Homemade Beauty Products

I have been on a homemade beauty regimen kick lately. And it might not be a kick at all because I am quickly falling in love with these products. Not only because they are natural and cheap, but because they are easy to make and don't require a trip to the store (yes, still avoiding shopping with Elsa) when I run out. 

Running across the house in a towel to mix a new batch is perfectly acceptable and something I can do now because we finally have blinds. Privacy at last. 


A few of these beauty product were included in the gift sacks I gifted to my mom and sister in law for Christmas. My mom texted me this morning to inform me that she was out and could she please have the recipes to make more. So, I thought I would share with you all.


So here we go.


Eye Make Up Remover
1 part witch hazel
1 part olive oil
(Go a little heavier on the witch hazel to avoid an oily feel.)


I picked up a big bottle of witch hazel (a natural toner) at the local health food store and it has lasted me through numerous bottles of eye make up remover with much to spare. The bottle I use for mixing came from Michael's in a pack of three, but anything will work. 

This is by far my favorite of the homemade products and the one I credit with making me look sane at pre school drop off in the morning, especially after one of Jude's all night benders.  


I give the mixture a good shake, dab a little on a cotton ball, pass a couple of swipes under my eyes and all of last nights make up is off and we are ready to go. And the best part, absolutely no burning of the eyes.


Sugar Scrub
1 1/2 cup sugar (brown or white)
1/4 cup olive oil
Add a few drops of a favorite essential oil or vanilla to make it smell wonderful. I have been using lavender oil.


Mix ingredients patiently. It takes a little time for the oil to mix with the sugar. Continue mixing and add more oil or water if needed until desired sandy consistency is reached. I keep mine in a Glad container (so chic) because I don't trust myself with glass in the shower. I scoop a little into my hand while in the shower and exfoliate away.


Skin Peel
Sugar
Lemon juice


No real science here. Add sugar into a small container (you don't need much) and squeeze lemon juice in and stir until a sandy consistency if achieved.


Warning: use this sparingly. The acidity of the lemon is strong and you may end up with a red face. I use only once a week, when I can remember.


Detangler
3 parts water
1 part olive oil
A few drops of essential oil.


Mix ingredients in spray bottle. 


A friend of mine with awesome curls suggested this mixture to me over the summer, but I only recently adopted it during the whole lice fiasco. At the time I was adding tea tree oil to the mixture to ward off any lice bugs who tried to come home from school with Nyah. I quickly noticed how nice it made Nyah's curls hold without being oily. 


Since we are in the clear from lice at school, I have replaced the tea tree oil with lavender oil. In the morning I give it a good shake before spraying it on Nyah and Elsa's curls. But on really rough mornings, I still rely on the ol' detangler.


Hope you give some of these homemade products a try. And if you have a favorite homemade beauty product you use and would like to share I would love to hear about it.

Detangler: Our Lifesaver

Where would I be without this product?

Since I a big fan of leaving our girls' curls natural and free, instead of like this, detangler has become my go to product. Yes, something as simple as detangler makes my life, our morning routine, and most importantly, my girl's hair lives go a lot smoother. I admit, I am nothing without this product, the matted curls blessing our girl's head would dominate me each morning and our children would end up with hair like the cat at Nyah's school. They call her Rasta Kitty and she gets her name honestly.


Rasta Kitty is an old, old cat who has outlived many previous owners. She is definitely living each of her nine lives to the fullest and her hair seems to be her ultimate proof of this. She is a cat who adventures both inside and outiside of the school and her long greyish hair is matted into little locks, which is where she gets her name, obviously. All of the children love Rasta Kitty, (not so sure the feeling is mutual though).


Not sure the kids would be so kind if we left Nyah's hair to the elements each morning, though they probably wouldn't notice. Dread locks would be the ultimate result if I did not have the daily battle with the beautiful curls on top of our girls' heads. It doesn't matter if we wash it and comb it nice the night before, braid it before bed, or wrap it before bed, they will wake up with matted hair which isn't really the most conducive environment for a brush. So, I get out the detangler and go to town I am so thankful for this product. I can't even get into if they took a dip in the salty Caribbean, there is nothing to do but wash their hair using almost a bottle of conditioner.


We aren't loyal to one brand of detangler, just relieved when the few grocery stores here are stocked with this product, as with most stuff here, we take what we can get. And just for the record, this is what Nyah's hair looks like when I brush it when it dry without detangler. Yeah. And by the way, she still prefers her hair to be braided.


My next challenge in the hair department will be our little boy's hair. Maybe his dad will just chop it off but I know the treehugger in me will be rallying strong and I won't want to cut his hair and managing his curls will no doubt be a challenge. The look of Rasta Kitty might be in his future.

She's (Done) Just Begun

Its official. She's a big girl. She is finished, one hundred percent, hasn't nursed in three days. Elsa has spent the past few months only indulging in a quick snack at night and not even hinting towards the desire to nurse during the day. 


I keep waiting for the night time call to feed but it just hasn't come, she's over it. She woke up last night but didn't assume her usual position of throwing herself down in the nook of the bend of my arm, she simply just needed a hug and to be put back to bed. She's growing in every way.


I have been waiting for this day, dreaming of this day for a while now. Mostly because the pregnancy has made it extra uncomfortable to nurse but also because I am terrified of having two babes begging for milk. Not sure I could handle the pressure to produce and satisfy two. But now that the anticipated moment has come, I have to admit, I kinda miss the time Elsa and I shared together. Miss her sweet looks, rubs, and relaxed time we shared where she was completely content. 


She just dropped me. No warning, no phone call. She just ended it, like that.


Here is a look at one of my all time favorite moment nursing my not so baby girl, besides, well, every moment. Our wedding day, the chaos, the hustle and bustle, and the moment she made me pause, relax and take a moment for her. 

So thankful my mom was able to capture this perfect moment between me and this amazing girl, only after she unzipped, unbuttoned, and released me from the dress.


I think this is also the moment the young waiter awkwardly walked buy and I reminded him that, "This is why its important to get married before you have kids." Other than being nervous at the sudden sight of a nursing woman, and avoiding even the slightest glance in my direction, I think I got a smile from him. 


For now I will enjoy my last few months of freedom from feeding and give the girls a rest, they will be needed in full force to serve their ultimate purpose again soon enough. In the meantime I am going to shower my growing and independent sixteen month old girl's soft and chubby cheeks with an overabundance of kisses while she is still the baby in the family. You are growing up beautifully baby girl, keep it up. 

Prepping

This week, I have just started to think that I should prepare for the new baby. I haven't done anything, seriously. Its real and I need to get with it. I don't want to fit the stereotype I have heard so often about how the last or in our case, third child, is allowed to do whatever and is all but neglected. 


I understand where this stereotype comes from. With practice makes perfect, or makes one more relaxed and confident and for us at least, by the time the third child arrives, I think (I hope) we will know what to expect, minus his little personality quirks. So what's the need for all the fuss and stress?


With Nyah, I was thrown numerous baby showers where I received beyond the amount of gifts one human deserves, from overly generous family and friends, picked from a mega baby store using a small hand held scanner. I had everything for her, wipe warmer, special pillows for nursing, special medical kits, special blankets, you name it. 


When Elsa came along, I had luckily saved everything from Nyah and was able to reused it. I obviously didn't ship the big stuff, like obnoxious swing, exersaucer, etc but that was fine. I didn't miss any of it and realized I didn't need any of it. The purpose of all the stuff seems to be just to make one small moment in the mothers life and small stage in the child's life easier and then to take up a lot of space. 


Elsa, from birth, has lived a contraption free life, minus a swaddling blanket. She has always been left to her imagination and allowed to lie, roll, sit, scoot, crawl and walk to her hearts delight without being confined to a piece of plastic. Our major investment with her were some mega padding puzzle like pieces for the hard tile floor which we are still using in the girls play area. We child proofed the house and set her free. She walked early and is extremely independent, has killer concentration for her age and enjoys playing alone, preferably looking at books. So this is the route we will take with the little guy, a plastic contraption free life. 


I have a carrier, swaddling blankets, co sleeper (in fact, haven't even put it away), the girls bedding is cobalt blue, everything is gender neutral so other than clothes, which my generous friends have totally hooked me up with, we might be set. I think. I hope. Bottles? Nope, breastfeed and try not to leave baby much. Cloth diapers? I just might go there this time, oh yeah, we got a washer and dryer. Booyah. Yup, it's the little things in life.


What I have been doing most of all to prepare little dudes arrival is reading. Lots. I totally engulfed myself with reading when I was pregnant with Ny. I wanted to know all there was to know about natural child birth and breastfeeding. None of the woman in my family knew much about these topics, in fact, I think my poor grandmother was knocked out for her "births". So since I really had no one to bestow this important womanly wisdom on me, I hit the books, naturally. My all time favorite book and the one I credit with teaching me the most was, Spiritual Midwifery, written by the badass midwife, Ina May Gaskin in 1976. 

If you are pregnant and have any interest in the beauty of child birth, you gotta read this book. 

A little crunchy and hippyish (some of the woman have harry arm pits) but it tells the birth stories of hundreds of women written by the mother herself, father, friend, or midwife who attended the birth. The numerous stories of how the mommas repeatedly had uncomplicated, untraumatic birthing experiences was so enlightening and get this, the majority of them did it on a farm. No hospital. They all did it, without drugs, without C sections. And they survived. The statistics are amazing, at times unbelievable. 


It's empowering and I credit this book with giving me the confidence to relax, trust my body and embrace the life changing labor and delivery experience I had with Nyah. The woman's stories in the book helped me realize that delivering a baby is normal and something I am perfectly capable of doing and in fact was born to do. It is a nice way to counter the horror stories so common in our culture today. 


Couldn't resist including a picture of the little beauty who changed my life in more ways than I can count.

So, I have picked up my treehugging tendencies again and ordered Ina's newest book, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. 

Love it, so far. Haven't finished it yet but enjoying more inspirational stories along with more technical info of how to get 'er done in the delivery room. 


And there you have it, the most important item I have purchased thus far in preparation for baby boys arrival. Also, now accepting, in advance all good vibes anyone wants to send this way for a quick and peaceful delivery of a healthy baby. By far the best gift we could receive as we prepare ourselves and our lives for the newest addition.

And how could I forget a photo of the precious Elsa Christiana who brings joy and light to our lives daily.

Tree Hugger

So here's the thing about nursing a baby with another one in the oven. First of all, I never thought I would find myself in this predicament, but I guess you can never say never. Sweet little Elsa is still really attached, literally, and is showing no sings of weening anytime soon, and in all honesty, I must admit that I am a little attached too. I would love to wean her and am thinking of it but first I must figure out how. Definitely don't want to be nursing two babies, tandem nursing as all the crunchy websites call it, but once again, never say never. I will be here for Elsa as long as she needs me.


All of the research I have done describes nursing while pregnant as being perfectly safe, my La Leche Leage book, The Womanly Art of Beastfeeding, aka The Nursing Bible says it is okay, contrary to advise of the Nurse Practitioner at my OB's office who told me to, "Stop nursing now, you will contract the baby out". Seriously? Haven't contracted any babies out yet, nor felt my uterus contract and lets be honest, I am very familiar with what a contracting uterus feels like. Lots of legit, supportive research out there that says nursing while pregnant is fine, actually no biggie, so on we go. I haven't switched doctors yet, though I am tempted. Holistic they are not


Other than the wacky advise received, the only comment I have on nursing while pregnant is that it hurts and I am tired of waking up in the night to feed Elsa so she can fall back asleep. A full nights sleep would do my body good. And don't worry about the tree-hugging, hippy accusations, George has those covered. His cute nickname for me is tree-hugger, a name that gets me all worked up, which is probably why he uses it. Not sure why it offends me so, but it does but not as much as the other name he likes to tease me with; diva. Yes, diva. Total opposite ends of the spectrum and I constantly remind him that divas don't kill cockroaches with their bare hands. Seriously, the bugs must die.


The tree-hugger part actually doesn't come from nursing, he is 100% supportive, but from my threats to free the roosters from the cockfighting rink, my vegetarian tendencies, wanting to of save the pitbulls down the street with big chains around their neck, and other stuff like that. 


So for now, I will go with the tandem nickname and be a tree-hugging diva and take it as a compliment that I am a well rounded person and continue to nurse my baby until, well, I am not entirely sure, but I will keep you posted.


Sorry, no photos of this entry. All of the images that came to mind weren't pretty and my Dad and brother read this. I am sure I have already grossed them out enough for one day.