Brush Your Teeth With Sewak. Uhm, Brush With What ?

Brush Your Teeth With Sewak. Uhm, Brush With What ?

Posted by Mita on June 14, 2014 in hazardous substances, nature, sewak,

I often heard the benefit of brushing our teeth with Sewak or Miswak. In Islam, it is known from hadith that the Prophets had practices of using the Sewak. So, there must be something special of it.  My problem is, I didn't really know about Sewak and I had never seen a real Sewak in my life as it is already replaced by 'so called plastic modern toothbrush and toothpaste' which contains harmful substances such as triclosan and fluoride!. Until finally, several days ago, I went to Bazaar and voila, I accidentally found Sewak! My heart was pounding! It cost 1000 Iraqi dinnar (less that 1 US Dollar or equal to 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah) much cheaper than a toothbrush and paste!.

My First Sewak

So, what is Sewak? Sewak or Miswak is a root of Peelu tree (Salvadora persica) or Arak (in Arabic). The Sewak is natural, safer and more effective toothbrush compared to the synthetic toothbrushes. We don't need to add toothpaste when brushing our teeth with Sewak. Sewak contains natural minerals such as potassium, sodium, chloride, sodium bicarbonate and calcium oxides which are able to whiten and strengthen enamel. It is also known for its ability to remove stains from coffee or tobacco.

My Sewak still in the wrapper

How to use Sewak? Well, just scrape of or peel a half inch bark from one of the edge. You can wash it with a clean water or just directly chew it. A Sewak stick is similar to a paint brush. The bristles are hard and it able to scrub our teeth and get them clean. After finished chewing the stick, put it back in its wrapper. If you want a new brush, just cut the top of the stick that has been used, scrape the new edge and chew again! The stick can be used until it is 2 inches long but  actually, with a longer stick it is easier to brush the back of our teeth. There are a lot of advantages of using Sewak that you can  read from this link. Sewak can be used to heal cavities as shown in the video below:

I am so excited brushing my teeth with Sewak, let me know if you want one!

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The Amazing Aleppo Soaps

The Amazing Aleppo Soaps

Posted by Mita on June 14, 2014 in Aleppo, environment, hazardous substances, shampoo, soap,

Do you know that a lot of our personal care products (e.g. soaps, cosmetics, shampoos) are containing hazardous substances? Well, I have written about this in my last post entitled: Hazardous Ingredients in Personal Care Products

I am trying to be more careful when I buy personal care products.  The modern soaps, cosmetics and shampoo are not only contain dangerous substances for your health but also the environment. For example, palm oil that is used to make the soap structure hard, is coming from palm plantation in Indonesia that destroy Orangutan’s habitat. Paraben that is used to preserve the products (in a cheap manner!) can disrupt the function of estrogen and cause cancer. Once paraben is released to the environment it is so difficult to remove plus it affects  aquatic ecosystem, it can turn male fish into females. Further, we can end up consuming paraben in our own drinking water and food!

Thankfully, in Sulaimaniya, I am able to find good and safe products: ALEPPO SOAP and SHAMPOO. After a bit of research, I really surprised to find how great these products are. Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. This city is very famous for the traditional shop producers. Although there are different (family owned) companies producing the soaps such as Lorbeer  and Shefaa, the products are often called as Aleppo Soap.  

My Collection: Aleppo Soaps and Shampoo

Aleppo soap known as savon de'Alep, laurel soap, Syrian soap, or guar soap, the Syirian word for 'laurel'. It is made of olive and laurel oils, water a a bit of sodium hydroxide. Olive and laurel trees are common in the Middle East region. The olive oil is an excellent antioxidant and effective in removing fats from scalps. The Laurel oil is a good natural disinfectant and can kill bacteria on the skin. The soaps are not instantly made just like the modern soaps. It takes about 3 to 12 months to produce them. You can see the process of the making the soaps from the video below: 

Yes, I have replaced my so called “modern” and hazardous soaps and shampoo with Aleppo products. I would like to suggest you to do the same. These products are safe and locally made. Plus, we can also preserve the old tradition that is becoming to extinct. 

Blooms laurel liquid shampoo, Khaeish Lorbeer, Lorbeer Square Soap,
 Lorbeer Hotel Soap, Shefaa Soap, Shefaa Oriental Treasures

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