Cognifit!

I know I haven't posted in a while but I've been really busy working two jobs. Anyways I just found this brain traning site called cognifit that I wanted to share with you all. It's completely free and trains your cognitive abilities to sharpen your mind. Who doesn't want that? it uses games and tracks your progress. Give it a try!

Cognifit

Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream: Conclusion

As a conclusion to the Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream trial, I'm writing this. After using Noxzema for probably more than just a couple weeks I still use it every night. My acne is still on my chin, but I think that's more due to the fact that I pick at it more frequently lately than the Noxzema itself. My skin looks very nice although I've stopped using Noxzema on my nose as it seems to dry it out. When the tub I have is done I'll try the Noxzema with added moisturizers and see what that does.

#1 Best thing overall:
Nice skin, nice smell, multiple awesome uses, affordable

# Worst thing overall:
Still have acne, dry skin on nose

Overall, not a miracle worker but definitely the best thing I have ever use for my skin, and will continue to use.

Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream: Day 3

This is day three of using Noxzema on my face as a cleanser (and an itch cream, and a moisturizer, and a sunburn remedy....) and I have to say I'm in love :) I still have acne but it's very mild and my face just looks and feels lovely. I also love that it's so multipurpose. Almost any skin problem is fixed by Noxzema.

#1 Best thing so far:
Can be used for so many things and works well, as well as being inexpensive

#1 Worst thing so far:
I still have acne, not like I really care though

What can I say? I'm HOOKED! Try it it's awesome!!!!

Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream: Day 2

         So this is day two, or rather night two, of using Noxzema nightly as a cleanser and my complexion is looking good. My acne isn't very apparent (small and only slightly noticeably red) and my skin is smooth and moisturized. My nose has been getting a little dry though. We'll see if that fixes over the course of two weeks and if not and the other benefits are good I'll use a moisturizer on it and then switch to the Noxzema with extra moisturizers when I finish of the tub I've got (which will probably take a long time). 

#1 Best thing so far:

Moisturized beautiful complexion, I'm even a bit rosy :)

#1 Worst thing:

Acne still there, but tolerably mild

So far I like it! I think I'll have really nice skin even before the two weeks are up :)

Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream: Day 1

I went camping to Rock Point provincial park yesterday and the day before and I decided to go to the beach. It was a lovely day, the water was a nice temperature and the beach wasn't too busy. I tried a new SPF 30 sport spray sunscreen and happened to get burned on my shoulders and neck, as well my skin on my arms and back were generally parched. It started to really bug me so I took a couple friends and went into Dunville, the closest big town in search of groceries and after sun lotion. I didn't happen to find anything besides chemical laden fake green aloe gel, and a friend pointed out Noxzema so I thought heck, I'll try it. I didn't end up using it till I got home, and by then I had the comfort of my own after sun creams. What I did do though was try it on my face as a cleanser. It felt quite nice and left my skin moisturised. That was last night. This morning my skin is still moisturised and my acne isn't apparent or red. I'm going to put Noxzema on a two week trial run and see how it goes. I have the Original Deep Cleansing Cream that comes in a blue tub. Not sure if I'm going to be able to find it in stores near where I live (Dunville is an hour away and kind of out in the country), But I'll try. So far I'm finding it quite nice so if it continues nice results for me I will stick with it :) I really hope I find something and settle with it soon I'm tired of switching my cleansing regime around constantly.

#1 Best thing so far:

moisturised, shine free, and clear looking skin

#1 Worst thing so far:

None!

I'll be washing my face with Noxzema nightly for two weeks. We'll see where this goes...

The Skin Concoction

So as I may have mentioned before, I work a part time job at a Metro store, in the pharmacy. Yesterday while my shift was winding to a close, I decided to see how many supplements say they are good for skin (not sure if that helps acne but I'll take it). There were actually quite a few. I bought them all in the smallest amounts and decided to try taking one of each every night to see what happens. I took them last night and this morning whatever bump red but not white acne I had has faded and disappeared... WOW! The list of supplements is below:

Genuine Health - Perfect Skin
Webber - Zinc Citrate
Webber - Halibut Liver Oil
Quest - For Women Her Daily One
Jamieson - Silica with Zinc
Jamieson - Lycopene

The other things these help are the immune system, eyesight, and the prostate in men

I also took an antioxidant because they are generally good for skin and the rest of your body too. I took Swiss Antiox C which has vitamin c, pomegranate, blueberry, and mangosteen

And.. I took a couple supplements for stress (working two jobs all day with no weekend sucks balls). Stress can effect your acne by increasing it, so adding in a stress relieving supplement may help you.
they were:

Korean Red Ginseng
Swiss solutions Stress

I'm sure any of the skin ones would be excellent just by themselves

Good luck!

Honey Challenge Revisited

So straight honey didn't work for me as a facial cleanser, but after I use plain water to slough off dead skin and use soap on my acne spots, I think it works well. I just tried it today but I will write about it as I learn more.

ta ta for now!

Guppies!

This is a wild guppy. You know, the original guppy, before all the inbreeding causing wacky colors and tails that are too long. This was the species of fish I started my aquarium hobby with when I was about seven or eight. Today they're not too hard to find if you know where to look. They're often kept in poor conditions and sold for maybe 10-15 cents a piece as feeder fish and if you're willing to nurse them back to health (probably loosing a few on the way) then they are a fascinating and easy to keep fish. I bought 20 of these little guys a few days ago for 3 dollars and I have maybe half that now. I have 5 adult fish and one fish had about 5-7 fry. all of the female adults are pregnant though so I'll easily come out of this with more guppies than I purchased. The most likely disease a guppy will get is fin rot, a fungal disease. this is easily cured with medicine and can be avoided by adding a little salt (uniodized!) to the aquarium.  As a bonus the salt will also make your guppies fins grow. You may be asking, why get the feeder fish when the fancy ones are so much prettier? I'll tell you why, the ones that are prettier are not only more expensive, they are delicate as hell and don't breed well (the wild ones breed constantly and produce large amount of fry where the fancy ones have trouble breeding and only produce 1-2 fry). I hope you think about getting some because I love them!

Aquariums Rock!

The Crunchy Betty Honey Challenge: Day 8

This method is not for me. While my skin is generally in good shape I constantly have mild acne all over my chin. I'll be scrapping this method and going back to soap.

#1 Best Thing:
Soft radiant moisturized skin with no blackheads and small pores

#1 Worst Thing:
Acne never fully went away, persisted mildly on chin (my trouble spot)

Verdict:
This method is not for me. My acne benefits from dryer skin and the honey keeps it moisturized. I guess with my skin, the negative effects of moisture beat out the antibacterial properties of honey. For all those with very mild acne this will probably do wonders for you, but for people with severe or moderate acne this probably won't make you clear.

Looking For Cheap All Natural Shampoo?

Today I found an interesting thing. If you go to the pet section of a store, natural shampoos are in abundance (even color enhancing ones) and you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Today I bought a 355ml color enhancing shampoo for blond hair (haha for golden retrievers and such) for only 12 dollars!

Happy Shopping!

The Crunchy Betty Honey Challenge: Day 3

I've been using honey to wash my face once or twice a day since monday and I have to say I'm not hooked but I like it a bit. My skin looks lovely and soft and my complexion is radiant. But as I thought it would, my acne has increased a bit due to the moisture. But all the acne that has shown up has been mild and by today it is fading or dissapearing. I hope this trend continues and my acne goes away and stays away. If it does I'll be in love with this method!!!

#1 best thing about it so far:
My skin looks nice, and is soft, moisturized, and radiant

#1 worst thing so far:
My acne increased a bit for a couple days but nothing serious, it is now subsiding. My honey has crystalized and drags the skin on my face uncomfortably when I use it. I'm going to try to soften it first next time I use it

Verdict so far:
While my skin is loving the honey wash the acne flared up mildly it is now subsiding. If  my skin becomes clear and stays clear I will keep this routine going.

 Good luck everyone!

The Crunchy Betty Honey Challenge: Day 1

So today was the first day of Crunchy Betty's honey challenge. So far, my face looks nice. My skin is soft and moisturized. I'm kinda waiting for my acne to go nuts though to be honest....let's hope it doesn't!

#1 best thing about it so far:
My skin looks nice, and is soft and moisturized

#1 worst thing so far:
Nothing yet

Verdict so far:
While my skin is loving the honey wash, I'm not sure how my acne is going to react to it. Hopefully it dies instead of thrives.

Good luck everyone!

I'm Taking The Honey Challenge! Will you?

I'm a huge fan of Crunchy Betty, a fellow blogger who blogs about alternatives to the icky cosmetics they sell in the stores (mostly with things in your kitchen). She's made a challenge for all her readers and beyond, use honey to wash your face for two weeks. Her challenge is below:

Put Pure, Raw (Unpasteurized) Honey on Your Shopping List

You don’t need a whole bunch.

In fact, each time you wash your face, you use maybe half a teaspoon. Probably not even that.

You just need to make sure your honey is raw and pure (and if you can, make it local!). If you needed an excuse to visit your local farmer’s market this weekend, here it is.

Otherwise, you should be able to find raw (unpasteurized) local honey at the supermarket (our King Soopers carries raw Colorado honey). It’s just right there in the honey section. Check it out.

(If you can’t find local, no biggie. Just go for the good stuff.)

Challenge Schedule

People can come and go throughout this challenge as they’d like, but let’s try to get as many people to start with us as we can.

Here’s the schedule of events:

• Monday, July 18th – An introduction into how to wash your face with honey and why you’ll do it. On this day, you can also “sign up” for the challenge in the comments.
• Friday, July 22nd – I’ll send out emails to everyone who’s participating in the challenge just to check up on you and see how it’s going (however, there will be a thread on it in the Crunchy Community, so you guys can chit chat about your experiences).
• Monday, July 25th – There will be a post about the Honey Challenge on this day talking about ways to modify it for easier makeup-washing, as well as a chance for you guys to talk about what you think so far.
• Monday, August 1st - We’ll do a wrap-up post, which will include a super deluxe linky-party where everyone who blogs about their experience with the challenge can link up, and we can go around and read from all the other crunchistas blogs! In addition, on this day, I’ll choose one person to receive some raw Colorado honey from one of my local farmer’s markets. (THIS fun giveaway comes courtesy of the 10 AMAZING ladies who have sent financial support to Crunchy Betty over the last week; if it weren’t for that, this wouldn’t be a fun perk. AND, if more people want to donate over the next week, I’ll TOTALLY buy more honey to give away.)

AND, OF COURSE:

The best part of all of it?

YOUR FACE IS GOING TO BE SO SOFT, CLEAR, AND BEAUTIFUL WHEN WE’RE DONE!

Are you excited?

Yeah?

Tell me about it!

Here's a link to her challenge page which will be up Monday. Crunchy Betty's Honey Challenge I'll be writing about my experiences starting Monday.

Good luck and let's take the challenge!!

Interesting Tea Tree Oil Use

I've come to really like tea tree oil for use on my hair. I had a sunburn on my scalp last week and I'd researched sunburn remedies and came across tea tree oil. I wasn't sure what it'd do to my hair but I figured, what the heck and put it on my sunburned scalp before bed, figuring if it made my hair gross I'd just wash it out in the morning. What I didn't expect was how shiny my hair was in the morning! It looked really, really shiny so I've put more in my hair again tonight so I have shiny hair tomorrow. I've also found that it soothes itchy scalp which I get often. I would say it is only a night thing though because until the tea tree oil dries it looks shiny and greasy, not exactly a daytime hairstyle.

PS: I've tried putting a few drops in my hair after the shower and it also aids in natural curls and waves!

Tea tree oil rocks in your hair!!

Honey, Oatmeal, and Apple Cider Vinegar Acne Cure: A Bust

This is the fourth day of using this regiment as a treatment for acne and I'm calling it quits. The reason it's a bust? My face is beginning to break out where there is almost never any acne. I'm going to blame the oatmeal on that one. There might be something to the apple cider vinegar though. It did seem to calm down already inflamed acne, but it made my existing acne itchy, which unfortunately makes me more likely to pick my acne. If you can withstand the itch it may be a good remedy for calming your inflamed acne.  If this solution works for you then that's great! But for those with severe acne (red bumps and cystic acne), this regiment probably isn't for you.

Good luck till next time!

Honey, Oatmeal, and Apple Cider Vinegar Acne Cure: Day 3

My face is looking and feeling basically the same. My face also doesn't feel as soft as it did the first day. My acne is starting to get smaller and size and isn't as red, but it's still definitely there and now it's itchy, although I've heard that itch in acne is a sign that it's healing. So far I'm not going to call it a bust but it's not a miracle either.

#1 best thing about it so far:

acne isn't as apparent and my face doesn't seem to need moisturizer after washing

#1 worst thing about it so far:

my skin isn't soft like the first day and my acne has gotten itchy

Verdict so far:

the full two weeks will tell if it works or not, so far i'm not really pleased with it but it hasn't made anything worse

Honey, Oatmeal, and Apple Cider Vinegar Acne Cure: Day 1

I can't get over how baby soft my face feels... I keep stroking my cheeks. Acne is less red I think and my face doesn't seem to need moisturizer.

#1 best thing about it so far:

How soft my skin is.

#1 worst thing about it so far:

I don't like the smell of apple cider vinegar when it's wet and it burns my skin a bit where my acne is. Also if you get enough of it on your skin, the apple cider vinegar fumes may sting your eyes a bit. The smell and fumes go away quick though.

Verdict so far:

Promising.

Oatmeal and Honey Facial Scrub (Or Mask)

So as I've said in the previous post, I'm trying a new treatment to get rid of my acne. It calls for an oatmeal and honey scrub and while there are a lot of online recipes, they unfortunately either had no measurements at all, weird measurements (one cup of oatmeal to two tablespoons honey? For serious?), or other ingredients and cooking. I decided to make an oatmeal honey scrub of my own:

Ingredients:
Honey
Oatmeal (not instant or flavored)
Water
A very small water tight lidded container

So what I did was I filled a small plastic container I had (think like an individual dip container) and filled it almost to the top with oatmeal. Then I added enough tap water to saturate it (maybe a little on the runnier side). I then added a tablespoon of honey and stirred that in. It's best to take the honey off of the tablespoon yourself after stirring a bit as it will stay there for basically ever. I then put on the lid tightly and gave it a good shake. And voila! Oatmeal and honey facial scrub. To use, just scoop some out with your hand and rub it all over your face (make sure your hair is tied back or you might get oatmeal bits in your hair...). Rub it in a bit, then rinse with cold water and pat dry. If you wanted to use it as a mask you could leave it on for a while. I'm thinking you can store this with the lid on tight somewhere cool and dark like under a bathroom sink and use it till it's gone. Store in the fridge if you can just to be safe.

I found this worked very well. It was almost slimy from the oatmeal doing it's thing in the water but it felt nice. I suggest using a face cloth to aid in the rinsing.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!!

Honey, Oatmeal, and Apple Cider Vinegar Acne Cure

So I found this great site I'd like to share with everyone. It's called http://www.myhomeremedies.com/ and has an extensive page on acne remedies submitted by users. I thought hell, I'll try them one by one (not the stupid ones like using rubbing alcohol....OUCH) and put up a review.

For the next two weeks I'll be trying this one:

Make a scrub out of honey and oatmeal (or buy one, organic and toxic free please!) and use that every night. rinse with cold water and pat dry. Then apply apple cider vinegar on trouble spots with a cotton ball without rinsing and go to sleep. Wash you face again with the oatmeal scrub in the morning. 

The person who submitted it claimed their acne improved within a few days. It's worth a try! If it works on my stubborn acne then maybe it will work for you. If you feel like trying it with me please let me know how it works for you too and maybe even what ratios of honey to oatmeal you used, and if you buy a scrub what one you used.

Stay happy and healthy!

Jobs?

Hello all!

I'm currently looking for jobs, either part time or full time in my career of social service work. I'm finding it hard! All the good jobs in my field tend to be either too far away or asking for qualifications I don't have (like 5 or more years experience, I'm a new graduate!). I'm wondering what job sites my viewers use. I currently rely mostly on www.simplyhired.ca but have checked out many other sites to no avail. Please help me out? It's embarrassing that my little sister makes more money than me (I'm 20 she's 16).

Thanks for any advice in advance!

The Cosmetics Safety Comparing List!

Hello all. I've finished my list! Now you can all print it off and bring it with you to the store rather than trying to remember all the icky things you don't want in your health and beauty products. The list is double sided and allows you to compare 5 products. Enjoy!!

(Page 1)

PRODUCTS TO COMPARE

1

2

3

4

5

BAD INGREDIENT LIST

                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                   5

2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1

3-Diol

Alluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate

Aminophenol

Apha Hydroxy Acids

Aquasol A

Arovit

Axerophthol Palmitate

Benzalkonium Chloride

Beta Hydroxy Acids

BHA

Boric Acid

Bronopol

Butyl's

Ceteareth-20

Ceteareth's

Coal Tar

DBP

Diaminobenzene

Diazolidinyl Urea

Dibutyl Pthalate

DMDM Hydantoin

Emu Oil

Formaldehyde

Formalin

Fragrance

Glycolic Acid

Hexadeconoate

Hexadeconoate Retinol

Hydroquinone

Imidazolidinyl Urea

Isobutyl's

Isopropyl's

Ketoconazol

Lactic Acid

Lead

Mercury

Methochloroisothiazolinone

Methoxyethanol

(Page 2)

                                                1                   2               3                 4                      5

Methyl Cellosolve

Methylisothiazolinone

Mink Oil

Nitromethane

Octoxynol-9

Optovit - A

Oxybenzone

Parabens

Parfum

PEG's

Petroliums

Phenacetin

Phenopthalein

Phenylenediamine

Phthalates

Placenta

Polyethylene

Polyethylene Glycol

Progesterone

Propyl's

Resorcinol

Retinol

Retinol Palmitate

Retinyl Palmitate

Salicylic Acid

Selenium Sulphide

Sodium Borate

Tallow

Toluene

Triclocarbon

Triclosan

Vitamin A Palmitate

Totals

Best Choice

(If you have any ideas for how to make this list better just let me know in the comments section. Happy and healthy shopping!)

Coming Soon...

I'm making a checklist so you can compare cosmetics when your out shopping. It's going to have a list of all the worst ingredients in cosmetics with 4 slots for checks (each slot is a product). You can add up which product has the least amount of bad ingredients (hopefully none!) and choose the safest product. I'll have it done as soon as I can! I'm open to suggestions as well.

Stay Healthy!!

RIP Nemoy the ID Shark

RIP little guy/girl... You lived too short a life

Nemoy ?2011 - June 26, 2011

My poor ID shark :(

On Sunday I got me one of the coolest fishes I've ever owned. He or she is an Iridescent shark (ID Shark for short). I named it Nemoy. Don't know why but it popped into my head and I liked it. So after I brought it home and looked it up I discovered that it could grow to be a meter and a half long. HOLY SHIT! I feel bad now because the poor thing is only a juvenile so it's small and is destined to live out the rest of it's days staying that way in my 2.5 gallon fish tank when it should be in a 1500 gallon fish tank. I felt bad so I got him special shrimpy pellet food to make up for it. He seems content enough.... If he lives long enough I'll put him in the biggest ass tank possible!!!

Keep track of your spending the easy way!

I found this awesome website for budgeting and keeping track of your finances. It's called mint.com and I love it. It tracks your spending by having access to banking information and it shows you what you spent and on what and even categorizes it for you. Give it a try, it's free.

I got to wondering...

Today I did some laundry and as I was hanging my clothes out on the line to dry I was wondering to myself, I wonder how I can do this naturally and easily without spending a ton on natural cleaners. So I looked it up! You can make an all natural and cheap laundry detergent with a bar of soap, borax, and washing soda. the recipe is here (http://kindacrunchykate.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/doing-laundry-frugally-and-naturally-and-how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent/). As for fabric softener and keeping whites white and colors bright, look no further than your kitchen cupboards for white vinegar. Use it like fabric softener and it works it's magic without leaving a vinegar smell. And of course, don't dry your clothes in the dryer in such warm weather! Hang your clothes on a clothesline outside and you get the bonus of having great smelling clothes.

Happy Laundry Day!!!

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Well I'm having a lazy Sunday afternoon today. I had my fun this weekend though. Had a party of sorts with a  few friends at my boyfriends house. We had a bonfire and played some drinking games and it was a blast. We'll definitely have to do it again. Anyways today I'm just taking it easy. I need to clean out my car but meh I'll leave that for Tuesday when I'm off work. I also wanted to mention this awesome blog I came upon the other day. It's a blog of cheap but healthy meals. It's called Poor Girl Eats Well and you can find it here (http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/). I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do!

Have a good Sunday night everyone!

The wonderful Black strap molasses acne cure

Ever since I was thirteen or fourteen I've had acne problems. Since I'm twenty years old you'd think I was done with acne but unfortunately I'm not. I've been really lucky though to find something that clears up my skin and seems to keep it that way (although I'd prefer clear skin without weird routines). Whats been working for me lately is taking a spoonful of black strap molasses. It kinda tastes funny and it made me flare up a bit first but after that everything kinda just began to heal and my skin doesn't dry out as easy or as much as it used to. My skin just looks nicer although it's not completely clear yet (I still have some red spots from where the acne freaked out)Update: after a week or so i had completely clear skin :P. This is one of the very few things that has worked so well and so quick. So if you don't mind swallowing thick sugary stuff every morning or night then go for it! It's definitely worth a try.

Rainy Victoria day :(

It's Victoria day here in Canada!! woo!! Unfortunately there appears to be nothing to do! It's rainy outside and none of me and my friends have money or the willpower to do anything interesting. I've been sitting at a friends house for like an hour just waiting for him to wake up lol. Oh well I guess thats what I get for a day off.

What are you doing for Victoria day?

The poor gals bored list!

There are tons of lists on the internet of things to do when you are bored, but most of them involve spending money or having certain things (which if you don't have, more spending). So I've decided to take on the challenge of creating a list of things you can do for free when you're bored. Enjoy! If you have any ideas please submit them in the comment box and I'll add them if they're good.

By Yourself
1. Clean your room
2. While you're at it get rid of some stuff, de-clutter or organize
3. Rearrange your furniture
4. Read a book
5. Give someone a call
6. Organize a yard sale
7. Take a nap
8. Volunteer
9. Blow bubbles
10. Go for a walk
11. Take a long bath
12. Go for a bike ride
13. Wash your car
14. Do some laundry
15. Wash your bedding and hang it up outside to dry, they'll be soft and clean and smell amazing
16. Grab some sidewalk chalk and go draw some art or write inspirational sayings around your town

With Friends
1. Crack out a board game!
2. Play a sport like soccer or badminton
3. Blow bubbles
4. Play Frisbee
5. Have a camp out in your backyard
6. Visit a thrift store and try on some wacky clothes
7. If it's winter make a snow man or snow fort

With Your Special Guy/Gal
1. Build a fort out of blankets and pillows and cuddle in it
2. Shower together
3. Go on a picnic together
4. Camp out together and be sure to cozy up in a sleeping bag
5. Have some fun in the bedroom ;)
6. Cook dinner together and eat it by candle light
7. If it's nighttime just light a candle and hang out naked. You'd be surprised what you get up to. I've had some of the deepest conversations and some of the funnest tickle fights and such by candlelight.
8. Go feed the ducks
9. Have one of you dress up as a ghost and the other as pacman. Walk around town holding hands. Whenever anyone sees you two act embarrassed and run away from each other screaming wocka wocka wocka

Bored list?

Hey all I need your help on something. I'm attempting to write a list of things to do when you're bored, either with a friend or without, that involves no money at all (I know it's hard to think of!). If you have any cool or strange or just any ideas post them in the comment section and I'll put them on the list.

Bye for now!

Welcome to my world!

Hello all and welcome to my world. I'm a non average girl living in southern Canada. I guess I'm blogging not only to put my thoughts into words but also to share some of my ideas and interests with the world wide interwebs :) So for all who read this, welcome to my world :P