I am a self proclaimed cafeteria ecologist. While I enjoy reading and hearing about ideas that would enable me leave a much smaller footprint on the earth when I vacate it, I usually enter such conversations with a certain (usually somewhat hefty) amount of skepticism. Sometimes I will see an unusually tempting article and jump right in. Those moments are fleeting and mostly unsuccessful. I find that for me, some period of contemplation is necessary - usually amounting to a couple of days of inner, "Are you crazy?" and "Everyone is going to think I have moved to an alternate universe." After those first days of insanity, I come to the moment of decision whether or not to bring up the subject to my husband. Most of the time my excitement is met with a rather large sigh on his part. He has learned over the years though that I can be very persistent and so, with much trepidation, gingerly comes on board. (Although, I have to interject here that more often than not he confesses that I have actually come up with a good idea!) Then there are the things that I can thankfully keep secret about until I'm completely ready to let the world know what I"m up to. This is one of those moments.
For several months I have come across articles, e-mails and TV segments about DIY skin treatments. Hmmmmm......
I have never been one to spend a lot of time at the make-up counters in those high-end stores at the mall. I really hate using all that chemical stuff that I can't pronounce. Although there is no way to completely avoid those ladies waiting to steer me onto a stool in their quest to make my wrinkles go away, I choose to briskly walk through, head turned, getting to the shoe department as quickly as possible. That is mostly because I would rather spend my money on shoes than expensive cosmetics. Now that I am - uh ahem - more mature, I do find that acne and flaking at the same time is rather unattractive and annoying however. There seems to be a large variety of homemade facial scrubs, wrinkle creams, teeth whiteners, shampoos, deodorants, etc, etc, etc. There is a consensus, however, concerning several ingredients for facial treatments. Citrus, honey, and olive oil (Seriously?? I want to put olive oil on my face? Don't you remember that I have red stuff on my face already? Acne is such a horrible four letter word!) Since I had no commitments in the coming few days that would require inspection by anyone outside of my house, I decided to give it a try. After all, what's the worst that can happen? The cat doesn't care, and unless I become a hideous monster overnight, my hubby won't care either! (Especially if I don't tell him what is going on.) Shhhhh......my secret...... Begin the experiment!!
With some minor reservations I mixed up equal parts of honey, oil, and fresh squeezed lemon and spread it on my face with my fingers. Yes, I know....never touch your face with your hands. That's never going to happen. I let it do whatever it was going to do for about 10 minutes before I stepped into the shower to scrub it off. Ten minutes is a very long time without glasses and nothing to do. Anyway, I spent the ten minutes after the shower examining my face. I didn't really see that it made a difference. In a good way, I guess. My face hadn't swollen or turned an even uglier blistery red. I withheld judgement for a couple of days. Then I thought, "Maybe I'll do it again."
As of this post, I have slathered this concoction on my face twice. It's actually making a huge difference! I love this stuff. Hey, and bonus - it's cheap! Excuse me - it's inexpensive.....and I have the ingredients in my fridge. I'm sold! Next stop DIY deodorant and cold showers. I think not!!!
Thanksgiving for the gift of
-Freedom won for me at the sacrifice of others much braver than I.
-Children's laughter reminding me of simple joys I often miss.
-Living in Paradise! I don't go to sleep listening to gunfire and wondering if my child will be an innocent casualty of war.
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