And so we start....

Yup. I finished my Lush "New!" Shampoo bar and have gone shampoo free. That bar lasted me a good 4 1/2 months, which is great! But Lush also has a lot of SLS in those shampoo bars and after reading and researching, decided to go with just a normal 'shampoo' bar. I got a Nettle/Coconut shampoo bar from Natures Pure Bliss (which sells beautiful natural products!) and started using that on Jan 19th, 2012. Pure, good old fashioned soap shampoo bar with pure natural ingredients.

But I decided, what the heck. Might as well try out this No Shampoo and see if it works for me. A week of using the shampoo bar, my hair was feeling different and 'matted'. Dunno if it was from the shampoo bar, or just the same phase hair goes through like it does in the beginning of the No Shampoo method.

Whatever the case, I have officially started. 2 days back. And I did a Baking soda wash and vinegar rinse. My hair has air dried and it is appearing very frizzy. I might have used too much soda? Especially after the hair having collected oils over the past several days? Hmm... will see how it is by the end of today and tomorrow.

No shampoo??

Thinking about jumping the bandwagon on this. But seriously, it looks like it might help my hair out. I'm just worried my scalp is going to go overdrive and cause me to be itchy and make me want to pull my hair out. Literally. I never mentioned this, but I had Trichotillomania. Hair pulling disorder. And I'm 100+ days pull free! (hurrah!)

Since I've been using a Lush shampoo bar (New!), I haven't felt the need to pull my hair and just have been controlling myself considerably. But maybe I might not feel like pulling since Lush shampoo bars are more 'natural'ish than the regular shampoos I was using before. Maybe my hair will transition better with no shampoo...

I mean, my daughter has beautiful hair when it isn't shampooed for a couple of days. Really! (just using coconut oil shampoo bar on her hair). Hmm...

On another note, have bought some stuff to start off on natural beauty body care products. For use at home and to make for family/friends/sell...

DH was more excited about doing the Melt and Pour soap than I was. He even sold off a couple at his work place, not to mention a couple of lip balms I made and he's also given an order for me to make some lotion so he can sell that to some guys there.

At least I've got support! <3 :d=":d" br="br">

Burts Bees Intense Hydration BzzAgent Campaign

I haven't written many blog posts here but I think I'll start working on that.

I joined a website called BzzAgent (link here), where you get to join campaigns and try out products (for free, or a discounted price). There are surveys you get to complete and if you qualify for a campaign, you get to try it out! You also get samples and coupons, depending on the product, that you can hand out to family and friends and discuss the product campaign.

I finally got a chance to join a campaign for Burt's Bee's Intense Hydration line of products.



Since I'm starting to go on the natural product route, getting this campaign was a HUGE plus for me. It contains 99% natural ingredients, and the Leaping Bunny logo on it to let you know that this product is not tested on animals. Also a big plus!!! (this product does contain beeswax, which is not considered vegan-friendly, but it is kosher/halal friendly).

Now my skin has it's ups and downs. Some days I'll have dry patches, but most of the time it's okay and normal/well hydrated. I get some dryness around the nose area, maybe upper lips and chin, and sometimes the forehead. And with the winter season coming up, this is a great product since it's been specially designed for the cold weather!

Lets document my skin before I started using it, shall we?

Me, before using Burt's Bees

This is a really horrible before picture, but you get an idea of my skin. It looks alright here. But this product is apparently supposed to be anti-wrinkle too, or reduce the appearance of wrinkles so we could compare that way too.

So what did we get in the campaign box? The Intense Hydration Creamy Cleanser and the Night Cream. I've been using the combo for the past week and I've noticed a considerable difference so far. Even my husband has been using the Night Cream only and has said that the dryness he's had on his face and feet are gone.

Whoot!

Let's see how it fares in the long run~

So lately I have been on a product-purchasing-spree - for reasons beyond me except that I've gotten just a tad bit tired with my routine.

With two children, it's important to me to look and feel great even when I'm exhausted and just want to sleep. A little bit of makeup perks me right up - and as long as I'm looking good, I feel I can take on the day.

My daughter is just over 3 years old, and my son is 2 1/2 months old.

I went to LUSH this morning, along with the kids, to see if there was anything I could pick up that would help with the dryness my son has been suffering for quite some time. I've tried everything - from different soaps (Johnson & Johnson, Dove liquid soap, Dove soap bar) and different moisturizers (Johnson & Johnson, Aveeno Baby).

I think I may have found the right combination to keeping him moisturized without the drying-out effect that comes with after a couple of hours.

The sales lady recommended Trichomania shampoo (coconut) and Honey I Washed the Kids soap (honey... mmmm). I asked her for a small slice, but she gave me a pretty generous amount. I came home and ended up breaking a small piece of each off and put it in a pre-existing LUSH tin (like the size of half my finger's worth). Washed the boy (broke an even smaller amount of shampoo - finger tip size) and didn't even use all of it. I used the same amount, slightly more, on my daughter and her hair smells so delicious! Mmmm - I have so much and this might last for quite a long while since it is a LOT of product the lady gave me. The rest is stored in my drawer in it's paper wrapping and in a plastic container.

I might just switch to shampoo bar for myself in the near future - my poor hair is really damaged and bad. :( It needs a little R&R.

29 weeks... approximately 10 more to go...

29 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy and baby is really, really moving quite a lot these days. It wasn't so bad the past few weeks, but now it feels more like my belly is bouncing up and down and shifting side to side. It's fun to watch it moving around like that.

I've also felt the baby hiccupping a couple of times now. It's a rather low, rythmic movement that feels more like a heartbeat (only slower). It's cool. I love being pregnant. :D But don't like the funny hiccup burps I end up doing, or the funny gassiness that I feel that sometimes turns a little achy in the sides.

I feel like I have also popped out all of a sudden. I can see some stretch marks on my stomach too. How lovely! But it'll go away.

In the last 4 weeks, I haven't gained anything. I'm still at 176 pounds. I've gained 20-25 pounds during this pregnancy so far.

In other news, crocheting is going quite well. Slow and steady as time allows me, after getting home late from work and doing the house work. When baby is here, I'll perhaps have much more time to do projects. I'll try improving on my knitting as well, since I struggle and hate it. I'm more comfortable with the crochet, but majority of clothing stuff looks sooo much nicer (and feel nicer) when it's knitted. I'll improve I hope! =/ Just need to get my hand set on it.