Hippie Beauty Remedies for Non-Hippies Part 3 : Products every half hippie should have

1. Yogurt and Salt
-for a weekly and biweekly scrub down.  No exact measurements necessary.  You get a spoonful of yogurt, a spoonful of salt, mix, and slather.  GENTLY.  easy peasy.

2. Witch Hazel--Non alcoholic swipe with a cotton pad all over your face and neck until no more dirt comes off. Watch redness calm down and your face start to glow.  I like Thayer's because it's alcohol free, no worry of the overdrying-->over oil producing cycle

3.   Jojoba oil--a few drops and rub all over face and neck, particularly in creases to plump up skin and erase wrinkles.

4. Plain old clover honey--a tablespoon mixed with a bit of water cover all areas of face and neck, leave on for no more than two minutes if you have sensitive skin.  Voila! Moisturized dry patches and calm acne patches.

5. Sunscreen! I use moisturizer with SPF 15 everyday, rain or shine.  I like Aveeno Ultra Calming (forget the exact name) for my sensitive skin.

That's all you need!  Don't forget to eat healthy.  Organic yogurt all the way--half of skin flareups come from a wonky intestinal track--get the good bacteria you need.

Hippie Beauty Remedies for Non-Hippies Part 2

...I mixed a concoction of super sour organic yogurt and table salt and slathered it on gently in circular motions.  It was great, the salt was exfoliated while the yogurt hydrated and softened, making it easier for dead cells to be polished away by the salt without overdrying (which would lead me back to the cycle of pimples) as well as cleansing itself with its lactic acid,  steering me to the perfectly balanced skin I was looking for. I left it on for 15 minutes and washed away.  My skin was poreless and glowy, my broken capillaries finally silent again.  It was like my own cheap version of Sabon's Face Polisher.

I did this for the rest of the week, leaving the unpalatable mixture in the fridge where the coldness further calmed the skin as well as let the concoction develop a satisfying thick consistency.  Gradually my skin returned to my original state, nearly pimple-less yet still moisturized.

With some leftover honey, a did a honey wash as well--known for its antibacterial properties it was great for my eczema prone and acne prone skin.  Don't leave it on for too long though, a 2-3 minute massage and wash is good enough. 

I tried some witch hazel as cleanser/toner, man did that leave my skin clean.  I love and hate when I see all the weird stuff that's been sitting on my face, and boy did my skin glow.

Jojoba to moisturize.  Use the right amount and you'll kill eczema and acne in one fell swoop. Too much and you'll beckon acne right back again.   Glowy soft skin. 

Words of Experience:

1.  I hope you can take these remedies and improve your own skin.  I know every now and then a fad pops off with dozens of women boasting they haven't washed their hair with store bought shampoos in forever and that their hair is BETTER than EVER while all the first of us see is a lanky mop on their heads and untweezed eyebrows.  But guess what, I still use shampoo.  I still use sunscreen.  I still have my tiny emergency tube of salicylic acid.  That doesn't mean these remedies don't work,  I'm saying it's a balance.  There is no miracle cure, it's a combination of treatments, You have healthy skin everyday, you don't have to worry about apocalyptic breakouts. But human creations still work, my friends.

2. Don't overdo it.  Americans have the tendency to latch onto a "miracle" cure-all from mother nature, slab it on by the ton, and when that backfires, they angrily declare that it's a phony. Well of COURSE if you leave the honey overnight you're going to have some sensitivity, OF COURSE if you drop have the bottle of jojoba on your face you're going to break out, it's ALL ABOUT MODERATION.  Salt makes food taste good.  So does garlic.  Does that mean you're going to add as much salt and garlic to a dish to make it taste good?

3. Some foods are better left for eating.  Does green tea work? Does lemon juice? I don't really know.  I've definitely not seen any harm (lemon juice you shouldn't leave on for more than a minute though) but I haven't seen enough of a benefit.  I'm telling you, some foods will do many more wonders for your skin and body in you ingest them rather than slather them on the surface.  Eat fish, don't rub the oil on your face.  Eat avocados, don't leave them in your hair.

4. Eat healthy.  Eating a cheeseburger everyday and using these remedies aren't going to do a load of help. Try a banana, and save the splurges for the weekend.  ( I still like cheeseburgers).
4. Everything is connected.  You don't treat dry skin OR pimples, they both come from the same problem.  Combination skin isn't such a radical idea, it's just human skin.



Next post: The last part!

Hippie Beauty Remedies for Non-Hippies Part 1

Homemade Remedies.  We get way too excited about them knowing that they're "free." But there's always that nagging feeling of "sure it sounds nice, smells nice, feels nice, but is it really doing anything or is it just the glorious placebo effect* of slathering honey and salt on my face?  Here I'm going to say which remedies actually work and which are better left for eating for now.


HOW IT ALL STARTED:

So this summer (summer always ravages my sensitive skin--sun and sweat...mmmm) I developed a whole field of under-the-skin almost-pimples across my forehead.  At first I was only slightly perturbed, blaming it on the sun and sweat and humidity at all.  I figured, once it was back-to-school season, my skin would get back to its relatively low-maintenance state.

BUT IT DIDN'T.  Sure, I was probably a little impatient waiting for an overnight recovery, but I was not used to this! See, I have dry, sensitive skin, prone to red blotchiness when it's too hot and horrible rashes that have their own eras, but pimples were not supposed to be my problem.  Other than a habit of Spf 15 everyday ( DO IT), I had no strict regimen of skin patrol.  Sure I always was interested in skin care more so than make up, but I really didn't have to worry about it to the point of washing my face with cleanser once a week.  Although I had my host of crazy allergies and eczema--on the whole, my skin was pretty healthy, constantly garnering envy of makeup-free even-ness and non-ruddiness, which I didn't appreciate (doesn't everyone have okay skin?).


But this, the under the cover little bumps that I was smug to discover on other peoples face --the at first glance facade of even tone but in a certain light...yep, there they were, the bumps--was not ME.  Exacerbated by my new found ruddiness of inadequate sunscreen application during hours of outdoor swimming--I mourned my once carefree skin.  Was this forever? was this the inevitable result of aging?



So I treated, and treated and treated.  Aggresively, attempting to dry those little suckers out.  Daily spreads of salicylic acid, Benzoyl Peroxide, those intense deep cleaning cleanser that double as masks, toothpaste, listerine.  I'd do it for an hour, I'd do it overnight.  Initially I got results, the bumps cooperatively reduced.  However, no effect. Whether it never truly worked in the first place--the alcohol just temporarily dried them out--or the overzealous method made my skin turn on itself churning out oil in the desert of my forehead like it was a mid-revolution Arab country--i think it was a combination of both.  I would wash my face every moment I head, imagining a clean and sterile state, bacteria dying on the spot.


But that wasn't how it worked.  The strong chemicals didn't give my skin a chance to recover, but I couldn't just NOT wash my face--in my delicate state that would just breed more of those HAH you can't treat me because i'm not a real pimple yet little bitches.

Sometime during this state of crisis I decided to start buying food from trader joe's be healthy, and also got a cold--amassing a collection of sour organic yogurt, green tea, salt, and honey.   Mid- grimace (dude it's so sour) during a healthy breakfast I spilled some yogurt on my arm (emily post I am not) and then lightbulb  in my head--I should use yogurt to clean my face!

To be Continued...






*You can also go to a very expensive spa and get this very expensive placebo effect

Simple recipes (now that I have mastered boiling water)

Hah you thought I was joking about simple...

For one or two or three on a midweek evening with minimal supplies and minimal kitchen.  If you can buy fresh basil all the time, you're too shmancy for this shit.

butter pasta:

1. pasta of your choice ( I like rotini)
2. parmesan cheese
3. fresh butter
4. black pepper
5. salt

Optional seasonings that spice up your dish: red pepper flakes, garlic salt, or onion salt.


serve with veggies of your choice

dice tomato pasta

1. pasta of your choice
2. parmesan cheese (I like parmesan cheese)
3. butter or olive oil
4. an herb: parsley, basil, or thyme.
5. garlic
6. salt
7. tomatoes! canned or fresh.  If fresh I prefer to sautee them real quick first to bring out the flavors of those out-of-season suckers.

Favorite Asian Cuisine By Region

1. Chinese
2. Japanese
3. Korean
4. Malaysian/Indonesian
5. Indian
6. Vietnamese
7. Thai
8. Filipino

Best films of 1988 (Objective and Subjective)

1. Land before Time
2. Dangerous Liasons
3. Beetlejuice
4. Die Hard
5. A Fish Called Wanda
6. Grave of the Fireflies
7. Who Killed Roger Rabbit

Jumpstart the kickstart

It's time to create the Fall/Winter 2011 collection need some hefty funds to make all the pretty designs reality.  Thus,  I made a kickstarter project to fund it.  There's some pretty awesome (super awesome) rewards to tickle your fancy.





A dollar, two, three, all would be apprecciated.  Doesn't matter if you donate out of curiosity or for a pretty necklace or ring, I'll be grateful for your donation.

Why

Why do I kept getting asked if I'm returning to my homeland whenever I say I'm visiting whatever country in Asia? No...I'm just going for vacation...

Why do religious people sometimes seem to be the most sinful? Using religion as reason for..anything.  "The pilgrimage sites were quick to capitalize on the sometimes massive visitations.  In essence, they advertised the miraculous benefits that pilgrims might realize by visiting their towns, and reaped the economic rewards" I, a "heathen," would never do that.  and even if I did, I wouldn't try to hide behind the lame excuse of religion.  And this is why I distrust organized religion.  I want to walk up to a one of these so-called Christians one day and say " You sir, are sinful!" And wait patiently as they condemn me to hell with a range of synonyms and euphemisms so vast that Roget would be beaming.

Why do Oreos taste so good even though they're basically made from crap? Yes, a warm, chewy homemade cookie is divine but can it replace the  sandwich of crackly meagerness and chemical shortening filling that is The Oreo?

Why is it cool to be one of the guys, but totally not to be one of the girls?

a real character

I have a professor, who, though eager to please, always manages to press the wrong buttons. He's a people pleaser, but with a Castronian sense of how the people should be pleased.   In appearance, he is equal parts Roald Dahl character (perhaps a mix of Charlie Bucket and BFG--the Quentin Blake illustrations), the quintessential pasty pointed face that's perpetually flushed from either embarrassment or repressed rage that flourishes in the pages of British children's novels.  Gabe from the Office in nervous lankiness, Bill Nye the Science Guy with his neatly parted waves of amber grain as repressed as his anger.  If he were a Modern Family character, he would be Mitchell.  The bad cop that always wants to be the fun parent and desperately asserts it by exclaiming, "I AM easy-going, dammit!" while his face flushes once more and he punctuates the statement with a bang of his fist.

current cravings

1. belgian waffles
2. stroopwafles
3. dulce de leche
4. spekuloos
5. spaghetti and meatballs
6. sea urchin pasta
7. foie gras
8. avocado sushi
9. guacamole
10. falafel
11. buffalo wings
12. poutine
13. popcorn chicken

you've been dooced.

There's the old-new age mantra, if you don't like it, don't read it.  Which was real big on dooce; the first time I stumbled onto the site the latest post was a routine exposure of all the gutless hatemail she receives,  passages from letters hung out to dry so that the internet public could shake their heads and throw tomatoes.  The writing felt biting and sardonic which was a sharp contrast to the colorful but pc design blogs I was principally reading. which I suppose was interesting to me at the time because this wasn't just a grown up lady's words, this was a mom.  Even though I have cousins her age, she just seemed like a real adult. And though the hatemail was as if written by a very angry and disapproving nine year old, her own writing was bitter and deadpan (albeit in a cool way), it made me wonder who exactly was the crazy one.  But she seemed so cool, with her cropped pixie cut and sharp chin, as vicious as her words.  I could totally see her as one of those women that I so would love to be friends with but probably not in person, but eager to please and ready to agree with her every word.

i began to predict the familiar structure of the posts, the hyperboles and metaphors with unexpected comparisons became expected and calculable.   With each excited capitalization and exclamation point it was as if a friend was clutching anxiously at your arm before the big reveal and then...nothing. Blurry punchlines and underwhelming revelations.

It seemed inevitable. Once you become a mom, and as long as you don't want child protection services being called on you, your humor inevitably becomes vanilla (not that there's anything wrong with it).  Even the "dude I'm still edgy and like radiohead and write a metaphor about a toilet involving an oozing pimple" is oh so momish.

And then the ads.  The giant banners stretched across the top of the page, blocks of eyesores that competed with the photos themselves.  Sure they're trying to make a living out of this blog, but it began to seem like a corporate attempt at family friendly with lines here and there about poop, sex, and lack of hygiene as if to say "hey hey, I'm still the same." But you're not.

Once you're making a living off the blog, running ads on it,  doesn't the whole read or leave thing  I'll write what I want to write and do what i want to do I don't care what you think thank you very much become (kind of) null?  Like selling your soul to the devil or reality tv.

Don't take this as a sayanora though.  I'll surely be stalking/checking out what's up just as often.  Like The Office, it may be more mellow these days with most attempts at humor obviously trying too hard, I just gotta know what happens next.

The White Stripes: A kindof obituary

the twang of country I normally can't stand besides  from the lips of the old greats like johnny cash and patsy cline is made soft and bearable through the white stripes.  The screechy banjo to haunting beats that lead you from blues to country to rock and back again that alternatively or simultaneously hook and numb. The lyrics sing of a nostalgia of the hardships and culture of the midwest and appalachia, a nostalgia that I never will fully understand, nor do I particularly want to.  Compassion perhaps, but never real empathy.

The indescribable role that meg plays in the background.  Her sparse beats hesitant and naive.  There is no doubt that there are thousands of others that play percussion better than her, there are thousands that play just as badly as her.  She is seen and not heard and yet she adds a tangible hint of peculiarity to the duo.  A hint that a female, but not just any female can add.  Her awkward posture is intriguing.  A femme fatale lithe and graceful would not add the same intrigue.

Sometimes it seems like it might as well be the jack white band.  with his numerous other endeavors that are arguably more idiosyncratic.  Songs like blue veins where jack wails like a wounded cat vaguely scatting.

But it's because of Meg that they are the White Stripes. The white and red band.  Without Meg, it's just The Stripes.

I had guacamole today

Apparently at the Gym they have free platters of food at 5 pm.  Don't know if it's everyday or just Mondays.  Obviously it was pretty much healthy stuff.  Fruit, Vegetable sticks, egg salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches.  But then I spotted the Guacamole! With nothing to dip it with.  I had to settle for some cucumber sticks.

Venice Film Festival

I was perusing the photos from the Venice Film Festival on people.com and a couple of the dresses actually made me :O :) :D.  It's beginning to seem like good acting/filmmaking correlates with good style.  Natalie Portman, Elle Fanning, Sophia Coppola, good job.  Jessica Alba, Jessica Alba, Jessica Alba, not so much


---
this was from almost a year ago. when black swan was just a vague and campy ballerina movie and now it's just a campy ballerina movie.

Tv Show pet peeves

1. when actors are supposed to be realistically crying in a dramatic scene and all they do is scrunch up their face and look like they're taking a dump

2. when they have supposedly heavy things and they're obviously filled with nothing (e.g. a whole stack of christmas presents, backpacks that are supposed to be filled with 20 books but clearly filled with air)

3. in comedies, when in order to show how esoterically smart someone is, they make him/her tell some dumb joke that even  a person who actually understood it wouldn't find it funny

4. when they have random well-known celebrity guest stars and try to play it off that they've been part of the show's universe the whole time when you KNOW they're only dropping in for an episode or two. And it's one thing to have them play a new character getting introduced, but just not believable when the writers try to play it off as them being in the backstory the whole time.  We KNOW gwyneth paltrow hasn't been subbing in mckinley high the whole time and the camera just magically wasn't on her this whole time, we KNOW that Jesse wasn't part of Vocal Adrenaline in the beginning episodes, we KNOW that Idina wasn't the coach for the past 10232 years, we KNOW Matt Damon wasn't piloting a plane whenever he wasn't standing next to Liz.  A-List actors never work as recurring guest stars.  We know what they're doing in real life.