NEW BLOG ♥

Hey friends!
Just so you know, I have started a fitness/fat-loss/muscle-gain/all-around-healthy blog and you can go check it out HERE!

Please follow if you can, I will follow back any fitspo blogs! Looking for some partners in this journey! :)

☼ pH Balanced Shampoo ☼ Aloe Almond Shampoo

So, after a ton of research (which at first was aimed at my horse), I have discovered that my coconut milk shampoo is a little bit to alkaline for my hair. Now, I use ACV afterwards, so ultimately my hair is being balanced by the end of my shower, but still, if there is room for improvement, why not improve it?

I was going to try the no 'poo method with baking soda, but I just...don't want to really. And the castile soap I use is close enough to baking soda that I might as well use it..(it's only 0.6 more alkaline), because it is still more natural than baking soda.

So here is what the new recipe is:

Aloe Almond Shampoo (pH balanced)

3/4 cup aloe vera juice (inner fillet)
1/4 cup Dr. Bronners Almond Castile Liquid Soap
20 drops jojoba oil
10 drops peppermint oil
1/2 teaspoon vegetable glycerin

The pH of this shampoo should be between 5 and 6. But I will let you know the exact number I get when I get a chance to test it with my pH strips.

Also, you don't want to make a big batch of this stuff because aloe juice lasts between 45-60 days refrigerated, so you'll want to make a batch that will last you about a month at most, so you aren't in danger of using spoiled product.

Just the way it is with natural products.

♥ UPDATE: Natural Horse Shampoo (pH balanced) ♥

So, I have done a sh*t-ton of research because my poor horsey has been having some skin/coat issues. I recently found a lady that is greatly respected in the horse grooming world's website and she has a ton of articles and stuff she writes on coat care, tail care, mane care, tack care, you-name-it care. She also sells her own products. One of her products is an all-in-one shampoo that has aloe vera, tea tree and is pH balanced. Which of course got me thinking...I bet I could make that...

So after a ton of research determining that horses skin is slightly acidic (pH of 4.5-5.8) naturally, but also that "equine skin pH actually increases as a horse sweats" (cite/link), which means that in order to keep their skin neutral, you have to use a neutral-slightly acidic solution.

Also, I emailed the company whose castile soap I use and they said that their soaps are all pH 8.9, which is slightly alkaline. So I then determined that aloe vera gel is typically a pH of 4-4.5 (though different brands will vary). So adding aloe to the castile will bring down the pH and balance it.

Ta-da! I know I'm brilliant.
So here's the recipe for the new All-In-One Natural Horse Shampoo:

3/4 cup aloe vera gel
1/4 cup baby mild (or lavender because it also has hair and skin benefits) castile soap
10 drops jojoba oil
20 drops tea tree oil
1/2 tablespoon vegetable glycerin

Now, I also highly recommend purchasing pH tester strips from a local pool store, to test your solution and then fix your solution accordingly.

So basically, to sum it up, this stuff will make your horses skin and coat healthier and you shouldn't need to add any conditioner to the hair afterwards.
(Also, don't forget to curry-comb the coat for atleast 15-20 minutes before and after your ride...natural oils in the skin and hair are the easiest way to a healthier coat!).

Hair Update: Finally Normalizing?

Hellooooo friends.
So today I have some pretty exciting news.
The picture above is one I just took of my hair air-dried after I took a shower.
Nothing special, right?
Wrong.
You may notice that it is not oily...which is super cool because I only washed my hair with water.
And typically, if you wash your hair with water, most people will not have an oily scalp directly after. But I have an EXTREMELY oily scalp. So much so that I usually have oily hair by the end of the day after shamooing.
But I haven't washed my hair with shampoo in 3 days. I have just been massaging my scalp with water-only in the shower, and usually it turns out horribly. Like a greasy, oily flapjack.
SO today when I noticed that my hair wasn't greasy after air-drying, I got pumped. Perhaps my scalp is finally balancing itself and not overproducing oil!
YAY!

Anyways, I just needed to show you guys because it's super exciting news for me!

Also, for some proof, this is typically how my hair looks one day after washing it:

In this photo, I had legit washed my hair the night before and it turned into this greasy mess by the end of the day.

So perhaps now you understand my excitement.
(Even if you don't, pretend for me!)

♥ Review ♥ Andalou Naturals Apricot Probiotic Cleansing Milk ♥

So, as you guys know if you read my most recent haul post, I picked up this cleanser and had actually intended on using it for some time now, but I just never purchased it.

I also know I said I would use up my other cleansers first but you know me...I have zero patience when it comes to experimenting.

Anywho, so I have been using this stuff for about a week now, and I decided I could write a review on it.

So here goes.

 First thing I noticed about this cleanser is the consistency. It has zero lather (which doesn't bother me) and is a thin liquid cream. I'm not a huge fan of the consistency because I feel like I have to use quite a bit of product to actually cover my face and massage in.
  I haven't tried to remove my makeup with it, but I can pretty much assume that it will not get your makeup off. It might, if you cleanse 3 or 4 times, but I choose to remove my makeup and then cleanse my face with this product.
  It smells really nice (like apricots..dur), without being artificial or perfumey.
  It is very gentle so it would be GREAT for sensitive skin-types. It is fairly moisturizing, your face will not feel tight after using it which was a huge plus for me because my skin is very dry.

My face has gradually cleared up this past week, and I don't know whether to contribute it to this cleanser or my morning one (I know, there are flaws in my procedure), but something has been working, so I have to at least give this one a shout out for being part of the whole situation.

For me personally, though, this cleanser hasn't particularly astounded me. I was very pleased with it's moisturizing qualities, but that's about it. It hasn't refined my pores any that I've noticed, and doesn't give me any kind of dewy glow. It is basically, a really gentle and moisturizing cleanser.

WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? Probably not. I don't really care for it. It hasn't really made me want to stop looking and settle down with it, so I will probably continue looking. That being said, I will definitely use up this whole bottle before I look for anything else, because I do like the formula of it and how it moisturizes my skin. But like I said, there just isn't a wow-factor for me.

(*NOTE: I will be finishing the bottle and if anything spectacular happens, I will update this post!)

Upcoming...

Hey guys, so I know I haven't written anything in a bit but I wanted to tell you what kinds of things I will be working on over the next couple months, and will most probably be posting about.

*BOOM*

Here's the list:

1) Making my own body wash
2) Making my own body butter
3) Making my own sea salt spray
4) My P90x progress
5) No 'Poo (the baking soda and vinegar kind...because I have been technically no 'poo for sometime now)
6) Painting/decorating my room!
7) DIY clothing (skirts, dresses, shorts, etc)

But yea, that's kind of a rought draft of my plan so...keep checking back!
Love yah
E

♥ DIY ♥ Chamomile Candy Hair Conditioning Rinse♥

Hello again all.
So I have perfected my DIY conditioner. And I am quite pleased.
Also, before we get started, I want to mention a few things.
1) I used chamomile because I have light hair. Apparently it is good for bringing out natural highlights. So Google other types of tea (or just use water) if you have and want to keep your hair dark.
2) It is named "candy" because the oils mixed together reminds me of lemon candy. That does not mean that it smells sickly sweet or that it smells delectable and yummy. It smells natural, with a hint of lemony lollipop.
3) This is going to last quite a while. None of these ingredients goes "bad" so I'm gonna say this will last you upwards of 4 months (depending on the size of the batch of course).
4) ACV is a hair smoother and conditioner, but it has a tendency to make hair greasy if you use too much. So start off small and find the right balance of ACV to water ratio for your hair type and length.

Alrighty, now that this is cleared up, let's get to the recipe!

You will need:
Organic apple cider vinegar (or any ACV, but organic is always better for you)
Natural chamomile tea (loose or bags)
Rosemary (fresh or bagged)

Grapefruit Essential Oil
Lemongrass essential oil
Spray bottle
Measuring cup
Tea pot

How to create it:

steeping tea

1) Boil about 1/4-1/2 a cup of rosemary in a teapot (in about 2 1/2 cups of water). Let it steep in the boiled water for about 5-10 minutes. The longer, the more bang for your buck. You can leave it in for up to 45 minutes if you want.
2) Apply your boiling rosemary water to 3-4 bags of chamomile tea. Your total liquid count right now should be 20 ounces.
3) Let the tea steep for 10-15 minutes.
4) Once tea is steeped, remove the bags, squeeze out excess, and pour into the spray bottle.
5) Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then add 4 ounces of ACV (total liquid count is 24 ounces)
6) Add 5 drops of lemongrass oil, and 5 drops of grapefruit oil every 8 ounces.

Ta-da! It is done.

Now, if you are looking to make less than 24 ounces of conditioning-rinse (which most of you probably are), just do it like so:
1 part ACV
3 parts tea and rosemary water
and the oils can stay the same, unless you are making less than 8 ounces, in which case do some division and find out how many drops you need (3 should suffice).

♥ Natural Haul ♥

Hey hey hey!
Guess who went and got some natural stuuuuuff???

I did!

Well, I went grocery shopping and picked up a few things, but still, I figured you guys would want to see them.

Thus, I have designated this haul post to them.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

 I picked up some organic and unpasteurized ACV for multiple reasons. The major reason being that it is a pretty important ingredient in my conditioning-rinse for my hair. It is also great for your overall health and skin too! There are tons of ways to use it, it's definitely work researching up on.

 COCONUT OIL

 I also finally picked up more (virgin, unrefined) coconut oil. I use this stuff for just about everything. I add it to hair masks, body washes, lotions, shampoo, etc etc. I use it to remove my eye makeup as well. Love this stuff, everyone should own some of it.

ESSENTIAL OILS

I picked up some essential oils as well. I picked up lemongrass and grapefruit oil, because I use them to make my conditioning rinse. Grapefruit is great for hair growth (it is similiar to lavender and peppermint) and lemongrass helps with hair fallout and breakage. Also, both help with redistributing oils through the skin and hair, so if your oily, these two are good to have. Also, they smell amazing.

MORNING CLEANSER

I picked up this cleanser on impulse mostly. It was the cleanser I was going to buy when I ran out of my Burt's Bee's Soap Bark and Chamomile, but I couldn't help myself, so I purchased it early. It is runny, with a mild cream-foam action. And it smells like apples and oranges. (Also, another thing to note: I was going to buy the Nourish Cucumber and Watercress Cleanser online...but noticed that this one has almost THE EXACT SAME INGREDIENTS!! But if I were to order online I could get a bigger bottle for cheaper...and then pay shipping, so this pretty much evens out). I used this in the morning and it is one of the only cleansers that I didn't even feel like I had to moisturize with...and I have VERY dry skin.

NIGHT CLEANSER

I also picked up this cleanser on impulse. Again, it was the one I was going to buy when I ran out of my Shea Black Soap, but I bought it early... It is a veery light creamy texture (kind of watery) and has zero lather to it. It smells like apricot as well (but not perfume-y at all). I used it once since I got it (I still want to finish my other cleanser), and it was so moisturizing to my face and felt like it was exfoliating a bit.

And that's that.
My natural haul.
I will be reviewing the cleansers when I get a chance to use them more often (aka: when my cleansers are finished), so keep an eye out for that!

XOXO

My motivation dumped me.. :(

Okay, real talk time.
I just can't seem to figure out my lifestyle and how to make working out a bigger part of it. Now, don't get me wrong, I consider myself a pretty fit person, but I just plan these monumental goals for myself (that ARE reachable) and I'm the most dedicated, inspired and motivated person EVER...for like 2 weeks. And then I go back to eating saltine crackers and granola bars and telling myself "Oh, you missed this workout, so you can do two tomorrow", until I have missed an entire week of working out. And I literally do this EVERY. TIME. I have tried countless times to just get r' dun, and I seemingly cannot succeed at it.

And I truly am totally realistic about my goals and about my body. I know I will never be a 6 foot tall, 110 pound model, but I know that I can be a very fit, very toned 5 foot, 115 pound girl and I just want to get there SO BADLY. And I have been there, 2 years ago, and I've been struggling to get back there ever since.

I mean, perhaps I expect too much of myself. Because I do expect myself to bring 200% or nothing at all, and that is truly exhausting...and quite frankly, a little unbalanced. I think I need to focus more on balance, rather than weightloss, because the weight will come off when I find something I can maintain.

So I guess for right now, I am ditching my original workout plan (even though it kicked ass) because it clearly isn't feasible in my life right now. I am just going to tell myself to sweat once a day doing SOMETHING..ANYTHING, and eat good foods. I don't have to eat perfect, but I am aware of what is healthy for me and what is not. And yea, a granola bar is not a bad thing to have...until you eat four a day like me.

Anyways, I needed to rant because I am sick and tired of letting myself down. I vow from here on out to live a healthy, balanced life and get HAPPY. I vow to do workouts I enjoy doing, whether that means I feel like I need a 10 minute yoga session, an hour on the treadmill, or to bench press a hippo; and do them often. I have ditched my deadline date and instead hope to see the weight come off in it's own time. And by this time next year, I will be a fit, fabulous new me.

 So there.

Finally...

Hey guys!
So if you have been following my acne updates, you would know that I have determined that my breakouts MUST be coming from inside my body, and I have narrowed it down to stress and toxin build-up, and possible hormones. And almost all of those things deal with my liver in some way...so I am finally doing a liver cleanse!

I have New Roots Liver Cleanse and then some drops from my homeopath. I have to take 3 pills, 3x daily, and then 20 drops of this stuff my homeopath gave me, 3x daily. I will be continuing this for a month or so (until one of them is finished), so I will be keeping you guys updated on how I feel, and of course, how my skin is doing over the next few weeks.

To start off I have my before pictures:

WEEK 1 (start: Monday, April 1st, 2013)

(Seriously. You guys had better love me for the amount of gross pictures I take for you)

♥ DIY ♥ Peppermint Coconut Milk Shampoo

Hey ladies and gents!
So as you may (or may not) know, I have stopped using commerical shampoos because I have gotten sick of trusting companies only to find out I'm being played. I don't like being played. So I started making my own shampoo.

I made mine with peppermint because it helps to stimulate the scalp (aka HAIR GROWTH) and is good for oily, flaky, itchy scalps. The coconut milk adds some moisture and allows it to spread and penetrate easier.

So enough chat, let's get to it.

This is the recipe I followed:
1/4 cup organic coconut milk (you can make your own using this guide, but I just used store bought)
1/3 cup castile soap (I used Dr. Bronners peppermint, but there are other scents you can use)
1/2 teaspoon vitamin E oil
1/2 tablespoon raw honey
20 drops essential oil (I used peppermint and lavender)
1 tsp unrefined virgin coconut oil (or argan/avocado/olive)

This makes about 8 oz of product. (NOTE: It will last about a month or so before it "expires", unless you keep it refrigerated. Then it will last about two months. But just keep an eye on it, and know the scent. You will know if it changes.)

So here's how to actually put it together:
1) Add coconut milk, castile soap, vitamin E oil, and essential oils together in a measuring cup.
2) In another container, add honey and oil together. Mix together until it is liquid (may have to pop in microwave for 5-10 seconds)
3) Add honey-oil mix to the measuring cup with the base.
4) Put in an applicator bottle and shake gently before each use.

And voila!
You have made your own shampoo! And the great thing...it actually WORKS. My hair feels healthier already and I have noticed that my super oily scalp, and VERY brittle ends are more balanced. Yay.

Creamy lather - only used 1/2 a penny-sized amount

 You only need about a tablespoon of this product at a time because it lathers up pretty well. Also, what I LOVE about it, is that it is a CREAM-LATHER. Which basically means, you will get a lather, but it isn't foamy. It is creamy and thick and luxurious and feels great on my hair.

Also, I use a home-made conditioning-rinse to help remove the castile soap residue from hair, but any natural conditioner will do. I will make sure to get that recipe up soon.