Hippy Crunchy

When I was growing up, I remember burning trash in barrels or burn piles but the traditional sort of recycling was never something that was part of our life on the farm... unless you count things like using our cows' manure as fertilizer. Once we got married, Stephen taught me traditional recycling and I am more conscious of my trash habits now. One thing I like about this habit is that it limits how often we have to take the trash out, since the can fills up less quickly {can you say LAZY}. However, there are things I still refuse to do, like cleaning out peanut butter jars... those just get trashed. Now I understand why our neighbor up the street used to leave their used peanut butter jars for our dog to enjoy--then they didn't have to do as much cleanup before recycling!

One thing my family did that I am really bad at is taking used plastic grocery bags back to the store for recycling.  Somehow, it doesn't matter where I put the bags in my car, I can never remember to get them back into the bin at the store. Last weekend I finally took the literally hundreds of bags filling my backseat and trunk and felt a little silly walking across the parking lot with my arms full of empty bags blowing in the wind. I need to invest in some good reusable grocery bags but I'm afraid I'll just forget and leave them in the car before shopping!

Another crunchy thing I've been trying the past several months is changing up my beauty products. I have really dry skin and during the winter my face was uncomfortably dry; nothing I tried would moisturize enough without making my skin break out. At night when I took off my makeup, my face would feel so tight, which I hated. So I began researching new products that would be better for my skin and more naturally moisturizing. One of my major hesitations for trying new products is concern over buying an expensive product that won't work for me, so when I found a skincare regimen that sounded like a good fit and minimal investment, I was excited to see how it worked!

The supplies needed for this natural regimen are as follows:
   - Coconut Oil
   - Oatmeal
   - Grapeseed Oil
   - Baking Soda 

I was able to purchase my coconut oil and oatmeal from Walmart on my normal shopping trip which was nice and easy. I found the coconut oil on the aisle with olive oil and baking items, and bought the large tin of off-brand oatmeal. The grapeseed oil can be purchased at GNC, but I found this small 4 oz. container on Amazon since I wanted to buy a smaller bottle to see how I liked it. My total investment in these items was right around $12, and I have been using them for six months now and have hardly made a dent in them!

My routine looks like this:

   - Evening: I splash water on my face and then scoop out a nickle-sized portion of coconut oil and scrub it over my face and into my eyelashes, etc. to remove all my makeup. Then I hold a hot, wet washcloth on my face for a few seconds to open up my pores and use the cloth to gently wipe away the coconut oil. I have found that it works best to do this twice, ensuring all coconut oil is gone. (The oil can clog pores so I remove it all, even though it does feel so moisturizing!) After my skin is dry, I put a few drops of grapeseed oil in my palm and rub it onto my face as a moisturizer. It's definitely oily, but it settles in overnight and leaves my skin feeling so fresh! I have found that during the summer months the coconut oil wash adds enough moisture that I don't need the grapeseed oil every night.

   - Morning: I keep a small jar of oatmeal in the shower and use a little pinch of it each morning. I get the oatmeal wet in my palm then use it as a scrub all over face and rinse  it all off. You'll notice the oatmeal leaves your face feeling naturally moisturized even without applying any lotion, but I do still apply this moisturizer to get me through the day.

   - Exfoliating: Every so often I'll want a good exfoliating scrub so I use a 1:1 mixture of coconut oil and baking soda mixed thoroughly and scrub it on then remove with a washcloth just like in the evenings. The slight grit of the baking soda leaves my face feeling smooth and soft!

That's it! I've been incredibly happy with the results of my new routine--my skin is consistently more clear and moisturized but not oily. The only real downside I've noticed is that this takes a little longer than using traditional face products, but it's totally worth it! Oh, and if you haven't used coconut oil before the melting point is around 77 degrees so I leave it in the cabinet right above the vent in our bathroom so it stays solid since our upstairs gets warmer during the summer days. It's a lot easier to use as a solid then you can let it melt as you scrub.

Flint is also a big fan of all of these products. He comes running towards the end of my shower each morning and hops on the edge of the tub hoping for a little taste of oatmeal. He has also tried licking the grapeseed oil off my face!

I also have enjoyed the ease of using the products when we are away from home. I packed a contact lens container with oatmeal on one side and coconut oil on the other side, which makes it so easy to travel with! (After having contacts for over 15 years, I find lots of ways to use those extra containers--they are great for medications and hair gels too!)

If you're looking for a cheap, natural beauty routine give this a try and let me know what you think!

Happy weekend!
~ Buckwheat (I'm sure you're shocked to find that Buzzy didn't write this!)