Body and Beauty and Living-Naturally

It’s not even December but many stores have started christmas trading and I intend to start my own countdown to the festive period.I have already got a few christmas hampers orders so I figure it’s an okay time to remind everyone to start to think about their plans.
However, what I really want to do today is talk about christmas gifts. In these days of instant gratification, by the time christmas comes, there really isn’t alot to desire or wish for. In that light,how about some alternative christmas ideas? If you have any,please post them here as a comment.
Here goes:
1) Make or craft something.Bake, sew, paint, knit,draw. Use whatever skills/talent you have. Everyone around me is getting soap for starters!I’ll also think of something else to make (I’ll tell you when it’s done!)
2) Recycle.Have a recycling christmas party with a group of your friends where you exchange items. I and my sister have done     this for the last 3years. I give her an item of mine i know she has always really liked and she does same.
3) For the person who has everything, make a donation to a charity. I ‘ve used selfhelp for a couple of years now. I      really like that they are about empowering people to help themselves. Oxfam also do same or similar.                 
4) Give the gift of your time, could be just a cup of tea/coffee/juice, babysitting, chaufferring,the list is endless.
5) Music-make a compilation of their favourite tunes.
6) I keep samples of everything. You know those tiny satchets in magazines, samples being handed out in shops, etc. While I don’t buy skincare products, if samples are being given, I’ll take them and I keep them and as a collection they are great for any jet setters with all the air-travel restrictions these days.

I’m sure there’s more but please help me out here!

I hope that somehow with this I will also be teaching my kids that they do not have to have the biggest and shiniest and latest toy under the tree on christmas morning. Will I still buy pressies? Yes I will, but I won’t be going broke doing it!For all who’ll be recieving from me, while you already know you are getting soaps but you still don’t know what else!

PS:Just found this site with LOADS of ideas for alternative pressies…including the ones I listed above.

When I find any thing else, I’ll pop it here.

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candlebakery wax melts,
originally uploaded by NiÉriu.

I do like a nice smelling house. Nothing like a warming scent to greet you when you step in from the cold!! My preference is essential oils and wax tarts. I have had concerns about burning paraffin wax as often as I did so tend to use the oils more even though being a simply gal, it is a bit of faffing about- getting the water, oil and making sure not to spill them…

Anyway, I recently exchanged some soap for some more eco- friendly wax melts. These melts are made from ECOSOYA. According to Emma of the Lincolnshire candle bakery, “ EcoSoya is a beautiful wax, which is pesticide and herbicide free as well as being completely GM Free.Unlike Paraffin, which is a by-product of the petroleum industry, EcoSoya wax is grown specifically for its purpose. It contains no chemical nasties and burns soot free, making it an excellent choice.”

Emma sent me3 different scents- baby powder, Monkey Farts and Lincolnshire harvest. So far I ‘ve burned the baby powder and it is soooo nice. Not over powering or too light…just right. I ‘ve popped the others in my drawers and everytime I open them a nice scent wafts out…mmmmm…

I like these so much that I am going to be getting a few for my customers….so keep your eye on the main site. Emma does scent with essential oils as well but I will be going for the Christmas scents…!! HO HO HO!!!

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 The last few days have been really dry, windy and cold.There was abrief shower of rain today.Generally I suppose this is typical for this time of year, but a departure from the weather we’ve been having which I have been told is called “an Indian summer.”Why am I yapping about the weather? Well, my skin as to be expected has been rebelling against this shift…I don’t think it will ever get used to it.Reminds me of the harmattan season in West Africa. It is tight and feels like it has shrunk a size or two, it feels really dry and is crying out for help….. It is important to recognize the effects of the environment (heaters, winds, cold, etc) in the Autumn/winter months and  adjust your regime to balance them.In the words of Coco Chanel “Nature gives you the face you have at twenty. Life shapes the face you have at thirty. But at fifty you get the face you deserve.” Looking after your skin in these months starts from the inside. Ultimately the skin is a mirror of what is going on inside.  Do you have a balanced diet? You need your servings of fruit, vegetable and not forgetting oils. Yes I said oils! You need all the help from those essential fatty acids now! Remember to drink your water too.In recognition of the fact that today’s lifestyles don’t always allow for getting all the nutrients required ,You might want to get a good multivitamin from your health store or chemist. Be sure to discuss any health concerns with your GP or pharmacist before taking these multivitamins especially if you have an ongoing health problem or are pregnant or nursing a baby. Look out for the following vitamins and minerals: Vitamins A ,B-complex, C, D,E,K, Calcium, Niacin, Biotin, Niacin, riboflavin, iron, zinc. Now for the skincare routine.In this season, I rarely use soap on my face, only when I have used makeup. I use the oil cleansing method I described in a previous post. Follow this with a toner of diluted apple cider vinegar (I try to do this at least twice a week). After my shower, I slather myself in body butter and face butter. On the days I am going out, I use a very low factor sunscreen/moisturizer. The kids have a similar routine except they only use water on their faces.

Whenever I wash my hands throughout the day, I use one of the whipped sheabutters as a hand cream and also then rub my hands with the remnants of the butter over my face.

Ah….can’t wait  for the spring!

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Yesterday  I was making natural  lipbalms which will be offered as freebies on the main website to customers. Instead of beeswax, I’ve used olive wax and I really like the feel of this. Using olive wax too means this is okay for vegans as well. Hopefully those who get it will like it!!

I ‘ve also been packaging a few soaps for a soap basket.

The other thing I made was the natural airfreshner I mentioned in a previous posting -using baking soda(aka soda bicarbonate) and  a few drops essential oils. My little girl has had a cold  for a few days now and gets blocked up….especially at night and then she can’t sleep and guess who else can’t sleep??!!! Although I burn oils in the rest of the house I generally don’t like to in the bedrooms but I still like to have a nice fresh scent around. I used eucalyptus, teatree and lavender this time.

I sprinkled the scented soda bicarb all over the carpet since this morning after the school run and I hoovered it up just before they got back….the house smells LUUUURVELY!  

I am now off to make some other freebie stuff!! I am working to unlock the main site this weekend so using as many of the hours of the day as possible.

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Hi, Sorry about the long-ish silence. I and the family were away on holidays, and then I had to go to my friend who had just lost her mum in a car crash. Please do me a favour and think of this family-send them your positive thoughts and prayers for strength to deal with their loss. Everyone who thinks of my friend’s mum thinks of what a happy person she was, and how she had a smile and a kind word for everyone.

 I am not really in the frame of mind to do much these last few days but I would like to say that ….life is short, seize it and live it with all you’ve got…

One of my favourite poems is the popular one that has done the round-Wear Sunscreen by Mary Schmich. It was also been set to music by Baz Luhrmann.

 Wear SunscreenIf I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.
Oh, never mind.
You will not understand the power
and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded.
But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of
yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much
possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future.
Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as
trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things
that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that
blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts.
Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you’re ahead,
sometimes you’re behind.
The race is long and, in the end,
it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive.
Forget the insults.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters.
Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know
what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn’t know at
22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some
of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees.
You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll divorce at 40,
maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself
too much, or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance.
So are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body.
Use it every way you can.
Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.
It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance,
even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions,
even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines.
They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents.
You never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings.
They’re your best link to your past and the people
most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,
but with a precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle,
because the older you get, the more you need the
people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it
makes you hard. Live in Northern California
once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths:
Prices will rise.
Politicians will philander.
You, too, will get old.
And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you
were young, prices were reasonable, politicians
were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund.
Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse.
But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the
time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy,
but be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia.
Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal,
wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts
and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Mary Schmich
( newspaper columnist with the Chicago Tribune )  

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