HEALTH AND BEAUTY

I remember all the long hours in my earlier years as a teenager...primping, curling, painting... attemping to create the facade that Ii wanted to become. I tried endless products; went to make-up parties with all the foundations, toners, liquids and liners that were supposed to make us 'beautiful'. I would wake up at 7 am, and spend at least an hour preparing my 'head' for the day, not to mention the countless visits to the bathroom at school, to make sure everything was in its place. Surely, if i make myself as attractive as possible, Someone will notice me, and i will be swept off my feet, into the fairy tale of my choice.

So what happened?

Nothing.

Well, i WAS going to an all-girl school, and even if there was a girl to notice, they usually didn't know it that early.

One thing i did notice, was that all that make-up was clogging up my skin, while emptying my wallet. My face was looking a different shade than the rest of my skin, and i had no intention of bathing in the stuff. I finally got myself out into the SUNSHINE to work on a new colour.

EGYPTIAN EYES

Then came the teased hair and Egyptian eyes. Final Net and Black Liquid Eyeliner. The pencils worked out fine as well, especially if you heated them ever so slightly with a match. I remember around that time, cosmetic surgens were offering 'eye liner tatoos', that would save me from having to apply it every day, and remove it every night (lest i end up looking like a tv evangelist's wife). WOW! Wouldn't that be great? Well, all i can say, is i am sure glad i was living in a small town far away from LA, where i could eventually move into a new phase without eyeliner. Imagine trying to remove that tattoo!

NATURE

I finished up my schooling, and began my lessons in Nature. Travelling and camping taught me so much about living naturally. Fresh air, clean water, sunshine...all the things that we Humans seem to forget while racing home to catch our favourite shows, catching up with friends, doing our work...bla bla bla.

For the first time,
I JUST LET ME BE ME
No more products!

I did go to the other extreme for a while...no shampoos or soaps or toothpastes even. Was i a smelly skanky hippy? Actually, NO.

HOT WATER & a wash towel or louffa

can clean us as well as any soap UNLESS you are covered in machine oil or actual dirt - not earth, you understand, which i do not consider to be dirty

NOTE: did you know that soaps will strip our hair and skin of all the oils that our body provides us with, to protect against drying out? Funny, how we have come to the 'squeaky clean' times, and substitute products for what we have taken away from ourselves.

PRODUCTS vs MOTHER NATURE

The thing about Nature that is sooo sweet, is that she has provided for us, all that we might need. How is it, that after thousands and thousands of years, we suddenly think that a chemical composition can match the effects of a natural substance? Creams and jells and soaps that have so many ingredients listed that we can't even pronounce have taken over the shelves of our everyday stores. The 'healthy way' has become chic enough to list 'real herbs', 'natural ingredients' bla bla bla...but that might constitute all of 1% of the product, while the rest is chemical.

So can we use that's natural?

Here are some of my favourites:

OILS

jojoba - a very fine oil exceptional for the face and hair ... quite expensive, and so the rest of the body gets:

coconut oil - which is great for hair and skin! You can also cook with it.

SOAPS

handmade soaps are usually made from natural ingredients; water, lye (from wood ash) and fats (oils such as olive, coconut, castor, palm, jojoba, cocoa butter, shea butter... using glycerin and various herbal infusions (using herbs and flowers or clay).

There are all types for all skin types...for example, exfoliating and abrasive soaps contain oats, bran or cornmeal. To investigate natural soaps further, go to Google and do a search for 'hand made soaps'.

FOODS

Try reading the ingredients listed on your food products. Again, how many of the words do you recognize or can pronounce? WARNING!!! We are in an era of $$$ Profits $$$ not Benefits. And so, many of the food companies we have loved for so long are skimping on supplies, replacing natural ingredients for chemically-synthesized ones. Even fruit juice now says..."contains real fruit juice!" as if we should be impressed...while the 1st ingredient to most is glucose-fructose, which is nothing more than sugar-water. Butter is buried by margarine on the shelves; fat-free, sugar-free, cholesterol-free substitutes are everywhere.

My pal Rob says, "NEVER eat anything FAT-FREE, SUGAR-FREE or OIL-FREE, as they have to substitute the natural ingredients with fake one, and you have no idea what they are, and if our bodies can even digest them!"

MOTHER NATURE provided us with the perfect foods.
Our task is not to abuse them, but honour them.
Everything in moderation my pretties.

sincerely, Darlene