Beauty tips I thought of just now because I'm bored...

1) MAC eye primer....not just a useless product.
When I was first introduced to this product buying eyeshadow at MAC several years ago, my first instinct was to think that this was the most bullshit product I've ever heard of. True, when they used it, it did make my eyeshadow last longer and the colours were more brilliant, but I chalked that up to the fact that MAC hires people that can actually do makeup properly. A few years ago though, I was somehow compelled to try the product at home, and this resulted in a fact that MAC does NOT want you to know. Their seemingly-pointless 17 Euro product works, but it also has the same result on cheap 3 Euro eye-shadow. So basically, you can get the "MAC" effect with a lot less money. MAC would want you to think that you need their full range of eye products to complete that look, but the primer alone will accomplish this.
I'd also like to note that I tried the cheaper Art Deco primer, and while it was decent, it's a smaller size and not that much cheaper, and it totally dried out halfway through use. So don't bother. I haven't seen any cheaper companies make something similar, maybe because people that want to save money on cosmetics don't buy seemingly retarded products like eye-shadow primer.
2) Olive oil is the best moisturizer ever invented.
Normally if someone would suggest beauty tips from the ancient world, I'd flinch. I mean, this was the days before washing machines and shampoo. BUT, regular bathing was a popular social event amongst the ancient Romans, and the ancients managed such feats as astronomy, paved roads and breeding cats to control mice populations. So when I read that ancient Romans cleansed by applying oil to the skin and scraping it off, I was kind of intrigued. This was supplimented by the fact that olive oil is still regularly used in cosmetics throughout the mediterranean (seriously, don't even BUY tanning oil....just use scented olive oil). I was curious how I could turn this ancient technique into a modern beauty practice. Before I go further, I'd like to mention that 1) it doesn't make a good cleanser, so I think that the Romans weren't really on the ball with that one, and 2) if you have oily skin, using olive oil as a moisturizer makes about as much sense as eating butter to lose weight. But it's wonderful for very dry skin like mine. While the Romans applied it to their skin and used scrapers to take it off, I did the following: I used scented olive oil (which means, I poured some normal olive oil into a bottle, and added a few drops of lavender and rose essential oil), applying it to my face and leaving it on for about 30 minutes (too long will result in a break out, even for the dry skinned). I then used an exfoliant to remove it. It cost next to nothing, and left my skin smoother than any product I've ever purchased. EVER.
3) Salmon Oil. Take it, seriously. Make sure it's good quality and actually rich in Omega-3. Some farmed salmon are fed poor diets and are actually lacking in this, but anything quality should be high in Omega-3 oil. Take it regularly, and watch your skin get awesome. And your hair. And you'll burn less in the sun. And apparently all sorts of health and brain benefits....

Healing

I haven't written in a long time....life got busy, and then BAM I got sick for almost 3 weeks. It was pretty bad...probably the sickest I've ever been in my life. It was really more one thing after another rather than one big thing. I got a mild allergy attack on Monday a few weeks ago that left me feeling weak and cranky for a few days. Then I got my period early. I've struggled with really, really bad cramps my whole life, and the pill took care of it for a long time, but lately they've been coming back. I changed my prescription to a new pill, but I had to wait until my next cycle to start it. So I wasn't on the pill for a month, and I got HORRIBLE cramps. Like so bad that I didn't even want to move. For those that aren't in the know about this sort of thing, advil does NOT help with this kind of pain. In my teens I was even on some pretty hardcore anti-inflammatory meds to help it and they didn't help either. Anyway, it was bad. Saturday (this was 2 weeks ago) rolled around, and I started feeling really nauseous. Sunday nausea was gone but I couldn't stop sneezing. Monday I started to have a killer sore throat, and it didn't go away, so Friday I went to the doctor. She told me I had strep and likely also a bit of a viral infection, so basically I had 2 sicknesses at once. I got put on antibiotics and was told to rest up. I thought that would be the end of it, except Saturday I decided to go out to a birthday dinner. Didn't seem strenuous, and I planned on going home early and going to bed. Just a bit of food, no alcohol, no harm right? Probably, except on the way I stopped to get a gift, and I got pretty hungry. I'd barely eaten all week (I was pretty nauseous from the strep). I got a turkey sandwich at Kamps to tide me over, since by the time I got there, decided and ordered it would probably be a couple of hours until I ate. BAD CHOICE. Turns out the "turkey" was mixed with soy (I'm going to bet that's what it was anyway) and I went into anaphylactic shock on my way there. I'd run into Dave, Mark and Darina in the train station on the way there and they saw me progress from sneezing a bit to almost passing out. I ended up getting a cab home with Darina (I can't be alone if I'm having an allergy attack...I can actually die and someone has to be there to call an ambulance if something goes wrong). Anyway it was pretty hard on my body, especially since I was recovering from the other stuff and my body had been through stress even before I got sick. I felt HORRIBLE the next day and it was a slow recovery during the past week. Usually when I get sick, my immune system kicks in pretty fast and I get healthy quickly, but I think my body was just under too much stress at once. Anyway, I'm still getting better but I'm almost 100% now....just coughing up some stuff still and slightly stuffy, but otherwise good. The only other problem is that all my muscles hurt, and not in an achy flu sort of way. I suspect it's from lying in bed and on the couch for 3 weeks. I've had this before when I didn't exercise. My body likes to move and I get sore when no movement happens. Plus neither my bed nor my couch are good for back support, and if I get bad back pain my whole body tends to get sore as well. I'm a bit too weak to do full on workouts still, but I've been easing myself back in by doing yoga. I started with 20 minutes, then 30, then an hour today and in a couple of days I'm going to try a more intense yoga workout, then maybe move onto dance and then my regular stationary bike routine. The exercise also helps my breathing and clears out my sinuses a bit, ups my appetite (which is still pretty low) and keeps my energy up in the day. Hopefully I'll be 100% back to normal by next week!

Anyway, sorry if that was long and a bit too much information!