 hours by plane, and  22 hours (by car) away from the state and city I've basically called home my entire life. But I've got my own skin. I'll be the one in it. So I'll be home.

Dirty Thirty...Adult Acne Time

I turned thirty in May. In all the irony the the U.S. healthcare system and insurance has to offer, my Retin-A was cancelled due to my age. Apparently I'm too old for acne (my insurance would allow it if I were in the teen to young twenties bracket) and too young for wrinkles (it acts as a collagen booster for older women). There's a window here, ladies! We're not supposed to have acne or wrinkles, according to my insurance tables.

I wish someone from United Healthcare would call my pores.

I have blackheads on my nose, I have cystic acne around my chin, I have discoloration/rosacea on my cheekbones, I have scars from teenaged acne, and I have whiteheads and zits on my cheeks from where my phone transfers bacteria to my pores. Heavens, I don't know how I leave the house without a bag over my head or shellacking myself with buckets of stage makeup! It's like I have the plague!

Just kidding. It's not that serious. This is a first world problem. One that could probably be solved by Pro-active, but I am adamantly against anything that Jessica Simpson endorses. I digress.

I attempted microdermabrasian, but the esthetician insisted that a fruit acid (PCA) chemical peel would do wonders for my skin and I'd see amazing results. I saw no change except for my credit card statement.

A dear friend I've known for years (love you Amber!) suggested via social media that I look into the "Oil Cleansing Method" and to give it a shot. I love DIY and I love natural remedies, so this seemed worth the look-see.

I could probably credit all the different sites I read, but I know the main one was from Wellness Mama.com and plenty of connected sites. In a nutshell, I decided to order a couple of oils (jojoba and evening primrose on amazon) and while I waited on those, I would try something that I had in my kitchen already. (I also decided to avoid Castor Oil for ethical and skin-sensitivity issues. It is toxic to the workers who process it, so that's a good reason for me to avoid it-- um, it's also the same plant that makes ricin.)

Immediately on hand?
Sunflower, olive, coconut, and flax seed oils. (I mean, I have canola oil, but that's from a plant called rapeseed, and seriously, my face is jacked up enough.) You can mix in different essential oils and vitamin E to help balance, so I decided to use common sense and give it a go. Every site I read said that give it time (approximately a week) for your skin to get used to this concept and see any results. I'm on day 3, and so far so good.

My execution?

1. At night, mix a handful of flaxseed oil (it also has some flaxseeds ground in it, so it works as a scrub) with a couple of drops of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is anti-bacterial and is in many natural acne remedies. I personally think it stinks.
2. Rub this stuff into my skin and leave it on for a few minutes. It's brown and a little abrasive, but in a smoothing way, due to the flaxseed. The tea tree oil is more astringent than emollient, but dry skin isn't too much of a problem for me in the summer.
3. Wring out a very hot washcloth so it is damp and set it on my face, allowing it to cool and steam open my pores. Repeat...then wipe off anything left.

Immediate Results? My skin felt soft, and the acne didn't seem any worse. The next morning, I noticed my nose felt damp, so I looked in the mirror and I saw the oil oozing from my blackheads on my nose. Gross, right? I know! But it also meant that the oil was leaving my body and my pores were tinier and tighter. Cool!

In the morning, I tried a slightly gentler approach--
1. A handful of coconut oil (it was liquid because it's over 80 degrees upstairs in my bathroom) with a few drops of tangerine essential oil. Both are organic, for what it's worth.
2. I repeated the steps from night time-- I massaged the oil mix in (the tangerine smell was happy and uplifting!) and allowed it to penetrate my skin for a few minutes. I repeated the steam washcloth and went about my day. (Side note on the citrus acid oil-- it had a seriously nostalgic feeling because my Grandma Marilyn always had a natural citrus air freshener in her powder room. The smell was overwhelmingly lovely to me. It also smells like the award-winning Burt's Bees orange cleanser, but I never liked that much when I used it...and it's been deceptively changed and discontinued on its website, but is available from other retailers. The new kind has other ingredients in it.)

I think when I have less time on my hands, I'll probably skip the steam washcloth and apply the oil before I hop in the shower-- but for now, that part feels pretty therapeutic!

Here's a picture of my cute snuggly dog. You can see my ugly acne cheek here.

In actuality, while I was listing off the dermatological "problem areas" of my face...I thought about the fact that I also have smile lines (both by my eyes and lips) from 30 years of laughing and smiling about life. I also have acne-camouflaging freckles,  which my brother and I share, but my sister and I do not. It's kind of cool to think about the genetics of physical traits-- I have my grandmother's big brown eyes while my mom got her father's baby blues.  My skin is pretty fair, but with the olive complexion of some Mediterranean relatives, I don't get sun burns easily and I do enjoy sitting in the sun! Plus, I mean, look at that snuggle-pup. She don't care about no adult acne.

No B.O., No B.S. A fun experiment in DIY deodorant!

Homemade Deo Recipe! I'm calling it No B.O., No B.S. Deo. There's a product to make you less stinky called No BO DEO, but it seems weird. 

My inspiration for homemade deodorant came from a couple of sources—mainly common sense and cost.  I’ve read the conflicting reports that state how anti-perspirants have aluminum that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer. I have a common sense-approach to reading researched articles, but it stands to reason that putting a poison on the surface area where your sweat glands are—is not a good idea. Sweat glands are designed to release toxins in the form of sweat and odor from your body—so I’d like to let those things go.

Common sense part two—I still have my typical Lady Speed/Dove/Secret Anti-perspirant. (I have basically no brand loyalty already. I smell the kinds at the store that are on sale or I have a CVS coupon for and pick one; I guess it’s not hard for me to divorce myself from the idea of a certain scent to my pits!)  These little tubes are getting more and more expensive! It’s hard to find them under $4 without a coupon and it's nuts to me to waste that much cash. If I’m doing something particularly stressful (court date, first date, anything with the word date in it) or strenuous (10K—um, just signed up for that today, yikes!), I will probably go with the traditional anti-perspirant.

Here’s my other thoughts on non-anti-perspirant deodorants: I’ve tried Burt’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, and a very natural approach (spraying alcohol and letting it dry) and I was disappointed in all. I felt moist, sticky, stinky, and like I just had a natural-scented (Earthy lavender, calendula, etc.) perfume on my sweaty pits.  I don’t want to stink. I’m the clean hippie, y’all! I don’t want to talk trash about the Burt’s Bees kind, or any brand for that matter. I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder—and on the same logic, stink is in the nose of the smeller. Being smelly after a long day of physical work, well, that doesn’t terrify me. It just makes me realize that I need to take a shower or apply more deo.

Here’s my recipe. 

It’s been working for about 3 weeks and I’ve had a couple of friends try it out too. I found it to be fairly inexpensive, because most of the things I already had. I could tell you exact measurements, but then I’d have to kill you.

1. Coconut oil (I go with organic from Trader Joe’s or Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market)

2. Non-Aluminum Baking Soda (This is key—the A&H kind may or may not have aluminum, which you’re trying to avoid. I go with Bob’s RedMill. They have it in the Natural Section at Kroger.)

Technically that’s all you need, but it’s kind of disgusting just like that.

3. Aloe (I go with the drinkable kind (George’s), but you could do the cosmetic/sunburn kind.)

4. Arrowroot Powder (Bob’s Red Mill again, or YDFM had it for considerably cheaper. Check bulk sections of natural stores, would be my recommendation.)

5. Essential oils (I got a local Lavender and Eucalyptus from the Grant Park Farmer’s Market, but I also like AuraCacia brand (at Vitamin Shoppe and some scents at Kroger) in Tangerine or Sandalwood.

What do I do?

Heat up whatever amount of coconut oil you think you want to try to use in the microwave. I would recommend starting with about half a cup. Start with 15 seconds and work up; you don’t need it to be hot, you just need it to be liquid. (It’s easier to measure when it’s liquid, too.) Use approximately the same amount of baking soda. Mix them together with a spoon (you could use a food processor or blender, but it doesn’t really need that.) In liquid form, it’s easy to go overboard with the baking soda (I did this with my first batch and it was like dried play-doh), so try to measure a little, and not just eye-ball them.

Add approximately an eighth to a fourth of your original amount of coconut oil of Arrowroot powder. Arrowroot powder is needed for thickening and smooth-ening.  It doesn’t like hot temperatures and will get very crumbly if you microwave your deo. I use about the same amount (8^th/4^th) of aloe so that the baking soda is less shocking to the skin.Continue mixing and add the essential oils, if you feel so inclined.

Measuring the essential oils, well that’s your preference. Start with maybe 5-10 drops and see how it smells to you.  If it’s not scented enough, you can always add more. I personally like one with about a half cup of each baking soda and coconut oil, plus the arrowroot and aloe and 10 drops lavender and 10 drops tangerine oil. I also like Eucalyptus oil—about 10-15 of those with a little lavender too. Place in a small jar (I like repurposed ones!) and keep in bathroom or bedroom. See the note below about temperature.

How do I use it? It doesn’t go in my deodorant container!

I know. You have to use your fingers and dip a small amount out and then rub it in your pits. I suppose you could put it on your feet and backs of legs—wherever you get stinky, there’s no reason you couldn’t. Be careful with tight clothing, specifically dark clothing, because the baking soda will show on the outside, but then again, it’s easily brushed off. I just wash my hands after I put it on, no big deal. It won't stain your clothes, either. Baking soda actually boosts/is an ingredient of detergent.

I put mine in different mini jars (old jelly jars or other cosmetic jars) and made different strengths of scents with the essential oils.  Who doesn’t love choices?

How long does it last?

Realistically, about 10-12 hours. If I go for a dog walk/run in this muggy Southern heat, it wears off a little sooner. I still sweat though. I want the toxins out, not in.

I can reapply if I am worried I’m going to stink. That’s not so hard!

What should it look like?

It should look like a paste or dough. Reminds me a little of cookie dough or margarine in a tub—but not quite that smooth and greasy. If your consistency is off, you can remix in more liquid (aloe or coconut oil), or if it’s too wet, add more baking soda or arrowroot powder. Hotter than 80 degrees will make it melty, just like other deodorant! If your bathroom gets hot and steamy, it will get more liquid in there.

Why use these items?

Coconut oil has antibacterial and moisturizing properties. Baking soda is an elemental compound that neutralizes odors, but is gritty, so not the most comfortable thing to rub on your body. Arrowroot powder is similar in property to cornstarch, but has some other minor positive aspects of absorption, etc. and since it’s not corn, it’s not genetically modified. I figure there’s enough corn in my life otherwise. Aloe is mentioned in the Bible, so it’s been tested on humans for a while—it’s cooling and moisturizing for skin. It also helps balance if you’ve got shaving irritation in your pits—the baking soda isn’t as rough. The essential oils are the smell-goods. Tea-tree oil is a smell I don’t care for, but it has natural anti-bacterial properties that fight odor. Lavender and Eucalyptus are also used in some cultures cosmetics for that purpose. Lavender has astringent properties, so that can’t hurt for deodorant purposes! I personally like the sandalwood and tangerine/Sweet orange smells because they aren’t the typical cosmetic scents; therefore they smell even cleaner to me.

Where did you get this crazy idea?

A site I really enjoy for whole-food choices and seemingly-honest authorship is 100 Days of Real Food and the author and her husband recently positively reviewed a deodorant called “Primal Pit Paste.” I’ve been attempting to watch every penny and I thought, hmm, I could make this too! If you read their (adorable) site, you’ll read a story about a parent who was worried about the lifetime of aluminum building up in their children’s bodies as the catalyst for non-anti-perspirant deodorant.

A side note here is that, due to many aspects of unhealthy living, our bodies have become allergic or sensitive to many ingredients that are regularly in our food and body products. I have a poultry allergy, and that has been a 15-year ongoing journey of discovering by mistake just how many chicken and turkey products are in things that don’t seem like it. If you try something like this and you have a reaction to the baking soda, it’s probably because of the other things in your diet and body-care regimen. There are plenty of sites for breaking down baking-soda (pH-basic) sensitivity.

Give it a shot! If you really are scared of making it yourself and want me to make you a sample so you can try it, shoot me a message, leave a  comment, or get your soon-to-be unstinky self over on Facebook.