Lemons, the unsung superfood

I mentioned in the previous post that lemons are amazing. I thought I would use my internet soap box to let you all know why we should all be drinking lemon water all the time. One of the most notable things it does is alkalize the blood. I know I have spent a lot of time talking about pH but it turns out it is extremely important. I had not idea! It can seem counterintuitive because lemon juice has such a low pH, but the long and the short of it is that the high amounts of minerals in the lemon react with stomach acid making it alkaline, due to science reasons. These science reasons are explained in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WndFDIa6a0s. 

Why is that important? Why should you care? Well, when our body's natural pH moves from alkaline to acidic it eats away at our bones to neutralize the acid. So alkalizing the blood through other means can prevent osteoporosis later in life. That's not all, there are plenty more reasons you should be drinking lemon water.

Here's a compilation of all the best, and most legit seeming, benefits of lemon water! 

• Lemons are high in potassium, which is good for heart health, as well as brain and nerve function. 303 mg per lemon. It also keeps free radicals under check, boosts the formation of blood cells, regulates blood pressure and so forth. In brief, lemon water can protect you from a number of potential physical disorders and keep you energized.
• Lemon juice not only encourages healthy digestion by loosening toxins in your digestive tract, it helps to relieve symptoms of indigestion such as heartburn, burping, and bloating. Something I have experienced personally since I've started drinking lemon water everyday!
• It helps flush out the toxins in your body by enhancing enzyme function, and stimulating your liver.
• Lemons contain pectin fiber, which assists in fighting hunger cravings. This is something else I have experienced since I've been drinking lemon water.
•  It removes uric acid in your joints, which is one of the main causes of inflammation.
•  Lemons are extremely beneficial for the cardiovascular system. The antioxidants present in these fruits can curb down the adverse effects of toxins as well as harmful free radicals on your heart and blood vessels. Moreover, the potassium content of lemons keeps all cardiac problems at bay by diminishing mental stress and relaxing the heart muscles.
•  Being a natural diuretic, lemons can increase the rate of urination, which is highly important for maintaining the health of your renal system. As lemon water promotes the elimination of toxins and other waste materials from the internal system, you can easily stay away from rheumatoid arthritis.
• Lemon is full of natural antioxidants. It can effectively combat damaging free radicals and remove them completely from your body. Being a good source of vitamin C, the fruit also repairs the damaged skin cells as well as helps you get rid of fine lines, blemishes, wrinkles, deep furrows etc. 
•  Apart from free radicals, lemon water also purges toxic materials from your blood 
• Lemon water has long been known as an amazing natural hair care solution. It can make your hair stronger by keeping the roots or follicles healthy. It also works as a natural stimulant for your hair and promotes its growth.
• he antioxidants present in lemon are extremely favorable for your scalp. Hence, drinking lemon water in a regular manner is useful for treating dry scalp and dandruff permanently.
• It destroys intestinal worms
• Blood vessels are strengthened by the vitamin P (bioflavinoids) in lemon thus prevents internal hemorrhage. Also, making it useful in treating high blood pressure.
• The citric acid in lemon juice helps to dissolve gallstones, calcium deposits, and kidney stones.
• Lemons have powerful antibacterial properties; experiments have found the juice of lemons destroy the bacteria of malaria, cholera, diphtheria, typhoid and other deadly diseases.
• The symptoms of eye disorders, including diabetic retinopathy have been shown in research to improve due to the rutin, found in lemons.
• Lemons contain 22 anti-cancer compounds, including naturally occurring limonene; oil which slows or halts the growth of cancer tumors in animals and flavonol glycosides which stop cell division in cancer cells.
• According to The Reams Biological Ionization Theory (RBTI), the lemon is the ONLY food in the world that is anionic (an ion with a negative charge). All other foods are cationic (the ion has a positive charge.) This makes it extremely useful to health as it is the interaction between anions and cations that ultimately provides all cell energy
  
  you can check out the nutritional info here http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1938/2
  
  Pretty amazing stuff right? Serving size is 1/2 a lemon if you are under 150 pounds and a whole if you are over that weight. I've been doing 1-2 whole lemons a day. I squeeze it into a liter of water and add some liquid stevia (a non-carcinogenic zero calorie sweetener) and it makes it like lemonade. On that note, lemonade is not an acceptable substitute for lemon water. Some people prefer it warm, particularly in the morning. I like mine cold. I read that lime juice also alkalizes the blood, but I don't know if it has any of the other benefits that lemons have. Oranges are not a good substitute because of the sugar content. There you have it. Lemons are amazing so drink up!
  
  
  
  
  

Green tea toner

I mentioned in a previous post about the importance of a toner if you use alkaline products on your skin. I have been meaning to get around to making this stuff and posting about it for a couple of weeks but always forgot or put if off for some reason or another. Usually it was just because I'm lazy, and I justify my laziness by saying, "I'm a super-busy grad student, I deserve to sit around when I have the chance," which is probably pretty true. Fortunately this recipe is great for the lazy at heart. It took me all of 5 minutes (including the time it took the water to boil, a few seconds if you don't count that time).

One of the other great things about this recipe is you probably have everything you need for it sitting right in your kitchen. Other great things include benefits for your skin and it's pretty inexpensive to make.

I did a little bit of research on what makes a good toner and came across several different recipes, many for making a rose water toner. I decided against rose water because it sounded like it was going to take more time than I wanted to spend, my roses are not blooming right now nor are there any hips remaining, and it does not have an acidic pH. That, of course, could have been remedied by some lemon juice, but that would require me to figure out the ratio of lemon juice to rose water to make it the proper pH range and I'm lazy, as I stated before. 

I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to use when I started, that being: green tea, honey, and lemon. Which is, in fact, what I ended up using, but I had to do some research on the ingredients before I could fully commit. 

Green tea is one of those things that has a lot of buzz about it's health benefits lately, so I suppose that might be why I naturally gravitated toward using it. Turns out it is pretty amazing stuff! It's considered a "superfood" (at least I think it is) because of its high amounts of antioxidants, which may prove to have anti-aging properties. The antioxidants in green tea reduce and prevent sun damage by absorbing free radicals and reducing inflammation, rather than blocking UV rays. This makes it a good choice to put underneath what ever moisturizer and sunscreen you are using. There is also evidence that green tea can offer some protection against skin cancer. I've heard people make claims about the benefits of caffeine on the skin for increased collegian production, among other things. I did not personally check out these claims (again with the laziness) but there are plenty of other benefits that make it a good choice, in my opinion. The pH of green tea typically falls between 6.7-7.5 making it an ideal base.

I chose honey mainly for the moisturizing properties. I hear mixed things about honey. Some health food people swear by it, others have called it "glorified sugar." I think it is actually pretty awesome. Honey has a lot more to offer than sugar: minerals, vitamins, antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties, it's a natural antihistamine for local plants,  it's good stuff. Unfortunately, to get a lot of the benefits of honey you need to buy raw and you need to buy local, and that stuff does not come cheap. For now, I used the stuff I had floating around the house (the kind that comes in a bear) and hoped that all the benefits were not lost in the pasteurizing process. Honey also has antioxidants which help heal and protect the skin from damage. Because of it's anti inflammatory and microbial properties, it can help treat acne. It does an amazing job of healing, I have seen its effects first hand on a gaping wound. Honey reacts with the air and essentially acts as a slow-releasing hydrogen peroxide. Another reason I chose honey is because it is a humectant. That is a fancy word for it draws in and retains moisture. Honey is actually pretty acidic, which I found surprising, with a pH of between 3.2-4.5. So it helps to tip our toner slightly to the acidic side.

Lemons are amazing, let me start by saying that, and I had no idea until researching this toner. I wanted to include lemon mainly for its acidity. With a pH of 2, a few drops should finish getting the toner in the 5-6 range the skin needs. Because of the acidity, lemon also helps exfoliate dead skin cells and leaves the skin looking brighter. Citrus fruit in general is praised for it's vitamin C content and immune system boost, which is (almost) complete malarky. Vitamin C does not do much to help immune system function but it does do amazing things for your skin! Turns out that vitamin C is essential to the production of collegian in the skin, which aids in the growth of new cells and blood vessels. More collegian also means firmer, potentially younger-looking skin. Collegian also helps you skin repair itself because it is an antioxidant. There is some research suggesting that vitamin C may reduce DNA damage to the skin. It may reduce sunburns and help prevent the consequences of long-term sun damage, such as skin cancer. It's amazing stuff. You can get the full scoop here: http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/vitamin-c-benefit-skin.htm

So there you have it, plenty of good reasons to choose these three simple ingredients for your facial toner.

Here's what you need:

1 tea bag or table spoon of loose leaf green tea, preferably organic* 

1 teaspoon of honey

a few drops of lemon juice

a glass container for finished product*

*I hope it's obvious why you would want organic and non-plastic containers since the point of this is to get rid of toxins. If not, look it up ;)

You need to boil some water and then brew tea in 1/4-1/2 cup of water. Stir in honey until dissolved and add lemon juice. Let cool before trying to put it on your skin. Boom. Nothing too it. I don't know why I put it off so long. 

I chose jasmine green tea for mine because it smells nice, and I like to drink it. Honestly, when I made this I mostly did it by taste. I have a handy dandy quick pour through brewer I bought in China town. I ran the tea through 4 times and had a nice strong tea. I measured the honey, but just added the lemon juice until the tea had a nice tartness to it. If I had to guess, probably about a teaspoon or so of juice. I cannot stress enough, DO NOT MAKE THIS IN LARGE BATCHES. This is food grade stuff and should be treated as such. I kept mine on the bathroom counter and it lasted for about 5 days before starting to ferment. I dumped most of it out in the end. What's cool about it though, is if you make extra you can just drink it! Which sounds odd, but also is awesome. I intentionally did that when I made it and added the mix to some lemon water I was already drinking and it was pretty fantastic. If you want it to last a little longer you can always keep it in the fridge, which may be invigorating when applied to skin! I, however, will probably keep mine on the counter because I will forget about it if I don't see it sitting there. 

Once I made my toner I figured it was a good chance to try out washing my face with baking soda. I made a past in my hand with about 1 tablespoon baking soda and water and massaged it on my skin for 30 or so seconds. It does work quite well. My skin felt soft and had a nice glow. It is a little drying, and I think I over did it with the scrubbing, so my skin was a little sensitive for a while after. I wouldn't recommend using it on a daily basis, but it's great for a couple times a week, followed up by the pH restoring toner.

Jojoba oil update: I'm still liking washing my face with jojoba oil! My skin seems to be "purging" but it's hard to tell if it's because of the oil or because of my hormones. I have noticed a reduction of blackheads on my nose, and my skin is nice and soft and glowing :) My skin care regimen is currently as follows: dip cotton pad in toner and wipe face first thing in the morning, apply coconut oil moisturizer, wash face with jojoba oil before bed. Simple, easy, non-toxic, and effective. I'm quite happy with it all!

Coconut oil facial moisturizer

It has been a busy day here in my test kitchen (aka my regular kitchen). I have a couple new recipes I've tried that I'm pretty excited about.

First, I want to start by talking about  my old face cream. I was using Trader Joe's Enrich moisturizer most days. I liked it because it is SPF 15, has vitamins A, E, & C, is light weight, and smells nice. Sounds like a pretty good product at first, but after looking it up on SkinDeep I was surprised to see it was pretty bad for me. The 2009 version got a 6 on the hazardous scale, the 2012 was moved down to a 4. I can't remember when I bought the stuff, but even with my inconsistent use I think It was after 2012.

4 isn't a terrible score, but I'm wondering if some of the ratings are skewed because of the limited data on some ingredients. Here are two of the worst things about this cream, and many other commercial face creams I'm sure.

Worst on the list Retinyl Palmitate, danger rating of 8. This is a form of vitamin A that is commonly used as a sunscreen. Why it's bad: Studies are showing that when retinyl palmitate is exposed to sun it can cause cancer. So while you are wearing it to prevent skin cancer, it may be giving it to you. Oh cruel irony. In addition to cancer it is linked to "Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)."

OCTINOXATE is the next toxic ingredient, it's purpose is to enhance skin absorption. It is rated at a 6. Among the worst effects associated with this ingredient are developmental/reproductive toxicity, and organ tissue damage. 

Overall this product has moderate cancer risk, high reproductive and developmental toxicity, and moderate allergy and irritation concerns. Plus, it is stored in plastic, which I'm sure adds to the problems this may cause. You can read the full report on this product here: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/437805/Trader_Joe%27s_Enrich_Moisturizing_Face_Lotion%2C_SPF_15_%282012_formulation%29/

Now, let's move on to what I made and why it is good for you.
If you have ever browsed the endless supply of DIY beauty products you have probably noticed that just about everything calls for coconut oil. This stuff has been gaining popularity, for good reason, and if you intend to make the same recipes as me you will want to stock up. I will be using this as the base of my cream.

This is the stuff I had around the house purchased from Costco. Don't be fooled by the photo, it is actually quite a large amount, 54 oz to be exact. When selecting a coconut oil you want to make sure it is: pure, organic (the whole point of this is to get rid of toxins), cold presses, unrefined, and extra virgin. This brand meets all those qualifications and costs a very reasonable $16. 

What is so great about coconut oil? Well for starters, it has a pH of on average of 5.5-7.8, making it a good match for skin (see earlier post), as it can balance the pH for most skin types. 

Coconut oil is easily absorbed into the skin and is a great moisturizer. It helps remove dead skin and repair damaged tissue. It also has a natural SPF of 2-8, depending on the brand.

The second ingredient I chose is vitamin E oil. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that plays an essential role in skin protection and repair. It helps heal tissue damage, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and aging (something I'm growing more concerned with). However, this important compound is not produced by the human body and must be added to your beauty regimen. I purchased a vitamin E oil from Trader Joe's some time ago. It is also important to make sure you are eating food that contain vitamin E. For the full report see: http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/vitamin-e-benefit-skin.htm This little bottle cost me around $4, certainly worth it.
I looked up the ingredients and found that it could contain both artificial and natural vitamin E. I could not find any research suggesting the artificial version is less effective or toxic in anyway.

The final ingredient you will need is Zinc Oxide powder. I purchased this 1 pound bag on amazon.com for about $10! The purpose of adding zinc oxide is to provide sunscreen. On top of providing SPF, zinc also can sooth mild skin irritations and has anti bacterial properties. How does it work? "Upon application, zinc oxide particles sit on the outermost layer of your skin, the stratum corneum, where they scatter and absorb ultraviolet radiation, protecting your living skin below. Zinc oxide is unique among sunscreen ingredients in that it is truly a broad-spectrum blocker, protecting from UVA, UVB, and even UVC." 

Information from http://www.badgerbalm.com/s-33-zinc-oxide-sunscreen-nanoparticles.aspx

 So here's how you make what I did. You'll need:
1/2 cup pure coconut oil
2 teaspoons vitamin E oil
1 oz (about 4 Tbs) zinc oxide powder*
bowl
electric mixer
glass container for the finished product

*Zinc oxide will change the texture and appearance of cream. It may be omitted for a lower SPF. The 1:4 ratio of zinc to cream makes       about an SPF 20 cream.

Add all ingredients to a bowl, whip with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Because of the fat content this stuff will hold air! Place in container when finished. Voila! Easy, safe, delicious smelling face cream.

When I made this originally I did not have zinc powder so what you see on the left is just coconut oil and vitamin E oil. You can see how smooth and fluffy it will get. It does harden slightly after a few hours, but it still remains pretty smooth and light and cream-like.

Once my zinc powder came in the mail I added it and re-whipped everything. I also added a little more coconut oil because was too thick, in my opinion, so my SPF is somewhere between 15-20, which is fine by me.

You can see how much more white it is after the addition of the powder. The cream is a little bit thicker but still nice and soft and easily spread. 

I put some on my hand immediately and it left a white powdery film on top. I still had some left on my fingers that was melted and rubbed it on my other hand and it absorbed much better. I would recommend letting it melt in your hand (should only take a few seconds because coconut oil has a low melting temperature) before applying it to your face. 

There you have it. It's so simple and cost effective to make a high quality, non-toxic cream. I can't believe it's taken me this long!

Hair remover and face wash update

Anyone else have unwanted facial hair? I am 3/4 South American and 1/4 British which has left me with very light skin and pretty dark hair, especially on my face and legs. This is an unfortunate combination.

I had not considered adding a hair remover to my list of natural beauty experiments(mostly because I forgot), but I think it might be necessary. In the past I have been professionally waxed, a painful endeavor for sure. Also, it's inconvenient and adds up over time. I am very allergic to nair, it causes me to break out in hives everywhere, and I don't want to be putting those kinds of chemicals on my skin anyway. Bleaching is another option, but it has the same chemical problem as nair.

While on pinterest, a place where I spend entirely too much of my free time, I came across a recipe for natural hair remover. It consists of honey, lemon juice, and oatmeal. The original website described its effect as "controversial." I did some more research and found a few other sites boasting the hair removing abilities of a honey and lemon mask, but none of them could tell me why.

Most sites say that it will remove hair if applied 2-3 times a week. One site guaranteed permanent hair removal after 6 months of use. I'm going to give it the old college try. If nothing else, there are benefits to having honey and lemon on the skin, so what do I have to loose?

The recipe I will be using is as follows:

1 tbs Honey
1/2 tbs ground Oatmeal
a few drops of lemon juice

Apply the mask to desired areas, let sit for 15 minutes, and rinse. Repeat 2-3 times a week.
(recipe from www.benefits-of-honey.com)

Jojoba face wash update:
I have been washing my face faithfully for the last 4 days with my jojoba oil, and so far I am pretty happy with it. I was surprised at how easily the oil is absorbed into the skin. After I have wiped of excess oil and patted my face dry its feels refreshed and not the least bit greasy, and even seems to have a bit of a glow afterwards. Yesterday morning my skin still had a bit of a natural glow to it, something I have never seen or noticed before, and I decided to forgo the makeup, apart from a little blush. My skin's overall oiliness has not seemed to decrease in the last few days, but some people said to allow 2 weeks to see results. My skin has not begun to purge anything. I have noticed a reduction of acne in some of my problem areas, still plenty of black heads though.

Overall I am quite satisfied with using it so far. I'm excited to see how else it might improve my skin :)

Acids, and bases, and face wash. Oh my!

Let's talk pH. It is incredibly important when it comes to skin care, something I had not considered until I was researching cleansers. The human skin is naturally acidic, with a pH of between 5-6 typically. The skin's protective acidic layer is referred to as the "acid mantle." The acid mantle serves an important purpose, acting as a barrier between bacteria and other potentially harmful contaminants.

If you have ever taken chemistry you should know that 7 is neutral on the pH scale; anything below is an acid and anything above is a base. You may also recall that acids and bases neutralize each other. What you might not know is that face wash you are using is probably pretty far on the basic side. Many face washes (and shampoos) seem to fall in the 8-10 range, some going as high as 11, which is about the same as ammonia. So when we put these basic products to cleanse the skin, with the intention of treating and preventing clogged pores and acne, we actually destroy the acid mantle and the skin's ability to protect itself. This leaves the door wide open for all that bacteria you were tying to keep at bay and chance to move on in while the skin tries to repair the acid mantle and restore a normal pH. Additionally, most products are far to abrasive and harsh for the delicate skin on the face.

I saw a post about using baking soda as face wash and see that it has mixed reviews. Many people love it and says it makes their skin glow and feel soft because it is exfoliating. Others think it is too harsh and causes redness and drying. Baking soda has a pH of 9, so it is pretty basic. From everything I've gathered, using a basic product on your skin isn't all bad as long as you do something to restore the skin's natural pH after. A slightly acid toner should do the trick. I decided to make a toner out of green tea, honey, and lemon juice. As I have not actually gotten around to that I will cover what I will do and why in a future post. Another important step is moisturizing. Coconut oil is a good choice because it has a pH of 5.5-7.8 making it a good choice for most skin types to not only moisturize, but also restore pH. For the purposes of my own face I have decided to use baking soda occasionally (1-2) times a week to exfoliate, but not as an every day cleanser.

When trying to find something natural to wash my skin I found a post about Jojoba oil. After a little more research I concluded that stuff is pretty amazing. What makes jojoba oil so great? Turns out it is very similar to the oil our skin naturally produces know as "sebum."

I know it seems a little scary to put straight oil on your skin. Oily skin is what we're trying to prevent, right? Turns out putting oil on your skin actually helps reduce how oily it is. This sorcery is possible because you essentially trick the skin into thinking it's already produced enough sebum. Oil is oil, so putting more oil on my skin will just make the problem worse, right? Wrong. Jojoba oil has a few extra benefits that your skin's oil doesn't. That is not to say that your own natural skin oil isn't great or necessary, but it can still benefit from a little extra help.

Jojoba oil has natural anti-bacterial properties and has been used to treat wounds in traditional medicine. It is also an effective moisturizer that is easily absorbed because it is so similar to sebum (which is the benefit of using jojoba oil instead of commercial products). Jojoba is anti-inflammatory, so it helps reduce redness and inflammation caused by acne or other irritations. It also reduces the signs of aging in skin, contributing to a more youthful appearance.The pH is 5.5 making it the perfect match for the skin.

Because of these many reasons I have decided to use the "oil method" for daily face washing for the foreseeable future. It is simple and fairly self explanatory. Basically you wet the face with warm water, massage a few drops of the oil into your skin for approximately 30 seconds or so, then use a wet and warm wash cloth to wipe away excess oil. There you have it, washed and moisturized in 3 simple steps.

The oil should not only do all the aforementioned things, it should also soften and dissolve the dried sebum and skin flakes hanging out in my pores (aka black heads). Incidentally, clogged pores can be a cause of oily skin because it inhibits the skins ability to absorb the moisturizing oil it needs, making your skin think it needs to produce more. Which in turns keeps your pores clogged, you see where I'm going with this?

I have to admit, I am a little nervous because I read some people go through a "purge" phase where the skin expels all the bad stuff it's been hanging onto. Not super thrilled at this prospect but I know it's good for me in the long run. Also my boyfriend is on vacation for the next couple weeks so nobody will be getting too close to my face anyway.

I'm off to try my newly purchased oil from my local health food store. I'll post results as they come. I was intending to get around to the face cream I made but there was just too much out there on skin pH that I thought was valuable knowledge, so next time. I will also try and include pictures and recipes in posts to come (I don't want this to be boring for the 2 people that read it besides myself).

p.s. I would just like to add that I wrote this post after being up since 5:45 am and sleeping only about 4 hours. Therefor I am too tired to proofread what I have written (which is difficult for the grammar nazi in me) and am hoping for the best. Goodnight!

New beginnings

Lately what I'm putting on my skin has been on my mind. There is a growing public awareness about the bad things we put into our bodies, but it seems there is little discussion about what we put onto our bodies. Fast forward to New Year's Eve 2013 when I get the half baked idea to "detox my beauty products," something I've been wanting to do for a while but have found a million reasons to put off. At my traditional New Year's brunch the next day when I officially made it one of my New Year's resolutions, and here we are. I decided to chronicle my exploits in an effort to turn a half-baked idea into a fully baked loaf of delicious idea-bread...maybe writing a blog was a poor choice.
The challenge is to rid my beauty products, cosmetics and otherwise, of harmful and toxic products and replace them with natural alternatives; I'm aiming for as many food-grade products as possible. To make sure I stick with this, after all I've committed to a blog and put that information on the internet and I don't want to look stupid (!), I've decided to break it up by month. That is to say, each month I will be targeting a different group of beauty products. I think this project will require a lot of research on my part, so here's hoping that grad school does not get in the way of my project (which at this point I find much more exciting that school).

Here's the breakdown:
January--Face wash/makeup remover, moisturizer, face masks, and toner
February--No shampoo method
March--Foundation and blush
April--Lip stick and lip balm
May--Eye shadow and mascara
June--Lotions and sunscreen
July--Shampoos, conditioners, hair spray, heat protecting spray
August--Body wash and scrubs
September--Tooth paste, mouth wash, and teeth whitener
October--Nail polish and hair removers
November--Perfume, body spray, and deodorant
December--Special beauty treatments

I am also aiming to find affordable in-store alternatives (so I don't feel like a total hippie), and for this I will be using the database on www.ewg.org, which offers information and ratings on a variety of products. They also have a barcode scanner app specifically for cosmetics called "skin deep," which I have acquired.
 I have decided I am going to throw out as many of the toxic products as I can (I can't commit to everything), save the more expensive lip sticks and eye shadows I use very rarely for cosplay reasons. My aim here is to have safe natural alternatives to the things I put on my skin on a daily basis, and I figure my skin can handle the bad stuff 3-4 times a year.
This is definitely going to be an interesting project, here's hoping I can follow through!