Finally got with the Diva

The Diva Cup, that is.  

I've been using cloth pads for years now and it's been really great.  The pads have held up well and I never had accidents or other issues with the majority of them.  All in all, I was very happy being "on the rag."  But I'd always wanted to give the Diva Cup a try because it just seemed like another great, natural and perhaps simpler way of catching menstrual flow. And so far, it has been.

This is the second cycle for which I have used the cup.  There is a bit of a learning curve and I am still getting the hang of inserting it properly.  But I am getting better and better.  If I insert it properly, I can be sure that it will not leak at all (even though I still wear a liner).  This is just *wonderful*.  One of the biggest issues with cloth pads are that they are bulky and they can be seen if I'm wearing leggings like I do to the gym.  Also, they absorb and hold on to not only menstrual blood but also sweat.  So for the past few months that I've been a member of the gym, I've been wearing regular disposable thin pads for working out.  I am just thrilled that the Diva Cup is a viable alternative in this particular instance!  The Diva Cup is also the perfect solution for the night.  It doesn't matter how much I toss and turn, I get no leakage.  

There are different styles of folding the cup for insertion.  I use the "punch down fold."  It seems to work best for me.  The trick is making sure that the cup is fully open when it is inserted.  

Basically, two or three times a day, I remove the cup, empty it, rinse it and re-insert it. In the morning, I will wash it with Dr. Bronner's castile soap (which rinses clean--you definitely don't want soap residue in your vagina).  It's definitely not as messy or gross as I had once imagined.  The main reason I didn't go with a cup when I was looking to make the switch from disposable pads was because of the "ick" factor.  But since I've been using cloth pads all this time, there is simply no "ick" factor when it comes to menstrual blood anymore.  Once my menstrual period is over, I boil it for a couple of minutes, let it air dry and store it in the little pouch in which it came.  

Because I mainly had cloth pads and very few cloth liners, I decided to purchase some.  I went on Ebay and found this seller and I am *so* pleased with these liners.  I can't recommend them highly enough.  They are quite thin--thinner than even disposable liners.  They are also very well made and, might I add, cute.  

So, I would say, I'm completely converted.  I like the comfort (you don't feel it at all) and I absolutely love less laundry.  I feel bad abandoning my cloth pads but who knows, I may come back to them at some point in the future.  

Brown Skin

If only my skin looked as good as the woman in this picture that popped up when I googled "acne prone skin"! {{{chuckles}}}

I always attributed my acne to the fact that I had oily skin. Supposedly, it was the oil clogging up my pores and causing the pimples and cysts. But after having two children, my skin is completely different. It's pretty dry and often kind of dull. The complete opposite of what it once was. And yet, I still have acne!

I usually have a clear complexion until the time I ovulate or a few days before the start of a new moon cycle. This month's bout of acne is quite severe--more severe than it's been in a while. I'm trying my hardest to leave my skin alone but I'm pretty sure that there will be a lot of bad scarring once this is over. I even bought acne medication (a cream with 2.5% benzoyl peroxide) to try to improve things more quickly but it doesn't seem to be doing much.

So I'm not quite sure what to do. I've been cleansing with knock-off Noxzema and following up with a mix of shea butter and jojoba oil. I can't say it's working like a charm but it's all right. And cheap. I picked up a book at the library called Brown Skin by Dr. Susan Taylor and I'm hoping that it may shed some light on what I'm doing wrong and maybe how to do it right. I'm sure I'll be dealing with acne for the rest of my life since my mother still is and I'm okay with that. I just need to find a way to lessen the severity of breakouts and recover from there without any major scarring/hyperpigmentation. And I need it to not cost a lot.

Change is . . .

Fun.  Well, sometimes.

I'm not the biggest fan of change.  In fact, most of the time, I like things to be steady, predictable and constant.  I don't find it easy to roll with the punches, hate to travel (rather would just get there already) and generally, I take great pains to prepare for any change.

So it's very interesting that when it comes to certain things, I'm all about change.  Like my computer desktop.  I have to change the picture at least once a week.  My screensaver?  At least once a month.  My Gmail theme?  I may change that 2 or 3 times daily!  My blog layout? Well, if you read this blog, you know I change it pretty often (although, I have to say, I'm *quite* pleased with the current design).

And then there's my hair . . .

I've been wearing a lowboy for a while now.  I'm lucky because the style actually does compliment my round face.  Any longer, even just a teeny weeny afro, and I don't think it really does my face justice.  I've come to realize that styles that don't frame my face such as a lowboy, cornrows or a pulled back ponytail/puff really do look best on me.  I've also realized that square eyeglass frames work best for a round face too.  Generally, what works best are styles that don't add to the roundness of my face.

Wearing my hair this way is the most practical style for me.  It allows me lots of access to my scalp so I can easily treat it when it flares up.  It's super low maintenance.  The hubby shapes me up every two weeks (or so)--free of cost.  In the morning, I may or may not brush it because it's so low that it doesn't really matter.  I mainly brush to stimulate my scalp or because it feels good to rake the bristles over my itchy scalp.  I wash it every 2 to 3 days with Head and Shoulders (or T-Gel if I'm having a particularly nasty flare up), oil it with jojoba oil to which I added tea tree oil.  That's the full extent of my style maintenance routine.  It's so basic, I wonder if it can even really be called a style especially since (even though I gave it a noble try) I am nowhere near consistent with wearing larger (read:  largely more entangling and largely more likely to get painfully pulled) earrings or make-up (allergies, i.e. itchy, watery eyes and mascara/eyebrow pencil/eye shadow are mortal enemies; one kiss of a kid's boo-boo and I can kiss my lip gloss goodbye and since I usually forget it at home or it slips down to the bottom of the diaper bag, it's really just a funny situation).

But recently I started to feel the itch . . . I want to see something else when I look in the mirror yet practically speaking, it's just not realistic.  I could grow it out but just thinking about the cost of getting it cornrowed makes me shudder.  I could work on really getting some length so I could do pulled back styles but eh, I don't have the time or patience to fuss that much.

Thought about a wig but with the scalp issues, that might be a bad, bad look.   Should I color it?  Any natural, quality hair colors out there?  And what color?  I have never, ever colored my hair but since I do have a bit of gray hair with more popping up every day, I had started to contemplate whether I would color it or not.

So any ideas?  What can you do with a lowboy to "freshen" it up?

Image courtesy of http://www.usmansheikh.com/success-factors/i-dont-want-to-change

Another use for vodka

We buy vodka around here to make vanilla extract and other tinctures. A few months ago, though, I started to use it as a deodorant and I really love it. A long time ago, I blogged about another liquid deodorant I made with lemon juice. That worked well, but this one works even better. It's basically the same recipe except you replace the lemon juice with vodka and reduce the amounts of essential oils.

All Natural Deodorant Spray

One 4 ounce spray bottle
3 parts vodka
1 part water
20 drops tea tree oil

20 drops of another essential oil (I've been using clove oil exclusively--I don't know . . . I like it)

Put everything in a bottle and shake well before each use.

I use this in combination with Kimberlily's Recipe for Cream Deodorant and it works just as well as Secret used to. I use it everyday except on occasions when I really don't want to sweat like if I'm going on an interview and I'll be nervous. For those occasions, I suck it up and use Dove which is, to me, although not as strong as Secret, easy to wash off (unlike Secret).

Just a note: you don't need the greatest vodka in the world for an underarm spray. You might want to get a little better quality for your tinctures and extracts although some sources say there's absolutely no difference in quality. I find that hard to believe though.

Photo Credit: "Tall True Russian Vodka" by True Russian Vodka on Flickr.com

I'm pretty dark-skinned

But I know I'm not the darkest skinned sister out there. My quest to find a nice foundation has been, to say the least, eye opening.

A few weeks back, I went and got my eyebrows threaded. I absolutely loved the results and it was no more painful ore expensive than waxing. After that, I headed on over to Macy's to visit the MAC counter. I ended up dropping a wad of cash on makeup (well, not that much but to me, it was a lot) and the most expensive item was foundation.

I used the foundation for about three days before I finally admitted that it was just not working. Maybe I should have gotten the oil control stuff too but, my goodness! After just a few hours, my face was so oily you could fry plantains on it. And the stuff rubbed off so easily. I used to wear this foundation a long time ago and I don't remember it being such a pain. Maybe I just had a higher tolerance for that kind of stuff . . . I don't know.

But what I think annoys me most is that the darkest color MAC sells (NW55) is still not quite as dark as me. I had to blend and blend and blend to get the makeup to look natural and even then, it didn't look all that natural.

Thank goodness for a lenient return policy. I was so glad to have that money back in hand.

So last Friday was rainy and my friends and I decided to go to the mall where there's plenty of space for the kids to run. I took the opportunity to go to Sephora so I could try Bare Essentials, which so many folks had recommended to me as a light, non-irritating makeup. I was dumbfounded to find that the darkest foundation they had was about three shades too light for me. And they have the nerve to call it "Deepest Dark".

I did discover the Makeup Forever line. My color is #185 which is the darkest color they sell. I didn't have to do much blending when I put it on and it provided great coverage. But it was about $40.00 so I didn't get it. Also, I understand now from trying so many different brands that another issue is that many of the make-ups do not match my red undertone. So while the #185 blended easily, it wasn't perfect.

But am I missing something? I know there are sisters as dark as I am and darker who wear foundation and such. Where do we go for options? Are there no options? I know these companies aren't necessarily catering to the darker-hued amongst us but it looks like they are making an effort . . .

The hubby, who's not really feeling me wearing makeup anyway, says it's a sign that I shouldn't be wearing makeup. LoL . . . it's almost not even possible for me to wear makeup!

Someone suggested Imani's line but it's not something you can try on before buying as it's only sold in pharmacies. Not to mention that my skin nowadays seems more prone to reacting to things than it used to be. Those few days of MAC foundation were not very kind to my skin. There's also Bobbi Brown, which is just as pricey as Makeup Forever.

I think I may just turn my attention to evening out my skin tone and minimizing the damage from acne but I'm still open to ideas. I want a quick and easy makeup routine that keeps my skin healthy and not too oily and that looks natural and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Is that possible?

Nightime Lip Conditioner

I've mentioned that before I go to sleep every night, I make sure to put on lip balm. Last night I realized I didn't have any more left. What to do?

Recently, the hubby has been experimenting with body butters that feature lanolin as an ingredient so there was a tub in the bathroom with just pure lanolin in it. I decided to use it on my lips. After all, many of the lip balms I buy have some lanolin in it anyway.

I was first introduced to lanolin because of sore, cracked nipples in my second trimester of pregnancy with Z1 and used it faithfully during those painful first few weeks of nursing him. The smell was kind of iffy but it worked fabulously. Later on as I discovered wool for cloth diapering, lanolin became important again because it is what gives wool it's waterproofing properties. So we have had lanolin around the house for a while now.

I'm sticking with it, ya'll. It's great. I woke up and my lips were soft and did not feel dry at all. I put some more on this morning and with my regular lip balms, I'd be ready to reapply by now. But this stuff lasts!

I've always been a huge lip balm fan. Back in the day it was Vaseline all the way but I moved away from mineral oil in my body products. I can't say I've found the best solution for my lips in all the numerous mineral-oil free lip balms I've tried but, and maybe it's really to early to say, I think the lanolin comes close.

If you're worried about the purity of the lanolin you use on your body, buy Lansinoh brand lanolin (which is triple purified) or some other high quality lanolin. Be aware, that there is no such thing as "organic" lanolin so just go with a company you trust.

Photo Courtesy of http://en.heilkraeuter.net/ointment/lanolin-anhydrous.jpg

The Water Question

A few months ago, we finally purchased a water filter. We had tried the Brita and Pur water filters but each filter could only filter about a week's worth of water. We figured that it's because our house is old and there must be lots of sediment in the pipes. Remembering what things are like in Ghana and Nigeria, I even tried to get on a more frugal, simple living tip and rock the tap water but I just couldn't. The smell of chlorine was just too much and I was very concerned about the possible lead leaching from the pipes (even though I was taking steps to reduce the lead). So on the recommendation of Kristen over at Kristen's Raw (a great resource for those trying to incorporate more raw food into the diet or transition to a raw foods lifestyle), we purchased the Multi-Pure Counter Top Water Filter System CBVOCSC.

Product Description
Multi-Pure Countertop CBVOCSC Water Filter, our finest Countertop Filter. Rugged, attractive Stainless Steel Countertop Water Filter with hose and Diverter Valve. This unit may also be purchased as an undercounter system or converted to an undercounter system with the purchase of a conversion kit (offered separately). The water from this filter system is the best we've ever tested! Filters Chlorine taste and odor, as well as: 97% Chloramine, 99% Lead, 97% MTBE, Mercury 96%, VOC's 99%, Asbestos 99%, Giardia and Cryptosporidium 99.95% and much, much more. Complete lab tests and California certifications available at our web site. Size approx. 8" Diam. x 10" tall. Includes filter cartridge CBTVOC (was MPPTCB). Replacement filter cartridges last for 750 gallons minimum. For municipally treated water only.

Multi-Pure is a stand-up company and after lots of research I feel they are trustworthy. We are extremely pleased. Even my skeptical hubby, who seems to not mind nasty behind tap water is impressed. The water that comes out of this thing is far better than any bottled water I have ever had. And the elimination of weekly runs to the store to buy bottled water is priceless. Not to mention we are doing our small part to reduce the amount of waste taking up space in landfills. Initially I was going to purchase it at Amazon but BestFilters is the company that actually sells it. I went to their direct website and was able to find the filter. I found a coupon for it and the whole thing shipping and handling included cost $288. We've had it for more than 2 months now and it seems to work exceptionally well. With the replacement filter cartridge costing $60.00, we worried that we'd have to change the filter cartridge too soon but thankfully that has not been the case. We actually wish we had bought it earlier.

My only thing is that I wish it filtered out fluoride but that would take a reverse osmosis system. RO systems filter out everything and I'd like some minerals in the water. Also, RO systems require lots of installation. The filter we purchased was exceedingly simple to install. I did it by myself in about 15 minutes.

A bonus of buying from BestFilters direct is that they sent a free stainless steel thermos which the hubby now uses as his water bottle. Last summer I bought stainless steel water bottles for myself and the kids. You remember the whole plastic brouhaha? Suprisingly, I didn't wig out until I accidentally left my Nalgene bottle in the car on a hot summer day. I tasted the water (why did I do that?) and it was very clear that something just wasn't right. I set about to replace our plastic water bottles with something better (hopefully, until they tell us that stainless steel is toxic too). The hubby, of course, thought I was making too big a fuss, that I think everything is toxic blah blah blah. He's since changed his song after tasting water that has been sitting in a plastic bottle and water that has been sitting in steel. Big difference.

Anyway, Z1 and I have Kleen Kanteen bottles purchased from Reusablebags.com with a coupon (I forget what it was for but I was quite excited about it at the time). I have a 40 ounce and he has an 18 ounce. We both have sports caps because the mouth is too wide to drink from neatly while staying perfectly still much less driving or playing. Kleen Kanteen bottles are basic stainless steel that seem durable. We didn't get colors or anything--just the basic. We added stickers and stuff to ours to personalize them. Little Z2 has a Thermos Foogo 12-ounce stainless steel bottle with a straw which has proven to be good quality too. We fill them up each day so we rarely use cups for drinking water which conserves washing water (and dishwashing liquid). Drinking from the bottle also helps me keep track of the water I drink. They are indeed heavy but I've grown not to mind so much. A little weight lifting ain't never hurt nobody. I hope all our bottles last a very long time.

The water question? Answered. Very satisfactorily I might add.

"On the Rag"

I've been using cloth menstrual pads for about three years now and I will never go back to paper/plastic pads. Post-partum after Z2, I tried to use disposable pads and after a day or two, I couldn't take it anymore and got out my cloth. I find cloth to be far more comfortable than disposable but also surprisingly as effective.

Photo Courtesy of www.moonpads.com

The minute I tell folks I use cloth menstrual pads, their expression noticeably changes into one of confusion and sometimes disgust. But as I glowingly tell them about the benefits of cloth both to myself and to the environment, they start to listen and realize it's not so weird or strange after all.

My switch to cloth pads was a natural progression since I was already cloth diapering my son. There are basically two natural (reusable) options for menstrual blood collection: a cup, which is emptied out periodically and then rinsed and re-inserted or cloth pads which are washed. Since I never really liked tampons I decided to go with pads.

Like with cloth diapers, I didn't know many people personally who used them and I just jumped right in to try to find what worked for me. Initially, I collected patterns in hopes of sewing my own but as with diapers, a serger, which I don't have, would produce a much better finished product. As such, I purchased an assortment of pads some of which I absolutely love and some of which I use as a last resort or just because I have them.

The first cloth pads I acquired were GladRags through a co-op on MDC for a significantly lower price than retail. Actually, a sistren of mine at the time did mention using these pads once and she seemed to like them so I was excited about getting them. I purchased three cotton day pads and one organic overnight cotton pad. How these pads work is that there's a pocket where you can slip in absorbent cotton inserts depending on how much protection you need. I find the day pads are a tad bit short for me and when I first started using them, I never felt quite comfortable. As my flow lightened though, they worked better. The overnight pad is nice and long although I wish the inserts were a bit longer (they are the same length as the day pad inserts). Over time, I've purchased two more overnight pads. GladRags are high quality pads that I don't mind recommending.

Next I turned to Ebay and found the seller "Naomiomy". This seller sells basic, quality pads. They're made from flannel and so they are very soft and quite comfortable. Again, when I first started using cloth, I found these to be too narrow (although long enough). As time went on though, I found that they do the job. And the price is quite right especially compared to GladRags.

On Ebay, I also found Ama'z Padz (she doesn't sell on Ebay anymore because she has a store on Hyena Cart) which are my absolute FAVORITE pads in the world. In fact, I just ordered some more recently. Ama'z Padz are ingenious. Although she does sell all-in-ones and other types of pads, I am partial to her original padz (click link to see how they work). The regular pad is perfect for me lenghtwise and widthwise. They are so absorbent, deceptively so since they are quite thin in comparison to other cloth pads and even to regular disposable pads. They are also very convenient to use. These are the pads I use if I'm going out and the ones I used when I was working outside of the home. I love, love, love them.

I have one LunaPad that I bought when I couldn't get more Ama'z Padz (I was always missing her re-stocking). I can't stand that pad but I wear it because I have it. It's soft and comfortable but I don't get how the rick-rack stuff is supposed to hold the pad in place. I generally turn it upside down, ignore the rick-rack to wear it and it's not bad that way. Very absorbent and pretty too.

I have three panty liners that I bought on Ebay too. They are an all-in-one situation, are cute, absorbent and fit neatly in my bag when folded up. I carry these around in case my period comes unexpectedly (which it never does but old habits die hard). I looked on Ebay to see if I could find the seller but no luck.

There was one last Ebay purchase of flannel all-in-one pads. That purchase was a complete miss and I will only use those on the very, absolute last day of my period.

Most of my pads are cotton/flannel but many use hemp and fleece (which stays dry to the touch even when wet). I do not have any that have a waterproof backing (PUL) and I find I haven't needed that. I like the fact that all the pads I have are 100% breathable. That has eliminated the issues I had with disposable pads in terms of it being too hot in the summer, itchy, etc . . .

Now to the knitty-gritty of using cloth . . .

Most cloth pads are secured using snaps (most of mine do). Some use velcro. Some just lay in your underwear and friction keeps them in place (one overnight pad my sistren sewed for me works this way and it works well, suprisingly). I, like many other woman, have "period panties". My "period panties" are not dark-colored or anything. They are just slightly smaller than my regular panties. This helps to keep the pads in place and the pads keep the tighter panties from being too wedgie-fabulous.

I change my pads pretty regularly throughout the day and it seems to be about every time I go to the bathroom. That averages about 5-6 pads daily. I change not because the pad is full but mainly to feel fresh. When I take a pad off, I soak it in a pail with water and hydrogen peroxide or color-safe bleach. The pail (which is, by the way, not see-through) is covered for the kids' safety and also for the sake of the hubby and guests who I don't think need or want to run into a bucket full of bloody pads. But that's just me. I change the water daily until it's time for wash day.

I used to wash my pads by hand but I felt I was wasting water so I started to wash them in the machine. No special procedure: I simply washed with whatever detergent I had and hung them to dry or dried them in the dryer. Nowadays, I wash my pads along with the diapers. I was skeptical about doing this at first but I realized that the diapers get rinsed first, washed on the longest hot cycle then rinsed again. Everything comes out smelling and looking clean and fresh. No stains or anything. Plus, I don't use any extra water to wash my pads which is great.

To go out, I carry my pads in a plastic cosmetic bag that is divided in two sections. One section I stow my clean pads and the other section holds my used ones. Once I arrive home, I empty out the wet bag (that's holding used diapers) into the diaper pail and I put my used pads in to soak.

To store my pads, I use a jumbo-sized Rubbermaid clear plastic rectangular food storage container with a lid. While I'm on my period and using the pads, I rarely put the lid on. Once my flow is over, I organize my pads neatly and put the lid on ready for next month.

Back to the hubby issue. It took a little convincing to get the hubby to be okay with the cloth pads. He, like many others, thought it was gross and a bit too much work. But after I showed him what it was about and didn't act grossed out myself (because I wasn't) and drew lots of comparisons to cloth diapering, he accepted it as a normal part of life and now is all for cloth pads. Because, of course, in the long run using cloth pads saves money and the hubby is all about that. I would say the start up costs/the money I've spent to date on cloth pads is about $125-$130 dollars. I have 18 day pads, 3 liners and 3 overnight pads. I used to buy a pack of Always overnight pads (which I would just about finish during the first 4 days of my period) for about $5 or $6 and I'd use a pack of regular pads to finish out my period. That adds up and so now that I've been using cloth for so many years, it makes financial sense. Some frugal mamas, I've heard, even use newborn unbleached prefold diapers as pads and that would be a very inexpensive way to go.

I'm pretty sure by the time I need to buy more pads, i.e.when these ones are worn out, I will be ready to sew my own (which would be the most cost-effective route). But right now, I'm quite pleased with what I have.

Many women who use cloth use the soak water to water their houseplants. We buried Z2's placenta in the backward where the garden will be (we decided against relocating it) and I can see using the soak water to water the plants back there. After all, that menstrual blood is what would have sustained life. That would make the garden uniquely mine.

Saying a woman is "on the rag" is a slang term to express that she's menstruating. Back in the day, many women used cloth to catch their menstrual blood since disposable pads were not available yet or very expensive. I'm not sure if it's derogatory or not to use the term but I like the way it sounds. It's not bad being "on the rag," quite literally.

Recommended reading: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.

While I don't celebrate Christmas,

I do enjoy the energy that's in the air around this time. This year, however, the energy was not so, ummm, energetic. I guess it's going to take a while for people to become accustomed to less stuff. I heard the disappointment in my niece's voice about her lack of Christmas gifts this year. I know many are feeling the same way.

Anyway, everyone knows I like to bake and so that's what I decided to do this year. I made banana bread and pumpkin bread. Unfortunately, the banana breads that I made got burnt on the bottoms pretty badly because I had them in the oven on too high a temperature trying to get them to bake all the way through in an hour instead of an hour and 15-20 minutes. The temperature was far too high: 400 when it was supposed to be 350. I think I will try 375 next time and check every five minutes after it has been in there for 40 minutes. Or just bake the darn things at 350 for an hour and 15-20 minutes. (LoL . . . I hate when my impatience gets the best of me.) Luckily, those ones were going to family so I sliced off the burnt bottom of one and packaged it then sliced off the burnt bottom of another one and cut it into slices and served it on a plate. I still want to bake for some other friends but I'm not sure when I will have time to bring it to them or when they'll have time to pick it up. Anyway, here's how I presented the bread:I'm thinking that next year I will start early to advertise doing holiday breads and cookies. This was the first one I did and as I did more, I think they got better. The cellophane wrap and the ribbon all came from the 99c Store. I wrapped the bread in clear plastic wrap first so that the bread wouldn't be directly against the cellophane. I'm thinking I could sell a loaf or a dozen cookies for maybe $15, wrapped and all and I'd make a good profit. We'll see.
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In other news,I went to Super Stop and Shop to pick up a few things the other day. I wanted to buy some more Noxzema. I noticed they had the store brand right next to it for half the price. The great thing, though, was that it was missing many of the questionable ingredients in Noxzema like methyparaben and propylparaben. And it seems to work just as well. I think what I'm going to do is stick with the knock-off Noxzema for daily cleansing and do an oil cleansing once a week. It's a bit of a time consuming process so that's why I think once weekly will have to suffice.

I borrowed Dance of the Inches: Fat Burning Belly Dance from the library and I like it. It's fun to do and Z1 does it too. Z2, on the other hand, seems to feel like he's being ignored and will not stay in his playpen. When I take him out, he tries to climb me. You cannot get your belly dance on with a baby trying to climb you. It makes for good comedic material. Anyway, I found the DVD on ebay for about $5. I also borrowed Wai Lana's beginner's yoga cd. It's due today and I haven't even popped it into the player. Hope I can renew it and get to it.

Well, here's to hoping that the year ends out peacefully.

Tweaking the Beauty Regimen

For me, simple is best. I know the best beauty regimen is eating well, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep. I try to do these things as best I can but, of course, there is always room for improvement.

Anyway . . . I decided a few weeks ago that the facial care routine I'd been using before having kids (and that was working well) just was not cutting it anymore. So I tried honey as a cleanser and that seemed to not work well enough to cleanse my skin, i.e. breakout central. Now I'm trying Noxzema--the old school white stuff. Far from natural, I know but it seems to be doing the trick. I wash with the Noxzema morning and night, tone with diluted apple cider vinegar, wet my hands a little and mix in about 4 drops of jojoba oil for a moisturizer. I wake up with glowing skin. Most of the time blemish free. I'm going to keep it up for a few more weeks to see how it goes. The next thing to try is cleansing with oil. I'm a little nervous to try anything else since what I'm doing now seems to work but I will try it after the jar of Noxzema is done. If it works equally as well, I'll stick with it. I really prefer the natural stuff.

I'm employing another far-from-natural product on my hair: Murray's Pomade. Since my hair is quite short right now there's not that many styling options. So what I've been doing is to wash my hair twice a week and apply Murray's Pomade daily. The stuff is t.h.i.c.k. and it generates serious heat in your hands while you rub them together to make it soft enough to put on your hair. I then brush with a boar bristle brush and put on a silk scarf. This gives my hair a sheen and a soft wave without it being oily and gunky (like with gel). It looks polished and refined, I think. Cute. If I could find a way to achieve the look naturally, that would be fabulous but most folks I know agree that Murray's Pomade is the way to go.

As for my dry winter skin, I have found that Eucerin does not do a darn thing. It kind of just rests on the skin and then gets rubbed off by my clothes. What has been working is mixing body butter (I just mix pure shea butter with a little olive oil to soften it) and Trader Joe's Moisturizing Cream. TJ's stuff is not tested on animals and contains no mineral oil although it does boast a long list of ingredients some of which I don't recognize. What I need to look for now is a really good hand salve because since I use my hands so much and wash them so often, they are cracking and peeling like nobody's business. I think Burt's Bees makes one.

Anyway, as you get to be a grown woman you find that your body (mind and soul, for that matter) need different things. Every part. It's not always fun trying to figure out what it needs but it's very nice and very satisfying once you do.

Helping My Skin Glow

I watched a little bit of Oprah yesterday and they had dermatologists on there. I was a little disappointed that they didn't show women of color but, I admit, I only watched the first 15 minutes. But anyway, my skin has been presenting some challenges recently and I've been thinking about how I can correct it without spending money I don't have.

I used to have really oily skin which I had learned to manage quite well and which was on it's way to being "good skin". And then the babies came. Now my skin is really dry most of the time and, interestingly enough, I'm dealing with acne breakouts again. Thankfully they are not the breakouts of my teenage years (all over/not one area of my face pimple free). So it's time to redo my skin care routine to try to get my skin back to glowing. I had tried honey as a cleanser before but it seemed to jerk around with my allergies. I'm trying it again and moisturizing (or sealing in moisture) with jojoba oil. I did it last night before bed, no allergy flare ups and my skin looked really good this morning (not ashy). I'm going to keep it up for a week or two and see if it will keep breakouts at bay. The hubby uses ground oats as an exfoliant--I might get into that too. The exfoliant that I had been using (by Queen Helene) I think is a little too harsh. My face feels tight and brutalized after using. I'm going to recommit also to doing a facial mask on Saturday although I'm not really sure if the ones I have are good for my skin (again after doing it my skin feels tight--but I think that might actually be the point of masks, I'm not sure).

Now for the dry skin that's made worse by winter, I broke down and bought some Eucerin. At least I'm not itching all over the place. I don't think I'm ready to make a full-fledged foray back into the world of chemical cosmetics but my scalp and hair are dry and sore enough that I am going to also have to break down and try Head and Shoulders to see if it will help some. This is as I wait to see another dermatologist (and what the first dermatologist I had seen recommended).

I've been taking cod liver oil (high Vitamin A and D) but only sporadically. So I'm recommitting to it in hopes that it will help my skin along this winter. Blech.

Basically I have my feelers out trying to find inexpensive ways to help my skin get back to glowing. Now, I know genetically I'm prone to acne and I do have a lot of dark marks and acne skin (big pores, etc). But if I can at least have skin that's not dull, that's pimple free, moisturized and healthy, I'll take that. I know also that my skin probably won't wrinkle and crack as I get older (my mom is in her late 50s and still has acne issues but not one wrinkle) . . . so I'm just trying to make sure that I'm wrinkle and crack free well into my senior years.

Oh, and I'm thinking of cutting my hair into a dark caesar. The hubby is against it but honestly, my hair has fallen out a lot, is patchy and combing it pulls out a lot of hair every time. I was hoping that as it grew, I could maybe find a few dollars to get kinky twists put in (I look good with longer hair but not necessarily hair that hangs down--full hair styles complement my face). But my hair is uneven right now, I can't say that it's actually growing (there a times when my hair stops growing altogether) and honestly the money for a style is not in the budget. DH could cut it and I think it would be neat and very manageable. We'll see.