Since moving to Everett January 1, I have not been able to go to my favorite grocery store, Central Market as often. I go when I work and I do not work every day. Someone reminded me that there is a food co-op in north Everett, the Sno-Isle Food Co-op. Yes! It’s less than a mile from here. Today I went out, on Valentine’s Day for my “treat”. Though normally I hate grocery shopping, the aisles can be too small, the people rude. If I can browse a store that is full of alternative things without rushing, I’ll actually have fun and find cool things.
I did, must have taken 20 minutes and I walked out with five things, nutritional yeast, an oatmeal mix, castile soap, hazelnut milk and Flax4Life muffins. The muffins are what I will rave about. I have had them before. Today, I bought them for Rick and for me. Though we know nothing for certain, Rick may have a gluten allergy. We’ll know if he does have a certain, very uncomfortable allergy in about a week or more. This morning he had shredded wheat with almond milk and was feeling sick within an hour. Our deduction went a little like this. Yogurt, which he also had, does not make him feel ill. All the ingredients in the hazelnut milk he has had before without problems. The shredded wheat is the only thing that seems to bother him. Each time he has tried it he has felt poorly. It takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours for things to move from the stomach to the small intestine, which is where the problem would be if he had this certain problem. (Think, like celiac disease.)
He was so miserable he swore off wheat today. I felt bad for him because I know he may be forced to give up all sorts of yummy things. Though he doesn’t eat a lot of wheat, mostly artisan breads, gluten allergies cuts out more than just bread – some noodles, buns, cakes, muffins, and many cereals. As I was browsing today, I ran across the muffins I had enjoyed so much in the fall last year. I bought Tantalizing Cranberry and Orange muffins. They are gluten free and are actually healthy because of all the natural ingredients and one specific ingredient, flax that is very high in omega 3 fatty acids. These little bits of heaven are made in my favorite town, Bellingham, Washington. They have a cute little website, will ship to you, and are carried in many local stores and co-ops. Please check out Flax4Life. Baker Kasondra has family members whom have celiac disease. A simple over view of this disease is that it is an allergy to gluten, which kills the villi in the small intestine, which impedes absorption of nutrients, resulting in unhappy, unhealthy people. The fix for this disease is to quit eating gluten-containing foods. Read the About Us page for the full story.
I have tried the tantalizing cranberry & orange and the chunky chocolate chip. There are three other flavors, wild blueberry, faithful carrot raisin, and Hawaiian pineapple coconut. I can hardly wait to try them! It’s great for this “modern hippy” because I was supporting the local co-op and a local baker – thus great for the environment. These muffins have only traveled about 60 miles from Bellingham to Everett, versus many big brands that must travel many states to get here from their huge plants.
Oh and of course so far, Rick has no complaints, he thinks they are wonderful!
A couple of days ago I realized I was almost out of my Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner. At the same time, odd because that never happens. So I went off to the store in looking for another alternative to rotated into my hair care. I found that Central Market carried Beauty Without Cruelty products. I found shampoo and conditioner, along with hair spray and something else. How exciting. I’ve been using their face products off and on for the last several years. I love them!
So after looking at the three options at the store I decided, in part because of scent and purpose, to get the Lavender Highland Shampoo and the Moisture Plus Conditioner. The great thing about these products is they smell like the “real” thing – because they actually contain real ingredients and rarely sensitizing ingredients. They aren’t perfect, I learned recently that one of the common ingredients, ascorbic acid or vitamin C, is actually synthetic, not what comes from oranges. However, it’s a start and has not caused me problems. I applaud this company for providing cost effective decent products that are usually vegan (thus cruelty free) and less harsh that other common brands commonly found in stores.
My opinion after the first usage this morning is: I’m a fan of both. They both smell wonderful. My scalp or hair did not feel stripped. The consistency of the shampoo is thinner than a normal shampoo, which is not a negative or positive. The conditioner was not too thin and coated well. Some natural conditioners can feel too thin. I did have to wash my hair more than once – that however, is not out of the norm. After washing and conditioning I could comb through my hair easily. We’ll see what happens after a week or more. Basically, I am glad I bought it.
I was reading a few weeks ago about organic alternatives for makeup. One of the brands that has branched out is Physicians Formula. They have created Organic Wear makeup. After my Mary Kay mineral powder foundation ran out I decided to try organic. (A disclaimer about Mary Kay: It seems to be a good brand, however it is not free from synthetics and my skin is very sensitive so reacts to some of the ingredients found in the face care items and makeup.)
I’m happy with it as far as price goes and what I got for my money. It sits heavier on my skin than the mineral powder makeup I used before. As my skin is oily after a few hours my makeup job tends to look a little cakey. I changed how much cream foundation and concealer I used and that helped a little bit. I am also more careful about how much I use. The rule less is more applies here. I’d recommend it because for the price it does what it is supposed to do. Eventually I’ll try something else when I have the cash. I do really like that it smells real, not like fake fragrances.
Notes: 100% Free of Harsh Chemicals. 100% Free of Synthetic Preservatives. 100% Free of Parabens. 100% Free of GMO’s. 100% Free of Synthetic Colors. 100% Free of Synthetic Fragrances. 100% Cruelty Free.
Every autumn starts the 8 or more months of cool and cold weather, sometimes dry though most of the time wet, wet in the Great Northwest. To combat the cold weather and ‘flu season I turn to teas. I’ll admit that I’m not tough enough to make real green tea. I hate it. My mother used to make me drink it when I had a cold and it only succeeded in making me feel nauseated.
I do love tea though and have looked for boxed teas that seem to have health benefits. A couple of years ago while trying to fight the bugs that went around the school and back again I tried the Organic Echinacea Plus tea by Traditional Medicinals. I loved it! It didn’t taste horrible. In fact it was quite soothing for my ever-sore throat. Echinacea is supposed to support the immune system. By boosting your immune system you can shorten or prevent colds. Though please remember that this review nor the information provided by their website should not substitute for medical care needed during a severe illness. Also if you suffer from a rag weed allergy this may not be the tea for you as it may be irritating. But from one hippy to another I’d recommend it if you are rather picky about how your tea tastes.
It’s been over a week that I’ve been using Ballard Organics Certified Organic Foaming Soap. After a week of using it at home and using the Pure Touch Organics Massage Crème at work my skin seemed to improve.
The soap at my work is not the Ballard Organics Certified Organic Foaming Soap so I was still noticing some serious dryness while at work post washing my hands. While at Mill Creek Central Market I picked up two more, one for the kitchen and one for my office. Since I wash my hands up to 15 times while at work I’m hoping that while I continue the massage cream and cleanser my hands will continue to get better.
My recommendation still stands. I love this soap! Give it a try and your hands will love you for it!
I just started using this massage crème in replacement of my other stuff as my skin is doing strange things these days; mainly eczema that has been gone or dormant (whatever) has resurfaced in the last two weeks. As a massage therapist I spend a lot of time in contact with other people. It is not safe for my client or myself to be working with open skin from an “eczema crack”.
I have used Biotone products before and only quit using them as my finances needed a bit of a break. Well, let me tell you, being cheap is not the way to go when dealing with skin. Though my clients have never complained about the other stuff, in fact they preferred it to the oil other therapists had used on them, I made a switch. In the long run it isn’t that much more expensive and I can afford a few extra dollars every couple of months now.
Organic things are much healthier and less likely to cause reactions. So I pulled up Biotone website in search of something better. I found Pure Touch Organics Massage Crème. Reading up on it I found that it contains no parabens, which are known as questionable ingredients in soaps lotions, and face care things, hypoallergenic, contains shea butter and jojoba oil (both of which I love!). It does not contain nut oils, which is important. Some clients tend to leave out allergies on the health form, whether or not they think it doesn’t matter or just forget. It is better to be safe than shooting someone up with an epi-pen.
I have used this lovely product two days in a row now. It feels heavenly. It silky, thick and melts well with body temp. It isn’t oily, absorbs well and provides both grip and glide, which is important in that I do both deep tissue massages and more gentle Swedish massages. It is “unscented” though it has a pleasant “unscent” of the ingredients themselves. It actually smells healthy and clean. It seems to be treating my skin well. Yesterday I had to coat my eczema with New Skin. Today it wasn’t open so I didn’t. So far it seems fine, certainly did not get worse.
As a person with sensitive skin I’d recommend this to other massage therapists. It is important not to stress out the skin too much. What is put onto our skin does make it to our “insides”. Though I wouldn’t recommend eating any lotion the ingredients themselves come from eatable sources. As a massage therapist working with it was wonderful. I have missed the Biotone quality. Believe that I’ll be using this for some time. I highly recommend!
I love this company! As my other posts have said I’m having quite a lot of trouble with my skin. Deciding to switch away from my former skin care line was long time coming. A couple of the products were okay but most of them seemed to clog my pores and make me break out horribly. I have also become more concerned with the origins of my skin care products. I don’t like synthetics and definitely don’t want to use something that has animal products in it or may have been tested on animals.
This company’s name is straight to the point, “No cruelty”. Within a week my poor skin was clearing up! I still get a couple now and again due to hormonal changes. Nothing like I had all summer long.
Check out their website! It is fairly extensive site listing various products their ingredients and their story/philosophy. Support a company that has values and treat your skin to real ingredients that will often be organic. Oh and of course they are vegetarian.Beauty Without Cruelty
They have a cosmetics I have yet to try and I’ll let you all know how they feel. If you use them leave some love and suggestions for other good lines.
Recently I have been having a lot of trouble with my skin. As a child I had eczema on both hands very badly. I haven’t seen it since though, until about two weeks ago. It’s back. Not nearly as bad but still, it itches and cracks. As a massage therapist I need to keep my hands happy. I can’t work if my hands are too horrible cracked. I’m using New Skin to cover the spots just in case.
Thinking about my options I decided to switch most of my skin care and even soaps, to much gentler options. Also that way I can “green” my life up. While I was at Central Market the other day I walked to the Natural Resources department to look for different hand soap. I have been thinking about switching away from the anti-bacterial I’ve been using. I firmly believe that we are all killing too many germs and thus weakening our immune systems and creating super bugs like MRSA. That is however, for another post. I also think that store brand or even Soft Soap is too artificial and very hard on skin. So I picked out a foaming hand wash that had ingredients I understood. I pickedBallard Organics Certified Organic Foaming Soap orange scent
. It was very reasonably priced at $5.45. That really isn’t much more than Soft Soap. The great thing is the pump bottles are refillable. They sell the soap in concentration so you can refill it.
My review:
Day One: So far I love it, though to be fair I’ve only been using it a day. It foams wonderfully. That shouldn’t be a deciding factor but it may be important to some people. It doesn’t seem to dry my hands out. In fact it seems that it actually moisturizes my hands. Best of all though it doesn’t seem to be irritating my eczema. I’ll update this with my “one week” review soon.
Fun sites! I love artsy things and funny things, when they are combined it’s even better. I found two different sites that are thoroughly entertaining. The first is to make your own South Park person. It is so much fun. I’ve made a few for myself and for Rick. I use them on my Myspace page for the profile pictures.
The other is to Simpsonize yourself. This is a little more difficult in that you have to upload a picture that is the proper size, it has to be detailed enough to make a caricature of you. They are both a blast though.
Here is the first one of me as a South Park character.
And the first of Rick, though I forgot to give him facial hair.
Then ours as Simpson people.
Check them out!
South Park character creator
Simpsonize Me
Revised 6/30/10
Well, due to some things I’ve learn recently, I can no longer recommend Tom’s of Maine as a company. I learned that Tom’s of Maine is owned by Colgate, which isn’t well known for caring about the environment or animal rights. Poo.
Also, about a month or so ago, I got a chemical burn from my Tom’s deodorant. It wasn’t super horrible. I didn’t loose layers and layers of skin. I did however end up with matching scars. Thank goodness no one is expected to have beautiful armpits. I’m not sure why it happened. I’ve become super sensitive to lots of things in the last couple of years. It may also have been a fluke. The only thing I know is that once I stopped using that deodorant, my skin started to heal. I tried it once more and it got worse. Lame.
So my friends, I can no longer recommend this brand due to it’s ownership and who knows what comes with that. I know that not everyone will have a bad reaction, but there might be some others out there that need to hear they aren’t the only ones whom can’t tolerate it even though it’s mostly natural, whatever that means.
For more information about the change in ownership with Tom’s of Maine click here. It’s depressing, but I think it’s important to be informed.
