The Strangest Thing That Ever Worked

Hello, and welcome to my re-purposed blog! After re-reading my post from last week, I realized it sounded a little whiny. Sorry about that! I don't mean to be a complainer, I was just frustrated. When I first created the account for this blog (around 2 YEARS ago! lol) my original plan was to post about the things I use that I love and why I love them, but when I actually started this blog, back in May of this year, I altered that idea and decided to show you what it's like to live on a farm from the point of view of a girl who never thought she'd be living on a farm. Somehow it turned into a recipe blog. No idea how that happened. Yes, I love food and I love to try new recipes, but my recipes are by no means original. Most of my recipes come straight out of a book or magazine or are a slightly altered version of something from a book or magazine (or blog or website.... you get the idea). I was frustrated because I clearly wasn't getting my point across, so, I've decided to go back to my original plan: the everyday (or week since I'll only be posting once a week) life of an accidental farm girl and all the random things that I like (or have no choice but to do) that occupy my time.


I've decided to start by telling you about the product that is by far the strangest thing that has ever worked for me: The Oil Cleansing Method. If you've never heard of this concept, click on the blue words above and then come back to me. Done? OK, in case you didn't want to read all of that, here's the basic concept: good oil removes bad oil. I stumbled upon this website by accident. I was using a store bought oil cleansing product that was great at removing make-up but it was a little pricey and I needed to use another cleanser to actually control blemishes, plus blemish control spot treatment, ect. ect.). Also, as someone who had recently become aware of the MANY chemicals in my products, I was trying to find a less-chemical-filled version of the oil product I was using, so, of course, I looked online. Commercially made chemical free versions of cleansing oil are few and far between (not to mention more pricey than what I was using), but I found the website listed above and realized that making my own could be the way to go. So I ordered the 2 types of oil the site suggests (btw: I got my oils from Mountain Rose Herbs, I'm sure there are other places you can buy them as well)


To say that I was skeptical about this concept working (without any other form of cleanser afterwards) would be an understatement! See, I've had blemishes since I was ...... uhhhhh ...... maybe 12 or 13. I've tried EVERYTHING! Drugstore brands, department store brands, brands that come in pink bottles (you know what I mean) and the one from the famous info-mercial that "works for everybody." They never worked. At least not for very long. Six months, maybe a year and then my skin would be worse than when I started with that product, so I'd have to try something stronger. This continued until about a year ago. I was using a product so strong it made my skin burn just to wash my face. I would literally cry while washing my face because it hurt so much, and the product had stopped working. My skin was broke out, red and extremely irritated. I'd tried everything, so I had nowhere left to go but natural. 


When my oils arrived I mixed them together. That evening I used only the oil to cleanse my face. It was so strange! I didn't exactly follow the directions on the website, instead I used the oil as though it were a cleanser (not as a mask like the website suggests) and massaged it into my skin for around 5 or 10 minutes, really working it into my skin. I rinsed the oil off with a wet washcloth and patted in a few drops of oil as a moisturizer. Should I take before pictures? Just in case? Nah. It's never gonna work anyway, no point. So I went to bed. The next morning I poked in my contacts and stared at the mirror. Did my face look less red? Maybe. Hmmmm. I wiped my face with a damp cloth (it still burned from the harsh product from before) and patted in a few more drops of oil. Sometime later I needed to use the bathroom and as I walked past the mirror I nearly forgot where I was going! My skin was sooooo much less red and those huge blemishes were ...... SHRINKING! My skin was clearing up! I made a habit of checking it every few hours and each time my skin was better than before. This continued for the next 2 or 3 days: a visible change almost by the hour. I couldn't believe it, how could it be so simple? By the end of 2 weeks I had skin that was more clear than it had been since I was in Jr. High, and I was wishing I had taken that "before" picture, no one was ever going to believe this. 


More than a year later the oil cleansing method still works great! It removes my makeup (yes, even waterproof mascara) and controls blemishes. I still get breakouts sometimes (mostly because I have this bad habit of going to bed with my makeup on), but not as many and not nearly as severe and they go away much quicker! I now buy my oils in 1 gallon containers. I mix my oils 10 oz. at a time and it takes me between 2 and 3 months to use that up. It's going to take years to finish off those 1 gallon containers. This is by far the most cost efficient cleanser I've ever used and it still amazes me how well it works, my skin is not only clearer, but softer and less oily (yes really) than ever before. 


UPDATE: My friend Michele, posted about her experience with the oil cleansing method, you can read about it by clicking here.

My Laundry's Dirty Little Secret

Have you ever had one of those stains that no matter what you put on it, it just will NOT come out? Welcome to my laundry room! My husband is a farmer, and most days I don't even bother asking what the stain is. It's not coming out whether I know what it is or not. So, when a friend posted the link to this blog, where the author claimed she got out several different stains with a bar of Ivory soap and a wacky little product called Eco Nuts, I was intrigued. 


I had heard of Eco Nuts before, (if you haven't check this out) They are biodegradable, hypoallergenic, nut allergy safe, reusable (yes, really) and fragrance free. I like that last one, I HATE it when every cleaner has to smell like some fake rain forest. I'm allergic to a lot of the chemicals they use to make artificial fragrances (they give me a major headache). So the fact that these have no fragrance? OK, let's give it a try! 


I've been using the Eco Nuts for a week or two now and I must say my laundry comes out equally as clean as it does with traditional laundry detergent, with the added benefits of Eco Nuts being free of chemicals, artificial fragrance and artificial color (I mean, really! Who cares what color their laundry soap is anyhow?) Also, Eco Nuts are fairly cheap (and quite pack-able for ski vacation this winter, a bag with 4 Eco Nuts can be used for 10, yes T-E-N, loads of laundry!) so I'll skip the standard harsh detergents and use these. Also, you don't have to use fabric softener (even less funky fake smells!) and your clothes will still be soft. We'll see how it works without dryer sheets this winter. 


Now, you must understand that clothes in this house are either not going to have any stains, or they will be one large stain (obviously there are exceptions, but one of those options is the norm). I've tried just about every stain remover you can name (and some of the best known ones are the ones that work the least!) so I was more than a little skeptical by this blogger's claim that something as common as Ivory soap could get out stains. So I gave it a try on a BBQ sauce stain on my new pair of khakis (grrrr) and a blood stain (don't ask) on a pair of jean shorts. The results? Bye-bye stains! What?! Really? Hmmm, this just might be worth a try on my husband's work jeans. 


And so I present to you:


                          Exhibit A:                                                 Exhibit B:

The stains: Probably oil and grease of some kind, along with mud/dirt, maybe some diesel fuel. By the way, I'm talking machinery grease and oil here, you know, from tractors and grain trucks and combines, that sort of grease. I realize that in these pictures, these stains look like just dirt, but believe me, these jeans have looked pretty much exactly like this through several washes now. And yes, they've been through the dryer.

Here's what you'll need: 

Spray bottle and Ivory soap (clearly this is not a new bar of soap)

Because jeans absorb water, I had to kind of spray the stains and rub with the soap at the same time. You want it to kind of lather, it should look soapy (if that made sense).

Isn't it nice that I'm left-handed and shoot photos with my right hand?
I'm just ambidextrous like that :)

Here's what the jeans looked like all Ivory-ed up:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

And, just for the fun of it, here's Exhibit C: (it's going into the wash without Ivory for comparison)

Into the wash they all go!

Along with the baggie of Eco Nuts

Alta needs to use the grass. Que Jeopardy music while you wait!

I hung the jeans outside to dry, so if they look a little stiff, that's why.

Ready?

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

And, last but not least, the control (yes, I watch Mythbusters, what's your point?) Exhibit C:

The stains on Exhibit C are somewhat lighter, but compared to A & B, they look like they need to be scrubbed with Ivory and put back in the wash! 

Conclusion: Even if you don't try the Eco Nuts, definitely give the Ivory soap a try! You've probably got a bar or two around somewhere. Shockingly cheap stain remover that actually WORKS! Thanks to Tonya at 4littlefergusons for posting the link to ChemicallyInclined! 

PS: I have an HE washer, but EcoNuts can be used in regular top-loaders as well!