I've been going through a LOT of pill bottles over the last few years. It seems so wasteful to just throw them all out - especially the glass ones. Has anyone got any ideas for creative ways to re-purpose them?

I know this comm isn't super-geared towards beauty products but.. it is a wonderfully large and well informed community of helpful folk, so please forgive me.

I've been using Burt's Bees Super Shiny shampoo/conditioner since about.. 2004? I loved it and it was the Best Thing Ever for my abundant, fine, often oily, reddish brown hair.

Then Burt's Bees decided to change the formulas to almost everything, including my favorite hair stuffs. So my knickers are in a twist and I'm looking for a replacement and I'm open to any and all suggestions!

I already do the ACV rinses on occasion and they always help. The Avalon Organics Clarifying Lemon stuff also suits me well but.. it's really not very natural, now is it?

Cheers 'n thanks!

This might be a weird question, I duno. There are scrubs and things that use a mix of dry ingredients and you just add water when you use. Often those ingredients are oats and herbs. This got me thinking about using specific herbs for my skin, more like a poultice than a mask. Something I could make into a wet paste and apply to my skin and it would help with my acne and maybe generally benefit my skin (my apologies if this is making no sense). A lot of things on the market (scrubs, masks, etc) have too much in them at once, which makes me wonder about the effectiveness of individual ingredients. I say this for natural products as well to some degree. I guess what I'm getting at, is what could I apply this way? Buy as a bulk herb, grind up and make into paste to apply for short periods daily, weekly, etc. Or the other thing would be to make a toner from the tea.

Has anyone tried something like this? Suggestions on herbs that benefit skin (either specifically acne or generally nourishing/nutritive/helpful)? I know Calendula is supposed to be excellent, not sure what else (besides the usual green tea idea).

Thanks in advance, sorry its so rambling and stuff x.x

Recently, someone here requested ideas for foods to keep in her pantry. I thought I'd offer a response via a post. This might be useful to others, esp. newer members.

The top five superfoods to always keep stocked in your pantry
(NaturalNews) What is a superfood? While there is no specific definition for the term, a superfood is generally recognized by a few characteristics: high nutritional density and low calories, high fiber, high in omega-3 fatty acids, lots of antioxidant activity, and rich with phytochemicals that have the potential to prevent or even reverse disease.

Which fruits and vegetables are naturally the most detoxifying?
(NaturalNews) Detoxing in our incredibly polluted environment is not an occasional endeavor. In order to maintain a healthy immune system with a slightly alkaline pH, we need to consider constant slow detoxing to counter the "slow kill" from the...

GMO alert: top 10 genetically modified foods to avoid eating
(NaturalNews) Due to lack of labeling, Americans are still left at a loss as to whether or not what is on the table is genetically modified. This lack of information makes the avoiding and tracking of GM foods an exercise in futility. Below are just some of the food products popularly identified to be genetically modified...

("NaturalNews" is great to have as an RSS Feed!)

Me: ( Hiding here under the cut... )

And, for emergency foods to "Horde," here is a link. I don't have access to this site via my firewall, so. Not so sure, but: "37 Food Items to Horde VIDEO"

I'm going to be taking antibiotics for a while, so I'm looking for probiotics recommendations! I already eat a lot of yogurt and such, but any brands of capsule to try would be great. I'm mainly worried about warding off yeast infections.

There were many entries about henna but I figured I'd make a new one since there's probably a lot of brunettes who want to go red for a switch up. Also, there might be new products on the market now that I don't know about.

The info I'm looking for:

a) What brand of Henna to buy?
b) Where do I buy it?
c) The name of the shade of the brand to use?
d) Techniques?

More info/images under the cut here:

( Read more... )

When moving out of my parents' house, I inadvertently made many transitions. One of those was from eating chicken and seafood occasionally to cutting out dairy and meat almost completely. It's amazing how clearer my mind is and how much happier I am.

Question: Do you recommend any foods I should have in my cupboard/fridge at all times? What blogs do you read related to this subject?

Another thing I have grown interested in is the medicinal purposes of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Do you recommend any literature on this subject? Or websites? Anything would be greatly appreciated!

Long live local produce!

Love, Jen

PS I nabbed my first yoga teacher position :]

1. Can anyone recommend a good, dependable brand for Omega-3 fish oil softgels with DHA/EPA? Or in liquid form, if that's more your style.

I bought Natural Factors omega 3s recently, and though they worked fine at first they went rancid after a mere two months. The manufacturer brushed me off and tried to tell me they weren't rancid, so I'm out $12 and it's a bummer.

2. Any recommendations for multivitamin brands? I've been using MegaFood DailyFoods Women's one Daily and they seem to work fine. I'm curious to hear what you take and if you've seen good results from anything in particular.

Thanks!

So a few years ago I moved from a relatively humid part of Canada to very dry part. Which was as you can image was quite a transition for my skin and hair. My skin got climatized pretty soon after the move but my hair was never really "quite right". For the first year and a bit I had a huge bottle of chem-laden salon shampoo and conditioner, which then all of a sudden decided to stop working. My hair felt greasy and thin and well as having flakes on my scalp. For he next 6 months to a year I tried half a dozen different shampoos and the same thing happened. After a few weeks I would get an awful buildup along my scalp and gnarly unmanageable hair. I had a bottle of fairly natural shampoo and conditioner for a while which worked well but left my hair dry. Finally I started reading about no-poo and shampoo bars. I now use shampo bars (from various places including chagrin valley and various farmers markets) and occasionally use just baking soda. I always use an ACV rinse, spicing it up by occasionally adding essential oils, herbs and other things and maybe using organic argan oil or morroccan oil (not natural i know but its a good product). It has done wonders and I recommend specifically rosemary shampoo bars for brunettes in dry climates. My hair grows in thicker from using these more natural products and I have no dandruff or buildup. I can grow my hair long again and have it not look gross. Has anyone else noticed their hair grows in thicker and theres less hair loss in the shower and when brushing when you use natural hair care? The downside to having such thick hair now is when I go to get it cut I tell the stylist to schedule an extra 15 minutes. They usually appreciate the recommendation though. The other down side to thick hair in where I live is f***ing ticks! I was out in a lightly wooded area with a friend of mine the other day and we both got attacked by ticks (this year for some reason is awful for them in my region). I found one in my hair on the truck ride home, one in my coat the next day and yesterday I pulled one off my head (actually my friend did while I freaked out... I can't stand ticks).

So this brings me to my two questions for this comm... Do you have any hair rinse recipes you like to use and do you have any recommendations for natural ways to repel ticks? Yes, this is a very odd combination post ;)