It's all about the lips! (All Natural Cosmetics, Vegan/Vegetarian Information)

FAQ about lip products, lipstick history, inflamed lips, and crafting lip cosmetics

What ingredients can I use in a lip scrub?

I suggest making a brown sugar scrub. You can also try making a scrub with things like jojoba spheres and ground almonds.

What are some toxic ingredients that have been used throughout history in lipsticks?

Lead has recently been found in some brands of lipstick (despite claims that lead in lipsticks is a hoax). Women who wear lipstick on a regular basis ingest a lot of lipstick over time, I believe somewhere along the lines of 5 lbs of lipstick throughout their lives. It's learning about things like these that made me go all natural in the first place!

Eosin: a red dye that people have been poisoned by using lipstick

Phthalates: reproductive toxins

From a natural lipstick stand point: the ultramarines which are not FDA approved colors for lips. So MIY mineral makeup crafters please do not use the ultramarines in lip products!


My lips are dry and inflamed, what should I use? I use currently use Yves Rocher Calmille moisturizer and things like Blistex, Carmax, Chapstick, and Burts Bees.

I suggest lip products with chamomile, lavender, or helichrysum (all of these essential oils have anti-inflammatory properties) or other soothing herbals. Or an all natural cream made with these, since lip balms do not contain moisture/water.

Though Yves Rocher pure calmille moisturizer does have chamomile in it, it also has a lot of synthetics in it (in 2001 when I was using this before I switched to all natural, this was one of the products that I became sensitive to that gave me a rash).

I would also recommend not using Blistex, Carmax, Chapstick, etc which all contain vaseline/mineral oil which has no nutrients, does nothing to heal the skin, and over time actually dries out the skin.

Burt's Bees is a good choice but contains peppermint oil, which is soothing in small amounts but in large amounts can be irritating and somewhat drying to some people.


Are Monave's (a MMU company) lippies vegan or vegetarian? How is the pigmentation, are they drying? How do the minis compare to the full sizes?

If you tried their lipstick maybe a year or so ago (not sure of the date) their lipsticks had lanolin and beeswax (but no carmine). Currently their lipsticks are now vegan (no lanolin or beeswax or carmine). So if you read the ingredients you can tell if it is the old or new formula (if you get them directly from Monave, they are vegan, but if you buy from a Monave reseller, you should read the label to make sure you are being sold the new formula).

For pigmentation and dryness: for the old formula, I think it depended on the color, because I had some samples that were moist and creamy and very pigmented, but one color was a bit dry. The new vegan formula I think is a little less pigmented than the old one but they are very creamy and still deposit a good amount of color. I've only gotten minis of the new vegan lippies (I prefer minis over full size) so I don't know how they compare to the full size, but I assume they would be similar. Just when you order the minis be sure to ask for the vegan formula in the comments section since they may still have some of the minis in the old formula.

They also sell lip glaze (I love these, they are vegan too). They also sell lip gloss (in a wand and potted form. The potted form is pretty pigmented and very nice) and I think also lip tints, but while these glosses and tints are vegetarian, they are not vegan (contain beeswax but no carmine). So there are many different formulas that you can try. (Monave while not a completely vegan company has many vegan friendly formulas. All the formulas are vegetarian though).

What are some other vegan lippie brands?

Aubrey Organics makes a nice vegan lip balm and tints called natural lips that comes in three colors plus clear (highly recommend getting the kit since they are way cheaper than getting the colors individually. For the cost of 2 of them individually, you can get all four colors in the kit for about the same price). While not MMU, they are 100% natural, and the color is herb based. (Note: while most of AO products are vegan two or so of them are not vegan or vegetarian).

Sevi Cosmetics also makes a vegan lip gloss, and soon will have vegan lipstick available too (completely vegan company).

How do you make vegan liquid lip gloss?

I'm actually working on vegan glosses for my future line. They are similar to making a lip balm, but you have to use more carrier oil than in a balm so that the texture is soft/loose.

About pigmentation: when I made gloss I made one with a small amount of pigment and then one with double the pigment; the one with less pigment was very sheer and the one with a lot was almost too pigmented (for gloss but not for lipstick). To add opaqueness, you can try a mica/iron oxide blend (like how they do in some lipsticks) but you only need a tiny amount of iron oxide.

Tip: If you make a base, and it is thin enough, there is no need to remelt it to add your color if you are only using micas (make sure the base is room temperature though). But if you are using a mica and iron oxide blend, you'll need to heat it before you add the blend.

To scent: citrus (like sweet orange), herb/flower (like lavender), or spice (like cardamon) essential oils are nice to use.

I Love Capogiro! (Food, Gelato, Vegetarian/Vegan Information)

My sister Bexn (who has an awesome vegetarian food blog), Ed, and a couple of their friends have started a new blog about a gelato company in Philly called Capogiro Gelato Artisans. Bexn and Ed are obsessed with this gelato; when I was in Philly they ate at both locations many times, often going to both on the same night! They love the gelato so much that they even keep a stash in their freezer! Though I'm hypoglycemic, I admit it: I've sampled it a few times (only a very, very tiny bite, eating a lot of protein afterwards) and it is damn good, much better than ice cream. And the flavor selection is unusual but delicious! Too bad I can't eat it or I'd be obsessed too! So if you are in Philly (or are one of the few lucky states they ship pints to), are crazy for Capogiro too, or just want a really good dessert, go see their new blog! And did I mention that they have vegan flavors too?!!? :)

Vegan Avocado Agave Mask (All Natural Cosmetics)

I have just posted a new recipe for an avocado agave mask on the all natural beauty portal website. This mask is good for dry, dehydrated, combination dry, and many people with normal skin. It is all natural (of course) and also vegan, featuring one of my newest favorite skin care ingredients: agave nectar.

Previously I have posted my blog entry for miy all natural aromatherapy sprays on the all natural beauty portal's website. Camellia Rose/Jen has also posted many awesome recipes there as well. Many of the recipes on the site are easy to prepare and are 'kitchen cosmetics', made with easy to find ingredients, often already in your pantry, or that you can get at a super market. So go look at the recipes and try them! :)

Vegan Makeup Brushes: Where To Buy And Also Forever Female Review (All Natural Cosmetics, Vegetarian/Vegan Information)

A question on vegan brushes and also a review on a company named Forever Female.

Where do I buy vegan brushes?

I've blogged about synthetic brushes before a while back, but there are thankfully a lot more choices now! I have not tried most of these brushes yet (but I have tried other products from these companies), but just thought I'd post about them because they've gotten good reviews on some of the forums I visit.

Forever Female (see below for review) has a nice selection of synthetic brushes (including a kakubi and a brand new flat top) at great prices! The owner, Ann, also wholesales many of her brushes.

Everyday Minerals (a mineral makeup company) also has a synthetic foundation brush at a good price (be sure to shop carefully, they also sell non-vegan brushes). They have great customer service. On a related note, I really like their foundation.

Sevi Cosmetics (a vegan skin care and mineral makeup company) has synthetic brushes, including a kakubi, but their brushes are a tad pricey (not overly pricey, but just a bit expensive for grad students like me!) They also make wonderful face creams (Sevi understands and knows her herbs and plants!)

Monave (a mineral makeup and skin care company that sells many vegan products, but is not totally vegan but still one of my faves) is supposed to come out with synthetic brushes sometime in 2007. They make the best eye shadows and lippies!

And I hope Camellia Rose (Jen) doesn't mind me posting this, but she will be carrying vegan brushes in the future too :)


Forever Female Review:

I promised to write a review on Forever Female's vegan brushes--I have both the vegan kabuki and the 20 piece vegan brush kit (note: I think the vegan brush kit is no longer available, however I just found out from Camellia Rose/Jen that Forever Female is coming out with many other new vegan brushes soon! Thanks Jen! :) )

I love the vegan kabuki (called the ultimate kabuki; this brush is still available). I love it so much that I have two of them, since synthetic bristles can take a while to dry after you wash them (and I tend to wash my brushes after only a couple uses). I've been looking for a dense vegan brush for a while, but didn't want to pay $25 to $60 for one. Ann's vegan brush is not only inexpensive but very dense and so soft. Since it's made with synthetic bristles, it picks up the minerals well, and applies my MMU smoothly.

I love the vegan brush kit too. It does come with powder and blush brushes but these are more flat than dense, but still dense enough to apply a dusting of powder or blush. Though they don't look that dense, I was able to apply MMU foundation and blush without any trouble. The assortment for eye shadow application is almost mind boggling--there are so may different types of brushes, but all of them are soft, pick up the minerals well, and are easy to blend with. There are also foundation brushes and concealer brushes, and even a lip brush.

Overall, I am very happy with the brushes from Forever Female. They are not only high quality, but they are inexpensive and truly cruelty free as well! And they don't shed! Customer service is great, and she ships fast!

Li's crafting thoughts 6-06-07

I've been out of town for a couple weeks so didn't get to craft much (so I've been itching to seriously craft for many days!)

Things I've been crafting: infused oils, brown sugar scrub

Infused oil: Bexn and Ed let me raid their garden :) I made tiny bottles of chocolate mint and also peppermint infused oil. Yummy! Can't wait until it's ready to strain, which reminds me I have a lot of other tinctures and herbal oils that are waiting to be strained! They must be super intense by now!

Brown sugar scrub: made a simple scrub. Definitely shows when I visit/travel that natural cosmetics are truly kitchen cosmetics. Give me access to a kitchen and I can easily whip something up (that works wonders) with common ingredients :)

On my agenda for the new couple weeks: serums for each specific skin type, perfumes, hair tonic, and I really need to craft a body cream for myself. I'm also thinking of crafting some historical/ancient cosmetics/recipes that I've read about--a little bit of spirit, art, passion, and history combined: the way beauty should be :). My organic rose hydrosol and rose alba hydrosol from A Little Ol'Factory arrived sometime when I was gone so I can't wait to use and craft with them. They smell like heaven! I've come up with several ideas for new recipes (and potential products), and am now debating about starting my business earlier than I said. Lastly, I've been promising to post recipes on All Natural Beauty's site for a while now, which I hope to get to sometime in the next several days. I will also try to do the links to the rest of the archives sometime soon too. :)

Monave: New Sultry Collection Review (Mineral Makeup/All Natural Cosmetics)

Review and description of all of Monave's (a retail and wholesale MMU and skin care company) new colors. I was fortunate enough to receive samples of their 5 lip glosses and 13 powders from their new sultry collection. The colors will be available on their website soon. This review is cross-posted on Monave's forum.


Here is my review/description of the new sultry collection. For reference, I have light-medium skin, strong yellow/gold tones (I am Chinese American), and look good in nearly all colors (cool, neutral, and warm. I think it's pretty cool that I can wear pretty much any color!). My monave foundation color matches are Caroline or Hyeyeon.

Overall I love Monave's new collection. They are totally fierce!!! I honestly can't really say which ones I like the most, because they all are beautiful. I've been wearing some colors by themselves, and in the last few days have started pairing colors together. I've always liked Monave's shadows because they are richly pigmented yet they are very easy to blend. I've tried MMU shadows from other companies and they are just not as pigmented. The great thing about Monave's shadows are that if you prefer a more subtle look you can apply them lightly and/or blend the more darker/vivid colors with the lighter colors, or if you prefer a dramatic look you can wear the darker colors by themselves or apply a tad more for intense color! I think one of the best things about this collection is that all the colors look great paired with each other. These colors are perfect for a day look (when applied lightly, or when only the lighter colors are used) or absolutely stunning for night time use. These new eye shadows and glosses are hot! Monave is definitely my favorite MMU brand for eye shadows and lippies (next to my own of course! ;P )

Here are my descriptions of the lip gloss colors (vegetarian but not vegan, hopefully Deb (Monave's owner) offers them in the vegan formulas as well):

Ruby Slippers: like bright ruby red sequins: red with red sparkles. The red looks intense in the jar but is actually a very wearable shade of red (and much sheerer than it first appears). A light swipe of this would be perfect for the day, but layered, it makes a bold night color! :)

Divine: a light-medium frosty mauve pink. This is my favorite lip color of the bunch. Just gorgeous.

Allure: a light (very slightly brownish) pink. High sheen. Very pretty.

Hot cocoa: a medium matte brown. Really does look like hot cocoa! Good day color.

Quick sand: light tan, semi-matte/sheen. Though it is a kind of brown, on my lips it just makes them look like a bit of a sheen (my lips are very pink though, so on someone else the brown color would show up better). Lovely.


Blush:

Kasha: on the baggie it said this was a blush color but I used it on my eyes. It is a very nice pinkish bronze.


Eye shadows:

Vamp: a beautiful coppery plum. I wore this with kasha and my sister said it looked the best on me so far!

Oasis: pure medium sparkly copper. This would be awesome to wear in the summer or early fall.

Sahara: reddish copper, slightly darker than oasis. This color is beautiful paired with oasis.

Ivy: a multi-faceted green with green and gold sparkles. Beautiful.

Mamba: intense burgundy red. Great as an eyeliner, and totally hot as a lippie! This looked amazing as an eyeliner with ivy on the lids.

Sabatage: a dark blackish, bluish, purple (think blackberries but sparkly). I love this color! This can be applied lightly and blended with other colors for subtleness, or used on it's own for intensity!

Jinx: medium dark purple with a plum highlight/sheen. Plum eye shadow is so underrated! It looks good on many different skin tones.

Blizzard: a light pinkish beige. Perfect for applying to the brow bone as a base color.

Envy: dark, blackish green. Kind of like a peacock feather (not the bright green in the center but the other parts of the feather that are blackish green).

Hypnotic: this is a dark brownish-purple with lots of big reddish-bronze sparkles. Very multifaceted color. I love this shade!
I like wearing it over my entire lid, but it also makes an awesome eye liner.

Mirage: deep, dark gold. Intense, mysterious! Perfect for those with yellow toned skin and probably also dark skin tones.

Rain: this is a deep, dark almost midnight blue. This makes my eyes really stand out. People with light skin may like using this as an eye liner, I have light-medium skin and I use it all over the lid. I think this color would look absolutely stunning on dark skin tones.

Book Review: Natural Perfumes by Mindy Green, and Other Natural Perfume Blending Books (Aromatherapy/Essential oil Resources)

I started this entry many months ago before this book went out of print. I mentioned this book in a post several days ago and a couple people asked about it and also aromatherapy perfume blending books, so decided to post this review though this book is hard to find at a decent price. This entry also contains links to books that are still in print or at least inexpensive, as well as links to things that are out of print/hard to find/being sold at ridiculous prices but worth it. Most aromatherapy books will at least contain a couple simple aromatherapy perfume blends.



Since last fall I've been seriously experimenting with crafting all natural perfumes. I first started learning about aromatherapy sometime in 2001, and I've made dozens of simple blends that I've used as perfumes. These blends usually consisted of 2 to 4 different essential oils, which smell absolutely wonderful. But recently I've really wanted to learn more about the art of perfume making, the art of blending, and start crafting more complex combinations.

To my dismay, there aren't that many aromatherapy/essential oil/all natural perfume books out there. Most of them seem to be out of print or just contain general information. Many aromatherapy books will have at least one to a handful of recipes, but I wanted to find a whole book on the subject with recipes. There are basically only a few main books out there that are not out of print: Nancy M. Booth's Perfumes Splashes & Colognes, Mandy Aftel's Essence and Alchemy plus a couple of Aftel's other books. I've only read Booth's book, and part of Aftel's, but they aren't really what I am looking for. Like all Storey books, Booth's book is full of information and has many recipes, however, I was a bit disappointed that she included the use of several synthetic fragrance oils. In some recipes she used synthetic rose, jasmine, and vanilla, instead of the essential oils. Aside from the toxicity and allergic reactions of many synthetic fragrances, they simply do not smell as good as the real thing, or even accurately mimic the smell correctly (vanilla is probably the exception, since it does come really close, but after smelling the real thing, you can definitely tell the difference!). Aftel's book is supposed to be one of the best on perfume history and also contains tips on blending, but there are barely any recipes in the book (literally only a couple. Though I highly recommend getting it for history and blending notes, it's lacking in actual recipes).

It seems like all the books on truly natural perfumes with completely natural recipes are out of print. Noted aromatherapist Chrissie Wildwood's perfume book is also referenced a lot, but it is out of print, and the second edition now sells for anywhere from $65 to well over $100, and the first edition is nearly as pricey (totally off subject but I just got my hands on a copy of the first edition for only $24 so I am a happy camper). Arctander's book (which is supposed to be the best) is very rare and costs (if you can find it) well over $1000. I was nearly about to give up until I came across Mindy Green's Natural Perfumes. Since getting and reading it, this book just became out of print, and is currently (at the time of this writing) being sold at Amazon for $36 to $90. However, many herbal/aromatherapy shops may still be selling it at its original price (though the two I know of are currently sold out), and I got mine last year for its original price. For those that can't find it at a good price, you may be able to request it from your local interlibrary loan or find it at a used book store. Two great blending books are Valerie Worwood's Scents & Scentuality: Essential Oils & Aromatherapy for Romance, Love, and Sex and Chrissie Wildwood's Erotic Aromatherapy: Essential Oils for Lovers (Note # 1: some people may not care for the pictures of the people in Wildwood's erotic aromatherapy book) (Note #2: both are either out of print or simply harder to find than both authors' other books, but used/new copies are being sold on Amazon at very low, great prices. I hopefully will post a review on these books sometime in the future).


I've read Green and Keville's Aromatherapy book, which contained a few heavenly perfume blends (I highly recommend this book as a good all over aromatherapy primer. For your own safety, please read at least three good aromatherapy books before you start using essential oils). So I was happy to get my hands on her perfume book, since Green is both an aromatherapist and an herbalist. Overall, my only real complaint is that this book is too thin! It is only 96 pages, including the bibliography, resource directory, and index, and also its dimensions are small (so smaller pages). However, it is jammed pack with information and has a ton of recipes. Yay! Perfect!

The first chapter is a couple page introduction, and the second chapter (also a few pages) explains our attraction to scent. The third chapter is (another short) chapter on aromatherapy: what essential oils are, how they're made, and natural vs. synthetic scents. The fourth chapter is about a 10 page primer on blending basics: fragrance notes, basic blending equipment, carriers, and proportions. Next is a chapter on forty essential oils, and note type and odor intensity. There's also a chapter on a blending lesson and classification. Finally she lists thirty recipes. Some of them are simple (4 to 5 essential oils), but most are more complex blends.

I think that though the book is a bit thin, Green does a good job of explaining the basic steps of crafting perfumes and understanding scents--better and more thorough than most aromatherapy authors! I've only made a few of them so far, but love the few I've crafted. I can definitely detect the faint notes of essential oils (in recipes that I used only 1-2 drops of an essential oil). A single drop in a blend definitely makes a difference! There is some information on essential oil usage and safety, so it is important to cross reference properties in other books since the profiles are simply short summaries.

My favorite recipes so far are simple delight and angel's whisper, which are both jasmine based perfumes. Green recommends not using vodka, and I only partially agree with her. It's true that essential oils will not dissolve fully in vodka (because of the water content, though some absolutes will dissolve fully in vodka), but if you can't get your hands on a more pure alcohol, it is a good sub since it is practically odorless--though your creations will definitely have to be shaken before use. (You can also use a carrier oil or perfumer's alcohol, but I am not sure of what I think about perfumer's alcohol yet).

Overall, in my opinion this is one of the best blending books out there, if not the best! If you can get your hands on it, then I highly recommend getting this book!

Burts Bee Workshop and Review in Philly (All Natural Cosmetics)

Maybe posting this a bit late for anyone in Philly (visiting my sister right now) but just came back not to long ago from a Burt's Bees skin care consultation in the Whole Foods on South Street. Though I had already previously been to a Burt's Bees workshop in VA a year or two ago, I wanted to attend this one because in the last year or so Burt's Bees has come out with a slew of new products and I wanted to learn about them. Though I mainly craft vegan products, I still buy and use products that are vegetarian and not necessarily vegan. But I got confused about the time of the workshop: the flyer had said 11:30 am but when I reserved on the phone, the Whole Foods employee who answered said that it looked like there were specific signup times but he didn't sound too sure. The one in VA had been a group workshop so I showed up at 11:30 because I thought maybe the flyer was right and the guy who answered the phone was wrong. Turns out the guy was right; it was not a group workshop but a one on one consultation (the flyer wasn't clear on this).

The Burt's Bees rep (I can't remember her name) was very nice about the mix up and consulted with me early since the person who was supposed to be at 11:30 never showed. She was very informative about their products (but refreshingly not pushy and did not try to sell me anything but only suggested stuff for me), and clearly passionate about the company and her job. We mainly talked about the new products (since I was already familiar with and have used most of the old products), and I really want to try them now! They have a new cleansing cream (with soapbark and chamomile) that is good for drier skin types, but (according to her) doesn't clog pores. They also have a peach and willowbark scrub that she said was gentle. She also told me about the new radiance creams that contain royal jelly and that are much lighter than their other creams. They also have a relatively new shampoo and conditioner with pomegranate and soy that sounded interesting.

But what was the most interesting to me was how Burt's Bees is becoming more active in being green. She told me that Burt's Bees is now a neutral carbon company, meaning that they compensate for all the carbon they produce (mainly by buying credits). Also they are working with Habitat for Humanity to build a green development in North Carolina (near Raleigh). Totally cool! :)

So what do I think about their products: overall I like their products and their company. Their older creams can be heavy (so be sure to apply only a little to very, very damp skin), but many of their formulations are very nice and contain a lot of beneficial herbals. Their newer formulations, I am not sure of them yet: they contain some of the borderline natural/synthetic ingredients that (depending on who you ask) is either natural, semi natural, or synthetic (but often naturally derived). It depends where you draw the line. For the most part (for the older formulations) the percentages that they list on their products on how natural it is are accurate; for the newer stuff (especially the shampoos) I do not think they are as accurate (or at least according to the ingredients I define as natural), but all of their formulas are (I estimate at least) 80-100% natural depending on the product (I would say most of their products are 90-100% natural). But the borderline ingredients are for the most part non-toxic, non-irritating (except for those who are allergic to synthetic fragrances), and biodegradable. (Sometimes I think I am just way too anal in defining what's natural and what's not ;) ) Favorite products of mine: blemish stick, marsh mellow vanishing cream, beeswax day cream, carrot lotion, repair serum (wonderful for the under eye area), almond milk cream (this smells so good)

Just saw their website; it looks like they also have new sunscreens and a lip balm with pomegranate oil in it (sounds yummy). According to the rep, they are coming out with new products every six months.

At the end of our talk, the rep gave me a sampler of the Burts Bees products (a natural weaved bag filled with their older, much loved products). Totally awesome! So if you are in Philly, you may still be able to catch her today! :) If you are elsewhere, ask your local natural food store if they are coming soon, or check their website to see where workshops are being held. To learn more about new products you can sign up for their email newsletter on the website.

Note: the lip shimmers are not vegetarian (contains carmine, a red colorant from beetles), and also they are going to discontinue their vanishing facial tissues (I need to stock up on these)

Li's crafting thoughts 5-22-07

What I've been crafting recently: eye shadows, vegan lip balm.

Eye shadows: I've been working on several new shades. I crafted a few of the usual: super pigmented/intense, multifacated sparkles and sheens. So far I've created over 30 colors, the majority of them being greens and golds, but I have crafted some blues and purples too. Also a couple pinkish shades that I've been using in lip glosses or as blush. Need to work on mattes, semi mattes, and also more lippie colors!

Vegan lip balm: crafted yet another one, this time for slightly dry lips. This was a remake of my original lip balm in a tin vegetarian one, but now I've made it vegan and it now comes in a tube. It took me three tries to get this right (to convert it to vegan); as much as I love cold pressed grapeseed it was throwing off this recipe, so I switched back to solvent extracted (most grapeseed oil on the market is solvent extracted, it is very hard to find cold pressed). I'll save the cold pressed for serums! :)

I am currently in Philly visiting my sister so while I still have access to a computer, won't be crafting as much for a few weeks (unless she actually lets me raid her garden!) ;P

Soapnuts, Soapwort, Yucca: Skin Cleansers and All Natural/Eco-friendly Cleaning (Environmental Cleaning Information, All Natural Cosmetics)

Since I've recently discussed microfiber, I decided to blog about herbs that are be used to cleanse the skin, and also clean the house and laundry.


I've already blogged about soapwort (including a recipe), which is used in museums to clean ancient, delicate fabrics, is an awesome, very gentle skin cleanser, and can also be used to wash the hair.

So here are a couple of other great herbs and eco-friendly choices:

Soapnuts: I just got this herb recently. Apparently it can be used not only as a skin cleanser, but it has also become the environmental rage as a natural laundry detergent. I've only tried it as a facial cleanser (added a pinch to water, but may try a decoction in the near future) and will try to use it to clean my laundry (though I have the powder and not the whole nuts so not sure if that would make a mess or not. I think a decoction would be better rather than adding the nuts to my laundry as recommended by some web sites).

Yucca root: prepared similar to soapwort, but you have to crush the roots more before adding the water. But I do not believe the decoction has as long as a shelf life as soapwort decoction (only a few days, refrigerated). In the past, it was used to clean skin and hair by some Native American peoples. I am not sure about using it for the laundry but I may experiment with this. I've used this to wash my hair and it seems to do a pretty good job (but I love my soap based shampoos more).

Microfiber: Environmental House Cleaning and also Cosmetic Exfoliant! (Environmental Information/House Cleaning and Cosmetic Information)

One thing I have to blog about is microfiber. I've been hearing so much about it from many delphi forum members for a while, and also a few months ago from my sister. I finally used some and decided to blog about it because it has great cosmetic and environmental cleaning uses (so combining many of my interests) :)

How they work: the fibers of these seemingly soft cloths are textured, and the special fibers gently remove dirt and other substances from a variety of surfaces (the fibers are not treated with chemicals). They feel gentle to the touch but are tough on cleaning power, and you can use them dry or wet with only water--no chemicals or any cleansers! :) According to my sister: use wet for cleaning hard surfaces, dry to wipe stuff.

To clean them: Regular machine wash, but line dry them (or at least Costco brand).

Cosmetic use: many people have been using microfiber to exfoliate. This deceptively soft cloth effectively removes flaky skin, revealing smoother skin underneath. Several people on the delphi forums claim that the ones that are sold for the face are similar to the ones sold in the automobile section of stores, but others have claimed they are different grades and the auto ones shouldn't be used on the face. I've only use an auto one on my skin once, and even though I scrubbed gently and barely used it, I think it did too good of a job. I will probably try one of the ones made for the face sometime in the future, just to compare. But if you use microfiber facial cloths be careful: I've heard horror stories of people using them and scrubbing too hard that they ended up removing too much skin (which was why I was so cautious when using it) but personally I think my skin is just too sensitive for it, or at least the brand/kind that I used.

Cleaning uses: this was originally a best kept secret of hotels (in europe)--how to clean surfaces quickly and effectively without harsh chemicals. I personally think the cleaning uses are much more impressive than the cosmetic uses. I am an advocate of using more earth-friendly, more natural cleansers, and have even concocted some of my own recipes over the years, but microfiber is the ultimate environmental cleaner because you clean with only the cloth and water and maybe a little elbow grease! Microfiber works better on harder surfaces like counter and stove tops, floors, and faucets than more porous things such as walls.
Though it removes tough grime, it is gentle, and it doesn't scratch materials. You can buy a big bag in the automobile section of your local department store.

Now though I've heard about the cosmetic use on the forums for many months, I was amazed when my sister gave me some cloths and showed me how well they cleaned. I ended up cleaning part of her house, LOL! (It was part of her evil plan ;P ) Everything looked so nice, shiny, and new--within seconds of just scrubbing.

Now does this mean I'm going to stop using my natural cleaning supplies? No, because sometimes you need to use products with essential oils/herbs that will kill germs. But this definitely will replace much of my daily cleaning--especially since everything gets very clean and looks good, and I can clean more in less time.

The brand that she used is Swift Microfiber. They are more expensive than the ones in the auto department, but they seemed to be a nicer/higher quality, and also they are a small company. She also gave me a microfiber cleaning cloth for glasses from this company (different from the cleaning/auto cloths) and it is the best glass cleaning cloth I've ever used (I have like four glass cleaning cloths in a variety of materials from other companies and none of them seem to work very well). We also got a big bag at Costco. They didn't seem quite as nice as the ones from Swift, but they still are very good quality, very inexpensive, and clean extremely well.

Li's crafting thoughts 5-13-07

Though I've done some crafting, the last few days I've been focusing more on aromatherapy/herbal research. To better understand ingredients, I've been choosing topics, and then pouring through my library and writing down every natural ingredient that works for that skin/health ailment or condition, or everything about that one ingredient that I can. I had actually started this some time ago (a year or so ago?) but never did it on a regular basis. Things I've learned are this is no easy task (especially since I have like sixty to seventy books to pour through), it's been very time consuming, and that I am probably still missing some information since many indexes of books could be better! (And some like Tisserand's awesome classic, don't even have one and I can't reread all seventy books to make sure I'm not missing anything!). I think this will definitely help my crafting, since in the end I will have a master list of all things that work for any particular topic (instead of just what I can remember off the top of my head at the moment), and then I can use those ingredients in crafting a fantastic and very effective product for it!

So list of things I've actually crafted these last few days: body oils, eye shadow, serums, herbal tinctures, herbal infused oil, clay masks

Body oils:Been making them for years, but have recently been making single scent oils made with new essential oils and carrier oils, so I can become familiar with the scents, and also the properties of the oils (how fast absorbing it is, how effective a moisture barrier, for essential oils: whether it is a relaxing oil or stimulating etc)

Eye shadows: Started to make new shades, haven't done this in a while (though I've made lippie shades/glosses in the last few weeks). I need to work on making mattes sometime in the next few months, since all I've been making are shimmers, sparkly sheens, and sheens!

Serums: working on oil based serums for particular skin types. Starting with my own skin type of course (dehydrated which is water dry but produces enough oily, occasionally with blemishes). Though I won't be using the serums for other skin types on my face, I will be using them on my body, so I can really see how they work.

Tinctures/herbal extracts: I made green tea tincture (made with a blend of six kinds of green tea. Thanks E.K. for the tea!) and also red rooibos tincture. I intend to use these in making water based serums (the only water based serums I've made so far are those with aloe, but trying to learn to make different kinds). I may use them in creams too.

Herbal infused oils: I made calendula oil, which is a great skin care ingredient. Like the tinctures, this has to infuse for several weeks until ready. So I won't get to play for a while :( (I could've made it the fast way by applying heat but I prefer to make it the slow way so I don't have to heat up the oil any more than neccesary so all the vitamins don't get destroyed!)

Clay masks: just playing around with different ingredients. I need to post those recipes on all natural beauty portal website that I promised a while back :)


I am glad I am taking this time for all this research, since I want to craft products that actually work! (Instead of just using whatever herb is popular at the moment like many companies)

Li's crafting thoughts 5-4-07

The last couple of weeks I've crated several things, and I've also been organizing all my essential oils, herbs, and oils: taking stock of what I still need to get, what I need to use up in the next few months, and also rebottled a few of my essential oils. I don't think I've ever mentioned this on this blog, but in addition to keeping essential oils out of direct light and storing them in a cool and dark place (colored glass and refrigerator storage), after you use part of the bottle, it is good to rebottle your essential oils into smaller bottles. This will help prevent oxidation (less air space equals less air in the bottle that will degrade the essential oils).

Things I've crafted recently: body oils, butter balm, scented liquid soaps, yucca root shampoo, and complex perfume blends

Body oils: I crafted one when I was sick (with MQV/Niaouli oil) a couple weeks ago and also one to help with some of my stress related health symptoms.


Butter Balm: I made a 100% butter balm with a mix of several different butters (only with my regular stash of butters, but I just got the sampler pack from Camden Grey, and have even more butters to play with; many kinds that I haven't worked with yet. ;P Wicked grin. The only bad thing about the CG sampler was they included a refined shea. Yuck. Though LOL I am sure some other butters I have are partially refined, and I am just being anal about the shea). Anyways there are two important things that I learned in making this butter balm:

1) Do not attempt to pour a 100% butter balm into large tubes, since they will leak (I've made big lip balms with these tubes so oils/butters plus waxes don't leak because they harden and also cool down within minutes).

2) Suprapein (a natural lab tested blend of herbal extracts used to preserve products) has a very strong scent even at the low recommended concentration. Now I like herbal smells (I think tea tree and eucalyptus smell great!) but this was even a tad too much for me! Definitely needs to be blended with essential oils. I think I need to remelt it down and add something or else I won't be able to use it!

Scented Soaps: just scented some liquid soap with some essential oils.

Yucca root shampoo: made like soapwort decoction, except the roots need to be way more crushed, I will be using this to clean both my skin and hair. Seems to clean pretty well.

Perfumes: M. Green's book is definitely a superior blending recipe book to anything that's out there (I was writing a review for that book but never finished it, and now it's out of print! I need to blog and craft more!). I've made several of the recipes, and they all smell like heaven and all the essential oils blended beautifully together, unlike other blends in other books (when you can find perfume recipes). Though a couple other blending books are good too (for less complex blends). I can only one day hope to be as good as a master blender like Green. :)

Used book sales in Fairfax County (Library/Book Information)

In May there will be several book sales at different libraries in the county. This weekend there is a sale at the King's Park (Burke), Tysons-Pimmit, and Chantilly libraries. Last fall Jen, Ed, and I went to one and got a big box of books for only $5. Definitely will be going to a few this month. Books ;P

Sugarloaf Craft Festival in Chantilly (Craft Show Information)

Just a quick post to let those in the DC area know that this friday, saturday, and sunday, the Sugarloaf Craft Festival will be held at the Dulles Expo Center. I went a year and a half ago, and it was amazing! I got a lot of nice pottery pieces for my sister and Ed. They also have food vendors, jewelry, and a lot of craft demos. Some 350 vendors will be there, so it's a great place to get good deals on gifts. Cost is only $7 to get in for all three days, and kids are free. If you go to their website, you can get coupons for $1 off admission. I'm definitely going again (for mineral makeup addicts in the area this is a great chance to get 'swirly bowls' for your minerals. Ok, I'm such an enabler! ;P ).

FAQ: All About Soap (All Natural Cosmetics)

Time for another FAQ since the stickies on my desktop are getting way over crowded. I guess this means I need to blog more! ;)

What is castile soap? And how is it different than conventional soap?

Castile (also spelled castille) originally meant a soap made with only olive oil (no other oils). Nowadays it usually means an olive oil soap or an olive oil blend soap (though I've seen soaps that call themselves castile that don't contain any olive oil, sometimes people just use this term to mean any natural soap). Castile soap can be liquid or in bar form.

Most commercial soaps are actually not soap, but either synthetic detergents or a blend of soap and synthetic detergents. The exception is Ivory (which is real soap but made with beef tallow, which I personally wouldn't use).

I can't seem to use soap on my face: why and also what can I use instead (my skin is really dry)?

While many people can use soap to cleanse their face, some people (especially with very dry skin) just finds that it removes too much of the skin's natural oils (sebum), and hence your skin's natural moisture barrier. It's also said to disrupt the natural acid barrier (however the acid barrier quickly re-establishes itself).

Though my skin is dehydrated (so water dry but can also get oily), I prefer using natural soap, but during colder/drier months, I like using soapwort or cold cream which cleans my skin but doesn't strip it as much as soap does.

For extra dry skin, you may prefer using a cleaning oil, cream cleanser/cold cream, or if you still want to use soap, try a liquid soap with things added like oils, aloe, hydrosols, glycerine, and other moisturizing ingredients. Liquid soap is usually less drying than bar soap because of all the added ingredients. Also some people like honey with or without clay (vegans may want to use agave; also for really dry skin, you may want to skip the clay).


I am allergic to all fragrances, including natural. Where can I get unscented soap?

Vermont Soap makes a nice unscented oats and aloe bar, and a butter bar. They are certified organic and are natural, and you can buy eco bricks of their soap (uncut block of soap, enough for 12 bars). Also check your local natural food store; many brands like Dr. Bronner's sell unscented soaps.

How do you color soap (in soap making)?

Well I haven't tried it myself but I know some people use things like titanium dioxide in soap (that what makes white melt and pour soap white) and I think I've read some people use micas etc. There might be more info about this is tkbtrading's website (a minerals, colorant supplier).


I've been hearing about shampoo bars, are they any good?

I love Heart of Iowa Soapworks. They also make my favorite facial soaps, and I love their shampoo bars.

Many people will need to use either a vinegar or herbal rinse with soap based shampoos. I personally prefer herbal rinses or cream conditioners, and after using shampoo bars and soap based shampoos for years no longer have funky hair syndrone, and sometimes don't even use hair rinses or conditioner (but I wash my hair every day).

The aloe fresh one is my favorite. I've tried other shampoo bars (from VT Soap and Burts Bees) and didn't like them because they left a film on my hair, but some people swear by them (and I like many of their other products).

Li's crafting thoughts 4-20-07

I've been on a crafting kick the last couple weeks. I've crafted hair conditioner, a bug bite oil/skin healing serum, lip gloss base, two different lip glosses using said base (including one brand new color), a new vegan cream formula, and five single note perfumes. Here is a quick overview of everything I made.

Hair conditioner: my first attempt making a conditioner using cetyl alcohol. I made it with almond oil and aloe juice. I think I used too little cetyl and almond oil and way too much aloe, so it ended up separating on me. LOL! Which in natural formulation isn't that bad of a mistake (it just needs to be shaken before use, so it forms this kind of thin almond milk rather than the rich thick conditioner I was hoping for). Though the formulation needs work, I have to say since I've started using it my hair looks great! :) (For the all natural purists, some people argue that there are natural and synthetic sources of this ingredient, others argue it is at best semi-natural or that it is definitely synthetic. I personally think it is like stearic acid, natural but it goes through so much processing so it is more semi-natural. However most waxes would coat the hair in conditioners and are hard to rinse off, and so far I haven't found a better alternative).

Bug bite oil/skin healing serum: I made this for my mom (after using a commercial brand which somehow burned and blistered her skin more). I used anti-inflammatory essential oils like helichrysum, and her skin is starting to heal. :)

Lip gloss base: finally used the castor wax I bought a while ago. It made a slightly gooey (but not too gooey, nearly the perfect texture for gloss) but very shiny base that wasn't as moisturizing as I'd hope (though when I use this gloss on top of my awesome lip balms, it's pretty good. I'll have to try different oils with this wax). I mixed this base with two mineral makeup blends that I made (one new and one that I had made a few months ago), using different amounts of minerals. For gloss, definitely less minerals are best because when you add too much, the gloss feels drying and the color just doesn't look as good.

Vegan cream: I am on a kick with making vegan creams, this one contained red raspberry oil which has a high spf!

Perfumes: nothing complicated. I had received five free essential oils samples when I recently ordered from AV-AT, so I made perfumes out of them (the samples were in these cute vials; each vial was not filled to the top, only about maybe 6 to 10 drops of oil in each vial so lots of room to add vodka and make perfume). The cocoa absolute from them smells divine.




I also have given several samples (full size really) away of vegan cream and a couple different lipbalms, and have received good reviews on all of my formulations. :)

Agenda for the next few days: I haven't crafted anything in the last few days because my damn cold came back :( I'll probably make some complex perfume blends, and I still have to strain my herbal infused oil that I made a few weeks ago.

Happy Earth Day/week (Environmental Information/Events)

As many of you know, April 22nd is Earth Day, and many organizations are having Earth Day events this week.

This week George Mason University (my school :) ) is having many environmental related events. If you are in the area I highly recommend going to some of these events, especially tomorrow's screening of "An Inconvenient Truth". I finally just saw this documentary recently with my sister. I have studied global warming and climate change at GMU, and think that the film did an awesome job at presenting the issue in an easy to understand manner (translating the science into something the public can understand, which is often difficult to do). Best of all, tomorrow after the viewing of the film, Dr. Crate (who was trained by Al Gore on presenting his presentation) will be speaking on solutions (this will be a lecture on solutions and will not be a presentation of what was in the film). Dr. Crate's lectures are very thought provoking; she has studied the potential effects of climate change on indigenous peoples and the arctic region extensively. Also not to be missed: on Tuesday environmentalist Janisse Ray will speak three times on various environmental issues.

For those of you not in the DC/Northern VA area, check out your local community paper for events. Many universities, organizations, parks/nature areas, and local governments will be hosting activities.

I'm definitely going to some of GMU's events. I think Earth week/day activities are very informative-though as an environmentalist I think that every day should be Earth Day! :) Personally there are many things that I do to be more environmentally aware and also more environmentally friendly, however I realize that I can always do more. One thing I will definitely do is begin posting more environmental tips and issues on this blog (don't worry miy lovers, I will still post miy information, as my interest in aromatherapy/herbalism is part of my passion for the environment). Happy Earth Day! :)

Tori Amos: American Doll Posse

I can not wait for Tori Amos's new album American Doll Posse to come out (it will be released May 1st). Tori's music has helped me get through a lot throughout the years, including now: there are about a dozen songs that I've been listening to over and over again recently. It's really strange but I've heard all of these songs hundreds of times and they've always meant something to me in a particular way, but listening to some of the songs now, I've been finding different meanings in the lyrics.

So far I've heard two songs from the album and clips from all the songs (links on undented.com), and I absolutely adore the song "Bouncing Off Clouds". This album is definitely more guitar driven than her previous works, but I really like the concept of how she takes on the personas of all of these different women, which are kind of parts of every woman. I think I've been each of these women throughout my life at particular/different times and sometimes all of them at the same time too, but I'm kind of identifying with the persona of Clyde right now, so maybe that's why I like Bouncing Off Clouds so much! :)

Li's crafting thoughts 4-01-07

Last week I finally made a new batch of vegan cream and lip balm to send to a couple people that I'd promised. I've given my cream and lip balms to several people; so far the reviews have been good. The biggest compliment has been from my sister, who I gave her some cream to help her inflammed skin. She said it was awesome and really helped heal her skin! :)

My crafting agenda for the next few days: I think I'm going to work on crafting more perfumes. As I've mentioned, I restocked my essential oil collection and now have nearly 50 organic essential oils (only maybe 6 or so are non-organic) and I can't wait to start experimenting with more complex perfume blends.

Like the ancient Eqyptians and many other ancient or indigenous cultures, pagans, herbalists, and aromatherapists, I see perfume as more than something that smells good or an aphrodisiac but also as a means of communicating with the spirit. In addition to the cosmetic and medicinal properties of essential oils, the scent of essential oils affects moods, emotions, and certain oils can help a person attain a level of spiritual awareness. Essential oils directly influence the limbic brain, the "seat of the emotions/conscious/soul" that controls memory, hormones, stress, some bodily functions (like heart rate), and emotions.

So I really need to craft, breathe in my essential oils, and do some serious healing! :)