Since moving back to the states last week, we have settled in to our rental home, and I finally had the time to take a bath. So, I made my bath, which included medium hot water (I don't like it too hot), Miracle II Moisturizing Soap for bubbles (non-toxic), epsom salts for my body aches and for magnesium absorption, and sodium bentonite clay powder to help with a detox.
Then, I washed my makeup off my face and made a bentonite clay mask. In the past, when I lived in the Panama tropics, with 95% humidity every day, I used French green clay, as that helps oily skin, but bentonite clay I think is better (personally) for the dry skin here in Colorado.
It is super simple to do. Just add water to the clay and mix up, then put in your face!
Some people say that sodium bentonite has better detoxifying properties than calcium bentonite. I don't know the correct answer but I recommend both types.. if all you can get is calcium bentonite, then use that. Some people use one for external and one type for internal use. I stick with other clays for internal use.
This clay shrinks pores, tightens and tones your skin, and removes impurities. You can tell a difference after a single use. I did add 1/4 cup of it into my bath because it also detoxes your body. Some people use it as a foot soak. There was an experiment that someone did before, using clay water to soak their feet in, and then using that water afterward to water one of two plants. Then, they used regular clay water (that had not been used as a foot soak) to water the other of the two plants. The one with the used clay water died, while the other plant thrived. All other controls were the same (same plant, same amount of the water, etc).
Because I am a huge proponent of detoxing, and selling my detox foot pads, I really recommend multiple ways to detox. My foot pads are not the only way, but a great product to use with other complementary detox methods.
The way that the clay works is that it is negatively charged (electromagnetic) and if you remember from high school chemistry class, when an ion is positively charged it searches for an electron to neutralize it (very basic description). Free radicals and other toxic matter are positively charged. So the clay, in this case, attracts those toxins and free radicals and binds them. This is how it works on your skin, in the bath and even when you take it internally (I don't take this specific product internally).
I have also used bentonite clay to pull the poisons from insect bites and stings. When I had issues with bullet ants in Panama, my feet would get dozens of bites when I walked over their nests. You would think that it would only have happened once and that I would learn my lesson but it happened a total of 3 times! The clay saved my sanity in those cases, and I made a poultice with heated cooking oil, bentonite clay and lavender essential oil, put it on the bites and then wrapped it in a bandage.
Every household should have bentonite clay in it!
