Cleansing with Oil

So, I'm almost 30, and I still have acne. Maybe not as bad as I used to as a teen, but I still get breakouts and have clogged pores. I've tried it all but nothing really works, I just find a routine and see what keeps it at bay. In fact, I have two continents on my face right now so that brought me to write a post about what I have been using lately.

I have super oil skin, and I had heard that instead of washing your face with soap, the best way to wash the oil away is with oil. I know, weird huh? And since I wear make-up (I admit, I love me some eyeliner), I try to make it a point to wash it off at night. I've been using the Deep Cleansing Oil from DHC, and I really like it. It washes all the make up off and I don't feel gross like I used paint thinner on my face afterwards. There are a couple other companies that make a similar product, one is Shu Uemura, but who has $72 to spend on make up remover?

As much as I really like the DHC oil, I'm still looking for something a little more natural for it says in the directions to cleanse afterwards. I did a little research and came across the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). The idea is that oil dissolves oil. You can use this method for any skin type but I've read that it's a bit trial and error. After I run out of my face soap I'm going to try this method, then I'll report back the results after a few weeks!

The Oil Cleaning Method

Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.
Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.
Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Directions:

1. Rub a quarter sized amount over your face for at least a minute- give it time to absorb and break up the oil in your pores.

2. Soak a wash cloth with hot water and place over your face. Wait till it cools off, wipe the oil off, and re-apply the hot wash cloth. Repeat this a few times till the oil is wiped off. This will remove make up, unclog pores, and exfoliate.

3. Once the oil is removed, pat dry your face. If your face is a little dry and tight, put just a little drop of the oil mix in your hands and rub it in evenly as a moisturizer.

This method should be done at night, and in the morning a water and washcloth routine should suffice. First start out doing this a few times a week for it can be a little overwhelming for your skin, then work your way up to every night. A recommendation is to also add a few drops of tea tree oil (it's my Windex!!) to the oil mixture for it is an antibacterial oil.

Hardened Cookies

Not sure how to describe them otherwise, but you know when you make a batch of cookies and in a few days they are hard? You don't want to throw them out because they are still good, they just haven't a lick of moisture left?

This is an easy fix- throw a slice of bread in with them, whether they are in a sealed Ziploc bag or Tupperware. They will absorb all of the breads moisture leaving it dry and crusty, and your cookies moist again. Coz who wants to throw away cookies if they can be salvaged???

Home-made Dishwasher Detergent

As well as clothing detergent, I also just made some dishwasher detergent! I have been using a good biodegradable detergent from Central Market, but it was approx. $7-$8, so if I can make a natural detergent from home for cheaper, then you know I'm going to! The ingredients are similar, but slightly different.

Natural Dishwasher Detergent

2 cups Baking Soda (not the same Washing Soda for clothes!)

2 cups Borax

1/4 cup salt

4 tbls. citric acid,

or 4 packages of Lemonade Kool-Aid

White vinegar (for rinse cycle)

Mix all contents together (except vinegar), then store in a sealable container. Put about a tablespoon of the detergent in each open slot in your dishwasher (I have one open one, and one that closes) and fill your rinse-aid slot with the vinegar (instead of using Jet-Dry, it does just as good a job). I have done one load so far and everything came out clean and sparkly, and I felt good knowing that I didn't wash any harmful chemicals down the drain!

Home-made Clothing Detergent

We are so lucky these days to have so many amazing natural cleaner options. With choices like Method, 360, Full Circle and Seventh Generation we really can't make any excuses not to live more "green", except that they do tend to be a bit more expensive. So in my quest to live more enviro-friendly, I found a few recipes on how to make your own home-made, natural, "green" dishwasher and clothing detergent. I haven't made the dishwashing detergent yet so I will leave that for another post to report how good it works.

Clothing Detergent

3/4 cup Borax

3/4 cup Washing Soda

1 bar natural soap (Fels Naptha, Ivory, Pure & Natural)

The Borax is easy to find in any grocery store in the detergent isle, but I found the Washing Soda to be a challenge. It is commonly made by Arm & Hammer, it is like Baking Soda, but the chemical compound is slightly different. You can't eat it like the Baking Soda, but it is equally effective for cleaning clothes and is biodegradable. I finally found it at Fred Meyers, right next to the Borax and the Fels Naptha soap.

Grate the bar of soap, then combine it with the Borax and Washing Soda. Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area or use a mask. Once combined, you can leave it like this, but my grated soap was so big that I decided to put it in my food processor and it made it more granular like normal detergent. The pic I have here below is before I put it in the processor. You only need about a tablespoon or so for each load- I did my first load today and the clothes came out super fresh and clean. The Fels Naptha has fragrance in it so it is pretty soapy smelling. I also made another batch using a bar of Ivory soap and it's much less soapy scented, so it just depends on how sensitive you are to scent.

If you prefer liquid detergent, this can be made into a gel. Grate the soap and put it in a pot on the stove. Add 12 cups of water and turn the burner on to medium till the soap is completely dissolved. Add 1 1/2 cups of the Borax and 1 1/2 cups of Washing Soda to the pot and mix till it dissolves. Then take a large bucket and add 8 cups of hot water, then add your soap mixture to the bucket and stir. Again add 2 gallons of water plus 12 cups of water and stir. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours, and then mix it really good once it becomes a gel to make it smooth. Use about a cup for large loads and a half cup for smaller loads.

Natural Vegetable/Fruit Wash

I'm starting to think that I should change the name of this blog to "1001 uses for vinegar"! I by no means consider myself a germ-a-phobe, but after hearing stories from friends that have worked in grocery stores, I'm definitely more inclined to wash my food items before consuming them. It's a really good idea to wash your fruits, vegetables, cans and especially soda cans! I read an article a while ago (I can't find it, sorry) that in a study comparison between a water wash, commercial vegetable wash, and 1:1 vinegar to water wash, the vinegar and water wash killed much more bacteria than the other 2 techniques. Vinegar is a natural anti-bacterial that not only kills harmful bacteria, but it can also help in breaking down waxes used by the farming industry. Just keep a spray bottle with half white vinegar and half water handy along with a potato brush (get those from the grocery store). Spray, scrub and rinse the smooth skinned fruits and veggies and cans, or just spray the softer skinned ones, even lettuce, then quickly rinse the solution off (that is, unless you want your strawberries to taste like vinegar).
One note about scrub brushes: try to avoid multi-usage scrub brushes or sponges. One scrubbie for food items, one for dishes, one for cleaning the kitchen (Not the same one for dishes! Gross!), and one for your bathroom. It's kind of considered a cross contamination in the cleaning world- would you really want something that scrubbed a counter top to clean your fruits?

Fabric-ing a Wall

I admit it, I love decor. Interior design. Architecture. It really makes me happy. I had the pleasure of seeing so many different houses and their amazing furnishings that it really inspired me over the years to look beyond the norm. One of my favorite magazines is Domino, but it's out of print. : (

A few months ago I decided to completely re-do my bedroom to try to lift my spirits. I bought a new headboard for my bed, new sheets, a new duvet cover, and painted the walls what I like to call, "plant green". I still need some wall decor, but I had a great idea to fabric one of the walls. This in a sense is simply wallpapering with fabric. I've never done this before and as anyone who has ever rented knows that it's difficult making your place really interesting without losing your deposit, so I hope it works and I hope it comes off easy! I found this amazing modern artsy fabric through Ikea- I think it will look great, I'll post some pictures when I'm done (if it turns out cute!). So this entry is more of an experimental tip than a tried and true trick! I did some research, and this is apparently how I'm going to do it:

1. Clean the wall to remove any dirt.

2. When cutting the fabric, add a couple extra inches, and make sure the design will match the next panel like when using wallpaper.

3. Spray the top part of the wall with Spray Starch, and smooth the fabric into place leaving about an inch to be trimmed later. Use push pins to hold the fabric temporarily in place.

4. Apply starch to the top of the fabric, smoothing the fabric in place to remove bubbles and wrinkles.

5. Work your way down the panel, continuing to spray starch onto the wall, smoothing the fabric, and applying more starch.

6. Repeat steps with second panel.

7. Cut the excess fabric when it's completely dry.

Vermicomposting

It’s my first video blog! Hope I don’t stumble too much. As I say in the video, I’ve been composting with the use of worms (vermicomposting) for the past couple of years and I completely love it. People ask me every now and then exactly what is vermicomposting, and recently a friend requested that I do a blog entry on it and set one up for her. A few things I forgot to mention in the video, (hey it’s hard remembering everything when it’s impromptu!):
· Worm bins can be kept inside and outside. When I had a garage I kept them in there, but when I moved I kept them in the kitchen closet. The general rule is if you are cold, so are they. I put them out on the deck early spring when it was getting warmer (don’t leave them in the direct sun), and will bring them back inside when it starts getting cold. It doesn’t smell, and you only get fruit flies during f.f. season if you aren’t careful.
· If it does start to smell, lay off on the food for a while and add “brown” (paper, leaves). That will help balance the bin's contents. Just remember that it needs balance- give them a variety of food, and keep it moist but not mushy and drippy (that’s what I call worm diarrhea!). If you overfeed them, it will bottleneck the process.
· If you want to use the castings for your garden or house plants, stop feeding them for a while so that they can go through the food that’s already in there thoroughly. It can take about 3 months sometimes to go through everything.
· Some items they love are fruit, veggies, stale rice/pasta/bread, coffee grounds, tea (take staples out of the bags!), used napkins, paper towels, and my favorite, used coffee cups! They will eat all of the paper and leave the wax lining, so you will have to pull that out when they are done. (I find it fascinating, but maybe I’m just weird!). Don’t give them fats, dairy, meat, or anything cooked. Throw all of that stuff in your yard waste bin.
· One more thing I forgot to add, it’s not the worms that actually eat the food. The food breaks down with the help of microbes, and it’s the microbes that the worms eat. Nice little cycle!