I gave up soap. Really.

So I came to the conclusion that EVERYTHING I put on my face was messing me up. I did an experiment, and I'm convinced that I didn't have a problem with my skin. My skin had a problem with anything that I put on it. I decided to take a few days and just rinse it with water and see what would happen. My skin cleared up is what happened. I don't put ANYTHING on my face, and it's the best it has looked in ages. So there. I don't need soap on my face.
:)

Postponement

So my experiment with OCM has been put on hold for a bit. I had surgery yesterday on my foot, and couldn't put anything on my face the night before. So I'm hoping to resume OCM tonight before bed. I'm just hoping to be able to wash ANYTHING today. I am not allowed to get my feet wet, and we only have a shower in our bathroom as our bathtub had leaky supply lines and is yet to be repaired. I'm thinking I'm going to put my foot in a bag really soon, as I don't like skipping showers for two days in a row. YUK! So stay tuned. I know there are millions out there waiting for my results...

Oops

Finals week sometimes finds me falling into bed in my clothes without having done any kind of hygiene upkeep before passing out. That was me when I woke up this morning. So I was a little hesitant to use the OCM this morning because you're supposed to do it at bedtime. But the thought of smearing soap on my face that very much needed some attention was not comforting. So I did OCM this morning before my shower. I have seen a bit of improvement in my skin. I don't have the dry patches that I usually have on my cheeks because I normally use such harsh stuff to try to control my oily t-zone. My skin feels soft and smooth without feeling greasy. I don't have any new blemishes at all, and the ones that I had when I started are almost all gone. The bumps and redness I had on my cheeks are almost completely gone, and no signs of anything new sprouting up there. Yesterday I had used the baking soda and apple cider vinegar on my hair, and I think I must have not rinsed the baking soda out of the ends of my hair thoroughly. The ends of my hair felt like straw all day yesterday and it was driving me crazy. This morning when I washed my hair I had forgotten to refill the baking soda "shampoo" bottle, so I just washed with my usual nexxus stuff. I'll start over tomorrow again and try to do a better job. I seriously need a trim too. Anyway, there's the latest update. Back to the books!

Day 2

I got up this morning, expecting a giant greasy oil slick on my face. But surprise! My skin felt nice and clean. So I just rinsed with water in the shower and didn't put any soap on my face. It has been fine all day with no grimy feeling or mid-day oil slick. So I did ocm again before bedtime. And it still feels nice. I also started with the no shampoo this morning. The baking soda shampoo cleaned my hair great, and the apple cider vinegar conditioned and detangled better than the Paul Mitchell I usually use. And I didn't feel like my hair was heavy and icky all day like it does when I skip shampooing it sometimes. So far I'm very happy. I'll try to keep up through the rest of the week, but I do have finals this week. Ciao!

Day 1

I'm back! I've been a bit busy (see other blog), and I do mean to post here, but sometimes I forget. Most of the time I forget. I am not going to promise a sudden resurgence in posts, but I am trying an experiment that I thought I'd share here. I was browsing about the Internet, avoiding studying as usual, when I happened across an interesting post about the Oil Cleansing Method, or OCM. I had everything here except castor oil, so I had my hubby pick some up on the way home. So tonight I tried it for the first time. It did not feel like I was spreading a bunch of goo on my face, and the massage was kinda nice. After I finished, my skin didn't feel greasy or gross, it actually feels smooth and clean, without the tight soapy feeling. I don't have horrible skin, just an occasional monthly breakout and lately some kind of weird red bumpy mess that shows up on my cheeks, particularly when a test is imminent. It looks kinda like rosacea, but I have no definite diagnosis on that. But if all that clears up and my skin treats me nice, I may have found a new routine. I also read on the same site about no shampoo, and I've mixed that up to try tomorrow. I'll try to keep this current with impressions and results. Day 1: nice!
OCM
No shampoo

Happy 4th!

Today was a fun day for the Staples Zoo. We slept in, goofed off, played video games, and then went to a friend's for a barbecue. My Dad bought this giant box of fireworks from Sam's Club, and we spent a large portion of the evening shooting them off. My kids had so much fun lighting fireworks and dodging the sparks. It really was fun sharing the Fourth with friends and family. Happy Fourth of July!

Back to the ER

When the kids were a bit younger, we spent a considerable amount of time in urgent care or the ER. My kids have broken a few bones over the years: Josh broke a toe, Gideon broke his collarbone, Mackenzie broke her leg. But it's been a good while since we had any reason to go to the ER. Until yesterday. Gideon and Zion were in their room, and Zion tripped and fell, and his knee came down right on Gideon's right hand. Gideon's finger was displaced very badly, and I was pretty sure it was broken. So we went on down to the ER and had it checked out. Gideon's finger looked like this:

After they did the x-rays, the doctor said that it was broken at the base of the ring finger. He then had to reduce it (put it back into the right place). The nurse bandaged it up, and then he looked like this:

As you can see, the lortab was very useful. We went to see Dr. Rehak (yep that's his name) today, and he said that he has to keep it buddy-taped 24/7 for the next two weeks. After that, he can remove it twice a day for the next two weeks, then he has a follow-up appointment. Hopefully everything will be all healed by then.

Part of having kids is these kinds of visits. I have to say that the ER at John Hughston hospital is exceptionally efficient and friendly. And the staff at Dr. Rehak's office at the Hughston Clinic are just awesome. It makes these kinds of traumatic accidents a little more bearable when you don't have to deal with people who hate their jobs.