When my mom was visiting here the kids would watch in fascination each morning and night as she would use various cleansers, toners and moisturizing products on her face. Yes, we need to replace that bathroom curtain with a door one of these days! My mom would explain to them she was feeding her face. I remember too watching this ritual when I was little thinking how when I grow up I would too would carry that Oil of Olay sponsored torch.
I was pretty on top of that plan all throughout my twenties, cleansing with chi chi products, going in for bi-annual facials for tweaks and extractions. But something about moving out to the bush (or was it having kids, too busy blogging maybe) I kind of dropped that routine in a big way. To be honest I only really wash my face in the shower which isn't like a daily occurance.
And then last week I saw a book in the little bookstore in town with the note attached to reading "This is good". Jennie doesn't huck these accolades lightly so I had to pick up this book called There's Lead in Your Lipstick.
What an eye opener! Craig's been telling me this for ages but I wasn't listening (what an ear opener?) but the shampoo we've been using for years is not all that's it's organically cracked up to be (heads up on Avalon products). So that's like; ew. And heads up as well on anything with fragrances. You only want to put things on your person scented with essential oils only for fragrances are a cocktail blend of chemicals and Lord knows what. We purchased a Burt's Bees baby shampoo and the whole house just reeeeeked afterwards; quite possibley triggering a neck/headache in me for I still have that bionic nose lingering from pregnancy days. I just started reading the book so I'll have more to say on the matter in the near future but the first couple of chapters were not only informative but also inspired me to take some better care of my face.
The author gets into the science of skin and suggests how best to support this dance of rejuvenate and repair. She suggests to cleanse with a gentle cleanser in the evening and in the morning to only exfoiliate to unveil this beautiful new layer lurking underneath all the dead stuff. Cool! She also offers recipes along with ethically organic product alternatives to choose from (mostly Canadian sources which is especially sweet for me, eh?) so I quickly made an version of the cleansing grains she recommends using ingredients I had handy dandy in the pantry:
1/2 cup of finely ground almonds
1/2 cup ground oats
1/4 cup chamomile
1/4 cup poppyseeds
10 drops of lavender essential oil
I stirred all these ingredients together and placed it in a glass jar. To use,mix a teaspoon in your hand with a little water to make a paste then scrub, scrub, scrub and rinse off. It's especially nice if you can do this outside on a hot summer day. I couldn't believe how smooth and fortified my face felt aftwards. It was like it was talking to me saying "Thank you. For God's sake finally!" Next up is to seek out or make some kind of right before bed moisturizing cleanser. Any recommendations? Do you have a face care routine that's pretty simple and clean (ha, ha)?
