Peppermint Tea

Warning: This post is about poop.

It's natural, y'all! Everybody poops.

I get so annoyed by people who refuse to acknowledge it/pretend it doesn't happen. Pooping is an important part of wellness, after all. I have to ask patients all the time about their poop. When did you last poop? What color was your poop? Was it hard, soft, formed, etc etc etc... I often even get to inspect it myself. Patients save it for me per my request and I get to document all sorts of things about it.

I live in the city and by law I have to pick up my dogs' poo every single time they go. I clean the cat litter box daily. I know the bowel habits of my furbabies and sometimes I even get a surprise like a foreign object or parasite.... important things to know, wouldn't you say?

So anyway my point is, pooping is normal and talking about it shouldn't be taboo. I know a married couple who've been together 6 years and don't even fart in front of each other. They never speak about poop and go to great lengths to hide their bowel habits from one another. I can't think of anything more pointless and exhausting! I'm not saying you should be disgusting on purpose, but come on. Be real.

 I recently discovered that peppermint tea is a wonderful way to get things moving. I've always enjoyed a cup here and there and never really noticed a correlation between it and digestive health, but lately I've been trying to cut back on coffee (which really doesn't seem to make me go like people say it does). So without really realizing it I was drinking at least 3 cups a day... and WOOOOOOW I felt like singing. I mean, there's nothing like eliminating toxins to make you feel brilliant, and peppermint tea is my go-to!

So if you are looking for a daily dose of detox, have a few cups of peppermint tea. I promise you will feel .... regular.

Tea Tree Oil Zit Zapper

As great as coconut oil is for oh so many things, it's not perfect. For people with oil/acne prone skin, it can mean a nasty break out. After I used coconut oil to remove my eye makeup (and carelessly getting some on my cheek) I woke up to this bad boy:

Yikes! I used to be uber self-conscious about my enormous pores, but I don't even think about them anymore. I wouldn't mind finding a natural way to shrink them a bit... but that's another post for another day.

Forget the big pores. This angry zit is all I can see when I look in the mirror! So I applied a few drops of tea tree oil via Q-tip and this evil monster healed pretty quickly with no squeezing/picking/drying out/flaking. Day two was hard only because I REALLY wanted to pop this guy, but I refrained.

And today, day 3, I'm much more comfortable with this... and thrilled I didn't follow the same pattern of destroying my skin with drying agents and picking and squeezing.

Kinda just looks like one of my freckles! I can't believe how well tea tree oil worked to hasten the healing of this enormous zit!!

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner: A Review

Man I love Trader Joe's.

This conditioner is 3 bucks. It smells fabulous, it is organic, cruelty free, and it makes my hair soft. My scalp loves it.

The "tingle" is very mild, so don't expect to feel like you're washing your hair with Listerine. The peppermint, tea tree, and eucalyptus ingredients make for a really pleasant fresh fragrance that guys won't think is too girly and girls won't find too masculine.

I use it as part of my curly girl method routine in conjunction with Shea Moisture Restorartive conditioner (as a leave in). The one thing I learned about adopting this no poo/ curly girl lifestyle is that you really have to experiment to figure out what works for you. Be patient and talk to your girlfriends. If you can find a hair twin, use her wisdom!!

I feel like Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle is one of those products that will work great for a variety of hair types... and the price is right.

TWO THUMBS UP!!

Coconut Oil Eye Makeup Remover

I'm  a total coconut oil junkie.

I just discovered how fantastic it works to remove eye makeup and I'm just that much more obsessed! I luuuuuurv makeup. Thick winged eyeliner, smokey eyes, fun colors... I dig the dramatic eye. That said, I'm always struggling to remove all the war paint without tugging and stretching the delicate skin around the eyes. I've tried dozens of makeup removers and so called gentle cleansers. Owwwww they make my eyelids sting! I swear I have it all off and the next morning I look like a raccoon. ugh.

But not anymore!! With a tiny dab of coconut oil I barely have to wipe my eyes and bam... the makeup is gone baby gone. Simple. Organic. Safe. Cruelty free. Cheap. Already had it in my cabinet.

This was 3 swipes with a cotton ball and some coconut oil:

YESSIIIIRRR

*** Just be careful if you have oily/acne prone skin. If I'm not careful to keep the coconut oil just around my eye area, I will break out in a gnarly under-the-skin zit.

There's Vodka in My Diffuser

It's true.

But don't worry... it wasn't the good stuff. It was just some cheap brand I've never heard of left over from who knows what.

I had a reed diffuser in my bathroom that smelled fantastic, but of course dried up in no time. My $8.99 impulse buy was a bust. No telling what kind of scary chemicals were in that stuff, anyway.

Rather than throw away the glass bottle and little wooden sticks, why not make my own yummy smelling concoction?

INGREDIENTS:

12 Drops of essential oils (I mixed lavender and tea tree this time around)
1/4 cup of a carrier oil (mineral, safflower, almond)
splash of vodka

Buycott App

I'm befuddled.

How is a crunchy girl supposed to navigate the murky waters of marketing and hype?

Most of my life I naively thought animal testing wasn't even happening anymore. I thought it was this archaic bonehead idea. So, so wrong.

I also can't keep straight fair trade, GMO's, organic, sweatshop labor, fluoride, MSG, Toxins, sustainability, etc etc etc etc....

If label reading has given you the kind of headache brought on by exasperation, then join me on Buycott. Its' free.

With this handy little app you can explore every cause near and dear to your heart and even some you've never heard of. Create your profile, then scan a product's barcode and voila! You are an informed consumer. 

Using Coconut Oil to Treat Pink Eye

OMG! Didn't you know that pink eye means you have poop in your eye?!

I've actually heard people say this. Adults. Sigh.

I've worn contact lenses since the 5th grade. I like to camp and swim in lakes and ponds and I ain't afraid to get dirty. I let my dogs & cat snuggle up on my bed. I love having my hands in the dirt whether it's to repot my houseplants or help my parents in their garden.

I also happen to be a neat freak in many ways. I wash my hands a zillion times a day, I wash my sheets twice a week, I groom my dogs weekly, I sweep daily, and I leave my shoes at the door. That said, I've still had the occasional conjuctivitis.

I most certainly do NOT get poop in my eyes. Pink eye is just inflammation of the membrane that coves the whites of your eyes and your eyelids.... which can happen because you slept in your makeup, you have an allergy, you got dust in your eye, or you have a virus.... just to name a few reasons. Anyhoo ...I got sidetracked defending my hygiene.

I didn't want to run to the Pharmacy and get antibiotics every time my eyes got irritated, but I didn't want to wait to see if it was indeed a bacterial infection with all the crusty glory and photosensitivity to treat it. I wanted to address the issue as soon as I noticed my eye was a little irritated.

And guess what? One of my crunchy cure-alls came to the rescue. Whether my eye gets a little pink or I wake up with full blown yuck, I just create a cool compress with a dab of my trusty coconut oil (after removing and cleaning my contacts). I apply this 3x a day, wear my glasses, and skip the eye makeup. Not only is it soothing, my eyes clear up within a day or two. No more crusty eyelashes and no more expensive/poisonous eye drops. YAY!

According to nutritionist and trans fat researcher Mary G. Enig, PhD:

The lauric acid in coconut oil is used by the body to make the same disease-fighting fatty acid derivative monolaurin that babies make from the lauric acid they get from their mother's milk. The monoglyceride monolaurin is the substance that keeps infants from getting viral or bacterial or protozoal infections. Until just recently, this important benefit has been largely overlooked by the medical and nutrition community. 

Coconut Oil Hair Mask

You can't log onto Pinterest without seeing the gazillion amazing uses for coconut oil. Weeeellll... I'm a total CO junkie, so I kinda buy into it all. Like the Dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding & his Windex.

Total cure-all.

My mask is simple: Coconut oil, Lavender, and Tea Tree Oils

If you don't do your research, you can end up with a mess. Here are some tips that I think a lot of the DIY hair mask posts are missing:

1. Use organic (duh)
2. Don't nuke it! Your body heat will be enough to melt it, so just use your hands.
3. Apply to dry hair (refer to oil vs water)
4. Cover your head to trap some heat. This will open your hair shaft and your hair will drink up the goodness!
5. To rinse out, DON'T GET YOUR HAIR WET before applying your cleansing conditioner (or shampoo if you aren't on the bandwagon yet). 
6. Also, don't use cool water because the coconut oil will become solid in a hurry.
7. Use warm water and cleanse, hydrate, and style as usual.
8. I do this weekly, but just experiment & see what works for you!

Grapeseed Oil for Your Face

I have oily skin.

Like, super oily. When I worked at a spa the estheticians used to gather around and inspect my skin under a magnifyer ooooing and aaaahing over how "tough" and oily my face was. I knew better than to get offended, because, they assured me this meant wrinkles weren't going to be a problem for me any time soon.

Luckily acne hasn't been an issue since my teenage years, but blackheads on my nose and a shiny face are my deal. This was all under control when I worked at the spa and got discounted high end skincare, but these days I don't have that luxury.

Soooo I'm still working on the whole blackhead issue, but my shiny face is just as matte as I want it!

The trick is my moisturizer. It's an oil, and some people bake with it. You guessed it...Grapeseed Oil!

I originally bought it for my hair but only use it for an occasional deep conditioning treatment. I kept reading about how great it was for skin and so I decided to test it out. Very few moisturizers have ever worked well for me.... Lord help me I was using leftover Oil of Olay I grabbed from the guest bathroom at my parents' house (times are tough)!

So I trashed that poison ... it literally stung my eyelids when I put it on... uhhh.. that can't be good.

So the past few days I've tried Grapeseed Oil and I loooooooove it! Two thumbs up. Not greasy. Not runny. No breakouts, no clogged pores. Simple, one ingredient moisturizer. I think I paid around $7 for 16 fl oz.

Who Cut the Cheese? DIY Car Freshener

Super EASY way to make a stinky car smell fantastic.

Since I started cutting out chemical fragrance, I find that now my nose is OFFENDED by the stench of faux ocean breezes and the like. Blegh. Anyone else experience this?

I am now an olfactory snob.

So my trusty Xterra is a mutt cab. There is no way around it. It's perpetually hairy because my fluffy dogs shed like mad and so do I. Not much I can do about that except vacuum it like a madwoman, so I just accept that it's always going to be at least a little furry.

However, I do not accept it constantly smelling like dog farts. I'm amazed at how long I can smell remaining dog funk after a road trip with the windows down! What's a dog loving mutt cab driver to do?

Ahhh, essential oils.

I found some leftover felt and cut/ glued it into a happy flower. You can get creative with this and make all kinds of felt art, but this happened to be something I've made before with my nieces so I just went with it. Next I tied some twine to the masterpiece and dropped a 12 drop combo of lavender and tea tree oil & voila! My car smells great!

Shea Baby!

So I haven't used shampoo in 14 weeks.

There are a gazillion blogs/posts out there about how to go no-poo, shamphree, and some other catchy names for ditching this stuff we have convinced ourselves is totally necessary.... but I have come to the conclusion that no matter how you dress it up, there is no easy transition. HOWEVER it is well worth that awkward phase, so I urge you to grab a hat and commit to getting healthier hair.

At first, your hair is just yuck. Ya nasty (Raven voice).

No way around it. BUT your scalp gets over it and before you know it, you are so proud of your crunchy progress and you love the looks you get when you tell people you don't wash your hair. (OK, maybe that's just me.)

Obviously it's different for everyone, because hair is unique. Sometimes you find a more knowledgeable hair twin and you learn all kinds of info. I just recently found out about words like porosity and botticelli.

I am still learning.... but alas, I'll share my hair journey on another day. What I want to tell you today is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Shea Moisture products.

I use the curl enhancing smoothie and raw shea butter restorative conditioner just to name a few. This company is organic, cruelty free, and affordable! I love that Walgreens and Target carry the Shea Moisture Line because it means I don't have to go all thew way across town to the hippie grocery stores (wow that sounded lazy). If I'm traveling and I need some product, I'm not sent into a panic because I can't get my hands on any.

In addition to hair care, they have soaps, body washes, manscaping products, and stuff for babies and kids. They've recently expanded to makeup and I'm so very excited! Imagine being able to get cruelty free organic makeup at your drug store. I guess in some parts of the country this isn't a big deal but for the South East it's damn near impossible to get quality organic anything at your local drug store.

No Poo Bandwagon

All aboard!!

I have wild, wild hair. I've battled it my entire life. As a kid, I sat on the corner of my Mom's bed and she battled it/me on a daily basis. Back then it was straight, but always long, thick, and unruly. As I hit puberty, I was horrified to notice the curls. I wanted stick straight hair with a mini fringe of bangs like the girls in Teen Magazine. Where were these curls in the 80s when people paid to get bad perms? UGHHH

I have dyed my hair every color imaginable. I have had ultra short sleek bobs, long wavy layers, ombre mid length curls, stacked bobs, pixies, and everything between. From bleach blonde to jet black to peak-a-boo pink highlights, I was never afraid to try a new look because I was sure it couldn't be any more of a disaster than my natural hair. I also had the extra fun "go gray at 23" thing going on, so my hair budget has been out of control my entire adult life.

A few months ago, I decided my bank account put the breaks on my fabulous visits to a great stylist. She was amazing... and affordable. But I still couldn't afford her. I loved my blonde asymmetrical pixie, but the upkeep was too much. What's a girl to do?

Get back to her crunchy roots. Literally.

I stopped dying my hair for the time being, I threw out my curling irons and my trusty flat iron and all products that weren't sulfate & paraben free (which was all of them). Since I stopped seeing my beloved stylist I started growing out my asymmetrical pixie by default... ugh I really didn't think that through before taking the no poo plunge... but hey, at least when it grows out it will be healthy hair! 

Here it is... my stylist was a miracle worker. I loved it (not sure why I look so pissed).  But it was a struggle to blow dry, flat iron, and curl.... all that effort and it was only a few inches long. Something not quite right about all that fuss.  Maybe that explains the sour look. Anyhoooo...

Truthfully, my hair felt extremely dry and humidity was more of an enemy than ever. My young nieces remarked at how my hair "felt like straw." Out of the mouths of babes. Hmmph.

Maybe it was the bleach, the crazy amounts of heat daily, and all the wacky chemicals. Just maybe.

As I started to do some research, I realized women everywhere were sick of being told they needed to wash their hair. The little old ladies I take care of in the hospital? They go to the salon once every two weeks for a wash & style. This is a generation thing, girls... these ladies are older than shampoo. Shampoo is HARSH. It is also totally unnecessary. Google pictures of women in the early 1900s before shampoo was even a thing. Hair looks pretty fab, if you ask me.

Won't my hair feel disgusting? What about the dirt and oil?

OK, so for the first month I used 1 Tbsp baking soda to 1 cup water twice a week. Massaged it into my scalp and I really felt like it removed build up. I missed the bubbles and fragrance at first, but that didn't last. In my opinion, baking soda is kinda harsh and since my hair is curly, I decided to switch to cowashing (fancy word for using 2 conditioners and no shampoo).

This is after a month of baking soda and bye bye blonde.

It's been 14 weeks, and I'm thrilled with the results. No heat, no parabens, no sulfates, no shampoo. Just organic conditioner and products.

It's not as curly as it used to be, but I think that has more to do with the fact that my hair tends to be curlier when it's longer. The point is, for the first time in my life it's NOT FRIZZY!!!!!! Miracles do happen. I'm on this No Poo Bandwagon for good.

Pet Cooties & the Heart Worm Dilemma

I have two dogs and a cat & they're all from the streets. Literally. They all came to live with me flea bitten, half starved, and crawling with cooties.

I'm from the country, so finding a tick doesn't freak me out. I just yank that sucker (hehe) off and flush it. However, I don't want my fur babies to have ticks or itch constantly nor do I want to snuggle up to my sweethearts if I'm going to come away with dozens of bites myself.

I've always had mixed feelings about flea prevention/heart guard. My brother just graduated from Veterinary school and while he isn't the least bit crunchy, his new (also veterinarian) lady friend is .... and I suspect his tune will soon start to change a bit. Anyway, I plan on having a chat with him about the risks/benefits of monthly prevention treatments and alternative cootie repellant.

I'd really like to find a non toxic way to keep my pets healthy. Bear, my recent addition, has tested heart worm positive and I am facing a dilemma with his treatment. My family has had several dogs beat heart worms no problem. We tend to have dogs that live to be 15 + years old. When I was a kid there just wasn't a push to do this monthly treatment like there is today.

Anyway I plan to do some organic pet shampoo shopping. I'll let y'all know how my furbabies do... as of right now, no one has fleas or ticks so our goal is PREVENTION.

Now if I could only find something to keep my car/apartment from smelling like dog farts.....

Smoothie Prep Bonanza

My blender SUCKS. My Mom's blender? Amazing. I decided to take advantage during my recent visit.

My smoothies are usually just whatever ingredients I have on hand... not much planning goes into them. This time around I tried to incorporate things like oats and peanut butter for a little more of a protein kick (per Mom's request- she wanted me to make her some too).

Hooray for meal prep. It's a pain in the ass on Sundays but glorious the rest of the week. The idea is to have a mason jar of deliciousness for breakfast so I can hit the snooze a few more times.

I have been hesitant to do the whole spinach/kale mixed with fruit. I love greens, but I was just really unsure about how they'd taste with fruit. Turns out what they say is true... you don't taste the greens at all. This means I can buy tons of organic spinach and kale without worrying it will go bad before I can eat it all. SCORE.

Out of the 7 recipes we tried, only one was a bust. The rest were pretty good. Not amazing, but I think that has more to do with the fact that the produce selection is horrendous where my parents live and we didn't have time to head to the farmers market.

Also, I hate greek yogurt with a passion. The smell of it makes me want to yack. But I was trying to be open to the idea that I might not taste it. Wrong.

The recipe I hated was the first one I tried: blueberry pie green monster. I found it on Pinterest and the chick that came up with this was clearly insane. Nothing yummy about this monster. She raved about how good it was but I gagged when I tasted it. My parents both tried it and said it was pretty terrible. 

Here are the recipes that I didn't hate & will be even more delish when I can get quality ingredients.

*ALWAYS use fresh organic produce when possible. Frozen organic fruit/ fruit juice works too.
*I add flaxseed and/or chia seeds to basically every smoothie for omega 3's
*I usually add bananas to every smoothie but couldn't any ripe ones (unripe bananas end up tasting like you used the peel)

RECIPES SANS CUTSIE NAMES:

2 cups spinach or kale
1 granny smith apple
1 cup blueberries
1.5 cups pineapple


2 cups spinach or kale
1 granny smith apple
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup pineapple
1 cup mandarin oranges
1/2 cup strawberries


2 bananas
1 cup strawberries
1 cups organic OJ
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
3 Tablespoons rolled oats


1 cup spinach or kale
1 cup pineapple
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup rasberries


1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 banana
2 cups rasberries
1 cup organic OJ


1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 cups spinach
1 pear
3 Tablespoons of oatmeal
4 Tablespoons of peanut butter
organic dark chocolate chunks to taste