Jessica Alba's essential oil chest rub

An essential oil chest rub for allergies or cold season - tried and touted by Jessica Alba in her new book The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You. I am putting this to work this week!

Chest Rub Recipe

Blend a few drops of euchalyptus, ginger, peppermint and tea tree (melaleuca) essential oils with a body oil (ie fractionated cocoonut oil) or balm. Rub on chest back, under nose and on bottoms of the feet.

I love, love, love that someone who has so many resources at her disposal chooses simple home remedies to help heal her children at home!

Honest: A review of Jessica Alba's "The Honest Life"

Trying to do the right thing for your kids is pressure enough. But sometimes you do the best you can.

That's the overriding theme of Jessica Alba's recent book, The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You Being natural shouldn't come at the expense of insanity. It can come in small steps and simple ways.

Unlike a lot of green living books, "The Honest Life" has a very conversational, non-doomsday approach. I appreciate Alba's honesty in the fact that trying to live a green and organic lifestyle can lead a parent to questioning and requestioning whether they are making the right choices for their child. But that decisions can be made in little ways: from choosing hand-me-down clothes or seasonal foods or making your homemade body scrub.

Alba's book is a quick read and a great starter resource for a number of affordable choices for healthy, organic living - from pregnancy and early motherhood to cooking, clothing and home decor. I appreciated that many of these options were achievable for the everyday person who was concerned about natural living without sacrificing your budget in the process.

Checking out Miessence Hair Care (review)

Dry yet frizzy at the ends. Fine and too often limp. That is where my hair has ended up - a mop of hopelessness.


So I was given an offer to try out Miessence's hair products, and I was skeptical. Sure they were made of mostly organic ingredients. Yes, they were green. But could they actually make a difference on my hair?

Surprisingly, YES. After trying out the Desert Flower shampoo and Shine Herbal Hair Conditioners for two weeks, I've seen more of a difference in my hair. It's less dry at the ends. Has a little more life to it. And I don't feel as resigned to throwing my hair back in a ponytail just because it won't do anything else.


The Dessert Flower shampoo is mild enough for daily use or use for babies and children. Ingredients include Yucca juice, organic avocado oil to hydrate damaged ends, and organic herbs to add sheen and body to your hair.

The Shine Herbal Conditioner includes moringa seed oil from Tanzania, organic herbs and organic apple cider vinegar. I loved that it didn't weigh down my hair like so many conditioners do and yet still did its job!

If you're interested in checking out Miessence, they have a great deal this September. Place a single order of $100 or more through Ely Organics (an independent representative of Miessence) and receive a 20% discount on your $100 order, 20% discount on all future purchases and member specials. 

IN Natural Harmony: A new Indy holistic maternity service

IN Natural Harmony, LLC, a new maternity and family service in Carmel, offers holistic services throughout the pregnancy journey and beyond, including doula services, Hypnobabies® and infant massage classes for new and expectant mothers in the Indianapolis area.

Founder Tahwii Porter wants to take some of the overwhelming feeling out of pregnancy, especially for those who are seeking more natural solutions.

"I think pregnancy is such an amazing time in a families life that it should be held as sacred and celebrated... I don't think it has to be a chaotic overwhelming time," says Tahwii, who opened the Indianapolis company in July. "Therefore all my services are holistic, natural, and have green approaches whenever possible.

IN Natural Harmony offers a network of classes and Indianapolis and online services that offer a greener, more natural approach to pregnancy and early motherhood.

"I have always very much been interested in working with expectant mothers using natural and holistic approaches whenever possible," Tahwii says. "I look at In Natural Harmony, LLC as the foundation of what will come in the future as I pursue schooling to eventually obtain a Ph.D. in Natural Medicine. With these credentials I hope to have natural practice working with primarily expectant mothers and being able to expand my scope of practice within In Natural Harmony, LLC. 

"I have truly never been more excited, exhausted, and happy in my life. I feel as though I'm living my life's true purpose."

Find IN Natural Harmony online at INNaturalHarmony.com, on Facebook and Twitter.

Natural bug repellents that work

Natural insect repellents have come a long way from the cheap, smelling good but working poorly options of a few years back. In fact, my husband who once groaned that I bought "yet another bottle of crap that doesn't work" is now grabbing my greener options over the bottle of Off.

As the summer has finally started to cool, I've had the opportunity to get outside more, enjoying hiking trips and taking a few greener bug repellent options out for a try. They range from the homemade to off the shelf to household products. Here are just a few:

Buy it and be done:

I'll admit it. I'm the first to stop and help a vendor at the farmers market who's selling a homemade bug repellent blend. But for those needing to shop online here are a few options:

Buzz Free: Miessence's Buzz Free is a certified organic herbal extract and essential oil blend spray. It's light enough that I didn't feel sticky afterward, and works well enough that I didn't get the usual chiggers and bug bites from the early-evening soccer practices. I do appreciate that the ingredients in Miessence's body products are Australian Certified Organic and are low risk for cancer as well, according to the Environmental Working Group.

Terrashield: doTERRA TerraShield essential oil blend is the strangest of concepts. I didn't believe that you could only put a few drops on your body for insect repellent. But I took it for a test drive in an afternoon hike through the woods of Monroe State Forest and came out unscathed.

Vanilla Extract: Not the imitation vanilla, the real deal. Splurge on vanilla extract and dab it on you to deter bugs.

Make your own:

Most homemade insect repellent blends involve a blend of various essential oils (typically eucalyptus, peppermint or lavender are in the mix), with water, witch hazel or apple cider vinegar as a base.

Here are a few links for recipes using essential oils or other kitchen ingredients:
Homemade insect repellent from the Daily Green
How to make bug spray from fresh or dried herbs
Natural flea remedies
Five-ingredient blend of eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary and tea tree oils with witch hazel

Need to order small glass spray bottles? Here is a resource.

What are your favorite options or recipes for natural insect repellents?

Disclosure: This post includes an affiliate link for essential oils. Additionally, I did receive a sample of Buzz Free from Ely Organics, a Miessence independent representative.