Current blog update

A blog about all things green! :)

Please e-mail me at solarkatsecoblog@yahoo.com. Please note it may take several days to answer (I only check my eco blog account every few days, because of time constraints).

There are A LOT of the old entries are not in the links section. There are over 360 entries on this blog, so most links to old posts are not posted on the right side of this blog. If you can't find what you need either read the archives by month, do a search in the search engine box at the top of the blog, or you may ask me a question through the comments or email. :)

What's new:

May 12, 2013 Happy Mother's Day!

May 11, 2013: List of several of my skin care articles and recipes!

April 1, 2013 Hope everyone had a nice easter yesterday.  New post: Eco Living, Deep Conditioning Hot Oil Hair Treatment

Cheers!
Li

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day!  May all the moms out there have a joyous day, today and every single day.   And may people respect Mother Earth and all her bounty.

Some of my more recent articles (Eco Living, DIY Natural Beauty Formulating)

I am behind on blogging.  Things here have been overwhelming for the past month (with my dad's health, my health, plus I have a nephew now!).  I am working on a few new entries, and have to blog about my most recent articles that I haven't blogged about yet (I usually add extra information related to the articles on this blog, and also Earth Alkemie's--my skin care business--blog).  So for now, I will just post the links to the articles, and write or finish my blog entries later.

Here are the links to my two most recent eco living articles on anb (all natural beauty) mall.  The first is on spring cleaning.  And the newest one is a Mother's Day article which has a recipe for a lovely vegan coconut scrub!  You can currently access my coconut scrub article using this link, which goes to the main page of my eco living articles.  In june, however, you'll want to use this link, which currently goes to page 2 of the article, but come June it will be the link for the whole article.

Did you know you can use tea as a fake tanner?  Read my article for information on how!

I also wrote a very long article on ingredients to use on dry hair and dry skin (includes links to many of my previous recipes on the anb websites).

Happy reading and crafting/trying all my recipes! :)

Eco Living: Deep Conditioning Hot Oil Hair Treatment

Winter can really dry out the hair.  Since it is now spring, I have shared my recipe for a deep conditioning hot oil hair treatment in one of my eco living articles. 

This recipe is very versatile, you can make it as simple or as complex as you want!  For example to make a really simple treatment just use one carrier oil or one carrier oil plus one essential oil.  Or you can use a few different carrier oils and a mix of essential oils.  The possiblities are endless.

I recommend doing at least one deep conditioning treatment a week.  You can use a hot oil treatment (like in my article) or something like mayo (check out one of my older eco living articles for a mayo based hair treatment).  Or even something as simple as using a store bought conditioner as a deep conditioner: wet the hair, and leave it in for an hour or so.  Rinse or shampoo out.

Sometimes I will take a store bought conditioner, and enrich it with other ingredients (like a hair oil, mayo, honey, essential oils, etc).  Then I will dampen my hair, apply the conditioner, and leave it in for at least an hour (while I do errands around the house), and then I shampoo it out with soap (usually African Black soap or another real soap).  Other people may be able to just rinse it out (depends how dry your hair is).  Follow with an acidic rinse (vinegar rinse or an infusion) and done!

More articles and blog posts to come! :)

For more information on ingredients used in hair treatments check out Earth Alkemie’s (my aromatherapy skin/hair care and perfumery business) blog.

Happy Chinese New Year, Newest Eco Living Article On Tea (Eco Living, All Natural and DIY Skin and Hair Care)

Happy Chinese New Year! Gongxi fa cai!  It is now the year of the Snake (which started on the 10^th).

Because it is Chinese New Year (we celebrate it for two weeks to a month), I wrote this month’s Eco Living article on green and white tea in cosmetics.  I have included two hair and skin care recipes.  One is an infusion (strong tea), which can be used in many different skin and hair care products, such as toners and hair rinses.  The other is a clay based mask that is made with the infusion.  It is simple but pure bliss!

Writing about green and white tea was inspired by my first trip to China many years ago.  During my trip I visited the Dragon Well tea plantation in Hangzhou. Dragon Well green tea is one of the most famous and highest quality teas.  The tea there is very special;  when I visited the plantation, they told us that the highest grade of Dragon Well tea was only sold in China and that they did not export it outside of the country (so anything sold in the US and other countries is the second highest grade and lower grades; or at least that was how it was 10 years ago, not sure about now).  Dragon Well first grade tea is a national gift (so Chinese leaders/diplomats give this tea to leaders and diplomats of other countries).  While we were there, some of the employees at the plantation told us about the benefits of green tea in skin care.  So when I was thinking of what to write this year for Chinese New Year, I thought about my trip and the use of green tea in cosmetics.  :)

A funny story: after my family visited the Dragon Well tea plantation and bought some of the first grade tea (we couldn’t resist, it really was the best green tea I have ever tried), the tour guide took us to a nearby shop in the area that sold tea and other gifts.  At the store, I bought a jasmine scented green tea (a mix of rolled jasmine flowers with green tea).  When the tour guide saw what I had brought, she made a face and commented it wasn’t that good quality, but I shrugged since I had already bought it.  To me, it smelled good and was inexpensive, and I figured if it wasn’t that good I could still use it for skin care.  After I got back home, I tried a cup, and that cheap tea was better than any of the jasmine green teas I had tried here in the U.S!  

I hope to revisit China again one day (when health and finances allow).  I'd like to revisit some of the same places I saw last time, but also visit some new places too.  I've heard from others that have visited it within the past few years how much it has changed so it will be interesting to see how much the same or how different it is.

Another post about the green and white tea article, with more info on green and white tea in skin care, on Earth Alkemie's blog, my business blog.

Natural Ingredients And Acne (Eco Living and DIY Natural Beauty Formulating Expert article)

I have a few new articles to post here (some eco living ones, and also working on some new entries just for this blog).  The first article is an article on natural ingredients and acne.  It is both an Eco Living and DIY Beauty Formulating Expert article and also a natural info article (thanks Sharon for making the article the main article on anb portal for February!).

There are so many great ingredients that I couldn’t mention in the article (not enough room)!  But I mentioned a few of my favorites that are easy to find, and most of them can be found locally.  I also try to focus on a lot of fresh ingredients that most people already have in their kitchens!

A few other lovely ingredients I didn’t get to mention are papaya (which has natural enzymes that mildly exfoliate the skin.  Plus papaya in masks is a traditional remedy for clear skin!) and shea butter.  Shea butter is very easy to find, but it can sometimes be hard to find cold pressed, unrefined shea butter (I recommend cold pressed, unrefined shea butter because it is very different than a solvent/hexane extracted, highly refined shea.  The textures are very different, and highly refined shea is stripped of its nutrients).  Shea was one of the ingredients that helped clear my skin many years ago (12 or so years ago) when I had acne (I can't believe I've been learning about natural skin care for that long, and plants for far longer than that.  I first became interested in botany/biology in high school!).

For more ingredients and products that are great for acne check out the post on my business blog (this post is in regards to Earth Alkemie products that are good for acne).

anb's 2012: The Year Of Natural Skin Care

I really enjoy writing for the three all natural beauty websites (all natural beauty website and anb portal and anb mall) since I not only love educating people on all natural skin care, but also on green alternatives.  When my friend Sharon (owner of the three anb websites) released her ‘2012: The Year OfNatural Skin Care’ article, I was pleasantly surprised that three of my articles made the list!  My Eco Living/DIY Natural Beauty Formulating articles on professional made products versus home made products, lemon juice in skincare, and age spots made the cut!  Yay!  Thanks Sharon, so happy that you love my articles!  Many other great articles and product spotlights are listed too!  Check it out!

Eco Living: Green Resolutions

I am behind on posting about some of my articles.  My most recent (January's) eco living article is on green resolutions!  It is really easy to be green, it all begins with just a few simple changes.  

This year I have a lot of eco resolutions.  I am working hard to reopen my eco-friendly natural skin care and perfume company, Earth Alkemie (I've been closed for over a year due to my health issues, and my dad's health issues.  I help take care of my dad).  I hope to write more eco living articles and continue to educate people on all things green (so far I am off to a great start.  I will post about my articles as soon as they are finished and published online).   I am also always on the lookout for finding even more green alternatives and solutions, and just living my life as green as I can.  I eventually hope to return to ecological biology or community work in the future but I am still dealing with my health issues (so it won't be anytime soon but I am working towards that) so I am taking one step at a time. :)   I am a big believer in small changes=huge impacts. In my opinion, both small and huge changes are needed for environmental sustainability.

I hope you enjoy the article, and choose to make a few green resolutions this year too!