Body Chow

I wouldn't call this an epiphany, but I guess it is. On Wednesday last week, 18th December 2013, I decided to ditch all body, hair and beauty products that contained chemicals in it. My dad thinks I am now insane after he witnessed me cracking an egg over my head.

It all started with an annoying and painful battle with dandruff that led to a sensitive scalp. I had always subconsciously wanted to be chemical free, but never really thought it through or gave it any whacks. So maybe a year a go, I decided to make this a conscious effort and stop using conditioner. It was good for a while, and then, it all went downhill when I switched to the Satan of ALL hair products, Himalaya Protein Shampoo, obviously by none other than The Himalayan Drug Company. My scalp was in ruins.

I only realised after reading other healthcare blogs that shampoo, conditioner and all these other products actually aren't very good for you. So from then on, I began on my journey of discovering what I should be giving my body, instead of what I should be force feeding it with.

DISCOVERY 1 :
Yahoo to No 'Poo!
It's been 8 days, which means, my second installment of the Egg and Lemon combo. I'll be keeping this to a weekly routine (Wednesdays, if anyone wants to join in), just so I can have a clean scalp throughout the working week, and leave the intensive oil treatments for the weekends. At least this way, the oils have a day or two to soak in, and my hair won't look stringy and gross at the office.

Le egg mon recipe :
Simpler than beating a drum. Beat in an egg and juice of 1 lemon, pour over hair and massage into scalp. I usually leave it in for an hour, then wash it off with water.

On days that are not Wednesdays, I just rinse and massage my scalp with water and on the weekends, COCONUT OIL!!! I also keep a bottle of Argan oil in my bag to apply daily during the day.

Now, the trick about coconut oil, is getting rid of it. I leave it in for an hour, then do the first HOT WATER rinse. Rinse twice daily with hot water for 2 days and it should almost be out of your hair. It must be hot water so that the oil doesn't harden. I have to say, after these 7 days, my dandruff has completely disappeared!!!

DISCOVERY 2 :
Aging with Grace.
I only started this yesterday, but my face is already feeling radiant and fresh. Be it a psychological or physical improvement in my complexion, I'm pretty sure the natural stuff is better in the long run than the clinical bottled products I used to use.

The curer of them all, saviour of acne, and the protector from all baddies, COCONUT OIL. I use just a tiny bit everyday to remove my makeup (I will be writing another post on homemade makeup). I've also made this paste-like facial scrub, for my face to be exfoliated 3 times a week.

Cinna-comb recipe :
It's just a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and honey. You may adjust the consistency of either ingredients depending on the smell and the feel you want. Take a step further and add a teaspoon or two of coconut oil for those of you with dry skin for moisture.

Recipe taken from this site.

So far so good, I smell like a walking dessert and my pug, Eva, won't stopping licking my face after a wash.


Next post will be about making homemade makeup and a touch of coconut oil pulling.
Keeping it real.

Kehe-kehe

First of all, Merry Christmas!!!

These past few years have been a whirlwind of a ride. From obsessions with alien invasions, the UFC, Nassim Haramein's finite theories and spirituality, to air frying everything, crossfit, finding the man of my dreams and hiking in Nepal??!!

Only to discover that the latter group of experiences are the finer things in life. 

I also learnt that information is all around, what you choose to do with it plays a big role in how it enhances you, as a person.

Trekking the Himalayas, I must say, is one of the most phenomenal things I've ever done in my life. I have said many times before that everything should always be about the journey and not about the result. Something I thought I understood, but it was clear that I was no where near the comprehension of this concept until I experienced this journey.

I used to question the point of hiking a hill/mountain, when all you do is struggle to go up and when you get to the top, come straight down. Then, it dawned upon me that this was what experiencing the journey meant.

BY NO MEANS was this hike an easy one. It consisted of a 5 day hike, 8 hours a day, some freak weather where it rained for 3 days non-stop, eating the same food almost everyday, fighting with other hikers to dry your clothes, no electricity, no water (meaning no showers at times) and the most difficult one of all, you questioning your own willpower. 

Besides willpower, which HAD to be questioned every 5 steps, the Himalayan mountain range has one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my entire life. The mountains are draped with millet and paddy fields, farms, villages and most of all, the most beautiful trees on this planet.

Here are some of the photos from the trip. I can't really describe what it was like because no words can actually describe what I experienced. I only know that I almost passed out when I was standing on this hilltop, and suddenly, the clouds cleared revealing the majestic Annapurna South and Machapuchare (The Sacred Fish Tail).

Kathmandu, where everything started. Especially the shopping.

So happened we arrived on the first day of Darshain. 

The Nepalis' equivalent to Deepavali.

There's me getting blessings from my parents.

Mom and dad putting barley in my ears. 

 Landscape of the Himalayan mountain range - Paddy fields.

The beautiful Pokhara lake.  

 Child who showed me his wee wee after I took this photo.

Little old lady who hosted us and made the most amazing Tibetan cornbread. 

 Machapuchare poking out of the clouds. Hello!!

 Omg, Annapurna South, I was speechless at this point.

 Moo

 The village on the other mountain, is actually Landruk. Well done for signage.

 Baby lambs on our descent towards Syauli Bazaar (last stop).

Millet, to be fermented into a local alcohol called Raksi. My dad's best friend for quite a few nights.

Here is the Poon Hill trek :)

So we made it. That's important. Went up to an altitude of 3210m and I don't really want to know how long and how far we walked, but it was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything in the world, not even WiFi.