Take the 30 Day Challenge

What?  Take the 30 day challenge?  What is that???  Well, I just did the reverse of what I am going to ask you to do and am glad my 30 days are OVER!

Quite a long time ago, I bought a very expensive bar of soap.  It was not handmade soap and it was not 100% natural soap - but it was labeled as luxury soap.  Right, luxury...  So, being a bit of a tightwad, I was reluctant to throw it out and thought there would be no harm in using it for hand soap in my bathroom.  Wow, was I wrong!  For the past 30 days, I kept thinking about how dry my cuticles had gotten and how dry and scratchy my finger tips were.  I blamed it on Old Man Winter.  Finally, a light bulb went off in my head and I realized it was the SOAP!  Into the garbage it went and I quickly replaced it with a new milk soap I made.  2 days later I was marveling at my soft hands.  Yes, just 2 days later!  So, here is my challenge to you...

For the next 30 days, put away those harsh bars of soap and those liquid body washes and replace them with a simple bar of natural handmade soap.  The winter itchy skin will fade and your hands and cuticles will be much happier.  Not only will your skin be softer, you will use less moisturizer.  Why is this important?  Well...

Your skin is a huge sponge that soaks up everything you place on it.  Everything.  Have you read the label on your brand name soap lately?  Can you pronounce and provide a definition for the ingredients used?  I know I can't!  Many of them are petroleum by-products and/or man-made chemicals.  Yuck!  Pull out a bar of natural soap and flip it over to see the ingredient list.  I bet you can read and understand every ingredient used.  I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure I know what olive oil is!  I can even eat it!  I would rather be comfortable in knowing that my skin in soaking in wonderful things like coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter, almond oil and the like rather than Polyquaternium-7, PEG-6 Methyl Ether, Pentasodium Penetrate or Tetrasodium Etidronate.  Yikes!  

​So, are you with me?  Willing to try the 30 day challenge?  Let me know how it goes!  You might even get hooked on handmade soap...