Chamomile & Carrot

Love, love, love my new day cream! I finally ditched my Aveeno face lotion that contains oats. Oats are prone to cross contaminate with wheat, so I am happy to know my daily moisturizer is completely gluten free. Acure is the same brand as the shampoo I recently started using. One squirt is the perfect amount for my whole face and the instant chamomile and carrot aroma brightens my morning. (And you know I'm not a morning person!) This moisturizer is made for normal to dry skin; I use is every morning and think my skin is loving it. My face not dry nor greasy. 

And now, my trouble maker doggie caught in action when she squeezed behind the futon and the wall. She some how managed to get in there but was a little uncertain how to escape out.

Helping my Hair

I found myself starting to type: meet my new best friend, Acure products. Then I thought, why am I giving personification to everything? I must be filling the void of Justin, with inanimate things like Pinterest (as I referred to it yesterday as my friend) and now today my shampoo and conditioner.

Two weeks ago, I said that I found some new GF beauty products that I was pretty excited about. I went to Whole Foods and was actually looking for a daily moisturizer when a worker introduced me to this line. I didn't buy a moisturizer because they were out of the daily cream. I figured I would try some of the other products and if I liked them, I'd get the moisturizer later. 

They were out of matching shampoo and conditioner, but I was actually happy that I bought different kinds. The shampoo is for dry/damaged/curly hair and has an amazing berry scent. The conditioner is for normal to fine/limp hair; it has an invigorating mint smell, so with the two different smells I get to experience a variety of smells while I clean my hair. I also like that I bought the mismatching types because my hair is no longer dry like it used to be, pre-celiac diagnosis. Since I'm actually absorbing minerals, my hair doesn't need all the extra therapy for moisture. It was about a year ago that I first discovered that my gluten beauty products were causing some fat fingers (now for some alliteration.) Since then I've been on the hunt to convert all my products to be GF, but it is not an easy task. If you thought reading food labels was difficult, try looking at beauty products! I've tried a couple different shampoo brands which I was pretty sure were GF from Head & Shoulders (still not 100% if it is GF) to Desert Essence. I even tried 365 which is the brand Whole Foods makes, but it made my hair super greasy. I wasn't overly impressed with any of them. I felt like a teenager, trying to find products that worked for me. My hair had completely changed from dry and damaged to normal. Now I had to find products that were GF and would make my hair healthy and happy.

One thing that caught my eye about Acure is how easy the label is to read. On the front it states the essentials: color safe (for shampoo), vegan, gluten free, sulfate free, paraben free, phthalate free, and cruelty free. These were 10.99 each, but I went back the next week to Whole Foods and they were on sale for 8 bucks so I picked up a few more. I know it seems a bit pricey, but after two weeks of use I totally love everything about this product! 

I also picked up this Argan Oil which is Moroccan oil. I've heard a lot of good things about Moroccan oil and wanted to give it a try.

There are many uses for Argan oil from a body oil, hair serum, to hand repair! But I'll be honest, I haven't used it yet. It is a little intimidating to me, so I'll have to take the plunge and just try it.

It also lists all of its features and GF is one of them!

 I'm thinking of trying the body lotion soon. If you can't find these products at your local store, I noticed on the website that most of the products ship for free! Plus these products are Fair Trade certified.

Get Me Out of This House!

I finally decided to get my hair cut, which was something I've been putting off for months especially after the "hang straight" discovery. All I got was a trim, nothing crazy. I want to grow my hair out and I feel like it takes FOR-EV-ER to grow. I've been wearing my hair curly month after month. Wearing curly hid the bad ends rather well, but I lost an inch of hair today to clean up my split ends. I went to my usual Aveda salon, Avant Garde. I came prepared with what research I had done on the Internet prior to my appointment about wheat containing products. I used this forum discussion, looking at the most recent post. I also checked the products there myself, knowing the ingredients can change at any time. My stylist was really understanding and took time to discuss different options. We decided to shampoo and condition with the "damage remedy" which uses soy and quinoa as the protein. I was going to buy some, but decided to wait to see if I noticed any reactions.

After my appointment I stopped at Whole Foods, since it was across the street. I picked up a few essentials: San-J peanut sauce and Udi's bread. I also looked at the shampoo and conditioners at Whole Foods. After examining the 365 brand, I thought it seemed safe. I asked a worker if she knew if the shampoo/conditioner was GF. She said it's not labeled GF, but she's seen people identify GF on the internet. Two workers and I read the labels and all agreed we didn't see any gluten containing ingredients. I have not tried it yet, but I'll let y'all know what I think about it.

It was so amazing to get out of the house today. I can only image how Iivana feels. You go almost stir crazy and become completely unmotivated. I've been able to successfully avoid my homework. Yay, only one class and the final left of the semester.

This is my crazy dog hiding behind the curtain to entertain herself.

For dinner I used the peanut sauce to make lettuce wraps, but wanted to add a twist from the last time. I diced some water chestnuts to cook with the chicken, used romaine lettuce, and cut up some green onions to garnish with.

I chopped the chicken this time instead of shredding it with a fork, because I was lazy. So the chicken wasn't as small this time, which I think I prefer it shredded. For some reason the chicken mixture was rather watery today. I eventually added a little corn starch to thicken it up before serving it.

The final product consisted of romaine lettuce topped with brown rice, the chicken mixture, and green onions.

To top off the meal, we drank some Texas Hill Country wine that we bought when Julie was visiting.

One last bit of information to share with you all tonight. While looking at the website for Whole Foods I came across this page on Understanding Celiac Disease. It gives a great overview of Celiac Disease, so you should all check it out to become more informed!

It started with a coupon

I'm a crazy coupon lady, with an organizer and all. With my shampoo and conditioner running low, I noticed a coupon for Aveeno in the recent circular.

When at the commissary I noticed something on the front of the bottle, wheat protein. "Hmm," I said to Justin disappointed, "I guess I can't get this stuff." Then I began to question if any of my products at home contained gluten. I had read about it, but honestly for some reason didn't think anything of it since I don't ingest it.

Later that night I began to investigate. I checked out my beloved Aveda Hang Straight (which actually is not made anymore). My bottle is near empty, but I wondered about my favorite straightening product.

Right there: plain easy to read, "wheat" is printed two times.

Then the wheels began to turn and I started to make a connection to events that were happening in January. All through January I would wake up with swollen fingers. I researched it online, of course diagnosing myself, that it was connected to gluten. I began to question everything I was eating. I had extensive conversations with Kristen, having her check my peanut butter and other various products in this book she has. I still couldn't make any good reasonable connections.

So I blamed my favorite tea.

Around the same time my fingers began swelling each morning, Justin and I had started a routine of drinking a cup of tea before bed. I would enjoy this liquorice peppermint tea that I had bought a case of online. My sister Jill introduced it to me pre-celiac diagnosis, because it reminded us of the stuff they serve at Aveda salons. Organic tea was my culprit?

I stopped drinking the tea, but the swelling continued. It was so annoying, because I couldn't fit my wedding ring on in the morning. I had to wait until right before I left and would squeeze it on my finger. I even emailed the company and received a prompt response.

Dear Karen,

Thank you for contacting us.

All of our teas are gluten-free. We have the information on some of our literature, but I know we’re also working to get it up on our website and other material.  The tea is not closed with any glue and our facility only processes tea, so no gluten is present.  We appreciate your patience, and in the meantime, you can rest assured that all of our teas are free of gluten.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Kind regards,

-- 

Katie Bouchard
Customer Service
(206) 525-0051 ext 10 | choice@granum-inc.com

Eek! Tea was not causing my sausage fingers. It was not until this week that I finally discovered the cause. I haven't straightened my hair in a couple months because I badly need a hair cut. My ends are split, but don't look that nasty when I wear my hair curly. My curly products are safe, so I haven't experienced the finger bloating lately. During the January time period I was straightening my hair a lot. I had started taking showers before bed and would load up my hair with Hang Straight.

Everything is so clear. Now I need to find a new GF straightening product. I also need a haircut, but love my Aveda Salon. I'm sure this will make me put it off even longer...because it means reading all the labels before I get shampooed and cut!

But this discovery all started because of a coupon.