Rye Flour as a Shampoo

So I have been no poo now for over 3 months, I love it. I seriously will not be going back to using shampoo and conditioned ever again. So up until now I have been a regular user of baking soda and either distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. While that was working for me, I felt like changing it up a bit and I have heard some amazing things about Rye Flour.

I picked it up in my local Holland and Barrett for £1.69 for 500g but you can get it cheaper elsewhere it was just easiest for me. So what do you do with this lovely stuff I hear you ask? It's really simple, you can use one of two methods.

Method 1
Take 3tbs of Rye flour and sieve with a very fine sieve or tea strainer to get most of the bits out (or you will be picking them out of your hair all day)
Add just enough warm water to make it a Shampoo consistency

Method 2
Put 3tbs into a sock and tie it off
Soak overnight in about half a cup of water, squeezing a few times in the morning to get all the good stuff out
(with this method you get a Shampoo like consistency, no lumps, but some people say it is less effective at cleaning without the bits in).

Currently I use method 1 but will be trying method 2 soon just for comparison. You just use the Rye flour shampoo as you would normal shampoo, and just make sure you scrub around the roots very well. It's not too important to use on ends as as you rinse it will run through to ends.

Now, some people like to follow with ACV/DWV for detangling and dry ends, but it is not necessary. Because Rye flour is totally pH balanced at 5, it makes it a perfect match for your hair. It also contains lots of amazing minerals and vitamins. I did use ACV on my lengths but only a very small amount to prevent dry ends.

So there we have it, a pH balanced all natural no poo alternative to shampoo. Here is a picture of my hair after washing with Rye flour. Bear in mind that I went 12 days without washing my hair at all before using it so it did an amazing job at removing all the oil and gross stuff out of my hair. The only draw back was combing out the bits that were left behind but it's livable.

So, yea, the picture. Happy no pooing folks. Have you used Rye flour? Let me know!

DivaCup Review!

So as any of my regular readers know by now, I am a monthly user of the Femmecup. The Femmecup menstrual cup served me pretty well for the last few months apart from when on my heaviest day. Many of you told me that you use the Divacup as it has a higher capacity, so I wrote to the guys over at www.divacup.com and requested a sample. They graciously accepted my offer to review it for them and so that brings us to today. First off, let me state, I was not paid for this review. I received a cup to trial and give my honest opinion on it for you, my readers, so let's get down to it.

As I am already a menstrual cup user I am already familiar with the different folds and techniques that come with being totally comfortable with your *ahem* inner lady workings. The cup itself is fairly similar to the Femmecup in the fact that it has a small stem and is roughly the same shape. It is bigger, and it has a firmer rim than the Femmecup. If you want to have a look at the Femmecup review I did a little while ago feel free to head over here to check that out.

Here is how the product looks in the packaging: 

And upon opening the box there is a pleasant surprise, a lovely little satin bag to keep it in and a small lapel badge to proudly wear stating what I already know, that I am a Diva!

The Divacup itself has a capacity of 30ml which is actually more than large enough, most women only lose 30-40ml throughout their whole monthly period! What makes the Divacup more convenient to use is that the company state it can be left in for up to 12 hours at a time, meaning you only have to change it once in the morning and once before bed. Gone are the days of having to change a tampon every few hours ladies.

Another great point to note is that it is recommended to change once a year, that means in total your yearly period allowance is around £21.99 a year! 

It is important when choosing a Divacup to choose the right size for you. If you are under 30 and have never had a baby then size 1 is the right one for you. If you are either over 30 or under 30 and have given birth either vaginally or by c-section then choose cup 2.

So far I have only had the chance to use the cup for a day or so, but I can say that it is comfortable and you genuinely can forget it is there. With tampons I was always told you cannot feel them if they are in right, but I always could, so this is a great plus for me. My biggest love with using the Divacup is the fact that you can leave it in all day. This means no more struggling in the ladies room with changing a tampon or even nasty uncomfortable pads. Just pop it in in the morning before you leave the house and you should be fine until you get home in the evening and empty it. I will update this post once I have used it for a few cycles but so far so good.

If you are thinking about using a menstrual cup and you feel that the Divacup is right for you then check out Divacup's handy Storefinder to find out where you can buy near you, or if you prefer, check out their E-tailer page for buying online.

Also, like them on Facebook and Twitter for more reviews by users and handy advice.

If you have any questions regarding this blog please feel free to comment below. Have you used the Divacup? What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

*UPDATE* after using the divacup this cycle I can view confirm, I don't think it's for me. The cup itself is one of the long-standing in the market and it may just be too long for me. The end (trimmed off) sits very low, almost at the entrance which I find quite maddening when I am out of the house as it feels like it's falling out. I turned it inside out to shorten it, which  has helped slightly though. I also find it is much harder to get it to pop open inside, this is challenging xompaews to my softer femmecup. If anyone can recommend a high capacity, shorter cup please let me know. I have heard good things about the mooncup. 

62 days no poo

So it's been 62 days since I gave up shampoo and conditioner for good so I thought it was time for an update. Since going no poo I have tried egg, coffee, Apple cider vinegar, baking soda, soapnuts, distilled white vinegar and tea as shampoos and rinses. Quick run through.

• Egg was beautiful at getting rid of the oil. My hair looked gorgeous the day I washed it but the next day it was absolutely soaked with grease. Not good. 
• Coffee was used as a WO rinse. It was messy and my hair smelled like coffee for about a week. No visible difference between this and water only. 
• Apple cider vinegar is a popular one to be used as a rinse after a wash. I liked it, the smell didn't bother me but my hair was still getting greasy around day 3 so tried DWV instead. 
• Baking soda is a wash. It's great at cleaning hair and is my main wash method that works for me. I wash every 10 days with this. 
• Soapnuts is a wash. It's used as a liquid but for me I found it too good at cleaning. It stripped every last bit of moisture out of my hair and left it brittle and dry. 
• Distilled white vinegar is a rinse alternative to Apple cider vinegar. I use this alongside baking  soda and it doesn't leave my hair greasy. I also use with a water rinse in between washes. 
• Tea is used as an acid rinse but again, no difference between this and water for me. 

So here I am now using BS as a shampoo and DWV as a conditioner around every 10 days and occasionally doing an acid rinse a few times in between. I can honestly say my hair is shinier, healthier and certainly thicker and stronger. If you are reading this considering no poo I suggest you jump in and try it. The worse thing to happen is toy can't stick it out through transition so you go back to poo but for me transition wasn't too bad. Oh yes, here's a picture of my hair today after washing.

The one thing I wasn't expecting was how my hair would actually change the way it feels. It no longer feels soft and smooth but feels kind of thicker and rougher. Not tangly or itchy but just different. It's really hard to describe. The individual hairs actually seem thicker now than they were before.

Have you ever gone no poo? Are you considering it? Any questions? Let me know in comments :)

Moa The Green Balm

Sorry it's been a while folks I have been a little busy as of late, we have two new members to our little family... guinea pigs! So now it's Me, Mr Grumpy and Mini plus Pansie and Drum the Piggies and Walter and Jesse the Goldfish. So it's no wonder my eczema has been acting up...

I only really suffer with one skin problem, and only ever when I am stressed. So it suits me well that I have managed to get my hands on this little beauty. The Green Balm. Head over here to find out where to buy this beauty and for all of its uses. 

This is what it looks like

and it retails at around £15 for the size I have which is 50ml. 

Now the first thing I will say is that I used it on my inner elbow fold for eczema. Before using it my skin was dry and cracked but at the same time it was moist and unpleasant. Oh god it hurt. I could hardly move my arm because of the pain. Unfortunately I do not have a before picture because I was in too much pain to worry about taking it. Immedi after using it my skin felt soothed, it didn't hurt as bad and around an hour later it stopped hurting all together. It was no longer sticky and gross but just smooth and had a nice protective barrier over it. 

Here is the picture just so you can see how bad it is, the redness has really gone down substantially and the soreness has disappeared. 

Sorry guys I know it's not pretty but there you have it. I will keep you updated as to how it heals but so far so good. 

Have you tried the green balm? Let me know! 

*Update* 3 days later and it's totally gone. This stuff is amazing. I'm going to use it for everything. EVERYTHING