The Lavender Pig Blog

To be healthy and happy people, we have to consume healthy and happy things.  The foods we eat as well as everything else that we put on our bodies are so important that they should not escape consideration. Using mass-produced products exposes us, and the environment, to harmful chemicals and pollution.
 
Using natural handmade bath products is one way in which we can be conscious of our consumption.  Natural things are thing that do not have any unnatural chemicals in them.  These toxins are what we want to avoid when we want to be as positive and vibrant as we possibly can be.

Whether for the holidays, a birthday, or just for the heck of it: a gift of health and beauty products is a great way to reward your female spouse.  Here are a few ideas sure to delight her:

~Handmade Soap – handcrafted soap comes in scintillating flavors and smell great during and after washing.

~Bath Salts – add exquisite scents to bath water and also provide the healing benefits of natural salinity.

~Skin Moisturizers – proven to promote healthy skin and also to help combat dryness and itching in colder winter months.

~Sensual Oils – though not a traditional health and beauty product, these are great for a relaxing massage administered by a loving husband.

Many of the household items that we use today are made from chemicals that may have harmful effects on our children and the environment. It is not healthy to use too many artificial products, especially if we are unsure on their long-term effects.

Natural products, such as handcrafted soap, are better than products that come off a factory assembly line. The manufacturers of these unique products use research and science to prove the effectiveness of their herbal-based products. For a cleaner and greener planet Earth, go natural!

Flu season is now upon us, and everyone is more concerned about staying germ-free. We’ve all heard the advice about washing your hands and properly covering your sneezes, but there are some other precautions that will help ensure your health through the chilly fall and winter months.

The soap you choose when washing your hands has a big impact on how sanitary your cleaning routine is. Bar soaps can sit in unclean and mildew-ridden holders, and who knows how many other people have rubbed their infected hands with them? Liquid soap is a more hygienic option and will prevent you from being contaminated. After you wash your hands, always you the towel to open the door, as the doorknobs are a cesspool of bacteria.

The people of Western Africa have long enjoyed the benefits of shea butter, and their secret to moist, luxurious skin has since been passed to the rest of the world. Shea butter is produced from an extraction of the large seeds of the wild shea tree. In its raw state, the butter is white or yellowish in color, and its texture and consistency are similar to that of real butter.

Handmade shea butter soap has actually been found to contain healing properties as well. It restructures the skin, treats eczema and dermatitis and even soothes sore, aching muscles. Shea butter soap can be made at some expense from home with the use of raw, unprocessed butter, but it’s also widely available online. It represents an all-natural alternative to the mass-produced soaps that can prove harsh and even detrimental to the skin.

Although most of the mainstream cosmetic products on the market today are perfectly safe, some of them contain harsh chemicals that can do more harm than good. Some soaps and moisturizing creams harbor so many ingredients that it’s difficult to determine their intended effects. That’s why so often it pays to keep things simple. All-natural cosmetics take all of the guesswork out of soap shopping.

Handmade goat milk soap is all-natural and loaded with beneficial antioxidants such as vitamin A and vitamin E. Goat milk soap also possesses age-defying properties thanks to its amino acid content. These amino acids can be utilized to revitalize damaged tissue and make you look significantly younger in time.

Washing your hands is a very important part of staying healthy. Especially with the recent outbreak of swine flu, it is an important part of discouraging the spread of germs, bacteria and viruses. There is a proper way to wash your hands in order to get rid of the most germs. First, wet your hands with clean, warm running water and apply hand soap. Rub hands together to make foam and scrub all surfaces, making sure to clean between fingers and under fingernails. Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds, or about the time it takes to sing the ABCs. Rinse hands well under running water, and then dry hands.

One of the best things to use for hand washing is foaming hand soap. The foam it creates helps loosen dirt and germs while you scrub your hands, meaning they’ll wash away when you rinse. And hand soap doesn’t have to be boring. It can be scented with nearly any scent so that your hands smell great after washing.

Many people have heard of shea butter but only in the cosmetic context. Shea butter, however, has a very large and diverse range of uses. On the most basic level, shea butter is actually a natural fat extracted from the shea tree fruit. Taken alone, shea butter is edible and has been used in West African cooking for centuries. Less commonly, it replaces cocoa butter in chocolate.

Aside from eating it, shea butter is a common ingredient in high end cosmetics by virtue of its moisturizing characteristics. Some people even claim that shea butter has been effective in treating scars, acne, rashes, eczema, and more. Finding itself in everything from shampoo, conditioner, and shea butter soap, it is also commonly used in other cultures during indigenous ceremonies. In Uganda, for example, a small group believes that covering the body in shea butter will stop bullets.

If you have extremely dry skin or skin that is susceptible to irritation, it can be difficult trying to find soap that works for you. While store bought soap works relatively well for most people’s skin type, there are those people who suffer from such sensitive skin that mass produced cosmetics cause everything from breakouts to more severe irritation. For these individuals, it’s best to determine the ingredients that cause you discomfort as soon as possible.

If you can’t figure it out on your own, seek out the help of a dermatologist. Once you know what causes you problems, you’ll have a better idea what kind of products you should and shouldn’t buy. If a large majority of store bought soap is going to be problematic, you may have to look into handmade soap. These usually have far less ingredients and can be purchased with little to no scent. If you find the right site, you might even be able to pick and choose which ingredients go into your soap to ensure you don’t have a reaction.

Soaps containing milk have recently been rediscovered by the beauty industry. The resurgence of milk soap in the market place can be attributed to recent research showing the skin benefits from contact with lactic acid. Lactic acid helps smooth skin through exfoliation, and milk also contains vitamins A and D. These vitamins give skin smoothness and suppleness. Much milk-based soap is created from goat’s milk. Goat milk soap has the same ph as human skin.

Goats’ milk is high in fat and creamy. People who have trouble digesting cow’s milk often choose to ingest goats’ milk as an alternative. The protein profile of goats’ milk is more similar to human milk than cows’ milk. Another benefit to using goats’ milk products is that goats are more easily farmed than cows; they forage on all kinds of feed, are resistant to disease and can provide meat, milk and wool.