Etherknitter

Ten on Tuesday: Favorite Health and Beauty Products

I will warn you in this first sentence:  do not come to the blog of a doc to find hot tips on health and beauty products.  We have no hot hidden secrets that you covet.  You don't want to know what I know:  very little will help maintain health and beauty that you don't already have, with the exception of my final item.

1.  Redken FreshCurls anti-frizz shampoo:  I found this product line last year because of my new wonderful hair cutter lady.   Redken is reasonably priced, and does what it says it does.  Have you ever used products, only to find they substitute one undesirable part of your self to another undesirable attribute?  I tried SunSilk anti-flat shampoo.  It battled flat by making frizz.  Fail.

2.  Redken FreshCurls antifrizz:  Marvelous product.  I have silky, curly hair all seasons, instead of frizz.  The steelwool look has not been a good one for me.

3.  Got Soap goats milk soap (unscented):  Great shower and face soap.  I learned of this through Claudia. 

4.  Emery board:  The big one from Seph*ra.  Four different gauges.  I will include cuticle clippers, also from Seph*ra:  Work, winter, gardening, spinning, cleaning, all very hard on hands.  These help cure the splits.

5.  Burt's bees lip balm,  pomegranite:  Nice for slowing down moisture loss, another four seasons product.

6.  Agraria body wash:  I make each bottle last for years.  (It is more expensive than I deem appropriate for something you wash down a drain.)  But I love the bitter orange smell.

7.  Bliss cuticle smoother:  Hands in Cal-Stat 400x per day.  My poor cuticles.

8.  Zoya nail products:  Love the idea that these have no formaldehyde sitting on my nails for days, absorbing slowly, and helping cause....what?  autoimmune disease?  cancer?  No data, but chronic exposure of anything is just not a good idea.  That is one of the reasons I don't use lipstick daily.  See, I told you that you wouldn't want to read this.

9.  Neo baci ointment:  make sure no skin dings progress to ugly, nasty, potentially life changing infections. 

10.  My Concept2 rower (substitute any other aerobic exercise in here):  There is little data to show that any of the OTC creams, rejuvenators, nostrums, balms, ointments, or peels will do anything other than make you feel good that you think you are doing something for yourself.  Get to the real deal, and add aerobic exercise to your week. 

Improves blood flow to the face.  Makes the body look better.  Improves your health so you have more energy.  Makes your brain act younger.  You would spend money for a cream or pill that did that, yes?  Then just spend 30 minutes 4-5x per week.

End of sermon. 

Mr. E put my feet to the fire to get some of my FOs posted.  Judy of BallandSkein had a merino/cashmere/nylon blend (Sophia) in colorway Oceania that came home with me from Connecticut Sheep and Wool, 2010.  It was my first MCN blend.  I'm hooked.

Pattern: usual st st, heel flap, cuff down, kitchenered toe
Needles:  Crystal Palace 1.5 dpns
Yarn:  Ball and Skein Sophia, colorway Oceania

 

New Year's Intentions 2011

Last year, I called it reminders.  Intentions seems to be the word for 2011.  Both are more benign than calling them resolutions. 

I do initiate changes and plans on days other than January 1.  Old habits rarely die.  That means today's musings will fit the tradition (and be easier to find in future blog searches when I want to see how I am doing compared to what I thought I would do.)

Mr. E and I were foodshopping yesterday.  I threw the question out there.  What knitting intentions should I make for the New Year?  He had surprising ideas on the topic.

Mr. E:  Don't make scolding resolutions.

Etherknitter:  Example, please?

Mr. E:  "'I will not buy more yarn than I knit."  "I will learn some technique that I hate."  And sappy ones, like "enjoy the flow" or "enjoy each stitch of the WIP" are just scolding, one level removed.  Be bold. Give yourself license to do what tempts.  Make resolutions that allow you to make a big step that you haven't been able to justify.

Food for thought, indeed.

My summary for last year, and how I did:

1.  End the year with less yarn.

Fail.  I kept track of all yardage knitted.   Estimating what was used in current WIPs, deciding when there wasn't enough of a skein left to do another project, counting leftover yarn as used, there were lots of slippery endpoints.  I knit 9366 yards last year, or 5.32 miles.  Unintentionally, all but 128 yards were fingering or laceweight.  I was doing fine on this until the TKGA market and Miss Babs' booth.  After that, I gave up on keeping track of purchases, but did maintain reasonable control for the rest of the year.  (This knitter was in the Miss Babs' checkout line.  I did not buy quite that much.)

2.  Make things out of sock yarn other than socks.

Done.  Onerva shawl was sock yarn.  This is a nice solution to the dilemma of 100% merino skeins.

3.  Finish the Penny Straker vest/Grant Park pullover/Leilani cardigan.  Non-negotiable.  If these are not done by 12/31/2010, come flay me.

You are going to have to come flay me.  None were finished.

4.  Finish the organizational nightmare that is my life. 

Substantial progress was made this year.  There needs to be a finish on this, and that is actually within reach.  I am proud of this one.

5.  Lose the 8#/aerobic exercise at least 4 days per week/ yoga 2x per week. 

Sporadic progress.  Lost some, gained some back, net negative weight, net better on the exercise.  Yoga still only once per week.

6.  Stick to the anti-inflammatory diet 75-90%. 

Moderate success.  Probably hit 50%. 

7.  Play with origami this year.  I have the books, I have the paper.  Make a crane or two.

Yes!  Began making paper cranes.  I have done 11, with a goal of 1000 for luck.  But not all in one year.

8.  Find a place to throw pottery.

Looked into this, found a place, but need to do it in the summer, not the winter.  By the phrasing,  finding the place was enough to satisfy the reminder.

Intentions for 2011 are more difficult.  All of the above would be appropriate.  The difficulty lies in some huge changes happening in the workplace that will suck a great deal of emotional and physical energy over the next year.  I could make one intention for the entire year (survive the coming storms, and come out on the other side with an acceptable solution). 

So let's see where this leaves me.

1.  Survive the coming storms at work, and come out on the other side with an acceptable solution.

2.  Knit from stash.  One get-out-of-stash-jail-free card, the purchasing of yarn and casting on of a project this year for a coup de coeur.  Seems reasonable to allow at least one of those to happen.  Otherwise, this intention would only meet the definition of scolding.

3.  Lump these uglies together:  finish organization, get down to a happy weight, ramp up the exercise and yoga, continue to minimize high glycemic carbs.  Okay, more scolding, but with a purpose.

4.  Restart origami crane project.

5.  Cultivate curiosity.  I have realized that this is a driving force in everything I do.  I seek.  I learn.  I explore.  I perfect.  I leave behind.  All is in the name of satisfying that insatiable itch of curiosity.  It is a reason to live large and well.

Really?  That is all.  But it is a whole lot in five items.  I plan to do other things that won't make it to the intention list:  cook more recipes from my cookbooks that include vegetable proteins, do a bit more in the garden this year, take a XC skating technique lesson. 

The theme here is to enjoy life more, and make sure there is more healthy life to enjoy.  That is easy to remember, and worth putting energy into making it happen.

OH!  And here I forget the most important part.  Six years ago, on January 1, I started blogging.  Can I thank you yet again, for adding color, energy, enthusiasm, wisdom, knowledge, and love to my life?