Now that we’ve discovered New Zealand cold pressed hemp seed oil, it’s been great to start using it in some different ways. We first made the hemp skin bar (our solid moisturiser) back in April (which is proving fantastic for dry winter skin), and this month we’re excited to bring you the result of our further experiments – the luscious and protective Hemp Lip Balm.
Protect your lips from the harsh NZ winter air
Lips are naturally prone to weather and drying because their skin is thin and this is especially true in winter. They also don’t have sweat glands, which means they don’t have their own protective layer of body oil. Hemp oil has fantastic protective properties because of its potent compounds, which include fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants. In my April blog I spoke about its ability to moisturise without clogging pores, along with its anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and cell regeneration properties.
The lip balm is a similar formula to the skin bar, but this one has even more hemp goodness with over 40% hemp oil. The beautifully aromatic local beeswax makes it fairly firm, so this one is delivered in a cardboard tube which makes for easy application. Hemp oil does the moisturising and conditioning, the shea butter adds a thick creaminess and the beeswax acts as a natural barrier to seal all that goodness in.
Lip balm addiction is real! Here’s how you can avoid it:
Has anyone else noticed that lip balm can be addictive? You start using one and then all of a sudden, you’re in the position where you have to apply it every couple of hours for the rest of your life! Well, there are reasons for that, and it isn’t just habit. Most lip balms contain some kind of preservative or flavour or colour, which can actually irritate your lips. So, you put on your balm and the moisturising ingredients soothe them. But at the same time, you’re applying more irritants, so the cycle of dryness and application begins.
Which brings me to one of the best features of the Hemp Lip Balm – it is not addictive. It has no colour, flavour or preservative - only beneficial, moisturising, healing ingredients. It doesn’t have anything in it which will dry or irritate your lips and therefore make it addictive. Use it when you need it, but don’t panic if you leave the house without it – you’re not going to get that irritated, dry, tight feeling an hour or so after you’ve applied it.
There’s more benefits to our lip balm than just protection:
I’ve covered the obvious benefits of lip balms already, but there are a couple more. If you’re a lipstick wearer, use a little of the hemp balm as a primer. You’ll get a much smoother finish. And put a little on before bed as an overnight mask to wake up with rejuvenated lips.
And don't forget Plastic Free July!
At the risk of repeating myself, I have to mention that this month is Plastic Free July. I am mindful though, of the fact that my mother told me that she didn’t read the whole of last months’ blog because she feels like she has had enough of people banging on about plastic use! To be fair, there isn’t much to teach her anyway - she is an original recycler and re-user. Raising a family on a fairly isolated high country sheep station with limited access to shopping meant that excess consumption wasn’t really an option and most things were re-used or repurposed. She has been re-using bread bags since I can remember and before that the bread didn’t come in bags!
So, I’m making a list. I’m leaving out the super obvious (like remembering your shopping bags and keeping a go cup in your car).
1. Wear wool
It’s better for you and the planet, often performs better than synthetics (keeps you warmer/cooler), its purchase supports our local producers and its biodegradable. I always wear my Allbirds when I go boating because it doesn’t matter at all if my feet get wet – the shoes are made of wool, so my feet stay warm anyway.
I have a really early memory of an urban family joining ours for a four-wheel drive trip from the back of our farm through to St Bathans one year. It was clearly cold because I have a profound memory of my mother muttering about ‘hopeless synthetic jerseys’ and systematically removing them from the shivering town kids and replacing them with thick hand knitted woollen ones from our bags. Obviously, I was indoctrinated early into the benefits of wool! The Christchurch micro plastics study found that most of the plastic fibres floating around in the air were from synthetic clothing and fabrics.
2. Tell businesses when you don’t like what they’re doing. And don’t support them if they won’t address it.
I have a particular one in mind here, I want to shop online with them but I am so frustrated by the fact that my socks turn up with each pair in a plastic bag, inside a plastic bag, inside a plastic mail bag. And when I told them this wasn’t good enough, they said it was because their distribution facility wasn’t that clean. Sort out your distribution facility!
3. Reject consumerism, shop local, shop second hand
Stop buying things you don’t need - shopping is not a hobby. And for those things you do need, try and buy them from your local producers. They’ll appreciate your support; your purchases will have minimal carbon miles and if it’s food it will be fresher. And, of course, choose unpackaged products. Make use of second hand and recycling centres. I understand that you probably don’t want to buy all your clothes second hand, but I recently needed jeans to wear in my soap workshop in the winter so I cruised along to Wastebusters in Wanaka and got three pairs of hardly worn jeans for $15! Win, win.
4. Think circular
For example, all of us have some amount of food scraps and waste – if they go to your chickens though, they’re certainly not going to waste, they’ll get turned into eggs. That’s a circular system. Chuck the chicken poo in your compost for happy soil in your gardens. And you definitely should get chickens for their entertainment value, they’re hilarious creatures.
5. Try not to recycle
What, you say? But yes, I’m discouraging recycling because in many cases it is barely an improvement on putting something straight in the landfill bin (or quite likely it’s going to end up there anyway). Try to avoid packaging which must be recycled, or at least re-use it instead.
Ok, that’s it. No more preaching about plastic (for now!)