Winter 2018 Natural & Organic Favourites

Hi Lovelies,



Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome 💕💕💕

Green Life In Dublin Winter Favourites

How are all of you? Hope you are all well?

Before we start I have to warn you that Google uses cookies (blogger platform I use belongs to Google) and I am obliged to let you know.

I am technically very late to post my winter favourites, as we are first days into spring already. But as we are into the thick of the snow storm here, aka The Beast From the East (after having no snow not only for this winter, but for the last five years), it seems apt to post this. It is only a week of it, but it I am already fed up with it - schools and most workplaces are closed, so all of us are at home - I am kind of happy about it, except one detail - our living room slash kitchen is facing east, so we had to abandon it due to the icy wind drafting trough the whole room, and we are camping in the bedroom for five days straight. I've seen cold winters, but never before in my life I had to cook the dinner for the family in the bloody COAT AND A HAT! It is max 5*C in the room, and that's with two heaters on! I had to move all my plants from the window to the center of the room, and we nicknamed going to the living room "Expedition to the Arctic". We also doubled & tripled the feed for the birds, because we feed wild birds from our balcony. God help homeless people and animals! I hope this is over soon and we will be able to laugh about it.

The reason I am so late with my favourites is because the winter is the most difficult season for me, I endure it, rather than live and enjoy it. Partly due to my SAD (aka winter depression), which always comes back every year, partly due to Sickness Season, which always knocks me for six, despite my best efforts to prepare for it. If you are interested, I will link my post where I list every natural remedy I stock up on in winters at the end of this post. 
By the way, this post will not be heavy on products, so if that's your thing, you can exit here, no hard feelings, promise!

At first I thought I will have no favourites at all, but when I looked around, I did find a few things that I enjoy indeed, so let's see what those are, shall we?



Reading

I always enjoyed reading, I think you will find this in all the Favourites posts I ever made, and I find myself reading less and less fiction, and more and more Health & Wellness type of books. You will laugh at me so hard, but my life was forever changed, when I joined my library after learning I can request any book I want. Why no one told me that before? I am onto 12 books loan, around 5 more borrowed online, and four more acquired on my own. Erm, I think I've bitten more than I could chew? So far I managed to finish Radical beauty by Deepak Chopra & Kimberly Snyder, Balance Your Hormones by Patrick Holford, Longevity by Cameron Diaz, The Middlepause by Marina Benjamin, Allergy Free Kids by Robin Nixon Pompa; and I just finished Medical Medium by Anthony William and I am currently reading Eat Dirt by Josh Axe, Renegade Beauty by Nadine Artemis, A Life In Healing by Jan De Vries, Good Gut Bugs by Kathryn Marsden, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by Micheal Murray MD, How To Be Alive by Colin Beavan and Pretty Fun by Kate Hudson. Pretty crazy, I know! Is anyone else reading like five different books at the same time?



OreganolP73 
(and other natural winter wellness remedies)

My Holy Grail natural remedy for the last three or four years, and if you follow me for any length of time, I think you know that. Nature's antibiotic and anti-viral, plus anti-fungal remedy that I use in place of antibiotics. Works like a charm every single time and I never want to be without it. Thankfully this is available locally to me, for a change, and I make sure to stock up on it come winter, although I have to have it all year round. In those few years I witness information and articles about it disappearing from the internet fast. I blogged about it the same year when I discovered it, declaring it one of my Top Three Favourite Natural Things Ever (find post here) linking back to the articles where I learned about this from, and all of them were made inactive since then - and I had trouble finding any credible information on it. All that makes me fearful it is only a matter of time it will vanish and get outlawed, like so many wonderful natural remedies before it. Please tell me this won't be the case? 



Aromatherapy

That might sound vain and/or luxurious to some, but all that means in my case, that I made sure to surround myself with lovely smells that remind me of good times. As we know, smell has a power to trigger memories, good or bad. So I figured, if I already have some things at home, why not to use them on everyday basis? The thing is, for so many years I liked "having" beautiful thing rather than using them - this stems from a difficult childhood where treats were modest at the best of times, so I had to work on allowing myself to use "the good stuff" for everyday, rather than saving them for a special occasions.  So I went through scented candles like there's no tomorrow (all natural of course) and ran my Esta Aroma Diffuser when I felt like it, almost daily. I also used my Jo Browne Vanilla perfume every day as well as my beloved Walden A Different Drummer - the mixture of the two is intoxicating! Let's not forget the Sacred Aroma blend, which helps me stay grounded so much. All reviews linked below.


Dry Brushing

I think we all know what the dry brushing is, but if you don't, here is a short explanation of it - you brush your entire body starting with the soles of your feet in long upward strokes towards your heart with a natural fibers dense brush. Look up Youtube videos for it if you don't have a clue what I am talking about. Benefits include removing dead skin cells, boosting circulation and moving lymph system around, which is body's way of taking toxins out. It can only be a good thing. If only you can brave cold(ish) bathroom for a few minutes.


Abhiyanga (aka body oiling)

I have heard a bit about it here and there during the years, but it went into one ear and out the other if I am honest with you. That until Radical Beauty book fell into my hands - it made so much sense that I started practicing straight away. I also realized I have been doing it all wrong during the years - I only used coconut oil for body oil at all times, when in reality it has cooling properties to it - not ideal during the winter! Hey, that's why I love reading books so much - you learn all kinds of useful things! 
For winter, sesame oil is recommended, but I have to be honest I am yet to implement it in practice. The smell of organic and cold pressed sesame oil acquired in the supermarket makes me gag, and the one I have ordered via Love Lula didn't arrive. (unfortunately the order went missing for the first time in history of me being their customer since 2014. They replaced everything without any questions, but the sesame oil was out of stock at the time, meaning I got a replacement of something else). I have been using good quality olive oil with some essential oils pre-shower (you are supposed to step into the hot shower or go exercise to increase the body's temperature and thus make the oil absorb and work better) and Awakening Meditative oil by Inner Senses post shower. That one smells divine! Blog review will be published around the same time, so keep your eyes peeled for it. 
By the way, please let me know good quality cold pressed oils with warming properties to them in the comments. Organic and fair trade if possible?


Thermos mug

Umm, is it lame to admit a thermos mug is one of the best presents you ever got? Whatever, I never aimed to be KEWL, so let's just roll with it! I received it for Christmas last year and I am yet to stop using it daily. Along with implementing abhiyanga, I also introduced some changes in my daily routine, like stopping consuming cold water and foods, and it made so much difference in how I feel overall. Anyone who is familiar with Ayurveda will know about dosha balancing, but it's baby steps for me. Cold does not suit me at all, and warming my body in all the ways possible made an enormous difference in how I function and even feel. So it is fair to list a thermos as a favourite, isn't it?


Indoor plants

Despite my mom being a florist and being quite good at landscaping too, I am the total opposite. Need your plant killed? I am the one for the job! Despite spending my teen years working part time alongside my mom, I wasted no time forgetting everything I was taught once I moved out. For so many years I could only grow cactuses, and even those were given away when my second baby arrived. Long story short, I am finding myself drawn to potted plants everywhere I go, and have nearly ten of them after having none for years. I am not as successful in growing them as I would like, but I am trying my best. Next time we speak, I might be living in an indoor jungle for all I know - I come back with a new plant even if I pop out for groceries, and if I find myself in TKMaxx, I get more joy in finding a beautiful plant pot than a top or shoes! I am now eyeing macrame plant hangings and brainstorming ways to realize them. Middle age crisis or something??



Herbal Teas

I made no secret of the fact that winter and I don't get along very well, so given half a chance, I would go on to Winter Sleep and only wake up in Spring - if only I could! Since I have some inconveniences in a way - like you know, kids and life responsibilities, the next best thing is blanket, hot tea and a book. Those moments are far in between as well, but thinking of things I enjoyed for the last three - four months, this was came to mind first, so I can't just leave it out, can I? After buying only the cheapest teas for years, I decided to invest more into this little life luxury, but at the same time I watch deals like a hawk, and make sure to stock up on them when the time is right. One of my staples is plain old camomile tea, then it's rooibos (drunk with ginger, lemon, turmeric and honey) - aka The Drink That Keeps Me Well In Winters, and I like Yogi and Heath & Heather Organic ones too that I get in my local health shops. As I am so sensitive to caffeine, most of my teas tend to be caffeine free. I can only drink green tea in the morning until around 2pm.


Matcha Latte

See above. Insert matcha latte as my a.m. drink of choice post school run. 


Hosting An Awesome Giveaway

Telling this not to brag, but to share my joy with you - I genuinely love hosting giveaways, as this gives you, my readers, the chance to try the products I genuinely love. I collaborated with Pure Anada for my latest giveaway (now closed) and it brought so much joy to my heart, because isn't it lovely when a brand you love and support for a good few years comes to you with a giveaway offer? I was like "Yes and thanks for making me a happy girl!" If you missed that post of mine, I will link it below, as well as favourites for the past two years, where Pure Anada products are featured along my other Holy Grails.



And one NOT Favourite

As you know me, I am the least bitchy person around, and it takes me a lot to say something - I only have one thing as Not Favourite so far - not much since 2009, no? So brace yourselves for my second ever Not Favourite Thing - please step forward Instagram! It used to be my favourite social media platform for years, but with all these new algorithms (don't get me started on those) came some other not pleasant changes too - as in censoring! Let me explain myself - I found myself censored twice in one week - I was going into great depth answering someone's query on how I healed my dermatitis - it's been two years and I get a lot of questions about it - and to my surprise my comment didn't post, I got "Review Your Content. We restrict certain content and actions to protect our community" type of message that simply dumbfounded me, and then this nasty surprise repeated itself when I was discussing natural beauty line with someone. Umm, I mean, Instagram - really? Thanks for protecting your community from me! I mean it is quite understandable, the people need to be protected from me talking that you can heal your own a-u-t-o i-m-m-u-n-e  d-i-s-e-a-s-e. I am whispering this really quietly, so no IG or Google would hear it, ok? I posted quite a few Instagram stories about it, and I was on the verge of leaving, as quite frankly I was fed up with it - not only all I see is ads and random people I didn't even followed in my feed, now I will be censored for talking about all things natural?? I got a ton of all kinds of messages from people and natural brands owners telling me similar stories they experienced. One blogger friend had her account suspended when she tried posting truth about her son's autism - and she didn't get to use her account at all until she deleted every single post related to her son. So I came to the conclusion to that IG now censors some kind of key words that are heath and natural remedies related. But what exactly are those key words? No one knows! That was what pissed me off most of all - they think it is ok to censor people without issuing any kind of statement or list of words or hashtags that are not allowed? So the users are kind of left to stumble in the dark here - and in danger of being ghosted, or worse, if they will use the banned word(s) without even knowing what they are! 
Guess what, IG - I won't take this lying down, and I am in the process of blogging about all-the-things I did or used to heal myself. And if you will try to silence me about it, I will only shout louder! Take that!

Related posts You might be interested in: 

My Natural Arsenal Against Cold & Flu 

my two cents on OreganolP73:

My Top Three Natural Products

Book Corner: Radical Beauty review

by Deepak Chopra and Kimberly Snyder 

Jo Browne Natural Perfumes Review

Walden Natural Perfumes Review

Isun Sacred Aroma Blend Review

The Drink That Keeps Me Well In Winters

Dermatitis be gone!

Pure Anada Review 

2017 Best Natural & Organic Products

2016 Best Natural & Organic Products

So that's all for today, see you here very shortly. Let me know your favourites too, I would love to know!

P.s. Please make my day and subscribe & share this or any of my blog posts on social media - it helps to get the green beauty word out and for that I Thank You!
Follow me on my new blog Greenlifeindublin.com, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube. 

Lots of Love,

Renata.

Disclaimer I: you can't use my content, be it text or pictures, without my permission.

Disclaimer II: this post features some affiliate links and I thank you very much if you will use them - this is at no additional cost to you.