Good morning! Happy Earth Day! Isn’t our earth beautiful? The picture above was taken on one of my runs last week. In honor of Earth Day, today’s post involves one of our earth’s greatest gifts: coconut oil.
A few years ago when Dustin and I lived in Orlando and even when we lived in Statesboro, I was the green queen. I recycled like someone was paying me for it, I rid my house of all harsh chemicals and cleaners, you would NEVER find me without my reusable grocery bags, I switched over to “natural” beauty products and started using aluminum free, mineral deodorant. I’ll never forget the look on my friend’s face when I busted out my mineral rock deodorant in Vegas after not seeing each other for a few months.
“Ashley, what is that?”
I’m sure the day I went vegan, a few months after that trip, was no surprise to her after that experience.
For some of you, all of the practices that I just mentioned are included in your daily lives and completely normal; for others, I just confirmed my craziness. I truly have a hippie soul and I realize that.
Not that I don’t think that the above practices are important or that I don’t try my best to still feed my green soul and “Save our earth!”, but I find that the busier I get, the more to the way side these practices get pushed. It’s pretty unfortunate.
Introducing recycling to a non-recycling family/person can have its challenges. Right when Dustin finally realized for himself that, “I married Ashley. She is a crazy recycler. She is not going anywhere so neither is recycling,” my recycling habits went by the way side – along with my ban of harsh chemicals in the house. Slowly, I noticed myself grabbing whatever was convenient and cheap instead of searching for the greener, safer products. What happened to me? Lucky for Dustin, unfortunate for our earth and world.
But what do you know? Right now, I’m not overly slammed with work/school anymore and actually have time to think straight again, and I can already feel my blood reverting back to green.
For the past few years, my makeup of choice has been very consistent. I prefer Tart over any other line and love not only the practices behind the vegan line, but also the quality of the makeup. Lately, however, I find myself searching for even more. I’ve been Googling and researching natural beauty products and when drugstores pop up, my searching continues. I’m not looking for another company that makes a more “natural” product, but instead, beauty recipes straight from the kitchen.
Let me introduce you to my favorite beauty ingredient right now: coconut oil. (As if I needed another reason to love it.) A great moisturizer, lotion, makeup remover and hair softener/smoother… sans harsh chemicals! I literally lather my entire body in it every night and wake up the next morning feeling smooth… greasy, yes, but soft as well! Say no to wrinkles!
I’ve also been using coconut oil a lot lately to hydrate my hair.
About twice weekly, I cover my entire ponytail in coconut oil, let sit for about 30 minutes or overnight and then wash out. A few weeks ago, I did this on an afternoon before I was going to a wedding shower that night. After washing, blow drying and straightening my hair, let’s just say, it looked liked I hadn’t washed my hair in days. Lesson learned: don’t do this hours before you have to somewhere to be, clean. That night, after embarrassingly explaining myself to a friend, she told me that she loves coconut oil for the same purposes but washes her hair twice after each treatment. Coulda’, woulda’, shoulda’.
There are also a few guys that I know that are digging coconut oil right now too!
Boss and Gunner! After washing the pups, I warm the coconut oil for a few seconds to liquify it and then rub them down from head to toe with it. Their coats shine, they smell delicious and they even try to lick it off my hands in the process. A win win for all.
What about you? Do you ever use coconut oil outside of the kitchen? Any other natural beauty remedies you love? Please share!
Happy Earth Day and Good Health!
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