Cleaning Fruits and Vegetables Naturally

Before you take that first bite on that apple, before you open up that banana served on your table, before you peel those lovely oranges straight from the market, before slicing those tomatoes for your salad, washing them is a must.

Just like washing your hands before eating, it is essential that we wash our fruits and vegetables before we serve and eat. It doesn't matter whether they come from the public markets, the supermarkets, your neighborhood green grocer or straight from your backyard garden, clean food saves a lot of headaches. For starters, there's dirt settling on them while being transported and you can't be too sure if the containers or the people who handled your fruits and veggies have sterile hands. Those alone can be a cause of concern. Add up the fertilizers, pesticides and chemicals to hasten ripening like kalburo, they will end up in your bodies instead with water in the drain of your sink.

Patchouli in the Philippines

Here's an herb that is native in Southeast Asia, and also here in the Philippines. Locally known as "Kabling," this plant has been utilized since time immemorial as relief from arthritis and rheumatism when leaves are pounded and applied to the afflicted area. It is also used as diuretic for scanty urination when leaves are boiled in water and drank as tea.

Natural Liquid Soap Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to the winners of our first Natural Liquid Soap Giveaway! As per the survey in our Facebook Fan page, the winners will receive (1) 250mL bottle of Peppermint Liquid Castile Soap. And instead of just giving away 2 bottles, we've decided to giveaway 3 bottles! Join us in congratulating the 3 winners.

Castile Soap or Old Fashioned Soap?

The world is full of choices. Every move you make involves choices. With water you drink, choose from hot or cold, bottled or not, imported or local, bubbly or just plain! With coffee, there's an equally wide range of choices, and so does everything else. This time, we tell you about Casa de Lorenzo Natural Liquid Soaps so you know what you're having when you get a bottle.

Natural Liquid Soap Giveaway

Casa de Lorenzo is giving away a few bottles of Natural Liquid Soaps on Facebook! Enjoy the benefits of using soaps made from Olive Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil, scented by essential oils. Get the best of nature, for FREE!

To join, just go to Facebook.com/TheCasadeLorenzo and like the page. Look for the promo poster on the timeline, comment on the post and share the poster on your timeline. A raffle will determine the winner on Friday, September 21, 2012. We're giving away (2) 250mL bottles of Casa de Lorenzo Natural Liquid Soaps worth P350 pesos.

The more people joining, the more bottles of soap we'd be giving away so visit our Facebook page today. You can choose what to win. Select from our Castile Soap or Old Fashioned Soap, Lavender or Peppermint.

Castile Soap in the Philippines

Ask Filipinos about Castile Soap, chances are that might the first time they've heard of it. The most luxurious and the most famous soap in the world remains virtually unknown even up to now in the Philippines. History, unfortunately, does not reveal much why. We can always speculate but one thing is sure, soaps such as Castile are quite rare and apparently expensive in the past. Their supply is limited only to the upper-class Spaniards and Filipinos.

Are You Using Natural Soap?

Bubbles, a shower and water, a well lit bathroom and an attractive model taking a shower. These are the elements of a typical ad you'd see for a cleansing beauty product. It makes you curious to try out. It makes you have that "what if" in mind and when you see it on the supermarket stalls, a box or two goes in the cart. Have you made the right choice? So it seems. All your senses say you got it right. But is it natural?

Essential Oils for the Rainy Days

Its the typhoon and rainy season again in the country. The Philippines being in the tropical part of the world, we experience a lot of rainfall per year. With the rains come plenty of things that can threaten our health and those of our loved ones. But a lot of these can be helped and managed by essential oils. Here's a list of stuff you might encounter during the monsoon season and how you can use of essential oils as home remedies on such situations. One big reminder though, most essential oils are not recommended to pregnant and babies under 3 months old so avoid using it on them. Also, these home remedies are only effective if what you are using are real essential oils.

Keep Bugs Away with Essential Oils

Its no secret that essential oils have the capability of keeping insects and other undesirable pests away. All essential oils does, to a certain extent, but some are more effective than others. Right now, during the rainy season in the Philippines, the rise of insect-borne diseases like dengue is on the rise. One may opt to use kerosene based insecticides, they are effective, no doubt about that. But research has proven that these insecticides are poisonous and destructive also to pets, humans and the environment.

Nature has its own arsenal,  and when used correctly, these effectively control if not eliminate the threats. It is therefore important to know what essential oils can protect you naturally from becoming victims these pests. Prevention is better than cure, right? Although nature also has provided us with cure for almost any type of sickness or ailment, it is still best not to get sick especially from bug bite. Here's a list of known natural bug fighters.

Using Lavender Essential Oil

Lavender is one of the most well-known and the most consumed essential oil in the world. Found almost in all bath and body products, the scent is very familiar. Although Lavender is not cultivated locally in the Philippines, Lavender essential oils are still available in the country. One has to be careful though, where to buy because many still don't know the difference between essential oils and fragrance oils as only real essential oils have healing properties. Lavender is extremely useful because of its antiseptic, antidepressant, and other properties that help the human body. It is generally safe and has no restrictions in usage, thus every home should keep a bottle of Lavender essential oil. Here are some of the ways you can use Lavender Essential Oil. Please note that these recommendations are tried and tested home remedies, but consulting a health professional is advised especially in severe and special cases.