SortaCrunchy

WFMW: Take the Pledge!

That's right, gentle readers! I did it. After months and months of knowing I should want to stop the plastic bottled water madness in the SortaCrunchy hacienda but not really wanting to, I've finally come to my senses and surrendered to a life less plastic-y.  And I've taken the pledge. 

And can I tell you this?  It's so liberating.  I cannot tell you how irritated I would get with the plastic bottle congregations that somehow colonized around the house.  The nightstands in our room were particularly popular breeding grounds.  A few weeks ago, we decided it was enough, that it was time.  It has definitely been one of those things I didn't realize I was so deeply in bondage to until the plastic shackles were removed.

So we've been just keeping pitchers of water in the fridge to meet our cold water needs - pouring it into glass tumblers (gasp) the old-fashioned way!  I still need to figure out our out-of-the-house solutions.  I'm leaning towards Kleen Kanteens but haven't yet pulled the trigger on those; I'm seriously considering the Foogo cups for the girls, or do I want to go with Born Free, which I can buy locally?

In the meantime, Debra of Days of Grace shared a great glass water bottle solution last week - reuse and re-purpose glass juice bottles!  I grabbed some at the grocery deli this week and they are working wonderfully for our transition phase.  Even The Coach is on board with this change and he is really digging the Nantucket Nectar bottles (thanks again for that, Debra!).

The Think Outside the Bottle site has some good information on why you might find it works for you to step away from the bottled water; additionally, check out The Green Guide's "Tapped Out: The True Cost of Bottled Water" and the Nutrition Issues in Gastroenterology article "Bottled Water Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction."

Make sure you stop by Shannon's place for more Works For Me Wednesday goodness!

WFMW: Facial Cleansing

I haven't done a Works For Me Wednesday in a long time!  But last week's Shampoo Free post which mentioned my success with the Oil Cleansing Method spawned some questions and comments that I wanted to address all in one sitting.  Incidentally, Shannon's theme for WFMW this week is what doesn't work for me, so I'll play a little fast and loose with the theme by saying . . .

what doesn't work for me are traditional facial cleansers.  They remove my make-up okay, but they also tend to remove lots of healthy, beneficial facial oils, too.  Sorta like throwing out the baby with the bathwater, only we do not throw babies around here.  (Although Big Sister has been known to throw things at the Baby as of late, but that's a whole 'nother post.)

Anyway, as I mentioned last week, it was actually my husband who persuaded me to try this method of facial cleansing.  I'll bet you didn't know that football coaches can also be into natural living and good skin care, huh?  Well, there's a lot about football coaches that might surprise you!  Anyway, he came across this method and thought it made sense - the idea being that most facial cleansers create two damaging situations for your skin: 1) they remove the body's natural oils from the skin causing it to overproduce oil to compensate for the oil that was washed away, and 2) many include ingredients like fragrances that irritate the now vulnerable skin.

I'll let you read the article to learn more, but for now I want to address some specific questions that were posed to me:

1) How often should you use OCM?

Personally, I do an OCM treatment on my face every other or night, maybe every two nights.  It's important to note that I use bareMinerals make-up and feel no need to wash this off my face at night.  Maybe I should, but I don't, and I don't have any problems with break-outs or build-up.  The Coach does a treatment about three times a week or so. 

My sister has begun to use OCM to cleanse her face, too, and she does it about five nights a week.  She wears traditional (non-mineral) make-up and on the nights she doesn't do OCM, she uses her trusty Clinique face wash.

2) What kind of skin types can use the OCM?

I would guess any skin type.  I have combination dry/oily in the T-zone skin and it works great for me.  My sister's skin tends to be more oily than dry, and she has found great success with this method, too.

3) My skin feels dry after I use the OCM.  Why?

It's possible you are using too much castor oil.  The castor oil is the part of the system that actually carries dirt, make-up, impurities, etc., away from your skin.  Too much can be drying.  If you find your skin is too dry, try changing up the proportions in your oil mixture.  Instead of one part CO to three parts of your nourishing oil (we use EVOO), try one part CO to four parts or five parts nourishing oil.

4) Do you still use moisturizer?

I think you'll find if you do an OCM treatment at night, you don't need to put on a moisturizer before bed.  I still put on just a tad in the mornings after I shower if I have dry patches on my face.

5) Have you had any break-outs since you started the OCM?

Actually, no.  When my hormone levels fluctuate with PMS, I might have a blemish or two pop up (blemish . . . I'm terribly proper, aren't I?), but other than that, my skin is really quite clear.  And sometimes even glowy.  (Or maybe that's the minerals talking.)

If you want to read more, here's a few articles I can suggest in addition to the one I linked to above:

Cleaning Up With Oil: The Oil Cleansing Method
Suite 101.com: The Oil Cleansing Method
Aisha Wood: OCM - The Oil Cleansing Method

Don't forget to go by Shannon's to read all the What DOESN'T Work For Me Wednesday posts!

WFMW: Texas Sweet Tea

Okay, so I am playing a little fast-and-loose with the title TEXAS sweet tea. I know there are plenty of Texans out there who might beg to differ with me that this is how Texans make sweet tea. So let me just say that this is how we in the SortaCrunchy household (firmly planted in Texas) make us some sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet tea.

(We also don't have a recipe handed down to us from a great-great-grandmother who made the original sweet tea. Our concoction is a melding together of many recipes we have come across; we have tinkered and made it our own!)

Recipe for one gallon of sweet tea:

1 gallon of water (divided; tap will do fine)
3 or 4 cups of sugar (how much do you love your dentist?)
12 Luzianne iced tea bags

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts (half a gallon) of water and all of your sugar to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, remove pot from heat and add the tea bags. Cover and let sit. (I'd say at least half an hour, but we let ours sit up to two hours sometimes.) After tea has steeped, remove tea bags and pour tea into a gallon sized container. Fill with two more quarts of water (to make a gallon - the magic of math and measurements!). Chill and serve over ice. I like a lemon wedge or two in mine to cut the sweetness, but The Coach prefers his straight up.

A gallon makes a LOT of tea, so unless you are having company over for a grill-out, you may want to make just half a gallon. Tea (sweet and otherwise) tastes funny to me after it's been in the fridge for three or more days.

Enjoy!

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, pour a glass of tea and drop by Rocks in My Dryer!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS POST IN ITS ORIGINAL FORMAT COMPLETE WITH COMMENTS!