Crunchy Betty
You Have Food On Your Face!
The Great Grapefruit Scouring Scrub
Imagine if you took the amazing cleaning power of grapefruit, combined it with the kazowwy wowwy magic of baking soda and added in some supercalifragilistic borax? (Yes. This is my interpretation of a cheesy cleaner commercial. Live with it.) What would you get? WHAT WOULD YOU GET? This blessed little cleaner came about [...]
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Crunchy Angels – Help This Man Heal His Cancer
You’ve been affected by cancer. In some way. Haven’t you?
Maybe it was your mother, or your best friend’s uncle, or you dealt with it personally, undergoing rounds of chemo and wondering when it would end.
None of us are exempt from the experience – whether indirectly or directly – any longer. It’s everywhere. But frighteningly enough, the regimens used to treat cancer can often be as scary as the cancer itself.
Chemotherapy and radiation both, in fact, are a cause of cancer. Your disease is being treated by a very thing that causes it. Add to it the myriad other side effects of mainstream treatment, and you’re not only facing the fear of death via your initial disease, but the potential of a very excruciating life for months (if not forever).
It’s a terrible position to be put in, and from every side of you doctors and medical institutions are screaming, “There is no other way to treat cancer! You MUST do it this way or face certain death!”
So you look to nature, and you wonder. You research, and talk to other people who’ve chosen the alternative. Your mind changes …
But deciding to take a different route, an alternative one, is met with derisive sneers or complete frustration by the doctors who really just want you to be healthy (and I believe most of them really do). Some of your friends and family will be baffled by the choice. Some of them won’t support it. You feel as if maybe you’re a little crazy, in the face of all the decision making.
read the full article ...How to Make Felted Wool Dryer Balls
Fickle.
I’m pretty sure that’s what I am. Fickle. Because at some point, I said that this was my favorite project, and this, and then probably this. Really, you can assume that any project in which I don’t totally screw things up is my favorite.
AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM!
Felted wool dryer balls – to help dry your laundry faster, keep it free from static, and to give it a little something to play with while it’s rolling around in the machine.
To be honest, I didn’t expect this one to work out so well, because I fudged a bit and didn’t follow the tutorials I found to the letter. You’ll see why in a bit.
But let me tell you something, sister, these are amazing. I’ve done three loads with them now, and my clothes are soft, wrinkle-free, and I’m pretty sure they came out poppin’ fresh long before they ever have in the past.
read the full article ...The Womanly Ideal: Then and Now in 10 Comparative Photos
WARNING: This post contains artistic nude paintings and sculptures from historically famous artists. If this kind of thing upsets or offends you, please read no further. There is no vulgarity; just depictions of the female form. (I promise, there’s a point to it, and nudity won’t be an ongoing thing on Crunchy Betty. Unless you [...]
read the full article ...Not Your Mother’s Neosporin: Healing Salve for Minor Scrapes and Burns
I’m on the outs with biscuits right now.
Biscuits are the reason I am burned. Biscuits are the cause of all of my corporeal suffering in these last few days. But, dang, were they good.
I was going to take a picture and show you guys the giant burn on my inner forarm from delivering biscuit babies from the hot, hot oven. But I didn’t. Even though I know you’re just dying to see a 6-inch, red, peeling burn … I’m sorry. I trust your disappointment will be allayed when I show you how to make this lovely, softening healing salve for minor scrapes and burns.
I called it “Not Your Mother’s Neosporin” up there, but the truth is, it’s not anyone’s Neosporin. It has zero common ingredients – especially none of the ones that lead to Neosporin causing skin irritation.
read the full article ...Reflections On the Grand Experiment: By a Crunchy Betty
If you’ve ever felt frustrated with finding natural solutions to your beauty problems …
If you’ve ever thought about throwing in the towel …
If you’ve ever contemplated how much you wish you weren’t the way you are ..
I want you to read this.
Kylieonwheels has been a member of Crunchy Betty for as long as I can recall, and she consistently has insightful, supportive thoughts to share. But she outdid herself last Monday.
Her comment is so inspiring that it deserves its own post. I will not dilute her wisdom with more of my nattering, so …
read the full article ...Your Natural Hair Questions … Answered
Confession: We didn’t even scratch the surface of what I wanted to cover about different hair care methods, so be looking for more hair stuff on the blog very soon. Specifically: A natural hairspray method and unconventional ways to wash your hair using … well … I won’t tell you that yet. 
But for now, let’s conclude this week with the 5 most prevalent questions about natural ways to care for your hair issues. For the record, by far, the problem of frizziness was the number one complaint. I didn’t mention it below, but if you have issues with frizziness, check out the Long Hair Community suggestions or pick up the book Curly Girl (which I haven’t read, but five people a day recommend in comments here on the site … so it must be good!)
If you have a question that wasn’t covered here, DO ask it again in the comments! There are so many helpful people around here (LOVE YOU) ready to share their experiences with you.
read the full article ...The Secrets to a Phenomenal Hot Oil Hair Treatment: Part 2 – Indulging
No need to dilly dally with chit chat here today. Many of you jumped right in and started making your hot oil hair treatment yesterday, so you’re pumped and ready to go.
If you missed part one, here it is again for your edification: The Secrets to a Phenomenal Hot Oil Hair Treatment: Part 1 – Creating.
Now. Let’s get oily!
read the full article ...The Secrets to a Phenomenal Hot Oil Hair Treatment: Part 1 – Creating
As I write this, at noon on a Tuesday, my hair is covered in the hot oil treatment you see pictured in this post. My locks are topped with the pink shower cap. The sun is shining and it feels like spring in January. My cat … he is licking my neck.
Life is good.
Of all the crunchy things you can do for your hair, the hot oil treatment is – by far – the most satisfying and luxurious. I do them once a week, on average, and I’ve finally gotten the routine down to an art. Here are my secrets, and a step-by-step guide to getting the most out of your own homemade hot oil hair treatments.
This is a LOT of information, so today we’re just going to cover the basics on how to create your own hot oil for your hair and all the yummy goodness you can add (or not). Part 2 will be the best ways to apply, clean off, and use your hot oil hair treatments. (Too much information, so little room on the internet.)
read the full article ...Hair: Dead Protein or Alien Communication Devices
Every child has a little chemist inside. That brainy, inquisitive spark that tells them to mix certain unrelated liquids together and see what happens. Most of the time, it’s things like glue and orange juice. Or toilet water and lipstick.
If not kept in check, this little chemistry curiosity, we grow up to mix things like vokda and beer. Just a little tip, parents.
Anyway, when I was a kid, my inner chemist was mostly just curious about my hair. Changing it, especially. See, when I was a kid, my hair looked like this:
read the full article ...Crunchy Betty Steps On the Gas in 2012
The holidays bring me to a full stop.
For an entire year, your life is going … you have direction. Things are flowing in a neat and organic order. But without fail, every year, my life comes to a stop while I deal with holidays.
My ability to move in the direction of my dreams is sucked away, like the last remaining fumes in a gas tank. Sputter. Stop. Deal with the travel and the gifts and the food. And then … then crash. Crash and wonder where I should go next. The last year seems like a tangled haze of moments, loosely strung together, and they don’t make complete sense anymore.
But then the first day (or sometimes second, depending on whether or not cocktails were involved) of the new year comes and a veil lifts. Sixty new potential directions appear in front of my foggy windshield, and everything seems clear and new and promising. Miraculously, the gas tank is full again.
The key at this point is to choose a direction and put the foot back on the gas pedal. Adjust the steering wheel slightly and go forward into the new year.
So here we are.
There’s a brand new shiny windshield through which to see the direction we’re all going. And there’s nothing like the new year to choose exciting moments – experiences – to bring into your life over the next 365 (or 361, as the case may be) days.
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