Experiment : Reducing My Palm Oil Consumption!

 When I was young,I was very into environmentalism. There wasn't a cause I wasn't willing to get behind. Call me a sucker,but I just love a good underdog. I just love to have hope we can change  the world. When I moved on to University,I became bitter. I felt like the world was a lost cause,I gave up on most of my environmental values and felt like I couldn't make a difference.I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and improvement to be made. As an adult,I didn't make the concious decision to re-take up my earth loving ways. However,I have bit by bit been making some pretty eco-friendly habits lately,my most ambitious being reducing my palm oil intake.

Why Give Up Palm Oil?

According to saynotopalmoil.com :

"The industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as the land and forests must be cleared for the development of the oil palm plantations. According to the World Wildlife Fund, an area the equivalent size of 300 football fields of rainforest is cleared each hour to make way for palm oil production. This large-scale deforestation is pushing many species to extinction, and findings show that if nothing changes species like the orangutan could become extinct in the wild within the next 5-10 years, and Sumatran tigers less than 3 years. "

What is Palm Oil In?

Evvverything! Foods, Body Products, Cosmetics & Cleaning Agents. Anything that is cheap,greasy and delicious. Anything that foams or suds. It is also in many beauty products like mascara,and concealers.
This link has a comprehensive list :
http://drpongo.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/productpalmoillist2012flexweek.pdf

However,I found reducing my palm oil intake is as easy as choosing a different brand in most cases. It just takes the extra work of looking into the ingredients. On the plus side, I've found by switching to natural formulas, I am also avoiding a huge list of carcinogens on a daily basis as well!

What Other Names Are There For Palm Oil? 

This is where is gets complicated!! There are over 30 different names for palm oil. The confusion IS intentional. See the link above for the full list and more details.

• Vegetable Oil 
• Vegetable Fat 
•  Sodium Laureth Sulfate (in almost everything that foams) ^ 
•  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate ^ 
•  Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS) ^ 
•  Palm Kernel# 
•  Palm Oil Kernel # 
•  Palm Fruit Oil # 
• Palmate # 
•  Palmitate # 
• Palmolein # 
•  Glyceryl Stearate # 
•  Stearic Acid # 
•  Elaeis Guineensis # 
•  Palmitic Acid # 
•  Palm Stearine # 
• Palmitoyl oxostearamide # 
• Palmitoyl tetrapeptide3 # 
•  Steareth 2 * 
•  Steareth 20 * 
•  Sodium Kernelate # 
•  Sodium Palm Kernelate # 
•  Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate * 
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate ^ 
• Hyrated Palm Glycerides # 
•  Sodium Isostearoyl Lactylaye ^ 
•  Cetyl Palmitate # 
• Octyl Palmitate # 
•  Cetyl Alcohol ^ 
•  Palmityl Alchohol # 

# These ingredients are definitely palm oil or derived from palm oil.
* These ingredients are often derived from palm oil, but could be derived from other
vegetable oils.
^ These ingredients are either derived from palm oil or coconut oil.

My Experience!

DAY 1 

• Remove all food from cupboards and fridge that contain palm oil. Start looking at ingredients when I am purchasing new food.
• Get new dish soap! Obviously Palmolive has got to go! I replaced all my household cleaners with ATTITUDE brand. 

DAY 2

• Find earth friendly laundry detergent & softener. I choose Bio-Vert, although I am sad to see my Tidepods go :( 
• Find body soap that is palm oil free & that my boyfriend will also use!! I bought Kiss My Face Olive & Honey Soap,and ditched my Dove . It leaves a bit of green film in my shower from the bar,but I can deal. I find Dove shady as a brand so I am happy to see them go !(thats a blog post for another time!) 

DAY 3

•   Ugggh Its in my shampoo and conditioner too! Replaced with Kiss My Face Everyday shampoo & conditioner. I will try nicer brands like John Masters, or Rahua in the future when I am flush with cash. Surprisingly I don't miss the suds that much! 
• No more Oreos allowed.

DAY 4

•  Look in my make-up bag,realize its in EVERYTHING except my Jane Iredale Mineral Powder and promptly give up for the day.

DAY 5 

• My Lactose-free Milk has Vitamin A Palmitate :( I will have to research if there is such a thing as Lactose -free milk without this.I didn't even think to look at my milk when I did the fridge clean...
• Cold medicine has it too! What the.

I am a realistic person. I know I can't be 100% perfect all the time. That is why my pledge is to significantly reduce my palm oil intake. I can't say that I wont give into to pressures of wonderful smelling Mcdonalds fries for the rest of my life. But for me,it isn't about ultimatums. It is about doing what I can within reason. That is the most realistic way to achieve a long term goal.  I will keep you up to date as my adventures without Palm Oil continue. :) 

Productivity Tips (written by a lazy person!)

         In my opinion,the path to happiness is a balanced life. There are alot of daily tasks that we find boring and we all know how fun distractions can be! (Thanks Internet!!)

Some tips that help me get moving:

1) Set small achievable goals. Grab some post it notes and set out the areas of your life you want to improve upon. Ex. "Home Goals,Personal Goals,Work Goals,Summer Goals,etc. Set four or five small goals in each area have chosen.  Checking off these small goals will feel like an achievement. And if you are nice to yourself and give yourself a pat on the back once and a while you will be more likely to do things. While checking off one thing feels great,imagine seeing your whole post it note checked off! Or challenge yourself by setting 3 goals in each category one easy,medium and hard.

2) Just do it! Nike had it right. Ever find once you start doing housework,or working out you get on a roll and before you know it your enjoying seeing your improvements? Put on some music and just get it started!

3) Decorate!! But first you have to clean! What is the point of decorating if your house is messy?? Get a clean slate,and then do little, but high impact things. Like hanging a new print on a wall,or re arranging your furniture. Even just adding a house plant can get you inspired!

4) Time yourself. If you are anything like me,you'll spend hours dreading a mundane task. Agree to yourself you will set a timer for 10 min. You will be amazed at what you can get done in that time,and that some tasks actually take less than that. Trust me,it only feels like a lifetime to wash the dishes.

5) Have a goal you want to achieve daily? Jerry Seinfeld uses the "don't break the chain" method. Set up a calender and check off each day you work out,or practice your stand up,whatever your goal is. Seeing your achievements visually will encourage you to stick to your daily goal. Once you get a long chain going,you will want to push yourself to not let your hard work go to waste.

6) Agree on a reward. Remember how we talked about patting yourself on the back? Whether its a little treat like a five dollar latte (you worked six days in a row and deserve a treat!),or a big treat like a new purse (You got up the nerve to ask for that raise!) depends on how hard or easy your goal is.

7) Streamline. Get rid of anything you don't need and you will be amazed at how clutter free your life can be. Keep things you find useful or beautiful,but stick within reason. Just because you have a collection,doesn't mean you have to keep lesser specimens. Do you really wear the "skinny day" pants in your closet? Keeping something just cause your Mom gave it to you? Some of us fear the charity drop box,but its actually very freeing to throw a giant bag in there!

8) Stop having hidden piles. Have a closet you keep closed because its messy?Maybe a stash of clothes under the bed?? Micro-organize high traffic areas (ie, pantry,linen closet) . If everything has an official home,you'll never wonder where things go.

9) Have a "set down" area,for things that don't quite have a home or things you use frequently.Whether its a box or a basket,or a table top,try to find homes for things before the piles gets unmanageable.

I've noticed making small changes like these have made a big impact on my life. :)

Do you have any tips or tricks that help you get things done?? Share in the comments below.

5 Beauty Myths Busted

As an esthetician I get asked alot of the same questions. How can I blame anyone who is confused when there is so much conflicting information out there. Obviously,anyone selling any product is going to say "it's the best!". It is hard to know who to trust. Here's five myths I've discovered working in this industry.

1) Myth : Oil is bad! Oil clogs your pores,so it must be good to have less right? That's debatable. I've found using the appropriate oil can balance oily skin. When you provide the skin with oil,it stops detecting the need to overproduce it. When we have oily skin,we tend to think we need a stronger cleanser. However,using a cleanser that leaves you feeling tight usually means you are removing too much oil. Now you skin is feeling tight,and will start pumping out oil to overcompensate. No wonder you are feeling oily by noon!

2) Myth : Products can change pore size. You've heard it a million times right? This miracle cream will actually make your pores smaller! Nope. You pore size is determined genetically. True,if your pore is clogged it may look bigger than when its empty. But that's about it when it comes to size
fluctuations. Your pores are there to serve a purpose,to provide oil to the skin. You can't change it any more than you can the size of your toes. (Believe me, I would love too!)

3) Myth : Eye creams will make dark circles disappear. If this myth were true,and a product truly worked to reverse under eye circles,we would all want that cream. We would all have it. We don't. Under eye circles are from weak capillaries and blood settled in them. If you use any cream to massage the area.you may get some blood moving around,some lymph flowing (which may result in less puffiness) but you can do it with literally any water-based cream. Your best bet is to cover with concealers with light reflecting particles. Sorry :(

4) Myth : Daily Exfoliation. Lately spin brushes seem to be really popular. Daily exfoliants have always been around. Beads = clean. But yes,there is such a thing as too much..especially for those of us with sensitive skin,or even acne. Too much manual exfoliation (ie.scrubs) can not only aggravate inflamed pimples,it can actually make you oilier! When your skin feels irritation,it begins to send out the signal to produce oil in hopes of lubricating the surface to lessen the abrasion.

5) Myth: You need toner. Toners supposedly rebalance the skin from soap. But most toners are just water and alcohol. Never put alcohol on your skin. It is true you feel fresher after using toner,especially if you were removing a lot of make-up. Is it a necessary step? I'd say its a choice. It is not going to be the make or break factor in any skin care routine. If you must,or if you have acne and want something antiseptic I recommend Witch Hazel. If you have sensitive skin equal parts Witch Hazel and water.

There you have it! 5 beauty myths busted! Hope this clears a few things up. Any other myths you want busted? Let me know in the comments. xo

Confession: I am a "Millenial",and I am not Embarrassed about it.

     

     I am so sick of reading articles on the internet that are making me feel bad about being young and inexperienced. Here's the problem : I am not THAT young or THAT inexperienced. Lately, it seems really hot to talk about the problems of my generation. We all ignore each other with headphones and smartphones. We want instant gratification. We have never seen war, so we don't know reality. We are lazy and entitled. It seems I am always stumbling over articles like the one below. Am I the only one that doesn't feel like a hot mess or an overgrown child??

 http://www.buzzfeed.com/lbailey211/21-ways-in-which-youre-not-a-functional-adult-e9sd

             Oh poor me! It is so hard living in the dawn of the information era! I cant deny our generation acts like assholes sometimes.I am not saying we have it any harder or easier than those past. For all the benefits of technology,we have a whole new host of problems. I am so sick of the stereotypes that all my generation cares about is Instagram and Twitter. We have a constant flow of information,and the pressure to have the most current news is a never-ending race. Information about our social and personal lives is also readily available.Potential employers may judge us on Facebook photos alone. Never before has been harder to set boundaries. We are too easily accessible. We are not very mysterious. The first generation to document our every mistake and success,with photos,videos,tweets and more. I wouldn't say kids today are more stupid or more misbehaving than past generations...they just leave more evidence.

             Truth of the matter is, the world has changed but the expectations haven't. Maybe you don't have a house and a family at the age your parents might have. But they also probably didn't go to university at 17. Sure they probably had a mortgage, but they might not have been 20,000 dollars + in debt (or worse if you live in the US) from education and then have to ask for one. Half of the problem is our selves making unfair comparisons. But the other part is the world refusing to acknowledge it is changing. If you are going to add something as time consuming as higher education into your life,you are going to need to make room in your "ideal perfect life timeline". 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unhappy_b_3930620.html

              I refuse to let unrealistic expectations stop me from feeling proud of my achievements. I know I have pushed myself to be the best I can be and that is enough for me. I do work hard thanks,and I have had a job since I was 15. So I have a little bit of experience. We all have our own set of setbacks and successes. So nobody can define what is the right time to do anything. I am setting reasonable goals and achieving them. I will continue to make productive and healthy decisions. That's all I can ask of myself. I will continue to be very grateful to be born in a country that has so many opportunities to offer. I did not write this to sound entitled or spoiled but I am so sick of being ragged on for profit. This "hot topic" is bullshit!! 

      So Yes,I am 25 and I haven't started a family or a retirement fund and I am not freaking out. : ) Haters gonna HATE.

       

Truth : My Skin Story

       This is my story of how overcame the battle with the mirror. My skin story starts as most do,that lovely visitor called puberty. Ever since a certain time,I've felt my skin was "out of whack". It was sensitive,but with acne. I tried everything in the commercials : Clean & Clear, Neutrogena, Clearasil, etc. Their advertisements  showed me girls my age with smiling faces and clear skin,telling me all I had to do was banish oil. I willingly spent my part time job money on Oxy Pads and Biore Nose Strips...but I had yet to find the desired result I was promised. I was still oily,using the alcohol, benzoyl peroxide, salycilic acid had made my skin red and irritated. Somehow I was very tight with oil on top. I told myself this would go away once my acne 

stopped. I guess I thought it would be like a switch,I would find the  magic secret. My acne would stop,and then I could take care of the redness and irritation...but right now I wanted to be pimple free. I thought I needed something stronger...hooked like a drug addict! I just had to go that tiny step further,and my beautiful skin would arrive!

       

 That is when Proactiv stepped into my life. This was different or so they said. You cant just buy this in any store! This is the big guns! I needed it. I used the green bottles religiously. Sure,they burned a bit and my skin felt tight  but that probably just means its doing its job. "This stuff must be good if you can FEEL it working."  I thought to myself. Sure,it bleached my towels,pillowcases,and shirts, but I would do anything to achieve my beauty goal. I ignored these warning signs. I told myself my skin was different, It needed drastic measures. I saw some improvement with the Proactiv, but it stopped after awhile. My skin was still oily

and it was even more red. My loving Polish grandma would hold my chin and say "What is this on your face? Don't you wash it?" and my Dad would tell me to put hydrogen peroxide on it. My mom would tell me "You are beautiful just as you are,but if it gets really bad you can pop it with a sewing needle."  Thanks parents,first the faulty acne genes,and now this stellar advice. 

       When I was 18,I went to the doctor for a yearly check up,after awhile he said.."and I assume you want to ask me about acne medications.." I took his referral for a dermatologist. I was trying so hard,but everyone was still looking at my acne. I wore lots of bright flashy eye make up,and layers upon layers 

of foundations and concealers. Naively thinking people would be distracted. When I finally got in to see the dermatologist,he recommended I use too different creams. Diffirin in the morning,Clindoxyl at night. Just Cetaphil to wash,and no moisturiser. I was willing to do anything,and I got down to brass tax. 

"When can I expect to have totally clear skin?" I asked him. 

           He told me,"If you use these creams for five years, you will have clear skin." I was happy to have finally found the solution.My acne did clear up. My linens continued to be covered in bleach marks ,but I had a routine,and it seemed to be working. My acne was at bay,my skin was still oily and tight. My skin was getting paler and paler,but my doctor told me it was a good thing,that it made the scars less noticeable. As I went through university my skin was pale but clear. I continued to use my creams keeping the five year mark in mind. I didn't want it creeping back up on me. A doctor had told me this was the right thing to be doing,and I trusted him.

                   It wasn't until I went to Esthetics school when I needed to get many skin treatments done on a daily basis. It was too much for my skin. My teacher recommended I stop using my medicated acne creams. I was scared,but she told me she saw no visible pimples on my skin. I was amazed that she was right. I had been treating my skin as acneic for so long,it hadn't even occurred to me that it might have changed. Acne was no longer the defining quality of my skin. I stopped using my medicated creams,and although I got the odd pimple. It wasn't horrible. I learned at school that skin is suppose to have a thin protective layer of oil. I had been removing any and all oil from my face,causing my skin to pump out more! And all the creams were so drying I was completely dehydrated and lacking water. 

                   After graduating I got a job at a natural skin care spa. Everything started to make sense. I learned to balance what goes into my body (food wise) with what goes on my body (product wise). They encouraged me to put oil on my face,one that would be suitable for acne.I started using water based serums to help my skin rehydrate. And it was like the clouds opened up and my skin found Balance. I tried using products for my sensitive skin and it wasn't red and oily any more. I don't think my skin ever was oily in its natural state. It was just a symptom of too harsh of products. I started with light lotions,and worked my way up to rich creams. I stopped using stripping cleansers. I even stopped washing my face in the morning. Which I never would have dared do before!

         The truth is I still get a nasty pimple every once in a blue mood. Hormones suck and I like cheese. But that doesn't define my skin or me.Looking back,I realize I should have payed more attention to the signals my body was giving me. I didn't then, but I sure am now. I notice my skin is absorbing products,it doesn't burn or tingle. It feels soothed and soft,not tight at all.My skin looks plumper and my acne scars have completely faded from their former red tone. This is how my skin has supposed to have been this whole time. This is how it wanted to be in its natural state. 

      I have no idea why it took me so long to figure out those smiling girls in commercials don't have the answer.Looking back it doesn't seem that unsurprising that the people who want me to continue to buy their products don't actually have my health in mind. The beauty industry relies on us to have low self esteem to keep them in business. From now on,nobody can tell me what is right for my skin,besides my own skin!

Must Eat: Fool Proof Stuffed Mushrooms

My mom makes stuffed mushrooms every boxing day! I am sure many people don't think "christmas" when they think stuffed mushrooms,but I sure do. The reason I like making them so much as an adult besides nostalgia,is that the filling freezes nicely and you can whip them up in a pinch for quick meal for yourself or an impressive appetizer for guests.

What you need:
- Lean Ground Pork or  Bacon
- Shredded Cheese (I use Kraft Italiano Cheese)
- Bread Crumbs
- Parmesan Cheese
- Whole White Mushrooms

Cook your meat in a frying pan and put it on paper towel to soak up some of the excess moisture.
While your meat is cooking,clean whole white mushrooms and remove the stems. You can also chop the stems up and put them in the filling if you dont like to waste!
When meat is complete mix equal parts of all your ingredients in a big bowl.
Dry your mushrooms caps,so no excess water is inside.
Fill the mushroom caps,and put the remaining filling in a ziploc container in the freezer! You can put the frozen filling in mushroom caps in the future.

Cook the filled mushroom caps in the oven at 425 degrees for about 15 min! I paired mine with a butternut squash soup for a tasty fall lunch!

Enjoy!!

Must Watch : Kings Of Pastry

"Plot Summary for

Kings of Pastry (2009) More at IMDbPro »

The collar awarded to the winners of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef - it is a dream and an obsession. The 3-day competition includes everything from delicate chocolates to precarious six foot sugar sculptures and requires that the chefs have extraordinary skill, nerves of steel and luck. The film follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago, as he returns to France to compete against 15 of France's leading pastry chefs. The filmmakers were given first time/exclusive access to this high-stakes drama of passion, sacrifice, disappointment and joy in the quest to have President Sarkozy declare them one of the best in France. " - IMDB.com

If you have Netflix, you have no reason not to watch this amazing documentary! I completely forgot I was reading subtitles for the French parts. This movie is intense,and rooting for the contestants feels like rooting for your favourite sports team. I cried a few tears when they read the final winners list! If you have ever wanted anything in your life,or are looking to see some passion to light your own fire,you will love it!

Ps. If you are interested in a movie with a similar theme, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is also fantastic!