Eyes of the Lord Are Upon Me

I really haven't forgotten you, dear Readers! It has been a pretty crazy past couple of years (I had 6 strokes, a little over two years ago, in case you hadn't heard) and my focus has been on caring for myself, therapy, getting back on track in my relationship with God, my other blogs (especially Stroke Of Grace) and some new book projects. But I haven't totally abandoned you here!

When I was trying to decide where today's post should fit, this seemed the ideal place. Since the strokes (or maybe it is just being 41, already, or some combination!) I have developed perpetual, deep circles under my eyes that I can't hide and just won't go away.

The camera actually doesn't do these monster justice, as they are puffy and much darker than the camera picked up. This gives you a little idea of what my concerns are.

So I started researching natural dark circle remedies today. I have read a ton of articles (none I have had time to implement yet) and here are a few ideas I repeatedly have read.

- Drink LOTS of water / stay hydrated! (I'm already pushing water like crazy, so not a lot of room for personal improvement there.)

- Plenty of rest. One page stated this was that lack of proper sleep was the "number one cause" of under eye circles, while another stated that this was a major misnomer and that while prolonged restlessness might contribute to bags, exacerbating a condition you are already prone to, lack of sleep is actually a rather mild factor in under eye circles. (I sleep more hours than I am awake in almost any given day, so if sleep is an issue for me, it would be tied to quality not quantity!)

- Crushed mint or chilled tea bag over closed eyes for 20 minutes a day.

- Resting with cucumber slices (one page suggested soaked in lemon juice for 3-5 minutes first) over your eyes each day.

- Rubbing potato juice gently into under eye skin.

- Oral and/or topical use of more vitamins, specifically A, C, E, and K.

- Avocado and/oil almond oils applied gently to under-eyes.

- Cotton ball, dipped in milk, rubbed under the eyes.

Of course there are many more suggestions out there, but these were the most common. I haven't decided what I will try yet. Do you have any tips or suggestions to share?

For reference, these were my eyes (one paralyzed into a crossed position) December, 2011.

Minimal eye circles, and not dark, even though I had just experienced excessive brain trauma a few weeks prior!

Today, on the Hope for the Broken Hearted's Facebook page, she posted,
"When you are worn down by people that will never be happy or satisfied with you because of their own issues...when you compare yourself with others...when you believe the lies that the enemy whispers in your ear that "you aren't this or you... aren't that", or "you'll never"...you need to realign your heart and your sense of self-worth with this undeniable truth...God loves you just the way you are...there is nothing you can do or not do, that could make Him love you more or less than He does right this minute and His love will be the same throughout eternity. Listen to His voice and no other...if God is for you...and He is... then it doesn't matter who is against you! Choose to let His love wash over you and heal your hurts so you see yourself through His eyes of love." along with this great picture reminder:

 

natural deodorant

I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but as I have been searching for the past few years, I'm thrilled to find a link to making homemade, natural, and supposedly quite effective, deodorant. Anyone ever give anything like this a try? Here's the link I've found so far, but I would love to hear other recipes, tips or links from you!

Soap

My sweet friend Carissa just made me a batch of custom order Tea Tree Oil soaps. I'm loving them! She was so sweet to work around family allergy concerns and create a product that exactly fits my needs. If you are looking for quality, handcrafted soaps, please take a moment and check out Carissa's site at

That Stinks

With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, I've had to be careful about scents and perfumes and cosmetics (and so much more!) for years. But did you know that even if you aren't "sensitive" that perfumes could still be doing some nasty things to your health? Check out this Campaign for Safe Cosmetics article on The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance. What you don't know really can hurt you!

Gluten Free Makeup

I bet when you hear the term “Gluten Free," you don’t automatically think of your makeup, do you?
Well, if you’re gluten sensitive you may want to. Makeup can have gluten in it.

What is gluten sensitivity?
Read here for more information.
The symptoms are usually skin rashes, itchiness, headaches, bloating/cramping. Gluten is very hard to digest and can be found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.

Gluten can be found in your makeup and other beauty products in the Vitamin E, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Oats and Triglycerides are all sources of gluten that most people wouldn’t think about when purchasing makeup and body products.

Vitamin E is used as an antioxidant and is usually derived from wheat germ. Products that contain oils in them are usually preserved with Vitamin E to prevent them from going rancid. They can also be hidden in such oils as Olive Oil, Palm Oil and Coconut Oil.

Oats are another common ingredient commonly used in beauty products, such as soap and facial products.

If you are gluten sensitive you need to be aware of these ingredients that most people may overlook in cosmetics or body products.

There’s no definitive information regarding cosmetics / body products being harmful to those who are gluten sensitive but think about this; your skin is the largest organ of your body. It usually absorbs what you put on it and thus goes into your body system. So, that would suggest that if you’re gluten sensitive you might have reactions (skin rash/itchiness) from products that contain gluten additives.

Mineral makeup that has no additives or oils and is in loose powder form, such as Affordable Mineral Makeup™ offered at www.InnerBeautyGirls.com, is gluten free.

- Special thanks to Tara Burner, owner of Affordable Mineral Makeup™ for this informative guest post. Information in this post is copyrighted property and many not be reprinted without the permission of Affordable Mineral Makeup™.