Am I in crisis?

I'm not sure.  I have been putting a lot of thought into many of the choices I live my life by as of late.  It's been three years since I cut off my hair and started doing the dirty hippie thing, two years since I started derby, and a whole year of keto, and three months since I finally started dating a fantastic guy.  Are these choices still right for me?

Well, I'm not dropping out of derby, that's for sure.  And I'm not switching leagues again!  But I am very far from content with the current state of things, so I plan on running for an executive board position this week.  I'm going to make this league better if it kills them!  It is driving me into poverty, though.  I have an interview for a barista position at Sheetz tomorrow at 7:30 am  -_-;;

Keto?  I just did a full blood panel two weeks ago.  My cholesterol is stupidly healthy.  It is the best I have ever had in the seven years I've been testing.  I love my diet, and I love bacon, and cream, and eggs.  But I can't stop fantasizing about pancakes and Chunky Monkey.  I went to Grange Faire for my birthday and ate myself into a coma.  I enjoyed every single bite, but was in so much pain for the next two days purging the sugar from my system.  I keep going back and forth.  Do I really care what I look like or not?  Is all the bacon in the world really worth not eating 95% of the menu?  Will popcorn really kill me?  It's a thing of willpower, which I have significantly less of on some days.

Dirty Hippie.  This is something I have always classified myself as, and always will, but sometimes I wonder how much the "dirty" part matters.  I finally managed to bleach my Rogue streak again after five or so years, but decided to Manic Panic it red temporarily since I wasn't able to bleach it white all at once and didn't want it to look like piss.  I'm enjoying the red streak (though I liked it better when it was darker), but it seems to have sparked a bit of vanity in me.  I caught the nail polish bug from Cephalogal and did that for a couple of weeks, and even started wearing eye liner.  And then I freaked out Burn.

Burn is a fantastic guy, he treats me very well (unlike my previous relationship), and feels eerily perfect.  Is it wrong for me to be paranoid?  I mean, I thought the last dude was decent, and then I realized the hard way just how much of a scumbag he really is.  And to make matters worse, I didn't realize this until a couple of months after I broke up with him (though I did decide to because i realized he was less than fresh).  Is my douchegauge broken?  How was I able to put up with shit for so long?  Is there anything said broken gauge is missing in my new relationship?  I highly doubt it.  Burn is a bit distracted, but I feel he honestly means well.  So why am I having such a hard time getting past the deception when I have no reason to interact with it again?  I don't know.  It's that Lack Of Self Esteem thing again.  At least this is a decision I have no intention of changing any time soon.

But I digressed.  I've been having attacks of vanity.  Since I visited my mother in August and Had to look good, I've been considering washing my hair, using real lotions instead of coconut oil, and pretending to be an adult.  I don't know why.  The idea of using prefabricated body products terrifies the ever-loving crap out of me.  I hate how they feel on my skin and how they irritate it, but now that my hair goes down my back, I'd like to be able to pass my fingers through it.  And the only way I know how to achieve that is by using a shitload of paraffins and chemical products.  I mean, my hair is very healthy, but that kind of "silky" is always artificial.  The idea just feels so… wrong.  Like I'm cheating myself out of my values.  Would I be?  Is there any way to manage that level of chemical pleasure with natural, home made products?

Yeah.  My head hates sitting still.

Oh!  And I am currently in two swaps (which I should remember to make posts for -_-;;) and am going to a wedding in December for which I need to have two sets of baby gifts.

Stinky pads

From lollergirls.blogspot.com

Very, very stinky pads. Like, hobo piss bad.

I'm lazy. I'm not going to deny it! So for the first couple of months, I just threw my bag in my trunk and forgot about it. And then it got to the point that even when I did use soap (dirty hippy, remember?) it was impossible to get the stench off my elbows. So I started dragging everything inside and laying it out in the basement in front of the dehumidifier. I even sprinkled it with my trusty baking soda, to no avail :(

So after some more handy dandy googling, I found many solutions:

Laundering them

Spraying them with 50/50 vodka and water

Aerating system I plan on eventually making

Sweat soaking satchels I also plan on making if I find out what they are filled with (baking soda and kitty litter or some other desiccant)

Get The Funk Out enzyme spray

Febreeze or perfume sprays. For the love of god, don't do this!!!

Laundry is bad. The heat and agitation will decompose the foam in your pads and mess up the elastic in the straps. Yes, it is a quick fix and sanitizing and crap, but you will just end up getting hurt and having to buy new pads very, very soon.

I know many people that claim to use vodka, but I haven't checked how effective it is. The reason it works is that when the vodka evaporates, it boils and kills the bacteria, after already having broken down its cellular wall. No bacteria, no stench. This is also a big part of what happens with the enzyme spray (it has a lot of isopropyl alcohol). I looked into getting the stuff that is specific for sports pads, but I already had a gallon of Nature's Miracle at home, due to the wonderful Herb, so why not? This stuff is wonderful! It really did make a huge difference in my elbows ^_^

Some day, I plan on buying some PVC and making the aerator system so I can just clamp everything on when I take it off, and pull it out of my bag and hang it as soon as I get home. But in the mean time, cat piss spray is awesome!

No-poooooooo!

This is me in all my Mad Scientist glory. Well, I'm wearing my lab coat, at least. I've been slacking a bit (ya think?) with my posts, so this is a 4-in-1 no-poo post! (I love how my hair is growing out and finally getting big!)

Friday 16, three weekends ago, I had a (final) date with the Hair Sniffer, so I was too self consious to rinse with vinegar. I also poured way too much BS into my mug, so I had to find a new approach. I deposited a few pinches on my scalp around my dry head and then rinsed with hot water, and followed up with (gasp!) Head conditioner. Now, it's supposed to be all hippie and awesome, and I really wanted soft hair for my failed date, and it came out quite nice.

The problem, though, was the next week, when I tried to do the same dry pinch method. You know how every spring issue of a fashion magazine will tell you to spray salt water in your hair to give it texture and beach waves? Well, that's what i got. The BS seemed to stick a bit to the conditioner from the previous wash, and my hair ended up Very Texturized.

It wasn't until last tuesday when I washed it again, also with the pinches of BS on dry scalp. I rinsed it out in the tub (I was exhausted from playing a lot of soccer) and then with hot water from the shower. I followed it up with a 1:4 white vinegar and water mix, and my hair came out better, but didn't feel as clean as I had felt it in the past. All three times with the pinches of dry BS felt a bit lacking.

So today I finally took the last portion of BS in my mug and added really hot water. I poured this on my dry scalp, combed through, and rinsed with very hot water from the shower (this is the key!). I followed it up with the 1:4 vinegar rinse, hot shower water, and cold shower water. I finally feel like I got all the residues out, my scalp feels clean, and my hair feels soft and not dry. And I think the 1:4 is enough to give me the benefits of vinegar, without smelling like a walking salad. This is definitely the combination that I like the most, though I'll probably not use the vinegar every time.

As soon as Eliot posts the video, I'll tell you guys about the rest of my sunday, balistic gel and all!

Misanthropy, Movies and Me.

I had another one of my "I hate people" moments this weekend, when four separate people bailed on me within two hours of us going to the Dam to canoe. At least I have a very stubborn roommate and we ended up going anyway. It rocked! We rowed for a good hour, saw a lot of dogs, and I got a lot less sunburned than I ever would have expected to (as in, none). This also made me remember that I should probably place that Zinc Oxide order already!

As far as the no-poo, I think I've got it down! I'd yet to feel my hair as clean as I would with shampoo, until last friday night. I did a tbsp BS in 1C water on dry hair, brushed through, and then dunked my head in the tub that I'd let fill while the water was warming and I was doing everything else. I then rinsed with 1C straight vinegar, followed only by cold water. There was a faint smell through the night and part of the morning, but had completely disappeared by mid afternoon. I don't plan on doing the vinegar every time, or at least halving it with water and maybe rinsing with warmer water, but my hair did feel completely clean, without feeling dried out. Also, dandruff is completely gone!

The hair sniffer, though, has had minimal txt contact on friday, past midnight, for which I have lost all patience and hope. Le sigh. I managed to keep myself distracted throughout the week by watching many movies:


Prince of Persia (aka Parkour, the movie): Disney movie, based on a game, staring a very ripped Jake Gyllenhaal. It was a blast! It was very well done, and very entertaining.

Toy Story 3: Holy shit, did I cry! I did children's parties in college, and would constantly do a TS2 puppet show, so the story is very close to my heart. There were very few predictable moments, probably because I'd seen them in a preview, and it was completely awesome!

Knight and Day: We didn't make it to The Killers in time. It was Tom Cruise doing what he does best: be batshit insane. They never managed to get Cameron Diaz in the proper angle, for which she constantly reminded me of the doll from Saw, with the huge, protruding cheeks and detachable jaw. If you want to be constantly thrown through a loop, over and over again, this is the movie for you! It made perfect sense, in that it made no sense at all. It was quite enjoyable, just for how ridiculous it was.

The A-Team: "No, they are trying to fly it." This is by far one of the best action movies I have seen in quite some time. I was laughing so hard the entire time.


I promise to post this weekend about the two swaps that are coming to an end. I hope I mange to finish everything >.<

No-poo beadhead

This is a shitty photobooth picture, but you can tell how curly my hair is when I wake up. My hair has never been curly (without a shitload of prep) until I stopped using shampoo; it's always had a lanky wave.

This other picture is from the first time I did no-poo, right after it dried, before I ever brushed it. Wow, volume!

BS+vinegar+cold water

In today's no-poo files, I am trying to go all out. Why, dear reader, might you ask? Because I met a guy last friday ^_^ He's cute, tall! and a nerd ^_^ We went out on a date last night, grabbed some dinner at a chinese restaurant, and then went for a couple of beers after to his house. We proceeded to sit on the couch, talking, and he sniffed my hair. Like, he actually took in a deap breath from my hair. o.O Of course, when I got home, I shoved my head in my roommates face and asked if I smelled like anything, and he said no. So I'm hoping that he was just trying to "breathe me in", and maybe was confused by my lack of 57000 bath product smells. He, on the other hand, smelled divine! I am so sick of everybody and their uncle wearing Old Spice, that I am beside myself that he doesn't!

So today, coming back from the gym (I power walked 5.5 miles!) I used 1 tsp BS in 1/2 c hot water on dry hair, followed by 1/2 c white vinegar, straight, dispersed by a couple mugs of hot water, and then rinsed out with cold water from the shower. My wet hair still smells a bitvinegary, but I'll shove my head in Dan's face again later when it is dry.

I don't remember if I've mentioned it, but I've stalled so much on my face milk recipe hunt, that I have resorted to using only a drop of jojoba oil, spread on my hands and elbows, and then on my face. This way, I get very little oil on, but I don't need any more, especially in the summer. I'll see if I need more later in the year.

On the smell front, I still love my deodorant, but having smelled him last night made me really want to find a scent to mix in to my products. A signature scent, if you must. I know I love cranberry, honeysuckle, and chamomile, so now I need to find sources and implement them ^_^

No-poo and trees!!!

I'm keeing up with the no-pooing. Saturday, after three gym visits, I washed my hair with only 2 tbs white vinegar in a cup of water. Out of the 8" of hair I have, 7 were perfect, 1/2" was dry, and the other was... well, not oily, but it definitely felt sweatyish. I tried brushing my hair out with a natural bristle brush, and I don't know if it made any difference. Through the three days, my hair felt progressively better, for some reason.

Yesterday, I tried sprinkling a tsp of BS on my dry roots, and then rinsing with 1/2 c WV and 1/2 c water. I don't know if there was enough BS to make any difference, but the WV felt nice. Again, the ends felt a bit dry, but the roots felt less sweaty (I think the main culprit for them feeling wrong on saturday is that it was muggy as all hell, and it took my hair forever to dry!) and I had a ridiculous amount of volume! I don't completely dislike the feel of my hair, but it is definitely different than what I'm used to. I am hesitant to use more BS, after that overdose last week, but I might need it.


In the tooth department, I posted over on Naturalliving on LJ about all this, and someone responded with this amazing list of the abrasiveness of many toothpastes!
http://www.kingtooth.com/files/TOOTHPASTE_RDA_VALUES_5-30-08.pdf


In completely unrelated news, I HAVE TREES!!! We bought them on saturday, and they delivered them yesterday morning ^_^

This is Dan, jumping on the shovel like a pogo stick.

This is not a corpse, but a network of very healthy, 3" wide roots that were exactly where we wanted to put the tree, and couldn't tell until we'd already removed 10" of dirt. They belonged to a maple that got chopped down three years ago o.O I think it was a dwarven tree canopy, of those underground dwarven trees, which of course Dan would be forced by his dwarven nature to find. (Dan is a D&D dwarf. Honest! He has all the stats.)

Lightning bug ^_^ and the house ^_^

The tree on the left is a redbud, and the one on the right is a magnolia. Hopefully, within a year, they will be big enough to offer shade to that bay window that is our dining room/nerd quarters.

You love me! You really love me!

Well, probably not, but some of you actually leave comments!

Dory said... Baking soda is the shit. I use it to clean all my sterling and once I'm done scrubbing, my hands feel really smooth.

My mother swears by cleaning her silver with a lemon peel dipped in BS. That way you can clean the surface without removing all the deeper tarnish that is supposed to be there.


Jamie said... I did my first no-poo last night, and it worked REALLY WELL. My hair, which is usually really coarse and dry unless I put a ton of leave-in conditioner in it (I was already only shampooing three times a week, because even with a moisturizing shampoo my hair just gets wiry), was really soft and manageable. I used, as recommended, one tsp. of baking soda in a cup of water, plus a little honey because I have such dry hair; then I rinsed with apple cider vinegar diluted with water. When I got out, I rubbed a little bit of lavender essential oil (with jojoba as a carrier oil) into my scalp.

My hair and skin are super dry, but I like the BS rinse so much so far that I don't think I need the honey. I did try to rub some jojoba oil onto my scalp after my bath yesterday, since I'd done a number on it, but it mostly staid on my really thick hair. It felt nice and soft, but a bit greasy until it managed to disperse itself fully by the end of the day.


supepome said... Yay! I'll have to try the facial scrub idea, thanks for the tip - I already use bicarb on my hair and teeth. I still find I have to use a teensy bit of regular toothpaste afterward though, because I can taste all the yuk it's getting off my teeth. I think I might try making a mouthwash with some water and a drop of peppermint or tea-tree oil. Doesn't half shift those terminal-caffeine-addict stains though :D

I haven't had any problems with foul aftertastes. I love that I can eat right after I brush them in the morning (and even drink orange juice!) without wanting to gag. Tea tree oil, on the other hand, really repels me. My roommate swears by its antibacterial properties and uses it every single time he gets any small scrape or scratch. But if you like it, whatever floats your boat!

As far as caffeine stains go, most products contain peroxide. You could rinse with that after the BS! Though it will cure all the wounds you might have in your mouth, and not in a fun way. I know HP is H2O2, while BS+vinegar=CO2+H2O, but I'm tempted to try brushing with BS and then rinsing with vinegar and seeing if the chemical reaction helps the stains at all. I remember reading a story once of a bride's teeth getting stained with red wine or coffee right after an intense bleaching, and that champagne then helped get the stain out because of the bubbles...

Whatever you do, don't brush your teeth for half an hour after drinking sodas! They weaken the enamel, which is then easily brushed off.

Oh, Baking Soda, how I love thee...

Last night I played soccer again, and decided to not wash my hair so I could OMGBLOG! about it. The wash seems to be holding up, though the roots are slightly greasy and the ends a bit dry, but nothing compared to the regular shampoo days. My scalp is itching this morning, and I'm assuming it is because of the sweat. Though at least my head doesn't smell! And the pits, still rockin'!

I did, though, try brushing my teeth with baking soda, and loved it! I've had a bone to pick with toothpaste since I was 7 and would always get nauseous on the school bus (this is where my dental hygiene habits went to the shitter). I'm constantly trying out different brands, in the search of something without mints, and found a very decent hippie cherry one from Nature's Gate, but I ran out and keep on forgetting to buy more (the hippie store has odd hours).

So I dipped a moist toothbrush in some baking soda and brushed away (it just tasted like a bunch of salt). This was a bit better than just a brush, thanks to the abrasiveness of the BS, and a lot better than your average toothpaste! I think it is because of all the surfactants in regular toothpaste, that you get a mouth full of foam, and it is hard to tell if you reached all the crud. I have often brushed my teeth and then gone on my merry way, only to feel that I hadn't done anything, and was getting nauseous.

So yeah, teethbrushing + BS = WIN! I was reading the website, and they also recommend mixing 3:1 with some water as a "mild daily face scrub" that I will try next time.

ETA: Ok, I couldn't take it any longer and showered again. I'd been scratching my scalp so much this morning, that I had minor abrasions, so the BS burned a bit, but it calmed down quickly. I also did the face scrub, and that was nice. The less water you use, the more abrasive it is, so you can mix it accordingly.

Adventures in Smelly Hippie Land, part two: RTFM

I think I'd mentioned that I did the no-poo thing wrong the first two times. Well, this monday morning I finally got it right. I dissolved a TBS of baking soda in a full cup of hot water, and slowly poured it on my dry hair, soaking all of it, and then rinsing as normal in the shower.

Monday: Holy crap was my hair curly! It hardly ever gets past a lazy wave, but you'd think I'd just come out of a vapor room. Also, it dried a lot quicker than it normally does, enough to not give me swamp-neck. My hair felt Clean, with the ends maybe a tad dry. Then again, I have Very Dry everything, and haven't come within ten feet of scissors since last july. Dan also said it looked a bit lack luster, compared to what it normally looks like.

Tuesday: still really curling out of my ponytail, but feeling smoother.

Wednesday: My hair now feels like it normally does. It is still not greasy; I haven't gone to the gym (because I'm a lazy slob), but it's been 80 F and I was running two experiments yesterday that burned the crap out of coal samples. My hair has a thick, voluptuous wave, is finally lustrous (without being greasy) and feels pretty much like the end of the day when I used good shampoo and conditioner (I used to be addicted to Redkin's So Soft).


As far as the deodorant, the original mix is still doing well. I'm not too fond of the smell of shea butter (though it is very mild and I only smell it at first) and I am definitely going to have to cut it in the next mix (jojoba, maybe?) but it is definitely doing it's job. I think saturday I didn't put it on completely over one armpit, or didn't use enough, so later in the day it really smelled on that side. I was able to put on more and completely get rid of the smell, something that never worked with regular deodorant.

Another thing I've read people ask on other blogs: Does it leave a white stain? Not at all. Most of my shirts are black, and there is a slight trace from my old deodorant that hasn't washed out of all of them yet, but nothing from this one ^_^

As a side note, whatever I have left on my fingers, after use, I rub on my elbows. They are feeling nicer because the baking soda buffs them a bit, and the butter moisturizes. Same for when I tried it on my ankles.

Adventures in Smelly Hippie Land

Last night I managed to make deodorant! I started off with angry chicken's recipe, but omitted the cacao butter because the smell is too intense for me (and the vitamine E that I forgot to steal from Amalthea). So why did I have any desire to make my own deodorant?

• - I absolutelymotherfuckinghate scented deodorants. They nauseate me! For the past five years or so, I've been exclusively using Arm and Hammer Baking Soda's unscented antiperspirant, and it has worked for the most part. Except for
• - every once in a while, I will feel a sharp pain in my armpit, like a clogged pore or something.
• - Also, I will still smell after I exercise, no matter how often I reapply.

So what did I use?

• 1 TBS shea butter
• 2/5 TBS corn starch
• 3/5 TBS baking soda
• - melt in the microwave for 30 seconds, checking every 10 that it doesn't boil over.
• - mix well and place in fridge to set
• - a small pea size or less is enough per arm pit (I scrape it with the back of my fingernail and the shard is enough). It will melt very well with body heat.

So I think I put this through the ultimate test. I showered last night and cleaned off the spoon on my pits. I slept in a furnace, and ran many errands in a car that was hotter than deep fried ass. Afterwards, I played two hours of futbol in the damned sun.

Verdict?
At first, my pits felt a bit swampy. The shea butter was too greasy, so I will probably add more dry products next time. But the important thing is that I DON'T SMELL! Like, seriously! After all that, I feel awesome! Ok, now that it's been about three hours since my game, my armpits smell a bit, if I really, really sniff at them. Huzzah!

Things I want to make someday*

*but probably never will. Or it will take me several years to get around to them.

In Mexico, there is a gubernatorial agency in charge of consumer affairs (PROFECO) that analyzes products and grades them, and then offers recipes on how to make them for super cheap! (unfortunately, not all are from scratch, and go for an emphasis on cheap rather than hippie) I remember watching a show about ten years ago on how to make chapstick and lotion!

Here is a "short" list I just compiled of some of the cool things I want to make. Mind you, the links are in spanish. I plan on eventually adding notes, specifying if they can be made naturally.

- Cajeta (video)
- Dulce de Mango (video)
- Marmalade (video)
- Rompope (video)
- Soy Milk (podcast)

Personal product master list
- After Sun Cream (video)
- Antiperspirant (text)
- Bug Spray (video)
- Face Tonic (video)
- Hair Gel (video)
- Hair Wax (video)
- Liquid Hand Soap (video)
- Mascara (video)
- Shaving Cream (video)
- Shoe Deodorant (audio)
- Vick's Vapor Rub (video)

- Insecticide (video)
- Kitchen Cleaner (video)
- Play Dough (video)