Spring Cleaning for the Body and Mind
Six items that help purge bad habits and encourage wellbeing
“Spring cleaning” goes further than vacuum storage, packing away winter clothes, dropping off boxes at Goodwill and half-hearted dusting. The transition between seasons is a particularly ripe time for re-evaluating things beyond your closet space—like unhealthy lifestyle and diet habits. With this in mind, our round-up offers a few different ways to change up your daily routine, taking the baby-steps toward living more consciously in regards to our most valuable asset: our body.
Detoxifying + Clarifying Clay Mask
Julie Clark of holistic skincare line Province Apothecary shared some wisdom with us on why warmer weather and sunnier skies aren’t completely benign. “The body and skin freaks out during the change of season because this is a time of change in your body. The warm/cold days can also confuse your skin and cause irritation, dryness and inflammation. It’s also a time that we start changing our diet and we start moving toward fresh, raw, lighter foods (instead of hearty, warming winter foods) and this can start a release of toxins that cause more cystic pimples, breakouts and inflammation on the skin and eczema flare-ups. The best thing to do is allow yourself to rest—make sure to sleep lots (sleep helps your body heal), drink lots of water and herbal teas and simplify your diet, avoiding processed and refined foods. And know this will all calm down soon, as soon as your body adjusts to the change of season.” Clark makes a mask from glacial and bentonite clay ($18) that can also be used as a spot treatment if you’re exhibiting any of the above symptoms.
Lemon + Charcoal Juice
Fresh juice from non-GMO lemons, dandelion extract, ginger root extract, pharmaceutical-grade activated charcoal and reverse osmosis filtered water make up the contents of Dirty Lemon’s Detox, a new-ish offering that sticks out from the overabundance of cold-pressed juice options. Once you get over the fact that you’re sipping slightly sour, powdery black water (just keep shaking), it’s pretty palatable; the ingredients are supposed to help with digestion, calm the stomach, alkalize the body, flush the systems and more. Our results? Noticeable ease in bowel movements, if we’re allowed to reveal that, and a great way to balance out those occasional late-night pizza runs. It’s $65 for six 16-oz bottles (one per day) and they’re releasing more targeted formulas over the next few months for skin and hair, energy, sleep and probiotics.
Vegetarian Bowl-Based Cooking
Brooklyn-based veggie burger maker Lukas Volger has a new cookbook that focuses on full-flavored vegetarian meals that nestle into one bowl. Simply titled “Bowl” ($15), the collection of adventurous recipes—focusing on noodles, broths, grains and dumplings—demonstrates that light, fresh and seasonal eating doesn’t have to be boring, restrictive or too fancy. Volger draws a lot of inspiration from cuisines all over the world: ace a simple miso ramen, spring pho with baby bok choy and peas, leek shumai, sprouted lentil bowl, bibimbap variations and more.
Essential Oil Rollers
Boulder, CO-based Rootfoot blends organic and wildcrafted oils with intention, using aromatherapy as a way to connect and ground wearers to the earth. The natural fragrances are therapeutic, and we like the simplicity of the single note rollers ($22), which highlight one plant or herb: eucalyptus, lavender, vetiver, sweet orange, or palo santo.
Unscented Laundry Powder Detergent
Pouring noxious blue goo into the washing machine in order to clean dirty clothes seems counterintuitive—and zero waste blogger Lauren Singer (who’s been documenting her efforts to live sustainably in NYC on her website Trash is For Tossers) thinks so too. With help of a Kickstarter campaign, she founded Simply Co to develop sustainable cleaning products, and their debut is unscented powdered laundry detergent ($18) bottled in a glass jar (lavender scent is also available). There are just three, easily pronounceable ingredients and it’s also gentle enough for hand-washing and delicates, too—works on wool, silk and cashmere.
Air Purifier
Clear your living and sleeping space of not only dust, pollen, pet dander, and smoke but also bacteria, viruses, mold and odors. Released just a few months ago, Sharp’s latest air purifier model FPF60UW ($250) offers their proprietary, hard-working Plasmacluster ion technology, paired with the more traditional carbon and True HEPA filters (the latter lasting up to five years). The button panel is straight to the point and five fan speeds, sensitivity adjustments, and an auto timer make it more user-friendly. If you’re willing to pay a little more for a sleeker, even quieter option, we recommend the Rabbit Air HEPA air purifier ($400).
Cookbook image by Cool Hunting, all others courtesy of respective brands
