Beauty Products: supermarket Vs. organic market

I actually think my "beauty regime" (ha ha ha ha ha ha! aaaaaahhhhhh dear. it's never been called that before. please excuse me.) has been pretty natural and enviro-friendly for a good number of years. I've avoided harsh cleansers, highly astringent toners and overly fragrant moisturisers since my teenage years. Sure I've snuck in a Daily Facial Foaming Blah De Bloo here and there, but that's never been the norm.
And while I have been quietly proud of myself for these choices, it's not something I've promoted or showed off. Largely because, I think, it's never been all that big of a deal. I chose to use products made from natural, minimally processed ingredients.
Well!! Last week, after a particularly hot, sweaty, stinky bout of weather (and subsequent body odour) I took myself off to the supermarket and threw not one or two, but THREE Supermarket Beauty Products into my trolley. I was a little embarrassed, a little disgusted, but simultaneously I found myself getting quite absorbed in the millions (yes, I'm an exaggerator. As we in my family like to say, Why let facts ruin a perfectly good story) of options available to the shopper in need of a pot of face cream. I had arrived at the Beauty Product aisle imagining myself grabbing the liquid soap I needed and running quickly to the check-out, like an ashamed teenage girl buying tampons. Instead I was tossed into a sea of options; dry skin, sensitive skin, fragrance-free, mango, cucumber, micro-abrasive polishing ground walnut shell delite, real essential oils, with SPF etc etc etc... I ended up contemplating for 10 minutes. I was swimming in images of my new and improved silky tanned legs, smelling lightly of tropical island fruits. I couldn't wait to see the new me.
Once home I jumped into the shower with my exfoliating beads with papaya extract and matching foaming face wash and within 3 mintues my eyes were watering and I literally had to stick my head out the shower door for a deep inhale of non-fragranced air.
What the hell was I thinking!?
Once out, as if I hadn't punished myself enough, I lathered up my poor, newly poisoned body with an aloe body cream. I felt like a chemically enhanced me. I was stinky and itchy and just a little freaked out at the number of parabens and whatever elses I had just rubbed all over my unsuspecting body.
I know, I know, I sound like a bit of a nervous nelly or conspiracy theorist or something. But really, who let us get so brainwashed that we end up using these products that put our bodies so out of whack with it's own natural oil/cleansing producing capabilities? How come we don't have more research about the effects of this stuff floating around the middle-of-the-road shoppers? And why on earth did I succumb to their colourful promise-filled lure after all these years?

I try to keep my organic purchases on a leash so as to not get too swept up in the trend. But it is an important and, I suppose reasonably significant part of my family's life. We eat well where we can and have chosen to buy the spray-free tomatoes over the supermarket ones when there's not a ridiculous amount of effort involved in acquiring them. I usually bulk-buy once a month at our local Organic Market (which is a large chain of stores in Israel). They have fantastic sales on a regular basis. I highly recommend these shops.

I can tell you, hand on my heart, the bodywash, facial wash & cream are heading - I know, massive waste, plastic 'n' all - for the nearest rubbish bin. Some things just aren't worth it. I made a bad choice. I would encourage you to have a good think about the products you are putting on your skin, or on your kids. I quite like that rule: If you can't pronounce it, don't use it.
All this started because it was hot & I was hot & I had long since run out of a face cleanser, I was getting sick of prying open my soap container (oh woe is me. listen to my lazy ass!!) and couldn't face putting oil on my body when it was already so hot & sticky. I've since had my reality check and will NOT be going down that path again any time soon.
Yesh! to Organics, Boooz to the Super. (quote from my son) (who, incidentally also used the nasty body wash and told me, "it makes me not breathe AND it's full of crumbs!)

Pulled up to Nazareth

... and really was feeling about a half past dead. I'd had a pretty sleepless night in a little cabin we were staying in & that was enough to lessen my energy levels before we even set out for the adventure around the little religious hot spot in the north of Israel.
Nazareth is a remarkable place. The council obviously have a different set of rules concerning building and infrastructure standards. We drove around some pretty steep, narrow lanes, discovering at the worst points that they were 2 way... I have to admit that driving around was way more interesting for me than the church... I love it when the signs change from Hebrew to Arabic, it makes me feel just a little international.
We got to the Basilisk of the Annunciation and enjoyed the grounds and mosaics of Mary. It was an impressive building. I did find the lack of information about the significance of this place rather frustrating. As someone who likes a historical site as much as the next gal I still couldn't help wandering around that place wishing there was a plaque telling me what was what. But I'll make it easier on you: the church is the site where Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would bear the
son of God. But there's a spring down the road called Mary's Well where this visit may have actually happened. I Googled it super-quick-style and got flooded with all sorts of passages written in that 'thee, thou, shalt, bespoken' garb and decided I was satisfied with the first explanation that it might be the place where that visit took place.
I sound like such a cynic.

The family went off to the local pools on the second morning of our stay, leaving me alone in the pretty outdoors around our cabin. There was one view down a long, plant-lined path that reminded me of possibility. I practiced some Sun Salutations there and the effects of my second sleepless night disappeared. We had a lovely journey home, stopping in a Botanical Gardens and beside horse paddocks.

This country really is quite spectacular. I'm so lucky to be here.

Raw O'clock

For years I've wanted to try a juice feast (as opposed to a juice fast). I get freaked out by the thought of going without solid food because I love solid food so, so much. I get hungry just thinking about trying to go without a nice bit of bread or some noodles.... mmmmmmm-nmm-nmmm solid food.


You've probably heard of this 90 day feast that people are raving about; well I'm not doing that. What I have been doing is slowly introducing juices back into my diet over the last 2 weeks or so. The main thing has been starting the day with a fresh juice, and then having the odd glass in the mid-afternoon.
I've lost 1.5kgs without trying anything else. But this needs further explanation; I've never owned scales before, but at the beginning of the Israeli summer a friend and I decided we wanted to get rid of some of our extra bits that had started appearing - and sometimes actually pouring out - over the tops of our jeans. So we each bought a set of scales (which took almost 6 weeks to accomplish). Then we joined a basketball team. Then my friend went overseas for 6 weeks. Now, the scales have become a favourite toy for my children, the basketball totally f*@ked my left wrist (which has really upset my yoga practice - no arm balances, headstand, wheel pose etc) and my friend is either going to return skinny & beautiful or will look exactly the same.
In between my kids using the scales for their games I did manage to weigh myself most days, usually in the morning & at night. I'm not giving out the grand total here on this strange, public page, but when I weighed in over the last 3 days it's been at least 1.5kg down.

I've been juicing for years. My mum used to make fresh juice when I was a kid. Then a few years ago some friends got us a juicer (actually they got us an espresso machine, but we switched it) and I started a love affair with liquefied fresh produce.
My main recipes were always based around the combination of carrot, apple, ginger and often beetroot. Totally delicious! But now I'm trying to steer towards this green juicing world I've been reading about for a while.
Availability of many of the leafy greens used in most recipes is not readily available to me here in Tel Aviv, but I am starting a good hunt for these ingredients & will let you know where these things can be found. Meantime I'm using spinach, celery& parsley as the base greens & topping up with cucumber, lemon (my newest fav addition to all juices) and ginger.

Lunch today was watermelon, carrot & lemon. They'd all been in the refrigerator so it was one seriously awesome chilled juice. I had to snap a photo to share. Check out that colour!

Add to all that goodness a divine workout by Shiva Rea. I just got one of her yoga videos from Amazon for my birthday and today was the christening. Feedback: I can't wait to do it again.
Another little goodie I stumbled upon is this little workout for arms by the personal trainer of all the hottie 30-something actresses, Tracy Anderson. Have a squiz, it's pretty damned fun. And if you can keep going constantly for longer than 4minutes, you're doing better than I am!

You've got to grab the bull by the horns when inspiration takes hold. And I'm doing just that by getting serious about juice & yoga! Peace!

inspiration, lost and found

i was just thinking about what stops me from doing stuff: doubts. ego. other stuff like that.
and then, i thought about what makes me want to do stuff; ego is still part of it. so is my mother's determination that i have endless potential.
i get inspired a lot. and i get lost a lot.
how can i stay inspired? is it in our personalities? our conditioning? our communities?
it's just life. it's just how life goes. there are some who seem forever inspired and productive. i admit i'm jealous of those who seem always to be creating & fulfilling dreams, because i'm one of the ones who has a thousand unfulfilled dreams. but when my head is clear and peaceful i'm happy to at least have dreams, unfulfilled or accomplished. because actually there are many who have no dreams at all. so i'm lucky really. and i've fulfilled a lot of stuff. i've succeeded in things that i didn't ever set out to achieve. which is really cool because it means that i've dealt perfectly with the numerous things that have fallen on my path, unplanned, and i've come out happy on the other side.
so i know i can deal with surprise. and that's just super.
so i think i'll just be content with that trait and try to build on it so one day i can achieve things i plan, as well as the surprises that present themselves to me.
i will keep dreaming and i will strive to notice the completion of some of those dreams.
it's nice to dream. i think i will try to write down some of my dreams so i can check back to find out whether i've achieved any of them soon.
let's make a list of 3 dreams we can achieve over the next 3 weeks. i'll post my list next time i write here. i hope your list, and mine, is easy to compose. let's be relaxed and realistic about it.
xx good luck.

Baking choc chip & peanut butter cookies (then eating most of them)

I started back at yoga yesterday, after taking a month off. Ouch City; the backs of my legs are pretty tender this morning. It seems that, once again, I got carried away and over stretched.
It's amazing how easily our bodies get used to things, whether it be running, yoga or doing nothing at all.
I'm always interested in the physical activities people choose, the exercise styles that are "fashionable". For example, I went to meet a friend in Tel Aviv the other day and I had to pass through Hayarkon Park to get to our meeting spot. There must have been 200 joggers rush past me during the 3 minutes I was on that pathway along the Hayarkon River. They were everywhere, and they all looked really fit. Now, I've tried running. I've even run in 2 marathons. But I've gotta say that of all the physical activities it's gotta be my least fav. I thought about starting with the running thing again last year because I was living in a completely hill-free country side. It lasted a week. All I really got out of it was a confirmation that yes, I hate running.
Anyway, the friend I met with told me that running is what the Tel Avivians do at the end of Spring/beginning of Summer because it is the quickest way to lose weight. And it seems to be working. There are some seriously tiny women at beaches & on the streets. Tiny. Seriously.
To each his own, & I'm sticking with yoga. Today was day 2 of a 2 month training I've decided to do. I already feel long lost muscles coming to life in my shoulders - yummy! I adore this feeling. It's almost worth stopping yoga for a month just to get that feeling again. But not quite.

Cooking Coffee, Thought 1

Who's the foreigner here? Don't be too quick to judge
(or, ultimately, don't judge at all!).

I know there are 60 bajillion blog thingies but I have my suspicions that this may be quite an exciting adventure.
There are many things floating around my head and I don't often get the opportunity to express these thoughts and ideas fully because I am surrounded by foreign speakers. See how I call THEM the foreign speakers?

A wee while ago I moved to Israel with my husband and two children. We had been living in New Zealand for 5 years previous to moving here. I'm sure that if you pause and take a moment to consider the differences we experienced in that shift you'll be impressed at our adjust-ability.
To help you understand, here's how this family is made up: my husband is Israeli born & bred, I am Kiwi born and bred and our kids are Israeli born and Kiwi/Israeli bred. So what we've done thus far (i.e. since meeting in 1999) is spread our time between the two countries as best we can. It has been difficult at times, what with the children expressing longing for whichever country we are not in at that time, and simply readjusting to new surroundings - language, schools, work & day to day living - which, in fact, has not always been simple. ("simply readjusting" - ! a contradiction in terms if ever I heard one) Israel is really a wonderful country. Really! I'm not Israeli, hell, I'm not even Jewish, so no one's paying me to say that. And the people here are just like people anywhere else. Every type of soul is represented here.

The most wonderful thing that happened when I arrived in Israel this time was that I became completely non-judgmental. Let's admit it, we are generally pretty judgmental creatures. So to not judge others was, to me, a beautiful relief. How did it happen? Was it a flash of holy inspiration? A washing over of yogic teachings, We All Are One? No. I realized that I suddenly didn't know how the cool kids dressed or walked because I didn't know what was cool in this country. I didn't know how to tell if someone was likely to be richer or poorer, better or worse. I saw that, wow, we are so very conditioned to know, by site, what stereo-type each other fits. Or by someone's accent. Someone's hairstyle, footwear, which profession they work in, music they listen to, catch phrases they use etc etc. All those things that lead us to assume we know enough about that girl across the street or that guy serving us at the cafe, they all vanished for me. It really was freeing. Then on top of that, noticing that it had happened. Bliss!

Try to count the number of times you assume you know the kind of people that you come across in you day today. How many of those, "typical! female drivers!" sort of thoughts you have on your way out today.

photo of the family home in NZ. couldn't work out how to copy the photo of the israeli family home...... but in a brief description: less green, more brown. taking camera to fix-it shop today, so will post actual current, lovely pictures later this week.

Cooking Lunch, thought 1

When children help cook a meal they're more likely to eat it. Even when it's a little outside their comfort zone.

so GET YOUR KIDS in the KITCHEN

Don't misunderstand my type - I ain't no SuperMa. I don't have my kids helping out with every family meal. More like one or two a week, a good week. And their tasks vary in responsibility depending on how much patience I have at the time.
I am following in my mother's footsteps, of course, as tends to happen. My earliest kitchen task was dealing with garlic. Peeling & chopping. I grew up believing that ALL garlic needed to be chopped really fine. That's just what you did with garlic, you chopped it really fine, and it took 10 minutes. At least. Then I had some kids, and they started to ask if they could "help" in the kitchen. So I said, "Sure! Take the garlic out, peel it then I'll show you how to chop it" and I'd show 'em. When they asked, "Is this chopped enough?" I'd say, "Not quite, a few more minutes". And so it would continue until I had completed whatever cooking thing I'd needed to complete, and then I'd tell them the garlic was chopped enough.
Garlic is a clever tool. The kids feel involved. I feel generous in finding them a task when I'm smack in the middle of a busy dinner prep. And I can keep the chopping going for longer than you'd think.
(Imagine my surprise when I learned that garlic could be so versatile. What!? Put the WHOLE clove in? Just like that? Whole!?)

You can start with something simple: peeling vegetables (if they're too little for knives), washing lettuce or herbs, whisking!!, and if all that don't work out, even getting the kids to get the cutlery out & set it nicely on the table is wonderful.

How do your kids help out in the kitchen? Can you get them more involved?

Today my gorgeous boy child (7yrs) helped me make a dish called Shakshuka for lunch. I used a recipe I found on a great site, Green Prophet which keeps me up to date with all things environmental in the Middle East (which is were life is at the mo). As soon as my camera is back in my hot little hands, I will show you pictures of our delicious lunch..
Shakshuka is quite a typical breakfast/lunch dish here in Israel. I've been told it's from Tunisia, but don't hold me to that! It is a hearty yet light enough dish made from a home-made tomato based sauce with eggs broken in at the end where they are left to poach in the sauce for 5 or 10 minutes. Sounds odd? Tastes fantastic. Eaten with some fresh challah bread (more on that another day), some yummy white cheese & a bowl of olives - not bad, baby.