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falling in love again
it's been a long time since i've felt it - that instant electric charge when your eyes meet... packaging... and unable to control yourself, your outstretched fingers climb slowly, deliciously, up towards the shelf as you think "oh, hello... what are you?"
the last face product i felt lust for was the freeman products, in 1998 - an entire decade ago, back when i thought pretty labels and the word "natural" actually meant it. but in the decade since, i've learned that 'natural' couldn't be found in your average drug store, and i fell prey to small-boutique marketing. i began flirting with kiehl's, only to feel betrayed again and again when examining the ingredients, discovering the fakery hidden behind their less-is-more packaging. but like an addicted lover i'd keep going back despite my common sense, ignoring the chemical junk it contained and the fact that some of their products seriously irritated my only-moderately sensitive skin. i really am a sucker for plain packaging.
fast-forward to a year ago. in my increasing desire to reduce the amount of chemicals i encounter on a daily basis, i broke up with kiehl's. in fact, i broke up with practically everything for my face. luckily, my skin has always been my strong point. i've never had to deal with much more than the occasional pimple or rash caused by a few sensitivities. texture-wise, it's pretty dry - all the time - but i haven't seen much premature aging yet, cross-your-fingers. in general, my complexion is even, healthy and sometimes even glowing - enough to be complimented on by strangers, which is nice. so i quit "stuff" cold-turkey. i couldn't find at the time, not that i really looked very hard, a face lotion that wasn't filled with chemicals and parabens. and since i wasn't moisturizing anymore, i decided to stop washing my face. a good decision as even wash for dry skin will suck the moisture out of my skin, but it still wasn't enough. even water alone dries me out. but i got used to the dry, tight feeling after my showers, trusting my skin to amp up it's own oil-production to compensate. but i'm 33, and already lacking much oil to begin with, so that didn't work as well as i'd hoped. occasionally i'd slather my face with thick vitamin e oil before bed, but i didn't like that for 2 reasons: 1. i'd wake up with cat hair all over my face and 2. during sleep the skin restores itself, along with most of our other organs, expelling toxins and taking in air. i was concerned that the vitamin e was a barrier to that. not knowing what else i could do, i mostly just ignored my skin, and it started looking somewhat dull and lifeless. i rarely saw much of a glow anymore, no matter how hydrated i was, nor how good my diet was.
2 weeks ago, i got a massage. with hands covered in lotion, the therapist touched my face said "oh my, how dry your skin is!" i replied "i know" and realized that if she could feel that, all lubed up as she was, then i really have to start doing something about it. i'm not getting any younger and i don't want to start looking older.
so last week, to reward myself after a particularly worrisome final, i went to whole foods to peruse the skin care offerings. i spent about 30 minutes smelling, trying and reading. i couldn't believe how many organic and natural products contained so much junk. basically i wanted to find a line that contained as few ingredients as possible, and all of them plant-derived without those multiple syllabic ingredients that may actually be okay but are so scary looking b/c i don't understand them. i had thought it wouldn't be too hard to find what i wanted, you know? but faced with the shelves and shelves of beautifully packaged failures, i woefully started thinking i would have to make the damn stuff myself. but then i looked up and saw the plain brown paper box of the evan healy products. intrigued, i sniffed, i tried, i read. i walked out of there with a small bottle of the rosehip treatment facial oil in blue. on the train ride home, i was entranced by the fresh, sweet ground scent of my face as i read the included sheet of dense, small type listing the products and philosophy of this brand. i quickly realized that it's minimal marketing was not a ploy to make me think the products are also minimal... they absolutely are. and that's when my infatuation was cemented - me and evan healy, we could have something real. i tried the oil for 2 days, absolutely loving it's silky feel and how easily it was absorbed by my skin. i reread the pamphlet several times, like a gigantic nerd. i loved what my skin looked and felt like with this oil. after my last final was done, i defintely deserved more treats. i went back and bought the shea butter and the orange flower hydrosol.
i cannot tell you how different my skin looks and feels! there's a clarity and a glow i haven't seen in a long time. it's like a little treat when i get to mix up teeny amounts of my ingredients and apply them, deeply inhaling the earthy, completely un-enhanced fragrance. it's also a treat to know that i'm putting nothing but plant products into my skin. my skin looks amazing, it looks alive. the couple of people i've said this to have replied with a dismissive "your skin always looks great", which is nice, sure, but immediately throws ice cold water over my desire to go running through mountain meadows with my arms outstretched singing the praises of my new face products. hmph. sure, this desire might be only glassy-eyed infatuation with a new lovah, as our relationship is merely a week old, but if i am still infatuated in a few months from now, pay attention to my praising rambles. i've noticed wonderful changes in this week. if they continue, then evan healy could be here to stay, this could be real love.
by the way - i decided i wanted to make a new icon for this post and went looking in google images for an appropriate image to use. i absentmindedly searched for "face + plant". i thought i would get some holistic beauty pictures. what i got was faceplanting pictures - which left me laughing for 20 minutes straight and completely negated my need for a new icon. that was awesome. every day needs a touch of physical harm to be a good one for me - i'm not all flowers and good vibrations, you know. :)
the last face product i felt lust for was the freeman products, in 1998 - an entire decade ago, back when i thought pretty labels and the word "natural" actually meant it. but in the decade since, i've learned that 'natural' couldn't be found in your average drug store, and i fell prey to small-boutique marketing. i began flirting with kiehl's, only to feel betrayed again and again when examining the ingredients, discovering the fakery hidden behind their less-is-more packaging. but like an addicted lover i'd keep going back despite my common sense, ignoring the chemical junk it contained and the fact that some of their products seriously irritated my only-moderately sensitive skin. i really am a sucker for plain packaging.
fast-forward to a year ago. in my increasing desire to reduce the amount of chemicals i encounter on a daily basis, i broke up with kiehl's. in fact, i broke up with practically everything for my face. luckily, my skin has always been my strong point. i've never had to deal with much more than the occasional pimple or rash caused by a few sensitivities. texture-wise, it's pretty dry - all the time - but i haven't seen much premature aging yet, cross-your-fingers. in general, my complexion is even, healthy and sometimes even glowing - enough to be complimented on by strangers, which is nice. so i quit "stuff" cold-turkey. i couldn't find at the time, not that i really looked very hard, a face lotion that wasn't filled with chemicals and parabens. and since i wasn't moisturizing anymore, i decided to stop washing my face. a good decision as even wash for dry skin will suck the moisture out of my skin, but it still wasn't enough. even water alone dries me out. but i got used to the dry, tight feeling after my showers, trusting my skin to amp up it's own oil-production to compensate. but i'm 33, and already lacking much oil to begin with, so that didn't work as well as i'd hoped. occasionally i'd slather my face with thick vitamin e oil before bed, but i didn't like that for 2 reasons: 1. i'd wake up with cat hair all over my face and 2. during sleep the skin restores itself, along with most of our other organs, expelling toxins and taking in air. i was concerned that the vitamin e was a barrier to that. not knowing what else i could do, i mostly just ignored my skin, and it started looking somewhat dull and lifeless. i rarely saw much of a glow anymore, no matter how hydrated i was, nor how good my diet was.
2 weeks ago, i got a massage. with hands covered in lotion, the therapist touched my face said "oh my, how dry your skin is!" i replied "i know" and realized that if she could feel that, all lubed up as she was, then i really have to start doing something about it. i'm not getting any younger and i don't want to start looking older.
so last week, to reward myself after a particularly worrisome final, i went to whole foods to peruse the skin care offerings. i spent about 30 minutes smelling, trying and reading. i couldn't believe how many organic and natural products contained so much junk. basically i wanted to find a line that contained as few ingredients as possible, and all of them plant-derived without those multiple syllabic ingredients that may actually be okay but are so scary looking b/c i don't understand them. i had thought it wouldn't be too hard to find what i wanted, you know? but faced with the shelves and shelves of beautifully packaged failures, i woefully started thinking i would have to make the damn stuff myself. but then i looked up and saw the plain brown paper box of the evan healy products. intrigued, i sniffed, i tried, i read. i walked out of there with a small bottle of the rosehip treatment facial oil in blue. on the train ride home, i was entranced by the fresh, sweet ground scent of my face as i read the included sheet of dense, small type listing the products and philosophy of this brand. i quickly realized that it's minimal marketing was not a ploy to make me think the products are also minimal... they absolutely are. and that's when my infatuation was cemented - me and evan healy, we could have something real. i tried the oil for 2 days, absolutely loving it's silky feel and how easily it was absorbed by my skin. i reread the pamphlet several times, like a gigantic nerd. i loved what my skin looked and felt like with this oil. after my last final was done, i defintely deserved more treats. i went back and bought the shea butter and the orange flower hydrosol.
i cannot tell you how different my skin looks and feels! there's a clarity and a glow i haven't seen in a long time. it's like a little treat when i get to mix up teeny amounts of my ingredients and apply them, deeply inhaling the earthy, completely un-enhanced fragrance. it's also a treat to know that i'm putting nothing but plant products into my skin. my skin looks amazing, it looks alive. the couple of people i've said this to have replied with a dismissive "your skin always looks great", which is nice, sure, but immediately throws ice cold water over my desire to go running through mountain meadows with my arms outstretched singing the praises of my new face products. hmph. sure, this desire might be only glassy-eyed infatuation with a new lovah, as our relationship is merely a week old, but if i am still infatuated in a few months from now, pay attention to my praising rambles. i've noticed wonderful changes in this week. if they continue, then evan healy could be here to stay, this could be real love.
by the way - i decided i wanted to make a new icon for this post and went looking in google images for an appropriate image to use. i absentmindedly searched for "face + plant". i thought i would get some holistic beauty pictures. what i got was faceplanting pictures - which left me laughing for 20 minutes straight and completely negated my need for a new icon. that was awesome. every day needs a touch of physical harm to be a good one for me - i'm not all flowers and good vibrations, you know. :)
