Online Goddess

A few days ago, I read this article and decided to try a simplified version of the vinegar rinse recipe. I didn’t have any rosebuds or honey, so it was plain apple cider vinegar and water. I did add some ylang-ylang essential oil that I had knocking around, however, as it’s good for oily skin and would hopefully balance out the yucky vinegar odour. For those interested in trying this, I used 100ml of vinegar to 900ml of water, with 5 drops of ylang-ylang.

Well, I’ve used the recipe 3 times now and I am extremely proud to say that my dandruff appears to have completely vanished! It was actually gone from the very first wash, but I didn’t dare say anything then in case I was just having a good day. I’ve had my husband take a thorough look at my scalp every day and there’s no trace of redness or flaking at all. 

I use it as a pre-rinse - basically I pour it all over my scalp, give it a bit of a massage and then leave in for a couple of minutes. Then I rinse it out and apply shampoo as normal. My hair still smells faintly of vinegar after the final rinse, so I’m going to try halving the vinegar content in my next few washes.

I’ve never tried anything like this before and it never even occured to me to do so as I’ve used shampoos containing apple cider vinegar without success. I guess they just didn’t contain enough of it to have an effect.

Fingers crossed that it continues to work!

I was googling info on stretchmarks the other day and was quite surprised to learn that oily-skinned people don’t get them very often. Because the skin is more elastic and supple, it’s harder for scar tissue to form – so it’s just my luck that I’m one of the minority that do get them and I guess that’s down to genetics. They first appeared on the backs of my legs during my teens and I also have a few on my hips and upper thighs, some at the top of my bum and the odd barely-visible one on the sides of my breasts.

So, what can I do to get rid of or minimise them? Well, I’m currently trying a mixed regime of products and yes, it’s those Anita Grant ones again, I told you I’d find some use for them. :D Anyway, I’m applying the products as follows, twice daily:

Monoi de Tahiti Oil: This goes on the back of my legs. I’m hoping the high content of coconut oil will have a positive effect. It’s the greasiest solution I’m using, but it does smell fabulous.

Ylang-Ylang & Cedarwood Whipped Butter: This is the one I expect to have the greatest effect, containing a more traditional stretchmark remedy of shea butter and cupuaçu butter (a member of the cocoa butter family). I’m using it on my hips and thighs and though it’s a little greasy to start, it absorbs quite quickly and leaves the skin nice and soft. I’m rather partial to ylang-ylang as well and it’s very easy to apply over a wide area.

Camellia Copaiba Bath & Body Oil: Finally, this goes on my chest. It’s the least greasy of the three and instantly leaves a velvety feel. The woody aroma is gorgeous. The ingredients are a little more exotic, camellia kissi is purported to be very good at treating stretchmarks. Anita does a pure Camellia Kissi oil as well, but I went for this one because the copaiba balances out oily skin, which often causes blemishes and pimples on my chest. May as well kill two birds with one stone as they say.

I’ll post the results at a later date. Although I only have sample bottles, they are going to last me a long time by the looks of things.

Price: £6.50 per 250ml
Rating:
Link: http://www.akamuti.co.uk

Ingredients: Organic rose water, Fairtrade African Black Soap (wildcrafted virgin palm oil and shea butter)

This is one amazingly versatile product with a myriad of uses. I can use it all over my body and it leaves my skin beautifully soft and clean. Smells fantastic too!
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Last night, I decided to try a little experiment which didn’t turn out so well. I’ve been desperately wanting to use those lovely butters I bought from Anita Grant, but they’re not really meant for my hair type. Regardless, I thought I’d work a teeny bit of the Monoi de Tahiti into my damp hair after bathing. At first it seemed really nice - the butter melted in well and smelled absolutely gorgeous. But as it dried, I realised it was quite heavy and more than a little stringy and greasy. Eeeek!

After much furious brushing and confirmation from my husband that I looked like a wet dog, I decided to give it another thorough rinse. That still didn’t do the trick, but by then it was late and I needed to go to bed. This morning, I shampooed and used a vinegar rinse and it looks better again.

Moral of the story: no matter how much you like the look of a product that isn’t intended for your skin/hair type, no amount of wishful thinking will make it work. That said, I am going to find a use for these butters, and thus an excuse to buy more. Mwahahah!

UPDATE: I’m actually going to give this another try soon, as the cause seems to have been the shampoo I was using, not the butter. I didn’t realise this at first as when I did the repeat shampoo, the problem didn’t occur again - I must have rinsed it out more thoroughly that time. However, I used the same shampoo again last night, minus the butter, and the wet dog look is back! The shampoo in question is Akamuti’s Liquid Black Soap, which I posted my review of last night and have adjusted slightly. The problem is that it doesn’t lather well in hair, so I feel as though I’ve not put enough in and pile on loads more. I won’t be making that mistake again.

Price: £2.95 for 4.5g
Rating:
Link: http://anitagrant.com

Ingredients: Unrefined cocoa butter, organic coconut oil, golden jojoba oil, candelilla wax, organic castor oil, natural soya-derived vitamin e.
Organic clover honey (Original Lippy Pucker). Organic dark chocolate (Dark Chocolate Lippy Pucker).

This is one of those rare times I find a product and want to rave about it instantly. I wasn’t even aware of Anita Grant until three days ago, and I’ve already fallen in love with her products. Both varieties of this lip balm are simply gorgeous.
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A quick post to say my samples from Anita Grant arrived this morning, just as promised! I rushed out of bed to open the package and spent the next 20 minutes ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the contents. There’s no doubt I’m going to be putting in an order for some full-size products very soon.

One of the lip butters is now permanantly installed in my handbag and the other by my bed (I often wake in the night with dry lips). Although I’ve only used them for a few hours, I’m thinking of featuring them in my next review which I will put together shortly. In total, I bought the two lippys, some monoi de tahiti oil and butter, ylang-ylang and cedarwood butter, a camellia copaiba bath & body oil and a gorgeous coconut and rosewood dry oil. Fabulous stuff! 

Price: £10.49 for 325ml
Rating:
Link: http://www.aubreyorganicsuk.co.uk

Ingredients: Deionized Water, Coconut Oil-Corn Oil Soap, Soap Bark Extract, Yucca Root Extract, Carrageenan, White Pine Bark Extract, Organic Lemon Peel Oil, Calaguala Extract, Cade Wood Essential Oil, Organic Evening Primrose Oil, Aubrey’s Preservative (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E).

After many months of struggling with severe dandruff, and after researching a plethora of different products, I finally settled on this unusual shampoo for oily hair and scalp. It’s currently my most valued and reliable hair-care product.
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So, I was just browsing through the blogs of local people over at BritBlog and came upon an entry that touched me greatly. This poor blogger has an irrational fear of windmills – and not just any windmills, but specifically ones with sails. Now most people will probably snicker at such a revelation, but not me. You see, I have an irrational fear of something that one is likely to stumble upon while driving through the countryside as well. The name of this horror? Electricity pylons.

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Price: £3.50 per 50g bar (3 blends)
Rating:
Link: http://www.purenuffstuff.co.uk

Ingredients: Cocoa Butter; Shea Butter; essential oils

This bar comes in three varieties and being a huge fan of rose, patchouli and ylang ylang, I decided to try out the Tantra blend. After reviewing it on Pure Skincare’s customer forum, Emily from Pure Nuff Stuff kindly sent me the Invigorating (Basil & Lemon) and Relaxing (Chamomile & Geranium) blends to try out as well.
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So I was just searching on google for similiar sites, when I discovered a UK-based skincare company that I’ve not seen before. Anita Grant seems to sell goodies that are right up my street and at reasonable prices too. I’ve just perused the whole site and noted a few things I’d love to try, so will probably put in an order this evening. I love that they have sample sizes - this is something I believe every company should offer. There have been many times I’ve wanted to try something expensive, but was concerned about wasting my money if I didn’t like it. Natural products often don’t come cheap and offering samples and trial sizes is a great way to help potential customers take the plunge. 

Anyway, I’ll be sure to post about my experiences with the products after I’ve had a few days to play with them. :)

UPDATE: I’ve just placed my order, which should arrive on Wednesday. Had to juggle around with some of the items I wanted in order to get Special Delivery postage – my impatience knows no bounds! :D I ordered some lovely looking oils and butters and a couple of lip balms, I’m really looking forward to trying them out.