SpaceGirl Organics Review in Central Florida

Even though the organic movement is increasing it's still difficult to find good quality produce at local supermarkets. As a result I joined a co-op early this year, but due to the economy they had to close down. I was so sad to have to go back searching for organic produce at my local grocer. And then I found Space Girl Organics which is based in Central Florida and delivers all over the local area. They have boxes of produce (which you can customize) that are affordable and are delivered right to your door in a cooler. Awesome.

Clarifying Bentonite Clay Facial Mask

Do you have a skin goal? Maybe enlarged pores? Wrinkles? Would you like to have tighter skin? Of course, everyone does! Well, you're lucky because I have a fantastic solution for you!!

I have found that bentonite clay is a fabulous natural way to my improve skin! Now, you may think, "What a minute-- isn't that dirt?!" Sort of. It's super special dirt from God. Bentonite clay is pretty much His gift to us!

So please, don't go outside and just smear mud on your face. It has to be quality bentonite clay!

I buy loose clay and add water (or rose water) to make a fantastic mask, and I've bought a pre-packaged facial mask like this one from Redmond Clay. It's literally just clay and water, no chemicals no preservatives!

The Facial Mud claims to do the following:

• Clarify your skin
• Remove excess oil
• Shrink appearance of pores
• Draw out toxins
• Tone skin
• Remove impurities
• Deep cleanse your skin. 

It is safe for all skin types and it's so simple to use.

Essential Oils For Added Benefits
If you want added benefit you can even add a couple of drops of essential oils such as lavender to help combat bumps and smooth scars. Personally I love Frankincense because of it's ability to support healthy skin.

Make sure you know which essential oils to use because some may cause thicker hair growth or increase hair growth and I don't think you want that on your face!

How To Use It
If you are using powdered clay, use 3-4 tsp, add 2-3 drops of essential oil (optional) and enough water (or rose water) to make it like a paste. If you are using the Facial Mud, then just add 2-3 drops to the clay.

Apply the wet clay and let it dry for any time between 10-25 minutes (the more sensitive your skin- the less time is recommended).

You may experience some redness after the mask simply because of the process to draw out the impurities (aka pore gunk). I washed the clay off my face at the 15 minute mark and the first thing I noticed was how tight my skin felt. It wasn't uncomfortably tight, but rather pleasantly firm as if gravity has been reversed. Yay!!

The second thing I noticed was how soft my skin felt to the touch. I couldn't stop touching it! 

My skin is a little red after the mask, but I have very sensitive skin so I'm happy with that. It fades pretty quickly!

The first time I did this I noticed that my old facial scars were a bit more visible than usual, but slowly it faded and my skin looked back to normal. If you're worried about that, then you can always do it before bed! However, it really does make a difference in the long run! For me I've seen smaller pore sizes, tighter skin, less blemishes, and reduced wrinkles. 

If you're interested in the Facial Mud you can buy it here:

• Facial Mud Hydrated Clay 4 Ounces or the Powdered Clay: Redmond Clay
• Rose Water: Eau de Rose du Maroc Distillate Water
• Essential Oils: I recommend this brand 

If you've tried clay before I'd love to hear your experiences!

Disclaimer: Redmond clay provided the clay for this review, but it is only because I told them how much I loooovvvee their products and I wanted to write a bunch of posts. So, yeah, I loved them before they gave me free stuff. Now I love them more. 

The links for products are affiliate links. I will receive a small commission from anything purchased which I recommend. I am a Young Living distributor so I earn a commission from products sold. If you are interested in getting 24% off your order-- please email me. There is a gimmick, but it's actually a cool gimmick. I swear.

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The Man's Skin Moisturizer and Beard Conditioner

Ladies, let's not be selfish. Sometimes we need to think about our men and today I am devoting my beauty knowledge to the male sex.

Let me explain....

First you have to understand that men are simple creatures. They don't want a lotion for this and a cream for that and an oil for this other thing. No! They want ONE THING for EVERYTHING. "The Man" has dry skin and a lot of scuff so I thought I'd make him one product to take care of both! Tada!

DIY Beard Moisturizer

• Glass Mist Bottle or Dropper Bottle
• 2 TBSP Distilled Water 
• 2 TBSP Almond Oil (if allergic to nuts, use Jojoba oil)
• 3 TBSP Witch Hazel Toner (alcohol free)
• 1 tsp Vegetable Glycerin
• 5 drops Argan Oil (optional)
• Optional: 5-8 drops of Essential oils  (see below for ideas)

You simply mix it all up in the spray bottle and it's ready to go! If you're using essential oils, I recommend adding them to a pinch of salt before mixing them into the solution so that they better disperse through the mixture.

When he's ready to use it, just give it a little shake (oils can separate).

It's best to use after a normal face wash OR after the shower.

It can be used in one of two ways:

1. Lightly spray mixture a couple of times directly on your face and beard. You will need to massage it into your beard for just 15-30 seconds. If  you feel like you need to rinse then you can simply use water, but there is no reason that you would need to remove the mixture.
2. Use a dropper bottle. Depending on the beards length and density you will need to use between 3-8 drops of the conditioner for your beard. Massage it into the beard. Wash with water, if desired. For your skin, you can use as many drops as you feel necessary to moisturize your face. For my moisturizer, I use 3-5 drops daily. 

Essential Oils
If you want to have a scent or added benefits to your beard then you can add essential oils. I would recommend staying away from citrus as it can cause photosensitivity (more easily sunburned), but here are some ideas of what you can add:

• Peppermint: Oily skin or hair
• Cedarwood: Thinning hair
• Rosemary: Thickens hair
• Lavender: Dry skin or beard

As always, when using essential oils for skin or hair care, make sure you are using quality essential oils. Even if they say "pure" on the bottle, there may be added chemical or synthetic ingredients which can cause skin irritation. Please read this article about how to find Quality Essential Oils.

If you'd like to join my Natural Living Support Group on Facebook please fill out this form!

Bridal Shower with Gluten Free or Paleo Foods

Oh, Bridal Showers, how I love you. I especially love my dear cousin who is getting married in October!!

My heart gets little palpitations when I think about it. I can still remember her as this tiny little girl sitting on the floor with a head full of dark curls screaming because she wanted something that I wasn't about to give her. ::sigh:: Oh, cousinly love.

It's amazing what a beautiful woman she's grown up to be and I'm so happy that she found such a wonderful man to share her life with. So, of course, I was excited when I was recruited to help with her bridal shower!

Non-GMO Multivitamins (SunWarrior vs NewChapter)

Seriously, I don't get it.

I watch what we eat, choose healthy food, try to buy organic fruits and veggies and then take a vitamin full of stuff we can't pronounce.

Why?

It took me a while to figure it out: There are ZERO options at local stores. I honestly didn't even know I could get a non-GMO plant based vitamin until I started looking for it.

If you wonder what the difference, then here's a great chart by SunWarrior that shows you how synthetic vitamins are made vs sources for natural vitamins. Even if you don't opt to go with sunwarrior, please look at this list! It's really amazing.

Personally, I wanted options because that's how I roll so I opted to try to vitamins to see how they compare.

According to my strict standards, I had three choices: SunWarrior, NewChapter and Pure Synergy, but I'm a baby-- I don't do big pills, so I scratched Pure Synergy off the list. They are rather large, but if you don't mind-- definitely check them out.

It is kind of important to note that if your VEGAN then SunWarrior is the only one that will actually fit your diet. However, I love meat so I didn't care.

So. let's look at the pills...
(or if you're lazy just read the summary) ::wink::

SunWarrior vs NewChapter

Okay, so they are both great companies. They pick quality ingredients and take great efforts to make sure their products are safe, healthy and even suitable for gluten free diets. They source most ingredients from organic or non-GMO sources which is huge!

But if we're going to talk important stuff, then you need to know what you're dealing with. How big is this pill?! 

First, I want to talk about the capsule itself:

SunWarrior multivitamins are made from kosher vegetable gelatin, which is great in terms of capsules. They can be broken apart and the contents can be placed into something like applesauce if you like. They are pretty easy to swallow and that's coming from a person who hates taking pills.

NewChapter's pills are solid pills-- no capsules so no mixing in applesauce. They are still a reasonable size, but just a little more difficult to swallow, but barely. 

Proprietary Blends:
SunWarrior added a longevity proprietary blend which is supposed to help with anti-aging. Sounds pretty nice! While NewChapter also added two immunity blends and a digestive support blend using all natural ingredients. So, I guess it's just really what you're looking for!

Also, SunWarrior and NewChapter don't add fillers or synthetics to their supplements which is so important. It's kind of impressive. Most of the "propriety blends" are just a bunch of junk, but both of these companies make their ingredients transparent so you know what you're getting.

 Probiotics:
Sunwarrior added 5 sources of probiotics from both the Lactobacillus and the Bifidobacterium types, which makes your gut happy on so many different levels. It's important to have both types because they act on different parts of the GI system. NewChapter only has two strands of probotics and they are both from the Lactobacillus family.

However, at such low numbers, I don't believe that either brand should be your sole provider for probiotics so make sure that you're taking an additional source for optimal health.

Let's take a look at the labels...

Sunwarrior:

NewChapter:

They both recommend taking 3 capsules a day. SunWarrior gives you 90 pills and NewChapter gives you either 72 or 96 tablets depending on which bottle you buy.

However, remember that these are supplements to supplement your diet. Take what you feel you need for optimal health.

SUMMARY:
Cost:

• NewChapter is slightly cheaper.

Pill:

• SunWarrior is a capsule
• NewChapter is a solid pill
• Size is comparable, but NewChapter is SLIGHTLY larger

Special Diets:

• Both are gluten free
• Both are non-GMO
• SunWarrior is Vegan.

Bottle:

• Sunwarrior comes in a plastic bottle
• NewChapter comes in a glass, dark bottle. 

Probiotics: 

• Sunwarrior added 5 sources and they are from both the Lactobacillus and the Bifidobacterium types
• NewChapter only has two strands of probotics and they are both from the Lactobacillus family.

Proprietary blends:

• SunWarrior added a longevity proprietary blend which is supposed to help with anti-aging.
• NewChapter also added immunity blends and a digestive support blend 

I would definitely recommend either of these multivitamin! In fact, I take both.

You can find both on Amazon.com or at their brand stores:

• SunWarrior: Raw Vitamins for Her
• New Chapter Perfect Immune Multi Vitamin Tablets, 96 Count

(These are Amazon Affiliate links-- your price stays the same and I make a small fee from Amazon to help buy supplies for the blog!)

Plus, they really are the best prices. You can also buy the SunWarrior vitamins from the SunWarrior store, but they end up being more with shipping. :)

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free)

As some of you know I have been gluten free for a bit of time now and I am loving it! However, I do have a sweet tooth and sometimes, just sometimes, I splurge and make something chocolately. Because, come on! A girl needs chocolate!

I have a soft spot for chocolate chip cookies and I've had a really hard time finding a paleo/gluten free recipe that made me happy. Eventually, I gave up and just started experimenting with batters until I came up with this recipe. It's buttery, soft, and oh so chocolately! Mmmmm!! Delicious!

 

Awesome Stuff and I'm Old.

Whew! School is in full gear and already kicking my butt!

In my first class we had to introduce ourselves and explain which piece of literature influenced us the most. I hate public speaking so I said I'd go first and rambled about ee cummings and his straight forward style, quoting part of a poem, and saying how he influenced me and how much I love his use of syntax blah blah blah. The next person says "Harry Potter". The next person says "Harry Potter"and then another person says "Harry Potter". Seriously over 40% of my class said Harry Potter. I counted. Another 10% said Anime and I heard the words Twilight once.

OMG. I'm so old. When did this happen?!

So to make myself feel better I went online and bought graphic t-shirts so I would feel younger and more hip. Makes sense right? ::shrugs:: It made me happy.

Okay, so I don't think I've actually stated that I'm obsessed with CafePress.com so let me make it official.

I am obsessed with CafePress.com.

I wanted to show you some of the awesome things I got in the mail! And I'm doing this for no reason other than I think it's awesome. I'm not getting paid or compensated in any way. I bought all this stuff and I looovve it!

See-- awesome, right? I can't wait to hit the gym in that shirt holding my I love Bacon water bottle!

Maybe I'm easily amused, but seriously, this has made me so happy!

And to make this post as random as possible I'd like to share with you one of my favorite poems by ee cummings!

So beautiful...

Remove Mineral Deposits from Faucets Naturally

Have you ever had a faucet that squirted streams of water in the wrong direction or even in multiple directions? Or maybe it was just a mist? If so, it's probably due to minerals (like calcium) that have built up over time.

The Man and I were becoming increasingly annoyed with our kitchen faucet due to mineral deposits. The misbehaving stream of water was constantly changing directions, randomly spraying every which way, casting mists which would cause us and everything around us to get wet. Now, you can understand that a person can only tolerate that for about a day.

Maybe.

Probably not.

Okay, maybe 4 times max.

I decided to use some simple every day supplies to whip up something to remove those deposits!

What You Need

• 3/4 cup Vinegar
• 2 TBSP Hydrogen Peroxide
• 1/4 c Baking Soda
• 1 rubber band
• 1 plastic bag