attachment parenting

I am a fan of attachment parenting and I've practiced it even before I got to know its principles and philosophy.

Recently I found interested article describing the term "shutdown sindrome" on Dr. Sears' website. I'm glad that I don't give a shit to comments about spoiling the baby.

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launch of Firefox 3.5 (30.6.)

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leaders who are not

A very good HBR article on the worst leaders (or what leaders shouldn't be): Ten Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders

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make your own shampoo #2

My recent home made shampoo is the following:

- white Ghassoul clay
- neem powder
- peach kernel oil
- almond oil
- coconut oil
- distilled rose water
- ylang ylang essential oil
- chamomille essential oil
- lavender essential oil

I mixed the ingredients together and made a paste which I massaged into scalp and left it on hair for 10 minutes. Then I rinsed it with aritha (soapnuts) brew and nettle infusion.

It feels quite strange, washing hair without any lather, but yet very cleansing. After washing, hair looks great with nice volume and shine. It doesn't feel silky (that I miss) yet very easy to handle and form. What is important is the right proportion of ingredients. Last time I didn't use enough coconut oil (which acts as conditioner) so my hair was too dry (but I could condition it with oil additionally and then rinse it again). But it's not hard to try and figure out the right combination - it's worth it, having my own tailor made shampoo. And I can leave my hair with it for a week or more!

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cosmetic updates #2

Further report on Essential Care: Aloe Vera Body Wash is great. Extremely gentle, nice silky texture, fragrance free allows to add my favorite essential oils (so I prefer it to their other body washes). Chamomille for my baby, Lemongrass for my man, Ylang Ylang for me, a few drops of Patchouli for both ... here we go enjoying bath and shower.

Same way can be used Akamuti's fragrance free soap (Organic Liquid Castille Soap) but I miss aloe vera and the texture is rather oily than silky. Great for hands and hair.

Akamuti: I find their face care products the best ever.

- Rose face cream (Replenishing Face Cream) (now I know why bestseller). This is the first cream ever that doesn't give a feeling of my face being packed into plastic-named-cream or some face fluid feeling like a sticky water. This cream doesn't give a feeling like I put some strange substance on my skin. It feels like a natural part of it. It doesn't spoil the skin's natural activity. And it works great on pores. A mixture of pure cold-pressed and essential oils only with beeswax base obviously does the best job! Works on eye area as well, no need for special eye cream.
- Orange cream cleanser (Sweet Orange Cleansing Cream). A gentle and purifying oil mixture with beeswax base. Efficient, smells delicious, easy to apply, easy to remove.
- Rose and orange (neroli) facial toner (Organic Facial Mist). Not an alcohol kind of toner, just pure flower distillates. Doesn't irritate eyes and nose. Refreshing, soothing, purifying ... I couldn't wish anything else.

Each of these three products is superb and together they make a perfect combination.

Next time I will post a report on my new home made shampoo.

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blogging. the next generation.

Blogging is far from being dead. Although I posted some time ago that it's out. With a smile :) Well it's not, it has just introduced in next generation. No more personal reflections or "dear diary" kind of blogging with irrelevant content that matters to blogger her/himself only. I've never liked this kind of blogs. Although my blog is personal I always have in mind to post information that could be useful to readers in their everyday lives. But blogging has come much further from sharing our lives and exchanging our ideas and experience. Blogging is about business communities, new journalism, social networking and interactive PR. Blogs are where new businesses arise, new ideas grow, new groups form, new thinkers develop, new events happen. Blogs connect to each other and they connect with social networks to join their powers.

Since my blog is personal and I have other things to write than about what I like and how I live, I am developing my professional blog as well. I will let you know when I publish it. Until then, follow me on Twitter for my thoughts or read me as a guest "thinker" on Infa's thinking page.

Recent eMarketer Report on Blogging

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what's wrong with what we eat

Food production as we know it today requires huge amounts of water in the whole production chain.

1 l of milk requires 1000 l of water.
1 kg of poultry requires 5000 l of water.
For 1 kg of pork 10000 l water.
For 1 kg beef 20000 l water.
For comparison, production of average car requires 150000 l water.
1 kg vegetable is loaded with 200 l water and 1kg fruit with 700 l water.



I borrowed and translated the following words from the respected Slovene ecologist Anton Komat: Global nutritional system is collapsing. ... We have to move the energy base of civilization back to the sun and reestablish the local food production with minimal costs.

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eco nappies

I decided to use washable nappies instead of disposable even before my baby was born. The decision was easy due to the following facts about disposable nappies:
- they contribute a substantial share of world's non degradable waste
- they contain chemicals (harmful of course) to make baby feel dry
- the expenses are high, in thousands of euros

So there came the harder job - choosing the nappies. The offer is varied and available online. So I had to define the criteria otherwise I would be lost in the market. I decided the following:

- I want organic cotton or bamboo nappies for better comfort and health
- nappies should be one sized so I won't have to buy new size when baby grows (one-sized nappies are better value for money as well)
- for better convenience I chose "all in one" nappies - without separate nappy cover and with attached soakers (so you don't need to put the nappy together before use)

After reviewing the offer I chose the following for testing:
- ItiitBitti All in One (they're not one-sized but I tested them anyway)
- TotsBots Easyfit
- bumGenius all in one organic cotton
- Pop-in nappy by Close parent

I decided for TotsBots which are far the best due to the features:

- best fit (baby doesn't look as the bottom is the center of his body :)) and shape, it looks as thin as disposable nappy
- best material - very soft bamboo inner material
- fast drying (soaker can be pulled out when drying).

IttiBitti are to thick and they are not one sized. bumGenius are nearly as thin as TotsBots (but not so thin since organic cotton is thicker) but the organic cotton needs too much time for drying. And they are not shaped as good as TotsBots (less trimmed I suppose). Pop-in are very thick, not shaped very well and slow drying. And the soaker material is not soft at all.

Now we enjoy with TotsBots. They are also great for mum to use, very easy to fold and fasten on playful baby. And they have very nice design. We have some white and some colored nappies so that can be washed with either white or color laundry. To be honest, if I wanted to choose even more completely organic nappies, I would buy unbleached bamboo TotsBots with separate nappy covers. But this was a kind of compromise. I tried the disposables as well (Moltex and Bambo, both eco certified). Unfortunatelly the first month my baby was to small for any cloth nappy to fit him. What bothered me the most was that enormous amount of waste. And buying them all the time. Now I use them sometimes when going out (to a doctor or somewhere where there isn't the right time and place to handle the dirty washables).

There are many online shops with washable nappies so I only refer here to those where I bought them: www.softbots.co.uk, www.babipur.co.uk and stoffwindelcompany.de. Or just google the "washable nappies" or "eco nappies" and you'll find many offers. In Slovenia, washable nappies are available in online eco shops (e.g. Ekolife), in online baby shop Soncek and by nappy vendors Racman and Storklja (both online as well).

Critics say that washable nappies contribute to higher energy and water consumption due to washing and drying. I wash them with other laundry and I bought enough nappies so I only have to wash them once or twice a week. I don't use laundry dryer. And I use soap nuts instead of any harsh washing powders. The only disadvantage I see is a little more of a "dirty job". But it's worth it.

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cosmetic updates

I found out that Akamuti's cream moisturizers and balms are just great (up to now I was only eager to use their butters). Recently I'm especially beeing amazed with Tangerine Twist Foot Smoothie although I've thought so far that Shea Cocoa Mint Foot Butter is the best foot product ever. And I am extremely enjoying their delicious Buttered Rose & Almond hand cream.

I tested wide range of Essential Care products and it's definitely my top choice for hair and body wash. I like their purity (they characterize as "purists in skincare") and the high Soil Association standard. More info will follow.

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make your own shampoo

Yes, I make one. It's not a simple one considering ingredient list, but it's simple to make it.

You need:
- herbal powders
- floral/herbal distillates (optional)
- essential oils
- cold pressed oils

This is it. What makes it hard is to choose and combine the right ingredients in the most efficient amounts for your own hair and scalp. I am still trying out the best formula.

My recipe for dandruff and itchy scalp:
- aritha (soapnut) powder
- amla and neem powder
- tea tree distillate
- olive, coconut and avocado oil as base oils
- essential oils: bay leaf, tea tree, ylang ylang, peppermint, eucalyptus and lavender
- neem, manuka and myrrh oil as additional oils
- himalayan salt (or natural unbleached sea salt)
- warm water

Mixed together in a soft, thick liquid, it's great for shampooing.

Here is another recipe I will try for long, normal hair:
- aritha, shikakai and neem powder
- olive and coconut oil (maybe I will use the mix of saponified olive and coconut oils offered by Akamuti), red palm oil, peach kernel and macadamia oil
- essential oils: ylang ylang, sweet orange, rosemary, lavender and chamomille
- nettle extract (made by my own)
- himalayan salt
- warm water

I'll report how it feels.

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