Have you found your perfect ratio of castor oil to carrier oil for the oil cleansing method yet? If the whole OCM thing is new to you or you’re still at a loss on how much castor oil your face needs, here are some basic oil blends to get you started.
But remember, everybody’s skin is different, so one vegetable oil blend will not necessarily work for your skin type. The best way to find out what works for you is just try different ratios until you find something that your skin likes. It will also vary somewhat depending on which vegetable oil you use as the carrier oil. You can use olive oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, sunflower oil, almond oil or any other vegetable oil that you like, or a mixture of several. I currently use a mixture of jojoba oil and wheat germ oil as my carrier.
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I had heard a lot of good things about the konjac sponge from friends and bloggers, so when I noticed they sold them at a natural health shop in Copenhagen, I didn’t think twice. The konjac sponges are sold in several different varieties, and I chose the one with charcoal bamboo which is especially good for oily skin and for treating acne prone skin. There are also konjac sponges for sensitive skin, aging skin, baby skin … Or a pure sponge that suits anybody!
What is a konjac sponge?
Amorphophallus Konjac, also known as Konjac potato, also known as Konnyaku, is a perennial plant originating in Japan. This is the source of this amazing sponge, that can be used foor almost any purpose. The konjac sponge can be used daily for exfoliation, for face as well as body. According to the Konjac sponge company, it can treat almost anything; acne, eczema, psoriasis, shaving rashes and in-grown hairs. It is suitable even for hypersensitive skin and newborns and can be used to wash childrens hair.
One sponge is around $10, and lasts for up to three months if it is well cared for. When the sponge starts looking tired or fall apart, you can just throw it in the compost.
How do I use the konjac sponge?
Here are my instructions on Vine:
It’s very easy to use. Just wet the konjac sponge in water until it’s completely soaked, press out the water (avoid wringing). Gently massage you face or body with circular motions. You can even use it around the sensitive eye area. There is no need to use additional face wash, unless you are wearing very heavy makeup (the sponge should remove water based makeup). If you like, though, you can add a little bit of face wash to the sponge but you’ll probably not need as much as normal (the sponge will help the wash foam). I tried using it with a little bit of african black soap and that was a lovely combo! Mostly I just used it on it’s own though.
So does it live up to its promises?
I’ve had the konjac sponge for a couple of weeks now and used it on average every other day. I would have used it every day, but I’ve been lazy. I really feel that my face has cleared up and looks bright. I haven’t noticed any drastical changes like reduced pores or blackheads, but I definitely like the konjac sponge so far. After a few more weeks of usage, I’ll let you know if I’ve noticed more visible changes.
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One of the products that people are most fussy about is their deodorant. And who can really blame them? Sweat, and sweat smell, is just the kind of thing that you want to not have to worry about during the day.
However, many of the storebought antiperspirants contain several ingredients that you really don’t want to use. The main cause for concern is aluminum salts (often aluminum chlorohydrate), which is the very thing that takes care of the whole antiperspiration in the antiperspirant. Unfortunately, aluminum also has proven links to Alzheimer’s and is suspected to be linked to breast cancer. Add to this the fact that aluminum is strongly irritating for skin, and, you know, the fact that it actually closes up and blocks your sweat glands, meaning the stuff that was supposed to exit your body stays inside.
But fear not, you can make your own homemade deodorant – and it really works! Read on to find some recipes that are so easy you’re not going to beleive it.
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You take a first look at it, and it might not look like much. Light brown in color, a bit dirty looking, with a stamp in arabic on the top that you might not understand. It might be quite unevenly cut and you might find it lying in a box with tons of others, without any packaging. You pick it up, and it smells of earth and hay. But then you might cut it open, and you will be greeted by a beautiful deep emerald color. And then you might use it, and your will fall in love.
The product I’m talking about is one of the oldest cosmetic products there is. The traditions of Aleppo soap making is over a thousand years old, and is by some considered to be the first hand soap ever made.
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Click image to see all posts in the company checkup series
After a short break in the Company checkup post series, it’s time to pull out the big guns. This time I will be discussing one of the biggest green cosmetic companies out there – I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the Body Shop was the start of the green cosmetic movement, that has lead to people being more aware of what they put in their faces. Founded in 1976, the Body Shop has been very successful at creating a worldwide brand profile that exlaims key words like green, earth and nature.
So, let’s take a closer look at what the Body Shop’s claims. Have they managed to stick to these promises, or are they mostly greenwashing?
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With its mild soothing and cleansing properties, oatmeal is one of the best cheap ingredients that you should always have in your beauty pantry. I’ve previously written about oatmeal’s properties, with a few recipes, but there are so many great recipes out there apart from these. That’s why I decided to gather a few from some of my other favorite green bloggers.
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A couple of years back, I wrote about how to make your own aloe vera gel from aloe vera leaves. In this tutorial, I used the leaves as they are, just cut them up and put them in a food processor. But there’s a couple of problems with doing it this way. First of all, you will still have som green larger pieces in your gel, which doesn’t work very well if you want to use it as a hair gel or as an ingredient in lotion etc. To make this work, you would have to strain the gel to get the larger pieces out. Secondly, there are some who claim that the green part of the leaf shouldn’t be used and can in fact be toxic. In any case, the green parts of the leaf doesn’t really do much good, it’s the gelly substance on the inside that we want.
I’ve been aware of this, but haven’t really found a good way to get the gel out of the leaf. In many instructions, they just say that you should press the gel out, but that hasn’t worked for me at all. The other option was to cut the green parts out with a knife, but then there are till lots of gel left on the green parts that are wasted. But the other day, I found a really effective way of getting the gel out.
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With the Easter holidays soon over, I bet you have more than a couple of extra eggs lying around in your fridge, just waiting to be used. What better way to use then than to use them in your skin care regime? Eggs will strengthen and rejuvenate hair as well as skin. Here’s a few of my favorite egg recipes!
read more…
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One of the ingredients that should be in every DIY beauty crafters cupboards is rose water, or another herbal water. Rose water is exactly what it sounds like – roses steeped in water, where the good components of the rose has soaked into the water. The great thing about these herbal waters, or herbal hydrosols, is that they are very versatile. They can be used as such as a face toner, or in a hair rinse. They can also be used in any recipe instead of water, and in that way you will get a lot of benefits from the hydrosol, instead just a filling agent (which water is). According to Livestrong, rose water is a mild antiseptic and is good for all skin types, especially sensitive skin, red and irritated skin as well as acne skin. In this post, I will discuss how you can find quality rose water in the shops, and how to make your own herbal hydrosols.
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Some of you might already have heard the good news – as of this Monday, animal testing in cosmetic products is banned in the European Union! This is of course great news for all of us who live within the EU. But what does the ban actually mean? And wasn’t there already a ban on animal testing? Let’s take a closer look at what this legislation really means. read more…
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