Daisy Rock Designs-The Poppy Pad

A few months ago I volunteered to review the Poppy Pad by Daisy Rock Designs (found her on Facebook) Daisy Rocks designs is a WAHM that creates beautiful dresses, dungarees, bandana bibs and CSP.

The pad consists of a cotton pad backed with fleece with another smaller pad poppered into the top.
The bottom pad is 10.5 inches long, 3 inches wide with a wider nearly 4 inch flare at either end.
The Poppy part of the pad is 2.5 inches wide with a slight flare at either end of  about 3.25 inches at the widest point.  This part is 10 inches long and backed with cotton.

I am really excited by this pad and I love the idea.  The pad is really comfy, I couldn't feel the popper when I was wearing it and it didn't move about in my knickers.  It is a lovely design and is great for times when you are going out and want to do a quick change as you can just take the topper off.  Also, there are seperate toppers available you could just swap one topper for another if you wish.

I thought the seller kept in contact with me really well and I will be buying from Daisy Rock Designs again.  Sorry for the poor picture quality the pad had been used and washed quite a few times and I wasn't paid for this blog post.

Uses of coconut oil

There are many uses of coconut oil.  I thought I'd write about a couple.

1. It can be used in cooking and baking  instead of  using butter to create dairy free recipes.  In the past I've made some lovely dairy free biscuits by replacing the butter with coconut oil and my friends said they were delicious.

2.  Coconut oil is very moisturising and can be used to moisturise the scalp (especially popular with Afro hair) and it can also be used on the skin.

3.  It can be used to make deodorant on its own or combined with other ingredients. Eg baking soda, shea butter.

4.  It can be used as a skin cleanser, to do this I rub it on my skin then take it off with a reusable make up pad.  This is great as a cleanser and moisturises your skin at the same time.

5.  I use it in my home made soap, it creates a really rich lather and is very moisturising and cares for sensitive skin.

I guess you know by now that I have a real soft spot for coconut oil and I always have some in the cupboard.

Eco Dreams

I recently bought 2 Butterfly cloth liners (7in) and a Uterus cup pouch from Eco Dreams (www.ecodreams.net).  I also got two free cup spots and some information about cloth pads.  I was really pleased with how they kept in contact with me.

Now for the actual liners, they were absolutely beautifully made.  They were made of cotton with a fleece backing and the stitching was perfect.  The poppers matched the colours on the fabric and they were really comfortable to wear.  7 inches long and 2 and a half inches wide in the middle.  They have a slight flare at the ends.

The cup pouch was crocheted by Lucy at http://thepiepatch.wordpress.com//  I love it cos it's fun and quirky and made well, very unique. 

Wheat Free Diet

Someone suggested I try a wheat free diet for my pain and fatigue.  After researching on the subject I decided to try it for a while.  So this week I've tried making wheat free bread. The bread was dry, didn't have the right texture and didn't taste right at all, it looked nice though. Next on my list will be cakes.

Today I went to a BBQ and a kids party and I broke.  I've had some things I'm not meant to have and I'm paying for it now.  I'm really bloated  (a friend asked me if was pregnant) and feeling pretty pukey.  So I think being wheat free is the right thing for me to do. 

Does anyone have any good wheat free recipes for me to try?

Low Poo

The subject of many of my online conversations this week has been the Low Poo and No Poo shampoo method.  Basically using hair washes and rinses that are low in chemicals or have no chemicals in.  I'm doing this as I'm trying to lead a simpler life and use less chemicals, I also need to use things that don't leave residue in my hair otherwise I'll end up with mouldy hair.  (Sounds nice doesn't it?)

I have tried a couple of different methods.  First I tried a coconut milk and castile soap mix with nag champa oil.  I find this works really well for my hair. (I have dreads)  It leaves it really clean and smelling lovely.  I then tried using aloe gel and coconut milk.  I found that with this my hair got greasy quicker and felt quite waxy after I'd washed it. 

Next I tried a rinse for afterwards.  I used jasmine green tea but you can use green or black tea.  I find it makes my hair really soft and smells lovely.  I have yet to try apple cider vinegar but it is on my 'to try out list'.

Fleurcup Review

Time for my first ever review...

I chose the Fleurcup as I didn't get on with other types of menstrual cup and I was recommended this by some lovely ladies on facebook. I have had a baby so I chose the larger size. I kid you not, this is brilliant, great value for money and looks pretty. (it was £8 when I got it)  It's just the right softness for me and has four diagonal holes in it to help with the seal.  I found that I didn't even need to trim the stem as it was quite soft and didn't get on my nerves. It popped open well once it was inside. (I just folded it in half) As I said, I've used cups before and this is definitely good for me.  Functional and pretty, what's not to like?

I wasn't paid for this review

Coconut oil soap

This afternoon I decided to make coconut oil soap. I think it turned out ok for my first attempt but I could have done better.  I combined the lye (sodium hydroxide) and water first. Then dissolved it and added it to my melted coconut oil in a pan on a low heat and stirred it til thick.  I added more water at this point as I wasn't sure if the lye had dissolved.  (This I probably shouldn't have done) I kept it on a very low heat till all the water had evaporated out of it and it didn't 'zing' on my tongue.  I added nag champa oil then let it set.  I'll know whether it's any good after 3 weeks of leaving it to rest.  Apparently one of the problems with this method is that it creates a lot of foam, I live in a hard water area so let's see how it goes and I'll let you know.