My failed romance; or why I never use a mascara

There has been only one time in my life in which I have been unable to give up a romance peacefully. Much like Carry Bradshaw I have found myself acting in a way which was not to my benifit. We all had that ex boyfriend that we find hard to let go off… But what about products we know are bad for us?Much like that certain ex and my failure to really put the relationship behind me, I was very much unable to give up my Mascara. I had been using it every day for a period of two years and I was happy with it. All that changed when I became aware of what I was consuming. Suddenly my perfect match became a horror story! The product I am refering to is Neutrogena Clean Lash Tint, Black 01.In the beginning, I was looking for a mascara that could commit to never having lumps or weigh down on my eyes. It gave me all of that, plus a certification from my contact lense maker that stated “Safe for contact wearers and sensitive eyes. ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses Recommended”. Great; if my contact maker says its good, it must be good! And so, day to day I used that mascara, that unlike advertised does not come off with water.When I became interested in what was inside the mascara, our romance had to end; the list was long. Thirteen out of twenty-five ingredients were marked as a Moderate Hazard in the EWG. Acrylates Copolymer, Bentonite, PVP, Phyantriol, Disodium EDTA, Silica, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben and Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate. All ingredients that could either potentially cause cancer, organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity and my personal favorite allergies/irritations and cellular level change. Everything you would want in something that is directly shoved right about your eye, sometimes actually getting into your eyes, right? But with all those terrible attributes, I found that my love to the mascara was hard to shake off. I could not find another mascara that the EWG approved of. Nothing was really natural and certainly not going to cause your system to collapse. Now, after two years, how can I just stop using mascara altogether? Just like that ex you still love; you know he’s bad for you and that you have no real future together, but it’s just hard thinking about just giving up.And so, for a whole two guilt filled weeks I used it. But all terrible things must come to end and we broke up. I never use mascara anymore. Waiting for the day in which that special product would once again come and lift my lashes… Because if you don’t give up on the things that hurt you and your body, you might live to regret them.I am sure everyone has that one product or one ex boyfriend. Lets all better our lives and start some good, new, loving habits!

Shampoo or rather, the lack thereof.

Frustration has lead me to do some interesting things during my short life time. One of those things was to renounce shampooing. True, my personal hygiene has taken a blow after I realized I was using too much chemically filled products, and also not dating anyone (thus having no one but my hamster Olsen that would sniff my hair) surely has contributed to my decision to renounce shampoo. After all, in a close relationship you cannot wash your hair every time the moon is full, and certainly not switch Shampoo with Baking Soda.

That’s right; Baking soda! Basically, your shapmoo cleans your sculp and the soda would do the same. It will even clean your floors and any stains on your cloths! Very useful. So why not try it, right?

The recipe is simple; for every tablespoon of Bsoda add a tablespoon of water. It should come out as a paste that you can spread on your sculp. Rub it in, let it sit a bit and wash it out. If you want to add some shine, take some vinegar (mix it with some water) and pour it on your hair’s ends, but not the roots. Note that another way to make your hair shiny is to make some Chemomile tea, let it cool and then pour it on your hair. Another good idea is to speard olive oil on your entire hair and then wash it. It will make your hair feel much less dry and more shiny healthy like. But ahh! the Bsoda will not be able to remove the oil from your hair… I know because I tried.

The bottem line is this; it will clean your sculp, but it will not make it smell like it is clean or actually clean anything but the roots. Sure, if you are into being extremely natural (almost hippie like) this is ideal for you. It will also save you money, but you have to make a batch as you go into the shower. Its not too time consuming, but it’s not as comfortable.

Yeah, smell isn’t everything, and once you remove the chemically made fragrances from your life you will become very sensitive to strong, unnatural smells. But, do you really want to be that natural? Even though I wash my hair once a week, I still don’t want it to stink or smell funny. I am also worried about how well it actually cleans the rest of your hair (apart from your sculp), especially if you exercise a lot. It will help an oily sculp be less oily, and I heard it might help you if you have dandruff.

For all the reasons above I would not recommend it. If you are traveling it would be very useful, and if you are looking for something that will deeply clean your sculp once in a while, it will also work. But on a day to day use it is not practical or very romantic. There are still better products out there to try before you turn to this solution and I promise to rate them soon!

A little sidetracked review or Yummy Earth Organic Candy Drops

Yeah, this product is NOT in any way linked to personal care or cosmetics… but I would like to talk about it anyhow.

This week I was shopping the tiny Organic aisle in one of the supermarkets we have here and I saw something that caught my eye.

Organic candies?

I never even bother eating any candies…especially since I listened to a podcast about how there

“grounded beetles” in candies and more. I thought this was just a joke, but I guess I was naive, so here is a list for you to panic about!

So when I read the ingredients list on these Yummy Earth: Organic Candy Drops I was pretty happy that they only used purple carrots (I am sorry but, what the deuce is that? I have only seen orange carrots! what a fool I have been) and, or red cabbage for dye. The rest of the ingredients are decent enough and chemical free, which is good if you or your child will be munching on them a lot. I had to get it, even though the price makes it an expensive hobby at least around here.What you get is a product that actually tastes like it’s supposed flavors! Not once have I had to guess why the strawberry candy I am eating tastes nothing like an actual strawberry. You like lemons? Great, get the lemon flavor (Cheeky Lemon). It will taste like a hard core lemon! I would recommend it for those who really enjoy their sour candy. I personally love the pomegranate flavor (Pomegranate Pucker) because it tastes like one, it’s not too sour and just enough sweet.

The bottom line is that it is quite good. I am recommending it because… well, I was really happy to find something so chemical free and bug free that still made me want to eat it! It’s Vegan, Organic to some degree, with natural colors and flavors and the list goes on. The price is not as enjoyable, but even my grandparents liked it’s taste, so I guess its all worth it.

In the end, I think that a good candy goes a long way in making my life a little better.

(This post has been checked and is now spelling-mistakes free!)