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heartcream -> RE: Erotic Massages (2/1/2008 6:28:20 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: camille65
quote:
ORIGINAL: heartcream
Baby oil made out of Mineral oil is to be avoided in my books. It breaks down the immune system. Same with Petroleum Jelly. The massage part sounds lovely though.
Seriously? Mineral oil messes with the immune system?Ohwow. I use petroleum jelly as a heavy moisterizer during the winter and I have a load of auto-immune issues... I have never heard this before! Please do you have a site for this information? This worries me because I use it daily. Actually several times a day.[sm=hewah.gif] ETA the scent of baby oil makes me gag lol. But mineral/pet jelly has always done a good job keeping moisture trapped to my skin, otherwise I flake. I've never found a single product I could use on my face without a skin reaction.Sigh. Secondary ETA. Aw fudge. Yup. Just went to a rheumatology site. There goes my non winter reddened painfully dry skin. Whaaaaaaaa not fair not fair.
Hey Camille,
There are some excellent alternatives. one of my all-time favourites is Shea butter. It comes from inside large nuts from a tree in Africa. Apparently the women go right up to the tree and use the Shea butter to rub on their pregnant bellies. I have heard they do not get stretch marks. The gorgeous thing about shea butter is it allows the skin to breathe. It can help with stretch marks, sugery scars and just about anything. It relieves itching from bug bites and is quite good for bruising as well. I personally would not want to live without it. Another thing I like to use is organic Castor oil. I have heard they use castor oil in surgery to keep the skin nice and puffy and to help keep keloids at bay.
You can make what is called an infusion by getting some herbs, like chamomille, lavender, sage, calendula, comfrey, things that are great for the skin.
Get some cheese cloth and secure dried herbs inside the cheesecloth. I actually sew up the end to use as least amount of cheesecloth as possible. Put Shea butter with some extra virgin olive oil, or either one of these alone, and place in glass dish. I like to use a glass measuring cup, you know the Pyrex type. Put in oven on less than 200 degrees and gently allow to infuse the herbs into the oil.
I like to keep the herbs in long enough that house smells amazing, but like an hour and a half to two hours is probably plenty. Re-strain, the least amount of matter in the oil, the less it will be likely to spoil. I have used a clean fine sock (that I lost the mate to, or a knee high.) You can even use a paper coffee filter, or more cheese-cloth. This is important, as the Shea butter cools be sure to mix once in awhile or else the Shea butter crystalizes and gets quite lumpy. At the cooling stage you may add some essential oil, I like sage and more lavender. You may also add some castor oil at this point. Be sure to stir from time to time to make sure it ends up a smooth consistency. You can keep what you will use out of the fridge and store the rest of it in the fridge. It keeps very well for quite a long time. Depending on how much oil you use to add to the Shea butter will determine how hard or creamy, the end result will be. Shea butter hardens quite a bit on its own, and A mixture of Shea butter with a little castor oil, maybe one quarter, is really great for under-eye cream and lip balm, and itch relieving from a rash or insect bites. It melts in the fingers, hands very quickly. A little goes a long way. I use more olive oil, and or, castor oil for an overall body cream.
You could add mint for your feet, or a rejuvenating cream. I have heard one CM'r infuses with ginger, and I have not tried it, but I sure have heard about the effects of ginger on the skin. It is important to keep moisture out of your oil, so be sure your herbs are dried before infusing. There is a million kinds of combinations possible of oils and so on, I would imagine. I pretty much stick to these things myself and have rarely bought any skin products in years and years since I began making my own.
Another tip, while I am at is, Epsom salt baths. These are miracle baths. The Epsom salt draws toxins out of the body, calcium deposits from the joints and since the skin is our largest organ and able to absorb through it you get a huge dose of magnesium while you soak. Magnesium is a critical element to the body's many different chemical reaction. I may not have this exactly right. A medical doctor with alternative leanings told me about how important magnesium is to the body.
Fear not, Camille. Shea butter is such a healing gift for the skin, you will love it far more than the gasoline products we usually use. I realize it is more work and more expensive than Vicks etc. Obviously you are worth the healthier product. In NYC, I can get a great amount of Shea butter from an African store, which is a great place to purchase it. it can come really raw and look dirty. I gently heat it and strain it first before I infuse with the herbs to clean it and have had no problem.
Edited to add, Of course you can buy products not containing mineral oil etc, if you check the ingredients list. You usually need to get these products at an alternative type store.
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