Category Archives: coconut

I broke up with my facial cleanser

6 Replies

Tuesdays Tips & Tricks 
“Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?” – Monty Python and the Holy Grail

In the last several years as a Beauty Therapist and Hairstylist, my bathrooms in all the places I have lived have been littered with a vast array of beauty products.  Though some have come and gone, others made reappearances through out the years.

Coconuts.  I grew up thinking they were funny. I also grew up with monty python and if you did too you can connect the dots.  On my honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexico I realized just how yummy coconuts can be.  A few years later my husband and I  had the pleasure of living in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, for four years. My youngest was born there and my kids grew up with the sweet pleasures of island life.  Though we no longer live on the island, you cannot take the island out of this girl.

Coconuts for cooking? Yes, please!

I love to try new things and a couple of years ago we tried coconut oil in our coffee for health benefits.  This went on to be used in replace of other oils in a lot of our cooking.  Thanks to sites like Pinterest the many uses of coconut oil has been revealed to so many.  To be fair since we began buying it by the jar fulls, I feel like I am a constantly finding new uses for this miracle oil.

When it comes to facial cleansers I am a hopper.  I will try this one for a while and then try something else.  Maybe perhaps because my skin is never normal.  It may be beautiful and perfect for a few days then the next week its broken out and then the next its really dry.

What is a girl to do when she is unhappy?

Break up.

Since 2003 I have been using a little bit of bicarbonate soda (baking soda) mixed in my facial cleanser of choice a few times a month to exfoliate the skin.  So when I heard I could mix it in with coconut oil in lieu of my facial cleanser it made perfect sense.

Here are my tips for breaking up with your facial cleanser with a DIY option:

What you need:
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Bicarbonate Soda/Baking Soda
Baby hair brush
Water
Facial towel

Steps:
1. Flush your face with warm water to open up your pores.
2. Mix a small amount of bicarbonate soda in with the same amount of coconut oil.  My oil tends to be in a solid state.  Make sure to warm it up in your hands to cause it to liquify.
3. Once the two ingredients are mixed together well you can apply it to your face.
4. Rub gently in circular motions with the pads of your fingers.
5. Using your baby hair brush which you have warmed up under hot water, continue to rub your skin in soft circular motions.  Only do this step once a week for extra exfoliation.
6. With your hands rinse your face with water.
7. Use really cold water at the very end, flushing your face a few times.
8.  Pat, do not rub, your face with a clean facial towel.

Advice:

  • It is advisable to try using the bicarbonate soda every other day and use just coconut oil for washing your face the days in between.
  • Your face will appear oily as soon as you are finished but the coconut oil will absorb into your skin within minutes.
  • Use extra coconut oil (small amount works wonders) on any spots as an acne treatment.
  • Consult your doctor if you are unsure about any sensitivities you may have as I speak just from my personal experiences from using this on my skin.  It works GREAT!
My final thoughts after breaking up with my facial cleanser:  Why didn’t I do this sooner?!

 
My skin has been clearer and I have not had any new breakouts since trying this out.  My skin is also getting moisturized so well by the coconut oil that my makeup goes on a lot smoother. Since the coconut oil cleanses, tones, and moisturizes I have a lot of extra space in my bathroom cabinets that is much needed!  But the best part…
 
…I smell like coconuts and cookies all day and night long. 😉 Yummy. 
* Photographs belong to Bonnie Rose and cannot be used without written consent.

Coconut Oil for Pink Eye

Leave a reply
Yesterday we tried out natural remedies on Maddox. His eye is not red, pink, or itchy. But the last couple of days he has complained that they hurt. Due to the timing of when he has mentioned it, I assumed it was his way of getting out of eating his dinner. Except that he came home from school yesterday with pink eye looking discharge. Still later last night his eye had not yet turned pink or red, nor was it swollen. So we put some coconut oil on the eye lid itself and a dillution of tea tree oil in hemp oil in a large circle around his eye brown and cheak bone. Maddox asked me, “Do I look like the Target dog?”

Today Maddox’s eye looked as healthy as ever.  I would like to think that the amount of coconut oil Maddox gets in the food we cook at home has helped in the prevention and that the applications on his eye helped to clear the infection entirely.  A friend mentioned that the mixture of coconut oil with breast milk works even better. But being that I am not lactating we went with what we had.  I’ve been telling my clients all about this miracle oil.  I already use it on my hair and to moisturize my skin as well as in our cooking and in our hot drinks.  I was given a recipe for a sunblock, so I look forward to doing that one as well. If you have a great use for coconut oil I would love to hear it! 
‘Music': I quite fancy a pink ukulele. #maycreative #photoadaychallengehttp://instagr.am/p/LBlZqSok2j/
Technology: Sometimes the DS can be a great distraction when needed.
However it’s the first thing I sacrifice when handing out punishments.
#photoadaymay #photoadaychallenge
http://instagr.am/p/LBjoeSok1f/

Pink & Third Culture Kids

Leave a reply

I have really missed the theatre. I have had at least two clients who are active in either the professional or amateur levels of theatre companies here and so its been on my mind a lot recently. I just saw and am applying for a job with a theatre company in London as a Hair & Makeup assistant. It is double the hours I am working now and about 5 times my current earnings. I know I may not be a contender since I will be out of the country for two months this summer, but I can a least apply. Either way I think I want to really look at applying for Theatre jobs with my major at Uni and my past work in the last few years has not been to far off from the same sort of work. Would really like to be in a more skill/trade field than a customer service field. Keep me in your prayers. Would love to see what doors open from this.


Update: The application for said job below as it turns out is due in ten hours. I just submitted my application. Perhaps this will not be the door God opens for me, but looking forward to new opportunities.

‘Pink': flowers on the walk home.
 #Nofilter #pink #photoadaymay #photoadaychallenge http://instagr.am/p/K74KEOokyZ/
‘Culture': Third culture kids: the experience of life among worlds.
 #tck #tcks #thirdculturekids #culture #photoadaychallenge #maycreative


Watching Thunderbirds with my son on his sick day from school.

Tooth and & Light

2 Replies
No more tooth!
Showing his tooth 

Ronan’s long awaited top front tooth finally came out tonight.  He looks forward to the Tooth Fairy. 


Waiting for Ronan’s front tooth to fall out. 
#tooth 
After his tooth was coerced out by @ryana_official. My 7 year old is excited out the tooth fairy’s arrival.
 #tooth #toothfairy
 http://instagr.am/p/K3FYK2Ik_G/
‘Playing with light.’ Used a mirror as a reflector with the natural lighting from the window.
 #light #lighting
http://instagr.am/p/K2ib_fok33/
‘Light’ part II. Another one with the aid of reflecting light from the window with a mirror.
#maycreative #photoadaychallenge
http://instagr.am/p/K5FI-IIk2u/
‘Somewhere you stand': I still like to try my balance skills like a little kid.
#photoadaymay #photoadaychallenge
http://instagr.am/p/K7BE9ookwx/