Aleppo Soap Extra

Mini Review: Aleppo Soap Extra







Aleppo is very popular soap brand and the Extra is good for washing hair.



I smelled a kind of wax and olive.



The soap bar was too big to use, so I cut into three pieces. Although the outside was brown, the inside was green - yes, absolutely olive green colour!



I fell in love with this soap...



It worked very well for the first couple of weeks.

The brown bit was really good at washing hair.

I was so impressed by this leaving the hair smooth and soft.

But as I used the green bit, the hair was getting greasy.

As for face and body, its moisturising action was not so bad: it did not leave the skin dry.

But I more like the Coal Soap.

My Little Princess

The Essence of Laugh

The picture above is my daughter. She dressed herself, but it looked something strange...

A-ha! She put all her cloths back to front! Because it was lovely, I did not change it.












This is about another day.

She asked me for the butterfly wings and I bought them.

As soon as we got home, she wore them.

It looked so lovely. My son was never interested in this kind of thing, so I felt boys are different girls.

Anyway, my daughter's behaviour is so lovely (not always, though). Although it is normal and sometimes serious for her, for me it look funny and lovely.

She is the essence of laugh!

Citronella

Essential Oil & A Little Happening

I am trying to find what is a cause of my son's rash.

I use non-bio washing powder (ecover).
I hoover his bed room everyday.
I open the window everyday.
I put anti-inflammatory creams on his skin.
I wash his body with gentle soaps with my hands.

But none of them directory has worked.

The scent of citronella is well-known as a repellent so I drooped citronella essential oils on the bedding just in case my son's rash is caused by ticks.

The scent of citronella is like a blend of orange and medical herb. I like it.

After I used the oil I came downstairs to put it back. When I came upstairs again, I heard of voice saying: '... six, seven, eight, nine, ten!'

My daughter had been counting the numbers of spots of the essential oil on the sheet.

She was so lovely!

Although citronella did not work to my son's rash, we had a good sleep with the scent.

It is said that essential oils heal people's mind and body and I really realise that is true!

Handmade Soap

Handmade Soap

I and my kids tried to make soaps together.

It was very simple - just mixed MP soap(a kind of soap ground) with essential oils.

The soaps really looked 'handmade', but we really enjoyed to make.

Need a few days to dry out.

I am looking forwards to completing the soaps!

Winter Dish 3

Winter Dish (cheese-on warm vegetables)

Today's main is sausages, but this dish is for winter because of the cheese-on warm vegetables.

Boil vegetables (I used cauliflower, carrot and leeks) and then put cheese on the top of the vegetables.

Bake in the grill till the surface becomes brown.

The cheese was so tasty and the vegetables became the source of beautiful skin (I guess so*^^*).

Bittern

Bittern may work to eczema

I am worried about my son's rash and have tried a lot of tips to him.

Some of them worked, but they did not last for long time. His skin condition is up and down.

I found a tip on a website yesterday, saying that magnesium reduces secretion of histamine causing an itch and atopic dermatitis.

Magnesium...

Beans, fish, shellfish, seaweed, nuts contain much magnesium.

But I notice bittern which chief ingredient is magnesium.

Bittern is used in tofu, so it is very popular in Japan.

I remembered that a lady of tofu shop saying that Bittern was good for rough skin.

I rang to my mum to send it to me.

Hope it works!

Winter Dish

Winter Dish - Chicken & Vegetable Pie

Today's tea is inspired by Morrison's recipe book. The original uses some Morrison's products, but my chicken & vegetable pie is made from boiled/fried vegetables, handmade white source and pastry.

My son rolled the pastry to help (or to play?) me.

When I dipped a spoon into the pie, the white source came out with tasty steam. I thought that this dish was suitable to a cold day.

My son prised about taste of the pie and we really enjoyed tea today!

Natural Cleanser

Handmade Carpet Cleanser

There was a recipe of handmade carpet cleanser in my favourite book about aromatherapy.

It looked very easy to make, so I decided to try.

I needed:

A mixing bowl

Essential oils (tea tree, lavender, lemon)

Bicarbonate

A container

Just mixed with the bicarbonate and the essential oils and then put them into the container.

Bicarbonate has cleansing and deodorising actions. The essential oils have disinfectant and antibacterial effects.

The cleanser had very fresh scent.

I sprinkled it over the carpet and hoovered after an hour.

I made about 100g of cleanser and it was enough for 3 bedrooms.

It left the herbal scent for long time.

I am quite happy.

I defiantly make it again!

Dried Lavender

Dried Lavender

When I popped into my friend's house, I smelled something.

'I smell something. What is it?' I asked.

'Maybe it fragrant with lavender. I cut the flowers today and put them into a basket.'

She showed the basket with a lot of dried lavenders.

I told her the smell was very nice and then she gave me some.

I left them in my car unawares and realised this morning.

When I got in my car, it was fragrance with the lavender. Very nice. The natural scent makes me tender and happy.

I'll keep the dried lavenders in the car. I'll try to plant lavenders in my garden one day.

Phototoxicity

Phototoxic Ingredient - Psoralen

The article Skin care during winter said: 'Drink a hot glass of water with lemon juice at morning to assist your body in removing toxins.'

In the book I read before psoralen, being in skins of citrus fruits, is a phototoxic ingredient and causes the appearance of brown spots if I have it in the morning.

But another website said that psoralen might affect the appearance of brown spots only if people have UV after they use sliced lemons or cucumbers for face mask. It means that we can have citrus fruits in the morning.

My opinion: avoid to have citrus fruits in the morning just in case psoralen reacts UV.

I suggest that have a herbal tea in the morning. As the article said, cold drink and caffeinated drink are not so good for beautiful skin. Rose hip tea is ideal because it is high in vitamin C. Also it contains vitamin A,B,E, iron, dietary fiber and beta carotene.

The taste is a bit sour, but I do not mind.

Rose hip contains vitamin C about 7-10 times as much as lemon does & it is not sour than lemon.

So drinking rose hip tea in the morning is my tip for making beautiful and healthy skin.

Essential Oils

Essential Oils

I am interested in essential oils for these days. Pure oils relax mind and remedy troubled skin.

I bought some essential oils on the website of Base Formula.

I chose this shop because I heard that the shop is for aromatherapists, students and specialists; sorts of essential oils so many; and very cheap.

I was looking for essential oils for my son's rash, a good sleep, handmade soap, so I bought rosemary, chamomile Roman, citronella, tea tree, lavender, lemon, geranium, neroli and rose petals.

it costs about £30(inc. vat and postage). Not so bad, isn't it?

I received my order in a few days in safe.

I am satisfied with the service of Base Formula.

This is the first time I have tried essential oils and I am not sure the quality of essential oils, but I like the scents of the oils (very natural^^).

Essential oils are quite useful. Drop a few into cosmetics, cleaners, soaps etc.

I am so excited natural beauty life with them!!

Dish for a cold day

Have This in a Cold Day!

What a cold day!

So I decided to make Chicken Soup for tea today!

I used chicken drums and vegetables which were all in the fridge.

A savor of a soup cube, the chcken and the vegetables melted into the soup and it was so tasty!

Today's tea was the chicken soup and cheese on toast.

The chicken soup made my body and mind warm. So happy.

Soup is the best dish for a cold day.

Organic Biscuit

Organic Biscuits (Handmade)

It suddenly came to me that I wanted to make biscuits for my children's friends.

I always felt thanks to them and their mums being very friendly to my children and me.

I carefully chose ingredients - as organic as possible just in case they have allergies.

They were the ingredients for biscuits below:



(from the left top to clockwise) Unsalted butter; unrefined cane sugar; granulated sugar(organic); sultanas(organic)&chocolate buttons; free range egg; wholemeal plain flour (organic)

While making the biscuits, I came across happy faces of the children & mums. Hope they enjoyed my biscuits!!

It took about an hour.

Yes, they are my handmade biscuits!!!

I put them into bags after they were cooled down.

I gave them to my children, their friends and their mums in the next day. Their (except my son!) 'thanks' and 'tasty' made me happy. I was so pleased.

Phew

Phew...-_-

I am searching & reading for natural beauty.

Lots of things than I expected: about natural and organic skin care brands, skin tissue, skin care tips, ingredients, food, house keeping etc. etc.

Although it is quite hard work, I am interested in finding out knowledge and tips.

I have started to put information what I collected on my website, Tara Magic.

I am not sure when it is completed, but I will try my best.

Also I will introduce useful information about natural beauty to you on this blog.

Hope you look forward to seeing it!

A Lovely Present

A Lovely Present

This happening is about a month ago.

I found the pieces of fallen leaves from my son's trouser pocket.

Just as I tried to chuck them into the bin, my son said, 'No!'

I thought that he just put them into his trouser pocket without intention, while playing at school.

Then I asked: 'Why?'

He said: 'They were a present for you!'

He put the fallen leaves into his trouser pocket to give me; but because he kept them so long, they were broken into pieces!

I felt so sorry to him and said:'thank you so much. I'll keep them.'

He was so sweet. I was so happy.

I felt 'autumn' through these leaves.