You need a bath!

[TalkingDog]

Or maybe not.

I am of the no primp - no makeup - spotty bathing - looks 10 years younger - sort. So this was a nice little vindication of my essential laziness.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=477378&in_page_id=1879&in_page_id=1879

"As a nation, we spend £10.5 billion on grooming and I personally spend around £2,000 each year on beauty products. I'm a sucker for any advert that claims a new cream or body wash will make me look younger or banish lines and wrinkles, and I think nothing of handing over £50 for the latest must-have product."

"Then, one evening earlier this year, I sat down and read the labels of everything I used and worked out I was applying more than 200 different chemicals to my body each day. These are said to be safe, but what is not known is the effect that the 'cocktail' of chemicals is having on our bodies."

She adds: "With the incidence of diseases such as breast cancer on the rise, it's difficult not to wonder if these products could partly be to blame. Health campaigners are particularly worried about a group of chemicals called parabens, which are added to cosmetics to prevent them from degrading."




My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[BlooInBloo]

1. I do! How'd you know???

[closeupready]

2. I don't think people realize that the skin is absorbent.

One way we expel toxins is by sweating through the skin, but the skin also absorbs things applied to the surface.

[OlderButWiser]

3. "but the skin also absorbs things applied to the surface"

That's nonsense. But I don't have time to argue with you right now because I have to go put on my nicotine patch.

[TomInTib]

5. Head On!

Apply directly to the forehead!

[Rainbowreflect]

12. LOL

:spray: :rofl:

[TahitiNut]

11. Cellular walls are semi-permeable ... some things get through - most don't

Further, it depends in the direction. Cells expel some substances that they won't admit. This is a major field of study in pharmacology ... and is far from simple.

[Warpy]

4. Oh, gosh! Me, too

Back when I should have been learning how to do makeup--my teens--everything I could afford broke me out in big welts. Later, in my 30s when the hypo allergenic stuff came out, I had no idea what to do with it. My trials made me look like a clown if I did them wrong, a hooker if I did them right. I gave up.

The only thing I use on my mug is Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap. I am going cheerfully to pot. I have few wrinkles and the ones that did pop up are just my life's story.

People who want great skin into later years need to follow two rules only:

Don't smoke

Stay out of the sun.

Following those two rules is one hell of a lot cheaper than smearing all that crap on your skin and it works better, too.

[TalkingDog]

7. Dr. Bronner's ROCKS!!!

We buy it by the gallon and use it for literally everything (except teeth brushing - like one of our friends) including -but not limited to- taking cooking stains off the stove and in a natural pest spray mixture.

Our cleaning arsenal for everything in the house (excepting toilets - which the spousal unit is VERY particular about and hypo-allergenic laundry detergent) consists of: Dr. B's, Baking Soda, White Vinegar. *Period*

The other good thing about Dr. B's: It's concentrated, so it lasts forever.


He was a little "quair" as we say in these parts, but Dr. B was a good man.




My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[hedgehog]

9. I used Dreft SOAP for all my laundry for years and the clothes

came out soft and clean. Now Dreft and Ivory are both detergents. Anybody know of a good laundry SOAP?

[Warpy]

14. I use Dr. Bronner's when my skin breaks out

because I've stupidly used a free sample of detergent when I've been skint.

Unfortunately, it doesn't do as good a job when used long term. Things tend to get either grey or yellowish. I've found a couple of brands of detergent that don't break me out and try to stick with them.

Nothing is better at getting old blood out than Dr B's, something that came in very handy during my years of nursing.

For the record, Ivory is the WORST for my skin. The contact dermatitis it gives me look like the flip flop lady's feet*.


*Old threads last month, don't ask

[hedgehog]

15. I'm glad you mentioned the nursing.

Otherwise we'd be wondering why getting blood out was so important to you!

[SmokingJacket]

6. We certainly do use too much "stuff"

However, this woman went from one extreme to the other. There is a healthy middle ground.

I'm of the daily-shower, no-makeup-except-a-little-when-I-go-out-in-the evenings school.

[Quantess]

8. I'm too lazy to wear makeup.

Happily, my boyfriend prefers me not to wear makeup.
I use aluminum-free deodorants made by Tom's of Maine and Nature's Gate, because I'm looking forward to not getting Alzheimer's.

[DemGa]

10. Two words: deodorant stones...nt

[TahitiNut]

13. No scents. No decorations. No oils, greases, or lotions.

Just (unscented) soap and water as frequently as needed ... in clean, natural fiber (preferably cotton) clothing. Simple