Oil Cleansing Method!!

I've always had really dry skin; really dry, sensitive skin.  I've tried a LOT of different skin care lines and unfortunately for me, the only brands that worked for me cost over $100 and were filled with parabens and preservatives.  I hated spending the little money we had (remember, we live on a single income) on anti aging skin care that was probably just poisoning me.  Our skin is our biggest organ and whatever we put on our skin goes straight into our blood stream.  I felt really convicted that if I wouldn't eat it, I shouldn't put it on my skin.  The $100 creams had to GO!

Enter....The Oil Cleansing Method!

It's effective, frugal, and best of all, it's tailored to my specific skin care needs.  It's designer skin care, controlled by *ME* sans all the JUNK. . .

I LIKE IT!

 After all...who want's JUNK on their face?  Gaarooosss.  It's built on the premise that "like dissolves like" and it cleanses without stripping your skin of its natural sebums (natural skin oils).  When we use traditional skin care products with all those suds we just love, we wash our skin's natural sebums right down the drain.  Then our skin has to go into overdrive, creating more oil, which leads to clogged pores, black heads, white heads, and the like.  

So How Do You Do It?

Ingredients: Castor, Carrier oil of your choice (or combination thereof), and essential oils suited to your specific needs.

Appropriate Carrier Oil Choices: 

   *Sensitive Skin: grapeseed, apricot kernel, coconut, or jojoba oil

   *Dry Skin: olive, coconut, avocado, sweet almond, or sunflower

   *Oily: grapeseed, jajoba, or hazelnut oil

   *Acne Prone: jojoba, grapeseed, apricot kernel, sweet almond, or sunflower

Enhance your OCM Solution with essential oils! (Only  use Young Living Essential oils.  Other brand's purity cannot be attested for, therefore, may cause skin sensitivies or allergic reactions!!  Purity is EVERYTHING)

  *For aging skin, use lavender, frankincense, lemongrass, or myrrh

  *For oily skin use melaluca alternifolia, lavender,  lemon,  clary sage, or geranium

  *For sensitive skin use lavender, German chamomile, or Gentle Baby

Prepare: 

Mix together in the following ratios: 

  *Dry Skin: 1/3 castor oil, 2/3 carrier oil 

  *Oily/Acne Prone Skin- 2/3 castor oil, 1/3 carrier oil

  *Normal skin: 50:50

Add in the essential oils of your choice and store in a glass container.  

Method: 

Another reason why I love the OCM so much is because you are basically giving yourself a facial every single day!  With the OCM, you do not need to wash your face twice daily.  Only once!  And you are cleansing, removing your make-up and moisturizing ALL in one step.  So to get started, you're going to run the water as warm as you can stand it.  Wet a wash cloth with the hot water and let soak in the sink basin.  Then take a small amount of your OCM solution and begin massaging it into your skin using circular motions.  After a few minutes, take your steaming hot wash cloth and place it over your entire face.  Let the steam of the wash cloth wash over your face for a few minutes (really like 30 seconds).  Then gently begin wiping away the oil.  Rinse your wash cloth in the very hot water that's still in your sink basin and repeat until you feel like you have completely removed all of the oil.  That's it!  You're done.  If your skin feels dry afterwards, you may add a little bit of your carrier oil or some more of your OCM to your face as a moisturizer.  

Note: 

*In the beginning- do not mix a large amount of OCM solution.  It will probably take you awhile for to figure out what the best ratios are for *you*.  There is no right or wrong- it's all specific to your skin, no one else's.  *Also, you may experience a bit of an adjustment period.  The castor oil really purges down deep and detoxes your skin.  This is normal and expected, as our skin has endured years of petrochemicals, parabens, and other junk.

*Some people do not need to cleanse daily.  If you experience acne beyond the two week adjustment period, cut back on how often you're cleansing.  

This blog reflects the author's personal opinions and is meant for informational and educational purposes only.  The content held herein should not be used as a substitute for personal medical advice. The reader should consult his or her healthcare provider for specific information concerning specific medical conditions. While all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that all information presented is accurate, as research and development in the medical field is ongoing, it is possible that new findings may supersede some data presented.  The reader is responsible for his or her own research and healthcare.  Please see the disclaimer tab for more information.

A Miracle In a Bottle

Seven months ago my family started using Young Living Essential oils.  A friend from church had some pretty amazing life changing healing take place for her son’s asthma  This boy, whom was severely restricted by his disease, was able to complete his first 5k last Father’s Day.  God is good! They got started using Young Living’s Thieves cleaner because with her son’s asthma, they were unable to clean using your conventional household cleaners because the toxic chemicals and fumes exasperated his symptoms.  Soon, they began using Young Living’s essential oils to treat his asthma and his healing was miraculous.  Hearing their story piqued my interest. 

Prior to trying essential oils, I dabbled in home herbalism.  It didn’t go so well. I love herbs, well the concept of them at least.  I really enjoyed making ointments and salves (and still do) but had a hard time with the delivery method of herbal tinctures, decoctions, and teas.  I found that teas and decoctions were inaccessible, unpalatable, and hard to administer.  Have you ever tried to force feed a quart of agrimony tea to a toddler?  Yea…that didn’t go over so well.  So then we tried garlic lemonade.  One of my friends said her kids actually liked the taste.  NEVER. AGAIN.  My poor children.  I shudder…  Another friend suggested something called “yucky honey”.  LOL.  If your friend hands you a recipe card with the word “yucky” in the title, she’s no friend of yours.  Just in case anyone is wondering, “yucky honey” is 10 drops of GSE in 1 tbs of raw honey.  (For the record, we still endure that one on occasion :: Shudder :: )  We all decided we’d rather be sick or just eat it and go to the doctor for antibiotics than suffer through ANOTHER herbal remedy.

It took me a while to pull the trigger for buying my first kit of essential oils.  I was still traumatized by my failed attempts in becoming a home herbalist.  I wasn't sure my children could endure anymore pain.  But man, am I ever so grateful.  Using Young Living oils literally changed my life.  At the time I purchased my oils, I expected to be able to ease some cold and flu symptoms and replace my wax warmers with chemical free fragrances.  Never did I think that these oils could heal acute ailments.  Never did I think that God would use these oils as a medium to heal me in a miraculous way.

You see, the summer of 2012, unbeknownst to me, I suffered a stress fracture in my right foot in one of the small little sesamoid bones beneath my big toe joint.  I had been hiking, wearing the wrong shoes, and came home from a week long camping trip, in a LOT of pain.  My first thought was that I had just thrown it out of alignment.  I went to my chiropractor and had her adjust it, to no avail.  A few weeks later, I learned I was pregnant. 

It was a bit of a tough pregnancy.  My progesterone levels weren't as high as they should have been and I had some bleeding.  I had had a miscarriage a few months prior and my husband and I had been trying for a baby for more than 6 months at this point.  So when we became pregnant for the second time, life stopped- and the focus was not on the pain in my foot, but in keeping this pregnancy strong and healthy.  I was put on progesterone supplements which made me extremely ill.  Every day was a struggle to function.  I was in survival mode.  All this time, my foot pain was increasingly worse. There were some days I couldn’t walk on it.  But at the time, I just dealt with it.  My growing baby was more important to me. 

(^^^ That's what I felt like lol)

Around the middle of my pregnancy, my husband started nesting.  He decided now was better than later to begin the process to get the house ready to sell. Bless his heart…he decided to bless me….and remodel my kitchen.  If any of you have ever remodeled a kitchen while you’re living in the home, you know.  And for any of you who are thinking about doing it….dont.  I’ll save you the mental anguish.  Just light a match.  He really was trying to bless me and I’m grateful for his heart to please me.  It was just a lot at the time, being pregnant, having toddlers/preschoolers, and being sick.  Did I mention we were planning a homebirth? 

Anyways….with everything going on, I wasn’t taking care of myself and I continued to ignore my growing foot and all the pain that came with it!  My daughter was born and I hobbled about my day as usual and sucked it up.  But by the time my daughter was 3 months old, it occurred to me that this lingering foot pain was anything but normal.  At her well baby exam, I mentioned it to our family doctor.  He sent me to an orthopedic surgeon for xrays. By this time, my foot was twice the size as the other foot and walking was done very carefully and slowly. 

So when I went to the ortho doc, he took xrays of my foot.  When he came into the exam room, he had this smirk on his face, and asked me to tell him what had happened.  So I explained my story- how I’d been hiking a year before and ever since that day, my foot just hurt and swelled for no reason at all.  I mentioned to him that it felt almost like it was broken.  With that, he chuckled and said, “Your foot IS broken”.  He showed me on the xray and sure enough, there was a nice jagged line through my little sesamoid bone.  He explained to me that I was going to need surgery because a break like this doesn’t heal, it dies, and that my bone was surely in the death process at this point and would need to be removed.  He scheduled me for an MRI 6 weeks later to assess the damage, but told me that my surgery would leave me unable to bear any weight on that foot for at least two weeks, with another 6 weeks of recovery and physical therapy.  Did I mention that my dad had had a stroke a few months prior to all of this and that he was living with me full time and that we’d just moved?? (I really had my plate full).  So here I was, 3 months post partum, unpacking a new house, taking care of my recovering dad, being told I had to have surgery.  Talk about a bummer. 

I had remembered somewhere in the recess of my memories that frankincense supposedly could heal a broken bone.  I never EVER thought that it would work.  But, since I had bought myself a kit of oils for my birthday two months prior to my diagnosis, I already had a bottle of frank.  It couldn’t hurt.  So I used frankinsence, valor (nicknamed “chiropractor in a bottle”), and panaway (a EO blend used to help relieve pain) morning, noon, and night in the 6 week interim period between my initial diagnoses and my MRI.  And we prayed.  Oh did we pray. 

Within a few weeks, I noticed that the inflammation went down and then my range of motion returned.  By the time I went in for my MRI, I felt really silly to be there because my pain and inflammation had completely disappeared. 

So I get the MRI and wait the 3 days to hear the results from my doctor.  Finally, the  nurse called and said, “This is crazy, but the MRI shows that you have no break.  I don’t know what you’re doing but keep doing it! 

To this day, I have no pain! (that was 4 months ago)

Since the Lord healed me using that little bottle of frankincense, I am never ceased to be amazed at the healing He can provide using the tools and resources he gave to us in the beginning, back on day three. 

Next up: Medicine Cabinet Makeover Part 1: LEMON!!

This blog reflects the author's personal opinions and is meant for informational and educational purposes only.  The content held herein should not be used as a substitute for personal medical advice. The reader should consult his or her healthcare provider for specific information concerning specific medical conditions. While all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that all information presented is accurate, as research and development in the medical field is ongoing, it is possible that new findings may supersede some data presented.  The reader is responsible for his or her own research and healthcare.  Please see the disclaimer tab for more information.

Medicine Cabinet Makeover Introduction

So I have always gravitated towards natural healing and remedies, ever since I fell into this journey to becoming a modern hippy housewife.  I became awoken to God’s way.  This journey to becoming a “crunchy” mom was not birthed out of a fad to go organic.  I didn’t follow suit because my friends were doing it.  It wasn’t because it was trendy.  I felt a genuine conviction from the Holy Spirit.  It was as if he whispered to me, “Follow me.  Really follow me.”  I was challenged to radically follow the Lord in all areas of my life.  One area I had never invited him in was my health and my family’s health.  Natural remedies resonated with me and still do.  The fact that God created plants and trees on day three, before he created humans spoke to me.  And then He went on to tell us that every plant and tree was for us, for food.  Chew on that for awhile.  Every.  Notice he didn’t say some-  he didn’t say avoid these following plants because if you eat them you will die a terrible death like that poor man on that bus in Alaska. (What was that movie?)  So obviously, we’re not supposed to EAT every plant- but God definitely emphasized that every plant and tree was for our benefit. 

So when maintstream western culture told me to throw down my cross and follow my doctor- that he was the way, the truth and the life, when it came to my healthcare, I said. . . “Huh?”  Now, I want to make it very clear: I am not antidoctor. Doctors certainly have their place. When we need to see a doctor, I’m the first one in line.  If my child had a terrible sickness, Lord forbid, I would be thanking Jesus for my doctors and hanging onto their every word.  However, I do think that our culture has made a bit of a habit of relying on what the doctor says about every little aspect of our healthcare instead of looking to the one who created them for the answer.  For most common ailments/sicknesses, they can be handled right here at home, using the gifts God created for us way back on day 3.  Plus, waiting two hours at the doctors office, sick, with kids, is terribly inconvienient, especially when you leave feeling like it was a waste of time because the only answer you’ve gotten is, “It’s just a virus.  It will run its coarse.  There's nothing we can do but wait it out and treat the symptoms.” And you're now out a $40 copay. . .

It’s hogwash. . .there is something we can do to help.  Hi. . . it’s called an immune system!!!  We can support it--ya know, therefore helping our bodies to eradicate said sickness SOONER.  Because let’s be real—aint nobody got time to deal with a lingering cold for weeks only for it to turn into a sinus infection—Hello ANOTHER $40 copay.  This time, you get some antibiotics, which aren’t without consequence.  Lovely.  This yeast infection is fantastic.  But my head doesn’t hurt anymore. . . And now my immune system is even lower because I’ve just finished off the last of my healthy gut flora, which made up 80% of my immune system. . . Remember to wear a head scarf and sunglasses while standing in the feminie hygiene aisle, which is in clear view of the men’s shaving cream, where EVERY. ONE.  in your small town shops. . . awkward. . . 

So what can you do when you come down with an annoying cold, sore throat, etc?  What if you had something more acute?  Can and do natural remedies actually work?  What natural remedies work the best?  And how on earth do I choose what’s right for me? 

First and foremost- knowledge is power.  I urge you to research for yourself what is right for you and your family.  What works for my family may not be the best option for you.  Know that at the end of the day, you are responsible for your healthcare.  *YOU* have to live with the consequences of what drug or natural remedy you choose to take.  And like I tell my kids, sometimes, consequences can be good.  But sometimes….they can be really bad.  Pray.  What is well with your soul?

This is the first post of my series, “Medicine Cabinet Makeover”.  Please check back to learn more of how my family has replaced over the counter drugs with the resources God has given us.

This blog reflects the author's personal opinions and is meant for informational and educational purposes only.  The content held herein should not be used as a substitute for personal medical advice. The reader should consult his or her healthcare provider for specific information concerning specific medical conditions. While all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that all information presented is accurate, as research and development in the medical field is ongoing, it is possible that new findings may supersede some data presented.  The reader is responsible for his or her own research and healthcare.  Please see the disclaimer tab for more information.