So I've been really into pen pals for the past month or so. I've been using a website called penpalsnow.com to find people to write to and, as of today, I've accumulated about 17 or 18 potential postal friends. Which seems like a whole heck of a lot of people to write to.
Yesterday I sent out about 15 letters to people whose addresses I already had and it turned out to be kind of a big hassle and a big expense (since my printer was out of ink and I'm broke). I'm really, really, incredibly excited, though, to get some responses in my mailbox.
I've already gotten one package from a wonderful young man in Northern Ireland. It contained, in addition to 6-page letter, an assortment of Cadbury candy bars which can only be found in the UK. And if you've never had Cadbury chocolate from the UK, you are missing out, my friend.
As with pretty much everything new I do, I am getting pretty obsessed with it and probably going overboard. I'm just really hoping that I don't get burnt out on it like I do so many other things.
3.27.2012
Here is the most recent picture I have of myself and, even though I'm obviously wearing makeup, it's not so heaped on that you wouldn't be able to see breakouts under it. And I see only one or two breakouts, and that's if I look really, really hard. So that's how my skin is looking with the Retin-A, benzoyl peroxide, and Neutrogena cleanser. Much better.
P.S. Yes, I am totally best friends with Sage Francis. Obvi.
music monday (tuesday)
I put this video up on facebook yesterday and people really seemed to enjoy it so I thought I'd share it here. This is the same band that does "Best Song Everrr," which I think has an even cooler video than this but it's way less PG.
update on skin care
To follow up on the face cleansing routine I was doing: I gave it up.
I washed with sesame seed oil for about a week but my skin was becoming too dry so I switched over to only using honey (as a mask and as a cleanser) for the second week. As I expected, I experienced more breakouts during these first two weeks, which initially consisted pretty severe cyst-like acne and then eventually cleared up a bit with only occasional white-heads remaining. The great thing about the honey is that during the second and third week I used it, it cleared up my breakouts really quickly. The bad thing was that I was still breaking out more that I had when I was using soaps and medications, even during the third week of my new routine.
Toward the end of the third week of my all-natural cleansing trial, I started using the Retin-A gel again and a few days later I re-incorporated my benzoyl peroxide gel. About a week later, I gave up the honey entirely (the mask was a little too time consuming to do every day and simply using it as a cleanser didn't seem to be doing much) and switched back to my Neutrogena face wash. The three products I'm using now are actually working really well and my face is about as clear as it's been in years. This is exactly what I was doing before I tried the oil and honey routine so I'm not sure why it's working so much better now than it was then. Maybe my diet has improved or I'm wearing makeup more infrequently. Whatever it is, it's working.
I washed with sesame seed oil for about a week but my skin was becoming too dry so I switched over to only using honey (as a mask and as a cleanser) for the second week. As I expected, I experienced more breakouts during these first two weeks, which initially consisted pretty severe cyst-like acne and then eventually cleared up a bit with only occasional white-heads remaining. The great thing about the honey is that during the second and third week I used it, it cleared up my breakouts really quickly. The bad thing was that I was still breaking out more that I had when I was using soaps and medications, even during the third week of my new routine.
Toward the end of the third week of my all-natural cleansing trial, I started using the Retin-A gel again and a few days later I re-incorporated my benzoyl peroxide gel. About a week later, I gave up the honey entirely (the mask was a little too time consuming to do every day and simply using it as a cleanser didn't seem to be doing much) and switched back to my Neutrogena face wash. The three products I'm using now are actually working really well and my face is about as clear as it's been in years. This is exactly what I was doing before I tried the oil and honey routine so I'm not sure why it's working so much better now than it was then. Maybe my diet has improved or I'm wearing makeup more infrequently. Whatever it is, it's working.
2.01.2012
How To Tuesday: Wear Your Hair When You Haven't Combed It
Okay. I haven't brushed my hair in four days. I stayed in for three days straight and since my hair is not easy to comb, I just let it go. Today I was running late and knew it would take forever to get all the tangles out so again, I just let it go. But since I was going to be in public, I couldn't just leave it looking like a cavewoman mane. So I put it up in a yarn messy bun, which I first learned about at A Beautiful Mess. Except this turned out to be a really messy bun.
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| I was running late, but not so late that I couldn't take these pictures before getting out of the car. |
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| The back of the bun. Reallly messy. |
I just wrapped the piece of yarn around my head behind my bangs, attempted to weave it into my rat's nest of hair, and pinned it up.
Later, I took the yarn and pins out and put it into a side ponytail for some casual socializing.
It's still obviously uncombed, but both hairstyles look better than my previous totally out of control anti-hairstyle. I should also mention that after I washed it this morning, I put some olive oil in the bottom half and then partially rinsed it out in an attempt to prevent too much frizz. I think it worked as well as it could have.
So when am I planning on combing my hair?
I don't know. I'm kind of liking the gnarly side pony.
1.31.2012
New Skin Care Routine: Day 2
I have to admit, it's a little embarrassing for me to put up pictures of myself without makeup and with the camera pointed specifically to capture my acne. But I want to show the realities of this new skin care regimen. Here I am with my second honey mask of the day (I decided to do one in the morning and one in the afternoon since I was home all day).
The acne still looks bad, but after washing the honey off, my face feels amazing. I guess I'm really getting into this natural cleansing stuff because I also took a shower and washed only with olive oil (I still used shampoo on my hair). Again, it physically felt good, but I don't have that clean and fresh sensation I normally do when I come out of the shower.
The acne still looks bad, but after washing the honey off, my face feels amazing. I guess I'm really getting into this natural cleansing stuff because I also took a shower and washed only with olive oil (I still used shampoo on my hair). Again, it physically felt good, but I don't have that clean and fresh sensation I normally do when I come out of the shower.
1.30.2012
New Skin Care Routine
If there was one thing I could change about my appearance, it would definitely be my skin. It seems like I've been struggling with acne for as long as I can remember. Or more realistically, since I was about 11. It was around that time that most of my peers were discovering how much appearance mattered, especially for girls. I watched many of my friends struggle with their body shape but my insecurities revolved around the pimples that popped up in the most obvious places, an affliction I alone seemed to have. At least at that age.
After a few years of battling my skin with over-the-counter products, my mom took me to the dermatologist. Since then, I've been devotedly following a regimen that slightly adjusted and updated every few years when new pills, creams, and topical gels arrive on the market. I am now 26, and nothing has really given me the results I've been hoping for.
Most recently, I've been using a combination of a benzoyl peroxide cream during the day, a tretinoin gel at night, and a birth control pill that is supposed to decrease acne. I use Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser to wash my face twice a day. I also wear minimal makeup and have tried numerous moisturizers or no moisturizer at all (the moisturizer doesn't make much difference).
Within the past week, I've started taking a skin, hair, and nails multivitamin, a probiotic, and omega-3. I've also started using sunflower seed oil after I wash my face in the morning, an idea I got from an article about the Oil Cleansing Method on Crunchy Betty.
Today I was looking at some honey in my kitchen and thought I remembered something about honey face masks being good for acne so I went on the internet and found this lovely piece from Laurel of Leaves. I suddenly felt all motivated and optimistic about the possibility of maybe, once in my adult life, having good skin.
I decided to start out as simply as possible and create a two-product routine. I'm cutting out all the products I've been using - even my regular cleanser. Instead I'll be applying honey to my face half an hour before I shower in the morning. When I rinse it off in the shower, I'll consider my face to be ready for the day and won't use any other washes, creams, or moisturizers. In the evening, I'll use the sunflower seed oil to wash off whatever make-up I've had on. That's it.
After two weeks, I'll assess how my skin is doing. Different products have, in the past, either made my skin very oily, or very dry. I'm going to resist using a moisturizer for the first two weeks to see if my skin can finally balance itself.
Today is my first day of this experiment. I have done the honey mask so far and nothing else. After my shower, my skin felt smooth, but after an hour or so, it had gotten a little dry.
Here's how my skin looked today after the honey:
So, does my new skin care routine seem like a good idea? Does anyone have experience using honey or the oil cleansing method?
After a few years of battling my skin with over-the-counter products, my mom took me to the dermatologist. Since then, I've been devotedly following a regimen that slightly adjusted and updated every few years when new pills, creams, and topical gels arrive on the market. I am now 26, and nothing has really given me the results I've been hoping for.
Most recently, I've been using a combination of a benzoyl peroxide cream during the day, a tretinoin gel at night, and a birth control pill that is supposed to decrease acne. I use Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser to wash my face twice a day. I also wear minimal makeup and have tried numerous moisturizers or no moisturizer at all (the moisturizer doesn't make much difference).
Within the past week, I've started taking a skin, hair, and nails multivitamin, a probiotic, and omega-3. I've also started using sunflower seed oil after I wash my face in the morning, an idea I got from an article about the Oil Cleansing Method on Crunchy Betty.
Today I was looking at some honey in my kitchen and thought I remembered something about honey face masks being good for acne so I went on the internet and found this lovely piece from Laurel of Leaves. I suddenly felt all motivated and optimistic about the possibility of maybe, once in my adult life, having good skin.
I decided to start out as simply as possible and create a two-product routine. I'm cutting out all the products I've been using - even my regular cleanser. Instead I'll be applying honey to my face half an hour before I shower in the morning. When I rinse it off in the shower, I'll consider my face to be ready for the day and won't use any other washes, creams, or moisturizers. In the evening, I'll use the sunflower seed oil to wash off whatever make-up I've had on. That's it.
After two weeks, I'll assess how my skin is doing. Different products have, in the past, either made my skin very oily, or very dry. I'm going to resist using a moisturizer for the first two weeks to see if my skin can finally balance itself.
Today is my first day of this experiment. I have done the honey mask so far and nothing else. After my shower, my skin felt smooth, but after an hour or so, it had gotten a little dry.
Here's how my skin looked today after the honey:
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| Note the giant, boil-like zit on my neck. |
I'll keep you updated on my progress.
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