With Winter looming right around the corner I wanted to share a few tips for keeping your skin soft and protected. Colder air and more exposure to the dry heat of furnaces and central heat can do lot of damage to your skin, especially if it tends to be dry or sensitive.
The last thing any of us wants is to feel greasy or gunky, and a lot of heavier makeups tend to feel that way. A lighter option is to go for a tinted moisturizer with a built in SPF of 15 or higher. You can use this as your makeup or under your regular makeup for a light shield of protection against the elements. I like to use moisturizer, let it set, then use my mineral makeup. That way I stay moisturized and protected with a good coverage of SPF 15.
If you have super dry skin you can use cocoa butter or coconut oil as your moisturizer. Leave it on for 10 minutes and blot off the excess. The cocoa butter feels icky and heavy at first, but is a heavy duty moisturizer/protectant. It also blots off nicely, which is why I sometimes use it before bed. In the morning you do your usual face wash routine and your skin is very soft and smooth! Same thing goes for coconut oil, however it is lighter in feel but very slippery at first. The coconut oil usually soaks in after a few minutes.
Either of these heavier moisturizers can work under tinted moisturizer or makeup, but you must blot off the excess or you will have a mess! You can also use cocoa butter as a lipbalm. It works very well for that. I personally use Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula. It is the one brand I am not allergic to! Also, there is no stinging or burning.
Guys can use these moisturizers too, but remember to blot off the extra.
Regardless of where you live, don't forget the SPF of 15 or higher to shield your delicate skin against the UVA and UVB rays. The rays that can cause skin cancer can still get through in the winter as well as reflect off snow. If you enjoy outdoor sports, like skiing, you are at risk so be safe and sun block with an SPF.
Also protect your hair with caps or hoods. Did you know your hair can actually freeze and break off? Yeah, weird right? I usually cram mine up under a warm cap or wrap a warm winter (woolen) scarf over my head and around my neck. Keeps me warmer and protects my hair too. On really cold days I love my old gray sweatshirt hoodie. It is so soft and so thick, I just pull that hood up over my head and snuggle back in the cocoon of warmth. It's also great under a heavy coat.
Okay, I kinda got off my usual track. *laughs* But I wanted to share a few tips that work for me with my sensitive skin that remains very pale year 'round. I hope some of these little tips will work for you too.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Noises in the Night
As a writer a lot of things can inspire you, and a lot of things can distract you. As a life-long night owl I've always found it difficult if not impossible to sleep at night like normal people. My family gave me grief over it when I was growing up, telling me over and over to do this or stop that, that there was nothing wrong with me that discipline would not cure. I thought that was laughable considering I was often the most disciplined one there. Also, they were battling against a lifetime of insomnia that nothing could cure and they didn't understand.
Fast forward to a lifetime later, and here I sit before my computer
at 3:30 a.m. working away on my latest book. It is quiet, dark and peaceful. My loved ones sleep, our pets are snoozing contentedly so what's not to love?
Oh, yeah. Noisy neighbors. We moved out of the big city, we moved out of the small noisy town, to get away from the damn noise! Yet here it is, following us like a stalker.
Every night, ah hem, morning there is the rumble of a large truck in need of a new muffler breaking the silence as it grumbles and splutters in the night. Sometimes this goes on for half an hour, other times it cuts off after a few minutes. It is often accompanied by the godawful racket of loud music with heavy bass jarring everything around it, literally shaking the house.
So tonight I hear this sound, as usual, groan a little and wait it out. After a bit the truck is silent, then twenty minutes later its rumbling again and driving off. At 3 a.m. Thinking that's it for the moment I hear--I swear this is what went through my mind-- a good sized blender driving up and down the dirt road in front of our house. The visuals give me a snicker or two, but as that fades the sound of a big motorboat passes by, making me shake my head. I live in a fucking cartoon! I swear it.
I'll admit that sound carries weird out where we live. Noises far off carry as though they are a few feet away, something a few feet away sounds like it is coming in from miles away.
But as a writer, you often put sounds together and let the story unfold in your mind. Sounds, smellls, colors, snippets of music all build into a tale in your head. In part, it is a good thing, but sometimes you wish the loud, noisy inconsiderate folk would have the decency to shut the fuck up at midnight. Some people actually get to sleep at night! Let them do so in peace.
As for me, now that it is quiet, I am going back to my writing where demons and angels war for possession of mortals and vampires are not always the bad guys. Yeah, it's fantasy and I love it! Also, with a dash of eroticism thrown in it's not at all bad calling it work!
Fast forward to a lifetime later, and here I sit before my computer
at 3:30 a.m. working away on my latest book. It is quiet, dark and peaceful. My loved ones sleep, our pets are snoozing contentedly so what's not to love?
Oh, yeah. Noisy neighbors. We moved out of the big city, we moved out of the small noisy town, to get away from the damn noise! Yet here it is, following us like a stalker.
Every night, ah hem, morning there is the rumble of a large truck in need of a new muffler breaking the silence as it grumbles and splutters in the night. Sometimes this goes on for half an hour, other times it cuts off after a few minutes. It is often accompanied by the godawful racket of loud music with heavy bass jarring everything around it, literally shaking the house.
So tonight I hear this sound, as usual, groan a little and wait it out. After a bit the truck is silent, then twenty minutes later its rumbling again and driving off. At 3 a.m. Thinking that's it for the moment I hear--I swear this is what went through my mind-- a good sized blender driving up and down the dirt road in front of our house. The visuals give me a snicker or two, but as that fades the sound of a big motorboat passes by, making me shake my head. I live in a fucking cartoon! I swear it.
I'll admit that sound carries weird out where we live. Noises far off carry as though they are a few feet away, something a few feet away sounds like it is coming in from miles away.
But as a writer, you often put sounds together and let the story unfold in your mind. Sounds, smellls, colors, snippets of music all build into a tale in your head. In part, it is a good thing, but sometimes you wish the loud, noisy inconsiderate folk would have the decency to shut the fuck up at midnight. Some people actually get to sleep at night! Let them do so in peace.
As for me, now that it is quiet, I am going back to my writing where demons and angels war for possession of mortals and vampires are not always the bad guys. Yeah, it's fantasy and I love it! Also, with a dash of eroticism thrown in it's not at all bad calling it work!
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