Coconut Oil: From the Bathroom to the Kitchen and Beyond!

Coconut oil. You've heard of it, but have you tried it? I traded a bit of it for some Shea Butter when my four yr old was about 6 months old, that was over three years ago and since then the stuff has made its way in to just about every room in my home! I use it in the kitchen for cooking and as a dietary supplement, raw right off of the spoon. We keep a jar of it just for the bathroom, whether it be for my dreads, as an underarm deodorant or an all over moisturizer for the whole family. Any cuts scrapes, bruises, bug bites or other skin discomforts are addressed in one smooth swipe of coconutty , anti-inflammatory goodness. We are even using it as a major ingredient in our soaps!

With all of it's amazing benefits and uses it's one of those natural work horse offerings from the Earth and of the house and as so, I wanted to share some interesting facts and figures about this stuff that you might not know. Now, go grab a jar of it and get to slatherin!



1. It has been reported to help fight and even reverse cavities! (tooth paste or oil pulling)
2. It has mild sunscreen properties.
3. It is a perfect baby diaper rash ointment that is safe for your precious (residue free)cloth diapers.
4.It's what some would call a dry oil and this makes a great, non greasy hair dressing, safe for dreads.
5.It's a miracle oil in the soap making process that can actually stand up to being %100 of the oil in the soap recipe!
6.It is an anti inflammatory for both the insides and the outsides. I love just eating it by the spoonfuls. It seems to coat my stomach and intestines and improves indigestion or constipation and soothes diarrhea.
7. Can help relieve arthritis and arthritic pain.
8. Relieves sore muscles.
9. Relieves sore throats.
10. Its a solid below like, 76 degrees and a liquid over. So when you get it out of the jar as a solid, it will turn to a liquid from your body heat in your hands/on your body. This property makes it one of my favorites in making body lotions with it.
11. Coconut oil is great for personal lubricant and it will not harm the ph levels down there.
12.Some claim it will actually help fade dark spots on the skin.
13. It's a vegan approach to the lanolin used by breastfeeding mothers to sooth dried, or irritated nipples.
14.There have been reports of regular ingestion of coconut oil fighting the affects of Alzheimers! (check you tube!)
15. Deodorizing properties. (great underarm lotion right out of the shower)
16. Makes a great eye make up remover that will actually help reverse the signs of aging.
17. Ingrideint in nearly all my facial scrubs. (check out this recipe! http://thegreentraveler.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweet-n-soulful-coffee-scrub.html )
18. We mix a bit of coconut oil to baking soda for a great anti-itch, anti-inflammatory for bug bites. Stops the itch and any chance of infection!
19. It is said to be really good for those with thyroid or weight gain/cortisol imbalances.
20. Healthy alternative for cooking and frying.
21. Helps fight any yeast imbalance, from thrush in babies mouth, to nipple thrush to a vaginal yeast infection.
22. Some say it is a great hormone balancer. This can help with sleep of even PPD with new mothers.
http://draxe.com/10-ways-balance-hormones-naturally/
"Eating a variety of foods high in short, medium and long chain fatty acid is key to keeping your hormones in check. Not only are these essential fats fundamental building blocks for hormone production, they speed up your metabolism and promote weight loss."

Here is another website that I really liked:
http://natural-fertility-info.com/coconut-oil-necessary-for-building-hormones-and-a-healthy-baby.html
"Lauric acid is a rare medium-chain fatty acid found in human breast milk that supports healthy metabolism and is now being studied for its antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial health-protecting properties. Coconut oil contains lauric acid as well, which is extremely rare for a plant! Some researchers predict that lauric acid will become as well known in health circles as Omega-3 is today."

All in all, I could set here all day and provide you with facts, figures, ideas and remedies... but you will never know, unless you go and grab some of it yourself! I wanted to share our experience and to encourage you to go and buy that large tub (or a few small ones) and try it out!
Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions!

Hope in our Soap; Update From the Nest

Well, we sold the bus. Sometimes it takes getting what you thought you wanted, only to realize it doesn't serve you exactly the way you need/want it to. We are grateful for our time on Falcor, he taught us much! And we are ready to move on to a new, LITTLE less nomadic life.

I started this blog in the hope of spreading knowledge and wisdom, empowering families and singles alike to take a more Earth bound approach to health and beauty. It began with the birth of my Little Bird, who is now FOUR! (can you believe it?!) We've gone on now to include hand made soaps in to our poison free arsenal of health and wellness care and we are SO stoked to be offering them to the public!

We hope to grow this business to be able to donate to and support charitable organizations/causes that empower families to "work from home" and a more communal way of life so we can leave our children at home well attended should the need/desire arise. It's time for us to take our children and our lives back from the hamster wheel of deadly society. I know that may sound a bit dramatic, but when you analyse the poisons put in our health and beauty products, the GMO and other poisonous foods we are being fed, and the addictive, side affect ridden pharmaceuticals we are being "medicated" with....it's pretty spot on.

I have hope though, hope that together we can take our future in to our own hands and THRIVE, rather than just survive this Earthly plane. The first place I'm starting, is at home, with my hands, my heart and our soap; "From the Nest".


"So, what we are offering is an opportunity for you to support local and support free, home made, all natural, organic, vegan, Earth friendly, family business...We are so so grateful for the community support we have already received, YOU inspired us to make this bigger and better! THANK YOU! …I'm a single mom using my hands and heart to stay with my son rather than being separated on a regular basis...Making soap = going to work and learning business skills for both of us and it makes my heart sing to skip off in to the kitchen with this little dude by my side, to watch him set with pen, paper and calculator as he "does his business" with mom....there are offers from big name stores as well as many whole sale opportunities for me to flood my local market with… We really want to get the soaps up and running to help support our little nest, I just know they can. (Please contact me if you are interested in whole sale!)