justagurrl's Friends

Dry eyes
I have a question for ya'll! Since the end of September I have been experiencing some dryness around my eyes. The skin is raw and peeling and even just water hurts. I've tried using oil and hydricortizone cream and it seems to help a little but the dryness always comes back. I'm almost ready to go to the doctor with this but want to give a few natural remedies a try first. My skin doesn't respond well to chemicals and I really don't want to pay the outrageous visit fee for my doctor to see me for 5 minutes and just prescribe a prescription dose of hydricortizone cream. So any suggestions? I just tried some cucumber tonight and the skin around my eyes is feeling pretty good but who knows what it will be like in the morning? Oh just as a side note I've tried Vitamin E as well as Olive oil. The skin around my eyes really didn't like the E and the olive only worked so-so.

Face wash recommendation for those with sensitive skin.
I had been using Aveda's acne face wash, for about 9 months. It worked great but didn't want to dish out the money for the refills every month. Whole Foods sells a brand called Collective Wellbeing ($12), and I decided to check out the Oatmeal & Raspberry cleansing paste a week ago. This is the best face wash I've ever used. It smells nice, cleanses really well, and doesn't have acne medicine in it. I have eczema so I've always been a fan of oats in the bath & the occasional face mask. For my budget, I'm super happy with it. So far it's keeping my skin clean, clear, and more moisturized. I still use a small amount of EveryDay Shea lotion on the super dry areas of my face, but overall it does not dry out my skin.

x-posted to naturalskin

Two questions
1. So many people rave about the Desert Essence Natural Tea Tree Oil Facial Cleansing pads, but I don't think my skin likes them. :( Any insight/tips?

2. Why do people say dairy is bad for the skin? Is there evidence for this? I worry that if I cut it out, even if my skin clears up a bit, my bones will resent me later on...

Thanks!

Moisturizer
I've been trying to switch to only natural bath products. So far, I've gone no-poo (baking soda & ACV), have continued using Tom's of Maine toothpaste, and have gotten adjusted to using Tom's of Maine deodorant.

However, my face is and has always been a huge problem.

I tried OCM, but it made my face break out like crazy. I tried getting off the topical prescription medication I have, but my face looked awful.

Right now I'm using Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap at night, prescription cream overnight, and Aveeno natural moisturizing bar in the morning.

My question is: What kind of moisturizer do you guys recommend? I tried using a bit of OCM oil, but it didn't work. All the Burt's Bees stuff at my Walmart costs upwards of 15 dollars. I'm definitely not willing to pay more than 10 dollars for moisturizer. Have any of you tried pure Vitamin E? Before I started trying to go natural, I was using Dove moisturizer, and that worked wonderfully.

This is unrelated: I mentioned Tom's of Maine deodorant. This stuff is wonderful. I've been on prescription antiperspirant for a while, so I was really wary about going off it in favour of a deodorant. I think that since my body isn't having to deal with toxic aluminum, I'm not sweating as much. It's wonderful. My dad even uses it now, and he's always had excessive sweating. Highly recommend it!

Tinnea issues.
Hi there,

I recently found a spot of ringworm on my leg (maybe due to a razor that I left in the shower.) I have been to the doctor and was prescribed prescription strength antifungal cream that I am using. However, I'm also wondering if other ongoing issues that I have been having with my skin, such as severe seborrheic dermatitis, could be tied to an overabundance or imbalance of skin yeast. I'm handwashing like lady MacBeth and using medicated dandruff shampoo as shower gel on top of using what the doctor recommended, as well as hitting the B-complex pretty hard. Is there anything else I can do do to perhaps get things back into balance as far as my skin is concerned?

And do I have to give up coffee and peanut butter? Some of the sites about candida are recommending this, and those are pretty much staples for me. D:

Kombucha
I've recently been brewing my own Kombucha and I've noticed a strange phenomenon. I've noticed that my pee has a slight sulphur smell the day after drinking it. I have definitely pegged this down to the kombucha. I only drink about a quarter cup a day, and this only happens the day after I have drunk it. I know it is a potent detoxifier, and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. It's kind of like the smell one gets after eating asparagus.

going off the pill...
So I'm considering going off my HBC, mostly to see if I feel any better without it. I've read that it depletes your B vitamins, which can lead to fatigue and anxiety (both which I have). I supplement with the help of my doctor, but I'm curious to see how I'll feel completely off the pill. Plus it's so expensive!!! The only reason I hesitate is that I don't feel super comfortable going back to just condoms. STD's aren't so much an issue, as I'm in a committed long term relationship, but the pregnancy thing is so not ok right now, lol! I'm hoping to supplement with a spermicide, but I'm looking for something more natural. Does anybody have any experience with that? I did a quick google search and came across this:

http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?item=257

Thoughts?

<3<3<3

"Recycling" vitamins/supplements
I have quite a few bottles of vitamins/supplements that I don't need/won't use. Many are unopened, but some have been opened and partially used. I need to get rid of all of them. I'm not a big fan of the idea of dumping them all in the trash because that doesn't seem environmentally friendly, but what are my other options? I thought about selling at least the unopened ones, but ... A) I don't know if anyone would buy them and B) I don't know if there's any kind of law against selling them. I mean, they're not drugs in the legal sense, but I'd hate to find out the hard way that an individual selling them was illegal.

So, my question: what would you do? Try to sell them all? Try to sell the unopened ones and throw away the open ones? Throw them all away? Something else?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Okay, so I looked way back in the memories and this wasn't anywhere to be found so....

I recently bought various organic foods to try out a healthier lifestyle. Among these foods I also bought organic coffee.

Every morning for the past few days since I made the switch to organic, I've been feeling really nauseous after drinking the coffee - just the coffee - I don't feel nauseous after eating any of the other things. I drank it on both an empty stomach and semi-full stomach (like with my breakfast) and felt nauseous with both. It lasted for about an hour - sometimes longer.

I would also drink my organic green tea to see if that had the same effect but it didn't.

Anyone else have experiences with this? Or any advice?

I'm contemplating switching back to my non-organic blend but the organic coffee was super expensive and I don't want to waste practically a full bag :/ (I would also prefer not to have to resort to going back to pesticide-ridden non-organic.)

Brand: Rogers Family Company - "Rainforest Blend"

I have something of an odd question, how to do you nurse a bee back to health? I left windows open for him to fly away outside but he didn't leave. I don't think he can fly. I gave him to sugar water (which he drank half of) and left the rest where he could get to it. I love bees and don't want to see him die. What kind of flower can I get to give him what he needs? He's a yellow jacket BTW. I am such a bleeding heart for bees.

The soup's too sweet
Quick! I just made vegetarian lentil soup with peas and carrots. The peas were too sweet and now the soup is really sweet and, well, nasty. I was hoping for something more savory. How do I hide the sweet taste? Ugh!

THE VERDICT: Thank you, everyone! One tsp. vinegar, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cumin, and 1/4 cup sour cream that I found in the fridge later...

Delicious! :D

Snail repellant? Slugs too!
the path up to my front door is very dark. If there's not sun on it you can barely see what's on it. Night time is pitch black. The security lights of my neighbour and I (shared front path as it's a ramp for our wheelchairs) don't shine on the path because of the conifers which I can't get rid of.
When it's wet we get snails on the path. The darkness has resulted in a few crunched snails which I hate (major animal lover here).
Is there something natural that won't hurt them (i'm thinking salt would hurt them?) but will keep them out of harms way away from the path?
(also squished snails on manual wheelchair wheels that your hands get on is unbelievably gross!)

I want to prevent snail death and keep them off the path.

Also random question as I don't know where else to ask; how do you put out your candles without the wick smoking a bit giving a waxy smoke smell that ruins the nice smell you chose?

Current Mood: sleepy

Cider Vinegar
Has anyone on here made their own vinegar? I've found directions that say you don't need yeast or a mother, and directions that outline anaerobic and aerobic fermentation separately, along with directions for using hydrometers and titration kits... Isn't vinegar just wine spoiled from too much oxygen? How much babying do you really need to do to come up with something usable and tasty?

Kamboucha
My friend just gave me some Kamboucha to start making my own Kamboucha tea. I'm wondering if anyone out here has any good resources, recipes, and tips for keeping my Kamboucha relatively containment free. Paul Staments Doesn't have the best things to say about culturing it at home, however I drank some home made tea from my friends culture a few days ago and I'm feeling just fine, and it seems like the Chinese have used this for thousands of years with out utilizing sterile conditions. I'm like to experiment with different flavors beyond just with the teas, so if anyone knows of any good recipes, please share.

Thanks

Current Mood: curious

Paper glued to paper !!

My niece (3 years old) thought it would be a great idea to glue pieces of paper into a book of mine.... Several pages of an old and valuable book are now completely or partially covered by glued-on scraps of paper that I can't peel off without tearing the actual pages. I think the glue she used is a liquid type, like Elmer's, and it was already fully dried before I discovered it.

Does anyone know how to remove this without destroying the book?? I'd rather not use harsh solvents - I don't even know if there's any that would do the job without destroying the book too - but at this point I could go for ANYthing that would rescue my book. Any ideas, or is it hopeless?

If this isn't the right place to ask, could someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much in advance!

Edit: slowly but surely I'm making inroad on the mess now. Thank you all for your help. You guys rock!

Pantry Moth remedies?
Being a baking nut and a customer of bulk food stores, I've managed to get myself a rather bad pantry moth problem.

The sticky traps you can get from the supermarket work well, but they're $10 for a pack of 2 and I'd like to scatter more of these traps about the house because there are moths EVERYWHERE. (House rule, if you see a pantry moth, kill it).

Is there anything I can use to construct my own trap for these little buggers? I now freeze everything I buy from the bulk food place for one night before putting it in the cupboard and scatter bay leaves everywhere, but still they come and blight my rice and flour and various other baking goodies.

Help!

natural Cat litter
I wanted to post about Cedarific cat litter that I just discovered. I was using Feline pine until this week which is also a good choice to be environmentally friendly. Cedarific, as the name implies, so it is light and fluffy and very reasonably priced.

It is the best stuff for controlling odor and makes the room that the box is in smell so nice. The product is biodegradable and compostable.

I love this stuff and wanted to pass along my experience. I don't work for these people and actually have never even heard of the company Nepco before now.

Cedarific

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask, but.... (about fungal infections)
I've been naseasous and fatigued daily for a very long time. My doctor and I have been working to figure out what is wrong with me, but it's a very slow process.
Anyway, I think a possibility might be I have an intestinal or stomach yeast infection. I won't get into why I suspect this, but it has to do with past illnesses and medical history of mine.
Even if I don't have it I don't think there's anything wrong with going on a diet that with deter yeast growth.

My question, for this community, is what sort of foods deter yeast growth??? I know sugar and carbs. I know to drink those daily yogurt drinks. I want to put myself on this diet and see how I start feeling. Because this interferes majorly in my life. I don't currently have a fulltime job, but if I did, I'd have major problems.

*And please no one say "start exercising" or typical things like that. I hear this a lot, and I have always had health problems, so it starts to get a little insulting because it's not a problem that can be fixed that easily. Plus I wear out walking maybe after 10 minutes so it's useless for me.

post-stitches and supplements during cleansing period
i just got my first set of stitches taken out on my fingertip yesterday and am wondering the best way to help it heal and keep from opening back up.

right now, i have steri-strips and some bandage/tape over it to keep the steri-strips in place. how long should i keep those on? shouldn't i be letting the wound heal? is there any way i can make sure it won't reopen if i take the steri-strips off, like when i'm in the shower? and when is it safe to start putting vitamin e oil on it?

a lot of questions in one post, i apologize for that, but the nurse just said 'the steri-strips will eventually fall off' but never let me know what other ways i should care for my healing finger.

and another set of questions:
i have been reading up on the master cleanse and really want to give it a go, but i am taking many supplements due to the instructions of my naturopath. some of those include vitamin d, vitamin c, liver gi detox, lysine, taurine, l-tyrosine, saw palmetto, and a script for pcos symptoms. i don't think it would be okay for me to stop taking them for the length of a cleanse. is there any other recommended cleanse i could do where i will get as much benefit out of it but still be able to take all of my supplements?

Organic/natural dyes
I want to go on a tie-dye spree (be so very afraid) and I need to buy some powder dyes in bulk. I'm gonna be doing a lot of baby stuff, so what are my natural/gentler options?

Help For A Clueless Person?
My household (me and my mom) have decided to make the switch from carnivores to veganism and a few tips would be greatly appreciated. We've always been very into meat and most of the meals we eat have meat as the main ingredient. This community has a lot of things that help, but I thought maybe some more personalized advice could come in handy. The big concern at the moment is that we want to have a vegan Thanksgiving dinner and no clue how to go about it. Also, we live in an area that doesn't have health food stores or even a large selection of vegetarian friendly choices in the grocery stores. Any ideas on Thanksgiving dinner and how to make the transition without it becoming too overwhelming. Thanks in advance!

I'll get this tagged once I've got it posted.

Over the past month and a half, I've gone to the doctor twice for this. The first time he gave me antibiotics and the second time, he told me what he told me the first time which was "it'll be over in a week."

Well, it's not, so I'm looking for natural ways to make swelling go down in the lymph nodes on my neck.

They've run tests, checked my tonsils, and can't find a cause for it and I really don't want to take MORE antibiotics, so I'm wondering if there is a way I can help ease the swelling naturally?

If not, that's okay. I've also been to the dentist and he says I didn't even have a cavity let alone the type of tooth abscess I would need to cause the swelling in my left neck lymph node.

Current Mood: hopeful

Coldsores: how long do you normally take to heal.
Hey guys! So yesterday morning I woke up with 2 rather yucky cold sores. I have gone back in the memories and looked at what people do for theirs. My question for those of you who get them: How long do your cold sores normally last? Is it impractical to hope to be rid of them in approximately 9 days? (the first time I have a 1 year anniversary with a boyfriend and I have coldsores :()I had a perscription for Valtrex at the strength to make Simplex 1 (the version I have) dormant again. I am also putting peroxide on them approximately twice daily, taking 3000mg of l-lysine (1000 3 times a day as per the bottle's direction) and keeping "Super Lysine +" on my lips at all times inbetween peroxide treatments.

Are there any foods you guys think I should be staying away from while I have these that may help clear these things up quicker?

Thanks for your input guys!!!

Current Mood: itchy

I think most of you will love this

Sorry if this has been posted before!

best juicer?
I'm interested in recommendations for a good vegetable juicer. We had a juiceman junior, I think, that lasted us a good year. We weren't dissatisfied with the amount of juice or how long it took, but it was a little difficult to remove the metal juicing tray and in fact, right now we just can't get it off to clean it and that's why we're looking to buy a new juicer. We juice vegetables including carrots so it has to be pretty hearty - any recommendations for or against a juicer (especially with details as to why) would be greatly appreciated.
K

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