No-Poo and my other Baking Soda beauty Uses

Some of you might already have read my posts about no-(sham)poo which is an all natural way to clean your hair that I've been adhering to since June. The basic idea is to use baking soda instead of shampoo and apple cider vinegar instead of conditioner and to leave those icky chemicals in store-bought shampoos out of your hair, skin and shower. My hair is longer now than it ever has bee and thicker as well, so I'm sticking to my decision and saving a bundle in the process. I estimate that I'm saving roughly 15 euros a month by switching over to my new natural regime. Since I've recently started cooking with coconut oil I'm also going to try that in my hair as an intensive conditioning treatment soon and will let you know how it goes.

But enough about hair! I've become obsessed with baking soda! I've been adding it here and there to my beauty routine and have come to find that I use it everywhere!

Baking soda deep facial exfoliating (once-twice a week)

--replaces my Clinique 7 day scrub--
Wash your face as usual making sure to remove all makeup. In the palm of your hand combine some baking soda with a bit of water to make a thin paste. Rub this mixture all over your face and neck and then rub some more, adding water to rinse until there is no residue. There won't be any dull, dry skin left either and you will have a smooth and bright complexion. Moisturise as usual.

Baking Soda facial toner

--replaces my Clinique toner--
In a small spray bottle combine a teaspoon of baking soda and water and mist over face. Let dry. Moisturise as usual. (make sure to close your eyes!)

Baking Soda body exfoliation

--replaces my Sephora body scrubs--
Take a small container with 3 tablespoons of dry baking soda into the shower with you, careful not to get it wet. Rinse your entire body using your usual shower gel or soap if desired. Take a bit of dry baking soda into the palm of your hand and rub it on your wet skin working from the top to the bottom paying special attention to dry patches. Rinse completely off. 

This exfoliation is especially effective if you are planning to shave your legs. Use it before shaving and your legs will come out silky smooth.

Try out some of these uses and let me know how it goes! I know that I'm thrilled with the results and am so happy to be protecting the environment, my wallet and myself!

Read more:

No-poo

No-poo week 2

autoimmunity - part 2

This is part two of my personal story on autoimmune disease/disorders. To read part one please click here.

I was really nervous during the drive to Marina di Massa to visit the homoeopath. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found when we arrived.

The office was quite small with a waiting room with 5 chairs and a table with magazines. We were greeted by a very kind and happy-energetic receptionist and told to wait a few minutes. I was then directed into the doctor's office and asked to sit in a wooden director's chair and to take off all my jewellery, socks and shoes.

The doctor was reserved and quiet, kept pretty much to himself and didn't explain much. The MORA machine, which too me looked like an electroshock device from the 50's sat on the table in front of him. He wet my hand (I still don't know what with... probably just plain water), placed metal plates under my feet, handed me a metal rod connected to the machine, then took my other hand and started to poke it with another rod, this one ending in a dulled metal point, also connected to the machine.

The MORA machine was created in the 1970's by German physician Dr. Franz Morell and electronics engineer Mr. Erich Rasche t measure the electromagnetic component of the body. All substances, whether living or non-living, emit electromagnetic frequencies based on the amount and rotational speed of their atoms. Every bio-chemical process in a human or animal's body are controlled by the “information” carried by electromagnetic oscillations. The MORA machine is able to read this information as electrical frequencies and find any imbalances in an individuals electromagnetic oscillations.  Then with the help of traditional acupuncture points (although without any actual needles or breakage of skin) and homoeopathic remedies, can help to rebalanced these problems.

So the machine finds your bodies' issues and then suggests cures based upon components that will balance these electromagnetic oscillations.

My appointment lasted 2 hours, the first hour and an half connecting the machine to each of my accupuncture spots in my hands and feet correlating to my major organs.  In my case the machine picked up 3 viruses my body was combating: Streptoccocus, Epstein-Barr (aka Mononucleosis), and Campillobacter (Helicobacter-Pylori). It registered several common allergies including pollen, grass and dust as wel as gluten, which was quite shocking and upsetting as the doc told me I'd have to cut out the pasta, bread and grains that I've gotten accustomed to eating since living in Italy.
The machine seemed to pick up on things I hadn't even mentioned to the doctor, such as my policyctic ovaries and frequent bladder infections. It revealed several zones of degeneration and inflammation in my body: bladder, ovaries, stomach, intestine, joints and articulations, eyes. The doc said my arthritis and fatigue and pretty much all of my symptoms would be due to my immune system not knowing, or having forgotten, how to deal with those three very common viruses.  The last half hour of the appointment was spent more or less searching for the right homeopatic remedies which would balance the oscillations. If the machine's dial read 50% the homeopathic remedy would work.

I was sent home with a shopping list of homoeopathic remedies to order from Switzerland.

Now, let me mention that there is a LOT of talk on the internet about how MORA practitioners are fraudsters and how the machine doesn't work and blah blah blah... I'm a sceptic at heart and definitely felt ridiculous sitting in the chair holding the probes, but no more so than when I have had countless blood tests and x-rays and side effects to 'modern' medicinal practises and drug treatments.... should I now go and claim that my own rheumatologists and immunologists have been fraudsters and that steroids, cortisone and antibiotics don't work?

More on my life with homeopathy, Marina di Massa and going Gluten free in a future post.
Images from http://www.moranoosa.com/

no-(sham)poo

double hair knot picture http://www.fashionising.com

 I've only been shampooing about once every five days for a while now so I thought I'd take advantage of the warmer weather and give the no-poo method a try.

What? You haven't heard of no-poo?  Here's a quote of the Wikipedia description of the practice:

The first synthetic shampoos were introduced in the 1930s,^[3] with daily shampooing becoming the norm in the US by the 1970s and 1980s.^[1] Proponents of "no poo"-practices believe that shampoo removes the natural oils (sebum) produced by the scalp—causing the scalp to produce more oil to compensate.^[1][2] They also believe that regular shampooing causes a "vicious cycle" to develop as it becomes necessary to shampoo regularly to compensate for the excess oils produced by the scalp (which are produced in response to being stripped from the scalp by the previous shampooing).^[1]According to some dermatologists, a gradual reduction in shampoo use will cause the sebaceous glands to produce at a slower rate, resulting in less oil on the scalp and hair.^[2] In the 2010 book Packing for Mars, Soviet research is quoted as "the skin halts its production of sebum—after five to seven days of not bathing...."^[4] The time taken to break the cycle after adopting "no poo"-practices varies, however a "two- to six-week period" is typical.^[1]

... So basically, not using chemical shampoos and instead adopting natural products as cleanser and conditioner for your hair is better for you and will make it less oily in the long run. Sounds like its worth giving it a try!

I researched my own cleaning recipes on line and decided to go with what I found most frequently; baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) as a cleansing rinse and then an apple cider vinegar rinse to condition.  Both rinses are one teaspoon to one cup ratios.  You mix up the ingredients in two separate ups and hop in the shower... Wet your hair, and throw on the baking soda mixture, keeping close to the roots. Rub it in well and then rinse well. When I did tie I got a strange sensation that my hair was squeaky clean... Like when you wash a Tupperware container and the soap rinses all the oils away really well and you can hear it squeak.  Then do the same with the vinegar rinse but concentrating on the lengths of your hair. Don't worry about the smell cause it doesn't remain on the hair at all and I didn't even smell it in the shower, it being diluted before.

I did my first 'wash' today and dried my hair with the dryer on low heat right afterwards and the first things I noticed were how shiny my hair was and how thick it seems. It wasn't even more tangled than it normally is when I use a heavy duty conditioning treatment, and I expected to be fighting with knots.  I will keep you posted as to how it goes!

Looking forward to healthier, shinier, longer hair!