Holistic Beauty from the Inside Out (27 page)

Creating your own seawater spa treatment at home is wonderfully easy. All you need is a packet of Epsom or untreated sea salt (the coarser, the better). Place a few cups of salt at the bottom of the bath and add warm water. Make sure all the salt has dissolved, otherwise your bottom will be treated to some exfoliating salt grits. By adding a cup of baking soda to the bathwater, you will make it softer and more soothing for your skin.

You can easily prepare a seaweed bath at a fraction of the cost in the comfort of your own bathroom. You can collect fresh seaweed during a summer vacation if you are not lucky enough to live near the sea. Dried seaweed is also available in health food stores.

Start your seawater treatment by making the bath environment peaceful and quiet. Light a few candles and prepare a towel and a bath robe. Turn on some tranquil music. The smell of seaweed can be quite strong, so you can add a few drops of lavender or chamomile essential oil. Soak for at least fifteen to twenty minutes, allowing the healing water to penetrate your pores. You will rise to a firmer, glowing skin thanks to the high mineral content of the water. As the seaweed can leave a slippery residue, you may wish to shower after the bath. Make sure to use a rich body moisturizer as sea water treatments can be quite taxing for dry skin types.

Here are some other bath recipes to try:

Green Tea Bath
: Add 5–6 green tea sachets in bath water and leave to infuse for five to eight minutes. Green tea will soothe and purify your skin while black tea will invigorate and stimulate your body and mind.

Oatmeal Soak
: Pack some oatmeal into a nylon stocking or some muslin cloth, tie the end, and
place under running water while filling up your bath. You can also use soft oatmeal to scrub your face and body. This bath is very soothing for sensitive skin types.

Milk & Honey Body Soak
: To recreate a famous Cleopatra’s milk bath at home, add 5–6 cups of milk powder to the running water. Use buttermilk if your skin is on the dry side. For added benefit, swoosh 3–5 teaspoons honey under the running warm water.

Fruity Bath
: Pour a few cups of any leftover juices that may be past their prime in your refrigerator. Diluted juices will energize and lightly exfoliate your skin creating a gorgeous glow.

MAGIC IN A BOTTLE:
NATURAL PERFUMES AND DEODORANTS

What makes us crave a certain scent and reject another? Our personal reaction to a fragrance is based on myriads of factors, from our deepest memories to the current state of our endocrine system and even the day of our monthly cycle. Scents invigorate, stimulate, soothe, and sometimes irritate. Too often conventional fragrances contain too many irritating and even toxic substances, including denatured alcohol, solvents, and plasticizers such as phthalates. The fragrance formula can contain hundreds of volatile compounds, which can trigger dermatitis, headaches, and even asthma. Luckily, these days we can choose from dozens of allnatural perfume brands that craft their scented creations in the old-fashioned way from essential oils, fresh plants and plant distillates, waxes, roots, barks, and grain alcohol. Some of the better allnatural fragrance brands include luxurious scents from Creed, Patyka, Frederic Malle, Il Profvmo, Honore De Pres, and more affordable but still very natural ones from Lavere and
Weleda. For a complete listing of natural fragrance brands, please refer to
Appendix B
at the end of this book.

Choosing a perfectly natural yet effective deodorant is more difficult. For something used so frequently, don’t you want a product that does the job without possibly compromising your health? Conventional deodorants usually contain harsh chemical antiperspirants, which may cause irritation or allergic reaction to the ultra-absorbent underarm skin.

The skin is your body’s largest organ and, just like kidneys, is constantly working to rid the body of toxins. Natural deodorants, unlike their conventional counterparts, do not contain aluminum chlorohydrate, which may be irritating to the skin or pose even more serious danger. The fact is, they often work by clogging pores to inhibit a natural function of your body—perspiring—which enables your body to naturally rid itself of toxins that may adversely affect your health. As discussed earlier, nearly all antiperspirants contain various aluminum salts, which are linked to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Even natural deodorants marked as “aluminum free” may still contain a natural aluminum salt called alum (aluminum silicate). If you do not wish to expose yourself to this toxic metal, you can still smell fresh with these simple and natural alternatives.

Bacteria are the source of body odor, and natural deodorants are effective at reducing those bacterial culprits. Some of the ingredients to look for are baking soda, zinc ricinoleate, lichen, fruit extracts, and essential oils from herbs such as sage, tea tree, lavender, chamomile, aloe, lemon verbena, coriander, and lemongrass. Many so-called “natural” deodorants are anything but natural, being made almost entirely of propylene glycol with a few drops of essentials oil.

• Place 3–4 fresh or dried peppermint, bay, or sage leaves (or 2–3 twigs of lavender or rosemary, depending on your personal preferences) in a bottle containing 1 cup water and 1 cup grain or grape alcohol, preferably organic. Allow to infuse for two or three days, and then spray the homemade deodorant under arms after shower. Do not use on freshly shaved skin.
  
• Combine 100 mL (3.3 fl. oz.) witch hazel and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar for a naturally refreshing and odor-resisting blend that you can use anytime.
  
• Add 1 teaspoon white clay (kaolin) to 100 mL (3.3 fl. oz.) water and 30 mL (1 fl. oz.) grain alcohol. Pour into a spray bottle and shake well before use. Kaolin will absorb scents without penetrating the skin.
  
• Dust your underarms or other areas that tend to sweat a lot with baking soda, which makes a very effective and nearly invisible alternative to talcum body powders.
  
• Dust your underarms or other areas with a blend of cornstarch and white kaolin clay.
  

Just remember, as with conventional products, some people need more protection than others and should plan to reapply deodorant during the day.

You may find that you sweat more after eating certain foods. Deep-fried, spicy, and salty foods such as curry, sweet-and-sour sauces, and dishes with wasabi, as well as chili, jalapeño, and pimento peppers, won’t give you a chance to stay dry through the meal. Coffee, garlic, onions, and added salt are major sweat triggers in your diet. Eat well, and stay dry without toxic chemicals.

BLOOMING GORGEOUS:
NATURAL BEAUTY DURING PREGNANCY

Pregnancy is probably the most important period in a woman’s
life, and staying gorgeous in a natural, nontoxic way is not a luxury; it’s a top priority. Unfortunately, many skincare products aimed at pregnant women are loaded with less-than-pregnancy friendly ingredients such as paraben preservatives and artificial fragrances, as well as botanicals and essential oils contraindicated in pregnancy.

You can spend hours if not days researching pregnancy-safe skincare, but the easiest way to go is to make simple cleansers, creams, and stretch mark body serums yourself. Besides, essential oils have many beneficial effects and are safe when used in the right proportion.

Start with very gentle cleansing. Very simple, unscented castile soap will leave your skin clean and glowing without stripping away your natural protective barrier. For a toner, use green tea or witch hazel, especially if you are plagued with pregnancy acne. Sun creams with mineral protection of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide will protect your skin from uneven pigmentation called melasma, also known as the “mask of pregnancy.” You can strengthen your skin’s resilience to sun rays by taking antioxidant supplements with lycopene and lutein.

For nighttime care, make yourself a simple skin-nourishing oil with a lightweight base oil such as jojoba and a few drops of pregnancy-safe essential oils such tangerine, neroli, chamomile, lavender, frankincense, peppermint, ylang-ylang, eucalyptus, and tea tree oil—really great for pregnancy acne, but please discontinue its use during the last four weeks of pregnancy. You may have an individual, unique reaction to essential oils, while some of them may cause uterine contractions, which may lead to miscarriage.

Stretch marks are probably the most common skin concern in pregnancy. Nearly impossible to erase, they are preposterously easy to prevent. To help your skin stretch without tearing, massage 1 tablespoon of the following stretch mark body formula twice a day into your belly area—right from the moment your pregnancy test reveals the great news.

Stretch mark blend:
½ cup olive oil (not necessarily extra virgin), ½ cup sunflower, ½ cup grapeseed, and 3 tablespoons castor seed oil. Shake well. These oils should ideally be organic. Keep the blend in a glass or polyethylene (plastic #2, also marked as PE) bottle. Avoid PET
(polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, as oils can dissolve some of the plastic so that phthalate would leach into the oil.

Minimizing phthalate exposure is important at any time of your life, but during pregnancy you must avoid anything that can contain plasticizer compounds. Phthalate exposure during pregnancy is linked to increased risk of allergy
¹³²
and asthma,
¹³³
penis deformations in boys (hypospadias), testicular cancer and reduced semen quality in men,
¹³⁴
ADHD ,
¹³⁵
and hormonal disorders
¹³⁶
and obesity
¹³⁷
later in life. Hormone-disrupting chemicals are found in lots of everyday products including plastic bottles, metal food cans (lined with epoxy resin), detergents, flame retardants, food additives, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides.

While it’s impossible to completely eliminate hormone-bending chemicals from your life, take small steps by choosing mineral water in glass rather than plastic bottles, or better yet, drinking filtered tap water from BPA-free bottles. If you garden, switch to natural pesticides and compost for soil fertilizing. Avoid conventional air fresheners, heavily scented laundry detergents and house cleaning products, nonorganic scented candles, conventional perfumes, and any skincare that has been scented with artificial fragrance. To add some olfactory spice to your life, find an essential oil that pleases your senses (make sure it is safe for use in pregnancy) and use it generously. Add it to the natural dishwashing liquid, pop a few drops into the bucket of water when you clean the floor, add to the detergent compartment when you do the laundry, and to a bowl of water to place under the radiator to moisten the air in your home.

As your body changes, you may notice your breasts sagging. Bust-firming body oil is a little luxury that helps moisturize, smooth, and firm up the bosom by boosting collagen and elastin production. Here’s a very simple recipe: Add 5 drops neroli essential oil, 5 drops ylang-ylang essential oil, and 5 drops frankincense essential oil to 150 mL (5 fl. oz.) sweet almond or grapeseed oil. Shake well and let stand for one day. I recommend using a glass bottle to store all body oils that contain essential oils.

To reap its full rewards, apply bust-firming lotions morning and night. Spread a teaspoon of oil from under the breasts to the base of the neck, avoiding the nipple area. You can also use it to massage the areas where you expect (or already have) stretch marks. Supporting underwear, yoga, and swimming are still the best bust-lifting methods around.

Your feet can become swollen and tired, especially toward the last three months of pregnancy. Always wear comfortable shoes, ideally made of non-tanned leather. When possible, wear shoes with special stimulating and massaging insoles, and walk barefoot frequently on grass or sand. To ease swollen ankles, try peppermint foot baths: brew a cup of very strong peppermint tea (3–4 packets per cup boiling water) and pour the infusion into a tub of tepid water. For added cooling effect, you can add a few drops of peppermint essential oil.