Redhead

My father: flame-haired bicycling stone-sculptor.

I've always wanted red hair. Maybe because Dad is a redhead, or maybe just because it's the brightest and most beautiful color where hair is concerned. As kids, my sisters and I all envied Dad's cascading fiery locks. Sometimes we'd play a game: "If you could change one thing about how you looked..." Desire for red hair usually topped the list. Throughout my life, I have been drawn to people--- fictional, historical, etc.---with this lucky attribute. The relative rarity of red hair (between 1% and 2% of the world's population display the trait) may add to its allure, but in the end it's simply the most beautiful color. I mean, I know "beautiful" is a sticky term and subjective blah blah blah, but really, who can argue that red is the most vivid natural hue seen on the human head? Who doesn't look twice when someone with an actual carrot-top goes by?

Dear Aunt Jan & baby Rhiannon

A host of stereotypes exists concerning the temperament and characteristics of redheads, with varying degrees of truth: "fiery temper", "crazy", "great in bed", "Irish", "not to be trusted", etc. Biologically, there are certain differences for those with red hair. One study found that they resist anesthesia, and require an extra 20% more than other folks during medical procedures. There is also a greater risk of deafness (from extended exposure to loud noise), as well as the commonly recognized susceptibility to sunburn.

Throughout history and across cultures, redheads have put up with a good deal of discrimination. In ancient Egypt, it is said that red-headed women were thought to be unlucky and were often burned at the stake. Greek mythology has them turning into vampires when they die.Aristotle believed that redheads were emotionally primitive. One Medieval recipe for poison included the "fat of a red-headed man." Spanish inquisitors believed red hair was a sign that its owner had stolen the fire of hell and must be burned at the stake as a witch. Hitler apparently had it out for gingers as well, banning the marriage of two redheads for fear they'd produce "deviant" offspring. Go figure.

Famous redheads: King Arthur, Queen Elizabeth I, Vincent Van Gogh, and Marilyn Monroe.

In spite of all this, history is peppered (cayenne peppered? Lol) with great and famous (sometimes infamous) redheads: King Arthur, Cleopatra (apparently escaped being burned at the stake), Judas Iscariot, Genghis Khan, Christopher Columbus, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Galileo Galilei, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, and Marilyn Monroe among them. In addition, there are many fictional red-haired characters in books and movies that I have loved since childhood, and the list continues to grow. In fact, it's too long for this post, so I will only mention a few here.

Tintin, Pippi Longstocking, Jessica Rabbit, and Rose DeWitt Bukater.

If you love Tintin as much as I do, then you'll know why he must be saluted first. Dad bought us all the Adventures of Tintin when we were kids; several of my sisters learned to read in them. I distinctly remember helping Annwn make her way through The Black Island. Those are good memories of being a big sister. Tintin was adventure to us. We read those books countless times. Everything about Hergé's series of books is perfect--- from the plot lines to the beautiful drawings. And Tintin's red topknot: simply iconic. Next, how about Pippi Longstocking? She was a big hit in our household. Rhiannon even had a character she occasionally played who sported two braids with wire in them to stand out like Pippi's--- the aspirational tomboy spitfire girl. Then there's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which had a cult following in our family. Again, Rhiannon was the one most obsessed with this film, and so the rest of us were by default. Rhiannon had a stuffed Roger, and hand-sewed a Jessica to accompany him. We even went so far as to build "Toontown" out of crates down on the strip. Jessica Rabbit was the epitome of *gorgeous* to us little snots. And all the more because of her red hair. Another movie character I must add, although some may sneer, is Rose from the much-loved and much-loathed 1997 Titanic. Yes, I liked that film. I still do. Rose's red hair is icing on the cake.

Petronella, The Book of Three, Anne of Green Gables, and The Hero and the Crown.

There was a book called Petronella that I loved as a child. I can scarcely remember the story, but boy do I remember that red hair! The heroine's tresses form a magical puffball of red-gold that is creatively and intricately depicted in the illustrations. I wish I could find a copy to look at once again. Some of our very most favorite books as kids were those of the "High King" series by Lloyd Alexander. I almost wish I had kids just so I could read them these books. If you have not taken part, you are missing out! The main girl character is named Eilonwy, and, you guessed it, she has red hair. It doesn't look like it on the cover of the book shown here, but trust me. Her hair is red. I included Anne of Green Gables more because I owned a very special hardcover copy of that book than because of any great fandom for it as a piece of literature. In fact, the book sort of got my goat. But the illustrations in this version, which was a gift from Dad, were absolutely beautiful. And her hair in these drawings? To die for. The final character I'll mention is Aerin from Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown. That book (part of a two book series including The Blue Sword) was also a powerful influence on our five-girl posse, and was read aloud by Mom more than twice. It had us all drawing dragons with tiny, tiny scales for months afterward. Those stories were so nail-bitingly awesome when I was a kid; I wonder how they would seem now? I clearly remember being saddened by how Aerin's hair grows back a darker, less brilliant red after she fights the dragon. Why did McKinley have to do that?

1000 Oceans.

Natural Body Care

Beauty mud bath circa 1985 (?)

When I was a kid growing up in the woods, my parents never bought many "products." Imagine a household of five girls--- and yet nary a moisturizer or spritz or hairspray to be seen in the bathroom cabinet. Actually, nary a bathroom was to be seen, since we had an outhouse. In any case, it wasn't until college that I started to learn about the wide world of products... and how desperately I needed them in spite of never having missed things like "Jergens" before. I remember one of my first roommates laughing at me because neither I nor my mom knew what 409 was; the first of many such experiences. Being rather self-conscious, I was susceptible to the opinions of roommates and decided to hop on the product train. I lusted after designer perfumes and magic lotions of all sorts. Unfortunately, it wasn't until just a couple years ago that I finally started to remember why we hadn't used these things back home in the woods........ because they are toxic. 

Reasons to chuck the "products"!

Just peruse the label of an average shampoo or toothpaste or perfume bottle, and see how many ingredients you can recognize. Well, I certainly need a chemistry class or ten to comprehend much of that! So, do I really want to slather it all over my body? After all, skin is the body's larges organ. It is permeable. We communicate constantly with the physical world through this organ. I don't know why it took so long for me to realize this, but I now feel quite strongly about not using body products that I couldn't also ingest.  Now let me say here that I'm definitely not as thorough about this rule as I sound... I'm still hoping (in vain!) that products prescribed by the dermatologist will eventually clear up my acne. But one by one I continue to banish this or that store-bought item from my regimen and replace it with a homemade concoction. Following are a few I've discovered/invented/heard about/experimented with. It's an evolving process, one of trial and error. You've got to enjoy the mad-scientist-mixing-things-up experience because there are messes and failures involved, for sure!

First, a shameless product placement. My mom always used Dr. Bronner's castile soap for everything, and recently (spurred on by nostalgia and a desire to consolidate products) I've been recreating this part of my childhood. Wow, the smell brings me back! And it is a lovely smell. With very few ingredients and almost all of them organic, this stuff really is "all-in-one." I use it in the bath, on my face, as shampoo, as shaving cream for legs and armpits (gone are the awful pressurized shaving cream bottles; Myer even uses Dr. Bronner's for shaving his face), for hand-washing clothes, as dish soap, for rinsing food, and of course as general hand soap. How great is it to replace so many different bottles with just one? Pretty great, in my opinion. Also you simply can't beat the electrifying tingle of fresh mint oil on your skin. It comes in many scents, and I enjoy the lavender, but peppermint is definitely my standard. Seriously guys. Don't miss out.

Bath & Body
There are many natural body cleaners one can come up with based on just a few ingredients. For shampoo, baking soda works great on its own. Just sprinkle it on your head and lather away. Various body scrubs can be made using either salt or sugar plus some sort of oil. I like crystallized raw honey with lavender oil, or chunky sea salt with coconut oil. My favorite go-to body moisturizer is virgin coconut oil ($5.99/pint at Trader Joe's), but I also like to mix things up. I recently did a combination of coconut oil, beeswax, and cocoa butter that is absolutely exquisite! It smells like heaven and feels pretty dang sexy going on. I've also experimented with different types of body scrubs. One I'm LOVING is a scar-fading, anti-cellulite body scrub that I made with finely-ground fresh dark roast coffee beans, natural cane sugar, and castor oil. You could use any noncomedogenic oil, like jojoba; I had castor on hand. The scent is fantastic, and after you rub it into your skin and oil is absorbed, you can easily rinse the sugar and coffee off in the shower. Seriously luxurious. I swear it helps with stretch marks.

Coconut oil + beeswax + cocoa butter for moisturizing the body.

Coffee + sugar + castor oil cellulite-reducing, scar-fading body scrub.

  Facial Care

I've experimented with a plethora of cleansing facial masks. Some of my favorite combinations so far: clay (I like French green or Aztec) with baking soda, clay with activated charcoal, clay with apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil, and clay with raw honey and coconut oil. Just smear it all over your visage and let it dry for 45 minutes or so, then wash. I am always tempted to pick rather than wash, but this is kind of hard on the skin. A good way to follow the facial mask is by toning and moisturizing. I like to use apple cider vinegar (get unpasteurized) or rose water as toner, and both work well. If you have tender skin, ACV might sting--- but it helps eliminate bad bacteria and also has an alkalizing effect, which is usually helpful. For facial moisturizer, I enjoy either coconut oil or argan oil. Both sink deeply into the skin rather than just making a greasy slick on top. To moisturize lips, I swear by lanolin. I've never used anything else. Some might not like the smell, as it is rather "sheepish" (haha) but I actually enjoy the natural scent. It soaks in deep and stays on for hours. 

Toothpaste, Deodorant, Feminine Care 

Botanical illustration of coconut plant

Two additional products one can replace with homemade versions are toothpaste and deodorant. Plain baking soda works just fine as tooth cleanser, but you can get fancy with other ingredients if you want. Activated charcoal + baking soda + coconut oil + peppermint essential oil makes is a lovely recipe that gives you a legitimate paste rather than a powder. Deodorant is often extremely toxic as purchased in-store, so it's very important to chuck that stuff and make your own. Actually, Myer and I don't really use anything these days; if your diet is clean, you don't stink much! But there are fabulous versions you can mix up yourself if need be. Finally, for the ladies, I think it's worth mentioning "feminine care" in this post. The products provided to us for this need are so wasteful and often toxic--- it's sad how long it took me to find the right alternative. My mom used to make and wash her own, but I'm too lazy for that! However, natural sea sponges are a wonderful in-between answer. They are super easy to use and completely safe for you and the environment. I was enlightened! Tip: put a drop of tea tree oil on it before using. It helps with scent and to keep bad bacteria away.

Scents

I have a large collection of essential oils that I use in various ways. Mostly I put them on straight out of the bottle as natural perfume. I wear different ones according to my mood and the physical state of my body. If I'm feeling sluggish or weighty, frankincense, tea tree, pine, peppermint, citrus, eucalyptus, or myrrh are all uplifting/invigorating. For particularly stressful days, lavender, rose, jasmine or neroli help to relax me. When I'm extra energetic, I like something musky such as patchouli, amber, sandalwood, or vanilla. My favorite brand is Wyndmere, partially because the quality is very fine, and partly because they come in the most gorgeous little cobalt glass bottles. Besides perfume, these oils are also wonderful in candles, as aromatherapy, in other bath products, and just to sniff now and then. Rose is probably my all-time favorite; surprise surprise.