Hand Soap Without All the Crap

Hi all!

Raise your hand if you like clean hands but don't like all the unnecessary "stuff" in your hand soap.  (Me!! Me!!!! --- I see you raising 'em up!)

In my quest for getting toxins out of our home, this was a big one.  I wash my hands about 1 million times a day - and that's only a slight exaggeration.  And if I'm cooking??  Well, watch out!!  (I have some REAL kitchen cleanliness OCD when I'm doing food prep)

Since your skin is your largest organ, it makes sense to watch what you put on it, especially considering the transdermal effect where anything that goes ON gets IN within about 20 minutes.

That's good for the good stuff you put on, and really, really bad for the crappy stuff.




So, here are a few ideas for you that I've tried as I've progressively moved from "really bad" to "better for you" options!!

First, I ditched the highly fragranced / colorful soaps for clear soaps from the store with no dyes / paraben / etc.

Next I upped my game to The Honest Company hand soap.  They take it to the next level with the things they cut out!  They even scent their products with essential oils instead of the fake fragrances.

Over the past couple of weeks, I went "all in" for WELLth on this one, making my own!  Castile soap with essential oils!

I'm loving the customizable and so-cool blue glass bottle!   I'm also a huge fan of the flexibility to change the scent to whatever I want --- at the frequency (pun intended, fellow oil freaks!!!!) of my choosing!

This recipe gives just the right amount of suds!!!  The one downside is that it can be a little more watery than purchased soap at first pump.  It would, however, definitely be PERFECT for a foam dispenser! .... which is on my list as a next purchase!

It's a super flexible recipe, so test it out and make it your own!!!

Here's my favorite so far:

1. Grab your glass soap dispenser
2. Add about 1/2 inch of unscented castile soap
3. Fill to the 1 inch mark with water
4. Add 5-7 drops of your favorite Essential Oil
5. Gently rock and roll the bottle
6. ENJOY!!!!  You've made a "better for you" option!!!

Purification also works wonders and is so fresh and lemony and clean smelling!  Made this one in my second batch!!

Surprise, surprise, my favorite is using the oil blend called Joy.  It smells like roses and happiness *sigh.

If you haven't gotten in on the essential oil game yet, Dr. Bronner's makes castile soap scented with essential oils - pick it up at any major stores or Amazon!  You can also add a little bit of a carrier oil if you'd like a little more moisturizing action!

As with all EO use, be sure to get a glass container, especially when using citrus oils.



*** TIP!!!!!!  I usually make small batches of everything to start - if you're like me and excel at "Pinterest Fails", it will give you a little more margin of comfort to experiment and go for it!!!!!



What do YOU think?!  I want to hear from you!  Leave some comments below or shoot an email to me any time!

........ and of course, if you're interested in finding out more about how to incorporate Young Living Essential Oils into your daily routine, give me a shout and I'd be happy to help!

You're on Your Way to Well - Starting Small and Being Better Than Yesterday

One of the biggest things I've learned on my journey so far (and I can't imagine it ever changing) is this:

THERE IS NO "RIGHT" ANSWER!

The only thing that matters is that you're incrementally doing and feeling better than you were yesterday / last week / last month!!!!  And that's totally FREEING!

I've found that the experts all have different opinions about what to definitely do and what to definitely NOT do.  Pick and choose what feels right for you!  Try a few ideas - hold onto some, leave others behind.  

Here are a few wordy examples from my experiences.  Feel free to read or skim on by to the bottom - I'll mark it for ya    ;)

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Take enemas, for example: Tox-Sick suggests regular coffee enemas.  Jillian Michaels says just say no to enemas.
      --- I am on the side of Jillian on this one, despite the reported health benefits  ---  enema = hard no for me!!  (But, hey - maybe you should try it!  You can skip the report back on this one, though, please! haha)  ...... so many poop jokes, so little time .....


Another example: Medical Medium suggests staying away from foods like eggs, gluten, dairy, etc.  Ayurveda talks about eating fruit as a stand alone (don't mix with other foods).  Tox-Sick and Jillian give a thumbs up (within moderation) to all of these foods in varying combinations (given they're organic / non-GMO, not processed, etc).
     --- For me, what I've experimented with is fruit alone (love it!), avoiding gluten and diary most of the time (it's helped me), but using Jillian's recipes at other times (delicious!).  And I am totally on board with eating organic / non-GMO / non-processed REAL food as much as I possibly can, which Tox-Sick, Jillian, Medical Medium, and just about everyone else that I've been reading lately suggests.  I'm a HUGE cheese lover, so cutting back was rough for me.  We seriously had a drawer in our fridge completely dedicated to cheese.  It broke my heart, but I believe it helped me.  BUT --- I am TOTALLY going to dig into a few fresh curds on our trip to Green Bay today, though - I mean, you can't go to the cheese mecca and NOT, am I right?!


Getting chemicals out of the home: When I go to the store, I like to get in and out and not mess around too much (hello, social anxiety!!).  So when trying to track down which chemical-I-can't-pronounce in my shampoo was better than the OTHER chemical-I-can't-pronounce in the OTHER shampoo, I start to get a little flustered and frustrated.  This is when I especially apply the "it's better than what I was doing last month" approach!!
    --- A tip I found for when I'm not feeling up for some research is to have a few go-to brands that I just grab and trust and not overthink.  The Honest Company is a big one for me!  Shower stuff, cleaners, laundry & dish detergents, fruit & veggie wash, sunscreen, bug spray, vitamins, make-up --- they have just about everything you need, with a lot of it available at stores like Target.  An added bonus is that with their online bundling I can save money AND not leave the house!  Winning!!!!   Burt's Bees is another that I like - shout out to the home state, Maine!  Young Living has cleaners, bath & shower products, and vitamins that I'm starting to try, too!  So excited!


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Just start small.  Choose to replace one cleaner.  Choose to eat one meal that's prepared fresh.  Choose one organic item for your cart.  Choose to replace one processed snack with an apple.  

On your journey, always keep this in mind: PERFECT is not a thing.  It never will be!  Just be a little better than you were yesterday, and doing what works for you to feel better.

I repeat it to myself.   All. The. Time.   "Better than before".


..... So, take a deep breath, and jump on in - the water here is fine!  (and with less toxins than last week!!)



Questions or comments?  I'd love to hear from you!  Shout it out below or shoot an email to me at: healthywellthyandwise@gmail.com

Oh, My Goodness - My First Blog Post!

Hi all!

I am so, SO excited right now!  I've been thinking about starting a blog for a long time, and finally decided to take the big leap!

So, a little about me:

I'm a Chemical Engineer by trade,
A puppy-mom by heart,
A Mainer that became a Yooper by transplant,
A loving and hilarious wife by my patient husband's account (or it better be!),
World traveler by luck,
...... and a wellness researcher by passion!!!!

Which is where this blog comes in!  I've always had a natural curiosity towards nutrition, disease prevention, avoiding toxins, how the body works, losing weight... generally just how to FEEL BETTER.  This is coupled with an intense desire to find a way to help people, which I'm hoping this blog will do!

So the medical field seems like it would be a natural fit for me, right??  EXCEPT for the unfortunate fact that I'm a fainter.  Passer-outer. Health class was NOT my friend.  My path to "being a Doctor is totally off the table" officially started in 4th grade when my teacher had to drag me down the hallway to the nurse's office after a lecture on how the heart works. 

If we're being honest here - which I plan to be always (even if it's to the detriment of my own pride) - I've never felt very WELL.  This is the other factor for why I've always been so curious about this stuff.   Here's my story:

• When I was little, I'd feel weak a lot and tired sometimes - blood tests and other diagnostics never found anything 'wrong', so I just slept a lot and learned to deal with it.
• Once I got to college and away from Mom & Dad's healthy cooking and good choices, things got worse - I added IBS-type symptoms that left me curled up in a ball and dreading dinners away from home, and also severe nausea that came and went.  The nausea was so bad that when I was actually sick with the flu, I couldn't tell if it was my "normal" nausea or actual sickness until I threw up.  
• After a couple years out in the workforce after graduation, I read a book that led me to a vegetarian diet that made me feel SO GREAT!!  ........ that I eventually abandoned (I know, I know - stupid)
• A few years ago now I had a tumor removed from my leg (scary)
• Most recently I've just continued to feel tired all the time, have "brain fog" that even the most delicious caramel latte won't clear up, and weight that I am struggling to lose.

All the research I've done and things I've tried and books I've read lately all seem to be pointing in the same direction - there's a vicious cycle of toxins in our environment and fake foods that make up our diets, along with the ability of disease to convince you to keep feeding it. I'm tired of feeling terrible, and I'm going to ACTUALLY do something about it this time! 

My goal for this blog is to keep you laughing while sharing my journey and my experiences towards acquiring more and more wellness --- or getting "WELLthy" (man, do I love a clever play on words!!!!)  Hopefully there will be something you can take away that will help you, too!

Cheers to feeling better (& laughing through the journey!)
- Codi



Resources, Influences, & Future Topics:

| therapeutic massage | acupuncture | cleanses | natural cleaners | essential oils | young living EOs | natural makeup | honest company | jillian michaels | diy projects | pet health | qigong | medical medium | tox-sick by suzanne somers | heavy metal detox | reiki | elephant journal | oil pulling | eating organic | yoga | ayurveda | meditation | natural detoxifiers | relaxation | stress reduction | superpowers of fruits & veggies |


Let me know what you think or topics you'd like to hear about in the comments below!