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Honey Dijon Dressing Ingredients:
Note: make sure vinegar is gluten free if this is of concern
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Above is a photo of me using my dry shampoo a few days after getting my hair blown out.
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Many of my friends use dry shampoo or baby powder as a dry shampoo on days they want to skip washing their hair or to extend a blowout for a few days. There have been many links to the talcum in baby powder and cancer. When hearing this, I decided to come up with my own powder very similar to baby powder but one that is beneficial for your skin, hair and body instead of being detrimental toward your health.
In the most recent lawsuit against Johnson and Johnson (February 2016), $72 million dollars was awarded to to a women’s family for using their baby powder which contributed to her ovarian cancer death after 35 years of use. See more in an article here.
For more, check out my instagram at @nychamptonshealth
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Like most people, I used to use Chapstick Cherry flavor, which is filled with harmful ingredients.Some ingredients include: Arachidyl propionate, camphor, carnauba wax, cetyl alcohol, D&C red no. 6 barium lake, fragrance, propylparaben, isopropyl myristate, lanolin, menthol, methylparaben,
My general rule when reading labels is that if I don’t know what something is, it probably isin’t good for you. Below are two simple ingredients to keep an eye out for and are in many products. I also bolded and underlined these ingredients above.
Fragrance: The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reports that “95% of the ingredients used to create fragrances today are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum, including benzene derivatives, aldehydes, and many other known toxins and sensitizers.” According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), there are potentially hundreds of chemicals in a single product’s secret fragrance mixture.
Parabens: Stay away from any word ending in “paraben” (as seen above). Parabens are used as a preservative in cosmetics, foods and drugs and are very commonly used. Parabens are known to cause endocrine disruption, cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity.
For more, check out my Instagram @dshamptonorganics
References:
“EWG.” EWG. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
“About Us.” National Academy of Sciences. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
Fresh coconut water and dried vegtables mixed together makes a refreshing summer drink. Coconut water is a great source of electrolytes, such as potassium, necessary for proper hydration, while Green Phactor’s organic dried vegtables mixed in has many minerals, vitamins, phyto-nutrients, enzymes and micro nutrients.
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Coconut water: If you can’t get coconut water from a fresh coconut, make sure you are buying the coconut water from good packaged brand. Here are some things to look out for:
Green Phactor : this is a great addition to your diet. Make sure you are still eating tons of raw and cooked vegetables.
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I made my own personalized perfume with essential oils from Soapology located in the West Village, NYC.
Soapology has natural products including scrubs, soaps, candles, lotions, perfumes and a few more options are available. I also have their Walnut Polisher and find it to be a great light body exfoliant.
I decided to make my own perfume after finding out 95% of chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. They include benzene derivatives, aldehydes, and many other known toxins and sensitizers- capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions. Its been a 5 months since I have been using essential oils instead of perfume. Now, when someone has too much perfume on, I am sensitive to the toxic smell.
It took me about an hour to come up with my own blend. I started smelling all of the different essential oils (they have about 50) and placed the ones that I liked on a side table. The two women working at the boutique store were very helpful in assisting me. The essential oils that I liked are shown in the photo. I finally narrowed it down to a Ginger, Yuzu, White Tea and Vetiver Blend. After choosing your blend, Soapology writes down the exact recipe saves it for future reference.
I made this blend two months ago in February and it still smells great! I have gotten compliments on it and use it often. This is a great light and sweet summer scent. Soapology also has pre-blended essential oil perfume options if you do not want to create your own. I bought the “Seductive” blend but the scent seems to have changed since I bought it two months ago.
After buying both perfumes, I learned that when making a essential oil blend perfume, you are supposed to use alcohol to preserve and meld the scents. A good alcohol option to use is a non-GMO spiced rum. Now that I have a blend I know I like, I might decide to buy these essential oils from a well trusted brand like doTERRA and make it on my own.
Below are some benefits of each essential oil I used in my perfume:
There is a boutique store only a few blocks away from Soapology called Enfleurage in the West Village, NYC with many essential oils. This is a great place to buy essential oils if you wanted to make your own perfume at home. They do not blend essential oils here for you.
*With essential oils it is important to be buying them from a reliable brand to avoid a company including any type of fillers in the essential oils to lower their costs. It is also important to remember that “natural” and “organic” do not have any official meaning in the beauty industry when placed on products or verbally stated. To find out more about this see FDA on Organic Cosmetic Labeling. Also the term “therapeutic grade” is commonly used within the essential oil industry but also has no meaning and is also used for marketing purposes. It is important to ask questions to find out how the product is made and with what ingredients. After doing my own research, doTERRA seems like a reliable brand. They have a lot of information available on their essential oils, where they come from and how they are made. “Scientia Potentia Est.”
For more check out my instagram @nychamptonshealth
References:
“U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” “Organic” Cosmetics. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
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According to the Wall Street Journal’s article “Are Antibacterial Soaps Safe?“, since lab and animal studies both suggest these antibacterial soaps are unsafe, the FDA is recently taking a closer look at this $5.5 billion dollar industry. The FDA states that they will announce whether or not antibacterial soaps will be able to be sold as they are today. This announcement will be in September of 2016. If the vote is unfavorable toward companies producing antibacterial soaps, they will need to reformulate their line of antibacterial products without the harmful chemicals.
The article continues saying “We now know we can measure small amounts of ingredients in blood and that things you put on your skin can potentially be absorbed into the body,” Dr. Theresa Michelle states. Her advice for now? “Wash your hands with plain soap and water, because we do not have enough data demonstrating antibacterial soaps are any better” in fighting disease.
The below ingredients are currently under review. Since it is not proven these ingredients are safe to use on your skin, it would be a good idea to avoid using them, not only in hand sanitizes but also in other cosmetic products you use. All of the recipes I post on my website are all natural.
References:
Landro, Laura. “Are Antibacterial Soaps Safe?” The Wall Street Journal. 15 Feb. 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2016
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Sandalwood is great for men and I like Tea Tree and Lavender essential oils for myself.
Directions:
Why this is a great summer deodorant: Beeswax Pastilles preserve coconut oil so this deodorant is good for warmer months since coconut oil has a 72 degree melting point on its own.
When switching from antiperspirant deodorant to natural deodorant, ones pores start to unclog and function properly. Therefore, toxins are released and ones body odor may temporarily increase. This purging usually lasts about 2 weeks depending on the toxicity level in the body. Make sure to eat healthy and drink plenty of water to help the purging process be more odorless.
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*Do not stay in this bath for more than 40 minutes. I once stayed in for about an hour and became very sick after with sinus infection, sore throat, fever etc that lasted between 24-48 hours. My read on this is that too many toxins were brought to the surface and it was too much for my body to handle.
Benefits
The main drawback to using water to detoxify is that all tap water is contaminated with things such as chlorine, flouride, heavy metals, bacteria etc. Steps you can take to help purify your bath water are:
-Consider using a dry skin brush before taking bath for added benefits. -My first 20 baths or so were very draining on my body but as my body adjusted, the baths have gotten less draining and I added a little more Epsom salt (about 1/4 of a cup) to get the same effect I had gotten previously.
References:
Jeffrey A. Morrison, M.D., 2011. Cleanse You Body, Clear Your Mind, New York, New York, The Penguin Group
