Female Corner

[lollipop]

I melted some cocoa butter to use for body moisturizer and like @lisaferraro I found it to be warming and pleasant. But after two days of use I experienced some adrenalin and stress. So now I just warm a small amount in my hand and use it only on one body area each day. This seems to be a better amount for me.

That mixture of butters sounds good and even if hard it should warm in my hand more easily.

I have used a commercial hand creme with stearic acid and I it has lightened some spots on my skin.

Interesting @Dolomite, just as you posted this, I wanted to come post how after putting some on my skin while I was making it, caused me about 30 min later to be ravenous. Like really hungry. I must not have had enough food. I actually craved fat interestingly enough, so I had a few rice cakes with butter.

I am finding this increase in metabolism fascinating. I haven’t had a stress reaction yet, but will be on the look out. Thank you for posting this

 

[Pompadour]

Hello, girls! Me too - i am with you! :) I used to make my own creams and lotions - my hobby is aromatherapy and natural cosmetics. Last few years i am too lazy to make normal creams and use just mixes of different oils and butters. Thanks to information on this site i now choose my raw ingredients wiser. I usually order at french shop Aroma-Zone.

Last few months i am even more prudent (Pregnancy Hypoglycemia Problem) - i use only natural henna to colour my hair and try to use only natural ingredients to wash the hair. I like most the mix of Shikakai (Acacia concinna) and Sidr (Zizyphus jujuba). I just mix this two powders with warm water and masssage into wet hair and scalp - and it works as good as normal shampoo for cleaning hair, though a little bit strange to use something without foam.

 

[Catcream]

Good one Blossom .
There is a website beautyeditor.ca and the lady who runs it, Michelle Villete is full Peat . I’ve just ordered a squalane oil from somewhere called The Ordinary, which she recommends .
Glad to have group for the ladies of the forum . Sometimes it gets a bit ruggard out there

 

[Milena]

Good one Blossom ....
Glad to have group for the ladies of the forum . Sometimes it gets a bit ruggard out there

 

[Lilly]

Hi everybody! It's nice to see a girly thread

 

[SQu]

Thanks Blossom! I've learned to avoid some threads and posters if I don't want to leave altogether, yet I stay because of some people who have such generosity and decency.
For the bleeding, gelatin! I absolutely swear by it. I take about 20-30g daily but during periods, double. Fixes it fast.
I've been making my own lip balm for years because I'm one of those addicts and the right texture is impossible to find. If you live in a dry climate and you have dry lips anyway and you like a coated feeling, most are too thin. My recipe is beeswax, cocoa butter, tallow, and MCT oil (or it gets too hard in winter). Recently I added mango kernel butter and shea butter. Melt, keep testing for the texture you like. Unscientific because I just adjust till I like it without measuring. Beeswax is the key here. Small amounts though. Current batch smells deliciously of the cocoa butter. And is soothing.
Next on my wish list: face cream that isn't too oily or greasy. That absorbs faster than those ingredients I mentioned. What to add to lighten them? Love to get that right with great ingredients for health that are easy to find.
At the moment I just rub cocoa butter on my face and arms. It's still there 7 hours later. But I think my skin is looking more youthful.
So ... eating the cocoa butter gave me what I call 'deep' arrhythmia. As in, the palpitations plus urge to cough as if you'd forcefully emptied your lungs. Backed off, took cream of tartar, because not eating much fruit in between seasons. I think cocoa butter works too well, and I run out of nutrients. Had the same with pregnenolone and niacinamide. Managing it, and so far very hopeful based on better energy and mood.

 

[Blossom]

I'm so glad to see everyone sharing helpful tips here! Sorry but I haven't replied much because I've just finished a three day stretch at work.
I've been thinking about getting some squalane for my face. It's been unusually dry from working in a dry environment and it doesn't help that it snowed 6 inches where I live yesterday! Oh how I long for spring.
I'm also trying to be more consistent with gelatin/collagen. I don't bleed anymore but I still find it extremely beneficial for hair, skin, nails and just general health. I noticed that they give it to hospitalized patients with wounds to promote healing. Even medicine gets some things right.

 

[Jennifer]

@lisaferraro – it looks good enough to eat! lol Can't wait to hear how it turned out! :)

 

[Jennifer]

I melted some cocoa butter to use for body moisturizer and like @lisaferraro I found it to be warming and pleasant. But after two days of use I experienced some adrenalin and stress. So now I just warm a small amount in my hand and use it only on one body area each day. This seems to be a better amount for me.

That mixture of butters sounds good and even if hard it should warm in my hand more easily.

I have used a commercial hand creme with stearic acid and I it has lightened some spots on my skin.

Hmm...interesting, Dolomite. Are you extra sensitive to caffeine and/or theobromine? Not sure if this is a factor for the adrenalin/stress response, but there have been trace amounts of both found in cocoa butter:

"A study by Kiefer & Martin to determine the amounts of caffeine and theobromine in chocolate products found only small amounts of theobromine (0.008%) and caffeine (0.038%) in cocoa butter."

Food-Info.net : Does cocoa contain caffeine?

I'm very sensitive to stimulants, but I haven't noticed an issue with cocoa butter. However, I've only ever used it with the chamomile oil added so maybe the adrenal relaxing apigenin counterbalances any stress response the CB may cause in those who are extra sensitive?

 

[Jennifer]

@Pompadour – Is sidr the jujube fruit? I used to make my own shampoo too by boiling equal parts of reetha (soapnut/soap berry), amla (Indian Gooseberry) and shikakai, and pouring it into an ice cube tray and freezing it so I could just take a cube out when I was ready to shower. I did this because it lacked preservatives and would go bad quickly if left out.

I ended up finding the SunFood line of soap nut products that contain all three of those ingredients, but also bacteria and pineapple enzymes used as preservatives so I can leave one in my shower and on my bathroom counter without them going bad. This is the product I use: https://www.vitacost.com/sunfood-natural-plant-based-body-wash-8-fl-oz

My hair is really long (down past my bum) for a detangler/moisturizer I occasionally boil up some hibiscus and it works really well. It also works well as a tint for lip and cheek balms. Hibiscus is also Ray approved. :)

 

[Jennifer]

I've been making my own lip balm for years because I'm one of those addicts and the right texture is impossible to find. If you live in a dry climate and you have dry lips anyway and you like a coated feeling, most are too thin. My recipe is beeswax, cocoa butter, tallow, and MCT oil (or it gets too hard in winter). Recently I added mango kernel butter and shea butter. Melt, keep testing for the texture you like. Unscientific because I just adjust till I like it without measuring. Beeswax is the key here. Small amounts though. Current batch smells deliciously of the cocoa butter. And is soothing.

Oh, perfect! Thank you for sharing! I have some paper lip balm tubes I got off of amazon to make my own lip and body balm to have on hand when I'm out of the house during the dry, winter months and I needed a recipe. I can probably use coconut oil instead of the tallow to keep it vegan, but now I need something to replace the beeswax with. Maybe candellila wax?

Okay, I just looked and see that there are berry and myrica fruit waxes and what's interesting is the berry wax has a high ester content consisting mainly of esters of palmitic acid, stearic acid and a unique C21 fatty acid: heneicosylic acid.

6 Vegan Waxes for Organic Cosmetic Formulations

 

[Pompadour]

Is sidr the jujube fruit?

Yep! I like to mix two powdered things - shikakai and this "jujube" - just before washing my hair. So i don't need to do something special about preserving it.

of reetha (soapnut/soap berry), amla (Indian Gooseberry) and shikakai,

I do also like soap nuts! The only thing that ennoys me is the smell of them... not too pleasant.

I ended up finding the SunFood line of soap nut products that contain all three of those ingredients,

Yes, it saves occasionally , when one doesn't have forces to make something... It happens to me often last time :) That is why i also buy from time to time something ready to use. Thank you for link! I will take a look if i can find something similar in Europe (i am in Germany now).

. I can probably use coconut oil instead of the tallow to keep it vegan, but now I need something to replace the beeswax with. Maybe candellila wax?

Maybe you can use Stearic acid instead? It is very hard with melting point up to +65C . It is a thread here on the forum about benefits of stearic acid. So it looks like a nice add to the home-made cosmetics.

 

[Dolomite]

@Jennifer, I am not sure of all the things that are over stimulating to me but I do eat chocolate and drink coffee daily without apparent problems. I did use some liquid coconut oil (high met) as a moisturizer once and got some andrenalin symptoms. And another time I blended coconut oil and magnesium oil (magnesium chloride) to use as moisturizer and that was also too much for me. I think the oils themselves can cause it when they are liquid and can be more readily absorbed by the skin.

After these three trials, I think I will use only the amount I can soften in my hand quickly.

I got the ideas for the mct oil and the blended Mg oil/coconut oil from some forum members. I think I just need to learn my limitations. I will look into the chamomile oil. Thank you for your suggestion.

 

[Jennifer]

In case anyone is interested, here are some of the companies I can think of off the top off my head that I like...

This one is by far my favorite bulk herb and ingredient supplier and I've been ordering from them for over 20 years. They're based out of Oregon and the majority of their products are certified organic:

Bulk organic herbs, spices & essential oils – Mountain Rose Herbs

This one has some beautiful, harder to find florals. They have some rose varieties and an osmanthus (smells like apricot) that I've been wanting to try. The fragrance descriptions read almost like Shakespeare :

Enfleurage, New York City - Essential Oils, Aromatics from the Natural World

These have a large selection:

Camden-Grey Essential Oils, Inc.
From Nature With Love: Wholesale Ingredients for Personal Care
Essential Wholesale & Labs - Buy Wholesale & Bulk Natural Cosmetics
Pure Essential Oils Supplier | New Directions Aromatics

I also like Frontier Herbs and buy their products in bulk from vitacost when they send me 20% off entire order coupons.

And I like to geek out on this site. They have an essential oil chemical reference database containing literature references and GC/MS reports for thousands of oils, listing article titles, authors' names, the page numbers of journals referenced, and the complete chemical breakdown of the oil reported in the article.

EOU database

I have a couple questions I'd be very grateful if someone could answer ...

Has anyone tried makeup by 100% Pure? They're made with fruit. I don't normally wear makeup, but my brother is getting married in September and I figure I should try to look presentable for a day.

Also, has anyone tried a menstrual cup? My periods are really light on my diet so I can get away with just pantyliners and even though the ones I use are 100% organic and biodegradable, I want something that creates the least amount of waste possible and thought about the menstrual cup. My only concern has been whether or not it's okay to have silicone in me 24/7 for a couple days straight each month. In a Peaty view, is silicone safe?

 

[Jennifer]

@Pompadour – I agree! I'm not a fan of their smell either. I usually add some essential oils of rose, vanilla etc. to mask it. I definitely want to try the sidr. Thank you for mentioning it! And thank you for mentioning the stearic acid. I'll look into it. :)

@Dolomite – That really is interesting that you get such a quick reaction. Your body seems very good at giving you warning signs. :)

 

[Pompadour]

My only concern has been whether or not it's okay to have silicone in me 24/7 for a couple days straight each month. In a Peaty view, is silicone safe?

It looks like not safe at least as baking forms' material
Polydimethylsiloxane extraction from silicone rubber into baked goods detected by direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry. - PubMed - NCBI
Detection of polydimethylsiloxanes transferred from silicone-coated parchment paper to baked goods using direct analysis in real time mass spectrom... - PubMed - NCBI
Endocrine activity of persistent organic pollutants accumulated in human silicone implants--Dosing in vitro assays by partitioning from silicone. - PubMed - NCBI
As a menstrual cup... As i understand the environement "inside us" is acidic, so potentionally it can leed to leaking the silicone.
PS Sorry if i make a lot of mistakes - my english is almost self-learned and is good only for reading :)

 

[catan]

Great thread! I mostly lurk on the forums but enjoying all these topics so far...

 

[catan]

I’m curious about the silicone cup as well. I’ve been using cups and cloth pads for over ten years, although with pregnancy and breastfeeding it’s only been the past 15 months since I’ve been using the cup consistently, up to 5 days every cycle. It’s just been more convenient than cloth pads.

 

[Corinne Harding]

Inspired by the Travis Corner thread title I thought I'd start a Female Corner thread.

I've been thinking it would be nice to have a designated space for women to ask questions of other women and share experiences. I personally have no problem whatsoever with males chiming in when they have valuable information to share that they have learned from the women in their life, knowledge from working with women on health issues or things of scientific value.

Let's face it- most of us probably don't know a lot of other women IRL who are familiar with Peat's work that we could turn to for advice, input or opinions.

At present we seem to have a more active male presence on the forum which is fine and great but I would still like to have our women members feel there is a space where they feel comfortable posting about uniquely female topics. I hate the thought of someone not asking a question for fear of ridicule and I know it's happened.

Ladies, let me know what you think? If there doesn't seem to be a need I can always delete the thread.

I'm very interested Blossom, and you are absolutely right in that I do not know anyone, female or male, who are familar with Peat's work. Count me in!

 

[Blossom]

I'm very interested Blossom, and you are absolutely right in that I do not know anyone, female or male, who are familar with Peat's work. Count me in!

Spectacular! Welcome to the forum.