All posts by Suz

I was a Project Manager and writer for many years. I have had a passion for animal and human welfare, natural health and beauty and was laid off my corporate job this year, allowing me to go from a time famine to being able to start this blog and potentially inspire and help others on their journey to living their best holistic life.
Skin & Body Care & Cosmetics

Animal Testing – PLEASE HELP A Dog or Cat OUT! Review of Miessence, Organic Skincare, Body Care Line

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THIS hit my inbox earlier, for MAC Cosmetics among others.  And THIS is exactly why I rep for miessence (https://www.miessence.com/puretemple/en/category/1/skincare).  By the way, MAC states that while they do not do inhouse animal testing, they do so in China, for example.  When a company uses chemicals in their products, there are mandates for testing.

I have TWO primary objectives for becoming an Independent Rep for Miessence. Firstly I believe all the chemicals, toxins, hormone disruptors and anti-freeze (propylene glycol) that is in most skincare, home care and, sadly, in much of our processed foods, are unnecessary, cause cancer, early puberty among a host of other drama.  I firmly believe they contribute enormously to our body burden of toxins, are an awaiting stew of illness waiting to explode within each of us, causing us to die off far sooner and more painfully than we ever should.

And the 2nd reason is for such piteous pictures as the one here.  In the last couple of months, I must have signed hundreds of petitions on animal well being. These poor cats don’t use cosmetics and yet are held down forcefully to have chemicals that are bad for them applied to them. 

Let’s be honest, if we need to test a product on an animal other than ourselves, something is gravely wrong with that product to begin with! I encourage you to vote with your wallet and buy from reputable, sustainable and health giving companies. 

Miessence is carbon negative, food grade, 100% organic with no chemicals or animal testing ever! The products are great.  Rather than shopping a nice department store where products may have sat for however long on their shelf, these products are made in batches and shipped at order! Other than concocting serums in your own kitchen, which is really a groovy thought but most of us aren’t chemists and don’t have that kind of time or fridge space, this is one of the very best ways to get truly pure and potent, fresh skin and body care, as well as some great cosmetics.  Their foundation is very nice and has a natural sunblock in it that holds up well in Dallas TX swelter.  🙂   Miessence has a great mascara, some lip colour and everything else is about caring for the skin and body (or home).  I use their alkalizing body tonic in my daily smoothie when I am not growing a batch of wheat grass.  I love the smell of their Biopure Probiotic Household Concentrate.  You add it to water for cleaning.  It has a yummy vanilla scent and I use it with my floor steamer in the water rather than vinegar.  My sister in law will not be without the Face and Neck Serum, which has eliminated her ‘Crows Nest’ as she calls it.

Anything that comes straight to your door saves time, but getting the products super fast is a joy.  Sure, I could definitely use the cash, but the reason I rep for Miessence is that it is in line with my ethics. Let’s save animals, one cat and one lipstick at a time!

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Organic Vegetative Composting – Envirocycle Composter Review

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So, I had just given a never used composter away to my neighbor.   For those of you following me, I am in the midst of Hippocrates Health Institutes Life Transformation learning program.  This means I went out a few weeks later and purchased a new composter after learning how I really needed one.  I am growing an organic garden and while I have a good organic fertilizer I did not realize I needed to apply it bi weekly.  Yep and while I had heard of compost tea, I did not realize how badly I needed that either.  Apparently plants really take in a ton of nutrients from their leaves when sprayed with compost tea.

But I am lazy or you could say busy if you are being kind. I did not want something that was hand crank, as that could get heavy and cumbersome and perhaps hard on my hands. And regarding making the tea, while I learned in class how to take some compost material out, place the compost in a mesh cloth, tile with twine and suspend it in a 5 gallon bucket of water for 2 weeks, then remove the mesh cloth, fill a misting bottle and spray upon the leaves with abandon, that sounded like steps to me.  Gee, I wondered, why can’t both be combined somehow into a composter where I wouldn’t (or you either) need to jack with all that?

After much research, I am now the proud owner of the Envirocycle Most Beautiful Composter in the World.  Well, it is darn cute, even in the larger size which I opted for.  It comes in 17 or 34 gallons.  Other than the size, they are identical.  Many folks buy 2, one can be ‘cooking’ while you are using the other that’s ready.  For now, I have just the one.  AND, and this I am truly madly deeply excited about, it makes compost tea!!!!  You use little plugs, save your tea inside the base. You just unscrew a little lid in the base that creates and stores your tea.  It’s concentrated, so you add water to it in a spray bottle and spray upon the leaves with abandon.  Yayee!  What is NOT to love here?

Even if you are, like me, just starting out with your home organic gardening, it is really important to impart your produce with the most nutrients possible.  Hippocrates also recommends augmenting your soil with minerals too.  This can be stone dust or go purchase minerals. I have very rocky soil and wonder if that counts.  For now, I am hooked on composting.   The company has amazing customer care, the product is a joy to use and because it rolls right off its base to wherever you want to lay down some compost, it is easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Oh, and I did title this post Vegetative Composting, and the reason why is that I want you to avoid meat products.  This will cut down on bugs and flies but also, it is important to note that most compost is animal byproduct.  Not only this, but most come from factory farming, which means pesticides and loads of antibiotics.  This crap doesn’t break down so when you use this stuff, you eat it when you harvest.  Ick.  Let’s avoid all that unpleasantness and just do 75% green (all your veggie scraps, wheat-grass root bed, lawn clippings) and 25% brown (leaves, cardboard)

Compost happy!

Come and listen to a story about a gal named Suz
She wanted to go organic but didn’t want the blues
Then one day she found the most beautiful composter in the world

And oh the Envirocycle made her a happy girl!
Bubbling crude, there was!  Black gold, Texas ‘compost’ tea.  (Seeing if y’all are reading me.)

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Domestic Abuse – The Quiet Version

Let’s talk about domestic abuse. There is a picture that immediately comes to mind for most of us however there is a another, far quieter and equally deadly kind. It is when a loved one ceases to be a true partner. Every day we teach others how to treat us by what we do and don’t accept. But loving someone who harms us is a tricky situation. We partner up for many reasons. One of them is to learn how to love more perfectly, we spend our lives learning to truly give of ourselves, to be less self-involved and come together in a giving nurturing spirit. There are a myriad of reasons and excuses for remaining stuck in old behaviors that no longer suit yourself and those around you. However, we….each of us, are called to our own personal brand of greatness! And time is of the essence! It’s time to lose the bad behaviors that cause hurt anxiety and sadness for our family.

 

God sees the intent behind our actions and our heart is fully known to him. He sees your pains, your reasons, your potential used or squandered.

 

There is rain in everyone’s life and there is also joyousness too. Sometimes there is more rain than there is joy and life is not always fair.

 

But I encourage everyone to be a true partner in life. Acknowledge your co-creation of your life as it stands. If you do not like your life so far know that it is up to you to change it . And if you are stuck in an abusive situation you may not be able to change the abuser but you can change your own personal direction .

 

We are all called to fully participate in life, fully participate with loved ones. We are also called to take very good care of ourselves; It is only from a position of strength within ourselves that we can be of the greatest benefit to others . Move past grief or anything else holding you back and engage as a support system for both yourself and those you love.

 

Choosing to remain in weakness drags you and your loved ones down and robs you the opportunity to truly shine the light that only you have.

A friend of mine has been in great pain carrying a heavy burden. Let this burden be lifted, and if you or someone you know is suffering, may the light of loved ones around you and them shine and joy and peace reign.

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Mod Stylish Air Purifiers – Rabbit Room Air Purifier Review & Tecool Portable

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Why we love the  Rabbit room air purifiers.
We live in a polluted world.  And many times, the air inside our homes is the worst to breath!
Below is a link to Dr Axe for more information, but unless you are very careful to use only organic and natural cleaning agents, and environmentally friendly and toxin free furnishings, the average home contains about 10 gallons of synthetic chemical products.
From cigarette smoke, to pesticides,  from paints to household cleansers, to candles and incense or other air fresheners –  all can distribute toxins throughout the home.
https://draxe.com/indoor-air-pollution-worse-than-outdoor/

We now have 6. I had 2 for several years and then bought 4 more after my Hippocrates training.  This model is the sleekest, plus the customization is great!  We have the fish, pictured, and also one with the Julius monkey cover.  The filters typically last 2 years and are also customizable.   I have owned some ugly air filtration systems in my day and am thankful now that I no longer feel the need to sacrifice style for health. Rabbit offers the Artists Series featuring images by Gustav Klimt, Katsushika Hokusai and original designs by Rabbit Air’s creative team, to offer you a sophisticated answer to stale air.

I leave mine on auto so that they automatically adjust the fan speed high or low as needed to filter the air in the entire room as much as twice an hour.

The Minus A2 – SPA 780 filters as much as 815 square feet while the Minus A2 -SPA 700A, filters as much as 700 square feet.  The unit stands on its own base or you can opt to wall mount it.
I totally dig the mood light, the LED lighting may be turned on so that it provides a soft mellow glow of soothing colours.  It automatically sense when it is dark or ‘nap time’ so I like to read in bed, then turn the light out for bed, watch the colours for a bit while I get myself organized and poof, it goes out a few moments later.  Perfect!
There are six stages of air purification and you can customize, as noted earlier, for Toxin absorbing, Pet allergy, odor, germs.  Many people who keep birds choose this filtration system since birds are very sensitive to bad air.
But it is also sleek and gorgeous!  We have people over and they comment on the filters, because they present themselves as art.
Driving can be very dirty business, as can sitting in a dusty cubicle.  Working from home is such blessing but I recently found myself driving into the office far more than I planned and coughing due to the detritus level. I wanted something for the car and the office that was easily transportable, nice looking and with Hepa filtration.  The Tecool air purifier USB plugs into your car or laptop for easy peasy transition and comes in a soft white or black.   A coworker was chronically coughing one morning so I unplugged my purifier and plugged it into her laptop so she could breathe some fresh air.  Within minutes her coughing grew quieter and then stopped all together.  For $32.99 it’s a great deal.
If you are saddled with some lung congestion, such as from construction or just general pollution, while you work on clearing the air, I recommend Hyland Phosphorus as a natural homeopathic aid for cough or chest congestion. It works fast too!  I am never without this or Fenu-Thyme capsules which have two fabulous lung healing herbs to boost your lung’s ability to clear itself out.
Folks, as we age, the lungs take a real beating.  Support your lungs by cleaning your air, minimizing dirty environments and taking  natural supplements to support them.