Lemons

Buying some fresh lemons is a practical, easy way to start living a more pure life. They are packed with vitamin C (2 times more than oranges), potassium and folate to nourish your body even when you apply them to your skin.  Lemons work to gently detoxify your body and they even dissolve petrochemicals. Toxins are stored in your cellulite, so whether you drink the juice in your water or apply to your  skin you’ll help move the junk out of your system. Why add more garbage to your system from hydroquinone or mercury tainted creams on your skin when you have lemons! Any type of lemon will do.  I would only use organic lemons for cooking or body care though, traditional grown lemons are most likely sprayed with fungicides like thiabendazole and gassed with ethylene to speed the ripening process, who wants that on their skin? Yuck! . Meyers lemons will give you more juice than other varieties. Here are 9 of my favorite uses to brighten your skin and your mood:

1.Drink fresh squeezed juice into warm water in the morning to wake your body up. Drink it in cool water in the afternoon to perk you up without caffeine. You’ll also boost your immune system with the vitamin C.
2. Lighten finger and toe nails yellowed by nail polish, squeeze some juice into a teaspoon of baking soda, scrub into nails with an old toothbrush.
3. Add shine to your hair when you rinse. Add the juice of 1 lemon to 2 cups of water and use as your final rinse water.
4. Scent. Lemon blossoms smell exquisite, add a handful of blooms to your bath water to gently scent your skin.
5. Remove dead skin cells and brighten your complexion. At bedtime, use fresh lemon juice as a toner on a damp face after washing, dab on a couple drops of olive or sesame oil.
6. Massage gently areas of cellulite with dried lemon zest or ground almonds, a pinch of sea salt and coconut or sesame oil before showering.
7. Dry up a blemish. Apply pure juice to blemishes, repeat throughout the day to dry it up.
8. Head-off the start of a cold sore, apply fresh lemon juice on location every hour until gone.
9. Polish your skin with fresh squeezed lemon juice, ¼ C organic sugar and ¼ Colive oil. Massage all over and rinse in a gentle shower. Be careful, this might make your tub slippery!

*Lemons do cause photo sensitivity, so don’t apply lemon juice within 24 hours of sun exposure or you’re likely to burn. You can also use food grade lemon essential oil in place of the fresh lemon juice, just make sure the essential oil is organic, food grade is the purest (lemon essential oil is distilled from the rind so any pesticides or fungicides will become highly concentrated). Fresh lemon juice has more active enzymes that will remove dead skin cells to brighten your skin. Lemon essential oil is rich in limonene, found to decrease the incidence of cancer.  You can substitute lemon essential oil for all uses:  1 drop of essential oil, diluted in 1 tsp aloe vera juice or water. Check out this video on 6 of my favorite uses of lemon essential oil.

McCornack, STATUS OF POSTHARVEST FUNGICIDES FOR CITRUS FRUIT1, (229-232).

Therman, Ferrer, Analysis of Postharvest Fungicides and Their Metabolites in Citrus Fruits and Their Juices. www.agilent.com.

I found it interesting that the EWG information did not indicate “LEAD” as a toxin  in the ingredients. This is probably because LEAD is not an individual ingredient, but rather an element of another ingredient, like coloring.  For example, the #7 lipstick with lead was L’Oreal Colour Rich Lipstick, Tickled Pink (Pink) 165. This same L’Oreal lipstick ranks 7 in toxicity on EWG.org (7-10 being the most toxic rating) on EWG, not because of the LEAD (which wasn’t even indicated in the list of ingredients) but because of several other ingredients like BHA, BHT and Fragrance linked with toxic side effects.

If you’re looking to replace your favorite lipstick because it ranked high in lead, no worries! There are plenty of companies creating “healthy lipsticks”. Here are 15 companies I found that have several lipstick products with a 0-1 rating of toxicity on EWG (on a scale of 0-10 with 10 being the most toxic). If you want to guarantee your product is low in toxins, check out www.EWG.org for your specific manufacturer and color. Even though these “Green” companies have many products in the 0-1 category, they might have some colors or cosmetic categories ranking higher in toxic load so it pays to do a little research.

1. Coastal Creations

2. Maia’s Mineral Galaxy

3. Green Beauty

4. Herbal Choice

5. Beauty With A Cause

6. Johnny Concert

7. Zosimos Botanicals

8. Boots

9. Afterglow Cosmetics

10. CARGO

11. Hemp Organics

12. Honeybee Gardens

13. Inika Mineral Lipstick

14. RMS Beauty

15. Cleure

There are so many healthy options in a range of price points, it should be easy to find some natural lip products that fit your budget. Let me know if you’ve used any of these brands and what you think!

When the study was done in 2007, only 3 lipsticks were found to have more than 2.0 ppm of lead with the highest sample having 3.06 ppm.  The study released in December 2011 found 51 samples over 2.00 ppm with the top offenders having over 7.0 ppm and 14 of the the top tainted samples over 3.0 ppm. These results seem to show the problem getting worse, don’t they?  How long do we play Russian roulette waiting for statistics to come in with adverse effects showing the toxicity of lead in lipstick?  I’m providing you with links to the studies, the results and other information so you can see the data yourself and make informed choices. I am taking this information seriously especially for my growing daughters who will soon want to wear make-up and have already been getting “lipstick” type products from friends.

This evidence is pretty compelling, and for me this subject hits too close to home. Last year I was tested for heavy metals and found to have high concentrations of lead in my system. I’ve had friends ask me where my exposure has come from and I honestly don’t know. I did wear lipsticks for years, some of them brands now shown to be high in lead.  I will never know for sure if the lipsticks I used contributed to my high levels, but I am eliminating any possible sources of lead exposure. Lead toxicity mainly happens by ingestion, do you think that some of your lipstick is being ingested if you wear it while eating? I think the answer is obvious if you have less lipstick on after dinner than when you started. And where does the lipstick go after you’ve kissed someone? I’ll be sharing with you some things I’ve learned on my journey to remove the lead and other heavy metals from my system over the coming months. How do you know if you have lead toxicity in your system? Often the symptoms are vague, especially if the exposure is gradual over months or years. Lead has a half life of 30 years once it reaches the bones. The body identifies lead similar to calcium, so if you are deficient at all in calcium (like pregnant and nursing women) your body is more likely to absorb the lead thinking it might be calcium. This also makes the removal tricky because you want to remove the lead without depleting your body of precious calcium. I am not a doctor and not prescribing treatment for heavy metal removal, I just want to be real with you that these studies and the risks of exposure to lead are real. I am also not making any recommendations for removing heavy metals from your system, I’ll just share some of the things I’ve done while working with a holistic medical doctor.

Would you be comfortable using a product on your skin that you knew had lead in the ingredients? What do you think about the FDA holding out on passing any regulations regarding lead and lipstick?  Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you!

In the meantime, if you want to make sure that your lip products are safe, check out www.EWG.org/skindeep/

Pamper yourself before a special night out, this easy to prepare recipe will remove dead skin cells and leave your skin soft as silk. Blend all the ingredients together until you have a small ball of paste, adding more almond oil as needed. After drying off from a shower or bath, roll the mixture over your entire body, massaging into areas that are dry. You’ll want to cover the skin with a fine layer that will dry pretty quickly. When you are done, brush off the excess with a dry washcloth and your skin will be left glowing!

Ingredients:

1 T ground oatmeal

2 tsp ground almonds

1 tsp dried, ground citrus peel

1 tsp dried, crushed rose petals

1 tsp dried, crushed lavender buds

1 pinch ground clove

1 pinch ground nutmeg

2-3 drops essential oils of choice: sandalwood, myrrh, neroli or lavender

1-2 T almond or sesame oil

This treatment is not one to rush through, it might be something different than anything you’ve ever done before.  Give yourself time to do it when you can enjoy the process and be relaxed. How else do you pamper your skin at home?  I’d love to hear about little luxuries you treat yourself with at home!

• Morning:   splash face with warm water, apply 2 drops of frankincense over entire face.  Follow with lavender lotion or Boswellia wrinkle cream for more hydration.
• Night:  Wash with orange blossom face wash (for normal days), melaleuca geranium bar soap for oilier days.  Splash face with Aubrey’s pure aloe vera, follow with 2 drops frankincense or lavender essential oil.  Finish with lavender lotion or Boswellia wrinkle cream.  Apply wolfberry eye cream before bed.

I modify my routine as needed, and have found that keeping my digestion healthy keeps my skin healthy.  My favorite for staying “regular” is Sulfurzyme, 1-3 times a day between meals.  It’s excellent for alleviating joint pain as well.  For occasional breakouts due to hormones I’ve used lavender, frankincense, lemon or Thieves (sparingly, only a tiny drop on blemish), sandalwood & myrrh for drier times.    Let me know what works for you!

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