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.

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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?

You know what I love? Food, and what I love more is food that can double up as a makeup! Which is why I love the idea of a cheap and safe eyeliner. Definitely safer than what you would get from the drugstore. You’ll never have to worry about insidious chemicals like preservatives because you made it yourself. Plus, by making it you are actually reducing carbon footprints and reducing plastic and chemical wastes.

BellaSugar will show you how to make this 10 minute, natural and naturally safe eyeliner.

Meanwhile, check this scary video reminding women how much lipstick they actually consume. 

Ethan Eating Thin Strips of Chinese Pear

I love to listen to my mum tell me stuff that happened to her as a young girl. It’s fascinating.

One of the things my mum told me was that as a child, my granny had fed her pears to reduce her high fever. However, not any pear will do. It had to be a particular pear from China.

Chinese Pear

There are many, many types of pears from China, and this particular Chinese Pear is recognizable because it is very big. It’s about 1 1/2 times the size of a regular pear that we get at the supermarket. Also it’s round unlike the normal pear.  The skin dark brown, unlike the usual light yellow pears. It’s also quite expensive. I could buy 3 regular pears for this baby.

This is an amazing fruit. The Chinese just love this pear. It’s a great natural fever reducer, something you could try if you are looking for natural alternatives instead of the usual chemical based medicine like paracetamol or aspirin. You could juice this sweet fruit for really, young kids, but otherwise, the entire fruit can be eaten, minus the core and the stem, of course.

I’ve had to tackle my little boy and force feed meds into him before, and it’s a real nightmare .. for both the parent and the child. If you have this experience, then, you know what I mean. There’s nothing worse than having the poor child scream, cry and struggle while you try to force medicine down his throat. Which is why I love this. I can’t think of a better, more yummy way to get well.