Homemade remedy cream.

After many years of searching for perfect hand and feet cream for very dry skin, I came across nice neat recipe. It had lots of goodness in essential oils and only natural ingredients so I gave it a go.
It has healing properties, ideal for scrapes and bruises and even small burns, and softens heels like no other, better even than urea creams.
And of course I wouldn't be me if I would not modify it. I know that it might look daunting to start of with, but it is dead easy and quick to make. Initial investment in raw ingredients will pay off quickly, as you always buy more than you need for one go, so end up making several lots. They make great presents for friend as well.  As for equipment all you need is double boiler (I put pyrex jug in a pan of boiling water- does the job),scales and pots for ready mix (I recycle cream pots or sometimes mini jam jars, just make sure they are clean and rinsed in boiling water to kill any bacteria that may be lurking there).

So how to make it:
measure in a jug (or pan, or whatever you use)
120g olive oil or almond oil
60g beeswax
60g shea butter
20g calendula oil
20g comfrey oil
20g St John's Wort oil
5g Vit E oil

put them on boil until wax and butter dissolve, take of the heat and add essential oils, original recipe talk about 20 drops of lavender and 10 drops of tea tree, I add 30 lavender, 20 tea tree, 10 eucalyptus and 10 bergamot (for nicer smell) and mix well. Decant to the jars and let it set. Thats all.

With the essential oils you are safe with lavender and tea tree, others ask specialist if you can use them, for example if pregnant rosemary can cause miscarriage, so better safe than sorry.

Daughters new bedroom and other activities

So after half a day of blood, sweat and tears (most of it from nearly 10 year old) daughters bedroom was finally finished. Resulting not only in putting new bed in and reorganising layout.

Several bin bags of rubbish and another 4 of clothes she doesn't want to wear or don't fit in any more and lots of books. So we embarked on a trip to charity shops to make donations, and to shopping centre to soothe those feeling that got hurt in a process.
I needed few basics (cotton pads, shower gel etc) young madam had a time of her life in Primark. Came out with 2 pairs of sunglasses, hat, flowery head band, and I don't know what else.
To soothe the Daddy's feelings (who had to put new bed together) we visited Hotel Chocolat. And believe me folks, every penny spent there is worth it. Best chocolate I have ever tasted. Rich, smooth, not too sweet.  Especially their dark selections. Daughter got him chilli penguins, he is going to enjoy that. I got this naughty, not so little packet and I intend to enjoy every piece of it (might share).

When we got back I made the dinner (jerk chicken and sweet potatoes with green beans) and made bread. In our home we often bake our bread, it's great for destressing.

Only minus is we often eat the first loaf straight from the oven. It's so delicious when warm.
And now, when I finish this post, I need to seriously do some studying. Exams very soon and  passed last year with first, would be embarrassed to go below that.

Few new things in my makeup bag March 2015

I had to do the cleanup of my cosmetic bag, some stuff was there for ages and because I never used it, it was time to say goodbye. But all occasions like that involve saying hello to new stuff.
So here it goes.

So Chisel Cheeks from Barry M- just trying it really, but already got in terms with reality, I will never master it like Kardashians (lol).
Redemption Palette Iconic 2 from Revolution (so far my favourite).
NYC lip crayon in South Ferry Berry (dries my lips, so won't stick with it).
Lash Princess form Essence (unfortunately smudges).
Carmex Moisture Plus lip balm with pink tint (so far so good).
On the photo is as well my long lost friend from Body Shop- the eyebrow palette, don't know if they are still selling it (I have it for ages). It's absolute fav, and so easy to use, just use slanted brush and it makes eyebrows worth having.

My first Glossybox.

Have I mentioned I am having birthday soon? So I treated myself to Glossybox. Planning on Birchbox next :-).
And it arrived this morning.

 It is soo very nice to unpack something so lovely looking.
As to the content, I really like the mascara, and the lip balm. Not so sure about green nail varnish, and still have to try peeling and shampoo/conditioner. Or maybe give it to my slightly older than me friend.

So today is girly day.

Little things that made me happy this week

Shopping!
But as Marilyn said "money won't make you happy, shopping will", so I went on a little shopping trip a got a few things.
My new foundation and makeup base.

Few scented candles.

Lovely long white shirt to wear with jeans.

Lovely new notebooks (Women can never have enough of those, right?!), and even lovelier picture frames see here http://emslifeinuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/tkmaxx-finds.html

And Spring!!!

Apart from that what else can made me happy? Feeling that I actually accomplished something, so I tackled the ironing basket and finished it all, made a roast dinner, and chicken soup from leftovers, and all of that in one afternoon. Spend some time with my family.And got some photos done so I can post them here.
When I read what I wrote I can see that my internal chaos is taking over. Fine, so be it. I can live with it, in fact I live with it for (ime) 35 years. In fact I recognise the pattern, when my "big" birthday is coming up I get this massive urge to change something. So I am changing things, setting myself new challenges. This year is to get back to blogging. I use to wrote a blog (in 2003) in a different place, in a different language. Whole word apart.

Skincare after 30

As much as upsetting it is we age. We age from about 18 when collagen in our skin starts to disappear. That sounds so bleak.
Anyway, I was blessed with good skin as a teenager, because my skin  always been dry = no spots! Apart of one weird episode of some sort of eczema at 13, which turned my face in red and sore mass, and occasional allergy to makeup I experimented with, I had no problems.  Until last year. Suddenly my skin started to hate me, got red, and covered in small pimples, overall uncomfortable, you get the gist - not a very attractive site. My beautician told me it was begining of rosacea. That hit the PANIC! button big time. So having spent extortionate amount of money and lots of time on trying to get this under control, got to the conclusion that UK market doesn't offer big choice. Found only two brands with products dedicated to the issue. La Roche-Posay with Rosaliac series was a lifesaver. Literally.

Two weeks of following regime of exfoliating, moisturising, appling serum and I started to look like a human again.  This one above is all time star (my only problem with it is packaging, can't get everything out of the tube, as the cream is quite dense, so end up throwing away about third of the product). But it didn't last for long, two months latter I was on the search for something else. My skin has a tendency to getting use to products so I have to change them frequently. There is where lack of dedicated products starts to be noticeable.
Which is something hard to understand, according to NHS website, 1 in 10 people between 30 and 50 can be affected by it, That is 10% of entire population. Huge market. Shouldn't skincare companies make more effort to accommodate them?
Anyway, another company with decent products is Eucerin, unfortunately my skin responds only to one cream out of the series.

Looking for pictures for this post I found another brand with stuff dedicated to redness prone skin Avene, have to try that one. Will write how it went latter.
But still just three brands when in comparison there are whole shelves in Boots and others dedicated to teenage acne. And when you think about it, its the people above thirty (most likely to be affected by rosacea) who have bigger spending power than teenagers.
Then there is a word of advice from my beautician, which I took to heart, use only chemical exfoliants, enzymatic scrubs instead of manual. Use creams and serums with vitamins A, E and C. Exfoliate twice a week, put serum on after that. Always use the sun-screen and drink plenty of water. Drinking herbal teas also helps, especially elderflower (you will get use to strange smell), as the stuff in it helps to keep blood vessels in good shape.
My skin, because I was not so good to it as I should need some extra boost when it comes to serums. At the moment my hero is Lancome Genifique, pricey I know, but worth it and it lasts forever.

And at the moment I am trying Visionnaire, just the sample at the moment but so far so good.

Both Lancome products are very efficient, just a pea size drop is enough for whole face. And it makes massive difference to how my skin feels. Genifique in the morning after cleansing and toning, but before moisturiser, Visionaire in the evening.  For cleansing I am using Eucerin gel, when in the shower as I love to wash my face with water.

 And after that Lancome milk and toner.

Love the rose scent, and it leaves my skin smooth and fresh. Ready for whatever else I put on it.
So thats my day-to-day skincare. What is yours? And if you have a problem with redness maybe you are using things I haven't found yet and would like to try. Let me know.