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The Oil Cleansing Method

Your skin naturally produces oil to moisturize and protect itself from the elements. Although it would be easy to believe that adding more oil to your face would just make it oilier, the case is not true.  Vegetable oils or nut-derived oils have cleansing and moisturizing properties that your skin can benefit from. Castor oil for example has a high cleansing property.

I started a facial cleansing regimen on the 1st day of the year called the Oil Cleansing Method. The purpose is to use a vegetable oil suited for my skin type. I have combination type skin with a couple of fine lines already forming. You can use any oil that is appropriate for your skin type or you can use a blend of oils. A good place to start is using 25% Castor Oil and 75% Jojoba Oil.

In my case I used Walnut Oil. Walnut Oil (cold pressed) is said to have properties that are suited for dry and mature skin.  Your skin needs more or less 2 weeks to adapt itself to a brand new regimen.  It’s best to do the oil cleansing method at night as it will also help in the removal of makeup. I will follow this regimen for at least 2 weeks.

How to do an oil cleansing:

1. Steam your face for 5 minutes to open up  pores.  You can easily do this by boiling a pot of water on the stove.  Drape a towel over head and very carefully lower your head until you feel the vapors reaching your face. If it feels too hot pull away from the pot.
2. While skin is still moist, apply 3-4 drops of  oil and spread all over face using circular motions.
3. Take the liberty to do a quick facial massage always sweeping upwards towards the  forehead. Do not pull the skin down – we are trying to defy gravity here!
4. With a wet and warm cloth drape the cloth over the face. Allow the pores to open once again and let the oil sink in.
5. With the same cloth wet it using warm water and remove the oil off the face.
6. Splash cold water on the face to quickly seal up the pores and let the face dry naturally.
7. If your skin feels tight or dry dab 1 drop of  oil on your fingers and quickly spread over your face to seal in moisture.

My results (1/1/10-1/3/10):

My skin feels smoother with no dryness. My skin so far does not feel icky or dry when I wake up in the morning.

I will post my updates every 7 days and report any changes with my skin.

For more information and discussion forum regarding this cleansing method visit www.theoilcleansingmethod.com

Happy Holidays!

I want to take this moment to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

Many thanks to the many readers and supporters of Brooklyn Bath.

May new and exciting things happen for you and yours in the New Year!

Best wishes,

Rose

BrooklynBath

Cabbie

Courtesy of William Ruderman

We’ve finally had our first snowfall here in Eastern Massachusetts.

For me it was still hard to believe considering the roller coaster temperatures we’ve had all summer and fall.
It’s definitely Shovel Time!

Today I embarked on a new journey in my soapmaking venture.  I made my first batch of cold process soap.  What is cold-process soap?

Cold-process is the saponification of vegetable oils or animal fats with lye and water. The process has a cure time of about 4- 6 weeks and the end result of this process is a pure-made soap with glycerin (humectant) as its by-product.  Glycerin helps to attract moisture and helps the skin retain it.

I was very excited to experiment with my first batch as I my skin truly understands what a difference using handcrafted soap is versus a commercial bar of soap.  Nothing is better than rewarding one of the most vital parts of your body.  Soapmakers take a considerable amount of time and effort to create handcrafted soaps.  Their love for this craft is clearly shown in the outcome of the beautifully created handcrafted soaps produced and its homely goodness only one can experience with them.

My first batch took a couple of hours to make since I wanted to make sure I took my time and fully comprehend my instructions.  I prepared myself prior to making this batch by pouring over reference materials (see below for links) on the soap-making process.  Taking a course in Handcrafting Soaps & Lotion Making with La Shonda Tyree – The Handmade Soap Coach helped me a lot (I’m a visual-learner).

I took full precautions when handling Lye by using safety gloves, goggles and a face mask and I still kept my gloves on throughout the whole process. I used a combination of palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil to make my soap.

I finished my soap with using an Iced Pineapple fragrance oil (an essential oil can also be substituted for anyone allergic to fragrance oils).  I also incorporated a swirl pattern on my soap to give it an appealing visual effect.

Overall, I was very pleased with my first batch and can’t wait to make future batches in time for the Holidays!

References:

www.teachsoap.com

How yummy does this soap looks to you?! Scented with tropical mango-papaya it takes you back to the tropics and an order for a daiquiri.

To read about The American Revolution in Brooklyn: www.flickr.com/photos/silkbowl/3393535403/sizes/o/

Special thanks to my favorite photographer William Ruderman

grapeseed oil

One of the things that I love about Nature is it many uses.  Of them is grapeseed oil.  Although many prefer to eat the seedless kind, bare in mind that the seeds are very beneficial for everyday use.

Grapeseed oil is a vegetable oil and that is taken from the seeds of the grape plant.  The extracted oil is used in salads for its nutty taste but is also widely used in skin-care.  It is a lightweight oil and the skin can absorb it rather quickly.

I love using this oil mainly because how it feels on my skin once it dries and it is great for oily skin (which I have).  It is extensively used as a massage oil base and it is noted for its skin-repairing capabilities for the skin around the eyes.  I love to use grapeseed oil in bath bomb and lotion recipes and I find it to be a great alternative to sweet almond oil.

You can easily find grapeseed oil in the ‘oils’ section of the supermarket or online from skin-care suppliers.

For those of you who are lucky to find a laptop/notebook sleeve for an average sized- laptop you are lucky!

My new laptop is a Dell 15.6 inches, and it’s wider than the average 15″ notebook sleeves you can purchase at any retail store.  Any sleeve that I did find was just over my budget.

So I decided to get crafty and become my own designer!

With pen and paper handy to write my measurements down, I measured the area of my laptop and added a 1″ allowance.  Not only this enabled me to pull my laptop out of the sleeve but it allowed me to insert it back with ease.

I picked the fabric I wanted and according to my measurements cut two panels.  I cheated a little and used the padding from my old laptop sleeve since I couldn’t use it anymore (My old sleeve was made for 13 inch laptops).  I sewed the padding onto the inside of my panels and completed the project by adding the velcro band.

I love the way my new laptop sleeve came out!

The Reveal

You can visit eHow website for detailed instructions at

http://www.ehow.com/how_4965527_design-own-laptop-sleeve.html

Home Made Carpet Powder

What to do when company is arriving in less than half hour and you have no carpet powder to freshen up the living room carpet?

If you have these two household products sitting in your pantry closet then you’re in luck! You can whip up some homemade carpet powder in less than 5 minutes and makes a great conversation piece!

Recipe – Homemade Carpet Powder

• Large mixing container
• Baking soda
• Borax
• Choice of fragrance oil or essential oil
  
• Aluminum foil and tape
  

Using foil and a toothpick makes magic!

In a large mixing container combine equal parts baking soda and borax (We only needed enough for our living room and foyer so we just used one cup of baking soda and one cup borax). Mix well.

You can add your preference of scent (In our case we added 3-4 drops of lavender fragrance oil).

Time was of the essence so we just covered the container with aluminum foil and taped around the container. We poked various small holes into the foil and voila! you now have our own makeshift powder shaker.