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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Latest Experiement

I have become sort of a scientist over the past year. Mainly in the area of cooking. It started last November after Kailyn had a health scare and had severe abdominal pain off and on for a week straight. And after 2 trips to the local ER, a trip to the pediatrician and his recommendation to take her to a Children's Hospital when the pain occurred, which we did once, we never did receive a diagnosis. Ironically enough a week or two before her pain started, hubby and I had a conversation with some neighbors/friends about their diet and how they eat. It's a LOOOOOOONG story and I won't go into details about it, but after talking with them I started thinking about the foods I was eating and also serving my family. The Kailyn's pain started and, since it was located in her abdomen, I started wondering if the food she was eating might be the cause. Let's just say that that week was quite stressful and frustrating. No one could tell us why she would get 1-3 hr spurts of intense pain each day and then spend the rest of the day being her normal self. So I guess the whole experience sort of scared me into wanting to educate myself on how to eat healthier so I could in turn get my family to eat healthier. And so the journey began...



Fast forward 10 months and we have cut out all refined white sugar, and refined white flour from our diet. (With the exception of an occasional treat, bowl of cereal, etc) I now have a grain mill and grind my own wheat berries for flour and also my own natural peanut butter. I no longer use canola or vegetable oil, but use olive oil and coconut oil. And most of what I have learned has come from experimenting. Trying a recipe and deciding if it's a good fit for my family (aka..if the kids will eat it. lol) I have also taken mental notes on how my body feels after eating sugary foods vs healthy raw foods. I think I have finally mastered the art of healthy cooking! I can now make our favorite foods but in a healthy, un-processed way.

But the experimenting continues. Since I've eliminated chemicals (aka preservatives and additives) from our diet, I'm now venturing to eliminate chemicals from our personal care products. Which brings me to my newest experiment...

The Oil Cleansing Method. (Sounds so boring, don't you think? And sort of an oxymoron, too...Oil & Cleansing at the same time??)


I have become a bit addicted to reading "Green" blogs in search of new ways to replace our everyday household products. I know all of my body products are loaded with unnatural (even though it may say natural on the label) chemicals, so I'm going to start taking them out one by one. My victim of choice this month is facial cleanser. I used to use a VERY expensive brand of facial cleanser that, quite honestly, I really liked. But after reading the label, I just couldn't stand the thought of slathering it on my face anymore. So I switched to a brand that I bought the local health food store. My first impression was that is really stunk...literally. No running-through-the-meadow smell or fruitiness...just a weird smell that I wasn't familiar with. I now recognize that smell as tea tree oil...and I the smell has actually grown on me! Anyhoo...I really don't have any complaints about my current facial cleanser other than the fact that I don't fully believe it's 100% natural since I didn't make it and there are still a few ingredients on the label I'm not familiar with. But I came across the Oil Cleansing Method on a blog (many blogs actually) and thought I'd give it a try. Today.



Ready for the ingredients? Here they are...



1. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) ($15.59 for a 33.8 oz bottle of organic EVOO)


2. Castor Oil ($8.99 for a 16 oz bottle)





That's it!! For normal skin, use 1 part castor oil to 1 part EVOO. For acne prone or oily skin, use 3 parts castor oil to 1 part EVOO. You can also add a few drops of tea tree oil to this concoction for it's antiseptic qualities. For dry skin, use 1 part castor oil to 3 parts EVOO.


I made the kind of acne-prone/oily skin, although I think I actually have combination skin. But since there isn't a recipe for that, I stuck with the acne-prone/oily. I searched through my beauty products for a bottle of chemical-laden-something and found a lotion that I didn't really care for. I dumped it out and rinsed out the bottle and Voila! I had found my new face wash bottle! (Part of my journey has also been to eliminate waste and repurpose things)


Armed with my bottle of face wash, I boldly walked to the bathroom to give it a try. I took about a nickel to quarter size amount of the wash and rubbed it all over my face. My first impression is that it wasn't as oily-goopy-messy as I thought it might be. I rubbed it in for probably 30 secs to a 1 min. (btw - I didn't wet my face prior to this...put it on your dry face) Then I wet a washcloth with hot water, wrung it out and placed it over my face. I don't really like this part of it b/c I don't like feeling like a can't breathe...although I totally could breathe...it's mind over matter. lol I did this for probably 30 sec-1 min until the washcloth no longer felt warm. Then I wiped the oil off with the washcloth and looked into the mirror to access what I saw. My face felt WONDERFUL. Honest. I felt like I had just had a spa treatment of some sort. (Not that I've ever had a spa treatment...but I totally think that's what one would feel like if I ever got one.) And my face didn't feel oily. It felt moisturized. And it felt so soft too! As of today, I am totally for using the Oil Cleansing Method!!



So here is what I found by reading on other blogs about the Oil Cleansing Method....some people found that they no longer had a need for moisturizer (except on rare occasions). And I think everyone noticed that their skin looked and felt great...almost like it was glowing! And you only have to do this once a day too! I am going to try this for a month and see if I have noticeable results. If it works I will be killing two birds with one stone...and replacing both my face wash AND my moisturizer! I'm so excited to see how this experiment turns out!! Have you ever tried this? Or are you planning to? If so, let me know how you like(d) it!!