Three All-Natural Skin Care Remedies

Winter’s on its way, and my face has caught wise. I’ve had an awful time this year with trying to get it to calm down, but it’s pretty determined to throw a temper tantrum. And seeing as I usually don’t pay it much attention at all, I was at a loss as to how to handle it. 

A bit of background: I have a fair complexion, mostly dry and prone to slight redness, but generally not problematic. My nose has always been a bit oilier than the rest of my skin, and it tends to get flakey and oily at the same time. I usually just rinse of my face with water and use a light hydration gel daily, and it has always seemed happy to truck along. But this year, although the routine didn’t change, my skin rebelled.

Rosacea runs on both side of my family and when, my nose turned Rupolph-red and started getting little white bumps underneath the surface, I figured my time had finally come. It was my time to bear the dreaded Curse of the Celts. And then I discovered skin magic, in the form of three little products. Even better? They’re all natural. I’d call it witchcraft, but I’m too busy being grateful to Mother Earth (and my sweet pal Jess who hooked me up with samples). These three are entering in my regular rotation, for sure. 

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Apple Cider Vinegar
I remember Laura tried this out back in July, although I’m not sure if she still uses it. This was the first step in my skin’s rehabilitation program—I mixed three parts water to one part apple cider vinegar (I just used the grocery-store Heinz version, not the ‘raw with mother’ stuff The Velvet Bird originally recommended), and shook it up in a little spray bottle. Nightly, I spritzed some on a cotton pad and gently rubbed it on my face. Yes, it stinks a little at first, but the smell dissipates very quickly. This made my little pimples disappear, and lessened my redness. It feels like it cleanses your face without drying it. I've even gotten my boyfriend to start using it, and it seems to really work well on his oilier skin. Soon enough I was dealing with a smoother, if still a bit ruddy, palette. 

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Rose Water 
I got a sample of rose water, and I think it might be my Holy Grail product. Seriously. I just want to bathe in this stuff. It makes my skin feel so smooth and so happy, and it smells like glorious, deep, fresh roses. It brings my senses back to the good ol’ days of my career as a florist, and it’s so delicious and refreshing.

I use this in pretty much the same way as the cider mixture—sprayed on a cotton pad, wiped on. I’ll even just spray this all over my face and then wipe gently. I’ve taken to using it morning and night, and on evenings when I’m slightly oilier, I’ll use the cider mixture first then follow up with this. A close second: orange blossom water (also called neroli) is similarly satisfying, and is probably better suited to skin that’s more naturally oily than mine. 

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Argan Oil 
I know this is the hot new trend in natural beauty products, but with good reason. It's rich in vitamin E and can be used on your face, hair, nails and body (there are even varieties pressed for cooking). Plus, all argan oil produced today supports women's collectives in Morocco, providing a stable income for tribespeople, and is paired with UNESCO to protect and reforest endangered areas. If you want to try it, make sure you get version processed for cosmetic use that is “100% argan oil”, not that “contains 100% argan oil”—you want argan to be the only ingredient (and you can find it for way cheaper than that Josie Maran stuff).

You need very little for it to be effective—roughly two drops lightly coats my entire face. In the couple days I’ve been using it, my skin has been happier than a clam. The dry areas of my cheeks and forehead feel healthy and supple, and I use a very light touch on my nose, which isn’t flaking anymore. Serious, feel-good magic.




If you’re Toronto-based, I got my samples from Noah’s Natural Foods, and you can order from them online. It shouldn’t be hard to find these items though, wherever you are—your local health food store will likely carry them, or there are plenty of sellers online.

Here’s wishing you good luck, and glowing skin.

StyleLikeU

I love the internet. I spend a lot of time on the internet. I spend a lot of time reading about things that interest me and things I hate. And then every once in a while I come upon something that makes me so excited I start to vibrate, and I get really thirsty. When I get really thirsty I know I'm on to something.

Here are my latest internet goodies. StyleLikeU is a site that has videos of people talking about style, clothes, family, design, life, and all that good stuff. I find these videos incredibly inspiring in a way that I don't quite understand yet. I think it has to do with the videos' subjects being able to explain their style and talk about their lives in a way that can be captured in a 6 minute video and in a way that makes them seem wise and experienced even though they are just normal boring people. Maybe I need my own video and then I can see how normal the subjects are and fall out of love with the whole process.

They're called Closet Interviews, which make them seem like they'll be about clothes only. But even in talking about clothes, and ergo the ways which they present themselves, something more comes out. It's that something else that I find so intriguing.

Here are a few of my favourites. Sit down with a beer or a latte and watch a few.

Wamhuhu:

Wamuhu Waweru Closet Interview With StyleLikeU from StyleLikeU on Vimeo.

Tat:

Tat Vateishvili Closet Interview With StyleLikeU from StyleLikeU on Vimeo.

The wonderful, always interesting Glenn O'Brien:

Glenn O'Brien Closet Interview With StyleLikeU from StyleLikeU on Vimeo.

There are so many more, and I've only seen a fraction of them, slowly working my way back and taking my time so they'll never be over. Or maybe I'll just watch them all over the holiday. 

Bad to the Bone

I love the new gallery on the New York Times today, Touch of Evil. Just little short films, starring some of today's best actors, representing famous cinematic villainous tropes — the fighter, the narcissist, the former silent-screen star, the possessed dummy, the dictator. They've also included some stills (and interviews) here.

Mia Wasikowska

Rooney Mara

Jessica Chastain

Viola Davis

Brad Pitt

My favourite videos? Jessica Chastain as the firestarter, Mia Wasikowska as the Hitchcockian ice-cold beauty, and Michael Shannon as the bigwig (Orson Welles as Citizen Kane?). Special nod goes to Rooney Mara as Alex from A Clockwork Orange, filmed backwards.

Google Street View Done Right

Aaron Hobson is a photographer who, as well as taking many beautiful photos, has captured some of the most breathtaking visions taken by Google Street View cameras (and you all thought the bloopers were the best thing they came up with!).

Here are a selection of my favourites, but check out the rest here.

It's always nice to see beauty come from unexpected places.

All photos taken from aaronhobson.com

Dispatches

There's too much cool stuff in the world today for me to keep it to myself.

via the Examiner and NASA

There's been a rad new planet discovered! Called Kepler-22b (for now), its 1.6 times the size of Earth, features temperatures similar to southern California's and has a calendar year of 290 days (about 2 months shorter than Earth's). So, essentially, there's a retirement planet nearby where you get old faster but live like a king. It probably never rains either. Before you pack your bags, know that they're still trying to figure out if it's made of rock, gas or liquid. Fingers crossed it doesn't go all Melancholia on us.

The New Yorker posted this cool little story about fear and writing—how writing can calm fears, or exacerbate them. I fall on both sides of the divide, in equal measure. Writing! What a curse, what a joy! (Oh, also, if you're excited about The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, as I am, David Denby's review has caused quite the uproar by going against the studio's embargo on reviews of the film published before December 13. The producer Scott Rudin and director David Fincher have both decried his actions and banned him from future screenings, even though the review was very positive. Oh Hollywood, you DO go on.)

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These Maryland convicts have been transformed by a program called Knitting Behind Bars, which does exactly what you'd think it does – teaches hardened criminals how to knit. I've long extolled the benefits that I think knitting has on me personally (besides the warmth of knitted goods, that is), and I totally believe that it would have a really positive effect on someone in prison. The inmates all seem to have a really great attitude about knitting, and it even helps them reach parole more easily, due to the calming effect on their demeanor and that they're giving back to the community. Knit on with yo' bad selves, guys. (It also really reminded me of a great TAL episode, Act V, where prisoners perform the last act of Shakespeare's Hamlet.)

I thought this was a really cool local news story: a teacher in the middle of a first-aid lesson on CPR and defibrillators actually had to USE it when a student's heart stopped in a nearby class. Now he and the other teacher who helped restart the kid's heart are up for Emergency Medical Services Citizens' Awards. Talk about good timing (and heartwarming? Ohhhh...)

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I saw The Skin I Live In this week, and let me tell you, it was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be. Beautiful, lush photography, gorgeous people and performances, and a melodramatic, twist-filled plot that kept me absolutely hooked. And looking back, the trailer makes perfect sense. I'm still trying to parse out what all the complicated layers of meaning suggest, but all I can say is, the less you know about this one going in, the better.

And also this week, I read the first book of The Hunger Games in less than 26 hours, with about 6 hours of actual reading time. Talk about a fiction hurricane. I'm getting the next two books this evening, and I expect the rest of my week to be detonated, with me curled up in bed, furiously flipping pages. A serious ton of fun (and I was impressed by the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation—they only cover the introductory third of the book.)

What's In My Bag?

Every time I see Amanda I bring a camera, hoping that I'll remember to put her on the spot and ask her to spill out the contents of her purse, with a promise that I'll go next. I never remember. I'll still get you, girl, when you least expect it. Here are the insides of my purse, with very little editing (I took out a crumpled receipt and a few pennies, but that's all).

Here's my daily purse. It's from Townshoes, I'm not embarrassed to admit. It can be worn about a million different ways, and it's pretty spacious without really looking it. Working at a fashion magazine and trolling the internet daily for deals has it's bonuses.

This baby deserves its own picture. I graduated from University recently, and I had been considering getting an iPad for ages. I won't say it was a surprise, but it was the most generous gift I've ever received, and I still feel like a lucky little girl. I carry it to and from work mostly to read the New Yorker while I'm in transit.

I'll try to go from the bottom left and clockwise here:

• Sunglasses from White Crow. These huge, round shades come with me everywhere.
• A receipt for the only seamstress I've ever gone to. She's up by my parents house and I only get there about once every 3 weeks, but it's worth it. Right now she's got a silk dress that I thrifted and am hoping comes out a tunic dress.
• Matte FX powder that belongs to my best friend—I borrowed this stuff a few months ago and forgot to return it. Too bad she lives in New York. On top is some Joe Fresh shimmer powder that I got for free from a Joe Fresh gift bag at work.
• Visine, necessary for anyone who wears contacts or states at a computer screen all day.
• Lipstick and lipstain in a similarly dark burgundy wine colour. I rarely remember to reapply, so it usually wears off after my first coffee in the morning, or my first beer on the weekends.
• My keychain, with a memory stick, hello kitty pendant, Swiss Army knife with edelweiss (cute!) and about 10 keys. I'm a trustworthy girl!
• Current nail polish and a quick dry top coat, just in case I need an on-the-go touch up.
• Two hair elastics, just in case I need to get my mane of hair off my neck. 
• My wallet came from Dan's grandfather, who was a photographer. It's made by Leica and smells like really old leather. On it is a Post-it that I found in a Diane Arbus biography that I was reading. It says: "Most people go through life dreaming they'll have a traumic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've passed their test in life. They're aristocrats."
• Blue pen, I'll never go anywhere without a pen to jot things down.
• My two favourite rings. They are my babies but I can't wear them and type at the same time. They spend most of their time in my purse, and only come out on special occasions.
• I hang up my bag when I get home, but somehow my cat always sneaks a little present in there for me. She has a life of her own while I'm asleep.