Pura Vida Journey

Why I'm so glad you asked. What is in a good skincare is vital but what is not in it can be just as telling. Since cleanser is the first step in a good skincare routine, let's start there. So if you flip your cleanser over and take a gander at the ingredients, you're most likely going to see things like parabens, alcohol, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate (or some other sulfate) and fragrances, just to name a few. So let's break that down. If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll see I've addressed parabens and phthalates (which are found in fragrances). So let's focus on some of the other ingredients.  Alcohol: having issues with oily skin? Solvent alcohols like isopropyl or denatured alcohols are the wrong answer and in general are horrible for skin as they dry it out then forcing your skin to overproduce oil and compounding the problem. If you're already feeling like an oil slick, stay away from alcohol. Propylene glycol:

The What Tests have shown that 99% of breast cancer tissues contain this everyday chemical. This chemical is used as a preservative in antiperspirants, cosmetics, personal care products and sunscreens as well as in food and food packaging. This endocrine disruptor can be absorbed through the skin, blood and digestive system. Causes developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity.  The US has no regulations on this toxin. Has been found in tissue of marine life. The Why Parabens - usually identifiable as methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and ethylparaben.  Parabens are not inactive chemicals, but rather have biological activity and act on estrogenic pathways, meaning a ilments such as decreased sperm count, endometriosis, and insulin resistance are all associated with this sort of activity. In addition, they can cause early puberty and menopause.  Less than 10% of breast cancers can be attributed to genetics meaning the majority of bre

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, we are focusing on ways we can reduce exposure to cancer causing toxins. Reading labels can be pretty overwhelming so we're breaking it down by going over some of the most commonly used offenders.  What are phthalates? It's a group of chemicals used as solvents or stabilizers in products. They're also used to  soften and improve the flexibility and durability of plastics.  Why should phthalates be avoided? They are known to be endocrine disruptors affecting the estrogen and androgen hormone systems, and exposure to phthalates has been linked breast cancer, asthma, obesity, decreased fertility, diabetes and developmental issues. Some examples in studies are decreased fertility in men and women, early development of breasts in young girls, tumor formation, increase in growth of breast cancer cells, exacerbation of asthma and  physical abnormalities in male offspring of exposed mothers, such as undescended testes, reduc

The Continuation... Pregnancy was great! I was working at the time so my days were busy keeping up with daily tasks while evenings were spent relaxing and planning. Needless to say, I usually came home pretty wiped out so suppers were convenience foods. Think hamburger helper, freezer pizza, tube biscuits, etc. I laugh now looking back at those days but hey, it was a part of our journey. And gratefully I can say we've moved on from that. Our first son was born in a pretty traumatic c-section that took months for me to come back from. Fortunately, we were surrounded with a massive and amazing support system of friends and family that really carried us through that time. We were so blessed as we settled into our new 'normal'. The Transition Life was full and beautiful with my little boy. But we were definitely wanting to expand the family. We thought, hey, we got pregnant once. Second time should be a breeze!! Within a year we were pregnant and rejoicing only to find o

The Background  I didn't know it at the time, but I grew up with health conscious parents that tried to make wise decisions in regards to the foods we ate. Having 5 siblings, we didn't have a lot of money for things like the Twinkies and fruit roll-ups we would see in other kids' lunches. McDonalds was a splurge usually reserved for a birthday meal. Even though I totally know better, I'm still a sucker for those pancakes. When we had pancakes at home, they were buckwheat! I'm sure a lot of this started when I was about 3 years old and had an illness that months of doctor appointments and a stay in the hospital couldn't explain. But we found a Naturopath that was able to do testing and point us in the right direction with a strict diet and supporting supplementation that sent us in a new direction for life. So while I wasn't necessarily raised with a perception of what toxins were, I had a pretty good perception of what a decent diet looked like.  A part

So I'm super excited to share about one of our favorite pastimes. It's one that is best explored during the warmer months but not totally impossible during the winter. We just don't get out as much in the winter.  I'm talking about Geocaching!! Many that I talk to have either never heard of it or are only vaguely familiar. We use the Geocaching app that is free. There is a premium subscription that gives you access to all caches but you can find plenty of free ones as well.  So what is geocaching? Well it's essentially a worldwide treasure hunt! Here's a little video. A member (anyone) chooses a weatherproof container to hide a log that you sign. Some caches contain a pencil but always bring your own just in case. Sometimes you can find trackables which are little trinkets that can be tracked all over the world. Sometimes there are little gifts like stickers. We once found a tackle box size cache that was located at a beautiful lookout point and it cont