Fake Tans or Sun bed? June 19, 2008

Notice that the list of choices in the title excludes the natural sun. Why? Because there is none around here!! Hello Ireland, it’s JUNE! Maybe I’m still too new to Ireland. After 9 years here I still foolishly expect seasonal consistency. No wonder people talk about the weather: if you feel like complaining, rejoicing, reminiscing, being hopeful, musing, worrying, or laughing about it, the weather’s the thing: it allows us to exercise the full gamut of emotions.

Anyhow, about the fake route to sun-kissed: It all sucks, don’t you think? Even Ascot recognises it – tongue in cheek, apparently (something on the BBC website mentions the jovial drawing attention to streaky tans). It’s ugly. I tried it. My knees looked dirty and a leg wax took it all off anyhow. So I decided in desperation (I wanted to show my lower legs in a skirt for my child’s first communion in mid-May; as it turned out, it was so cold I was in stockings anyhow) to go for the sun bed option.

The beauty salon in my nearby town was hopping. I thought it was the fake-proof solution. But soon I was able to recognise the sun-bed look (which just about 100% of the adult female population in this town is sporting this rainy season): a bit too brown even behind the ears. A suspiciously even and dark tone.

But that’s not what put me off: I began to notice on my own tummy and face what seem like pale “age spots”. I’m a bit freckled anyhow, but a brunette with no family history of skin cancer, so statistically not really high risk. But I didn’t like the look of these discolorations. I suspended my sun-bed sessions on sensible and cautious grounds. Wouldn’t it be a shame to be dead in a decade (age 50-ish), before my last child graduated from university? Before I figured out what it is I want to do with my life? (ha ha ha ha ha. Actually, and sadly, that’s not a joke…)

But sure, in the end, I want to be tanned, and if the real sun isn’t going to show itself, I’ll probably go back, pay the Euro 1 / minute, and use up my Euro 20 (that was the cheapest) bottle of “moisturising” coconut-stinky cream. (why doesn’t my own almond-oil/ grapeseed-oil/ jojoba-oil mix suffice? The beauty salon couldn’t really say, but it was imperative that I spend …. er, that is, that I protect my skin using THIS moisturizer…)

Ahh, summer.

The Real Cinderella Story: How to be Happy Ever After May 13, 2008

All you need is an attitude adjustment. I say “all” as though it were that simple. Ha!

Here’s a story about attitude adjustment: Girl grows up in middle-class family dreaming Cinderella dreams. Rich handsome prince will sweep her off to a better life.

Princes pending, girl goes off to Asia to at least pursue a career. Girl grows into woman, marries adorable man, has beautiful children… and moves away from it all, to organic farming and poor cash flow. Rage ensues (cue orchestral cresendos, storm whipping up, villain’s black magic gathering power). But as the proverbial sun comes up (or in this case, light goes on in woman’s head), it occurs to her that even if Versace is no longer on the menu and she is doomed to read about billionaires on their yachts, rich girls in Jimmy Choos, and the rise of Botox every time she picks up a glossy, life is still beautiful. As the light grows brighter, it occurs to her that possibly… can it be?… life is MORE beautiful than before. Yachts, Jimmy Choos and Botox-free is actually NOT a punishment. Adorable husband and beautiful children is a great gift.

Pretty boring ending, eh? I’ll have to work on it. Needs glitz, glass slippers and all that. Or maybe the readers, the whole human race of readers, will have a light go on in their head, and this ending will turn out to be the best there is.

what causes breast cancer in a teenager? May 1, 2008

My friend A and I had a great time yesterday, sniffing aromatherapy oils. No, it wasn’t a way to get high, we were just comparing quality. A has just finished a full-time course in natural therapies in Carlow. She has started to make her own organic skin creams & other products, in addition to offering Indian head massage, reflexology, and yoga courses at her home. I tried a sandalwood hand cream… yummy. And she made me a shea-butter-based lip balm (I was running out of my conventional one) with rose and sandalwood. Fabulous. And she’s mixed another hand cream for me (she is an angel).

We were chatting about the benefits of organic and additive-free body products and she told me about a 14-year-old who found a lump in her breast. Can you imagine? What a horrible fright. And what causes such a disease in someone so young? Does our mind do it to us, or is it really the chemicals in our deodorant (and on our food, and in the air…)? In any case, that teenager’s mother sure made a quick switch to natural products.

But what’s “natural?” Read the label! If you’re not good at reading labels, subscribe to The Ecologist magazine! They do an article every issue on what’s in commonly used products. You’ll learn. (Your life may depend on it!) My friend had been learning about parabens and sodium lauryl sulfates and sodium laureth sulfate – cheap cleaners used in shampoos, soaps, etc, and said to be carcinogenic and irritants. She has no interest in cutting corners, is keeping her products absolutely natural and organic, and makes up bespoke products for clients based their needs.

Our sniffing exercise showed us the difference between really good quality organic essential oils, and cheaper ones. For the really good organic ones, have a look at obus.ie. Don’t faint at the prices – we compared price lists too and obus’s can be double the cheaper kind. It balances out when you realise you only need a drop of the good stuff to 2-3 drops of the cheaper stuff.

Anyhow, A uses the good stuff in her creams. What a difference it makes. Even 11 year olds can tell – mine nabbed my new lip balm to take it to school this morning. We agreed to share…

If you’d like to know more about A & her products drop me a comment – I’m not sure how willing she is yet to have her details posted to the world!