Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Spring is Here!!

This means one thing.  Garden!!! I mowed the yard today...well, the back yard....most of it.  I thought I was going to die.  Our yard is really dippy (previous tenants had dogs...dogs that dig), it's on a slight incline (after several passes it feels like a large incline), and we have a very basic push mower.  This year we're hoping to sell this one and put the money toward a self propelled mower so the task will be less daunting.  It started off pretty nice, though, and thankfully it was breezy out :)

In regards to sun protection, I'm going to try something new.  Sunscreen would inevitably come up on my chemical no-no list, so I started looking at alternatives well before spring got here.  The body is amazing, and if treated properly, will generally take care of necessary processes, sun protection included.  I mean, how did the primal human make it before such protection?

The low down:

Sunscreen is made to prevent your body from absorbing rays that turn cells cancerous.  Unfortunately, our bodies rely on the sun to product Vitamin D.  No ray absorption = no Vitamin D.  I learned recently that Vitamin D helps your body protect against sun damage.  You may still color, etc, but Vitamin D aids in preventing our cells from turning cancerous.  No ray absorption = no Vitamin D = no natural sun protection.  All of this sunscreen business is another money making marketing scam....mostly.  I still believe in some protection.  I wore a hat and sunglasses while mowing to protect my eyes and what not.

At the moment, I am "seasoning" my skin to the sun.  You obviously can't go out for hours and expect your skin to react kindly.  Start out slow.  I worked in the yard this weekend in 10-20 minute increments.  Today I was out for about 40 minutes.  I used a low SPF moisturizer to help for now.  I also used it so I can use up the last of my store bought moisturizer and convert completely to coconut oil.  So far, I have not experienced any burning sensations, just that nice warm relaxed sense of being :)

The final ingredient to this fix is coconut oil.  It serves the same sort of protection that Vitamin D does as it prevents cells from turning cancerous.  It also helps, possibly more so, if ingested, so I've started cooking with it or adding it to my smoothies or coffee, etc.  This is, of course, not at all guaranteed, but there is extensive research supporting these claims, and being fair skinned, I am thrilled to see if it proves true as sunscreens are extremely greasy and uncomfortable to wear.

Why don't I just buy an all natural sunscreen?  Why would you even ask me that?  You know I can't afford all of that with the $350 (not including extra gas usage and time away from home due to the drive) less I get a month since my work transfer (bitter much?).  Part of making things from scratch is to save money.  We're lucky if we break even right now.

Making things from scratch has been great fun.  I've also noticed a definite improvement in my mood and energy since using less chemicals in the house.  I'll give an update later on the switches I've made.  It is a slow process as I don't want to overwhelm myself by making everything all at once.  I also have a small stock pile of various products that I intend to use up as I did pay money for them.  I've contemplated giving stuff away, but decided against it.  It's mostly my body sprays from Bath and Body Works, but the time it will take me to use them will give me a chance to stock up on essential oils that I can use as perfume later as I can't afford to buy all of the necessary or wanted essential oils at the moment.

I hope you guys are well and experiencing warm weather wherever you may be.

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