Growing up I read a lot.  Much of my interests lay in history and ancient cultures.  I loved learning how various peoples lived including their treatments of disease and injury.  This led to my discovery during middle school of tea and the various benefits it was supposed to have for health.  I went from drinking hot tea in bag to discovering loose leaf tea.  Later on, in 2006, I found a company which had a wide selection of loose-leaf teas direct from growers all over the world.  This allowed me to explore the many varieties and I noticed how the area a tea was from influenced its flavor.  I still order the vast majority of my tea from Adagio.

I continued reading various things and one of my favorite subjects was ancient natural remedies and the like.  As I noticed my hair (which is fine and curly) seemed to get dry easily and the various products in the store/salon seemed to make this worse – like your hair only looked like the photo with the product in it as if it were a mask hiding the flaws instead of making it healthier.  I started swapping my hair care products for more natural items as best I could.  I learned about hot oil treatments and washing with rice water and tried those things too.  Gradually, my hair health improved and even without any product it looked healthy – because it finally was!  Now I have a range of natural shampoo, conditioner, and oils I use.    I really enjoy the availability of solid bars for shampoo and condition also as these do not need preservatives and last a good while, not to mention making travel easier.  This company makes some of my favorites for shampoo and conditioner.  For oils, I use monoi, jojoba, or argan and it varies based on the day.

Then, many Christmases ago my mom gifted me a bar of goat’s milk soap she’d found at a craft fair.  This was made with all natural ingredients; so, I gave it a try.  I was sold!  This is the soap I still primarily use though I do use other all natural ones from time to time.

That left deodorant as about the only item I hadn’t swapped for one that was all-natural so I began to search for something that would work.  I tried many and finally settled on two that are best for me.  These are this one from Bend Soap and this one from Earth Conscious.

My quest for knowledge in other related areas such as first aid and alleviating ailments has led me to add bentonite clay (a delightful help for bug bites), a variety of herbs and herbal teas, a collection of essential oils and ever-present jars of honey (used since ancient times for infections among other things) to my arsenal as well.  This has all been a part of my overall quest for improvement throughout all areas of my health though it is just one facet.  I’m still traveling on this journey and am constantly learning and love to help and share.

Until next time 😊