Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I educate myself on healthy living, I realize that there is more to it than just what I am eating. I assumed when I changed my diet, my skin would clear and look just as healthy as I am feeling on the inside. Little did I know, my makeup bag is working against me. I had a really hard time with the concept of giving up my entire bag of cosmetics, but I want the feeling of being healthy inside and out. 


Food for Makeup? I wanted to try something that wasn't expensive, but worked. Since we are growing a big garden this year, I thought maybe there might be certain foods we could grow and I could also use on my skin. As I dug deeper into the search, I found people actually use food as an alternative to cosmetics. I am extremely excited to share these easy tips with you and hopefully some of you will give it a try!

Moisturizer

• Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. Most moisturizer found in stores have  petroleum-based ingredients that can suffocate your skin. Coconut Oil is composed of these medium-length fatty acids that help strengthen tissue and removes any dead skin cells that give you the rough texture of skin. I use about a dime size for my face. 

Loose Powder. 

• Arrowroot Powder is going to be the base for your powder. This is a starch from the rootstock of several tropical plants. 
• Next you will combine  Cacao powder and a bit of finely ground cinnamon. Keep combining these two to the Arrowroot powder until you get the matching of your skin tone. 

Cacao Powder is my favorite so far.  It comes from a tropical tree that produces the world's chocolate in raw form before any fats, sugars, or any other sweeteners are added. It makes your face smell like chocolate heaven. Not only is this powder healthy for your skin, but you can also eat it! Its known to increase the serotonin your brain produces and it packed with antioxidants and vitamins.  If you are feeling depressed and not yourself, or if mother nature arrives ladies, snack on this to boost your energy levels!

If you are a big fan of Foundation, use the same recipe above and add an essential oil to make it a liquid form. Coconut oil, olive oil, and sesame oil are just to name a few you could play around with. Just make sure all of them are the virgin form and not refined or processed

Lip Stain

• Beets. This is going to give you that fiery red lip that most people want for a lip stain. You can also add a hint of blueberry if you are looking for the blue vampire lush lip. 
• Strawberries are a settle lip stain, but they enhance your natural color. 
• Turmeric Root is always fun to play around with. Apply to lips and add a pinch of coconut oil to get a peachy lip stain. 

Blush

• One slice of beet on your cheek bones is going to give a great blush that lasts all day. Just rub in with your fingers and add more until you get the intensity you want. 

• Strawberries are very settle, but it makes your skin feel alive.  

Eyeshadow/Eyeliner/Mascara

• For the eye area, I use berries. Blackberries and Blueberries are my go to berries right now because the blue color makes my hazel eyes pop. I apply the eyeshadow with my fingers, and i purchased individual brushes to apply the eyeliner and Mascara. 

There are other ways to make Mascara that include oils and herbs, but right now, since berries are something Ryan and I could grow on our own, I'm having fun playing around with them.  

 I hope some of you will try at least one thing I have mentioned in this post.Enhancing beauty with raw products is not only fun and healthy, it taste great too!

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. -Jill Churchill

   May 28th, 2012 is when it all began for me. My world was changing and I was terrified. Motherhood was always apart of my plan, but I didn't expect it to enter my life so soon. I quickly learned that the unplanned surprises in life are the most exciting.

 

 Maxine Rain Todd was born naturally and healthy at 9:38pm. She was weighing in at 7lbs 8.5oz and 19in. long. She is absolutely perfect if you ask me. She latched on within 30 minutes of being born, and I couldn't have been happier.  It was very important to me to exclusively Breastfeed Maxine. I knew that meant I would be the only one that could feed her and it would make it  more difficult to receive help from anyone else, but I believed it was the only healthy option for Maxine.  Ten months later, we are still breastfeeding and going strong. I love that I have a special bond that noone else will have with her, and knowing how incredible breast milk is for her makes it that much more rewarding for me. 

 

Not only do I have a loving little girl, but I have an amazing man taking this adventure with me. There are so many times I stop and realize how lucky I am to have Ryan in our lives. He has molded and become an amazing father to Maxine. For someone who thought he would never want kids, is doing an incredible job being one.  Maxine is her dad inside and out. They both have the biggest hearts I have ever seen, they absolutely love music, and Maxine cannot get enough walks in the woods with Daddy. I'm excited to see their bond grow and I can't wait to hear the interesting conversations they will have.

Ryan introduced me to healthy living when we first started dating. I slowly changed different habits in my life for  more earth friendly habits, but I didn't really dive into any of it until Maxine came along. I believe in healthy living. I believe that our bodies our precious and we should take care of it in every possible way. 

My goal is to write what I learn in this blog. I have heard  a lot of people think I am just following a trend and what I am doing might be harmful to my family. I want to show that I know what I am talking about and show everyone I do my homework before I make any decisions when it comes to my little family. In reality, I am following the lesser path taken in life and I am excited to share the knowledge with you.