DIY Non Toxic Eye Makeup

 

Balm of Gilead

 

 

Poplar buds infusing in oil. It's sometimes called "Balm of Gilead", (although I have read that it's a different tree than the one in the Bible). The resin from the poplar (cottonwood) buds makes a good pain salve. I plan to combine it with infused willow bark, whole cloves and cayenne. The poplar resin is anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antiseptic. It is primarily used to soothe sore muscles, arthritis, skin irritations (eczema, rashes), dry skin, burns, and minor wounds, (this from Google AI). I don't know if I will be selling this at the Farmer's Market. It depends on how much I am able to make. We use quite a bit of it at home. The poplar buds have to be gathered now, before they begin to open, while still covered with the very sticky resin, if it's not already too late. I picked these in the bush 1-1.5 weeks ago. They have been sitting in oil, slightly warmed for the past week. I'll give them a few weeks more, sitting on the heat register, before I make the salve. I still have to source willow bark, when I can get into the nearby woods again. It's so wet right now! The pain salve we are using from last summer, without the poplar buds, works great. With this new addition, it should be even better. I am going to switch from clove oil to whole cloves for the new pain salve, as well. I have read some negative issues with the clove oil. I prefer the "whole herb" approach anyway, using all the phytochemicals in the plants instead of just what is distilled into essential oil.

If you plan to collect your own leaf buds, just pick a few from each branch. If you strip the tree of all it's leaf buds, you might kill it. There's plenty of cottonwoods around in the forest areas to just pick a few here and there. They are very aromatic, smelling a bit like a combination of strong honey, vanilla and alcohol. It's very strong! It scents the whole house when the jar is opened. They are also extremely sticky. You will probably have a hard time getting the resin off of your hands and whatever dish you choose to put them in/on. I think it's worth it. If ever I pick them again, I'll wear gloves, maybe.

Natural Air Filtration

 

I have mild asthma so look for ways to filter out the things in the air around me that can cause my lungs to close up or collect congestion. I used to have an electric air filter that ran by my chair but I got tired of buying and changing the filter, at over $20 each! So, I switched to natural air filtration. 

Sansevieria

Did you know that this plant, a sansevieria, (also called snake, tongue plant) can remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene, and it was even shown that one plant per 100 square feet was enough to efficiently clean the air in a space station! It was one of the plants tested by NASA in a study to find safe ways to filter the air in a space station. They don't need much water or sunlight so can be neglected and still do well. Sadly, they are toxic to pets so keep that in mind if you have one and are looking for a good place to put it. If you have one you need to find a new home for, keep me in mind. I don't have any pets or small children and keep one on the table by my chair.  :) 

Fiddle Leaf Ficus

According to studies based on NASA research, Ficus plants are among the best for improving indoor air quality. I have a small fiddle leaf ficus, (Ficus lyrata). They are recognized for improving indoor air quality by filtering toxins like formaldehyde, benzene, and ammonia. Their large, broad leaves and high transpiration rates, which draw air into the root system, make them efficient at breaking down pollutants. 

 

 

Heart Leaf Philodendron

Philodendrons, all kinds including Elephant Ear, are excellent at filtering formaldehyde, a common toxin found in household materials, paints, and particle board. They are known for absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen at night, making them ideal for bedrooms. I love my philodendrons! They need so little light, but do need regular watering. i have a few different kinds of philodendrons. I also have a pothos, also called devil's ivy (I hate that name). It's not a philodendron at all. It's an entirely different plant. (Please stop calling it a philodendron.)

Spider Plant

Key plants identified for high filtration rates include the peace lily, English ivy, spider plant and dracaena. I have a huge spider plant. They don't need a lot of light but do appreciate regular watering. Cats love them. Back when I had two cats, they would always eat the spider plant to the ground and eat all the babies. It's best to hang those up, out of reach. I also have a variegated dracaena. 

 

Seed Oils vs Animal Fats

 

Looking at switching to a healthier diet and lifestyle? One big first step that will make a huge difference, is ditching the seed oils and switching to animal fats for cooking. Heating seed oils, as in cooking and frying, releases toxins into your food, like the hexane solvent used to release the oil from the seed. It's deemed as "safe" in Canada but is going through some testing by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) now. Traces of it are left in the oils. It's a neurotoxin. Need I say more? Seed oils have been linked to inflammation (like arthritis, eczema, and worse).

Seed oils are usually: canola, corn, cottonseed oil, rice bran oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil and also palm oil because of how it's processed. Coconut oil is not a seed oil, but is over 80% saturated fats with no omega 3's.

The hexane is a health problem and heating the seed oils breaks down polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) to create toxins like aldehydes (e.g., HNE, formaldehyde), lipid peroxides, and trans fats. These harmful compounds are associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, and potential cardiovascular damage. So, if you still want to use oils in your kitchen, look for organic and cold pressed oils. Keep these in the fridge to stop them from getting rancid. Read the label to make sure it's not cut with a cheaper oil.

You can spend a fortune buying organic cold pressed oils for all your cooking or ... you can use tallow, lard and butter instead. Animal fats contain omega 3's. Any animal fat is so much better for you than any oil. I don't have oils in my kitchen anymore. I kept a little bit, for awhile, to oil my cast iron cookware, but even that's gone now. I do have olive oil for making my own skin/hair care products but I don't cook with it. I use tallow, lard and butter instead. Lard is the cheapest of the three animal fats I use. If you have your own meat or hunt, you will have your own fat to cook with. Veg shortening (ie Crisco) is palm oil.

Another problem with using oils is the omega 6 vs omega 3 problem. All of these oils are omega 6 heavy with no omega 3's. Because they share receptor (GPR120) and enzymes, high consumption of omega-6 can interfere with the metabolism and effectiveness of omega-3. Omega-6 is generally converted into pro-inflammatory mediators, while omega-3 is converted into anti-inflammatory compounds. They often compete and cancel each other out. So... it's very important to limit your omega 6 intake, if you want to stop inflammation, as in arthritis. Animal fats have omega 3. Grass fed is higher in omega 3 but is a lot more expensive. Even less expensive grain fed animal fats have plenty of omega 3, but also some omega 6, since they are fed grain. "You are what you eat." that goes for animals too. Humans eating bread and grains and using plant oils, get more omega 6 than they need, far more, and not enough omega 3. Another reason to switch to animal fats for cooking.

DIY Shampoo

 

I ditched poisonous shampoo! Most commercial shampoos contain SLS (Sodium Laurel,-eth Sulphate) or Parabens and formaldehyde agents, even so called organic shampoos contain betaine and decyl glucoside. Are these things really necessary? No, they are not. 

After doing a lot of research into how to wash my hair without shampoo, I tried baking soda scalp scrub and it worked well but I soon switched to using my own handmade herbal soaps. I picked one made with natural rosemary and chamomile, used with very diluted apple cider leave-in rinse. It worked well! The vinegar rinse is 1 tablelspoon of vinegar in a cup of water. Rinse the soap very thoroughly then pour the vinegar rinse over your scalp and hair, coating all the strands of your hair. You can use 2  tablespoons of vinegar in 2 cups of water if your hair is very long. Don't rinse again, just leave the vinegar rinse in your hair.I did find that a more diluted amount works better for me. Too much vinegar leaves my hair limp, so I switched to 1 teaspoon in a cup of water and was happier with that, after the first time. 

The vinegar smell is not there when it is dry. Wrap in a towel to wring out the water, then style as usual. The vinegar smell will disappear when it dries. My hair is clean, not the least bit oily. It's soft without that straw feel it would have if I washed it with my handmade soap bars. Soap is too alkaline for human hair, as is baking soda, so the vinegar rinse, left in, is necessary to fix that. If you don't use the vinegar rinse, your hair may feel like straw. I have thick, dry, coarse and gray hair and I'm completely happy with this. My hair is even better, it's straighter, calmer, not so flyaway, and no conditioner needed either! If nothing else, it's certainly cheaper! I like it and I'm sticking with it. One more chemical laden poison gone from my house!!

Making Tallow Hand & Foot Balm

 

In my journey to rid myself of all things poisonous, I have found a great moisturizer for hands and feet, tallow! Tallow is beef fat that has been rendered. To use it for body balm, it has to be rendered at least 2 times, 3 times is even better. The cleaner it is, the longer it will last at room temperature. It's important that all meat and other substances in the fat have been removed. The tallow has to be cleaned pure fat. You can get this tallow, rendered several times until it's light and clean, from Vera at the local Farmer's Market. You can also make it yourself from beef fat, but it's a long and tedious process to get it clean enough to use for body butter.  

This tallow based balm is a sustainable, chemical-free alternative to synthetic, chemical laden, petroleum-based moisturizers. The only ingredients in it are tallow and olive oil. I added a few drops of my favourite peppermint essential oil, just enough to give it a light scent. 

If using essential oils in something like this, that sits on your skin and soaks in, make sure you are using something that's actually naturally steam distilled and edible. The USDA has a list of acceptable, edible essential oils from specific suppliers. It's called the GRAS list (Generally Regarded As Safe). Some of these are produced by the NOW brand. I am not getting paid to say this, I love the NOW essential oils! They are clean, pure, naturally distilled, some are safely edible and they are so strong!! You can get them on Amazon, or if you are in Fort Nelson, you can buy them at the "Down To Earth" Health Food Store. A particular favourite of mine is their peppermint. It's on the GRAS list, as is their rosemary, lemon and orange. 

I wouldn't use an EO that's made from something toxic, i.e. cedarwood, etc. for this, since it's going to soak into your skin. Make sure it's something on the afore mentioned USDA list, like peppermint or rosemary. I also have NOW lemon and orange EO, but this tallow body balm is for my own use and I didn't want anything astringent, like citrus. If you have oily skin, you might consider using a citrus essential oil. 

You can use some fresh herbs, if you want to dry them and infuse them into the olive oil before using it. This would take time and you would have to strain it very well before using it. I didn't want to take the time this would take, so I stuck with an EO that I had on hand, the NOW peppermint. 

Because the fatty acids in tallow resemble human sebum, it absorbs easily, locking in moisture and reinforcing the skin's natural barrier. It contains vitamins A (skin regeneration), D (anti-inflammatory), E (antioxidant), and K, as well as linoleic acid (CLA), which can reduce inflammation. This anti-inflammatory nature makes it effective for soothing eczema, psoriasis, and intense dry skin. 

My recipe for body butter is 6 parts tallow to 2 parts oil. I used olive oil for it's anti-inflammatory and healing properties, but you can use any light oil that you want in your body balm. 

You will need a double boiler, or something like it. I use my trusty glass Pyrex measuring cup in a pot of water with a canning jar ring under it on the bottom of the pot. It worked perfectly! I use this 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup for so many things, and it can go in the microwave too! 

Update: After using this on my hands and feet, I'm amazed at how well it works, however, I no longer use it on my face. Even on a clean face, I get pimples using this. It may be because of the olive oil in it. When I make it next, I will make a pure tallow solid balm bar and see how that works. It will be solid and harder without the extra oil added but I have a beeswax hard bar that I also use now for hands and I like it. So, be warned. It's fabulous on hands and feet, but not as well for face.  

 

 

 

 

 

Before doing anything with the tallow, you should sterilize all equipment and jars. I boiled everything in the pot of water I planned to melt the tallow in, using the same boiling water for everything. I boiled all utensils, including the mixer beaters, silicone spatula, spoon, jars, seals, lids and rings and set on a clean towel for later use. Only after I had all these things sterilized did I start measuring the tallow and olive oil, so the jars have time to cool down before I put the body butter in them. 

A digital scale is handy for measuring anything in the kitchen. When you are ready to start and have your recipe ready to go, measure out the 6 parts tallow to 2 parts olive oil, by weight, into the double boiler method you are using. Melt slowly, stirring constantly until all the tallow is melted. Don't let it get too hot. It should not be smoking or anywhere near a burning temperature. You need it just hot enough to melt the tallow. Once it's almost completely melted, remove it from the heat and continue stirring until all the tallow bits are gone and it all liquid. 

Let it sit and cool until it's cool enough to put your clean finger in it, then add the essential oil you are using. I had approx 300g of tallow and I added 10 drops of peppermint essential oil. This is just a guide for you to go by, you can add as much or as little as you want, or none at all if you like it plain and unscented. The tallow and olive oil will both have their own fatty, oily scent but it's very light. Now that it's finished and I have used it, I realize that I could have used half that much peppermint EO and it would have been fine. The NOW brands are very strong! 

When it has cooled to the point that it's opaque but is still very soft to the touch, it's time to whip it with an electric mixer. If you go away and let it get too hard, you can always heat it up again, for a short burst to soften it. 

When it's cooled enough, beat it with the mixer for a few minutes until it's the consistency you are looking for. This could take a few minutes. It should whip up into a soft but firm butter feel. When it's done and you are happy with the texture, use the sterile silicone spatula to put it into the sterile jars with sterile lids. I used the silicone spatula to clean out the large, glass mixing cup and to clean off the mixer beaters. I wiped off the spatula and the inside of the beaters with my hand and immediately put the body butter on my feet! It's such marvellous stuff!  

It does have a very light, slight bit of a grit to the feel at first touch, but this disappears as soon as you put it on your skin. It just melts away into your skin, no grit, no greasy feel, leaving your skin soft, moisturized and protected. It feels amazing! 

I have put away all the chemical, paraben laden body lotions I have stashed around the house and replaced them all with my new tallow body butter. I love it!  

My next job will be to replace the commercial, SLS containing shampoo!. SLS stands for sodium laurel,- eth sulphate. It's a definite no-no for a healthy body and mind. In truth, this journey into healthier alternatives is as much to regain and hold onto my memory and mind as long as I possibly can, now that I'm entering that "70's" stage where my mental faculties all seem to disappear. I also want to stay strong and healthy physically, and keep my endurance too, of course. Both are important.

 

I dropped the commercial mind robbing, aluminum deodorant a couple of years ago and have not regretted it. I can make my own natural deodorant, but it's available in many forms commercially now.  

The mental clarity I get from eating only meats and eggs now is amazing! I should have dropped carbohydrates from my diet years ago, too! 

 

Making Kefir

I have begun drinking kefir, for the probiotics. From my research I have learned that kefir contains a more diverse range of probiotics (often 10-30+ strains) and beneficial yeasts, while yogurt typically contains only 2-5 bacteria strains. It's recommended by the "Steak & Butter Gal" and many other high profile carnivore diet fans, so I'm giving it a try. I'm a fan of yogurt, so I'm hoping I will like kefir, as well. 

I bought dried kefir starter yesterday and put it into the recommended amount of whole milk (about 2 cups) in a clean jar. If I had more cream, I would have added cream to it for the extra fat content. It's not necessary to heat the milk first, as it is with yogurt, and it makes at room temperature. Both of these make it much easier to make than yogurt. I set it on the counter, in a clean jar with paper towel on top. I poked a few little holes in the paper towel, so it could get even more air. It needs to breathe. I set it out of the way, to make for 12-14 hours. Some people that like it extremely tart, leave it for 36 hours but I don't think I will do that. Not until I get used to the taste, anyway. I think I'll start at 12 hours when it is developed but still mild tasting, just to give me and my gut time to adjust to it.  

Kefir develops "grains" with time, that are used to make more kefir. They get strained out of the finished product before use and kept in a little milk in the fridge. (It is recommended to use a plastic strainer, as metal will degrade the kefir strength over time.) These are used as starter for the next one. Apparently these grains grow with time and can be given away to friends who want to start their own kefir at home. 

I'm looking forward to tasting it tonight, after 12 hours, when it should be ready. I might leave it a bit longer, as it's very cold in the house in the winter mornings. I'll see how it goes.