Friday 26 September 2014

Things We don't See Often Enough

The world is changing quite rapidly, more rapidly than people are able to easily adjust to. For example how relationships have changed with women doing more outside the house and men having a more hands on role - yet many expecting the same relationship their parents had even though times were different then.

For what ever the reasons some changes that are taking place aren't necessarily for the better (in my opinion). There are a bunch of things we just don't see happening openly anymore which is a shame:
Openly sharing preggy bellies without judgment or competition for whose is better or worse so that other women now experiencing pregnancy can see they come in all shapes and sizes.  We are only ever shown nice looking pert preggy bellies on young sexy mothers.
Openly breast feeding. Over the years breasts have became more about sex and less about feeding our babies. Only weeks ago my young sons were amazed to find that breasts supplied milk to babies because they'd never seen it happening (or were too young to remember). On that note I'm always amazed when I talk to women who say they would hate to see a woman get her breasts out in public to feed her baby and yet have no issue with their husbands reading men's mags or visiting strip clubs... ??
After birth belly. Believe it or not, once you've had your baby your tummy kind of resemble a basket ball slowly deflating. It is soft and wobbly and squishy. It doesn't bounce back to flat in a matter of days or even weeks like the celebrities would have us believe.
Women wearing cold cream face masks. I miss that 'beauty eternal' image of ladies wearing a cold cream mask (picture Elizabeth Taylor). It was a classic sign of pampering and caring for your skin.

Openly accepting stretchmarks and cellulite and generally accepting all the differences and changes in women's bodies, shapes and sizes. We are more concerned than ever about healthy vs unhealthy - which is a good concern to have. Yet we need to understand that we're all different and that is ok, in fact it's normal.  In fact we NEVER see images of cellulite in women unless it's to make fun of them for having it!
Having groups of women help other women who are struggling with children, marriage, work or life. These days women tend not to admit they're struggling let alone ask for help and sometimes they feel put down if advice is offered. Pity because it's a wonderful thing being able to help another woman in need.
Cooking from scratch has almost become a rarity - buying ready made foods has become a lifestyle choice. I miss those days when women cooked in groups; such as cooking scones together for morning tea or making large batches of pasta sauce.
Ageing. Yet another thing that happens, and yet it is shunned and shied away from and it's a pity because we've because so obsessed with youth and beauty that it puts the older women into some limbo category. Becoming older and ageing is treated like a bad thing and yet there is beauty and wisdom in older women.

Seeing other women give birth would have been normal when we lived in smaller communities. We watched and learned how to do it, how to breathe, when to push, when not to push. We learned that crying out because it's painful was normal. We learned that each woman handled birth differently. These days we've got bunches of women who boast about how they went through birth without any pain killers as though it's a competition who can 'take the pain' the best. We've got bunches of women wanting to have cesareans because they don't want to experience a normal birth. We have situations like mine where when I started making loud noises during my labour the midwife told me to stop yelling and my husband thought I did a 'bad job'. When did pregnancy and labour go from being a normal natural wonderful thing to being a competition about who can do it best?
The reason I think we should see more of these things is because many a new mum / parent is struggling with things like breast feeding because they've not watched many (if any) women do it. Many women body shame because they feel bad about imperfections (theirs and others). Many women struggle with raising their children because we no longer have a community of women around them to help.

The good news is a number of these 'old ways' are coming back into fashion with more and more women rebelling against these changes and that is a good thing!

Do you do or experience many of these with other women? Is there something else you'd add to things we should see more of?

  

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Giving Your Bathroom the Green Clean

You might be wondering what Green Cleaning has to do with skin care so I'll start by saying that majority of overexposure cases begin or are caused by household cleaning products. There are SO many hazardous chemicals in household cleaning products and we expose ourselves to them every time we choose to purchase a product from the supermarket cleaning isle.

The worst culprits are bleach and domestos, however most of them are hazardous to varying degrees and getting them on your skin or breathing in the fumes is NOT GOOD FOR YOU.

When it comes to Green Cleaning... what does a natural skin care specialist do?


Use green products such as Enjo cleaning cloths that are washable and reusable, Nature Direct cleaning liquids made with essential oils and DIY cleaning products. The odd scrub brush and shaggy dog toothbrush.  Use cotton gloves underneath your rubber gloves and moisturise hands when finished cleaning.

To clean the basin, cabinets and mirror use an Enjo cleaning cloth with plain cold water along with an Enjo buffing cloth (dries surfaces and shines and polishes without leaving lint behind). You can clean with your household cleaning products if you like those lovely 'clean' scents.

To clean the shower use an Enjo cleaning cloth with Nature Direct Heavy Duty Cleaner (or your own DIY cleaner). For more baked on grime use a scrubbing brush and use a shaggy dog toothbrush to clean tile grout. You can make a tile cleaning paste by mixing bicarb soda and water into a paste. Add a drop or 2 of lemon or eucalyptus essential oil for a nice scent (both are safe to use on marble).

To clean the toilet again use your Enjo cleaning cloth and Enjo buffing cloth along with Heavy Duty Cleaner [yellow] for the outside parts of the toilet = seats, sides etc. A standard scrubbing brush for the inside of your loo is good... but AVOID bleaches and toilet cleaners. Firstly they're washed down our drains which is NOT good, secondly they're not good to breathe in and they're full of chemicals that are harmful (why buy into the manufacture of that??)

Nature Direct also have a Glass Cleaner [green] suitable for shower screens and mirrors.

For carpets make yourself a DIY carpet cleaner with bicarb soda and a couple of drops of your favourite essential oil. Store in an empty spice jar with holes in the top to sprinkle the powder onto your carpet.

You can see it is quite simple and easy to clean green. So DITCH all those toxic chemical cleaning products that are harming you and your family, not good for asthma and skin conditions, not good to inhale or come in contact with your skin, and not good for your pets to breathe in either! Choose to clean green and look after your skin, your body, your loved ones and the environment.