Coming Clean on Foreign Oil....

A decent interval having elapsed since my last Coming Clean post (in which the blogging world was electrified to learn that Mrs. M never shampoos her hair), it's time now to discuss my dependence on foreign oil.

By foreign oil, I don't mean the sticky petroleum that powers America's motorways and clogs her atmosphere. We're talking a different kind of liquid gold here - from Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia, Greece - the delicious stuff we drizzle on salads, swirl into skillets, put on our faces....

Put on our faces? Yes. Here at Micawber Towers, we clean our faces with olive oil (mixed with a bit of cold-pressed castor oil). It's called the Oil Cleansing Method, and it sounds completely nuts - but it really works.

(If you are one of those blessed with a happy complexion that responds well to soap and water, feel free to stop reading at any point.) :)

To many of us, who grew up with the idea that Oily Skin is a Bad Thing, the thought of cleaning our faces with oil seems horribly wrong. But a little oil is actually a Good Thing for your skin - the trick is to find the right balance. I happen to have sensitive combination skin - with rosacea - and nothing I've  tried in the past works as well, as simply, and as inexpensively as the Oil Cleansing Method.

Based on the principle that oil dissolves oil (and it's true - I've tried it on a splattery stove with great success), cleansing with oil has many advantages:

• It gently removes dirt, sweat, dead skin, and excess oil(!), without stripping away important moisture.
• It leaves behind a thin layer of protection for the delicate facial skin, eliminating the need for additional moisturizers.
• It's utterly simple, and healthily natural* - no chemicals, preservatives, or scents.
• Ingredients are readily available, and can be mixed up at a moment's notice.
• It can be endlessly, and instantly, customized to suit your skin's particular needs.
• From a financial standpoint, it's ridiculously low-cost.
• On an ecological level, it keeps innumerable bottles and boxes out of our landfills.

In short, oil cleansing is a win-win for the complexion AND the annual income - not to mention the planet.

Castor oil is the key to the Oil Cleansing Method - but it must be used sparingly, and combined with a secondary oil. Extra-virgin olive oil and sunflower seed oil are probably the two most commonly used; I have also seen references to almond, grapeseed, jojoba, and others. (We use extra-virgin olive oil, since we buy it in bulk and it's always on hand.) There's no hard-and-fast ratio for combining the oils; it's best to experiment and find what works best for your skin. (Click here or on the link below for some suggested ratios.) Essential oils can also be added if you like.

So what are the steps involved in Oil Cleansing? Here's what I do: In my bathroom, I keep a little jar of mixed oils (about 75% extra-virgin olive oil and 25% cold-pressed castor oil). To clean my face, I pour a bit of the oil onto the fingertips of one hand, pat against the fingertips of the other hand, and apply to my face in a circular massaging motion, covering the area from jawline to cheekbones. Because of my rosacea**, I pay special attention to the areas of my face that tend to get bumpy, and rub a little longer there.

To rinse, I wet my washcloth with hot water, ring it out, and hold it against my face for a moment. (This is supposed to open the pores and release accumulated gunk. I don't know if that actually happens, but the warm washcloth feels very relaxing.) Then I wipe my entire face with the washcloth, scrubbing gently at any bumpy bits - then rinse the washcloth, and I'm done***.

(You may be wondering whether this leaves the washcloth oily - but it doesn't. I think the castor oil causes everything to rinse out cleanly.)

I've been using the Oil Cleansing Method for about three years now, and I'll never go back to any other cleanser. Not only does the oil mixture clean my skin gently and thoroughly, it's also extremely versatile. A very thin layer, applied to slightly damp skin, makes a terrific moisturizer. A thicker layer works wonders in winter to protect exposed skin from the cold and wind. (One Miracle Product Does It All!)

If you've read this far (without being horrified), you may be interested in the following link...

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

...for a comprehensive article which explains in detail the theory and practice of Oil Cleansing. (You can also Google "Oil Cleansing Method".)

As with any alternative cleaning method, Oil Cleansing is not for everyone. But it certainly works for me - and if you're looking for a gentle, inexpensive, healthy facial cleaner, it may work for you too.

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*The word "natural" has been so overworked of late that I hesitate to use it. Arsenic is natural too - does that mean it's good for us?

**Another advantage of this method: I can exfoliate all I want (though I still only spot-exfoliate where needed, and never two days in a row) without irritating my skin or exacerbating the rosacea.

***What about the forehead and eye area? I don't use the oil around my eyes because there's no need; the washcloth cleans that area sufficiently. (Since I use pure mineral makeup and don't wear mascara, there's not much to clean.) For the forehead: Because I have bangs, I only use the oil on my forehead if I'm about to shower and wash my hair, and I'm careful to clean it off very thoroughly so my bangs don't get oily. On non-hairwashing days, I just wipe well with the warm washcloth, letting the water and friction do the job. :)

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Why Didn't I Think of This Before?

Most people I know hang their kitchen towels over the oven handle. But the handle on our current oven leaves no space for a towel, and in any case I've never liked crossing the kitchen with drippy hands.

So for years I've hung a towel over the sink, on a hook screwed into the side of the cupboard - but the hook never worked quite right. Either it poked holes in the towel, or the towel slipped off and fell in the sink (usually when something greasy was soaking there), or the loop on the towel was placed wrong and the towel hung down too far. I've tinkered with various hooks, and even made my own, but could never find one that suited me.

Yesterday it came to me - the perfect solution:

So simple. Why didn't I ever think of this before?

(If I were feeling really crafty I would paint the clothespin to match my kitchen decor - but I think it looks fine just the way it is. And it works.)

Mr. M liked the idea so much he borrowed it for his utility towels:

A note on wooden clothespins: they split! Be sure to drill a pilot hole before putting any nails or screws through them.

Don't forget Mrs. Micawber's Crochet & Chocolate Giveaway,

open until March 31st. Enter to win one of two
lovely crochet books, each accompanied by a
bar of Green & Black's chocolate. Click here,
or on the giveaway button at right, for more details.

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Easy on the Eyes

Are you a lark or a night owl? Do you rise early, singing to high heaven - or are you at your best after the sun goes down?

I'm definitely a night owl. When other people (and by "other people", I of course mean Mr. M, a lark if ever there was one) have staggered yawning off to bed, I'm usually good for a few more hours of crocheting or blogging (or reading other people's blogs). I love to work on the computer at night, when the house is quiet and I can be alone with my thoughts.

But working on the computer at night is hard on the eyes, and can have negative effects on sleep patterns. Here's a scary fact*: the bright blue light coming from the monitor mimics daylight, and fools the body into staying awake longer by disrupting and delaying the nightly production of melatonin, a hormone crucial for sleep. (I can testify to this - since I started blogging and spending more time online at night, I've also spent more time tossing and turning in bed because my mind wouldn't shut off when the computer did. Normally I sleep like a top.)

Short of returning to an electricity-free lifestyle governed by the rise and fall of the sun, what can we do to minimize the effects of too much light - and the wrong kind of light - from our monitors?

Here's something Mr. M and I are using: a free program called "f.lux" which "makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day." (Quote from the f.lux website.) F.lux works by gradually changing the appearance of your monitor as the evening progresses, to match the appearance of your indoor lighting. On our screen, glaring white becomes softer; warm colours become warmer (and slightly peachier); cool colours are gently muted.

Mr. M downloaded this program to our computers about a month ago, and it's been working really well. My eyes no longer get tired and sore when I use the computer at night; and when I go to bed I fall right to sleep, even if I've just spent hours online.

If you're interested, check out this website: http://stereopsis.com/flux/. The program is completely free, and available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and iPhone/iPad. There's also a very helpful FAQ page for those who want to read more about the program before downloading.

P.S. Since this program changes the appearance of screen colours at night, you might want to save your intense Photoshopping for the daylight hours, although there's an option to disable f.lux if necessary for fine colour work.

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*(Even scarier is this quote from a New York Times article on how light affects our body clocks: "Some experts believe that any kind of light too late into the evening could have broad health effects," including weight gain and cancer. Yikes! Or as Marigold the Goat would say, Oy! Time to turn off the lights and hit the hay.)

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