Wow! I tripped and fell into a time machine.

I have no idea what happened to December, or how it's possible that it's 2011, but I do know that it's going to be hard for me to take down my 2010 YEAR IN KITTENS calendar. I mean, I'm going to pull through, but it won't be easy.

What's that? You want to know what I've been up to? Let me explain! (I feel so good about myself that I was finally able to work my blog title into an entry.)

First, I made some mineral makeup. I ordered a kit from Brambleberry, and it was a bit confusing, to be honest with you. The instruction manual was just a generic one that they send out with all their products, not specific to the actual kit itself, so I had some screwups before I got it right. This is what it ended up looking like:

It works pretty well, and it came with a nice kabuki brush, so that was pretty cool. It's a little bit dark for my skin tone, but it's not too noticeable and maybe it'll be a better match in the summer months.

Something else that happened is that it got cold outside. So I've been spending a lot of time in the basement tending/staying warm by the woodstove.

And by staying warm, I mean sweating like I have never sweated before because it gets ridiculously hot in that room. It was the middle of December and I was sprawled out in a tank top and gym shorts, spritzing myself with water while watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The nice thing about it is that it gives me a chance to catch up on shows that are available on Netflix streaming, and to work on crafts!

I have no idea what I'm doing.

While all this was going on, some electricians came and changed out the light fixtures in my bathroom. It would've been a DIY project except for apparently the people who built our house were heavy drinkers, and the wiring was a hot mess. But the lights look much better now!

Before. You can kind of see the old lights and where one of them was ripped out.

After. Ignore all the crappy holes and marks on the walls.

We also ripped out the wall in the middle of the bathroom, and my dad and I installed a new floor, which was a project beset with many, many challenges. It should've taken two days, max, but it took us a week. Here is an awful cameraphone picture of what the new floor looks like.

The bathroom project is in no way complete, but we're getting closer. This is probably the single biggest reason I haven't been posting very much (a.k.a. have not been posting at all).

In fun project news, I decided I wanted to build something, so my dad and I (so much father-daughter togetherness this past month) built some storage cubes from a plan I found on Ana-white.com. Of course, since my dad is an amateur woodworker and I am a total newbie, they probably aren't very good. There are lots of splinters and nails sticking out and unevenly-cut boards. But who cares? It was fun, and they'll be useful (if I ever get off my butt to prime and paint them).

Without doors.

With doors.

I also made lotion! I found the instructions here. I already had a bunch of stuff so the only thing I had to order was the emulsifying wax. Here's what it looked like when I was done:

One day I drew a bunch of stuff with giant teeth.

That's basically it I guess. Hopefully I'll be back with more regularly scheduled content for the 0 people who read this. Bye!

Green Hair Care, Part 1: Cleansing and Conditioning ("No-poo")

Here's what happens when you use conventional shampoo: you completely strip all of your scalp's oils from your scalp and your hair, leaving them dry, then try to replicate their effects using conditioner. Most conditioners contain silicones, which make your hair shiny, but which can only be removed from the hair with conventional shampoo. The end result is that you damage your hair with an overly-harsh detergent, then mask the damage with a coating that can only be washed out with more overly-harsh detergent. It's a nasty cycle, and one which shampoo/conditioner producers would very much like you to perpetuate.

As I said in my post on facial oils, if you aren't completely stripping your hair and scalp of all of its natural oils, it won't feel the need to overproduce them and become greasy by the next day. Don't worry, there's an incredibly easy, cheap solution to this problem, which I know you are waiting for on the very edge of your seat!

The first thing you have to do is get past the notion that you need lots of foam and lather to be clean. Just toss that right out the window and don't look back. I mentioned sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) in my last post as being a Bad Thing. It is, as I just learned on Wikipedia, an amphiphile; this means it has a molecular structure that makes it attracted to both water and fats/oils, which explains why it pulls all the moisture out of your hair. I just thought that was neat. Basically, it's a foaming agent and a detergent, and as I have mentioned a few times, it's not great for you or your hair.

There are plenty of shampoos that don't contain sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and won't be as harsh, but why spend money on those when you can whip something up at home in less than a minute that costs you next to nothing?

If you're sick of hearing me talk about baking soda and vinegar, you're in luck, because that's exactly where this is headed (I didn't say it was GOOD luck).

To clean your hair, all you need is a little bit of baking soda and water. I do mean a little bit: just mix one tablespoon of baking soda with one cup of water. That's a 1 to 16 ratio, if you're into fractions. What I do is just put a little bit of baking soda in an old, well-rinsed shampoo bottle, fill the rest with water, and then shake it up before use. To use it, all you have to do is pour some on your head (focusing on the roots of the hair), then scrub it in with your fingertips, then rinse out. That's it. Just like regular shampoo, except I focus more on the scrubbing aspect. Despite that, I find that far fewer hairs fall out and end up in the drain than ever before.

Now, since baking soda is a base and it can rough up your hair shafts and even build up over time, it's important to rinse it out with an acidic compound that will neutralize it and smooth the shafts back down. That's why you take another empty, well-rinsed bottle, pour some apple cider vinegar in it, then fill the rest up with water and use that as your conditioner rinse. It seals the hair shafts right up and leaves your hair real shiny. And as long as you're very careful to rinse it all out, no lingering smell of vinegar will remain.

Should you start using this method to clean and condition your hair, you may find that your hair is still greasy at first. As your scalp adjusts to the fact that you're not attacking it with SLS every day, that greasiness will slow way down, and you may find that you don't even need to do the baking soda/vinegar routine every day. Most days, I just scrub my scalp vigorously with my fingers for a few minutes in the shower, then do a little vinegar rinse on the ends. If my hair starts looking weighed down after a few days of this, I'll do a full wash with baking soda and rinse with the diluted vinegar, and I'm right as rain.

Full disclosure, I do still have a couple of bottles of regular conditioner I'm trying to use up. Before I transitioned to baking soda and vinegar, I was using SLS-free shampoos and silicone-free conditioners, and I still have some of the conditioner. On my finger-scrub days, I'll use a tiny amount of the conditioner to smooth on afterward and it leaves a faint, pleasant smell and probably some extra moisture. Nothing wrong with that, and no silicones to build up and need stripping.

Basically, just do what feels right at the time, and don't be afraid to try new things. Eventually you'll stumble upon a routine that works for you... hopefully one that leaves your scalp, hair, and wallet happier than when you started!

For more information, here's an Instructables about how to go no-poo.

Flying time and my "no-poo" adventures

What do you know... I got sick for a few days, then family came into town for Thanksgiving, and now it's the end of November and I don't understand how that happened. I feel like I spent the last week stuck inside a hamster ball. I'm all disoriented and have a bizarre urge to drink from a drippy water bottle.

For all 0 of you reading this, I'm back now, and I think the next topic I'm going to tackle will be hair: a little bit about hair in general, a lot about curly hair in particular.

Here's a few things about my hair routine that will give you an idea of where I'm going with this:

• I almost never use shampoo (once per month, if that, and that's only if I end up using a hair product that can cause buildup).
• I make my own hair gel.
• Diluted baking soda and diluted vinegar are my cleanser and conditioner, respectively.

For an idea of why I have chosen to do such a crazy thing, please see this insanely informative post. For those of you who would prefer to not read through all of that just now, here is a basic rundown:

• Shampoo contains harsh and harmful chemicals such as mineral oil and sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate.
• Shampoo is a detergent which strips your hair of its naturally occurring oils, which help keep your hair healthy.
• You truly do not need shampoo to keep your hair clean, and you can save moderately-sized bucks by going without.

Tomorrow I will begin a two-part series on green hair-care, beginning with cleansing and conditioning. Some of what I cover will apply more to those with curly hair than those without, but I will try to keep everything generally informative for all hair types.

Potential Experiment: Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been obsessing over DIY laundry detergent the last few days, poring over powder and liquid recipes until my eyes water and using every ounce of my brain power to psychically determine if using these will cause my washing machine to implode. I think it would be fine but I like to make extra sure before I go diving in.

I research things like this at full tilt on my lunch break at work, and as I have yet to develop a system for getting the most useful results back to myself at home (I know, it's so silly that I haven't just started e-mailing myself the links. What the frig is wrong with me?), I tend to forget where I found things. After a bout of rough-and-tumble cursory Googling, here are some links I remember looking at earlier that were helpful:

• Instructables: Homemade Laundry Detergent
• The Simple Dollar: Making Your Own Laundry Detergent: A Detailed Visual Guide - this article not only has plenty of pictures and detailed instructions, but he even does a cost breakdown comparing the DIY detergent to store-bought in terms of cost-per-load.
• Detox Your Home: In the Laundry Room, Part 1 - this isn't a guide to making your own detergent, but rather details some of the ecological and health-related reasons why you might want to consider doing so.
• Planet Green: Make Your Own Laundry Soap
• diy Natural: Jabs Homemade Laundry Detergent - another cost breakdown, plus some helpful comments from readers.

From what I understand, the Fels Naptha soap mentioned in most of these articles is a petroleum-based product, so that's probably something I'll avoid. I think I remember reading that the Zote is as well, but don't quote me on that. Several commenters mentioned using Dr. Bronner's bar soaps instead, which, since they are castile soaps, would eliminate the petroleum issue.

Another common additive is baking soda as part of the soap recipe and white distilled vinegar as a fabric softener. Apparently the vinegar dissolves any soap residue in the clothes, which is part of what makes them stiff without the use of fabric softener. The smell completely disappears once the clothes are dry, and it helps to keep the drains in the washing machine clear of gunk. As for avoiding static cling, Grinning Planet says you can do this by stopping the dryer before clothes are fully dry and allowing them to air-dry the rest of the way. I imagine this would save a bit on the electric bill as well!

Most people seem to find that using a food processor with a grater blade is more efficient than grating by hand. A few people said they use "Salad Shooters" they found at thrift stores. Still other people say they microwave the soap or let it sit out to dry for a long time before grating it because dried-out soap crumbles into a much finer powder.

Our washing machine is an HE model, which, if I understand correctly, needs to use soaps that don't suds up as much. Since everything I've read indicates that DIY laundry soap doesn't suds up at all, it should be a non-issue. I'll do a bit more research before plugging ahead and see what I can find. Hopefully I'll be able to try it soon!

Not into the Oil Cleansing Method?

It's cool. What works for me may not work for you. I will suggest, however, that products like Clean n' Clear might not be your best option; for instance, Clean and Clear Morning Burst Detoxifying Facial Cleanser scores pretty badly on the Cosmetics Database, meaning it's got some toxic ingredients. I also find that products like that can  be really harsh and drying on the skin.

My reasons for loving the oil cleansing method are explained in my post on the matter, but if you are really not digging the idea, there are other things you can do to keep your face clean that don't involve oil blends.

• Face washes with tea tree oil are a good option for people with acne troubles or complexions that are oilier than they might like (though keep in mind that excessive oiliness may be the result of using harsh soaps to try to strip oil from the skin). I have this one in my shower right now and I use it every once in a while, though it can be a liiiittle bit drying for me. I tend to only use it when I'm having breakout issues. It's pretty inexpensive and a little goes a long way! It doesn't suds up like other face washes, but it does the job beautifully (in fact, it's best to sever the mental link between suds and cleanliness. You don't need a lather to be clean).
• Think outside the drug store! Etsy or other sites with handmade goods often have great natural options available. This shop in particular has a few that look good. I have the Strawberry Face Scrub and it cleans and exfoliates really gently. My skin always looks so nice after I use that one. It's a bit pricier and the container is tiny, but you only have to use an itty bit of it and I also save it for special occasions because I am a cheapskate.
• It's okay to just use water all by itself. I started doing this when I was in a hurry but I find that it's actually pretty great. Just take some lukewarm water, splash it on your face, and use your (clean) fingertips to rub at your greasy spots (sides of the nose, chin, etc.) It helps break up concentrated areas of oiliness without stripping your face. Since I've almost completely stopped wearing makeup (it's too expensive and low on the priorities list), I don't have to worry about getting that off my face, and regular old water seems to do the trick pretty well. Here's some more anecdotal support for this method, if you can call it a method. Please note that using straight baking soda on your face as she mentions there is a bad idea, which the blogger says in a later post.

There ya go! Three easy (on the wallet and the skin) ways to keep your face clean  that don't involve bombing it with the harshest chemicals you can find. And as I've noted, I use a combo of ALL of these things and the oil cleansing method, and I feel like my face looks better than it ever has. It's all about doing what works for you on any given day.

Successful Experiment: Oil Cleansing Method

I first learned about the oil cleansing method (OCM) from general internet wanderings a few years ago. I was pretty skeptical, and also had no idea where to obtain the oils that are usually used in oil cleansing blends. This past winter, I was so sick of how dry my skin was that I decided to cowboy up and order some oils online (from Mountain Rose Herbs, to be specific) and give it a go.

The logic behind the method is that your face produces oils for a reason, and so it makes no sense to completely strip all of those oils away and then try to replace the natural oil-based moisture with a water-based moisturizer. Traditional, commercial face-washes and astringents and acne treatments can be incredibly harsh on the skin, and operate on the principle that "oil is bad." Too much oil sitting on your face all the time isn't ideal, but oil in and of itself is good for your skin. If you aren't stripping all of it off every morning and night, your skin won't feel the need to go bonkers and overproduce its own oils, which is where that "greasy" feeling comes from.

I won't lie, oil cleansing takes a bit more time than regular face wash, but it feels so good and your skin will be so happy afterward. Well, probably. It doesn't work for everyone, but different oils have different properties, and if a certain blend isn't working for you, another one might do much better.

Castor oil is used to pull things (like blackheads) out of the skin and dissolve dirt. It's a fairly heavy oil, so if you use only castor oil, it's going to be hard to get off your face. That's why most people cut it with a lighter oil, such as olive oil, which helps to dissolve makeup as well as making it much easier to remove the oil blend with a wet washcloth.

I have combination skin, so parts of it are dry and parts are oily. My personal blend consists of (approximately, because I don't measure) 50% castor oil, 40% olive oil, and the remaining 10% is varying amounts of jojoba, grapeseed, and sweet almond oil. I also put in a couple of drops of lavender essential oil for smell and its antiseptic properties. I massage this into my skin for a few minutes (or longer if I'm zoned out and watching TV or something while I do it), then I wet a washcloth under hot water, wring it out, and lay it on my face. This is possibly the most relaxing thing on the earth. Then I gently wipe off the oil and, if my face feels a little dry afterward, pat on a few drops of jojoba or sweet almond oil.

This worked beautifully for me all winter, but over the summer my blend was too heavy and I stopped using it. Now that it's starting to cool off again, I broke out the oils and have started it back up. I wish I had never stopped! My skin looks better and my breakouts are under control, and the scarring on my cheeks has lightened considerably. I also find that these oils last so long and have so many other uses, I feel like I'm saving money over buying a little $8 bottle of Neutrogena or whatever. It's a larger upfront cost to buy the oils, but I think it's a good investment.

There are tons of resources available via Google if you want to figure out which oils work for which problems. A bit of searching found me this thread about essential oils and their properties from a forum apparently called Essential Day Spa or something.

If you give this a try, let me know how it works out for you! I cleaned out the bathroom closet today and found an old bottle of Sea Breeze astringent and I can't believe I ever put that stuff on my face. The smell of it makes my soul cry.