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The Kitchen Cupboard by Kelly

07 Mar

Skincare:  Natural Works?

We can spend a huge amount time, effort and money trying to find the right set of products to address each and every skin care issue we have. We spend that much time and effort as no one product deals with every issue, so we need to spend our money on three or four products at a time.  Taking more time than you actually have in the store aisle reviewing and reading ingredients ‘..with peppermint oil..’ ‘..for sensitive skin..’ ‘…deep cleansing..’ How could you not buy a product with such gorgeous labels?  “This new one must work, the label looks too good!”  You walk to the checkout with one thing in mind..”I hope this one works”

The labels lead us to believe that the bottle of ‘moisturising cleanser with added avocado oil’ will be the next miracle worker, and it must work because the label looks expensive, like something that’s sold in a high end spa.  The price also leads you to think that they must have put really good ingredients into it this time.  But when you look at the ingredient list on most commercial skin care products, they present the same things till about 3/4 of the way down and then you will see that the magic ingredient, that has been promoted so beautifully and expertly on the front, makes up about 0.5% of the total product.

So what did you pay for?  Labelling?  Marketing?  0.5% of Avocado Oil?

Let’s look at one of the main ingredients used in skin care products:

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

Both are commonly used in many soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpastes and other products that we expect to “foam up”. Both chemicals are very effective foaming agents, chemically known as surfactants.

Unfortunately, both SLES and SLS are so very dangerous, highly irritating chemicals. Far from giving “healthy shining hair” and “beautiful skin”, soaps and shampoos containing SLES can lead to direct damage to the hair follicle, skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity.

Although SLES is somewhat less irritating than SLS, it cannot be metabolised by the liver and its effects are therefore much longer-lasting. This not only means it stays in the body tissues for longer, but much more precious energy is used getting rid of it.

So if one of the first ingredients can do so much harm, and has been printed and included so blatantly in our products, how much care do we think has been given to the remaining products or even the two or three to follow? not including the 0.5% Avocado Oil.

So, what price are you prepared to pay to a) cleanse your skin? b) nourish your skin?  c) tone your skin? d) firm up your skin e) prevent and remove spots/ acne?

NATURALLY – No Small Print

Sure enough, the solution comes with four simple ingredients that do not come with side effects, high cost and ingredient lists as long as your arm.  Tried and tested, for me, they are nothing short of a miracle.

No hype, no talk-up, no marketing, just the facts.

Put them to the test and let me know how you get on.

1.  LEMON

Why?

  • Lemon is antiseptic. Bacteria grows on the skin, hence the need to cleanse thoroughly.  The body’s immune system suppresses the growth of bacteria, but when our immune system gets low, the skins pH will become unbalanced and the bacteria will grow.  This is why we end up with really ashy-type skin.  For this reason, we would need to help out the body’s immune system to neutralise the bacteria growing on the skin surface. (Have you noticed that your skin tends to be more ashy in the Autumn/ Winter months?  The same time that you’re likely to be feeling more run down or get a cold.  Your immune system is trying to tell you something.)
  • Lemon contains fatty acids that nourish the skin.
  • Lemon contains a tremendous amount of melanin which is the substance that gives skin and hair it’s colour.
  • Lemon contains astringent properties

Action: Will cleanse, nourish and restore complexion.

Directions for Use: Rub lemon on the skin.  You can use the peel and actually massage with much more force.  The key is to rub into the skin as much as possible.  It may take a few weeks to notice the benefits.  Remember, it take time to undo what has been done.

If you’re drinking the lemon first thing in mornings as Nadia’s previous posts suggest, you now have a use for the remaining lemon!

 

2.  BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES

Why?

  • Blackstrap Molasses contains vitamins and minerals that are healing agents.  The nutrients contained will give the skin cells something to feed on and tone the skin
  • Blackstrap Molasses will work with wrinkles that are developing and will firm a sagging jaw.
  • Blackstrap Molasses will remove pimples and acne.
  • Blackstrap Molasses will cleanse the skin.

Action: Will cleanse, nourish, tone, address acne and restore complexion.

Directions for Use: Apply molasses on skin every day for two weeks and leave on all night.  Work the molasses into the face as you do this, it will lose it’s stickiness.  Keep working it in.  Make sure to cover the whole face. Keep on overnight.  In the morning, the best way to remove it is with olive oil on a piece of cloth.  Splash on some cool water and pat dry your face.  The cold water will tighten up the skin.

NOTE: Honey can be used in place of Blackstrap Molasses.

 

3.  BENTONITE CLAY

Why?

  • Bentonite Clay is a powerful clay and is one of the strongest clays.
  • Bentonite Clay works similarly to charcoal in that it can absorb many times it’s own weight, thus making it able to draw out impurities from the body.
  • We have a similar chemical composition to the clay found in the earth.  The only difference is that it is an inorganic form and we are made up of organic matter.  The body can still  convert the inorganic matter to organic so it will absorb the minerals in the clay and that will serve to replenish or revive the skin.
  • Bentonite Clay has a tremendous therapeutic effect and can bring back the pH balance.  It will remove a lot of the Uric Acid and Purine Acid out of the system.  We have learned previously, restoring the pH balance to skin will remove the ashy-type complexion.
  • Bentonite Clay is able to accelerate cellular growth, helping cells to perform more effectively and healthfully.
  • Bentonite clay will tighten up the skin, encourage the removal of wrinkles and sagging skin.

Action: Will replenish, tighten, restore and purify skin.

Direction for Use: Mix 1 cup of clay and enough Olive Oil to be creamy.  The olive oil makes it softer and smoother when applying to the skin.  Stir the mixture well.  You can leave it on for 15-20 minutes or let it dry.  It will tighten up the skin.

 

4.  WITCH HAZEL

Why?

  • Witch Hazel is an astringent as lemon is. An astringent is a substance that causes contraction of tissues on application.
  • Simply, it is an agent that tightens everything up, firms and brings everything back to proper balance.

Action: Will firm the skin.

Direction for Use: Apply to the face with cotton wool and let dry.

NOTE: Distilled Witch Hazel is recommended.

 

As I mentioned before, I know it works.  I want you to try it and tell me about your results.  I can’t wait!…

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2011 in Kelly

 

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Bentonite Clay Treatment – Welcome Back!!!

04 Jul

Today i have returned to my all time favourite treatment – the Bentonite Clay Treatment. I didn’t do it at all last month as i was reviewing the curl harmony range exclusively so now i’m done with that i can return to what i know my hair loves. Don’t get me wrong, the Curl Harmony products worked very well on my hair but i am happy to return to my natural treatments.

I started by gently heating a can of coconut milk in a pan on the stove. I dropped in a few chunks of cocoa butter and added a little bit of water to increase the overall amount. I poured this mix in the blender and added in 1/2 Teaspoon each of Hydrolysed Wheat Protein and Silk Amino Acids for an extra protein Kick. My hair really needed it after a month without any kind of protein aside from that which i put in my Leave-In Conditioner.

I turned the blender on and added 1-2 tablespoon of Rhassoul Clay and 2-3 tablespoons of bentonite clay until it was nice and thick. I poured it into a plastic bowl and measured the pH of the mix out of curiosity. It measured a 7, which is fine to use on the hair and scalp as this is within the safer pH range but (you know me) i wanted it closer to the hair’s pH range so added in a 1/4 teaspoon of Citric Acid which lowered it right down to 4.5. Nice. If you don’t have Citric Acid you can use ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) or Aloe vera juice in place of the extra water added which should bring the pH range down.

Once the mix was ready i co-washed and detangled first with Curl Harmony Cleansing Conditioner a section at a time and Clarified with an ACV Rinse. I didn’t rinse out the ACV i just squeezed out the excess. I then applied the Clay Mix a section at a time. There was a lot of mix so i didn’t hold back at all. I really smothered my hair and scalp with it and clipped up each section out of the way. I smoothed some of the left over mix on my face for a nourishing face mask. I left it on for about 30mins.

I rinsed it out a section at a time. I love this clay treatment. It really works wonders for my hair. The extra protein made a difference as my hair felt strengthened, but not hard or wiry. The clay itself is SO EASY to rinse out and it doesn’t leave any grittiness in the hair. My hair felt silky smooth, soft and yet strong. It was great!

For a picture tutorial of how i make and use the Clay Treatment see my previous post Here.

I deep conditioned with my favourite DC Conditioner JASON’s 84% Aloe Vera Conditioner, mixed with a little honey and oil. I applied it a section at a time and covered my hair with a plastic bag. I left it on for about an hour before rinsing it out under cool water. Mmmm Soft. Lovely. lol

I towel dried, smoothed in some leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix, Buttered my scalp and braided my hair to air-dry, all a section at a time.

My hair feels wonderful – So soft and silky. What a difference a ‘clay’ makes. lol.

 

For my previous post on the benefits of Bentonite, Rhassoul Clay and Coconut milk click here.

 

 

 
2 Comments

Posted by on July 4, 2010 in Alternative Cleansing, Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Protein Treatment

 

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Onion Juice & Curl Harmony – Week 3

21 Jun

This is my third week using the onion juice treatment and also reviewing the Curl Harmony products.

This week i pretty much did the same thing with the onion juice as i did last week: onion juice, bentonite clay and ACV to balance the pH. This time i also added in some essential oils of Rosemary, Tea-Tree and Eucalyptus. This really made a difference with the smell of the treatment. It helped a lot. You could still smell the onion but the essential oils did mask some of the smell and also added in their own benefits. My scalp was extra tingly and also cool at the same time. It was great. I applied it to my scalp and focused especially on my nape area. I left it on for about 45 mins before washing my hair.

 

Last night i saturated my hair with olive oil in preparation for shampooing, and sectioned it into four large twists. Put a plastic bag on and tied a headscarf over it ready for bed.

Once i was ready to wash my hair i jumped in the shower and rinsed the twists thoroughly before taking down a twist, rinsing that more until all the bentonite had rinsed off. I then took a few pumps of the Creamy Shampoo and smoothed that in gently until it was nice and foamy. I then scrubbed my scalp, using the balls of my fingers. I squeezed off the excess and rubbed in a dab of the Hydrating Conditioner before rinsing out. I then added more hydrating conditioner to the section and detangled carefully with a wide tooth comb followed by my modified Denman brush. I then twisted the section, still with the conditioner in and clipped it up before moving on to the next. Once i had shampooed and detangled all sections i then rinsed out the remaining conditioner with the twists in and towel dried.

The DC was the same as i did last week with, the Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner with added honey and olive oil. I applied it in sections and covered my hair with a plastic bag for about 30 mins. I rinsed out, towel dried, added in some leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix before slicking it back in a ponytail and twisting the tail into three twists, pinning it up. I was going to a barbeque so i couldn’t have my usual unsightly large braids that my husband so detests. lol. I had to cover my hair with a black headscarf to look presentable which was fine.

Next week will be my last week with the onion juice treatment and the curl harmony review. I’ll let you know my overall rating/opinion of both then.

 

Take Care.

 

 

 
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Posted by on June 21, 2010 in Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Natural Hair Loss Remedies, Natural Product Brands, Onion Juice, Shampoo

 

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Onion Juice Treatment & Curl Harmony – Week 2

14 Jun

This week i tweaked the onion juice treatment slightly. I also took some pictures of what i did as i said i would in my previous post.

Onion The Onion i used

My Juicer I juiced the onion in my Champion Juicer

Muslin Then strained it through a muslin cloth to get rid of any little bits

Onion Juice Here is the resulting juice

Onion & Bentonite Next i added in some bentonite clay

Mixing And whisked it in until smooth. I used 2 teaspoons in all, adding it in 1/2 a teaspoon at a time.

pH Test The pH of the mix was between 6.5 and 7. This is considered acceptable for hair and scalp usage as it’s the same pH as water… But i wanted to bring the pH a little closer the scalps pH which is between 4.5 –5.5

pH Test with ACV So i decided to add in some ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar). Just a 1/4 teaspoon. That brought the pH right down to between 5 and 5.5. The darkness of the bentonite clay made it hard to read it properly but it was definitely in that range.

Applying HELLO! lol. This is what it looked like once i had applied it to my scalp and hairline.

Plastic Bag I then put a plastic bag over my head (Waitrose this time. ha) and left it on for about 30 – 45 mins

Curl Harmony Review

 

I used the Curl Harmony Cleansing Cream to wash my hair. I started by rinsing my hair thoroughly and then took down one of the sectioned twists. I let the water run through it some more before applying a liberal amount of the cleansing cream to the section. I rubbed my scalp well and massaged it into the ends and rinsed it out. I then applied some more of the Cleansing Conditioner and detangled, first with a wide tooth comb and then with my modified Denman brush. It detangled really well. I was very impressed. I think i like it more than the Hydrating Conditioner. But maybe that’s because i didn’t use enough of it last time. Because of the onion treatment i wasn’t scrimping with the Conditioner as i wanted to rid the smell as much as possible

Shed Hair Shed hair from detangling. I lost a little down the drain but this is most of it.

Cleansing Cond I hope you can see. I wanted to show you how much Cleansing Conditioner i used. I could make it last another 3 washes i think.

After detangling i retwisted the section, still with the conditioner in and repeated the process for the remaining 3 sections. Once i had finished detangling i rinsed my whole head with the twists in to remove the remaining conditioner. I towel dried and then DC’d with the…

CH Deep Cond Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner

Spoonful of DC I took 2 heaped teaspoonfuls of the conditioner and mixed it into some honey and olive oil.

Mixed DC Here’s what it looks like mixed together. Still super thick and creamy. Lovely.

Applying DC I applied it to my hair in sections. Taking down the twist apply the DC and re-twisting. Here’s what it looked like. If you look closely i haven’t applied it to the roots. I didn’t want to coat my scalp with it. I didn’t want any conditioner residue left on my scalp.

I covered my hair with another plastic bag (Tesco’s. ha) and left it on for about 30 mins. I rinsed my hair well under cool water without taking down the twists and towel dried.

Leave-in Cond & Shea Butter Mix My leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter Mix. This will be the first time i’m using it since i made it last week.

Working a section at a time i took down the twist and applied some of the leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix and sectioned my hair to ‘butter’ my scalp rubbing that in well. I then cornrowed the section and moved onto the next. My leave-in conditioner is really slippery. I like it. The consistency needs to be adjusted a little to be slightly creamier and thicker in texture. Other than that i’m really pleased.

Hair-Out A section of my hair after applying the products. It’s super shrinky. Look at the difference between the length of the braided section and the loose section.

Cornrows Cornrowed hair, ready to air-dry.

 

Take Care.

 

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2010 in Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Co-Wash, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Onion Juice, pH Balance, Pictures Of My Hair, Pre-Poo

 

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Onion Juice and Curl Harmony – Week 1

06 Jun

This week i began my onion juice treatments along with my attempts at using the Curl Harmony products.

I’ll start with the onion juice treatment first.

Onion Juice Treatment

I used a medium sized onion, like that pictured above and juiced it with my Champion Juicer. I got a decent amount of juice out of it. I was quite surprised. Then i had to really think about how i was going to apply it. I know the instructions say apply it neat before washing or mix juice with conditioner and then rinse but none of these would do for me (you must know by now that i don’t follow straight instructions, lol). Applying it neat was too fiddly for me and very wasteful, i thought. I want to get it ALL on my scalp. Not some in my hair, on my shoulders and on the floor. The second method was no good to me either as onion’s don’t exactly smell great and applying it at the last stage and only rinsing it off to finish would leave a really unpleasant oniony scent in my hair. Not good. I wanted to do it as a pre-poo treatment and then follow on by shampooing and conditioning. That way i get the two washes to rid the smell.

Ah, I have it. I decided to add a small amount of bentonite clay to the onion juice to make it pasty enough to apply it directly to the scalp. Good idea no?

I took half a teaspoon at a time and whisked it into the onion juice until it was a thick enough paste to scoop up with my finger. I used two teaspoons in all. Next time i will take some pictures to post.

I applied it to my scalp in sections, re-twisting each section as i went, then tied a plastic bag around my head. I had oiled my hair thoroughly the night before, like i normally do before i shampoo. I had the intention of leaving it on for 30 mins but ended up leaving it on for more like nearly an hour, Oops. No harm done. My scalp wasn’t irritated or anything and the bentonite clay had a nice cooling effect on my scalp. I did notice though that my head emitted a lot of heat. The plastic bag was very hot when i touched it. I think that’s a good thing. It shows a lot of blood circulating around that area so it seemed to have been working.

I then proceeded to wash my hair

 

Curl Harmony Review

I went a section at a time. I started by taking down the twist and rinsing it thoroughly to remove all the bentonite clay and onion juice. I then took a few pumps of the Creamy Shampoo and rubbed that through my hair. The shampoo itself is VERY WATERY. I lost a bit at first as it took me by surprise. I expected it to be slightly thicker (it does say ‘creamy’ on the bottle) and so it ran through my fingers. Once i rubbed it in my hair it lathered pretty well which again surprised me because of the consistency of it. The smell is very subtle. It smells like… shampoo. What else can i say. lol. I scrubbed my scalp using the balls of fingers whilst holding onto the ends of my hair with my other hand so as not to tangle the hair whilst washing. I squeezed off the excess and applied a tiny dab of the Hydrating Conditioner and rubbed that through before rinsing.

My coils felt really soft once i rinsed. It was unusually bouncy (strange isn’t it?). Hmmm, so far so good. I applied a dab more of the hydrating conditioner to the section and retwisted it before moving on to the next and repeating the process. I would normally detangle here but as i wanted conserve the Hydrating Conditioner i omitted this step and detangled after DC’ing instead. I’ll review the Hydrating Conditioner in greater detail on Wednesday when i use it to co-wash.

Once i had washed and twisted all the sections i did one last all-over rinse to remove the rest of the conditioner from my hair, towel dried and then deep conditioned.

Using a teaspoon i scooped out two heaped scoops (economy is key here ya know!) of the Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner into a bowl along with a few squirts of honey and some olive oil. The consistency of the conditioner is SUPER THICK. It reminds me of the Jason’s Aloe Conditioner. Even when mixed in with the honey and oil it maintained a beautifully thick and creamy consistency. It has a pleasant smell which is not strong at all and it doesn’t really linger much once rinsed out which is a shame, i like nice smelling conditioners.

I applied the DC to my hair one section at a time, untwisting, applying, re-twisting and then covered my hair with a plastic bag (Tesco to be precise, lol). I left it on for about 45 mins and then jumped back in the shower to detangle. The conditioner is really thick and as a result would not be great as is for detangling so what i did was undo the twist, wet my hand and scrunch the water through the section to dilute the DC a bit and make it detangler friendly. This definitely did the trick. It was quite easy to detangle my hair which i am super pleased about. I detangled using a wide tooth comb first followed on by the Denman brush to remove the shed hair. Once detangled, i twisted the section again, still with the conditioner in. Repeated that for all the sections, then I finally rinsed it out without taking the twists down under cool running water.

I towel dried, added leave-in conditioner and my Shea butter mix to my hair and scalp and cornrowed my hair into 4 large cornrows to air-dry.

I noticed that my hair was really soft but without feeling coated or filmy. I think all this time i’ve been mistaking coated hair with conditioned hair and maybe that’s why i haven’t been satisfied with other cone-free conditioners. Even so this DC left my hair touchebly soft and ‘cottony’ (in a good way).

I really like the products so far (minus the consistency of the shampoo, but i can live with it). I will have to use it for the rest of the month to make sure it really does my hair well but it’s a great start.

 

 

 
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Posted by on June 6, 2010 in Deep Condition, Hair Care, Natural Hair Loss Remedies, Natural Product Brands, Onion Juice, Pre-Poo, Scalp Issues, Shampoo

 

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