My New Skincare Routine

I have been searching for an all natural facial cleanser and moisturizer for a while now. Some of you may know that I used to be a consultant for a popular cosmetics company and I really loved their skincare and used it pretty religiously. It felt really good to wash my face and put on that moisturizer and feel all the tightness and dry skin disappear....but I was never quite comfortable with all of the chemicals I was letting my skin absorb an my skin was still a little rough feeling, I always had these tiny rough bumps I could never get rid of.

So for the last couple years I have been trying various all natural & organic products, from etsy and other websites, but nothing felt as good as what I had been using and most of them made me break out, or didn't quite clean well enough, etc, etc. And they still had a lot of ingredients. I thought there had to be SOMETHING simple out there I could use!

My sister had mentioned using various oils on her skin, like tea tree oil and olive oil, and I thought she was nuts and that it would just clog my pores. YUCK! My skin is oily enough, why would I want to add MORE?? Well, she again mentioned it just last week when her family was visiting us after the holidays. Again I just sort of shrugged her off, thinking how gross it sounded and that it could never help MY skin.

Well.... (you get where I am going with this now I am sure ;-) a few days after my sis went home, I came across the Oil Cleansing Method online. Needless to say, I had to read it. And what I read actually made sense! It sounded way to good to be true, but I knew I had to try it. I searched for more information and came across quite a few blogs and posts about this gross sounding skincare. And the best part of the research is that there are a ton of replies to the posts where people talk about how the method works for them! I read through so many and it was so encouraging.

The castor oil, which is the cleansing oil, and a carrier oil. A cold pressed, pure vegetable oil is what you want. Extra Virgin Olive Oil seemed to be the most common one used, but I read great things about Sunflower oil and that is the one mentioned on the OCM site, so I ordered some sunflower oil right away. And yes, I did find an American company, will post about it when it arrives and I can try it out. If you are wondering why I say that, check out my post here about buying American made products this year.

I wanted to try OCM right NOW though, so I used some Extra Virgin Olive oil from the kitchen and some Castor oil (not made in America, boo) from the store.

Yesterday was my first day using the OCM and I have to say, I am loving it! My skin just feels better. It does feel a little tight and dry right afterward, and I did have a small breakout on my jaw line, but I am still tweaking amounts of oil. And those tiny little bumps are already gone! Not even kidding. My skin feels smoother and softer than it has in a really long time. My face is a little splotchy, but I am hoping my skin will get used to this new routine and adjust soon, I know it takes time.

Here is a pic of my face right after my first try at the OCM (eeek, scary face!) ;-)

My face doesn't look too red, but my cheeks and across my nose are what get bad. I am really hoping this will help even out my skin tone. I will try to take a pic of when my face is splotchy, if I can.

I will post an update next week to let you know how its going and to post another pic, see if we can see any differences (good ones hopefully!).

Please let me know if you try this out and what you think! If you would like more info, here are the sites I found most helpful:

Already mentioned, The Oil Cleansing Method
Simple Mom
Aisha Wood's blog
Crunchy Betty - awesome site by the way!!! I am going to try honey cleansing as well, for mornings or in between OCM! I also want to make some lotion bars and solid perfume. I will post about them when I do. =)

WFMW - Homemade Laundry Detergent

Welcome to Works For Me Wednesday. Hop on over to We Are THAT Family to join in the fun or to find more tips.

I posted this on my other blog, The Frugal Country Mom a few weeks ago. There is a powdered detergent recipe posted there as well as the liquid, for those interested!

Looking for a low cost laundry detergent? Worried about allergies to perfumes or dyes? Is it environmentally friendly, and is it low-sudsing for high-efficiciency front loading washers? Try this detergent! I use it for everything from daddy's really stinky socks to the baby's clothes. It's great and best of all CHEAP!

Liquid Laundry Detergent

3 pints water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated
1/2 cup Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
2-gallon bucket
1 quart hot water

Mix grated Fels Naptha Laundry Bar Soap in a large pot with 3 pints hot water and heat on the stove over low heat until dissolved. Do not allow to boil. Stir in Super Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened. Remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot water to your 2-gallon bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill up bucket with some additional hot water, leaving a few inches at the top, and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. If it gets too thick, just run a hand mixer through it to loosen it up. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load. Note: This recipe multiplies well, but you’ll need a 5-gallon bucket.

Storage: I keep mine in an old laundry detergent bottle. Depending on the size of the bottle you will probably need 2 if large, or more if they are the new smaller bottles. Use a funnel to pour the detergent into the spout. Then make sure you shake it up each time you need to use it, as it tends to get thick again and separate a little.


(I got these recipes from my sister, but I believe they can also be found at everydaycheapskate.com)

Happy Washing!

Homemade Fruit Leather

Today I experimented with making homemade fruit leather. I made 2 flavors - Strawberry and Mixed Berry. They came out a little too thin and and dry, so I am going to try again tonight and make a banana-strawberry and an apple.*

Before drying:

Dry:

Directions:
Puree frozen, canned or fresh fruit in the blender (maybe adding a tiny bit of water or juice to get things moving) making about a 1 & 1/2 - 2 cups. You can add sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, molasses, etc. if you want to make it sweeter, but I think it tastes great without anything added. Pour it out onto a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap (you may want to tape the edges down). Then you just spread it out evenly, about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch thick or so, and put it in the oven for about 2-3 hours at 175 degrees, leaving the door open a bit. Once the puree feels slightly tacky, it should be finished! If you get the result I got and it is too dry, you can still use it for fruit chips, ice cream topping, oatmeal stir-in...etc. Be creative!

Some suggested Add-ins:
Spices such as cinnamon (in the apple flavor..mmm!), vanilla extract, mint, allspice, ginger...
Chopped nuts, raisins, dates, granola, seeds...
Wheat germ
Maybe spread some peanut butter between 2 pieces of strawberry, grape or banana leather and roll it up...yumm!!! (Have I mentioned I LOVE peanut butter??)

Have fun with this and please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or come up with any Super Delicious Flavor Combos!

*I messed up by making it too thin and I dried it for about 2 hours without checking it. Tonight I will make it thicker and check it more often through the drying time.