Wash Your Face With Oil?

If you have tried the "Oil Cleansing Method," please leave a comment and let me know what you think! I recently learned about this method of cleaning your face, which has what you would call a "small but loyal fan base." And despite what you might think, cleaning your face with oil is supposed to be great for controlling acne!

As you know, soaps dry your skin. Any kind of detergent is going to clean your face by stripping all of the oil away. But for most of us - particularly in winter - you may end up having to replace that oil with moisturizer.

There are two reasons why this is a bad thing. First of all, it's much less damaging to your skin if you can avoid stripping it in the first place. Second of all, moisturizers are often mostly useless at best; toxic at worst. They can contain artificial pigments and scents which may be toxic (it's hard to say, since cosmetics are not regulated by the FDA), as well as parabens which are known carcinogens.

And it's all a lot more expensive than what you need to use the Oil Cleansing Method! I know a lot of people who have followed the OCM for years and rave about how great their skin looks. They get compliments from strangers! (When was the last time you saw a grown adult get a compliment on their skin from a stranger? CRAZY.)

A lot of people equate oily skin with acne. But oil on your skin doesn't cause acne. Acne is caused by bacteria, which feed on trapped "stuff" inside your pores. When your pores get clogged with dirt and skin flakes, the bacteria go nuts and soon you have a blemish.

To the contrary, your skin NEEDS oil. By applying moisturizer to dry skin, you're just re-oiling your face. Moisturizer manufacturers tout terms like "moisture" and "quench," but your skin doesn't need water. When your skin says "I need moisture," what it means is "oil." 

That being said, your skin also needs to be cleaned. The challenge, then, is to clean the dirty oil off your face, remove the blockages from your pores, and also leave behind a clean oil. Sort of like giving your car an oil change!

The basics of the method are simple. Massage a bit of oil into your face, use heat to steam your skin and open up the pores, then wipe the excess oil away. The specifics are almost infinitely variable. Most articles I've read have you use castor oil as a base, with a bit of another oil to help lighten it up. This article, for example, has you start with a 50/50 blend of castor oil and extra-virgin olive oil.

As for the steaming portion of your daily facial, most people seem to use washcloths. Run it under some warm-to-hot water, wring it out, drape it over your face, and chill for a few minutes. (This method apparently generates a lot of super-oily washcloths, so you might want to rinse them with dishwashing liquid after you're done, but before they go in the laundry.)

Now all I have to do is find a place to buy castor oil locally, and I'm totally going to give this a try!

Do you ever feel, you know, not so fresh?

I remember watching these commercials when I was a girl, but unlike in the commercial my mother wasn't as sweet and forth-coming in talking about her lady bits, or lady bits products. So when I asked my mother what a "douche" was, she responded "It's something married ladies use." And that was it. She had the same answer when I asked her about tampons. I'm glad I don't have to answer such embarrassing questions for my daughter since these products are pretty much obsolete and we all know how bad douches can be for the delicate insides of our lady-flower. That doesn't stop some from telling women what their pussies should look like and smell like, but it's nice to see that this douching business is passe.

Do You Douche? A Short Film from Nerve Media on Vimeo.

Beer for Your Hair: Beer Shampoo and Beer Conditioner

Beer: Thirst-Quenching for Your Hair

Beer has been the inspiration for many a song writer and more than a few poets, but does it have any other uses? You can use it in all kinds of bread recipes—from pancakes to beer bread—but have you ever tried using beer in your hair?

 

And, no, I’m not talking about going to a bar or a kegger and accidentally getting beer spilled on your head and wondering what the effects will be; I’m talking about intentionally putting beer on your hair in lieu of using an expensive conditioner or shampoo. You might be skeptical, but I am 100% serious: some women and girls actually use beer as a shampoo, a deep conditioner for their hair, or as a hair thickening agent.

Some claim that beer can be used as a thickening agent for your hair because of the vitamins and hops in beer. There are even a few companies that are marketing shampoos and conditioners with beer in them because of the properties beer contains including British Linco Beer Shampoo & Conditioner and Logona Volume Honey Beer Shampoo among others. I have yet to test either of the beer shampoos above, but I have heard good things about making your own shampoo and conditioner using beer as a key ingredient.

 

If you aren’t in the market for a pre-made beer shampoo, but would like to try using beer on your hair, don’t just pour a can of PBR on your head and call it a day; there is a recipe for both shampoo and conditioner that you can use instead. Both the recipes for shampoo and conditioner below are taken from THIS SITE, which contains a plethora of information about using beer as a hair product.

 

Beer Shampoo:

1 cup Mild Shampoo

¼ cup Boiled Beer

 

Boil a 1 ½ cups beer down to around ¼ cup of beer. Let the beer cool to room temperature. Try to use traditional beer (or a micro-brew) brewed from natural hops. When the beer is at room temperature, combine the beer and the shampoo and wash your hair.

 

Beer Conditioner

1 cup Warm Beer

1 teaspoon Jojoba Oil

 

Combine the beer and the jojoba oil and condition your hair after washing your hair with your standard shampoo—not the Beer Shampoo listed above.

 

In theory, your hair will feel thicker after using the beer shampoo and/or conditioner. Let me know if you try either recipe and tell me what you think.

 

 

 

 

Bare It All

Bare Escentuals how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! One jar of the perfect foundation, have you tried the new click lock and go packaging? It's fabulous and no more spill in my purse or messy makeup bags! The foundation goes on flawlessly, no weird orange tones that make me look like I am a distant relative of E.T. With six different shades and tones you can rest assured that you get a great match on the first purchase.  This foundation is applied so simply.

1. Swirl the brush in the minerals.

2. Tap off any excess powder from your brush.

3. Buff with your brush in circular motions on your face for the lightest full coverage available out there.

I will say as someone who suffered with cystic acne for a long time, I am completely devoted to the line of products offered by Bare Escentuals. I have an extremely fair complexion, making the acne even worse because the purple bumps were a contrast that stuck out like a sore thumb. The minerals gave me all the coverage I needed, it was even and smooth, as well as non irritating to the skin issues I was having.  I would use the concealer brush and pad the broken out areas with a little extra powder using the Bare Blemish therapy that is now available to help heal, protect and cover. I also hit the dark circles under my eyes with a little extra foundation. After that you have a perfect base.

Time to move on to your Mineral Veil, swirl, tap, and buff the same as you would your foundation. When applied the veil gives you a nice airbrushed look, it really completes the total package. Keep in mind the minerals are safe and all natural. It may surprise you to find out chemicals in a lot of our health and beauty products today have toxins that are known to cause cancer later in life.

Check out the prepping and priming skincare line offered by Bare. The primer helps with larger pores and uneven texture, plus makes a great base for a seamless look. As a bonus it has an SPF of 15. Try out the Skin Revver Upper too, it's like vitamins and you  apply them right to your skin.  It works with all skin types. It's fragrance free and full of many smoothing botanicals, and clarifying salicylic acid.

Looks like now you have a great start to your skin!

The Power of a Good Bath

For the last few weeks, I’ve been deep in a funk that I just can’t shake. It turns out that it may be my own body, as I suffered some severe menstrual problems including a high loss of blood. I’ve had blood work done, will be getting an ultrasound, and am on a high dosage of hormones—all things that many women who’ve experienced significant bleeding can probably relate to. So, my funk may be chemical.

Even so, it sucks to live in it, and I’ve been trying to shake it. Reading hasn’t helped. When I try to write—the thing I’ve always loved most in the world—I simply sit and stare blankly at my computer, wondering where the words went. I’ve been vacillating between screaming and ignoring my poor loved ones, who are just as confused as I am. I tried to think of what I used to do in such situations, but I knew that a bath wouldn’t help me, since we now live in a place with a tiny tub (as opposed to the gargantuan one we used to have) and I haven’t enjoyed a bath since we’ve lived here—so, for about five years. Realizing this made me even more depressed!

But I’ve been reading Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Romancing the Ordinary, a book I bought myself last year, and one of the things in it that sounded interesting was a cleansing rice wine bath with oranges or tangerines. When I was a kid, I used to put all kinds of things in my bath water—from cloves to food coloring to flowers—and my parents were appalled when they found me doing it one day. They said it wasn’t right and that I had to stop immediately. Like so many other instances from my childhood, this one made me feel ashamed and guilty, and I didn’t do it again until I was out of the house on my own. Even then, I’ve rarely put anything in my water other than bubble bath.

But hearing my bath time concoctions defended by Breathnach made me want to try it again—though honestly, if we didn’t already have sake in the house, I never would have tried it. Anyhow, I had the orange (we always have oranges; my daughter eats two a day) and sake bath, and I feel so renewed. I don’t know if it was just the chance to mindlessly soak while smelling the oranges, the scene before me (which looked more like a bath out of one of my favorite books rather than out of my own home; perhaps it was from Foo?), or if it really does have the detoxifying properties that Breathnach says it does, but damn, did it make the difference. That one bath in our tiny tub was much more helpful than any old bath in our previous big tub.

I highly recommend this bath (if you have sensitive skin, you may not want to try it) of hot water mixed with 1 cup of rice wine and a cheesecloth filled with slices of tangerine or oranges. Floating a couple of orange peels aids to the effect, too. You may want to check out the book while you’re at it; it looks like it’s going to have many more of these luscious sensory experiences in it, too.

Need Your Makeup Done But Don't Want to Pay Big Money?

At the beauty shop with a friend recently, I noticed that for the extremely high price of $45, I could get my make up done. Since the service offered was for a regular makeup job, and not permanent makeup tattooed on my face (which is fricking weird if you ask me), I opted out. Unless you’re going to be in a wedding or you’re independently wealthy, why pay that much for make up that will last at a maximum of four hours?

 

For those needing a makeover on the day of an important event, I have a much better idea than either doing it yourself or paying big bucks for something that will last you only one day: go to the mall, choose your favorite makeup counter (or the one offering freebies—usually Clinique), get a makeover, and buy just enough make up to get the free samples or make up bag.

 

Seriously. The beauty expert at the mall knows how to make people look beautiful. While she might not do a full job and will definitely try to sell you a few things you don’t need, you are (almost 100%) guaranteed to look better when you walk out of the mall than when you walked in. Plus, if you buy one or two of the products that she used, you’ll have nice make up to use for the next special occasion. It’s a win-win situation for both you and the person making you over.

 

Doesn’t sound as fun as sitting in a nail salon inhaling fumes? Bring along a friend who’s going to the same event and have them make her up as well.

 

I should warn you that the make up experts are onto the people who won’t buy their products and are just in for a free makeover; that’s why I like to buy at least something. Plus, every time I get my makeup done by a professional, it looks twenty times better than when I do it myself and I learn some of their beauty secrets and tricks of the trade.

As an added bonus, if you’re going to a party, this takes away the advantage from the chicas who are already adept at putting on their makeup and gives you a solid edge in the beauty department.

 

I’m not really that much of a girly-girl, but if I’m getting dressed up for a special occasion, it’s nice to have perfect make up to match the perfect shoes and dress. This is a much cheaper way to get it done.

The Hair Down There

I was in a rather delicate discussion the other day: it related to pubic hair and the lack thereof on certain females. The discussion centered on the fashionable trend of Brazilian waxes and on the next step: laser technology or electrolysis to eliminate your unwanted and/or unnecessary body hairs FOREVER.

My source, a former sorority girl who shall remain nameless, had noticed the trend of certain friends using lasers to permanently eliminate their body hairs. She wondered what would happen when the trends changed again and body hairs (to a certain degree) were once again acceptable? Would the girls come to regret the no-tolerance to body hairs policy they adopted at around the same time they decided to get their “Tramp Stamp”? (LINK to Bill Maher weighing in on the all-important-topic.) 

The conversation got me thinking about pubic hair in general—I know, I know, deep thoughts—and about how we choose to present ourselves “down there.”

According to this (which I found more than a little disturbing), electrolysis is the way to go if you are into permanently removing your body hairs. (Unfortunately, the inner ear and the hair in your nostril cannot be treated by electrolysis.) Electrolysis is the best way to remove body hair and there are three main types. (Read HERE if you are interested in learning more about this kind of treatment.)

Of course, the anonymous source was more concerned about the trends in pubic hair. In the 1970’s (if bad porn movies are anything to go by), the more the merrier was pretty much the standard when it came to pubic hair. The 80’s and 90’s were a time of razer-thin stripes—dubbed racing stripes by more than a few---and the new millennium brought on the onslaught of little or no pubic hair.

This article details the history of pubic hair, which wasn’t even shown by Americans until the stodgy Brits managed to show the pubes in a (pornographic) national publication before Hugh Hefner ever thought it was decent in the late old age of 1970.

In Japan (and I do understand that it often takes quite a bit less to be big in Japan than it does to be big in other parts), a magazine featured an article on the popularity of Mohawk designs in public hair due to the popularity of David Beckham’s 2002 Mohawk during the World Cup.

So, what do you think? Would you permanently remove all of your pubes forever? If not, what kinds of designs have you tried out? Are you a Vajazzler?

News Flash: Breakfast Cereal Isn't Magic

You know that Vitaminwater is just soda, it's not actually vitamins, right? Well, in yet another blow to "neutraceuticals," the FTC has announced a class action lawsuit against General Mills cereals for two ridiculous claims they made for their cereals over the last few years.

The first claim was splashed across Rice Crispies in the winter of 2009, at the height of swine flu (and swine flu vaccine) panic. I remember walking down the cereal aisle, only to be stopped in my tracks by the bright yellow banner on the box trumpeting that the humble cereal "Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY."

NOW helps support immunity? Now helps support IMMUNITY? There were so many disbelieving ways to read that line.

At the time, I picked up the box and flipped it over to read more. Very little was forthcoming from this little cereal box. From what I could gather, the cereal had a tiny amount of vitamins (25% of your US RDA of vitamin C is, like, nothing). These vitamins didn't seem to be new to the cereal. These vitamins - surely in too small a concentration to do anything - weren't specifically known to "support immunity" except in the vaguest sense. I shook my head and put the box back on the shelf.

I wonder how many parents were lured into making a fear-based cereal purchase? This box's lies and pandering both fed off and stoked unrealistic parental fears about vaccines, about illness, about this magical property called "immunity."

(Side note: "immunity" is one of those BS red flag words to watch for. If a product claims to do anything about "immunity" it's probably lying, or a placebo, or worse. The problem being that "immunity" isn't something you can see or measure, so it's a claim that can never be refuted. Second only in BS red flag popularity to the words "cleanse" and "toxins.")

The second cereal taking a hit is Mini-Wheats, which had claimed that clinical studies showed Mini-Wheats caused kids to be able to concentrate 20% better. (20% better than what was never said. 20% better than Cheerios? 20% better than no breakfast at all? 20% better than a fluffy kitten running around the classroom?)

These claims are so clearly bunk, but they only happen because people buy them. I'm often dismayed by how willing people are to believe the claims of advertisers. And by how little people differentiate between "something printed in the New York Times" versus "something printed on a cereal box."

In the end, all that happened was that General Mills moved some extra units of cereal thanks to the wallets of gullible parents. And luckily the FTC stepped in with a class action lawsuit before this could go too far. But where does it end? What claims AREN'T being litigated in court? Where is this happening but we haven't learned about it yet?

This kind of callous corporate irresponsibility and disregard for the truth should be instructive. Here's hoping at least a few pairs of eyes were opened by these lawsuits.

Photo credit: Flickr/theimpulsivebuy

Are You a Fan of Lipgloss?

Are you a fan of lip gloss? I know I am. I just hate the overly sweet taste that usually comes along with a glossy gloss. When I was a teenager, I learned that the trick to lasting lip gloss was to make sure it was made of the kind of stuff that would make strands of your hair stick to your lips if you were out in windy weather. For many years, my stand by was New York Color’s Kiss Gloss in clear. It was cheap and looked nice and sheer and glassy on. It gave me very sexy, pouty lips. It did indeed cause my hair to stick to my lips in the midst of a wind storm. The staying power was great. Then I discovered that New York Color tested their products on animals.

So my hunt for another great stand-by lip gloss continued. I did some research and looked into information about product testing done by Bath and Body Works. In their FAQ on the Bath and Body Works website, they stated, “We believe all living creatures deserve respect and would never think of testing any of our products on animals. Likewise, we don't ask anyone who may be helping us develop or make our products to conduct these kinds of tests on our behalf.”

Late last year (2010), a friend and I were out shopping and stopped in at a Bath and Body Works. They were having a promotion on their lip glosses and lip tints. Particularly, my friend and I were interested in their C.O. Bigelow® Mentha Organic Lip Tint collection. From the product description on the Bath and Body Works website, “Give your lips an Organic Tint! Our Mentha™ Organics Sheer Lip Tints combine the breath-freshening, shine boosting benefits of our original formula with the added appeal of naturally nourishing organic ingredients.”

The promotion was for buy two, get one free. My friend chose two lip tints in the colors “Just Blushed” and “Barely There”. She graciously offered me the third free lip tint that was included in the promotion. I chose the color “Sheer Rose”. Online, these retail for $7.50 a piece, but I have seen them in stores for $5.00 each. I love the Sheer Rose color. It makes my lips tingle deliciously. It has an invigorating mentholated taste and gives them just a slight berry kissed sheen. It looks natural and makes my complexion look dew. I love this lip tint!

Pages