Traveling

If you've been reading this blog, or even just peaking in on occasion, then you've probably realized that I'm making changes to how I live. Some are small, and I certainly haven't completed a total overhaul. But there are changes, and some are more noticeable than others. Some are more wacky than others (honey as face wash, for one).

All of this is just fine and dandy when I'm at home, and the only one there to give me funny looks is my husband. And even he only balks at a few things (like the honey, and really, you're baking more bread... again!). Overall, he's supportive and sees the benefits of my madness. Not always so sure about step-families, in-laws and the rest.

At home, I also have access to all the accoutrement that is required (like the big jar of honey and smaller bowl for actual application). Traveling, like I do a bit of for business or we do to see family, presents another set of... opportunities for creativity.

So far, I've been able to make my squeezable-honey bear of honey work for face wash on the road, but my skin much prefers the sugared honey exfoliant. And tea tree oil, jojoba oil, and vitamin E oil are all portable enough. I just have enough insecurity about myself, and what I am doing that being "found out" and "thought of as truly different/insane" are things that scare me. My in-laws like me now, and I don't want to make them think I'm crazy!

I know that this is silly, and that in reality, I'll just be taking my toiletry bag to and from the bathroom anyway, so it is not like they'll "find me out."

Anyway, long ramblings. But it raises another question: as we are making these changes, and eliminating some things from our daily life and consumption, what do we do when visiting? I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, because, even though it is chemically (I believe) the same as sugar, and fine in moderation, it is impossible to have only in moderation because it is in EVERYTHING! Not everyone does. Do I just deal, and eat what I think I can when visiting, or do I make a big stink about it (so not my style). But does eating that way for the weekend mess up everything I've done before?

Perhaps HFCS isn't the best example. Maybe SLS is better. If I work to purge SLS from cleaning agents in my home, what do I do at my parents' homes? Bring my own soap, or just use theirs, knowing it has SLS? Do I say anything?

Guess you can say that I have a lot of un-founded insecurities, and think about some things way too much.

Have you encountered similar situations before? How did you/would you handle it?

Where did Monday go? And more on Honey.

Over the weekend, we house-sat for my dad and step mom. A great way to have an inexpensive mini-weekend away. We did spend for gas to and from their house, and ate out a bit more than normal, but, all in all, a lot cheaper than a hotel! Plus, seeing as it was a family home, that we have previously visited, we were comfortable there.

That's really an aside though, and the reason for no Monday post. I was in transit.

Between my recent business trip and this weekend away, I was confronted with the question of how do I transport my attempt at sustainable and earth-friendly personal hygiene.

The honey that I've been using to wash my face comes in a large jar. It is pretty tasty, too. I had two reasons for not just packing up the entire jar. One: it is big. I didn't want to be carrying that all around, and in and out of people's homes and hotels. As it is, at home, I take out of the jar roughly what I need. The jar stays in the kitchen. Two: I figured that my husband would not appreciate being deprived of honey while I was gone.

I was also completely out of commercial face wash, so just taking an old bottle or bar of that was not possible.

Off to the store with a Christmas gift card I went. I bought a squeezable honey-bear of honey, and put it in my toiletry bag, slightly amused.

Using the plastic squeeze bottle of honey was a bit easier for application than what I had been doing at home (spooning out sugared honey into a small bowl, and scoping some up, as needed with my finger). I could just squeeze what I needed onto my finger, instead of guess-timating.

What I noticed, though, is that my skin was happier at home than when traveling. Could be a number of things, like the constant change in temperature, humidity and the general stress of traveling. What I suspect, though, is that it has to do with the fact that the honey at home was sugared, and therefore was exfoliating and cleansing; and the fact that for my business trip, I had left the tea tree oil at home.

So, I've deduced that my skin like regular exfoliation, and regular application of tea tree oil. I don't use the tea tree oil every time I was my face, but have been aiming for at least once a day.

As far as my jojoba and vitamin E moisturizers - the jojoba oil I have is in a small bottle, so that is transportable enough, and I just threw a few vitamin E capsules into a bag (one pre-stuck with a pin) and was on my way.

Recap:
1) Honey is still working out well on my face, and I'm happy with it.
2) Learned that my skin likes regular exfoliation, and tea tree oil as an acne treatment.
3) For all my fretting, traveling with this regime is surprisingly easy (I almost always forget something!). And, if I want to exfoliate on the road, I'm sure that I can always just mix some sugar and honey together in my hand.

Et voila!

How do your toiletries usually travel?

Honey do Two: The Results

Last Thursday, I started using honey to wash my face. This grand experiment was born out of a rapidly diminishing Neutrogena bar, research about using honey this way (see previously linked post), and well, reluctance to spend more money on beauty products. Plus, I am trying to replace bad-for-me and bad-for-the-earth products with good-for-me-and-the-earth ones as I can. (To see how the products you use rate on a good-for-you/earth scale, check out the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. The face wash I was using is here. Here's honey.)

If this honey thing worked out, it seemed like a good way to reduce my beauty product purchasing (and the plastic that they come in), and help steer my usage towards the good-for-earth.

Since then, I've only used honey to wash my face, following it up with tea tree oil once a day, and using jojoba oil or vitamin E oil as a moisturizer. (I'll talk about those oils as moisturizers later.) I am pleased to report that my skin feels better, and not dried out after washing, and that the acne I had appears to be clearing up.

I cannot be 100% certain that this improvement in texture and acne is due to the honey or the moisturizers, since I switched both at the same time. I do know, however, that it was not the tea tree oil that single handedly defended my face from encroaching pimples, as I had been using that for a few weeks. It was helping when I was using it in conjunction with more conventional products.

So, I am quite happy with the results so far. My husband thinks it is a little odd, and only protested because of how tasty the honey is. I plan on continuing to use honey as a face-wash, and look forward to seeing how it works long-term.

Did my experience convince you to try honey to wash your face? If so, tell me about it. Or does it just prove to you that I'm touched in the head? Feel free to tell me that, too. Do the reports of bee and honey shortages impact your opinion on this at all?

Honey do!

I have been carefully and slowly experimenting with and transitioning to more natural products. Instead of buying up the natural aisle of the grocery store and going for broke, I am simply replacing one or two products at a time with more natural alternatives. Sometimes, they work nicely; other times, I find myself on a journey.

For me, this has meant steering away from sulfates in hair care products, as well as silicone derivatives. It also means avoiding bleached flour and high fructose corn syrup in bread. Baby steps. Additionally, I try to find natural replacements for products I use on a daily basis, and multiple uses for things.

Things like honey.

I like honey. I used to make PB & honey sandwiches to take to school for lunch, loving the part of the bread where the honey pooled and started to crystallize. Honey on toast or biscuits is divine. Honey in tea is delicious and soothing for sore throats. Drambuie, whiskey with honey and spices, is a very nice way to cap an evening. Innumerable body, skin, and hair products are made with honey as a main or active ingredient.

Basically, honey is amazing, anti-bacterial, and generally pretty good for all sorts of applications. In fact, the protagonist of a book series I'm reading uses honey as an anti-bacterial agent to seal and protect wounds in pre-Revolution America. While I have never personally used honey on an open wound, this is not nearly as far fetched as it might sound.

So, can we agree that honey is awesome? Good. Now I have something else for you. Last night and this morning, I washed my face with honey. I did a modicum of research into this, first, but when it came time to wash my face, I stared at my usual cleanser, and thought... "Why not?" and took the plunge.

I padded into the kitchen, unscrewed the honey we had purchased at a farmer's market months ago, and dipped about a tablespoon or two out into a clean bowl. Rinsed my hands with warm water, and then stuck them into the honey, which had started to sugar, so I got bonus exfoliation!

Last night, I did this just before taking a shower, so rinsed it off there, and was pleasantly surprised by the ease with which it rinsed completely off. I followed up with my customary spot treatment of tea tree oil, but deviated from more traditional moisturizer.

I have a small bottle of Jojoba oil on hand, and used several drops to moisturize. It went on evenly, and my skin did not feel stretched and dried out, or overly laden with heavy moisturizers. When I woke up, it still felt good - normal. So, I followed the same steps again.