Soppy about Pipi

Thank you ladies for such lovely names, I have trawled through the list of names and cannot actually find the name we chose. But do shout out if I missed it! Just because you did not come up with the winning name does not mean I wont be doing a giveaway so the winner of our products was chosen by putting all the contributer's names into a hat and drawing out a name. I am happy to announce the winner is Katy Hurd! Well done Katy thanks for your names too they were cute. Package will be on its way shortly!

 All my animals always favour my blankets. Pipi is no exception, she drag's it off the sofa and settle's into it. I give up. I will search for another.

We chose Pipi as the dog's name and it suits her well. She had her first morning at playcentre today and played with all the children between power napping in her child free crate. You can see her here eying up the local's. She looks huge next to the chicken but she really is not so big.

Gift packs below now on sale for $20, include 2 handmade soaps and a mandarin and cinnamon lip balm http://www.bodybotanics.co.nz/gifts/gift-pack

Name that Puppy and **WIN**

A bit off topic I know but we would love you to help us choose a name for our puppy. We are a bit stumped for names and all the ones I like Hubba does not and vice versa. We are not picky honest! But something that suits a Golden Retriever, female, she is super cute as I hope you can tell from the picture. We will choose the name by voting at home on all the entries, no computers it will be a collective personal preference. The entrant offering the winning name will receive a collection of products, some not yet listed on www.bodybotanics.co.nz including handmade natural liquid soap, traditional cold pressed soap, lavender stop the itch stick, sample of my lotion for the face, dry body brush, and what ever else I can find. This is not restricted to NZ only customers.... so share the word.  I can put a photo up of the prize right after the 12th Nov.

How to enter:- Follow this blog
Leave a comment below with your email name and the new puppy's name.
You are not limited to one entry per person. 
Competition will end on 1 Dec 2011 when we pick her up and bring her home :)

Share share share!!

Skin Brushing a natural uncomplicated approach

Kindly written by and reproduced with the permission of Judith Phillips from justbotanicals.com

A Simplistic approach to skin care

The practice of dry skin brushing may be old news to those who practice the daily routine, but with all the skin care products and hypes out there, we thought it important to re-introduce a process that is not only a great way to maintain healthy skin, but also helps you to maintain a healthy body. The ability of the skin to excrete toxins is of paramount importance to you.

Dry skin brushing is one of the healthier self-help methods available to us today. Stimulation of the skin sets in motion natural healing pathways within your body. Additionally, it encourages nerve beds within its structure that in turn increases normal healing processes throughout the body.

There are several automatic systems contained by the body including healing processes. Your heart beats by design—you breathe automatically—and your body’s “automatic healing process”, is another. It is set in motion when your body generates an itching response to the required areas. You will obviously scratch that area, and in turn, the area turns red with a fresh blood supply and the natural healing process has now been set in motion. This is the same healing process that will follow a skin brushing session.

Your skin is the primary sign of an internally toxic body. As soon as your internal body becomes toxic, it will spread out into your skin causing your skin to become irritated and itchy. There are numerous ports of elimination of the skin including your mouth, face, and arm pits, the inside of your upper thigh region, feet, and toe nails. Did you know that body odor is also an additional indicator of toxic build-up and is eradicated through the same channels. Let’s not forget your tongue, which builds up a plaque and is yet another gauge of toxins in the body.

Our skin is permeable or porous, and can absorb toxins directly from the environment. According to Jacqueline Krohn, MD, “Caustic chemicals, such as alkaline solutions, can also penetrate the skin. Once a chemical has penetrated the stratum corneum (the most superficial layer of the skin), it moves through the epidermis and into the dermis. Skin brushing will enhance your health significantly. You may wonder how this is accomplished using, “skin brushing”. It is a fact that the skin is one of the optimal ways to getting to the endocrine system and all the glands it reaches very quickly. In addition, at the same time, it triggers them to react successfully. The instantaneous result from a brushing session is a feeling of increased physical well-being. 

The Benefits Of Dry Skin Brushing

• Dry skin brushing helps to shed dead skin cells, which can help improve skin texture and cell renewal.

• Dry skin brushing increases circulation to skin, encouraging your body’s discharge of metabolic wastes, which greatly aids the lymphatic drainage of the entire body. When the body rids itself of toxins, it is able to run more efficiently in all areas.

• Dry skin brushing also helps to tighten the skin because it increases the flow of blood. Increasing the circulation to the skin can also help lessen the appearance of cellulite.

• Dry skin brushing stimulates the lymph canals to drain toxic mucoid matter into the colon, thereby purifying the entire system. This enables the lymph to perform its house-cleaning duties by keeping the blood and other vital tissues detoxified. After several days of dry brushing, you may notice the gelatinous mucoid material in your stools.

• Dry skin brushing helps with muscle tone and more even distribution of fat deposits.

• Dry skin brushing also rejuvenates the nervous system by stimulating nerve endings in the skin.

• Dry skin brushing helps your skin to absorb nutrients by eliminating clogged pores. Healthy, breathing skin contributes to overall body health.

• Individuals who sit at a computer screen all day long will particularly take pleasure in the benefits of skin brushing. People who have inactive lifestyles or jobs usually experience stiff and sore necks and shoulders that reach even into their arms and down their spines and into their lower backs. Increased blood flow begins entering the areas brushed and you will experience an increase in electromagnetic energy that permits you to feel energized and invigorated.

• LADIES—Cellulite is toxic. Cellulite is toxic materials that are accumulated in your body’s fat cells as they are unable to be eliminated. So, rather than liposuction surgery, how about utilizing the “dry skin brushing” techniques coupled with an alkaline diet program and a great exercising routine. It will break down the unwelcome toxic body deposits and send them scurrying out of your body through the elimination channels we discussed above. How to Get Started With Your Skin Brushing Regimen 1. Purchase a natural, NOT a synthetic, bristle brush. www.bodybotanics.co.nz/accessories 2. Purchase a brush with a long handle, so that you are able to reach all areas of your body. Best-case scenario would be one that had a removable head with a strap for your hand. 3. Skin brushing should be performed once a day, preferably first thing in the morning. If you are feeling ill, please do it twice a day until you feel better. 4. Skin brushing should be performed prior to your bath or shower and your body dry and naked. 5. Begin brushing your skin in long sweeping strokes starting from the bottom of your feet upwards, and from the hands towards the shoulders, and on the torso in an upward direction. Always brush towards the heart. Try and brush several times in each area, over-lapping as you go. 6. Avoid sensitive areas and anywhere the skin is broken.

7. After brushing your skin, rinse off in the shower. Paavo Airola, author of Swedish Beauty Secrets, recommends alternating temperatures in the shower from hot to cold. This will further invigorate the skin and stimulate blood circulation, bring more blood to the outer layers of the skin.

8. After getting out of the shower, dry off vigorously and massage your skin with a natural moisturing product. We like to use Body Botanics body butter or our Rejuvenating Body Oil treatment.

9. Don’t forget to clean your skin brush using soap and water once a week. After rinsing, dry your skin brush in an open, sunny spot to prevent mildew.

10. For a thorough lymphatic cleansing, perform skin brushing daily for a minimum of three months.

Caution: Do not brush on or over skin rashes, wounds, cuts, infections, poison oak or poison ivy.

Note: Any well designed program will take about 30 days to see and experience the changes. Please be patient and keep up the program!

Aromatherapy & cleaning the shower

After a weekend away ( and a distinct lack of house work in the preceeding week) our shower needed a good scrub. In order to motivate myself to do it I combined aromatherapy with cleaning. I added a few drops of essential oil of sweet orange to my shower cleaning recipe and bob's your aunty 2 jobs done.

I do not find that my spray and wipe recipe ( see earlier posts) will stand up to the dirt found on a bath or in a shower every time, now and again I use the paste. I make this up fresh each time.

Shower/bath paste

1/3 cup of baking soda in a mug (bin inn for bulk quantities)
add a tablespoon of dish wash liquid
add enough vinegar to make a paste the same consistency as jif
add a couple of drops of essential oil, peppermint works well (but avoid if pregnant) I used sweet orange

I smear it all over the walls, shower door floor and use a non abrasive cloth or brush over all the surface to clean everywhere then rinse off. If feeling very house proud I will then use a rubber scraper to get rid of the water for a sparkly shower.

Future proof your family & de-tox your personal care routines

Have you ever considered how many chemicals you put on your body? I never did until it started rebelling in a big way. Consider when you wake up in the morning...

• Shower- Shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, facial wash, shaving cream, moisturiser, foundation, serum. Deodorant.Toothpaste. All products that are absorbed by the skin.
• Kitchen - dish-wash liquid, dish-wash powder, cleaning products, some are absorbed by touch others inhaled by fumes.
• Laundry - Bleach, powders

Flip over the containers of any off these products and add up the number of ingredients and times that by the number absorbed by you today.

I used to get quite severe reactions to all sorts of things, my kids had/have eczema/asthma. I now follow a simpler detox routine for myself and my family.  I hope to future proof my kids too by teaching them to make the right choices, I do not want them to have to struggle with fertility issues, migraines, or allergies like I have. I hope this is the answer, it makes some sense to me. I am not a die hard hippy about it all but I think it makes sense that if you give your body less "manufactured" chemicals to process it gets time to heal itself and get on with the business of functioning normally.

This has not all occurred over night. I could not afford to throw out my dish-wash liquid, shampoo,toothpaste, bubble bath, just because it contained SLS. As I replace things I make the change, often green alternatives go further than the cheaper products. Did you know nearly all deodorants you can buy in your supermarket contain aluminium? You can read about the effects of aluminium by following the above links and checking this one out that occurred while I lived in the UK Camelford.

Why am I writing this? well I feel better, I do not get hives and I have saved money doing it, I have eliminated a number of risky products. I have set my kids up to be nasty chemical free- so far. I guess I want to share. It was not hard, just replace the questionable with the good stuff.  Check out the rest of the blog for recipes for cleaning. There are also good suppliers out there.....

1. I wash with handmade soap, not triple milled & free from hardeners - the stuff that leaves all the gunk on the glass shower door. Check body botanics web site for a range of soaps..
2. I wash my hair with SLS & paraben free shampoo and conditioner.
3. I slap on body butters from my own kitchen (soon to be in stock at body botanics).
4. I wash my face with half a teaspoon of Manuka honey ( and try to resist licking it off my lips) probably the most active facial wash you can get! 
5. I moisturise my face with carefully selected oils to give anti-aging, pore refining and re-generation the best chance it can get.
6. I wash my children with soap and products free from SLS & parabens.
7. I use a kind washing powder that is kind the earth & us, and washes clothes WELL! 
8. In the winter I deodorise with a crystal. One lasts a year or two, in the summer I use a Speck deodorant available from Health stores.
9. If I need a facial I use yogurt from the fridge, its active enzymes chew through build up on the skin and give a little glow! Follow up with a mashed banana full of Vitamin E.

I still wear make up occasionally as I cannot bear to throw out Clarin's products until I have used them! But once gone. I wont replace. I will be working out how to bring you the best possible natural version. I still love wine and chocolate and am a coffee addict! But not sure any of those are carcinogenic!

I make no claims that all this rids you of fertility issues, eczema, or asthma or any other thing you can think of. But isn't it just common sense? Think of your Granny/ Great Granny, did she have all these products at her finger tips, and was she dealing with all these conditions?

Further reading can be found here and here and on the WWW.

How to make Mozzarella - Cows Milk, Save $$ on supermarket brands

Yum made this a couple of times now and its easy peasy. Takes about an hour to make your own yummy Mozzarella. Perfect for a Caprise salad , or tearing up on pizza.  Freezes well, or keeps for 4 days in airtight container in the fridge. I made 620g from 4litres of milk. I worked this out to be about $16.20 per kilo. Shop bought can be from $23 upwards per kilo. But not as nice as homemade - as least that's my opinion.

You need a couple of odd things, but easy enough to get on trademe (ebay) and they will drop through the door or pick them up at Faro fresh or any other specialist health/deli.

Recipe

• Vegetarian rennet 1/2 tablet dissolved in 1/4 cup of cold water. Get a pack of tablets keeps in freezer indefinitely

• 2 tsp citric acid ( baking aisle or Binn inn)

• Calcium chloride 1/2tsp diluted in 1 tablespoon of water
• 4 litres on non homogeneous milk ( farmhouse brand, fruit world sells in 2 litre bottles that was most efficient I have seen). Organic milk works well too.
• 1/4 tsp Salt if liked

You will also need a thermometer that will read the range of 31C up to 41C, I have a dairy thermometer that does this that I use for making yogurt too ( I am pretty sure a normal thermometer you use on kids stuffed in a sealed bag would work too, but be careful you don't compromise you milk or damage your equipment ). A pan that will fit 4 litres of milk. Use of Microwave.

Empty contents of milk into pan sprinkle in calcium chloride and citric acid, heat gently, stirring occasionally. You should notice the curds forming and the whey separating. At 31C add dissolved rennet. Gently heat to 41c cover pan, take it off the heat and leave it for 20 min rest. In a micro safe bowl and using a slotted spoon, scoop out all the curds into you clean bowl. You can freeze the liquid that's left and use it to make scones etc or tip it away! I usually find something or one to feed it too. Using a spatula gently push the curds together and drain off more liquid. Micro for 1 min, again and if you can use your hands, and knead the cheese. it will start to get elastic and leak more liquid, keep draining and kneading. After about a 1-2 Min's. Return for 30 secs in micro, repeat once more. On the final knead add your salt. Split it up and freeze some or use it all. You can set it by putting it in cold water. Enjoy :0)

Save money, be clean and green!

Just thought I would share some recipes for household cleaning that are easy and inexpensive to make. Have you checked out how many spray cleaners you have at home?  Here are a couple of recipes that will get you started and save you a heap of money. You can re use your spray bottles or buy new flash ones. I find the ones you find in the gardening section of DIY stores to be the most cost effective and last the longest.

This is anti-bacterial, anti-viral and smells divine if you add some essential oil. My favourite is sweet orange, but peppermint comes a close second.  I use this everywhere, on tables, bench tops, in bathrooms & the shower. Though if you have stubborn soap scum, consider switching to a less processed soap. Also try using my paste, recipe coming soon.


Spray & Wipe  
Supermarkets sell something similar for arguments sake I will call it j!f for $4.00 / 500ml. I should think this recipe costs less than 25c. per bottle.. spray on....

1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp washing up liquid
1 tsp baking soda ( if you get too many bubbles, back off on this)
few drops of essential oil
top up the bottle with water.

You can even give the kids the bottle and a cloth and get them to clean up. There are no nasties in it!  

Window cleaner
1 part vinegar
2 parts water
a wee drop of washing up liquid

Polish with a micro fleece cloth.

Why did I start making soaps and handmade beauty products?

Lets go back a generation or maybe two. Your Granny might be able to tell you how to make butter, yogurt or cheese. How to make up a face pack from your pantry cupboard or make a cup of mince feed a family of five. There are some gem's we forgot. Maybe not all of them, I think we have got caught up in the convenience food, disposable way we live. But whats the cost to you? Health? When I ask back a few generations if my nan or her mother had fertility problems, allergies, asthma, eczema etc the answer is no.  So what changed?

I can only say my Nan would not have woken up and slathered on a cleanser, a toner, a serum, a moisturiser, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, body moisturiser, sun cream, foundation, mascara, eye shadows, top it all off with some perfume. Hands in modern dish wash liquid, soap powder, endless cleaning products and the associated fumes. Check out any of the above ingredient's label and we are exposing ourselves to a lot of chemicals. When you add it up, and you think about all the chemicals we touch, ingest, absorb, breathe there are a lot. Is it any wonder your body says "no thanks, I am busy filtering. I cannot function properly".  I have no science to back it up. Just my own common sense.

There are a couple of other popular benefits from taking small steps towards simplifying your home chemical rituals. Its an awesome thing to do for you and your family, teaches your kids to be responsible for the planet, and it saves money.