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This past trip to the Philippines, a couple of friends & I spent one week in a small fishing province by the name of Pandan. It was no Boracay, but that's precisely what I adored about it. It was a humbling experience to say the least, not to mention the lovely, loving company I was privileged to be with.

 We bought fresh, unprocessed, untreated produce from the local market tended by the most helpful, amiable natives, & prepared them in sublime raw arrangements, pairing each meal with coconuts gathered from trees just steps away for juice. It was eye-opening, mind-opening, heart-opening, & it led me to become deeply aware of the true beauty of nature in its rawest form. Conversations I sat witness to danced circles around topics to do with taste, energy, & love. Like how the chemical &/or emotional treatment put into food must somehow reflect in the person that consumes it - from a pesticide-covered fruit to a violently slaughtered pig. The phrase 'you are what you eat' certainly rings true; we will feel as fresh & positive as the foods we consume. Or how we have become so accustomed to such unnecessarily, overly rich tasting foods - from heavily salted french fries to MSG-enhanced stir-fries. If we become more aware whilst eating, chewing, tasting, we can begin to taste the natural flavors each food produces on its own without the addition of excessive enhancers.

 To be entirely honest, I was half-expecting myself to come back to Los Angeles & just go back to my old pre-packaged, fast food diet. Surpisingly, much to my penchant, not even with much thought, I seem to have naturally evolved my eating habits so they somewhat emulate the meals & juices I was treated to in both Pandan & Manila by my friends (plug: see my juice journal here). Since then, not only have I become more conscious of what I put in my body, but also on my body. Food & beverages are put directly into your body; lotions, soaps, perfumes, & shampoos are soaked into your skin & scalp; toothpaste & floss enter your body through your mouth. One would like to believe that the big corporations have your best health at interest, but they don't. All they are interested in is making money for their own material benefit.

What really inspired me to write this post is my joining Etsy a couple weeks ago, & chancing upon an incredible abundance of natural, organic, handmade, & lovemade products. In particular, a replacement for my regular Colgate toothpaste in the form of Peppermint Himalayan Toothpowder by a shop called Goddess Naturals. This simple combination of xylitol, Himalayan salt, baking soda, & peppermint essential oil has gotten my teeth cleaner than they have ever, ever been. My teeth are literally squeaky clean after just thirty seconds brushing with the powder, as opposed to having to brush with regular pastes for at least three minutes, & it's completely natural. Xylitol not only prevents cavities but also treats existing ones &, teamed with Himalayan salt, strengthens teeth with a very wide array of nourishing minerals. As well as this toothpowder, Etsy has introduced me to endless listings of gorgeous, organic soaps, lotions, lipbalms, hair products, perfumes, deodorants, & hand sanitizers, among plenty other treasures.

Last semester in English class, my professor led us on a journey through food literature, & included in our syllabus was Michael Pollan's Food Rules. A lot of useful, witty little tips are packed into this tiny book, but one I will leave you with & you should apply to both food & body products is:

"Don't eat [or use on yourself] anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce."

we are stardust

we are golden

& we got to get ourselves back to the garden