The Benefits of Honey: A Remedy for Sore Throats, Wound Care and More

Here is a great article about HONEY! I love love love local honey and try
to purchase it and store for the winter every summer! I'll have to look
into this New Zealand’s Manuka honey now!

The Benefits of Honey: A Remedy for Sore Throats, Wound Care and More

Strawberries, Raspberries and Currants!

Aren't these beautiful?  I just picked them in my yard and I can't wait to JUICE!  I don't know if they will make it all the way to the juicer - I can't stop nibbling on them!  Everyone's gardens here this summer have been very slow (too much rain and it didn't get hot enough until about two weeks ago), but it didn't seem to affect my berries!
Any suggestions on what to do with the rest of my currants?  I was thinking of making scones!

Classes coming up in Woodland, CA - July 21st

Mark your calenders and take a peak at the classes offered in Northern Ca. in July!  I'm so excited to travel to the Sacramento area to share more about Essential Oils and what a great impact they have made in my life and the lives of so many others!  Join us and feel free to bring friends! We'll have some great take home/handouts and samples plus drawings at each event!  Just let us know you're coming by sending a rsvp to essentialoils4u@hotmail.com.

Here is the Flyer for the Classes on Thursday, July 21st and below it -the class on July 23rd:

Johnson's Baby Lotion - Some of the Bad

I purchased some Johnson's Baby Lotion a few months ago thinking it might be one of the mildest lotions on the market; afterall, it's in the baby product aisle in the markets.  My daughter's skin is a little sensitive the last few years so we've been searching for the perfect after-shower lotion.  We've tried the ones her pediatrician recommended, but were not that pleased, so I thought we'd go for simple.  I mean, this is suppose to be lotion for BABIES right? So, after using it a few times, we decided we didn't love it either, but in midst of using it one day, I looked at the labeling.  I was surprised and recently took to the internet again to check it out on the safecostmetics.org site to see how it rated.  Here are the results:

Not impressive at all.  In fact, a score of "6" sounds bad in light of the fact that I know this is a average of the individual ingredients found in the lotion, which means many ingredients are higher than a 6!
Garbage pail, here comes more toxins!!
This was about the time I started experimenting with making our own lotions with natural butters and oils.  See more about our experiments and what we use today under Handmade Lotions coming soon.

Neutrogena Body Oil - some of the bad

So, here again, I'm checking out the ingredients of one of my favorite shower products and saddened to see the results.

This was a product I would regularly use before I'd step out of the shower for added moisture and a silky feeling before towel drying my skin.
My favorite site for checking out ingredients is the http://safecosmetics.org/ site. 




What I found was that the Body Oil shown here rated a overall score of "4".  This is not too bad in my opinion,



However, there are individual ingredients that do trouble me, rating much higher. 

Here are the results of the ingredients IN the product that rate quite high.  The Sesame Seed Oil is lower on the chart, rating a -0- which is GREAT, but between the scores of these "bad" ingredients and the oil at -0-, it makes the average score of 4 seem not so bad, right? 

Tossing this one out.  I love the feel of the oil, but I'm headed out to buy pure sesame seed oil and maybe mix it with Fractionated Coconut Oil and a little of my own Essential oil and I'm betting it will be cheaper too! No synthetic fragrances, no chemicals needed in a simple after shower oil!

Raw Class - Green Juice: A simple way to start

Last night, I invited some friends over and held a great RAW foods class!  No, I don't know a lot about Raw, so I didn't teach it!  A gal I've met a few times who just received her RAW Chef Cerification taught the class in my home!  She is a great wellness educator on so many levels- but I really enjoyed learning more about Juicing, smoothies, dehydrating, and the tasting was great! We made several juices in my new juicer AND a delicious raw veggie bisque in her awesome Vitamix!  Now a Vitamix's is on my wish list!  She says she uses hers almost daily; couldn't live without it!   Joline Wondergem was our instructor and if you want to see more of what she does visit her web site: http://healthylivingwithjoline.com/

I've been to another one of her classes last year and I learned so much- here are a few tips I picked up at that class and from the class last night:

1.  When juicing lemons, peel them first- it's ok to have a lot of pith, but not necessarily the peel.  Peeling also allows you to purchase non-organic lemons at a much better price (like from Costco/bulk).  Just hold the lemon and go around w/ a sharp knife, sort of peeling it, but not too perfectly.  The juicers can handle this better- the thick skin is a lot of work for the juicers.  The peel also changes the flavor- while the outer rind is nice (like when you are using a grater to just get the yellow part off for use in a recipe) the part right under the yellow is bitter and will change the taste of your juice.

2.  If you still go for coffee in the am, just be sure to start you body going in the am with JUICE first, then if you still must have coffee-go for it.  At least the first thing to hit your stomach to get you rolling was something very healthy!

3.  If you are juicing and adding fresh ginger- add it in the beginning.  Also, there is no need to peel it; just make sure to wash it first.  Ginger has such a stringy tough texture that it needs to be "pushed" through by other veggies coming into the juicer afterwards in order for you to get the most juice out of the ginger. 

4.  If you have thyroid issues, do not juice spinach, kale or swiss chard or other dark leafy greens, just go for other lettuces.  It's a idodine issue.  Ok, wish I had taken more specific notes on this issue.

Joline shared some great recipes and I can't wait to try some out!  One of the yummiest things we had were these dehydrated pizza crackers and a dip made from cashews that was heavenly!

Eucerin Calming Body Wash -product profile - some of the bad

My daughter (now 10) has had sensitive skin for years and over the last couple of years she's been using this Calming Body Wash as recommended by her pediatrican.  It was helpful for her itchy-after-shower condition.  The whole packaging makes it look so simple, natural and Eucerin has been recommended to us in the past and has been effective in helping with sensitive skin issues.  Now, I realize that just because it's been effective at aiding with itching, etc. that is doesn't mean it's healthy/good for you.  This product is rated a "4" on the http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ web site.  (scale is 1-10, 1 is low, 10 is very bad/high).  I entered all the data myself to get a rating (I love that capability on their web site!)  While a "4" is not too bad, I notice that a few items are higher (the average is a 4).   For example, it contains BHT which rates a 6 and Cocamide DEA which rates a 6 as well.   Not good. 

BHT is rated as:  Neurotoxicity, allergies, organ system toxicity, irritation (skin, eyes, lungs), biochemical or cellular level changes.  Cocamide DEA is rated as:  cancer, allergies/immunotoxicity, organ system toxicity (no-reproductive), irritation (skin, eyes, lungs), contamination concerns; nitrosamines-in the presence of nitrosating agents). 

We've stopped using this product.  Enough said.  We've switched to a simple handmade body wash containing pure oils.