The Modern Hippy

     A few months ago I started a hunt on etsy to find someone whom provided safe cosmetics. I read through countless ingredients list, profile pages. I managed to narrow it down to what I was looking for specifically – mineral foundation and eyeshadow. Which really, only narrowed it down a little. I eventually decided to try a sample pack from a little shop called Orglamix. I liked what she said, her ingredients lists, and the pictures were just so fetching!
     I love her stuff! I’ve ordered from her several times in the last few months. My makeup case has been recreated without chemicals. Cheri is my makeup girl!
     In December I ran out of my foundation so I ordered the large size for winter color. And got it, along with a couple of sample eyeshadows. Lovely! (The other time I ordered from her she sent a sample as well. I love samples!)
     Then yesterday, Rick got the mail and brought me yet another package. I wasn’t expecting anything. I already had my handmade shoes delivered a week ago. (Yes, handmade! With vintage fabric! I’m in love with them and will eventually do a post on them in the future.) I opened the package to find two of my foundation color! With the order form from December. I was confused to say the least. Today, I sent her a message and asked what I should do. I offered to pay for them, ship them back, whatever she wanted me to do. She sent me a quick note that it was a mistake, but don’t worry, they were on her! I still feel strange about keeping them. But since I plan on ordering from her indefinitely, she will definitely get more money from me. (I wish there was a way to tip through paypal)
     I wanted to tell everyone whom reads my little blog that Cheri at Orglamix is super awesome! Thank you Cheri for your kindness, and great service!

     I hate to be the one to bring this up. It is after all not yet Thanksgiving. However, with the economy in the crapper many of us may want to try to spread out our Holiday shopping over a couple of months rather than one month.
     Rick and I always try to get a head start because when December rolls around we don’t always have a ton of money to blow. We started shopping in the spring for Christmas. Each time we go to Target together, we peruse the sale items looking for the fun item to make someone laugh or something useful that didn’t get completely bought out. We also love to go to the Antique Mall in Shoreline and try Goodwill on occasion. There are other options to consider though.
     Earlier this year I discovered something called Etsy. It’s great! It’s a lot like Amazon or Ebay except there is no bidding and everything has to be handmade or vintage. I bought a reusable grocery bag on Etsy a few months ago and it has been a life saver. I window shop at Etsy now and again looking for something unique.
     I decided to look under the vintage category to see what was listed. Some of the things weren’t overly exciting, some of them were great though. So far I’ve bought one thing for Rick for Christmas. I can’t post about it right now because, though he says he doesn’t read my blog, I don’t want to risk him reading it on a whim and spoiling the surprise. You’ll just have to look back after Christmas for my awesome Etsy gifts.

     So a plug for Etsy: if you are gifting handmade items and you don’t want to make them yourself or don’t have the talent, or you want to find something vintage that no one else has think online and support these artists and craftsmen and craftswomen. Support the little men and women instead of your local Wal-Mart!

I’ve tried to find more “green” ways to clean up around the apartment. Actually, I’m trying to make our whole lives more environmentally friendly. It’s slow going because I don’t feel like I can just go out and blow a bunch of money all at once and replace everything. We don’t have that kind of money. But just about every time I go somewhere I pick up one more thing. And I’m always on the look out for new things for cleaning etc.

We have made this choice to try a little harder to be better people, better stewards of our planet in the more recent months. We changed our diet to better suit Rick’s health problems, the result being that we eat more “green”. So why not take it full circle and surround ourselves with biodegradable things that won’t be harmful to us, our pets or the planet? Also, I want to protect our future health. My mom is allergic to everything under the sun. I am the only one of our family whom does not suffer from typical allergies other than a possible gluten allergy and a definite milk/lactose intolerance. I think that if we don’t stress our bodies out by requiring it to try to digest preservatives or things that really can’t be found anywhere in nature. Nor make our lungs breathe a wide variety of toxins found in most house hold cleaners than perhaps we can avoid developing allergies and live longer healthier lives.

So what have I done so far? I got rid of Soft Scrub. I now use baking soda to scrub the tub and sinks and counters. I have found that it cleans more thoroughly than the other alternatives. It doesn’t hurt my hands, only exfoliates them a bit. I don’t have to worry about not breathing in the fumes like I worried with Scrubbing Bubbles. I have found it also seems to absorb grease. I broil a lot of our proteins and the fat gets all over the inside of the oven. It grosses me out and starts to smell a little if you don’t clean it out. I used it to start scrubbing the oven out one night. I was not able to finish so left a coating on the bottom of the oven. A couple of days later, when I had time again, I went back over it with a damp paper towel and it came up with the grease!

I also got rid of the off brand imitation of Pine Sol. I used to use that all over the house, the bathroom and kitchen, where my food would end up. I now use a mixture of white vinegar, water and essential oils. I don’t mix it precisely, I’ve seen a ton of different recipes for these cleaners and it seems that one does not need it to be equal parts water and vinegar. I do 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water and several drops of essential oils. I use several kinds of essential oils. This is one area I know a little about. Tea tree oil is a great one. Lavender is also very good. They are also smell better than some of the other oils. I included oregano and orange. It depends on what I have available at the time. I try to always have tea tree though, it is the “super-cleaning” oil.

I changed my dish soap from Palmolive to Seventh Generation soap, which is completely biodegradable. They have a pretty cool line of house hold cleaners including dishwasher detergent, and laundry soap. The dish soap has a couple of different options for scents that actually smell like the real thing. You can almost always tell that something is synthetic and not “real” if it doesn’t smell like it’s natural counter part. Lavender for example, is a very common scent, but rarely do they use real lavender. Seventh Generation does. I hate dishes and it makes for a more pleasant experience for me. It also is gentler on my hands.

I’m going to try some more things. I’ve read that Borax, castile soap and corn meal can be used for several things and I will keep updating my efforts here. Green cleaning to all!