Wonder Oil!
I was looking at my reflection in the mirror this morning and was shocked at what I saw. I saw. It's not that what I saw was disturbing; what was disturbing is that I hadn't seen it earlier. Because I Know it didn't just happen over night. I have had company for the last fortnight and I haven't been paying attention to things as I should. I Know... "All the above is cause by..." What I saw on my face was patches of dry skin. Yuck. I looked like a cheetah. You Know I handled that, right?
I get dry skin often. It's nothing new. I have eczema, though not on my face at this present writing. I just said that to let y'all Know that I'm sensitive like that. I am getting older and my skin doesn't turn over as fast as it did when I was in my 20's. In addition, I never had acne outside of monthly blemishes that came and went with my cycle. So I'm not blessed with an abundance of natural oil on my skin. And thirdly (is thirdly a word?) it's hella cold outside and kind of inside too, so I have to deal with changes in abrupt temperature changes and low humidity. My skin is not happy.
I did the daggone thing, bit the bullet and got a steroid shot. Actually I got two and I still have the bottle on my counter so I can get more if I feel like I need it. So my eczema is under control for the most part. I hate taking meds, but I will if I have to. Just not long term or forever. The doctor advised that I use Aquaphor on my body. It's a $20 grease. It better work. I still use liquid Crisco for the parts of my back I can't reach. And the cat still tries to lick it off me. Also, I have been using Eucerin Calming Bodywash in a cool shower. It smells bad but it seems to be working so I can't complain. I have learned that it is most effective not on a puff, but directly applied to the skin, rubbed in with my hand and then scrubbed off with a washcloth. I like puffs but don't really trust them to get my @$$ clean. But my face is different.
In a previous post I described my facial routine. It consists of Noxzema and Ambi. Now a days it is essentially the same. But... In order to quell the flakiness, I add a handful of baking soda to the Noxzema every other day. That's up from once a week when the weather is nice. It takes care of the dry patches. I SCRUB with my fingertips, allow it to stay there while I brush my teeth and then rinse it off. It smells a little like ammonia after the addition of the baking soda but don?t be concerned. It doesn't irritate my skin, make my eyes water or anything. I have heard folks say that baking soda is too abrasive... its not. I have cleaned my counters with baking soda and my fixtures. It's not Comet; it doesn?t scratch. When you rinse it off, it feels so silky. You have to actually rinse it off with a lot of water because it doesn't just rinse off clean. And since baking soda is natural, I'm not worried about any residue it leaves behind. If anything it will absorb excess oil.
But what I really wanted to Build with y'all about was my "Wonder Oil." WO is made of equal parts of olive oil, peanut, oil and castor oil. That's it. Olive oil is similar to naturals in oil and is easily absorbed in the skin. Peanut oil is good for healing. And castor oil is a good emollient. Pre mix and store. Don't try to keep all three oils on your counter and mix fresh each time. That's counterproductive. Don't mix loads of it because oil spoils over time and you won't be needing a grip of this to last a month. I make mine up in monthly batches. For a month's supply a tablespoon of each will do. And I use mine morning and evening. After rinsing my face, while it's still damp, I apply a just enough to lightly coat my face and then I get dressed. By the time I'm searching for a headwrap to match the day's outfit, the oil has absorbed enough for me to put on a layer of Ambi. Ambi is the Truth! I love that stuff and have been using it since I was a teenager. My skin is always bright and stays hydrated even with 19* wind assaulting it. I got that recipe for WO online a couple of years ago from some she-devils that swore by it. I figured if it worked for devils, with the grafted skin they have, it would work for me. It has. It is all natural and has shown and proven to be effective on my skin so I want to share it with y'all.
I'm over 30. Damn near something else. So I have come to see the value in a night cream. Night creams are VERY expensive for a little amount of product. I ain't falling for it. I Know older people that just use Vaseline on their faces at night. Ummmmmm... I ain't really ready for that. Maybe one day. Not today. I use Ponds Cold Cream as my night cream. The reason I thought it might be effective in the 1st place is because it is what my own grandmother used. I believe that my eczema was passed to me from her. I remember that she would only use certain products on her skin and bathe every other day. Initially I thought she was just old, picky and nasty. But as I've aged I noticed that frequent bathing bothers my skin. I still bathe daily; I just use a lot of stuff to combat the dryness. I tried the products she advocated, and they worked for me; though a lot of them you can't find anymore. I have a recipe for home made soap that I will give a try when I get the nerve. I?m scared of lye. But back to the topic... My grandmother used to slather Ponds on her face like a fiend. Any time she felt dry. So I tried it as a night cream and find that it is actually pretty soothing. I put my WO heavy around my eyes and the Ponds on top of everything. I believe it made a wrinkle fade! I Know it combats the dryness from the heat. My house is around 10 years old and doesn't have radiators or heaters. The heat comes from the ceiling right on my head. There is no strategical placement of water to provide moisture. I wake up less cracked when using the Ponds. Who Knew? Thanks MaMa... Kind of.
If my Grandmother in fact had eczema then that means she passed this painful condition to me and life threatening condition of asthma to my mother and brother. Bad asthma at that. And that means I could pass it on to my babies. Eczema is a genetic condition and is expressed either as eczema, rhinitis (sinusitis) or asthma. If I had to choose... I know I don't want the asthma (that could kill You), I don't Know about the rhinitis; but this eczema is not pleasant either and possibly disfiguring. Oh well. Can?t do anything about it Now. And she provided a blue print for me to follow so I won't suffer horribly. I'll take that as the best part.
Happy New Year Y'all
Peace
I get dry skin often. It's nothing new. I have eczema, though not on my face at this present writing. I just said that to let y'all Know that I'm sensitive like that. I am getting older and my skin doesn't turn over as fast as it did when I was in my 20's. In addition, I never had acne outside of monthly blemishes that came and went with my cycle. So I'm not blessed with an abundance of natural oil on my skin. And thirdly (is thirdly a word?) it's hella cold outside and kind of inside too, so I have to deal with changes in abrupt temperature changes and low humidity. My skin is not happy.
I did the daggone thing, bit the bullet and got a steroid shot. Actually I got two and I still have the bottle on my counter so I can get more if I feel like I need it. So my eczema is under control for the most part. I hate taking meds, but I will if I have to. Just not long term or forever. The doctor advised that I use Aquaphor on my body. It's a $20 grease. It better work. I still use liquid Crisco for the parts of my back I can't reach. And the cat still tries to lick it off me. Also, I have been using Eucerin Calming Bodywash in a cool shower. It smells bad but it seems to be working so I can't complain. I have learned that it is most effective not on a puff, but directly applied to the skin, rubbed in with my hand and then scrubbed off with a washcloth. I like puffs but don't really trust them to get my @$$ clean. But my face is different.
In a previous post I described my facial routine. It consists of Noxzema and Ambi. Now a days it is essentially the same. But... In order to quell the flakiness, I add a handful of baking soda to the Noxzema every other day. That's up from once a week when the weather is nice. It takes care of the dry patches. I SCRUB with my fingertips, allow it to stay there while I brush my teeth and then rinse it off. It smells a little like ammonia after the addition of the baking soda but don?t be concerned. It doesn't irritate my skin, make my eyes water or anything. I have heard folks say that baking soda is too abrasive... its not. I have cleaned my counters with baking soda and my fixtures. It's not Comet; it doesn?t scratch. When you rinse it off, it feels so silky. You have to actually rinse it off with a lot of water because it doesn't just rinse off clean. And since baking soda is natural, I'm not worried about any residue it leaves behind. If anything it will absorb excess oil.
But what I really wanted to Build with y'all about was my "Wonder Oil." WO is made of equal parts of olive oil, peanut, oil and castor oil. That's it. Olive oil is similar to naturals in oil and is easily absorbed in the skin. Peanut oil is good for healing. And castor oil is a good emollient. Pre mix and store. Don't try to keep all three oils on your counter and mix fresh each time. That's counterproductive. Don't mix loads of it because oil spoils over time and you won't be needing a grip of this to last a month. I make mine up in monthly batches. For a month's supply a tablespoon of each will do. And I use mine morning and evening. After rinsing my face, while it's still damp, I apply a just enough to lightly coat my face and then I get dressed. By the time I'm searching for a headwrap to match the day's outfit, the oil has absorbed enough for me to put on a layer of Ambi. Ambi is the Truth! I love that stuff and have been using it since I was a teenager. My skin is always bright and stays hydrated even with 19* wind assaulting it. I got that recipe for WO online a couple of years ago from some she-devils that swore by it. I figured if it worked for devils, with the grafted skin they have, it would work for me. It has. It is all natural and has shown and proven to be effective on my skin so I want to share it with y'all.
I'm over 30. Damn near something else. So I have come to see the value in a night cream. Night creams are VERY expensive for a little amount of product. I ain't falling for it. I Know older people that just use Vaseline on their faces at night. Ummmmmm... I ain't really ready for that. Maybe one day. Not today. I use Ponds Cold Cream as my night cream. The reason I thought it might be effective in the 1st place is because it is what my own grandmother used. I believe that my eczema was passed to me from her. I remember that she would only use certain products on her skin and bathe every other day. Initially I thought she was just old, picky and nasty. But as I've aged I noticed that frequent bathing bothers my skin. I still bathe daily; I just use a lot of stuff to combat the dryness. I tried the products she advocated, and they worked for me; though a lot of them you can't find anymore. I have a recipe for home made soap that I will give a try when I get the nerve. I?m scared of lye. But back to the topic... My grandmother used to slather Ponds on her face like a fiend. Any time she felt dry. So I tried it as a night cream and find that it is actually pretty soothing. I put my WO heavy around my eyes and the Ponds on top of everything. I believe it made a wrinkle fade! I Know it combats the dryness from the heat. My house is around 10 years old and doesn't have radiators or heaters. The heat comes from the ceiling right on my head. There is no strategical placement of water to provide moisture. I wake up less cracked when using the Ponds. Who Knew? Thanks MaMa... Kind of.
If my Grandmother in fact had eczema then that means she passed this painful condition to me and life threatening condition of asthma to my mother and brother. Bad asthma at that. And that means I could pass it on to my babies. Eczema is a genetic condition and is expressed either as eczema, rhinitis (sinusitis) or asthma. If I had to choose... I know I don't want the asthma (that could kill You), I don't Know about the rhinitis; but this eczema is not pleasant either and possibly disfiguring. Oh well. Can?t do anything about it Now. And she provided a blue print for me to follow so I won't suffer horribly. I'll take that as the best part.
Happy New Year Y'all
Peace
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