The Great Oil Experiment (with DIYs)

Don't forget to label your bottles with old publicity stickers! Or, you know, actual labels.

The concept of washing your face with oil sounds very strange, but it makes sense - the basic idea is that the oil dissolves the excess grease and grime on your face, without stripping it and drying out your skin the way soapy cleansers do. Moisturizing with oils seems similarly frightening, but most people report a decrease in breakouts rather than the expected increase- apparently not all oils are as comedogenic as our own delightful skin oil.

As a fan of skin oils in general, I've been meaning to try oil cleansing for awhile now. I'll admit my usual face-washing routine is pretty lax (I usually just splash some hot water on there in the shower, and occasionally use some Dr Hauschka's Cleansing Cream which I buy entirely because it smells AMAZING and for no other real reason.) I occasionally use coconut oil to remove make-up, but that's not quiiiite the same (though this method will remove make-up very well.) Likewise, I'll occasionally use coconut oil in lieu of lotion for moisturizing, but I've never tried actual "face oil."

Now, if you go out and buy face oils, for cleansing or (especially) moisturizing, they will run you into the realm of ridiculou$$. The ingredients are usually obscenely simple (sometimes, it's just a tiny fancy bottle of a pure oil that they're charging $50 for, when you could get twice as much for a third of the price at a hippie grocery store- looking at you, argan oil.)

Anyway, that makes them natural candidates for DIYing! Here are my very simple recipes for both- I recommend putting them in a little eyedropper bottle (which you can usually find at the sorts of hippie grocery stores that carry the oils- I got everything necessary at Whole Foods.)

Cleansing oil:

2 parts Grapeseed oil
1 part Jojoba oil
A few drops grapefruit essential oil (or EO of your choice)

Many people like to use castor oil for cleansing- apparently it works a little better than other sorts, but it can also be drying and since my skin veers towards dry, I went with gentler grapeseed (which is also good for balancing oily skin.) Jojoba is more moisturizing, but also usually pretty safe for oily skin. Depending on your skin, you can tweak the ratios of lighter and heavier oils (some Googling will give you waaaay more info about what different oils are good for than you ever wanted or needed.)

As far as EO's are concerned, you'll be washing it off so it's mostly about whatever you like. I love the smell of grapefruit EO but it's not one I necessarily want to leave on my skin all day, so this is a good chance to use it.

To use a cleansing oil, take a few drops and massage them thoroughly into your face (if you're wearing make-up, be sure to give those areas some extra attention). Grab a washcloth, run the tap water nice and hot (not burning, obviously, but good and cozy), soak the cloth, and press onto your face for a few seconds. Rinse the cloth, repeat. Try not to rub too hard- the hot water well melt the oils off, taking the dirt, grime, and skin oil with it.

Moisturizing Oil:

4 parts Jojoba oil
1 part Grapeseed oil
A few drops lavendar essential oil (or EO of your choice)

You'll notice I used the same oils- that is called "not spending a freaking insane amount of money at Whole Foods." I went heavier on the jojoba because I want this one to be more moisturizing than the cleansing oil was, but again, you can tweak this using whatever oils you need to for your skin type.

As for EOs, here's a quick and dirty guide*:

For dry/aging skin: Geranium, Lavendar, Neroli, Rose, Birch, Rosewood
For normal/combination skin: Lavendar, Rose, Sandalwood

For oily skin: Pachouli, Myrrh, Rosemary, Ylang Ylang

For acne-prone skin: Lavendar, Violet, Rosewood, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Chamomile
For sensitive/irritated skin: Lavendar, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang

Bergamot and some other citrus oils are useful for oily or acne-prone skin, but they can make your skin more sensitive to UV light, so I wouldn't recommend them for anything you're going to leave on your skin. Neroli is apparently an exception, and sweet orange and grapefruit may or may not be okay...but might as well play it safe. On the flip side, apparently some EOs like lavendar, Roman chamomile, and myrrh as well as sesame, coconut, and olive oil actually offer some UV protection.

Another note on EOs: Go easy!! A little goes a long way. 

*Disclaimer: I haven't used all, or even most of these. Please research whatever oil you want to use before committing, in case my ten minutes of Google research was mistaken.

To use the moisturizing oil, put a few drops (like, two) in your hands, rub them together, and then pat all over your still-damp face, aftershave style.

So how's it work?

One day later...
My face felt really soft when I went to bed last night. Skin looks pretty decent today- hard to tell after just one use though. One thing to note, if you're not extremely careful, the oil does tend to work it's way into your hair, especially if you have bangs- no big deal (it's probably really good for your hair) but you'll want to make sure you can shower before going out the next day.

Several days later...
So far so good! My face tends to get more or less moody depending on the time of month, but the oil doesn't seem to have made anything worse, and it's at least as moisturized as with the lotion I was using before. My pores seem cleaner than they did with normal facewash, possibly because I use the oil more often (I didn't want to overdry my skin with soap.) The biggest downside? The required washcloths. Normally I just wash my face in the shower and splash some water on there to rinse, but that doesn't work as well with the oil (I tried it, but it was much harder to get the oil off without a cloth.) I'll just have to be diligent about laundry and maybe buy a few extras.

In conclusion...

Totally worth a try. The ingredients aren't that pricey if you think of how far they go- the EOs are the priciest part, but they last a long time and have many applications... and honestly you could probably skip them if you wanted to, but they make the process rather nice. Keep your other oils in the fridge unless you're using one with a long shelf life- that way they'll stay good longer.

Would love to hear your guys's recipes and results- I'm a sucker for DIY skincare/beauty stuff!

DIY Luminizer

After hearing pretty much universal raves about RMS Living Luminizer, I finally got my hands on some to give it a whirl. It is indeed a pretty awesome product- it adds just a slight shimmer to your skin, extremely subtle so you don't look like a glittery rave kid, but enough to make you look, well, luminescent, I guess. Healthy and glow-y.

But, clocking in at almost $40 for a .02 oz pot, this stuff doesn't come cheap. I got mine through Dermstore which was kind enough to throw in some free gifts and a 2 year subscription to Better Homes & Gardens, which made it a little less painful (no, I'm not affiliated, but I do like free stuff.) Still, though, it's a big investment when your beauty budget is as piddly as mine. Update: That subscription never came, BH&G says it never existed, and Dermstore never told me. Thanks a lot, jerks. 

So I took a look at the ingredients:

Castor seed oil, coconut oil, beeswax, tocopherol, rosemary extract, May Contain titanium dioxide, mica. 

So... two oils, beeswax, vitamin E (another oil and a preservative), rosemary extract which I'm assuming is for scent, and basically...mineral make-up. Titanium is generally a whitish powder and mica adds sparkle. So it's essentially like putting on a light coat of mineral shimmer, and using wax and oil to moisturize and glue it to your skin.

Hmm. I can do that. Commence experimental luminizer!

(But first a warning: melted waxyoil is not particularily easy to clean up! Cover your workspace and be prepared to soak the dishes for awhile. Very hot water helps melt it off, obviously.)

Materials: 

Beeswax
Coconut oil
Fine-grain, shimmery mineral eyeshadow (1/4 teaspoon total shown, but I recommend more more more!)
A little pot to put it in
Microwave and microwave safe bowl
Oven mitt

I figured castor seed oil was probably used as a cost-saving measure more than a necessity, but you could use it if you wanted. Grapeseed would also probably work. I left out the vitamin E since I didn't have any handy, and coconut oil/beeswax don't exactly spoil quickly anyway. If you want a little scent, you could put a tiny droplet of essential oil in- just make sure it's not one that will irritate your skin. Mine just smells like coconut and honey, it's kind of lovely. I used 1 part beeswax and 2 parts oil, which gave me a fairly creamy texture, a bit softer than the original. To make it harder, use more beeswax; for softer, use more oil.

The mineral eyeshadows I used were two sample size pots from Bad Bitch Cosmetics (LOVE, btw) in Miranda and Yuki-onna (similar, but Yuki is a bit more sparkly.) You could use anything fine and shimmery- use a cooler, silver-based shimmer if your skin is cool toned, and a warmer, gold-based shimmer if you're warm toned. I thought I would need just a tiny bit of eyeshadow but I ended up dumping both whole containers in, and could've still done with more. If I make this again I think I will use twice as much, at least- unfortunately I've exhausted my supply of white-ish shimmer powders for now. In any case remember that the eyeshadow can really make or break it- go for a super-fine texture to keep from looking glittery.

Start by measuring out your wax and oil.

Chop or cheese-grate the wax into little bits, which will make it easier to melt. Put the wax in the microwave safe bowl and start heating it up in 20-second intervals, stirring in between. (You could also use a double boiler for this- it would probably be easier, but with such a small amount of stuff it seemed a little silly.)

When the wax is almost totally melted, add in the coconut oil and put it in for just a little bit longer, until it's all nice and uniformly liquid. (If you're using liquid oils, I think you can probably add them after the heating-up step. Be wary of heating any oils with a low smoke point.)

Take the bowl out very carefully (it will probably be insanely hot at this point- use the oven mitts) and pour the mineral eyeshadow in. Stir it up well and dole into little containers.

Attempt NOT to make a huge mess out of it. Seriously, it's like I'm 5.

Set them aside to cool.

**This part is key! **

Periodically as they are cooling, you need to go stir them up again! Otherwise, the sparkle will sink to the bottom. Eventually they will get too hard to stir, so it's imperative to hit that sweet spot when it's viscous enough to hold the shimmer in place, but warm enough to manipulate, and really mash it up.

Result: 

My version is a bit creamier and a bit more sheer, but it does the job! It's actually perfect as a slightly-luminizing hand cream or lip balm, at this texture. (Also, great for clavicles and other areas that you want to highlight, but where you really don't want it to look like you've got make-up on.) To truly match the original, you'd want it a little harder and with more eyeshadow- I may also try a little translucent powder to give it a drier texture. On the other hand, with a bit more oil and a yummy smelling EO, it would be a fantastically rich body lotion that would give you just a little bit of glow all over. Adding some flavor oils would make it extra awesome as a lip balm, too. Go nuts! I'd love to hear what you guys can come up with!

It's also worth noting that even though I had silvery shimmer, mine came out more warmly-toned, probably because I used yellow beeswax (white beeswax wasn't readily available locally- you can order it online though!* ) Given the ease and price, though, I'd say it's a win- you could experiment with the ratios all day and be sparkly head to toe, given that each batch probably costs about $3-5, depending on how much eyeshadow you throw in there ;-) I smell Christmas presents for every chick I know coming on... assuming I figure out how to put things in a jar without sloshing it everywhere.

*Just FYI that's an affiliate link, which means I get a little kickback if you use it, but no pressure! 

Eyeshadow Follow-up

After yesterday's post I went a bit nuts and cream-i-fied pretty much all the powders I had that had enough room in their jars, using the oil & alcohol method. The diffferent powders all react a bit differently to the process- some mix easily, some definitely do not, some have dried well, some are still very liquidy (which might have to do with how much oil I added vs how much stuff was left vs the texture of the powder vs whoknowswhatelse.)

All are fairly usable, though I'm going to let a few dry out a bit more before I put the caps on.

On the top is the dry powder, bottom is the new cream. 

Bathroom Chemistry: Cream Shadows from Powders

I have a really hard time finding affordable cream eyeshadows that don't contain yicky ingredients. I thought I'd hit paydirt when I found this etsy seller, but unfortunately she puts a sizable amount of fragrance in every batch and it's too strong for me to use (which sucks because I bought a LOT of it. If it weren't for the perfuminess, I'd love the heck out of it- it works well. But seriously, why does eyeshadow need to have a smell!?! *Weep* But it's my own fault for not reading carefully.) 

Anyway, I thought maybe it would be easy to turn some of my mineral powders into creams. You can always mix them with water right before you put it on, but that's not the same and requires an extra step... I know I'd use them more if they were creams. Googling around, I found two methods: the alcohol and oil method, and a bunch of people just mixing the shadow with primer. I grabbed two powders that I like but don't use that often and gave them each a whirl. 

  The Powders: 

 

 Both are loose mineral powders from Shiro Cosmetics (don't click that unless you want your money to leave you in a hurry. So. Sparkly. So. Pretty. So. Nerdy.) The one on the left of the tattoo-line is Impossible, on the right is More Sugar. Both are very sheer when applied dry- Impossible is basically just a faint shimmer. 

Alcohol and Oil Method:

I used grapeseed oil, because it has a pretty long shelf life and shouldn't go rancid before I finish using up the shadow. My rubbing alcohol was only 70% but, y'know, use what you have, right? I followed the directions, mixing everything up in the original container with a fondue fork, which was... a tad messy. I'm not sure if I really got to the "smooth liquid/paste starting to separate from the alcohol and look lumpy and curd-like" stage, because I ran out of room in the container and couldn't add more oil. I figured it'd just end up being a little on the dry side maybe. It also never reached a point where I could "tip off the excess alcohol" and several hours later was still looking odd and soupy, but the next day....

 

That's totally how it's supposed to look! Omg!

 

It must have just taken forever to evaporate because my alcohol wasn't very high-proof or whatever. But it totally works! The shimmer + oil gives it a "wet shine" kinda look which can be sort of intense but isn't too overpowering in such a light color. I look forward to trying it with some serious-business colors though. 

Pros:

It works

You get to feel like a mad scientist

The ingredients are cheap and nontoxic (once the alcohol evaporates)

Removes easily with soap, make up remover, or whatever else you'd use on a mineral shadow

Cons:

Definite waiting period fraught with uncertainty

Will eventually go rancid if I don't use it up

Alcohol smells bad (not a problem once it evaporates, just when you're using it.) 

Involves fiddly meting out of liquids into tiny containers

 Just Mix it With Primer Method:

I don't usually use primer but I had a little tube of this that came with a shadow set, so that's what I used. It has fewer nasty ingredients than most primers do, but it's also a very thick gel, which turned out to be a big mistake. It was NOT stirrable. I made a huge mess trying to mix it in before finally giving up and putting the whole shebang in a bigger container, where I continued to make a huge mess. It was thick enough that it really needed to be kneaded in, by tiny little fairy hands, or perhaps by these guys. But since I had no baby loris handy, I just hacked away awkwardly with my fondue fork, and basically ended up with powder-covered wads of primer surrounded by chunks of powder.

   

Also I spilled some of the "Impossible" earlier. Eyeshadow everywhere.

 Applied, it does resemble something like a cream shadow....

   

... but too chunky and uncontrollable to be useful. I might sacrifice an old paintbrush later and see if I can't mix it together more uniformly. I think, though, that with a thinner primer, this might have worked well. (It was also a nightmare to get off. Actually some of it is still on there.)

Pros:

Probably would work with a thinner primer

Immediate results

Easy, since there are only two ingredients

Shouldn't really ever go bad

Will stay on for.ev.er. 

Cons:

Does NOT work well with thick primer

Is only as non-toxic as the ingredients in the primer (and usually they're horrible)

You don't get to feel like a fancy alchemist

Will stay on for.ev.er. 

In conclusion: My husband is a wonderful and tolerant man and I hope that the fact that our bathroom looks like the scene of a brutal fairy murder will not be a dealbreaker, because that shit is not easy to get off when it's glued on with primers and oils. 

(Also, I like the first method better.) 

12 Ways to Party with Mr. Coconut Oil

Today I'd like to talk to you about a very good friend of mine: Mr. Coconut Oil. Coconut oil is moisturizing, naturally antibacterial/antiviral/antifungal, very affordable, packing lots of vitamin A, C, and E, and a buttload of antioxidants.... plus, it's delicious. Unless you are one of those people who can't stand the scent or is wildly allergic to it, I strongly recommend you arrange a meeting.

Specifically, I've been relying on the good Doctor:



....but I'm sure any nice organic virgin oil is fine. I'm actually slightly less enamored with this one now that it's almost gone and I can't fit my hand in the jar to get the last of it out. Needs a bigger opening, darnit!

1. Moisturize.....everything.
This stuff works as lotion, massage oil, cuticle and nail oil, lip "balm" (y'know, except the part where it's liquid and not a balm)... I've even heard it's great for dry noses in the winter, just grease up a finger and jam it on up there. Hope you like the smell of coconuts! As oils go, coconut is on the lighter side and absorbs easily, though it's easy to go overboard, so start with just a dab. You can also drop some in the tub and have a nice moisturizing soak (just beware of slippery tubs.) Apparently it's safe for use on pets, too (though I'd do a little more research before using it on them or giving it to them, just in case.) It could be great for cracked winter paws, provided my dogs don't decide to lick it off immediately. Already moisturized your entire body (and your pet's?) Try conditioning wood or leather with it.

2. Oil-cleansing (and make-up removal)
Have you heard of oil cleansing? That site talks about it at length (and uses a different sort of oil) but the basic premise is this: rub oil into your face, let it dissolve the gunk in your pores, wash it off. I go a step further and let it sink in overnight, which I figure means it's doubling as a night time moisturizer. Then when I shower in the morning, the skin-gunk is nice and ready to rinse away. Coconut oil is also great for removing make-up, though you will be left greasy so it's definitely more of an end-of-the-night remover, not a "oops I messed up" remover.

3. Hair Treatment
Coconut oil apparently rocks for hair. According to an article in the Journal of Cosmetic Science:

"The findings clearly indicate the strong impact that coconut oil application has to hair as compared to application of both sunflower and mineral oils. ...

Both sunflower and mineral oils do not help at all in reducing the protein loss from hair. This difference in results could arise from the composition of each of these oils. Coconut oil, being a triglyceride of lauric acid (principal fatty acid), has a high affinity for hair proteins and, because of its low molecular weight and straight linear chain, is able to penetrate inside the hair shaft.

Mineral oil, being a hydrocarbon, has no affinity for proteins and therefore is not able to penetrate and yield better results. In the case of sunflower oil, although it is a triglyceride of linoleic acid, because of its bulky structure due to the presence of double bonds, it does not penetrate the fiber, consequently resulting in no favorable impact on protein loss."

So that seems like a good thing. It will of course, make your hair greasy, so this is another thing to do before you wash, or possibly overnight. I always end up getting it all over my hair when I'm doing the nighttime moisturizing thing anyway.

4. Deodorant
Please allow me to direct your attention back to this tutorial. True, I will probably try pure shea butter next time, but the coconut oil has worked well and I've enjoyed having armpits that smell like delicious desserts.

5. Perfume?
Ok this one's kind of cheating, because pretty much any one of these things will leave you smelling coconutty anyway. But provided you get an oil that hasn't be refined beyond the point of smelling, it does linger. Bad if you don't like coconut-smell, good if you do (I will say that I really dislike fake coconut smell- this is a breed apart.) I quite enjoy waking up in the morning and realizing that my feet and legs still smell edible from the oil I slathered on last night. So even if you didn't use coconut oil for anything else, you could totally dab a little on for the scent.

6. Hairspray
Mostly water + blob coconut oil + blob aloe + small blob hair gel + generous pour of sea salt + spritzer bottle = really nice, nourishing hair texturizer. I use this almost every day now and it actually seems to have made my hair softer, plus it gives it that nice scruffy-beachy-look. Totally smells like a beach, too.

7. Temporary tattoo removal
Ok I realize this isn't a problem that most adults have. But I recently went to a circus-themed party as the "Temporarily Tattooed Lady" and believe me when I tell you I know a thing or two about fake tat removal.

Step 1: Slather some coconut oil on that sweet ink. Let it soak in.

Step 2: Rub it a little. If you're lucky, it'll totally dissolve at this point and come right off. Maybe 1/6th of the tats in that picture did that. If not, proceed to...

Step 3: Get in a very hot shower (or bath if bathing with little tattoo bits doesn't squick you out) and hang out there awhile til you're feeling all good and steamy. Don't wash the oil off, but don't be afraid to get it wet either. Scrub the the tattoos enthusiastically with a rough washcloth. Pretty much all of them came off this way, though some required more elbow grease than others. Afterwards, regular ole soap should help rinse away the sticky scumblobs. Be prepared to clean the tub if you're removing them in great quantity.

Sup?

8. Tattoo aftercare (and healing in general)
Speaking of tattoos, I recently got a little ink test done (a tiny dot of a tattoo to see if my skin would react negatively to the ink) and used coconut oil during the healing process with success. (Don't tell my tattoo artist, who wanted me to use crap-laden Lubriderm. Ew.) The key is to put it on really, really thinly- like wipe some on, then dab gently it with a clean paper towel (never fabric- you want something borderline sterile) until it's no longer shiny. You want it to breathe. Now, obviously this was just a little dot, and I'll report back after I use it for the actual tattoo...but from my googling, it sounds like I'm definitely not the first, and I feel much better putting something natural and food-grade on my mashed-up flesh than something full of nasty chemicals. It also sounds like it's great for just about any skin-healing you need to do. I regularly put it on my constantly-irritated legs and it does seem to soothe the beasts. Folks with skin conditions like eczema have reported some success as well.

9. Lube
Family members look away! I have not actually tried this, but from what I've read, coconut oil is a fine, ah, "personal lubricant." Obviously you're not going to want to mix it up with latex (oil melts latex or something. Not sure if that includes vegetable oils or just mineral/petroleum but I don't think you want to be the one to try it, amirite?) Now, I would've thought that having something edible up in your lady business was an invitation for trouble, but apparently you can actually use it to TREAT yeast infections and other nasties. Hot damn. (Plus, it's legitimately safe to eat and doesn't taste bad. That's probably handy.)

10. Make soap
I haven't yet delved into the world of proper soapmaking (lye, scary,) but coconut oil is a super useful ingredient for folks who do! Lends lather and hardness, two fine qualities for soap to have.

11. Get rid of those upper arm bumpies
Y'know, the "chicken skin", aka Keratosis Pilaris. Turns out coconut oil helps with that! Some people recommend eating it for this purpose but I'm not sure how that's supposed to help, besides just being generally good for your health. But I stumbled across this article the other day and when I looked down at my own arms I realized, hey, mine are almost totally gone! Cool! I've had those stupid bumps forever and totally got rid of them by accident. Maybe it's the same idea as the oil-cleansing, and it dissolves away whatever skin and oil and gunk causes the bumps. Don't much care as long as it works. Woohoo!

12. Eat it, duh

Ostensible nutritional benefits of coconut oil:
- Rich in vitamins and antioxidents (ie shit that keeps you from aging and is generally great for you)
- Knocks out h.pylori and treats stomach ulcers
- Helps prevent Alzheimers
- Balances blood sugar
- Balances cholesterol
- Increased metabolism and weight loss (that one looks a bit dubious)
- Magical tropical unicorns will fly out your ass playing rainbow steel drums
- A whole bunch of other stuff you can read about here

Now, I'm sure the research is still out on some of those, notably weight loss and unicorns. But eating this stuff is probably not bad for you, in any case. On its own, it has a pretty mild, neutral taste (unexpectedly so, with such a strong sweet smell.) It apparently has the same number of calories as olive oil (even though it's white and frothy and looks like lard. Don't be fooled! It IS a saturated fat, but it's not as evil as the others.)

I asked Travis for a coconut oil recipe, but apparently he usually uses the milk, so this is all he had:

Homemade "Magic Shell"
(Remember? That weird chocolate syrup that hardens when it hits your ice cream and then you crack it with a spoon?) This stuff is fun. It's also great when you're making homemade ice cream- just pour it in the ice cream maker and you have those delicious flaky chocolate "chips".

Anyway- put 1/3 cup coconut oil and 12 oz of whatever chocolate you want in a pan, preferably a double boiler. Heat it up til the chocolate melts, stirring all the while. Remove from heat. Booyah. This stuff will be liquidy at room temperature and then harden when it hits something cold.

But if that doesn't suit you, here's like, a thousand recipes using coconut oil. You can also toss it in smoothies and stuff, or fry other things up in it.


Bonus, sort of: Sunscreen?
Some sources say this stuff is useful as sunblock. Others say not so much. One source noted that while coconut oil only blocked 20% of shitty-rays, cod liver oil blocked 90%. So if you're cool with smelling like fish, that's an option, I guess. That said, I bet that mixing coconut oil up with some zinc oxide and titanium dioxide would make a pretty sweet mineral sunscreen.

Any other suggestions for the wundernuss? Please do tell!

BYODIYDEO

I've resisted the allure of DIY deodorant recipes for awhile because, while they may deodorize well, you're not going to get a very good antiperspirant without toxic ingredients and DAMMIT, I HATE SWEATING. Hate it hate it hate it.

So I clung desperately to my unscented Secret (which of course lists "fragrance" as an ingredient....what?) until these last few weeks, when it started finally getting oppressively hot around here and I realized that, frankly, it wasn't working that well anyway. I was still sweating and stinking and generally being all gross. So if I'm going to have to change my shirt halfway through the day anyway I might as well stop putting poison on myself and at least try not to smell bad.

I started with Anna's excellent recipe. I subbed in shea butter for some of the coconut oil, because...well, I like shea butter. I don't have a good reason. I was hoping it would give it a more sturdy texture since it melts at a higher temperature than the coconut oil does. I wanted to add some kaolin clay because I'd heard that it might actually help absorb the sweat (I HATE SWEATING) but I couldn't find any locally and I'm impatient, so I got some green clay (the kind you use for face masks.) It was that or red, and the green seemed less likely to stain everything.

Rather than rose & vetiver, I'd intended to use a vanilla essential oil (because I only like things and people who smell like dessert)...but it turns out that what passes for vanilla EO is actually a tiny bottle of jojoba oil with a squirt of vanilla extract in it... for $32. Ha. Fuck you. Right. I have a homemade version of EXACTLY THAT that I've been using as perfume, and last I checked, it DID NOT COST $32.

Conclusion: the essential oil market is a scam. Jerks.

So all together now:

- baking soda
- corn starch (I've heard arrowroot is good too, especially for sensitive skin, but I didn't want to buy more crap than I had to)
- green clay powder
- virgin coconut oil (Look in the food aisle. I found Dr. Bronners brand! WTF?)
- pure shea butter
- EO of your choice- in my case, jojoba oil with vanilla in it.
- container to put it in

Now because I'm terribly scientific, let me show you what I mean when I say "one scoop" of something:

That's one of those big honking tablespoon things. Not a real "tablespoon", just a big spoon.

OK! First, because mixing stuff up with butters/solid oils is a pain in the ass, I put one scoop each of shea butter and coconut oil in the microwave for just a few seconds, until I could mush it up into a liquidy paste. The coconut oil will melt faster, but that's ok, just mix it up well. (If you're only using coconut oil and it's a warm day, you can probably skip this part.)

Then add:
1 1/2 scoops baking soda
1 1/2 scoops corn startch
a bit less than a scoop of clay
a few drops of the EO

nom.

Stir that bitch! It'll be pretty runny because it's still warm. Put it in the fridge for a few minutes and see if it firms up into a more spreadable texture, sort of thick-yogurty. If you want it even thicker I guess you could add more powdery stuff. Test it on your arm to see if it spreads nicely (and make sure you haven't developed any sudden allergies.) Pour it into the jar, and hooray!

So far, I've been pretty happy with it. The vanilla wasn't strong enough to overpower the coconut and shea, so honestly it could've just been left out entirely- I smell like dessert at a Thai restaurant. I'll probably use all-shea next time because it's actually making me sort of hungry all the time (I know you can get filtered coconut oil that's less fragrant, but meh.) Definitely smells a lot better than my old deodorant though. Or than armpitstank.

I gave it the ultimate test the other day (white shirt, hot car...what, you thought I was going to go running or something?) and I still smelled like tasty sweet rice, and I didn't feel like I was any sweatier than I would've been with the regular stuff that was barely working anyway. The green clay didn't stain my shirt at all, which I was a little worried about. White clay still would've been better, but oh well. (I did have a lovely clay mask facial the other day to use up some of the extra, though.) Anna's recipe had mentioned that it can sting when you put it on after shaving, but I haven't noticed that so I think it might be the essential oil's fault. All in all, I like it! Probably wouldn't rely on it for a summer job interview in a silk shirt, but otherwise...

Making Mineral Eye Shadow Your Bitch

So when the girls at NMDL put me off products with talc at just about the time Pinterest put me onto fancy eyeshadows, I started looking around for talc-free formulas. This is not particularly easy, or cheap. Then I found out about the wide world of homemade loose mineral eyeshadows that chicks hawk on etsy for like, $3-5 a pot. And then I got super excited, and then I spent $50 on eyeshadows. If you like your makeup named after Hunger Games characters, you're particularly in luck.

Turns out these little bastards, as pretty and affordable and nontoxic as they are, can be sort of a pain in the ass to use. I'm starting to get a handle on it, though, so I thought I'd share my experience.

The absolute most important thing to know about mineral shadows is this: Mineral shadow + water = paint. This totally changes the game when it comes to application and removal.

- Did you fuck up? Don't try to wipe it away with water. Oil, soap, and make-up remover will take this stuff off no problem, but water will make it stick harder. Oil is great at the end of the day (I use my jojoba mixture) but you're going to want some decent non-oily make-up remover for fixing mistakes. I'm using BWC and it works like a charm (I've heard it's less effective on conventional makeup, but it's fine for what I use.) My main makeup application strategy is to get it all over myself so I look like an uncoordinated clown and then clean up the edges when I'm done, so I was really suffering before I found the BWC stuff. (A lot of makeup removers and remover wipes have parabens which are no good, so, watch out for that.)

- The moisture on your hands will also make it stick a little, which is a major bummer if you're a devoted finger-smudger like me. Wrapping a little piece of tissue around my finger seems to work, or you can just smudge with brushes/sponges/q-tips, etc.

- If you manage to screw your shadow up while you're out and about, you either will have to smudge it around with some tissue, mess with some soap, or you can take the cheater way out like I do and just sort of cover it up with face powder. You could carry makeup remover with you but I'd be worried it would leak. Maybe someday I'll make some homemade wipes. I haven't had too much trouble with it smudging while I'm out, though.

- Now the upside of this water phenomenon: foiling! Mix the shadow with water or use a wet brush to apply it, and you'll get an amazing, opaque, intense color. It's fantastic for lining eyes (and I am traditionally a huge eyeliner-fucker-upper so you know it's easy.) Once it's dried on there, you can soften the edges with some dry powder or try to smudge it a bit to make it a little more subtle. It'll be pretty set on there, though.

(From the top: Star-Crossed from Shiro Cosmetics applied dry, Katniss from Bad Bitch Cosmetics applied dry, Star-Crossed applied wet, Katniss applied wet. BIG DIFFERENCE.)

- If you use the powder dry, it will be pretty subtle until you've built up a few layers. Just FYI. That's not always a bad thing, though.

- Loose powder is fiesty! Tap your brush on the container and then on your arm to get the extra off before you go near your eyelid. That's especially true if you have a wet brush- the dry excess will fall off when you're trying to paint and sprinkle your face. You'll probably sprinkle your face no matter what, so I recommend doing eyes before foundation and blush or anything like that.

- On primer: I don't use that shit. Whatever. Maybe I should? I only ever want the stuff to last a few hours while I go out and so far, it's been fine.

- Practice with the stuff before you actually have to go somewhere. That's probably common sense but that doesn't mean I do it, so maybe you don't either. But do.

Where to buy it
I bought my buttload of mineral shadows from:
BadBitchCosmetics (tons of super fun colors. Some have toxic ingredients, so pay attention. "Bowie" and "Black Swan" are gorgeous, and "Dime Piece" is a great liner color. Does awesome tiny sampler sizes.)
BLSoaps (lots of lovely neutrals.)
Shiro Cosmetics (Pretty colors, geeky themes, cult following. I am not in love with the sifter containers that they come in, but you can take the sift-y part out and just make it a regular container. I just wasn't getting enough out through the holes.)

Honestly, it seems like most of the homemade shadows are similar in terms of ingredients and efficacy- pay attention to the price vs. the size of the container vs. how awesome the colors are, because those are the things that vary.


How to make it
This is something I'd like to try someday- it seems easy enough, though you have to shell out for all the materials. Maybe I'll find someone who wants to go in on it with me. If I do get around to it, I'll report back.

I think that's it- if you guys have any useful tips I missed, let's hear 'em!

SDF: My Clean(ish) Routine

Um, for some reason this is showing up in Google Reader early, even though it was scheduled to go live on Friday. So I guess we're having a something-different Wednesday! Damn you, Blogger.

When I was in high school, one of my teachers introduced the concept of "Something Different Fridays." On Friday, instead of teaching math, he'd teach us something else he thought was worthwhile, like how to play the stock market, or Piaget's theories of development. I am stealing this concept here to indulge my occasional urges to blog about something unrelated to crafting- not every Friday, but once in awhile. Sometimes they'll be silly, sometimes serious. I hope you'll find them an enjoyable diversion!

Ok! So last time on SDF we talked about how everything is poisoning you- not least of all your beauty routine. I feel funning calling it a "beauty routine," since I'm really pretty low maintenance (working at home will do that to you) but I guess that's essentially what it is.

(Incidentally my "Morning Routine" just went up on the No More Dirty Looks blog! It's a few weeks outdated but pretty similar to what you'll read below.)

I figured I'd cobble together a list of some of the bath & body products I've found that fit the non-toxic-er criteria, since I know it can be tricky to find ones that work as well as their more conventional cousins and don't cost a friggin' fortune. Obviously, this is just the stuff that's worked well for me- I promise nothing! (And btw, I'm not affiliated with any of these companies, I just buy 'em.)


We'll start in the shower:

Giovanni Shampoo and Conditioner. I vary which one I use- I've used Smooth as Silk and Root 66 (the volumizing one) and liked both, for the simple reason that it works just as well as conventional shampoo. A lot of "natural" shampoos don't leave my hair feeling clean- I know you can get used to that feeling and let your hair balance itself out, but I don't really want to. I want my hair to feel all squeaky clean and soft, dagnabbit. This stuff also smells really fruity and yummy but it doesn't have any artificial fragrances- it's just the natural smell of whatever botanical oils are in there.

For the majority of my body I use good ole Dr. Bronners on a loofa. The maniacal rantings on the bottle freak me out, but the stuff is gentle and works well, and what more can you ask for? It comes in like ten scents (all essential oils, nothing artificial)- Peppermint is popular, and there's also Citrus, Rose, Almond, Unscented..... I usually use the Eucalyptus because steamy eucalyptus oil is a great allergy/asthma treatment, and I've always got a touch of that going on.

Most shaving creams are super nasty, and some of the natural ones either don't work very well or are greasy and sticky and make a mess- but I've found that I really like Alba Botanica's Unscented Very Emollient Cream Shave. It's sort of like a thick conditioner or thin lotion. Since I bought this thing a few years ago, I pretty much only have to shave my armpits (it hurts to much to rip out that hair) so one tube of the Alba lasts a good long time.

Most days I just wash my face with hot water, otherwise it tends to get dried out. But every few days I use Evan Healy Rose Cleansing Milk, which does a good job of making your skin feel clean without being too drying. This is one of the pricier products I use, but it goes a long way when you're not using it every day.


After the shower:

After I've dried off a bit, if I didn't use the Evan Healy, I'll use some Kiss My Face Toner. I'll also spray it on any other part of my skin that's acting up. I have no idea if it does anything, to be super honest.

I was using this stuff as a daily facial lotion (I got the one for "Aging skin" because it was the only one without fragrance) but it was very sticky and hard to rub in, so now I reserve it for days when I'm actually going to be in the sun, and otherwise use Acure Day Cream. It's super light and soaks in well even when you're still kind of damp from the shower.

For the rest of my skin, I use a combination of grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, and a little bit of argan oil (usually at night, since it's greasy.) For awhile I was using pure argan oil on my face at night because it's supposed to be great for balancing out combination skin, but I didn't notice much of a difference :-/ Now I just use the oil mix once in awhile. Amazingly, it doesn't make me break out or anything- it just soaks in and any excess rinses off in the morning shower. If you put it on a little while before you wash your face, it softens up the dirt and oils in your pores and helps you rinse it all out. The brand of oil doesn't really matter, as long as you get pure, high quality organic stuff. Fair warning: while your skin will probably look fine in the morning, any hair that came in contact with the oil will look quite greasy, so don't use it the night before if you have to go somewhere before you can wash your hair (or at least, wear a headband or something.) I'm sure it's good for dry hair, though.

The oil isn't strong enough for my super dry hands and feet, so I use shea butter before bed (either pure or this stuff) and Weleda Skin Food on my hands throughout the day. That shit is AMAZING. Pricey, but amazing. Between knitting, being a germaphobe, and having two grungy dogs who I'm slightly allergic to (ie, I have to wash my hands after I touch them) my hands get really dry, and this stuff is a lifesaver.

For my lips, I love YesToCarrots Berry Lip Butter. It's the only YesTo product that I'm still using regularly, at this point, because most of them have fragrances (saaaaaaaad.) This stuff is mostly coconut oil and it's pretty great, though I'm sure any other coconut-oil-based lip balm would be good too. Or just straight-up coconut oil.


Something else I tried recently, since I had some samples: Dr Hauschka's Signature Cleansing. Though I'll admit I don't do the stupid "roll your fingers outwards to drain your lymph nodes" thing or whatever. Maybe it works, I don't know, I'm not that patient- I just rub the shit in and rinse it off. But the products involved are nice- Lavender Bath, Cleansing Cream, Clarifying Toner. I'm realizing now that they are crazy expensive and I'll probably never buy them, but they're nice! The Lavender Bath also works really well as a bath oil- just dump a capful or two in the tub when it's filling up and it smells pretty (but mild- I usually don't like lavender but I like this) and feels nice and silky. I usually add some of my oil mixture too and swish it around. It ends up leaving a nice thin layer of oil all over you, which is nice when you don't feel like you need to slather it. (I know it sounds gross but it soaks in quickly, I promise.)


Whew, that's a lot of text. I was going to talk make-up too, but I think I'll wait til next time. I wasn't much of a make-up person until recently so I'm still sorting out what products I like, anyway ;-)

And now the fun part!

I'm going to give one reader a little sampler pack of some of the goodies I like! It's not all of them (I couldn't find mini sizes for everything) but it's a few good basics- shampoo and conditioner, body wash, lip butter, hand lotion (I love these mini tubes, I keep one in my purse) and a bottle of my trusty oil blend ;-) No artificial colors or scents, no sulfates, no bad crap.

To enter, just comment! If you've got a "clean"ish product (bath, body, makeup, etc) to recommend, please do, but you don't have to ;-) I'll pick a winner at random a week from today.

Something Different Friday: Everything in your life is poisoning you

When I was in high school, one of my teachers introduced the concept of "Something Different Fridays." On Friday, instead of teaching math, he'd teach us something else he thought was worthwhile, like how to play the stock market, or Piaget's theories of development. I am stealing this concept here to indulge my occasional urges to blog about something unrelated to crafting- not every Friday, but once in awhile. Sometimes they'll be silly, sometimes serious. I hope you'll find them an enjoyable diversion!

So this is a new thing I'm trying! And we're going to start off with something that's been on my mind a bit lately.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have what I would call a "passionate interest" in not feeling shitty, getting cancer, and otherwise dying horribly. To this end I've become a bit obsessed with trying not to poison myself. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, since pretty much everything around us is poisoning us at all times.

I want to take this time to recommend two books:*

It's My Ovaries, Stupid!

I know, it's a stupid name. And it appears to be out of print, though there are some used copies. But I genuinely believe that anybody who has or has ever had ovaries should read this book. It's way too complicated and indepth to go into here, but let me summarize in one sentence:

Pesticides, household chemicals, and nasty food additives are fucking the hell out of your hormones and making you feel awful.

Remember DDT and how it ruined all those bird eggs and generally crapped on everything it touched? Did you know that we still use very chemically similar products, and that we still manufacture DDT and send it to other countries where it's still allowed? And then, of course, those countries send their produce back to us, and we eat it, and it sits in our bodies for upwards of THIRTY YEARS. And that's just one chemical, there are plenty more that are still legal here and just about as dangerous. When it comes right down to it... if it's going to kill bugs and small rodents, it's not going to be good for you either.

To make matters worse, that shit is *everywhere*. It runs off of fields and into water supplies, it's in the air, it's in the soil, it's in the rain. In small amounts, it's in the grass that your all-organic-grassfed-hamburger-to-be is munching on, and therefore in the meat, eggs, and milk we eat, even when we do our best to avoid it (though it's still a far sight better than the cows that might as well have cyanide mainlined into their veins for all the crap they're given.) Not to mention the stuff that's in our cleaning products, beauty products, and food. They get all up into your body and start pretending that they're hormones and clogging up your receptors and generally being total dicks. (Another fun fact: the manufacturers of these chemicals are only required to test for cancer-causing effects- they don't have to look for ANY other toxic effects on the body. If it doesn't immediately give a mouse cancer, it's good to go! At least, as of 2003 when the book was published.)

These guys know what I'm talking about.

Hormones are important. When they're out of whack, your whole body starts sucking. Migraines, fatigue, digestive problems, skin problems, period problems, mood disorders, PCOS, infertility- even major things like autoimmune disorders and cancer. Your hormones want to work properly and be your friend, but it's a very delicate system and they've been under attack since the day you were conceived. This book is aimed at women (who are lucky enough to have an insanely complicated hormonal system. Woo) but this crap messes with male hormones too. For some reason, doctors never want to deal with this stuff (as I learned when I was trying to sort out my crazy hormonal migraines and was prescribed baby aspirin. No thanks, I'd rather, y'know, fix the problem.) As this book explains, reproductive hormones aren't really the domain of any of the medical specialities- gynos are only focused on what's going on with your immediate reproductive system, endocrinologists focus more on thyroid hormones, etc etc. Hormones are rarely checked unless you're being treated for infertility, despite the fact that they affect so much more. This book will talk you through (in AGONIZING DETAIL) the many affronts on your ovaries, the problems they cause, and what you can possibly do about it - starting with avoiding as many of those poisons as possible, which brings us to the second book, which is a bit more fun.

No More Dirty Looks: The Truth about Your Beauty Products--and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics

This book (and the blog that goes with it) are a little bit hippy-dippy and a little bit "OH MY GOD $20 FOR THAT TINY BOTTLE OF LOTION??" but nonetheless, a super invaluable resource when it comes to eliminating nasty toxic shit from your body and cosmetic products (you know how people are always complaining about headaches from people wearing strong perfume? There is a very good reason for that.) A lot of the stuff they recommend is a little pricey, but there are some good cheaper alternatives and they give you a very handy list of ingredients to avoid. As a bonus, a lot of the yicky chemicals in body products are actually just cheap filler, so when you switch to the good stuff, it works a lot better too (nothing has ever helped my dry hands as much as that stupid $20 bottle of lotion... and it goes a pretty long way, I swear!) Plus, when you treat your skin more kindly it rewards you with fewer breakouts and irritations, and my hair looks better than it has in a lonnng time- did you know that the ingredient in most conditioners that helps your hair feel silky (silicones and other "-cones") actually locks the moisture out of your hair and dries it out in the long run? Which, of course, causes you to buy more conditioner. Which dries your hair out....you see where I'm going. Companies want to keep you coming back and they don't always do it ethically. Silicones show up in a lot of lotions, too, btw. Ahem.

Anyway, that's my soapbox. Some other Friday I'll do a run down of the reasonably-affordable products I've found and recommend. It IS possible to detoxify your products without having to sacrifice any anal-retentive cleanliness, by the way (most of them, anyway.) A lot of people recommend no-soap or "no-'poo" routines, and there are a lot of super non-toxic products that frankly don't work for shit. That's great for people who don't mind it (it's better for your hair and skin anyway), but that stuff doesn't fly with me, I want to feel just as squeaky clean as I did when I was using drugstore crap :-P Luckily the hippies have evolved, and they're putting out some pretty awesome things now.




(*BTW, these are affiliate links so if you use them to purchase things, I get like, a few cents. Feel free not to use 'em, but I figured as long as I'm recommending books anyway...)