Sunshine Soul | curated to elevate

Welcome to Sunshine Soul, a landing place of curated items, constantly visited sites, experiences and clean products focused on elevating you. Everything listed here is Corrin's favorite things, in no particular order. Expect monthly tips, ah-ha products, food recs, exciting new things to try, words to ponder and wellness tools. Items sourced come from everywhere; locally and globally. Corrin invites you to ask yourself, "What lights you up? What elevates you?"

Almost 10 years ago Corrin was diagnosed with 2 very common chemical allergies which came out of no where. Upon having to swap out 99% of the products she used in her house and on her person, she became overwhelmed and then got angry and then decided to do something about it. Corrin took that first year learning about these chemicals and how widely used they (and others) are without little to no regulation. (side note: we humans are subjecting ourselves to illness-causing products and most of us are unaware of the havoc they wreak on our endocrine, immune, lymphatic, digestive, nervous, cardiovascular, muscular, respiratory, and skin systems). So Corrin spent countless hours scouring the globe for products that wouldn't make her sick. What she shares here is what works for her, the people and websites who have helped to heal her, had her eyes open to the tomfoolery (yes, she said tomfoolery) of cheaply made mass-produced items and the things which bring her joy. All she asks is for you to peruse, take what you need, leave the rest, and most significantly (and THIS is important!!!) do your own research and ask as many questions as you can...of her and of everyone you trust to keep you healthy, vibrant and living your best, most clean life!

~With love & light,

Corrin

p.s. nothing denoted on this page is sponsored.

p.s.s. for links to products, etc, click on the subsequent picture.

p.s.s.s. nothing important, I just wanted a 3rd psssss ;)

"If I were to ask you to name all the things you love,
how long would it take you to name yourself?"

01 Holy Hell - Gua Sha is the Bomb!

The day I found Gua Sha is the day my health body journey took on a new level of excitement. I have a deeper respect for just how much my body does for me and that has instilled a desire to want to feel good from the inside out.

For starters, I was just getting into changing my diet, and already came out of a massive overhaul of the things I put into and onto my body, and to top it off I was sky high on feeling the affects of a dairy-free body (it's amazing and I highly recommend it!) Stumbling onto Wild Lily Organics was a very happy accident. This one-woman-owned business is incredible. Liliana Quintero is an Esthetician who practices Facial Gua Sha, Facial Reflexology, and other holistic and ancient self care beauty rituals such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Vietnamese Medicine, among other practices. She also has a treasure trove of how-to videos over on Instagram/YouTube that has helped me tremendously when I started to implement Gua Sha into my daily routine.

Ok, so what is and what are the benefits of facial Gua Sha? Gua Sha, or Gua (to scrape or rub) and Sha (to move around qi, or stagnat blood) is an ancient Chinese medicine practice which focuses on moving around your bodies qi energy (or chi) to allow for the unblocking of improper energy and blood flow stored in the body. It is also superb in helping to move around your Lymph, that colorless liquid containing white blood cells which clean the tissue and drain through your lymphatic system. More on the amazing Lymph system a tad bit later.

With the skin lubricated, a Gua Sha tool with a smooth edge, usually a good, quality stone or wooden body tool, (I have 2 facial Gua Sha tools and Body Tool, the one pictured right, which is high grade Stainless Steel, and a White Jade Stone as well as a Wooden Body tool) is used to glide over the skin in one direction in order to increase circulation and to release stagnant blood and toxins. (Always use some sort of oil for easy glide...we don't want to tug, pull, or blister the skin at all!)

Now, for Facial Gua Sha you really want to have a superior stone because this is your face and the skin is delicate, so let's not cut corners here. Following specific meridians of the face, neck, chest and shoulders helps promote a bunch of positive outcomes. For space and time I'll list a few here: Reduction of fine lines and wrinkles, smooth and toned skin, a healthy glow due to proper blood flow, help with sinuses, and an overall feeling of ahhh..."I-have-"scraped"-away-my-day" feeling. Sublime!

Pictured to the right is the Mirror Work Ritual Kit from Wild Lily Organics. I have this exact kit and I have been using it for years.

Side note, the accompanying Reflexology Wand is just as important to me in my routine as the Gua Sha tool for my face. Since the face mirrors the pelvis, the Reflexology Wand does wonders for headaches, constipation, calming the nervous system, and menstrual cramps, and has a plethora of other incredible benefits too long to list here.

I hope you'll pop on over to 'Uncle Google', delve into the ever fascinating world of Gua Sha, watch Wild Lilly's How-to videos and see if it can be as beneficial for you as it has been for me.

Happy Scraping!

02

My Love Affair with Dry Brushing

Ok, so listen. A few years ago I saw all over the socials celebs, influencers, estheticians, you name it were all about the dry brushing. As one might suspect, I was suspect. (see what I did there)

As someone who has been fortunate to have benefitted from years of massages and has come to understand how we treat ourselves, our bodies included, is in direct correlation to our mental health, how we feel on the daily, and how we show up for ourselves and those we love.

So naturally, I was curious. It took quite a while to pull the trigger - even though I had been Gua Sha-ing my face & body for a bit at this point. After having read and re-read about the benefits of Dry Brushing, I purchased the Body Brush by De La Heart and have been in love with it ever since.

In Ayurveda, Dry Brushing is known as Garshana and it gently exfoliates your skin (be sure to brush upward in one direction, towards the heart, from feet to chest in easy, light strokes. I watched many a tutorial before diving in and I'd highly recommend doing the same. ALSO - don't use your Body Dry Brush for your face - get a Facial Dry Brush). It also gets your body's lymphatic drainage system moving which helps in detoxing the body, strengthening the immune system, increasing energy levels as well as boosting the natural production of collagen, which leaves your skin amazingly healthy, soft and vibrant. Peace out dead skin cells!

Dry Brushing is also helpful in moving those fatty cells around that cause cellulite, it supports your body's fascia and activates your parasympathetic nervous system too. Shoo! That's a lot - but my main takeaway is it just feels divine!

I Dry Brush before every shower. It takes as long as you'd like it to; for me about 5 minutes or if I am pampering myself up to 10-15 minutes.

So, after getting hooked right away on the Body Brush I thusly scampered off to purchase the Facial Dry Brush. (Please never, ever use your Body Brush for your face - just don't do it - this is so important I felt like mentioning it twice)

The Facial Dry Brush is much softer and, it too, has your facial skin glowing and feeling smooth as a baby's behind (if that's a thing for you...it is for me). Another bonus is it really helps with blemishes, both pre and post breakout.

Last thing I'll mention is just with any item that regularly comes in contact with your body, you'll want to clean your brushes according to the directions and always, always rinse or wash your skin immediately after dry brushing. You don't want those dead skin cells hanging around any longer than they need to. Another happy tip is stand somewhere which is easy to clean, aka the shower, whilst dry brushing...where do you think all that dead skin scurries off to?

Happy Brushing...and let me know how you like it!

03 Sayonara Plastic Razors

The Leaf Shave Razor - she's a beast!

Firstly, when I learned about Leaf Shave I wasn't looking for a new razor, my plastic Schick had done me fine just fine for years. Although, there had always been 2 aspects of plastic razors which chaffed my arse. One, with my skin fragrance sensitivity, I was waiting for the company I used to switch away from the "sensitive" lotion-strip formula they somehow congealed onto the razor head (which always bothered me - was that strip necessary? Why did it always feel gross AND go away so fast? Also, what ingredients are in there - besides the highly proud ingredient of 'aloe'? And do I want that stuff on my skin?) Second, was the thought of all those millions upon millions of disposable razors heads and bodies, for that matter, out there in the world. And do people actually recycle them? Since we know plastics aren't as recyclable as we were once led to believe...is there some place for all these plastic razors to go? Like a used razor graveyard?

Secondly, what caught my eye about Leaf Shave were a few things. It's metal. There is no plastic on the thing - no where to be found...AND no weird lotion strip getting in deep to my skin and messing up my system. (I learned via their website that Leaf Shave users help keep 8+ million plastic razors out of landfills in 2023 alone.) Since it is metal it has a protective coating on it for wet environments and has an awesome pivoting head. Since you load the razors yourself (which can be tricky the first time around. Bonus, the razors can be recycled by you or mailed back to them and they'll recycle them - see that cute little tin in the picuture? Yep, that's the container you use for used blades) Since you load the blades yourself, you can choose to add 2 or 3 blades as it is all about personal preference. I have used both and vacillate between the two depending on my needs on shave day (Does anyone else have designated shave day? Asking for a fiend ;)

Thirdly, the shave is out of this world! It is highly encouraged by Leaf Shave, and I can attest to this, to NOT press hard whilst you're shaving. You don't need to. The razor is substantial enough and if you are using a nice quality shave oil or gel, it gets around gloriously by itself. There are a few learning curves because, let's face it, your shaving with an actual straight edge on your beautiful legs and armpits, but once you get the hang of it, your body and the planet will thank you!

For the love of all things...read the label!

If you cannot pronounce it you shouldn't put in on your person, ingest it, or breathe it in...period. And even then, consider its source.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk ;)

Clean Laundry

If you know me, you know I love doing laundry. The cleanling and folding, yes, I said folding, of mine and my husbands clothes is ultra therapeutic to me. I know, I know, I am definitely in the minority here .

*fun fact* according to soapoperalaundromats.com 30% of Americans would give up alcohol if they could skip laundry for a month while 21% of Americans would give up social media if they could skip laundry for a month. There's also %'s for giving up bacon and swearing. Sheesh...such haters.

Anywho, it took me from 2015 to 2023 to finally find a fabulous line of laundry cleaners (and dishwasher powder...but we'll get to that later).

So may I present to you Dirty Labs. Everything about these products are great. Stains actually come out (yay)...my husband brews beer for a living and there can be some gnarly things on his clothes. Me? I'm always stain-free. Jk, I can be messy too.

I use the Free & Clear and my clothes are hella clean and don't smell of anything, which is the glorious point! The icing on top is Dirty Labs' mission to make petrochemical-based cleaning obsolete. Their products are hyper-concentrated so you don't need a lot, and oh, their packaging/dispenser is also super cute and plastic free!

Ah...Caffeine, you cow!

Listen. I love a tasty, hot beverage, just like anyone. However, I absolutely,100% loathe and do not like to wreck my day because of my need for a tasty, hot beverage.

Insert Mud\WTR into my life.

Over the years, I've consumed copious amounts of coffee, especially whilst in college. Now though, the jitters, the highs and lows of the coffee crashes, and what caffeine does to my stomach, um, no thanks!

I sought out a tasty, hot beverage that could have the brightness of coffee, something I could tailor to my tastebuds, AND have it be healthy? Why not, I dreamt big and found :rise Cacao, by Mud\WTR. With only 35mg of caffeine (a regular cup of coffee contains 90-100mg) which comes from organic black tea powder, or Masala Chai, I could have my tasty, hot beverage, feel bright, make it taste just how I want it to AND have it be healthy. Score!

It's exactly what I needed to get my day started. This blend of organic powders comes from a plethora of clean sources. In addition to the organic black tea powder, :rise Cacao is chocked full of health, from organic mushroom blends, think cordyceps, lions mane, reishi, chaga, which are so good for immunity, focus, energy, to organic cacao which is good for mood and focus, organic spice blends that include turmeric and cinnamon for immune support and antioxidant properties, respectively, and Himalayan pink salt for hydration and electrolytes.

Since Mud\WTR is tasteless it's up to you doctor it to your liking. For me, it's a super, teeny, tiny small squeeze of organic agave and my favorite oat or almond milk, blended into a cup of hot water with the fancy-schmancy Mud\WTR frother. (your first purchase of the coffee alternative kit comes with the aforementioned frother for free.)

If you are interested in easing into your day without the side effects of caffeine, I encourage you to give Mud\WTR a go. Let me know how you like it!

Words to Ponder

This quote from John Sahakian, a wonderful meditation teacher among other accolades, speaks volumes. By taking care of ourselves first, ensuring we are at our healthiest, best, most vibrant selves allows us to show up for those we love and for the world.

So I ask you, what is just 1 thing you can do, implement, rewire, or pull away from that can elevate you to your optimum self?