Skin Care: What I use

I thought it would be fun to post about my skin regime and what products I use.  I few years ago I started on Dermalogica products after I had a facial at a beauty salon.

Since I have lupus, my skin is super sensitive and I am wary of trying new products.  I wanted to try and switch to more natural products a few years ago but that experiment ended up in disaster.  One of the products I tried, Rose hip Oil, (which is supposedly excellent for skin as it contains retinol and Vitamin C) gave me a rash that lasted almost 3 weeks and was horrid.  I really wanted it to work but had to give up and went back to my trusted Dermalogica products. I'm done experimenting with new stuff unless I get samples as it's expensive and doesn't always yield desirable results for me.

Exfoliating: Daily Microfoliant

As the name suggests, you can use this every day and I have done so in the past, but these days I usually use it every 2-3 days.  It's a very gentle exfoliant; it's almost like a dust when it comes out of the container but you mix it with water and it forms a thick paste.  When you rub it on your face, it doesn't really feel grainy at all, but I do find it equally if not more effective than the more granulated exfoliants.

Cleansing: Dermal Clay Cleanser

Next step is cleansing.  I use the Dermal Clay Cleanser which is good for slightly oily or combination skin. I find now in my 30's my skin is leaning more toward "normal" and less combination.  The product has a fresh minty fragrance and cleanses without drying the skin at all.

Moisturising: Sheer Tint Moisturiser with SPF 15

Final step is my moisturiser.  I love this moisturiser! I purchase the tinted stuff in the medium tint and I don't have to use foundation at all.  The untinted stuff is lovely as well.  I think it has something in the cream that makes your skin sparkle so it gives it a glowy look.

To remove my make up at night, especially around the eyes, I use Dr. Hauschka cream cleanser.  I find it better than a make up remover because you don't have to use tissue or cotton pads to remove.  I just rub it on, massage the skin and rinse with water.  No pulling of the eye area therefore less chance of wrinkles!

When I remember, I try and use an eye cream, Dermalogica's Intensive Eye Cream.  My container is nearly finished so I'm going to try something new next time.

I'm currently on the look out for a new night cream. I tried Olay's Regenerist product but it gave me a mild rash and made my skin feel sensitive.  Luckily the product wasn't too expensive.

Once a week, on Sunday I give myself a mini facial.  I exfoliate, cleanse and the apply a face mask. Once I'm done my skin feels like a babies bottom and it just looks so fresh and bright.

Well, that's pretty much it! I find a huge difference in my skin if I'm lax with my skin care regime so I try and stay on top of it.

One big tip I do have, that doesn't cost anything is facial massage.  If you're starting to get the angry line in between the brows and the forehead lines, regular self massage does wonders.  Think about it: people get botox to temporarily paralyze muscles so that the lines relax and almost disappear.  The muscle in this case is the cause of the wrinkles. If you massage the muscle, it releases the tension and the lines become less prominent.  I'm not sure if it would work on people that already have deep wrinkles, but it certainly works for wrinkles that are just starting to come in.  The trick is to start when you are young so that they don't become established and create permanent lines.  Try it!

Anyone have any tips or suggestions for skin care products?  Especially stuff that stops you from getting old? :-P

Middle of the Night Post

Just a post for me to have a moan.  I just finished half watching a movie, it's late, I go to bed and toss and turn for half an hour; I can't sleep cos my joints are aching.  I should have taken damn ibuprofen even though I wasn't feeling too bad previously. Now I'm up, I've swallowed 600mg of ibuprofen and I'm waiting for it to kick in before I go back to bed.

While I'm up I may as well post further.

As you may have gathered from the lack of training posts this week, I haven't actually trained this week.  There are a combination of reasons: laziness, busyness, tiredness and no motivation.  I'm hoping to get back into it next week, kicking off with a run around the block tomorrow. I haven't been running in a while actually, but I should do alright.

Home Grown

I've been a busy girl around the garden lately.  A few months ago I planted quite a few seeds such as kale and capsicum and cherry tomatoes. 

Some of the things I planted are in containers in my yard and some I planted at my mother's house in her bigger veggie patch.  Here's the loot I picked up from Mum's place a few days ago:

Red Cabbage, Red Russian Kale, Curly Kale, Cherry Tomatoes, Big Beef Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Mixed Mesculin Salad

Growing your own vegetables is unreal.  They taste so much better than store bought produce and you can control how you grow them.  I try and grow mine as "organic" as possible. All I do is water them and on some plants use organic fertilizers; I don't spray them with pesticide or anything else untoward.  Most vegetables are so easy to grow and the only care they require is regular watering!  The only thing you really have to bear in mind is whether you are growing them in the right environment.  For example, there is no way basil will grow outside in winter.  It likes warm, sunny environments.  I particularly have enjoyed growing cherry tomatoes this season.  I'm telling you, they taste AMAZING compared to what you purchase in stores.  The flavour is so intense and sweet.  I grew all my cherry tomatoes from seed so for about 1-2 punnets product per week all it cost me was the time watering the plant and about $2 for the seeds!  What a bargain!  Mesculin is easy as pie to grow.  I scatter the seeds on soil and cover with a fine layer of soil; water regularly and then harvest several weeks later.  The plants last quite a long time if you cut the outer leaves.  They're known as a "cut and come again" vegetable.

My favourite herbs to grow are Thyme and Basil. Both are super simple to grow.  The Thyme plant I had I picked up from the garden centre as a seedling.  It has thrived and given me plenty of stems to harvest for recipes.  The basil I grew from seed.  It takes a little bit more care but still is very easy to grow and I use it a lot in salads and recipes.

Here are a few pictures of the other things I grow in containers:

Strawberries

Coriander

Basil

Purple Capsicum

Thyme

Oregano

Sage

Dill

Yellow Capsicum (to be)

Lettuce

Silverbeet/Swiss Chard

Mesculin Salad Mix

Hope you enjoyed the little tour of my garden!

Rabbits: The pet made of awesome

If you've never considered a rabbit as a pet, perhaps it's because you don't know anything about them or because you think they're boring.  Well, today's your lucky day because Aunty Sportsgirl is  going to let you in on the awesome things about them.

1.  They're the best pet for independent people

If you hate the fact that dogs are so needy and in your face all the time or the fact that cats always want to lie on your lap on your bed, rabbits could be the choice for you.  They're very independent creatures, aloof at times but also very affectionate too.

  

2. Their shit don't stink

Unlike the cat who acts like her shit don't stink (it smells like the depths of hell, people), my rabbit's shit really doesn't stink.  She's also very tidy and craps and pees in her litter box. If she's out an about in our house and she needs to go to the toilet, she will hop into the cage and do her business in the designated area, then come back out again. Apparently in the wild they have a specific area for going potty and it only makes sense to do your business in one place.

3. They can be kept inside

Like the previous point suggests, because rabbits can be litter trained, they can also be kept inside if you live in an apartment and don't have a yard.  If you have quite a small place, keeping a dog might not be the best thing or you might not like cats so consider a rabbit!

4. You can recycle their shit

For people that like gardening, rabbit poo makes great compost.  If you use a biodegradable product for their litter even better, because you can recycle that too.

5. They're pretty funny

If you've ever watched a rabbit run around and "binky" you'll know what I mean.  They love racing around at top speed (especially around the couch) and jumping with glee.  I liken a binky to a person jumping in the air and clicking their heels together.  They also love shaking their head and jumping around like crazy.

6. They only eat vegetables

Don't have a compost but want to recycle your kitchen vegetable scraps? Rabbits can clean that problem right up for you! Rabbits make excellent pets for vegetarians or vegans because they do not conflict with their beliefs. They would make better pets for vegetarian or vegan nutcases that insist on feeding their dogs or cats vegetarian or vegan diets.  Dogs can subsist on a vegetarian diet if they need to, but cats cannot.  To subject your cat to a meat-free diet is animal abuse, quite frankly.  If you don't agree with animals eating meat, then don't fucking own a cat.  Simple.  You're an asshole if you do and you don't feed your cat meat, don't let anyone tell you different.

7. They don't make noise

Unlike a dog that barks, a cat wakes you up with their bloody incessant meowing for food in the morning or a bird that sqwarks or repeatedly says "Hello!!", rabbits keep their mouth shut.  The most noise they make is thumping their hind leg if they're annoyed at you or frightened at something.  I've also heard my rabbit growl if she's angry or moan slightly if she hears a weird noise, but you really have to listen carefully to hear those sounds.  Rabbits are silent communicators and prefer to do so via body language rather than annoying sounds.

8. Their toys are cheap

The rabbit's favourite past time is tearing shit up.  Give them a cardboard box and they'll spend hours tearing the box down to shreds.  Then you can put the shreds in the recycle bin. Just don't leave your library book on the floor like I did one day or else you'll walk into the room with your rabbit looking at you with an innocent face eating one of the pages.  Luckily that book was on my husband's library card, so my library record is still squeaky clean!!

9. They're smart

My rabbit has learned the following:

opening fridge door = food

blender starting in the morning = food

me walking into the kitchen in the morning = food

packet rustling = possible food

calling her name = possible food

after 4:30pm = food's coming in the next hour or so

plastic bag being scrunched = food

box being put into her cage = fuck, I'm going to the vet

10. They smell nice

If you like the smell of a sweet meadow of hay then you'll love rabbits.  Dogs stink, cats smell weird, birds smell weird too, fish smell like water or algae but rabbits smell like a sweet meadow. Ahhhhh!!

11. They're adorable

Best illustrated in pictorial form:

I'm eating food!!

I think I hear food!

Food?? Source

Situations Vacant

After yesterday's post, I feel like I need something light-hearted to brighten this blog back up!  I do feel better after my rant though.  I promise I usually am a pretty positive person, but like anyone I am human I do have hissy fits now and again... HAHA!

Here's a cute picture that will make you smile.  It seems Freddie is looking for a job!!

I CAN HAS JOB??

Today

My birthday today February 2nd when I turned the big 3.2. Unfortunately I feel like I turned 64, so I am dreading the day when I actually turn 64 as I'm probably going to feel like HELL.

I had a pretty nice day today.  I took the day off work (yesterday too, so I had a four day weekend) and we went to Butterfly Creek which is a mini zoo with fish, reptiles and farm animals.  I actually only really went to see the bunny rabbits and I have been going around for the past two weeks calling it "Bunny Creek". They have a mock farm yard there with about 20-30 bunny rabbits there!  I was in bunny heaven!  They were all so cute and had quite a few baby rabbits there.  One thing I wasn't too happy about was the fact that they bred rabbits there.  The fellow that worked there was trying to get me and Matt to take a bunny home.  He said he normally only approaches people who he thinks will give the rabbits a good home.  I guess he saw me baby talking and fawning over the rabbits HAHA!  Firstly, since we don't really have room for another rabbit and secondly I don't really support places that breed animals I wasn't really keen to take one home, even as cute as they were.  If I'm going to get another rabbit it will be from the SPCA where no one loves them and they need a home. I did feel sorry for all the little baby bunnies that had silly children handling them, especially the ones that were screaming that "they wanted to hold a bunny too!!" (cry me a river kid!!)  Although rabbits are docile creatures (most of the time) once tame, they still are prey animals by nature so do get scared easily and aren't as confident with people as cats or dogs.

Here are a few pictures I took of the animals

This lil fella was rolling about in the coral.  So cute!!  I love Clown Fish, they're so colourful

 

 

 

Moth or butterfly?  It was huge!

These red and black butterflies were pretty.  Matt was wearing a red t-shirt and they kept landing on him!  I was wearing a floral dress, but none of them liked me!  Perhaps I didn't smell like a flower? LOL

Cute little babies resting

I is washing my ear!

This beautiful girl had given birth that morning.  She was busy fussing about her pen.

Recovering from being tormented by devil children

Soft, fluffy and adorable *melts*

Yesterday was awesome too.  In the morning I had a Chinese Pedicure at Bliss Reflexology which starts with a foot soak, then they scrape all the dead skin off your feet with sharp blades and then tidy up the toenails.   It is WAY better than a regular pedicure as it is more hygienic (your feet soak in a disposable plastic bag in a wooden bucket) so no toe jams floating around from the previous person. I don't think I'd ever have a regular pedicure at the run of the mill mass produced places again. Although the massage chair is nice and having the nail polish is fancy, all I think about is getting a fungal infection! In the afternoon I had a lovely face and body treatment and About Face.Work kindly gave me a gift voucher for Christmas for a beauty therapy treatment so I redeemed that.  It involved a foot soak, back scrub, back massage and then mini facial.  It was lovely and the therapist Nancy was so kind and professional.  After all that relaxation I went to the movies and saw Black Swan; great movie but kind of disturbing in some parts!  I also must add that I walked everywhere yesterday! I walked to all my appointments and the movie which probably adds up to almost 2 hours of walking at a good pace in total so by the end of the day I was pretty tired.

Back to reality tomorrow with an 11 hour day at work *sigh*

Updated Post: Homemade Pizza

I made a post about a year and a half back about home made pizza dough. Genie was asking me what my recipe was and I remembered I posted about it a while back so I thought I would go back and amend it since I've definitely learned some new things since I posted back then.

You can view the post here

I hope you find the post useful if you like to make your own pizza or would like to give it a go.  I actually quite enjoy the kneading part; any extra exertion is good plus I find it a great thinking exercise :-)