I have been absent again. I have a lot of things swirling around in my head, just nothing i really wanted to actually write yet. Still don't. I guess i could write about some projects i have on my plate. I have started cleaning up my horrendous backyard. This will probably take me the entire winter/spring. Its pretty bad. I have also researched some home improvement projects that i think i will start soon. Our house was built in the 90's so everything in it is pretty outdated. I have been looking into inexpensive ways to update. i think i am going to start with painting the bathroom faucets and then maybe refinish the bathroom cabinets. If those projects go well i will do the main bathroom and possibly the cabinets in the kitchen. I am nervous to start though because what if it doesn't turn out like i planned? I keep telling myself it is fine, if the faucets turn out bad i can buy new faucets; it won't be an expensive mistake and i wanted new faucets anyway, hence why i am painting them in the first place. All the faucets are chrome and i am painting them a dark bronze. The cabinets are that awful honey oak that every house built in the 90's has. I don't want to paint the wood, just sand and re-stain a different color. More of a muted brown with a satin finish. If i actually get around to doing these projects i will definitely make before/after posts. 

I have been kicking this idea around in my head, only this time, instead of just telling you about this idea I have and then never actually going through with it, I'm really gonna do it. I know, crazy, right? I like reading labels and if you have ever read a label on something like lets say lotion, there's a bunch of really big words and you're thinking, WTF is that? What am I putting on my skin?! And you're thinking all these really long words must be chemicals and I'm putting all these gross chemicals on my skin. But here's the thing, all those really long complicated looking words, are not all gross chemicals, they're just scientific names of vitamins and plants.
So the main thing i would like to do here is basically list out some vitamins and plant extracts that are commonly used in products next to their scientific name. But i would also like to point out that not all chemicals are bad. The word "chemical" covers a lot of things, good and bad. Google "examples of chemicals", I'll wait. So yes, most products we use contain chemicals and that's ok, you just have to educate yourself on which ones are good and which ones are bad. 
So without further ado, my list:
Vitamin A: retinol (common form you may see: retinyl palmitate)
Vitamin E: Tocopherol
Vitamin D: calciferol (this is a kind of suffix since there are multiple forms of vitamin D. For example D2 is ergocalciferol.)
Vitamin C: ascorbic acid
Vitamin B1: thiamine
 Vitamin B2: riboflavin
Vitamin B3: niacin
Vitamin B5: pantothenic acid (panthenol)
Vitamin B6: pyridoxine
Vitamin B12: cyanocobalamin
Tea tree: Melaleuca
Green Tea: Camellia sinensis
Sweet almond (oil): Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis
Lavender: Lavandula
Shea (butter): Vitellaria paradoxa
Grapeseed (oil): vitis vinifera

This is just a short list of a few things i see often on labels. There are many resources, like the FDA or the INCI, that can help identify these (and more) ingredients. Or you, know, you can just google it and go down the rabbit hole.

Today I am talking about some products i have had for awhile and one new one. I am putting them in a review together because, well, that is what i do in real life -and they're both related to eczema. Disclaimer: I have never been formally diagnosed with eczema, it has just been a suspicion of mine that that is what is wrong with my skin. Also a note; if i do have it, it is a very mild case so please take that into consideration.  

I have tried a few Eczema Honey Products. Obviously geared towards people with eczema, but these are great for any skin type i think. They also have a cream for psoriasis. They are all unscented, the smell is very neutral for all of the products i have tried. Nothing gross or overpowering. The only one not pictured above is the hand soap which i no longer have. The hand soap was good, but for me it wasn't any less drying than other gentle hand soaps i can buy at the store. My favorite is the Oatmeal Scrub. I love the way it makes my skin feel, best scrub i have ever used. Its got epsom salt as the scrubbies so using this in a bath is awesome. I like to scrub my body then sit in the tub and soak in it. Obviously shower first if you're going to do it this way. The lotion stick was one i was really excited about, but didn't quite live up to my expectations. It is just too hard, i definitely have to warm it up to get it on my skin. I would really love this stick if it was softer. I have seen other people make a similar complaint so maybe they have changed it since i bought mine. The Skin Soothing Cream i have is nut-free, and that is because that is all CVS had when i went to buy it. I would have preferred the original version. They have recently changed the formula of the original cream, so that s definitely on my list to try. I have seen some say they don't like the texture, that its "sticky". I can see where they are coming from, I wouldn't call it sticky but it does have a different feeling once it starts to soak in. Once it is all absorbed it is fine. One thing to note is that a little goes a long way. I like this product enough that i would buy it again, but wasn't "wowed" by it. Until I bought the Dream Cream.
The Eczema Honey cream and Lush Dream Cream are a dream team. I tried the Dream Cream by itself first. It is good, better than a lot of drugstore lotions, however, while this is also unscented, the smell is terrible. I don't know if it is the container, but it has a gross rubbery smell. It goes away quickly, but its gross when putting it on. The reason i think it could be the container is because i do live in Arizona and i did order it in the middle of summer. Maybe the heat was too much. You can order this in 3 different sizes, the size i bought is the middle size, but they have a small 1.7oz. if you just want try it out before you commit. I am in an Eczema Honey group on Facebook and a lot of the members were posting about this cream and how great it worked for them, which is why i decided to try it. One of the members mentioned how they like to use the Dream Cream and then put the Eczema Honey cream on over it. They said the Eczmea Honey seems to seal in the moisture. So i tried it and they were not lying. These products by themselves are good but like i said not amazing. But together, they are pretty amazing.

Well, i said i'd be back and here i am. And its only been a few weeks! No reviews, just some of the life stuff i didn't talk about last time. And also pitching a post idea again. Still working on the fitness post i mentioned before, its a tough idea to execute and not be completely ridiculous. So my next idea is Shakespeare. I really liked the challenge of reading and understanding his stories when i was in high school, but i know i am in the minority here. The thing is, i think more people would really like his stories and his stories would be more popular if they actually understood what he was saying. Exhibit A, Hollywood film adaptations. Movies like "Romeo and Juliet", "A Midsummer's Night Dream", and "O", while not the best attempts ever, got people's interest. Exhibit B, all his stories are heavy on the drama, sex, and death - and people love that stuff (when it comes to entertainment). So i thought, what if i sort of "translate" these stories, like tell them in my own words? I had a History teacher in college that would do this and i feel like if all teachers taught History this way, people wouldn't think its "boring", because its not. Its actually really fucking interesting, its the way most people teach it that is boring. Anyway, if anyone would like to give a little feedback on this idea, that would be great. Or, if you're not interested in Shakespeare, i could start doing some History stories, that would be cool too. 
I gotta be honest, i was really feeling the "life stuff" post last time i posted but didn't get to it because i rambled on about products i was using and didn't want to make my post too long, and today i am not feeling it as much, so if this part seems a little phoned in, it is. It is almost fall, which, if you have been following me here, you know it is my FAVORITE. You can call me basic if you want, but i love it all: pumpkin flavored everything, leaves falling, the colors, sweaters, boots, Halloween, the weather, and did i say Halloween? Although, I don't really get to experience the weather part anymore since i live in the desert now.
Been slacking on my fitness since a little after my race in March. I have recently tried to start up on the elliptical again as it is too fucking hot to stand outside more than a few minutes. I decided to do another virtual race, since the real ones still aren't happening, thanks pandemic. Like just about everyone, this whole situation has really messed up everything. My husband i think is taking it a lot harder than me, he wants to move to Costa Rica, and i try to tell him, its messed up there too, its everywhere. We'll see how this pans out, maybe my future posts will be from my new house in Costa Rica. 
Ok last thing, i totally forgot i made a ​Pinterest page (see that tiny tiny littlet pinterest logo on the right?) to go with this site, so i am going to try to work on that. 

So much for easing back into it. That last post was only 2 months ago. So, if i could just focus and not be lazy, I would at least have weekly posts and might have made a little more progress on whatever it is i am trying to do here. I think about it all the time and just never do it. Old habits die hard, right?
A couple of products to talk about and just some general life stuff. I recently tried Tarte Shape Tape Concealer. I was always hearing how great it was and finally succumbed to the hype. I am shade 16N Fair-Light Neutral, aka pale as shit. There are lighter shades actually so i guess im not too bad. This stuff is really great. I was previously using Born This Way concealer from Too Faced, which I still like, but the Tarte brightens my under eye in a way others don't. Maybe its just the shade. You do need to set it with powder so it doesn't crease, but that is most products. It blends in really well to just look like my skin and doesn't get cakey. Anyway, wanted to mention it since products rarely live up to the hype and this one definitely did.
Another thing i am really loving right now is Oat milk. I probably have mentioned this in the past, but it is just the best milk alternative ever. Albertsons (Jewel if you're in the Midwest) just had a deal on their app for a free chocolate Planet Oat oat milk. A whole carton! Free! Never tried the chocolate before but delicious of course. I have tried Planet Oat and Chobani brands and i have to say Planet Oat is better. The nutrition on Planet Oat is also better. I never really like almond or coconut milk because they change the flavor of things the way milk does not and also for almond milk, the texture is wrong for me. But oat milk is creamy like milk and the flavor is right. If you struggle with milk alternatives like me def try oat milk. More and more coffee shops are starting to carry it and i hope one day it replaces almond milk as the go to milk alternative for coffee shops. 
Last product i will mention is Curology. I mentioned  few posts ago that i was trying this out and would review it once i had a chance to really try it and form an opinion. So it has been a few months and i haven't reviewed it because i am so torn on this product. I feel like i didn't give it a good chance; i was very inconsistent with using it. I am an inconsistent person, routine is hard for me and i feel like this is a product that only works if you are consistent with it. You can get their cleanser and moisturizer with it, which i did. The cleanser has a smell, not a fragrance, but just its natural smell that i dont care for but is not a deal breaker. It is a nice cleanser. The moisturizer almost seems gel based and sometimes makes my skin feel super soft and sometimes i get itchy and oily after a few hours. The custom tailored product itself i was using every other day at most and it made the skin around my eyes a little irritated. No redness but just felt irritated. So i was careful to void those areas when using it, but it still happened. However, i do get less breakouts, so i guess it works? I don't know, maybe i just need to have my formulation tweaked a little to really love it. Remember these are prescription ingredients they are using. My formula includes Clindamycin, Tretinoin, and Azelaic Acid. I felt like the skin quiz you take is adequate and hopefully they are really looking at the pictures they have you upload. So the jury is still out on this one. 
Well, i think i will skip the life stuff for now, because this is pretty long already. Maybe i will post again in a few days. Maybe a few months. Who knows.