I just discovered something awesome!

A pink terry cloth shower cap which I bought from Daiso for RM5 (USD$1.50). I’ve always been using plastic cap all this while. Can you imagine how much of these goes to the landfill?

I feel so guilty now.

A study conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group found that 17 of the top fragrances contained 38 secret chemicals!

Here are the list of the fragrances that has the most chemicals:

American Eagle Seventy-Seven – 24
Chanel Coco – 18
Britney Spears Curious – 17
Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio – 17
Old Spice After Hours Body Spray – 16
Quicksilver – 16
Calvin Klein Eternity for Men – 15
Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry-Blossom – 14
Calvin Klein Eternity for Women – 14
Halle by Halle Berry – 13
Hannah Montana Secret Celebrity – 13
Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Wish – 13
Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce – 11
Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow – 11
AXE Body Spray for Men: Shock – 10
Clinque Happy – 9
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue – 7

See the problem is, studies have shown that our skin do absorb chemicals that we put on our body.

Frankly, I have not been using any chemical perfumes ever since I got pregnant with my first kid. I didn’t want anything to be absorbed into my baby’s body. Luckily for me, Asians have been using fragrances for hundreds of years. Traditionally, we soak flowers and nice smelling herbs in a warm  bath water, hmmm, about an hour before we take our bath. The wonderful fragrance from the bath water is what would lightly perfume our body.

Image taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/30471084@N07/2937326324

Bathing with fragrant flower water is something most brides-to-be in Southeast Asia will undergo

Asian women also use fresh flowers, like the tiny, pure white fragrant Jasmine flower,  on our hair.

I myself love perfumes, and when I decided to ditch my bottles of perfume, I did feel a twitch of sadness. Only the thought of doing something for the greater good spurred me on.

Ok, speaking of flowers being good for the hair, I’d like to share a natural hair shampoo that you can make at home using the hibiscus flower and leaves.

Hibiscus or Bunga Raya (Joyous Flower) is Malaysia’s national flower. And let me tell you, these plants can be found just about anywhere in Malaysia.

All Natural Bunga Raya Shampoo

• Firstly, you’ll need to collect a handful of leaves and flowers (remove the stems and stamen from the flowers).
• Wash and soak the flowers and leaves for about 15 mins.
• Then, cramp the entire thing into a blender. I like my Magic Bullet for this sort of thing.
• Blend the leaves and flower petal, adding a little bit of water to get the whole thing moving.
• The brown paste is ready for you to use as a shampoo.
• When you are washing your hair, first, be sure to wet your hair.
• Then, massage the brown paste  into your hair (yes, it can be used as a body scrub as well). You will get a mild foam when you do so.
• Wash and rinse really, really well to get everything out of your hair.

This cleanser is very gentle and totally safe for kids as well…  unless they are allergic to hibiscus.

===========

More info on how to heal your body

• Should we drink chlorinated tap water?
• Lots of great raw or almost raw food here!
• “This plant healed my sister!” said hubby
• Gotu Kola heals the world!
• Iodine Tincture Heals Cancer Lesions?

All images taken from The Berry

Corin Redgrave, reknown British actor of the famous Redgrave acting dynasty, passed away recently on April 6 at the age of 70. His funeral was splashed all over the British tabloids.

One of the things I noticed was that he was laid to rest in a wicker coffin, which I thought was a very cool coffin to use. Wicker coffins are very eco friendly and are among the greenest ways to a carbon neutral end. It’s cheap (not that the Redgrave family is in need of money) and sustainable. I’ve written about eco friendly coffins and how my grandpa was cremated. Surprise, surprise, his body wasn’t entirely burned down to ashes. Not something I ever imagine cause I suppose I watch too much tv and had assume everything could be stuffed into a cremation jar. You can read more of it here at Eco Friendly Burials

Anyways, Corin Regrave had a wonderful send off and his funeral was peppered with many British “acting royalties” like his sister Vanessa Redgrave, Corin’s niece Joely Richardson and her brother-in-law Liam Neeson (of the Star Wars fame), his sister Lynn Redgrave and her daughter Annabel, Corin’s former co-stars and friends Simon Callow and Sir Ian McKellan, Kika Markham and Corin’s actress daughter Jemma Redgrave. Corin Redgrave was a remarkable actorwho was also well known for his Marxist stand. He is a sad loss to society and the world of theatre.

Joely Richardson and Liam Neeson

Images from http://www.dailymail.co.uk and http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk

I was just drooling over this really beautiful and elegant planting bed. Definitely something I would consider creating if I lived in an apartment.

The planting bed you see belongs to the Casa Camper hotel in Barcelona. There are all sorts of herbs for the hotel chef to use.

What a wonderful sight!

I just heard that one of my friend’s kids was down with the H1N1 virus. My god! Is that bug still around?

It IS! So, recently, I find myself slacking when it comes to absolute hygiene. Not to say I’m a dirty person, but when the first H1N1 wave came in, I was pretty anal about bringing my kids out, washing hands 10 times a day, stuff like that. I was pretty alarm to say the least, and at that time, my kids were ill all the time, so I was deathly afraid their weak bodies would not be able to cope with something so dangerous.

Anyways, no prizes for telling me that we should all still be really careful.

Here’s what Kristen Suzanne, (a raw food chef) from Kristen’s Raw blog (who by the way is happily pregnant) tips on keeping oneself healthy. Those below and chugging green juice like there’s no tomorrow.

…After scouring the Internet for information on pregnant women and the seasonal / swine flus, I came have a list of things to do (I came up with most of these from Mothering.com’s forum):

Wash hands for 30 seconds with soap OFTEN (avoiding anti-bacterial gels). A good trick is to hum the “Happy Birthday” song three times while hand washing.
PLENTY OF REST!
Don’t touch face
Get Vitamin D!!! (I get mine from the sun, 15-25 minutes daily or every other day)
Gargle with warm salt water twice a day
Take warm salt water and dip a q-tip into it and swab the inside of nostrils daily (or use a neti pot)
Eat fresh, organic, raw garlic
Drink warm liquids
Consume plenty of vitamin C-rich foods
Stay hydrated
Avoid crowded places