Exfoliating Cleanser and Honey Mask

So, I have yet to try to make the acne/oily toner recipe I blogged about before, mainly because essential oils are expensive!  I did however begin a intense love affair with baking soda this weekend and I made my own facial cleanser.

Baking soda is good for my skin because it exfoliates.  I have been exfoliating my skin everyday for longer than I can remember with gentle acne wash scrubs.  If I don't use some kind of scrub my skin feels rough.  I mixed baking soda with lempn juice and made a grainy paste.  The lemon juice is good for acne and fading discolorations and scars.  The paste was soft and clumpy (pics tomorrow).  I wet my face and neck and massaged the paste on my skin in circular motions with my fingertips.  I had to rinse thouroughly because the baking soda does take a lot of water to flush clean. 

I won't be able to give any solid reveiws of how this new cleanser is working it usually takes my skin about 1 1/2 or 2 weeks to react so stay tuned for that.  I can say that my skin does feel baby soft and clean after the first use.

Honey has several benefits for the skin it's a moisturizer, full of nutritions and it has antioxidents.  It is also supposed to be used for treating acne as well.  I took pure honey and smeared a thin layer all over my face and let it sit for 10 minutes then flushed with water.  After the honey mask my skin feels moisturized but still clean and fresh. 

I will continue to wash once a day with just water and a wash cloth and once a day with the baking soda lemon juice cleanser.  I will do the honey mask once a week to start and on the days I don't use the honey mask I will moisturize with coconut oil before bed.  Pictures tomorrow.

Busy Bee

I have been too busy to post but I have a minute so here goes....

Ysabel LeMay

I came across this artist and she is giving my creativity life right now and I appreciate her for that.  Ysabel Lemay uses a technique called photo-fusion which is hundreds of photographs composed beautifully detail by detail into these amazing works.  Here is a link to her website Ysabel LeMay and a couple of my favorites from her portfolio.  She is amazing check her out.

The detail is almost unbelievable, she creates the most breathtaking pieces of art.  The layers and layers of nature upon nature go beyond dimension and make you feel like you can just walk in this world she creates.

Naggers Anonymous

I am standing on a soap box so be forewarned. What is the main complaint most husbands have about their wives? She nags too much, have you ever heard that? I hear men saying that all the time. I used to hear it all the time before I got married and I wondered what happens to women when they get married that turns them into that? I just looked at it with logic; every man can't tell the same lie so there must be some truth to it. There is. My hubby is smart enough to never say the n word to me; he goes around it by telling me I say the same thing over and over again. But, the accusation is still there. Here is what I learned about nagging and marriage. Of course you nag when you say something and it is ignored or disregarded the natural reactions are repeating yourself or making your request again. Now I can only speak for me but most little things I don't sweat. If I say, "Can you get the mail?" and he ignores me or doesn't do it I don't get all uptight. If it's about something minor or something I could do myself I don't care. Marriage sometimes is about picking your battles; you can't fight every one that leads nowhere. So I choose not to get myself all wound up about the simple things. The important issues, anything related to our child, finances, residence, loved ones, etc. yes I am going to nag, say the same thing same difference. Because my husband and I are partners it is mandatory for our priorities to be in sync that's the only way the operation will run smooth. So, it frustrates me when it has to get to the point of nagging about something that should strike the same sense of urgency or importance in my partner. So this is my new rule, husbands are no longer allowed to accuse wives of nagging if the topic is of significant importance. If this is the situation then the husband must take into account that they are somehow behaving in a way that is deficient. Marriage Law.

Call Me Nike

For so many years I have been talking about doing so many things. I watch cooking shows and the food network and say, "I wish I could cook like that or I'd like to make something like that one day." And I never did. In the interest of construction I am going to become a doer. Nothing to it but to do it J. I am starting off this revolution small so I am trying to cook at least one new main dish and one new dessert per week. The only rule is the recipe has to be completely new to me. I took advantage of the gift of a slow cooker hubby sprang on me last week and made a slow roasted chicken and slow cooker beef barbeque ribs. I also made cheesecake topped brownies and a triple layer Oreo pie. I feel so accomplished, it's the small things really that make a difference in the big picture, and hubby is in culinary heaven. On tonight's menu is honey glazed pineapple chicken over rice. There are so many more things in addition to being creative with food and learning how to cook new dishes that I want to accomplish. I am proving to myself dish by dish that I can do anything I set my mind to.

Peer Pressure

It has been said that when women dress they don't do so to impress the men they do so to impress the women. True statement, well at least with me it is. I am critical of myself and I am in turn critical of others under the same standards I put on myself. I've been on the giving and receiving end of girl-on-girl criticism and in an effort to eliminate it from myself I have begun to see it from the outside in. When I made the decision to free myself from relaxers the women in my life who were against it said things like, "So what, you're just going to wear your hair nappy?" Or the asked, "What if you have to go somewhere important or if you have a job interview?" Everyone has their own idea of beauty but I wonder if our "own idea" of beauty is being dictated (by whom is an entirely different mouthful) and perpetuated by us. With my hair situation I ran into a conflict with a deep set idea of "acceptable" hair for a black woman. Women who genuinely care for me said these things not to hurt me but it came from this dictated notion of how beauty should be achieved and because I was going against that it was automatically a negative thing. We watch the dove commercials and talk about accepting each other as women as we are but it doesn't show through in honest reactions I have encountered in so many situations when dealing with other women.

In the past I could have been classified as a mean girl and maybe some friends would still say that in certain situations so I am guilty of it too. And when I think about it we can't blame men entirely for the negative and narrow stereotypes and images of women in the media. We take the limited definition of beauty we are given and use that as the law book in which to judge the next woman. In my own experience I can say it's hard to remain confident in my idea of beauty and my appearance when "acceptable" is completely opposite. I find myself excited when I see another natural hair rocking woman when I am out and about. I feel an instant connection and respect for them like that's what I'm talking about fight the power. Because I choose to not straighten my hair or wear long wigs or weaves and because I choose not to dress over sexed I stick out like a sore thumb in my community. The same images are stressed in the media and you're left feeling like there is only one way to be. I'm glad I have gotten to a level of maturity that I can see through the peer pressure to fit into a box and gather the courage to be myself. You have to have that when you encounter a stranger through the course of your day and she gives you the once over, we are all too familiar with, and you just know that she is deciding if you fit into her beauty box.



 

Jumper

The marketing offer wasn't worth the wait, I'm sending my galleys back today.  I am letting go and opening myself to whatever opportunities publishing my first novel will bring.  I won't look down, not even when I'm in doubt.  My direction is only up.