skin care – Swellness Vibes

Eczema, Schmeczema

I have officially been diagnosed with eczema, and as I think back over my life, of course this crud has been eczema. Every stinking winter it bothers me. While I have other skin issues–potentially the you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me-that’s-a-thing cholingeric urticaria–these little unpleasant bumps of itch and burn have been a part of me for a while.

They’ve also been a part of my kid’s life for forever. We call his Dragon Skin, a name that evokes strength and purpose. But frankly, this most important organ of his, those burning red winter hands, really bother me. I’m feeling like it’s not a great sign to have the skin look and feel that way. Which, when he was a wee one, I played around with ingredients to create his own ointment.

And now, rather than putting on pure shea butter out of laziness for myself, or looking for my kid’s old eczema creams, I have decided to play and make a new blend!

The inter-webs proclaim that colloidal oats are a gift from the Gods–and I remember the kid’s oat baths–so I looked into it. Why does it work? How do I make it? Can I make it?

Gift from the Gods

Healthline says that the fine powder of oats–which is what colloidal oats are (not to be confused with oat flour)–is made up of minerals, proteins, vitamins, fats and other power-packing nutrients that is valuable for skin. With antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, it’s not surprising that studies support the benefits of these oats, nor that the FDA approved colloidal oatmeal as a skin protectant in 2003.

In layman’s terms, it softens the skin, soothes the itch, and helps create a protective barrier to that which may trigger an eczema assault. I can think of other things that create a barrier, like coconut oil, honey, aloe vera, castor oil, and jojoba, which I know from previous usage is easily one of the best oils for the human skin. The internet says things like calendula (oh yeah, I remember that), lavender, chamomile and evening primrose are good for the skin. Wait, what? Isn’t evening primrose for peri-menopause, too? Sure thing.

I inadvertently created a scrub along with an ointment. Do not eat the mixtures, no matter how tempting.

To Make Colloidal Oats

Grind up oats. If it mixes in with water turning it yellow, you’ve succeeded. It’s that easy.

Eczema Scrub

1 tbsp of colloidal oats
1 tbsp of coconut oil – not melted
1 tsp aloe vera gel

Mix it all together. Cover with plastic wrap. To use: Wash/Rinse hands as normal with soap. Using a small amount of the scrub, rub it onto your hands. Rinse off; pat dry. Your hands should be left oily. I would have added more aloe had my plant been more productive.

Do not eat! No matter how yummy it smells.

Eczema Ointment

1 tbsp of colloidal oats
1 tbsp of melted coconut oil
1 tbsp of melted shea butter
1 tbsp of honey
1 tsp of aloe vera gel
30 drops lavender oil
10 drops of evening primrose oil

Melt coconut oil and shea butter. Add the oats, honey, aloe vera. Again, I would have added more aloe had my plant cooperated. Once fully mixed together and slightly lumpy, add the lavender and primrose oil. Keep mixing until it is the consistency you like. Put in the fridge. Let harden. Now, after this, you can leave it out at room temperature, but I prefer the cold temp, so I leave it in the fridge. Otherwise it gets too melt-y for me.

Thoughts

I wasn’t a fan of the primrose oil by itself, but in the mixture, it was fine.

I have mixed feelings on the oats themselves–a little messy. I would grind them up even more next time I make this, or hell, maybe just use an oat oil to replace the oats for the ointment. I’m sure it exists. For the scrub, I would leave it.

I also have mixed feelings about the honey because, well, it’s so sticky. Just be prepared to be sticky, I guess, is the answer.

Next time I make some I will use other ingredients–like jojoba, castor oil, etc. Since eczema is an unending fiend in my life, I imagine I will have yearly attempts at creating the best concoction. If not for me, then for the Dragon Skin Kid.

Does this meet the swellness check? Absolutely. Our skin started healing as soon as we started to use this stuff, and it was certainly less itchy.

A Novel for Bodyworkers/Yogis/Magic Lovers

A little bit of self-promotion here.

I wrote a book about a bodyworker. Scenes take place in yoga studios, dojos and meditation rooms. There are crystals, runes, reiki, and elixirs.

While the story itself was therapeutic to write, the fun came in describing the world we holistic health people know and love. I call BS when BS needs to be called, I call confusion when Destiny vs Free Will is on the mind of our characters, and sneak in some recipes at the back of the book.

Color Therapy 101: Blue

It was a cold and dreary week in the middle of January, and she was feeling terribly blue. According to this blog post, blue meaning ‘feeling sad’ stems from tears being attributed to blue, or the color approaching black on the spectrum, as darker colors are also attributed to depression. Or the fact that when we’re so cold, or lose oxygen, we turn blue. According to this study, our emotions themselves affect the color we see.

Yet, there’s an other website full of wonderful quotes about blue, and it’s broken down by topics like ‘sparking creativity’, ‘inspiring a new perspective’. There’s nothing sad in these quotes, but perhaps a paradox: “Blue is a cold and retiring colour, and its effect upon the mind is of a quiet, soothing nature. It is symbolical of divinity, intelligence, sincerity, and tenderness.” – W. J. & G. A. Audsley

So what exactly is blue? While our tears may be blue, it seems that blue is much more of a relaxing, soothing color than anything. It’s pervasive, even more so than green — the sky, the ocean, some flowers. And then you’ve got William Shatner, who just took off into the great unknown of outer space, only to come back with these words about blue:

“I mean, the little things, the weightlessness, and to see the blue color whip by and now you’re staring into blackness. That’s the thing. This covering of blue is this sheet, this blanket, this comforter of blue around that we have around us. We think ‘oh, that’s blue sky’ and suddenly you shoot through it all of a sudden, like you whip a sheet off you when you’re asleep, and you’re looking into blackness – into black ugliness. And you look down, there’s the blue down there, and the black up there, and there is Mother Earth and comfort and – is there death? Is that the way death is?”

And while what he continued to say after this has no bearing on the color blue so-to-speak, it’s profound: “I hope I never recover from this.”

Blue correlates with your throat chakra, the center of expressing yourself. If your throat chakra has issues, you may have a tendency for sore throats or laryngitis, or thyroid problems. You might be a little too outspoken, or critical. On the flip side, you may have problems standing up for yourself. A fully balanced, beautiful throat chakra gives you the ability to communicate effectively.

To help with dis-ease with the color blue, consider immersing yourself in blue light. Blue light therapy exists for skin conditions, or treating S.A.D. One of the places I offer services at has a room dedicated to salt panels — my favorite way to have the panels is to set them every-other-one in shades of blue. (I find all dark blue to be too dark and stimulating, much like all red or orange.)

Get some blue candles, or blue crystals like deep, lovely lapis lazuli, sodalite, turquoise. Surround yourself with blue flowers like asters, blue poppies, forget-me-nots, or flax. One of my favorite teas gives off a slight bluish-purple color.

Wear some blue clothes, or in this case, socks and shoes!

“The only footwear I need is an inexpensive pair of blue sneakers. They have soft fabric tops and soft rubber-like soles. I get them one size too large so I can wiggle my toes. I feel as free as though I were barefoot! And I can usually get 1,500 miles to a pair. I wear a pair of navy blue socks.There’s a reason why I chose navy blue for my wearing apparel – it’s a very practical color, doesn’t show dirt, and the color blue does represent peace and spirituality.” – Peace Pilgrim

Color Therapy 101: Yellow

Imagine: this person is staring at you as you sit in a chair. You’re trying to remain neutral – after all, you asked for this – but you start to feel a little on edge and completely uncomfortable — you’ve given in to the feelings of discomfort. The person assessing your aura tells you how she is done looking at you, because all of a sudden you turned YELLOW.

According to David Hamilton in his new book, Why Woo-Woo Works, people who say they see auras have often said that the color is associated with how the subject feels at the time of assessment. (An aside: I’ve only just started to peruse his book, but he’s got real-science, real-studies behind all things ‘woo-woo’ and I recommend the book if your brain is hardwired the way mine is.)

So let’s think of things that we already know about the color yellow. When you refer to someone as being a yellow belly, you’re calling them a coward. This is the exact inverse of, say, ‘follow the yellow brick road’, which of course, the yellow bricks lead to Dorothy’s way out of Oz. She’s following her own power to find the way home.

So the standard goes, yellow is the color of the solar plexus chakra, which is the chakra that is associated with self-power.

During the yoga training I took, I taught a portion on color and light therapy to my fellow yogis. I asked them what their favorite colors were, and which ones they didn’t like (if any). The sunniest, brightest, most joyful of my classmates loved the color yellow. So it’s power, and joy.

If your solar plexus chakra is out of balance by being under-stimulated, surround yourself with pretty yellow flowers, or crystals like citrine. Infuse your water with the sun and lemon juice. (You could even go as far as using citrine essence — maybe we’ll do a little crystal essence experiment here in the near future. A quick google search is telling me that you can purchase already made essences, rather than make your own! There are many different sites hawking products like this one. Who knew?!)

Yellow light therapy that already exists, like with some other colors, is LED light therapy for facials. Various colors do different things — according to this site that offers the LED facials, yellow will remove inflammation. If you live in Illinois and have tried the service, let us know!

According to this site, yellow sunglasses will help alleviate anxiety. It makes sense, right; yellow being the color of the sun, of joy. This site lists a bunch of various colored glasses — even some for kids.

And oh, how much fun was it to discover that Hauswitch was offering color-specific items at their store. I wasn’t able to visit it last year when I was in Salem, but I would love to go inside the store itself one day. If you order these yellow pillows to bring some joy or manifestation into your room, please post pictures to share!

So are you a yellow person? Why, or why not?

Dry Skin / Eczema Cream (safe for wee ones)

{This post is edited from an original post on my Chronicles of Seedling website from April 20, 2016.}

Baby Boy has the driest skin on the planet (next to mine). He also has eczema from time to time, and sometimes it is quite awful. While the cortisone cream the Doc gave him works… who wants to use that? Not me. I had some California Baby cream, which was great, but I also have a ton of my own ingredients, so I chose to re-use the cream jar and start mixing my own stuff.

The recipe is below:

1/4 cup of almost equal coconut and castor oils
1 tsp calendula extract

Heat on stove, stir until mixed.

Set aside, let cool. Apply when hardened.

We use this all of the time now, and I need to make some more. With the first batch, I used much more coconut oil than castor; I will continue to play with the ingredients and amounts listed here.

For some reason, it smells like cinnamon to me. YUM. I imagine you can add calming essential oils to the mixture, like lavender, to your own liking (and safety!).

So far, this seems to work better than the other stuff we’ve tried. Is it the calendula, or the castor oil?? Coconut hasn’t really done too much for my son on its own… We apply it directly to his skin, as well as using thicker coconut milk as ice cubes for his baths.

Perhaps it’s the mixture itself! I remember reading somewhere that herbal remedies work better in a group.

Tell us what you use for dry skin and eczema!