The List Is Mightier Than The Stress

How do you deal with stress?

Me? I get easily frustrated and my skin breaks out. I take naps. Then I get over myself and I make a list. I have a lot of lists. I have one for grocery shopping, one for other items I need to buy, one for things I need to do, one for projects I’m working on, one for work, and one for dreaming (as in things I want to do one day when I find that mythical “free time”).

Why do I make/keep so many lists? I do it mostly to help calm the constant noise in my head that is always going on. And my memory is getting ridiculously bad. Also, I always seem to be doing about ten things at once. If not for a list to keep my on track or to tell me where I’m at with something, I’d be beyond lost and just end up wasting even more time trying to remember what I had forgotten.

So what do you do to help with stress? Are you a list maker too? Do you go for a run or turn the music up loud? Do you just run away and hide until it all blows over?

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I know I posted about this the other day, but I’m still looking for a home for Jack the rabbit. Please share this link with anyone that might be interested. Sadly, time is running out…

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/grd/3746570329.html

Here Bunny, Bunny, Bunny

This is Jack.

He's a Flemish Giant and is around 4 months old. He's very friendly and his best friend is a large dog.

He needs a home. Due to unforseen incidents it's current owner can no longer keep him. He comes with his cage, toys, food, litter box, and misc items. The owner is asking $100 for all but if you're really interested please feel free to make an offer.

Please feel free to share this post with anyone you feel may be interested.

What Shampoo Do You Use?

There are so many brands of shampoo out there. All of them claiming they can do this or that or are special because they have x ingredients or don't have y ingredients. For me, they all were lacking or had too much depending on how you look at it. Some would make my hair super soft and voluminous but leave my scalp flaking and dry. Others would leave my scalp happy but leave my hair dye and brittle.

After doing more research in to the real natural way of cleaning your body, I found the "no poo" method. Instead of shampoo you use a baking soda and water mixture on your scalp and finish with a "conditioner" of apple cider vinegar and water on the rest of your hair. How could that make my hair clean and keep my scalp in good condition? No way!

At first I was skeptical as you can see. I can't tell you how many hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars I've spend trying to find that magic shampoo that would work for all my needs. I figured I had all three ingredients on hand so what did I have to lose?

Know what I found out? I love it!!! The vinegar leaves my hair soft and full. The baking soda leaves my scalp happy and just right. I did have to do a good bit of experimenting with how much of each to put on my hair when washing. I also had to make sure I completely rinsed my hair of the baking soda.

Interested? You should be. Want to know how? Here you go!

Baking Soda Shampoo
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 cup water

Apple Cider Vinegar Condioner
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water

I put in each in to it's own squirt bottle so I could use it easier. I wet my hair and then squirt the baking soda mix on to my scalp. I massage it in for about a minute. Rinse well and then completely soak hair in the vinegar mix. I avoid my scalp for the most part. I also added a few drops of tea tree oil in the baking soda mix to help my scalp. It leaves my whole head feeling amazing.

I've read that a lot of people have an adjustment period. I don't seem to be having one except that it took me a few tries to figure out how much of the vinegar mix to use. For me, it was A LOT. I say give it at least a month if you can for everything to balance out and for you to figure out what works for you.

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts?

Up Coming Topics:

Homemade Bread

Crocheted Baby Booties from Hell

Homemade Lip Balm

Benefits of Coconut Oil

Can you make washing with oil work when you have to shave your legs???

Washing Away Your Dirt with Oil?

I know the idea seems strange at first. Even gross. My skin breaks out like a 13 year old’s already, won’t washing it with oil just make it worse?!? I’ve tried hundreds of dollars’ worth of creams, lotions, washes, soaps, and ointments to try and get my skin cleared up. Some would work okay while some made things much worse. Did I mention I also have extremely sensitive skin? Being me is such a joy! :)

I figured going all natural had to have some benefit. Boy was I in for a surprise! After the first time doing this my skin was glowing and oh-my-goodness soft. Within a week my face had started to clear up and my skin got even softer. This week I started using it on my chest and arms. It’s amazing how great my skin feels and looks. I always follow up with my new all natural moisturizer, Coconut Oil.

Now before we talk about the specifics of all this, I have to give a huge thank you to the woman who changed my life with her blog and her stories of going natural – Tsh at Simple Mom! Her blog got me started and I consider her my hero.

So here we go, the super simple method I started using about two weeks ago.

  

Oil Cleanser for Normal Skin

-          1 parts EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

-          1 part Castor Oil

Oil Cleanser for Dry Skin

-          3 parts EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

-          1 part Castor Oil

Oil Cleanser for Acne Prone/Oily Skin

-          1 parts EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

-          3 part Castor Oil

Right now I’m only using olive oil because I haven’t been able to find any castor oil in the stores I’ve looked in. I ordered some off of Amazon and it’s on its way. I’ll most likely try the dry skin recipe first as I think my dry skin is a big cause for my skin issues. I keep mine in a travel bottle with a flip top.

So now you have your cleanser and you need to know what to do with it! Pour a small amount in your hands and rub. This warms it up nicely. Gently rub the lotion in to your skin.  I’ve read that you should apply it to dry skin but I use it in the shower while wet and I think it still works great. The goal is one minute of gentle massaging.

Then take a warm wet wash cloth and apply it the skin. This helps get skin extra clean so don’t skip it! Again the goal is one minute. All that’s left is to rinse. Take your wash cloth and gently wipe off the oil. That’s it! Your skin will look and feel amazing. I like to follow up with coconut oil as a moisturizer after I’m out of the shower and dried off (more on coconut oil later!).

Click here to read Tsh’s blog post on this subject.

Up Coming Topics:

Homemade Bread

Crocheted Baby Booties from Hell

Homemade Lip Balm

Benefits of Coconut Oil

Recipe\Instructions for baking soda and ACV hair cleaner

A Little Late to the Race

Sometimes I feel like that’s the story of my life! I’m a 37 year old single mom of a now grown child who’s in college. I have three cats and am the step mom to a big dumb dog and a huge skittish rabbit. I work as a computer programmer and love what I do and the people I get to do it with. At home it’s all about crafts and making things. I knit, crochet, paint, and various other crafty things.

My latest kick is all natural beauty products made at home. I’ve started washing my face with olive oil and using coconut oil as a moisturizer. In the week and a half I’ve been using this system my face has cleared up and my dry skin is almost gone. I’ve also stopped using shampoo and conditioner instead opting for baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixes. I’m still not sure on this one. The first time I used it my hair was soft and manageable. This morning I think it’s on the dryer side.  I do need a haircut, time for another 2 inches to go away.

Last September I dyed the bottom half of my hair purple and it destroyed about eight inches. I’ve already lost four inches of nastiness, four more to go! I’ve also stopped using permanent hair dye. I tired Henna once but it requires five to seven hours of down time on the weekend and I don’t normally have that. I use a semi-permanent dye about every 8 weeks. I have a lot of grey hair that seems to have all congregated to the center middle part of my head. When I don’t do something I end up with a huge white stripe down the middle. Not attractive at all!

So that’s the purpose of this blog, another craft and DIY beauty products blog indeed. I plan to post things I’m working on, recipes, and whatever the else I feel might be helpful or entertaining. Besides, I need to place to keep me accountable.

Up Coming Topics:

Homemade Bread

Crocheted Baby Booties from Hell

Homemade Lip Balm

Recipe\Instructions for cleaning with oil

Recipe\Instructions for baking soda and ACV hair cleaner