I always thought it was odd that some stones were called semi-precious even though they are so beautiful. I know it's because they don't cost much, especially compared to precious stones, but they are lovely all the same. I made the pendant using wire and two semiprecious stones that happened to go very well together. I strung the necklace with monofilament, a plastic-like string that is good for these heavier beads (and when I'm too tired to knot between each bead).
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Nature is so inspiring. The natural world is so beautiful, epic and graceful yet so purposeful and full of function. Waterfalls, rivers, lakes and anything having to do with water in particular.
Like many people, I've experienced acne since I was a teenager and into adulthood. All medical interventions failed me or had side effects that nearly killed me (literally). And I never wanted to try Accutane because of the potential side effects. People kept recommending "add more products" but the acne kept getting worse. Eventually, I realized it wasn't about adding more but taking away the products that were causing my acne. All the fancy products I tried were just making my acne worse. So I started using as few products as possible and not using anything with oil. And my acne got much better without medical intervention and extreme side effects. The first thing I changed was not washing my face. Seriously. I started cleaning my face with witch hazel in the morning and face wipes followed by witch hazel in the evening. Turns out the fancy face washes were just irritating my sensitive skin, causing inflammation which causes more acne. I also started using zinc oxide as both a sunscreen/moisturizer and as an acne spot treatment. The spot treatment was around 20% zinc oxide and the moisturizer I use has around 3%. Besides being a great physical sunscreen, zinc oxide can also reduce inflammation making acne less likely and painful. Plus zinc oxide doesn't bleach clothes, sheets or pillow cases like benzoyl peroxide. Moisturizing my skin was a problem. I mainly used the zinc oxide sunscreen/moisturizer. However, I also used aloe vera gel. Aloe vera gel was usually enough for most of the year but during the winter I needed more moisturizing than just aloe vera gel and a sunscreen moisturizer. I would mix the aloe vera gel with jojoba oil and vegetable glycerin. The jojoba oil, despite being called 'oil', is actually a wax so it doesn't cause acne. The glycerin helps the aloe vera and jojoba oil to emulsify. I've also used cocoa butter mixed with jojoba oil in a 1:1 mixture. The cocoa butter can be melted and the jojoba mixed in. The one drawback of cocoa butter is that it can melt in hot weather if you don't have air conditioning. The biggest problem I encountered in changing to a non-comedogenic beauty routine was finding a shampoo and conditioner that didn't cause acne. Besides making sure nothing had oil (including coconut oil), I tried to get products with the fewest ingredients. Baby shampoos seemed to work but they are not very good at getting hair clean. Mostly I tried clarifying shampoos and diluted them if they were too strong. For conditioner, I had to mix aloe vera gel, jojoba oil and vegetable glycerin just like for my skin. This mixture can be dilutes in water for a nice leave-in conditioner. I really like peasant dresses because they are so loose and comfortable. But they are not always suitable for work. I made this short-sleeve one using a McCall's pattern (#2608) but added about 20" to make a knee length dress. I also added seam pockets (of course) and a belt to give it shape. It works pretty well under a cardigan or blazer. Here's a closer look at the neckline. I used half-inch elastic in the neckline instead of string that ties off. I figured having two cords that tie off would be a bit much for one dress. The fabric was gifted to me but is cotton and similar to quilt fabric. The wave pattern is nice because it adds interest (compared to a solid) but is still muted enough for business casual type environments (depending on how casual). |
AuthorJust me. Plain and simple. Archives
November 2019
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