Free your pits! Natural deodorant for the win!!!

Natural deodorant? Are you nuts?

Yes, yes I am and you should be too.

We have talked before about our skin being our largest organ and what you put on it goes into it and all the way into you too! EVERYTHING - lotions, exfoliators, soaps, laundry detergent, fabric softeners, shampoo, conditioners - EVERYTHING! 
The junk that is in these things gets pumped through our bodies.

We need to go back to basics.

I have talked before about all the extra crap in the products we use and why they are there. 

It makes no sense. 

This what the heck is that in there for and what does it do holds true for our deodorant too.


As consumers we are taught to look at the labels of the food we buy and look for additives, refined sugars, carbs, fats, all sort of other junk, but why don't we apply these same rules to the products we put ON our bodies too?


Have you ever read the ingredient list of your deodorant?
Doubtful, but you should. 

Here is the ingredient list from a popular men's deodorant:

Propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, fragrance, sodium chloride, stearyl alcohol, FD&C blue no. 1, FD&C yellow no. 5

And here is the list for the same companies antiperspirant: 

Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex Gly, elaeis guineensis (palm) kernel oil, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, cyclomethicone, synthetic wax, PEG-8 distearate, hydrogenated soybean oil, fragrance, sodium starch octenyl succinate, silica, maltose, PVP, glyceryl stearate, cetrimonium chloride

Go grab your deodorant and I bet you see much of the same.

Do you know what these ingredients are or what they do?

Conventional antiperspirants work to clog the pores in your underarms and prevent you from sweating in this way, except for the fact that YOUR BODY IS SUPPOSED TO SWEAT!!! 

There are a mess of studies that show and a huge body of work that indicates putting aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly on your skin is not good. 

Your pits need to be FREE! Let them breathe and do their jobs.
Oh yeah and your armpits are home to more than 20  lymph nodes that are part of your bodies larger lymphatic system which helps fight infections and keeps us healthy! Why wold you want to put all that crap right there next to your lymph nodes?

The deodorant we make has ingredients you can pronounce and that aid not hinder what our bodies do naturally!

Here is a list of what our deodorants contain:

• coconut oil
• shea butter
• beeswax (can also be made vegan by swapping for a plant based wax)
• baking soda (for sensitive skin we use arrowroot powder)
• cornstarch
• bentonite clay
• essential oils (various blends used for their amazing properties for your skin & body

That's it. No extra crap. You can pronounce everything. Oh yeah and it works!

For me, the longer I use it the less I actually sweat (which seems really weird) and the less I have to use it. 

If you have never tried natural deodorant you should give it a try - you may be surprised and your pits will thank you!
 

You can jump to our website by clicking here!

Do you have a favorite natural deodorant? I would love to know what works for you...

The most amazing & easiest homemade tomato soup ever!

In a delicious follow up to my Welsh Rarebit post...

I will now tell you how to use any of that amazing leftover aged cheddar in the most amazing way.

GRILLED CHEESE & TOMATO SOUP.

You know you want some. 

The two just go together. Like Tom & Jerry or Ponch & John or We Will Rock You & We Are The Champions - I should stop I am totally dating myself.

The cheese was in the house and I still had a few slices of that amazing country bread but I needed tomato soup and had none in the house. A few keystrokes and googles later I found inspired taste's recipe (THANK YOU) and it was on.

I made a few modifications, but that's how I roll.

The soup in progress...I served mine all chunky like this, but if that isn't your vibe blend away!

Now go grill your cheese and serve it up like the power couple it is.

As a note to you - the reader and possible cook:

• you can also save a few calories and saute the onions in a bit of water or broth or use a small oil of olive oil
• this soup is also quite tasty cold and could easily be modified to be eaten as a gazpacho

This is a great base and the possibilities are endless. If you whip this up share a picture with me and show me how you create amazingness!

Cheesy amazingness - Welsh Rarebit

It has been a while since I shared a recipe...

Let me start this post by telling you for the longest time I thought it was Welsh Rabbit and being a veg for several years I ignored this recipe. I was wrong. No rabbits were harmed in the making of this recipe or post.

Picture it...Rolling Meadows, just days before the big football game that is played in the beginning of February that we are not allowed to call what it is for fear of retribution by a large entity. Anyway I was flying solo and wanted a snack and something that was different. I was browsing through a recent issue of Food & Wine magazine and came across their recipe for Rarebit.

Since no rabbits were harmed in the making of this dish I decided to give it a whirl.
***NOTE TO SELF***
Do NOT go to the grocery store on the Sunday of a big American football game. There should be referees there throwing flags and calling unnecessary roughness and too many players on the field.
After braving the store and scoring an amazing aged British cheese (thank you amazing cheese person for the recommendation!!!) and finally finding some brown ale (of course they didn't have a six pack and I had to buy a twelve pack poor me) AND getting some amazing country bread I head home to construct this carb loaded cheesy amazingness.

Oh a note to all of you out there - to make it vegetarian make sure you use a vegan wostershire sauce! Regular wostershire sauce has anchovies in it. It isn't too hard to find and most grocery stores should can it...
This is the brand I used in this recipe:

I am not much of a recipe follower...and I am okay with that.

With saying that I did follow the recipe pretty closely and the melted cheese came together and transported me to some type of cheesy nirvana...putting it on toast? Well that just takes it to the next level.

I did learn a valuable lesson by following the directions this time... and it may have resulted in some very minor flames and lots of cussing. Okay here is what I omitted from the recipe I am including here - parchment paper. The original recipe calls for lining a rimmed baking sheet (aka a cookie sheet) with parchment paper, adjusting your over rack to be 4" for the broiler and broiling hose bad boys for 1-2 minutes. NOPE.

Parchment paper catches FIRE!!!! I opened the oven to check on my precious cheesy toasts and there were flames and soooooo not in a good way.

I was not going to waste the fruits of my labor so you are damn skippy I peeled off the burnt bits and ate the unsinged middle parts.

 This is the shrapnel left from purging the carbon heavy parts of the first go around.

Luckily I had more cheese and bread so I started again without the parchment paper. I still say the 1-2 minutes under a broiler is far far far too long. 

***Watch those suckers like a hawk 30-45 seconds was plenty.***

Round two proved much less crispy and also less likely to set off the fire alarm...whew! 

I loved what the green onions added...they were the perfect compliment to the aged cheddar mixture and this is definitely a recipe I would make again.

YUM!!!

I mean look at these beauties....really look at them.

The other lesson awesome part of this recipe is that you only need 1/4 cup of beer and that means you get to drink the rest! You can't let that gorgeous brown ale go to waste after all.

Do you have a go to pub food?

Lets talk about soap care.

Be kind to your soap.

These are words I had never really considered before starting the bad hippies, but these are important words to consider if you use handmade soap.
Whether if you use ours (of course you should use ours) or another soapers you should always use a well draining soap dish.

Why?

Handmade soap is oil based and doesn't contain all the other crap that commercial soap does to keep it hard and together (OH and you don't need all of this crap on your skin and son't need to send it down the drain)!

Just for fun I googled two popular face/body soaps to see the ingredient list...

Soap A: sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water,sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.

Soap B: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate Or Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate Or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Edta, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).

Do you even know what half of these ingredients are? Nope. Me neither. I do know what tallowate is and chances are if you are using a commercially made soap your contains tallowate too.

"Sodium tallowate is a common soap ingredient found in many kinds of skin cleansers. ... Sodium tallowateis a true soap made by combining the fatty tissue (or tallow) of animals, such as cattle and sheep, with lye, typically sodium hydroxide."

Sourced from, Soap A: sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water,sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.

Soap B: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate Or Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate Or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Edta, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).

Do you even know what half of these ingredients are? Nope. Me neither. I do know what tallowate is and chances are if you are using a commercially made soap your contains tallowate too.

"Sodium tallowate is a common soap ingredient found in many kinds of skin cleansers. ... Sodium tallowateis a true soap made by combining the fatty tissue (or tallow) of animals, such as cattle and sheep, with lye, typically sodium hydroxide."

Sourced from, https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/products/sodium-tallowate-in-cleansers.htm

You read that right most commercially produced soaps have a form of tallow made from animal by products.

Our soap is made with plant fats and is vegan.

So back to soap dishes.

Handmade soaps don't like to sit in water and if you have a soap dish that collects water you may find yourself with soap mush. No one wants soap mush.

Take care of your handmade soap by using a draining soap dish. They come in many forms and shapes and sizes and colors, but the most important aspect is that your soap dish allows water to drain away from the soap.

We have several options on our website (click <<< to jump right to our soap dishes) to choose from:

• suction cup animals
• petals
• molded silicone
• bamboo
• flowers
• turtles

Pictures below of some of our selections.

Of course you can find others that are to your liking, but keep you soap happy - keep it well drained.

Do you have a favorite soap dish? What is it?

Turtle comes in blue or green

Petals: pink, green, blue, or yellow

Light bamboo soap dish

Silicone soap dish comes in: blue, pink, yellow, red, and green

Flowers come in pink, blue, purple, or green

Dark wood soap dish

Critter suction cup soap dish choose from frog, cat, or bear

When the Universe works with you & you actually listen.

I don't pretend to have all the answers or have any idea what happens in the great beyond. We hear stories of angels or whispers in the dark and I know I have seen several of my pets staring at nothing in the air and I am quite sure they see something that I don't.

Some call them guardian angels, ghosts, spirits, celestial beings, devas, and many other names. I call them G'ma & Mom.
No matter what you believe or don't believe. All life is made up of energy and in my belief it has to go somewhere - energy doesn't stop, it may change form, but it continues on.

I mentioned in my last post that this past weekend was one year since my mom passed away and it has been more than 10 years since G'ma passed, but we still talk.

Yoga & deep thoughts.

I love yoga. 

Yoga is a way for me to find peace and to be present. It can be way more challenging than people give it credit for and it has been around for a really long time (way longer than crossfit) and for good reasons. 
If you poo poo it, but have never tried it, I encourage you to find a good studio or teacher and try a class or ten before you pass judgement.

So why the yoga talk...years ago after a particularly awesome hot yoga class during shavasana (corpse pose interestingly enough) I had an entire conversation with my G'ma. She had been gone many years at this point and I don't really know why this was the right time, but clearly we needed to chat. During shavasana you are to let go. Say thank you to your mind and body for allowing you to do this practice where you are at that moment. You try to let your body and mind completely relax. It is more difficult than you would think. I don't remember what we talked about any longer, but it still brings me peace and fills me with love. We have had a few other conversations over the years in dreams and each time I wake up in a wonderful place.

Birds and feathers and more.

Now we move on to messages from mom from the great beyond...
We hear stories of people that see things repeatedly that they had never noticed before. Some people say they find things that had meaning between them and the one they lost that they had never seen with regularity before the loss.
Some people report finding dimes as a form of communication from someone they have lost.
Others find pennies (I still snag wheat pennies because G'ma always did too).
People say cardinals sightings are signs that loved ones are near. With the amount of cardinals that come to my feeders, it is possible that all of my relatives are visiting from beyond.

For me it has been feathers. Mom loved shiny things and she adored the peacock feathers the neighbors would bring down (thanks Blums!) and since she has been gone I have found an extraordinary amount of feathers and from a crazy amount of different birds. I have a stash and Mark may or may not think I am nuts, but I don't really care. I find them everywhere and from all different kinds of birds and in places you wouldn't expect to find them - like parking garage stairwells and in the middle of a busy farmers market (with no birds in attendance).

So what is with this flower?

My next tryst with serendipity leads me to my orchid. I have owned orchids on and off for years. I buy them in flower and then bring them home only to end up with the best leaves out there. All my friends tell me I have the best orchid leaves. Never once in the decades I have owned several orchids have they ever even attempted to re-bloom. 

In the summer I take most of the houseplants outside to be happy and provide a place for the squirrels to hide nuts never to be found again. This summer about halfway through I decided to take the orchid out - I don't think I have ever put an orchid out in the summer, but why not. The orchid made its outside debut later than the others, and lived in a semi shady part partially under a bush. I would water and check on the plants every so often and to my surprise the orchid started shooting out new roots and what I thought might be an attempt at the beginnings of what might be a blossom stem.

This picture is from October and most likely right before the plants came back in for the winter. You can see the shoot in the front part of the picture it was about 3 or four inches tall here.

Fast forward to November and I think maybe I will have a Thanksgiving orchid. Nope.
Then I think maybe it will be like a Christmas cactus and bloom for me then. Nope.

I have no clue how long it takes an orchid to bloom and by this time I am thinking it is just messing with me and nothing is going to happen. The orchid stick became a running joke with me and a friend and I would send pictures and cuss profusely at the orchid that may never bloom.

Here is the orchid on January 4, 2018:

Still teasing me, but looking like it may be forming actual buds.

Fast forward to January 19...

Bigger buds.

By this time I am thinking the plant has a sense of humor and the buds are just going to drop off because it has taken months to get to this point.

Orchid January 23:

The cussing continues.

Maybe it will open for my birthday? Nope.

This process is so incredibly slow and I wonder if this is the process in the wild where they grow on tree branches and electrical wires and fences and anywhere they land. I have no idea and I have been to an actual orchid farm in Ecuador and they were all in bloom all the time. Jerks.

Orchid diary January 29:

I know this is long and drawn out, but stick with me.

Friday, February 2, 2018 I am looking at this damn orchid and wondering how I have wronged it and why it won't just bloom for me. PLEAAASSSEEEEE BLLLLOOOOOMMMM!

Then it dawns on me - it is going to bloom on Sunday, February 4, 2018. Why? Because it is my mom saying hello on the one year anniversary of her death.

I took these pictures Saturday, February 3 at about 6:30pm:

And then Sunday morning:

And Sunday evening:

Is it just serendipity? 

Maybe.
Is my orchid an Eagles fan?
Possibly.
But maybe, just maybe mom is out there saying, 'Hey you, I see you in the bathroom...brush your teeth!' I choose the latter because why the hell not?

Here is this gorgeous girl today:

Have you encountered anything out of the ordinary after losing someone?

I wonder what she will do next year? Knowing mom it will be flashy and in your face. And I say bring it on Mary Alice!

Run_by_Mo: Lessons in living & finding your passion.

Musings on finding your passion and how you can turn your passions into side gigs or a while new path to walk!

Run_by_Mo: Lessons in living & finding your passion.: Sometimes the hardest thing for me to do is find a title. Putting words on paper isn't too bad, but finding a fleeting thought or a mome...

Lessons in living & finding your passion.

Sometimes the hardest thing for me to do is find a title. Putting words on paper isn't too bad, but finding a fleeting thought or a moment to share and what to call it, now that can be a real pain in the ass.

I own and run two businesses.

Two very different businesses.

One is Direct Sales and I love it. It connects me to a world of endless possibility and to a network of some of the most amazing people I have ever known. We lift each other up. We support. We share. Of course we also coach, mentor, sell, and bring people into the fold. It is so much more than I ever thought it would or could be, not to mention how awesome the product, the company, and the pay also are. Who knew I would be selling skincare, but here I am and I adore what I do with Rodan + Fields!

My other business is this hippie stuff.
I also love my hippie stuff. This is a company that was born from a passion, from a dream, from wanting to make and leave the world a better place. While the company as an LLC has been in existence for about a year now, I really only got around to making a real go of it about June of last year. 
Our first partial year was amazing. Thank you!
Through the bad hippies we have found a completely different tribe. One of people that are looking for something more natural, something a little cleaner for them and the earth. People that maybe need something with less crap in it. People that care about the fishies and what the water going down the drain does once it leaves the house.

Is it easy? Sometimes, because I really do love what I do and the hearing stories from people that have found relief from our products.

www.badhippies.com

It can also be a challenge. When people place orders and you don't have any on hand, guess what? You gotta make it.
You learn about websites, and photography, and marketing, and SEO optimization, and logos, and packaging, and repackaging and everything else.

But what I have found is freedom. 

You can find it too.

What is your passion? What do you keep going back to? What makes your heart sing?
Is it scary? Hell yes.
But is it worth it? Ask me tomorrow when you have to fight traffic on the way to working for someone else.

You can & you should.
Today I celebrate life. I celebrate being present. I celebrate love. I celebrate me. I celebrate all of you.
If you don't know where to start or want to know about what I do. Just ask. I love talking about my jobs.

Today is one year since we lost mom and life is too damn short to feel stuck and to hate where you are. 

I will leave you with this quote because it is crazy powerful and it applies to all aspects of our lives......let it sink in.

In with the new!

New year, new post. New focus, new all sorts of stuff!

I realize that it has been a new year for a while now, but I have been slow. Which shouldn't be surprising to a single person that knows me.

The hippies had a great year last year.

Thank you to all of the people that have supported us in this new adventure. Wow. It has been amazing. Now we are looking to how to make 2018 even more groovy.

We have been adding some new products and right now are testing spring and summer scents, along with a new collection we are calling our brown bag collection that will feature a variety of boozy scents.

***Now we need names for these beauties so if you have any thoughts let us know.***

I am also excited to add to our lotion bar line with the addition of zappa.
Our lotion bars are amazing and are made of only four (4) natural ingredients: shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax, & essential oils. We can also make these VEGAN by request!

The lotion bars now come in a variety of shapes, but all range in the .5 ounce size.

Some other fun happenings...

We are doing a mess more live videos on facebook (you can replay if you miss them) so jump over and check those out. Click here to jump to our facebook page.

We try to give our castile line fun hippie names i.e. zappa is scented with frankincense named for Frank Zappa. Cheesy, but fun!

The soap scents that need names are:

• lilac & lily
• moscato
• merlot
• chardonnay
• lime margarita
• cabernet & neroli

We are also working many of these scents into candles! 

Be on the lookout for upcoming newsletters - don't get our groovy newsletters make sure to sign up on our website: www.badhippies.com 

Thoughts? Names? Comments?
We love it all. 

Have an amazing day wherever you are!