Terrorizing the Portrait Studio

Today we braved the portrait studio in an attempt to capture some Christmas pictures. Part of me thinks I shouldn’t post these, since we will be sending out Christmas cards with these pictures, but I’m not a very patient person so I’ll just post them now. Just pretend like you are in shock and awe when you receive a card from us!

Thankfully my mom came with us today to help me wrangle the kids. Well, Anthony is really the only one who needs wrangling but these days it is a 2 person job. In all honesty I think Anthony could use a whole team of handlers to help keep him in line!

We adorned the kids in their festive holiday attire and headed to the mall for our appointment. We got set up in our room to start the pictures, and decided to do some of Madeline by herself. Of course Madeline did wonderfully. The hardest part was getting her to smile naturally instead of her cheesy smile she likes to do for pictures.

Eventually we decided to add Anthony to the mix and it was at this point that our portrait session quickly started to go downhill! If you haven’t seen Anthony recently, you should know that he is a mover and a shaker. Once he mastered the art of walking he quickly moved on to sprinting. He looks like a wild man when he gets going, but he is a man on a mission…getting away from wherever he needs to be ASAP!

The photographer kept instructing us, “put Anthony next to Madeline, and have their backs facing each other, and Madeline put your arm around Anthony.” By the time I got Anthony on the floor in a sitting position I only had time to quick dive away from the camera so that she could try to get a shot before Anthony jumped up and took off running for the door. There were more exciting things outside of the room, apparently.

I don’t think the photographer understood the urgency of the situation. I would quick throw Anthony on the floor hoping that he would land in some sort of position that would be acceptable to photograph, and the photographer would just sit there waiting for all of the stars to align so she could get the perfect shot. My mom and I were literally doing aerobics trying to wrangle Anthony and in between chasing him we were jumping up and down like fools, shrieking and making all sorts of crazy faces hoping that we could shock Anthony into sitting still for a split second while he tried to figure out why we were acting like such lunatics.

I honestly just wanted to tell the girl to forget it because we could not get Anthony to sit still, I was sweating, and Madeline just wanted to go get a pretzel. We did persevere and by some act of God we ended up with some surprisingly good shots. So here are the highlights of our little session.

Notice Anthony’s signature bruise on his forehead.

He was supposed to sit on this stool. Instead he climbed all over it and picked it up and stomped all over the room acting like some sort of Godzilla-like creature.

Here he is sitting, just seconds away from jumping up and running out of the room.

Madeline stood nice and still, and was so agreeable. What a difference 2 years makes!

Madeline doing her best to hold Anthony down. It was a group effort.

Madeline was not amused by Anthony’s antics at this point. Anthony on the other hand was having a great time torturing us!

Madeline trying to pin him down again.

Anthony almost ready to make a run for it, Madeline with visions of pretzels in her mind.

So that about summarizes our morning at the portrait studio. It wasn’t a complete bust since we did end up with some decent pictures, but my mom and I did need a Diet Coke when it was all said and done. Part of me looks forward to the time when they will both be calm and compliant, but at the same time that is just so boring. There is never a dull moment with these kids, and I like it that way!

The Rat’s Nest

My posting has been lacking lately, mostly because nothing all that interesting has been going on for us lately. David’s been busy hunting (he shot a buck with his bow, and a doe with his gun…so far!), and besides Madeline’s new preschool it’s just been business as usual for me and the kids.

Madeline continues to love her new preschool. Every day when I pick her up she is excited to tell me all about what they did in class, and spends a great deal of time at home playing preschool, singing the new songs she has learned, and doing art projects. I’ve been loving the new schedule, even though it makes our mornings a little more hectic.

I end up battling with Madeline about brushing her hair pretty much every day that she has preschool. One morning last week she ran out of our bedroom upstairs when I tried to brush her hair and it took me a solid 5 minutes to find where she was hiding. She is generally not a good hider and comes running out of her hiding spot the moment you walk into the room she is hiding in. This particular morning she did a REALLY good job, and I could not find her. I searched the house probably 3 times, calling out for her, even looking outside and in the garage to see if she had gone out. I was finally starting to think I might need to call for some help when I heard the faintest snicker coming from behind the recliner. I ended up finding her and giving her a lecture on how if she is hiding and hears mommy yell in a very mean/unpleasant voice that it is not funny anymore that she’d better come out next time.

I can now understand why so many of my friends have chopped their daughter’s hair off in an attempt to make peace with the daily hair-maintenance drama. Unfortunately I don’t think a haircut will solve our problem since Madeline is a chronic hair-twirler. It’s her own form of self-soothing and it makes me nuts, but I can’t convince her to stop. She literally twirls huge knots into 1 side of her head.

At this point my mom would tell you that I have it coming to me, because when I was younger my mom thought I was old enough to take care of brushing my own hair. I had a boar bristle brush, and didn’t realize that it was only supposed to be used for smoothing, not for detangling my hair. After using that brush for a while I ended up with a huge matted knot underneath my hair in the back, near my neck. No one really knew it was there because the top of my hair always looked smooth, and that knotted mess just kept growing. My mom started to refer to it as “the rat’s nest.” One day my best friend’s older sister sat and combed that knotted mess out for a couple of hours. She was very proud of her accomplishment, but I was still young and irresponsible and eventually the knot came back. At that point my mom gave me a do-it-yourself haircut. My mom is not a trained stylist by any means, and I’m pretty sure that was the catalyst that encouraged me to start combing my hair properly. I’m happy to report that I have mastered the art of brushing my hair and there are no more knots hidden in my hair!

So there is hope for Madeline! I’m scared to cut her hair, because I am worried that her curls will go away once it’s cut. She has never had a haircut. I’m pretty sure Anthony will get his hair cut before her, or else maybe I will take them both in together for their first haircut. I’m guessing Anthony’s got a good 4-6 months left before he will need one so maybe by then I will have worked up the courage to get Madeline’s hair cut!

And since no post is complete without pictures here are some from a failed photo shoot at my parents house this past Sunday.

Madeline waiting for us to get our act together.

Anthony didn’t want to sit still.

Jessica tried to get them to sit still.

It was impossible to get them to smile sweetly at the camera at the same time.

(Notice the bruise on Anthony’s head? It’s a common accessory for him these days, it just moves all around his forehead).

Madeline started to get tired of waiting for us to wrangle Anthony.

Finally I decided to try to hold Anthony in place. The expression on my face gives you a good idea of how I was feeling by the end of the weekend.

And then we gave up!

Tomorrow I am taking the kids in for their Christmas pictures. If this weekend is any indication of what we’re in for then our Christmas cards should be pretty interesting this year. I’ve always wanted to put a really funny picture on our Christmas cards, as opposed to ones that make my children look calm and angelic since it’s not really an accurate portrayal of our daily lives so maybe this will be the year!

Out With the Old, In With the New

Madeline finished up her second day today at her new preschool. I can not say enough how happy I am with her new preschool! I was worried that Madeline would be sad about not going back to the old one, or that she would miss some of the kids but today when she hopped in the car after I picked her up she told me, “Mommy, I like my new preschool.” I didn’t even have to ask her any questions to get her to say that. I guess she just had so much fun that she wanted me to know how she felt.

When I dropped her off on Monday she had no problems going in to her classroom and didn’t seem apprehensive at all. Her teacher showed us around and helped us figure out what to do. Some of the parents came up and introduced their kids to Madeline and themselves to me. It felt so warm and welcoming, kind of the opposite of Madeline’s last preschool.

Her teachers have told me that Madeline has been doing great in her class and has fit right in with the kids. I’m sure it helps that Madeline already knew a couple of the girls from a gymnastics class.

This week the theme has been International week and they have been learning about different countries. Today when Madeline got in the car she started explaining to me how to say hello and goodbye in all sorts of different languages. Again, it was one of the first times she willingly told me about preschool without me having to pry it out of her. They also had the kids wear bathrobes and towels today to pretend that they were kimonos since they were learning about Japan. For their snack they had oranges and rice and used chopsticks to eat them. The chopsticks were a big hit with Madeline.

One of the biggest things I’ve heard about Madeline’s teacher is how organized she is, and I have to agree with everyone on that! The school has a website that she keeps updated with all of her lesson plans, song sheets with the lyrics to the songs they are learning, and photos that they have taken during class. It’s so much fun to be able to see the pictures of the kids and what they are doing, and it’s also great to know what they are talking about so I don’t have to rely on Madeline to give me that information. One of her favorite lines these days is “I can’t remember” which, when translated means, “stop asking me questions!”

Here are a few pictures of Madeline’s first week.

Here are the kids modeling their “kimono’s” and hats they made.

Eating with chopsticks

Madeline working on an art project.

Madeline playing (apparently having her eyes open in pictures is completely optional these days).

Playing a game.

Looks like she’s having fun, huh?

I am very happy we made the switch. I felt bad about it initially, but after only 2 days I know this is the right place for Madeline. I could go on and on about everything I love about the preschool, but I won’t bore those of you who don’t have kids and aren’t really interested in preschools. For those of you who do have kids, I highly recommend it! I can say that now, because we get to do early registration so I can recommend it to everyone and feel pretty secure with Madeline’s spot for next year

You Just Might Be A Parent If…Reason #812

Your child leaves the room to go do something else and you linger for a few minutes so that you can see the end of the cartoon/children’s show they had been watching.

Back in the day when it was just Madeline and I all day long I would put her down for her afternoon nap and then go eat lunch by myself in front of the TV (I miss those days!). Inevitably the channel would be on Nickelodeon and Sponge Bob would be playing so I would eat my lunch and watch Sponge Bob, even though Madeline was in bed napping.

This morning she was watching Imagination Movers on the Disney Channel and I felt compelled to finish watching the show to find out why it was so cold in the Idea Warehouse!

If anyone needs any updates on the happenings of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Backyardigans, I’m your girl!

Our Afternoon with Elmo

Today David and I entered new territory with Madeline and braved the wonderful world of oversized, stuffed, dancing, cartoon figures better known as Sesame Street Live. I have to admit that I was slightly excited about going to the show. I have fond memories of going to various Disney on Ice shows as a child and was eager to pass along those same memories to Madeline.

Madeline was very excited for the show and had already told us in advance that she would like some cotton candy at the show. So when we got there David went in search of cotton candy while Madeline and I waited for the show to start.

Here she is waiting patiently in her seat.

Getting more excited (or else just trying to appease her mother who was pleading with her to look at the camera when she smiled).

Shortly thereafter the show started and all of her favorite characters came out on stage.

Madeline was most excited to see Abby Cadabby.

She was also very happy that daddy had cotton candy for her to eat.

(I believe she was a little overwhelmed initially with all of the excitement, thus the shocked look on her face!).

During intermission we went for a little walk so I could get some popcorn, and Madeline got one of the Elmo light-up toys they were selling.

After we got back to our seats Madeline decided to steal my popcorn.

Did I mention that it was freezing cold in there? David and I practically fought over who could have Madeline sit in their lap because we were so cold and wanted her body heat to help keep us warm. Seriously, when the show as over and we stepped outside to go to our car there was no temperature change. I was eager to get to the car to sit on my heated seat with the heat cranked!

Anyway, back to the show…

Madeline had a great time, although a few times I think she got tired or bored and asked to go home. At that point I said we didn’t spend all this money to come to this show just to go home early “not now Sweetie.” She quickly got over those few moments and seemed to enjoy the show.

She ended up falling asleep on the way home, which was a good thing because she was exhausted. She has been waking up every morning progressively earlier. This morning she woke up at 6:00, which is at least an hour too early for my taste!

Tomorrow Madeline starts preschool, which means I have to be up and ready to get out the door somewhere around 8:00. I will admit that afternoon preschool was good in that it let me take all the time I needed to make myself look halfway presentable for drop off. Madeline’s excited for her first day, so I’m sure I’ll have an update sometime soon!

Oil-Cleansing Take Two

As promised I have an update on my Oil-Cleansing Method post I did a while back.

So, my skin was going crazy, and all dried-out. Horribly dried out! We’re talking chunks of skin randomly peeling away.

I did a few days of the oil-cleansing method and immediately after doing it my skin looked really soft and had a nice glow about it, but after a while it would start to go back to the desert landscape I was trying to abolish.

So I started to do a little thinking, and realized that just over a month ago I had started to use a new product on my face because the one that I usually use was not in stock so I thought maybe it would be a good idea to try something new.

As much as I’m opposed to change, I generally enjoy trying new products for my hair, or new makeup but I have stuck to the same routine with my skincare for a few years now and it has served me well so I should have known better than to go messing with it. It took me a whole month to figure out what was causing my skin to break out and drying my face out so badly, though!

I went out and bought the old product and noticed a change within a couple of days. My skin is almost back to it’s old self, which isn’t saying a ton because I was not genetically blessed with good skin. I’m sad for my kids and the faulty skin genetics they are doomed to inherit from me.

I hadn’t done the oil-cleansing method for a while, and since my skin was starting to get back to normal I decided to try it again last night before bed. I have to admit that I really do enjoy the process of massaging the oil into my skin. It’s really relaxing! After I was done doing it my skin looked nice immediately following it, but after a while I noticed it felt a little dry. I’m sure that means I need to adjust the ratio of oils I’m using, but in all honesty I’m not sure I feel very motivated to mess with it. The only reason I decided to try it was because my skin was going crazy on me, but since I’ve figured out what the problem is I think I might want to just stick with the old way. It was working for me, so there’s no need to give my skin any more reason to act up again.

So, I’ve decided to share with you what products I use on my skin. Prepare to be underwhelmed, because I can’t afford any high-end beauty treatments so it will be entirely comprised with things that you can buy at Wal-Mart, or Target if you want to feel a little extra fancy.

For cleansing my skin I use Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser. I heard about it a long time ago and was told that it was a really gentle, non-irritating cleanser. I used to use the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser but it didn’t do a very good job at getting my makeup off. I think the Daily Facial Cleanser is new within the past couple of years. It does a much better job at removing makeup.

After I cleanse, I tone. I use Clean and Clear Deep Cleaning Astringent for Sensitive Skin. I really can’t give you a good reason for why I use it, but it does remove any extra makeup that I miss when cleansing. I might be able to skip this step, but since the whole package seems to be working I just keep it in the routine.

After I’m done toning I brush my teeth. I can’t really tell you what brand of toothpaste I use because I don’t pay attention. I can tell you that I tried the cheap, generic brand of toothpaste that was a dollar and I hated it. I am generally a fan of buying generics, but I could tell a big difference in how clean my teeth felt with the cheap brand. I can tell you that I use a Sonicare toothbrush. I love it! It’s pricey, but David and I have had ours for a long time. I’m pretty sure that I got it in my Easter Basket the year before David and I were married. Yes, folks, when your dad is a dentist you get toothbrushes in your Easter Basket along with your candy!

I brush my teeth in the middle of my whole skin care routine so that the astringent has time to dry before my last step. My last step is to use Neutrogena On the Spot Cream. It’s a cream that has 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide in it. I put a generous amount on my whole face. This was the step that I had messed with, and that caused me so many problems. They were out of it when I went to buy it, so I tried something different that had Salicylic Acid in it. After using the other product I realized that the Neutrogena cream was helping keep my skin clear without drying it out.

So, that’s my bedtime routine. In the morning when I wake up I sometimes wash my face, but if it doesn’t seem overly oily I just leave it. Most of the time I don’t have to bother washing it. I just move straight on to moisturizing. I’m a huge fan of moisturizing. Even if my skin doesn’t look dry or feel tight I always do it. It’s got SPF in it so I figure that’s always a good thing. I don’t use any fancy moisturizer. I just use Wal-Mart’s generic Equate brand. I’m not really sure what the official name of it is since I can’t find it online, but it’s just the generic brand of Oil of Olay. It’s cheap, and does the trick for me.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the past few years. It’s nothing special, but it’s been working for me so I think I’ll stick with it. I have been toying with the idea of giving Retin-A a try. I know a few people who are using it, and have been told that long-term use helps protect against fine-lines and wrinkles. I’m fairly pleased with how my skin has been aging so far, but I figure there’s nothing wrong with a little prevention.

I’m always experimenting with makeup and hair products, so I’m not going to overwhelm you with any of that information. Maybe at some point I’ll share some of my favorites, but for now I will cut this off before it gets too boring!

Change Is In The Air

Yesterday was Madeline’s last day of preschool at her current preschool. You may remember my post a while back about some of my concerns about Madeline and preschool. I had gotten to a point where I was just letting things be since Madeline didn’t seem affected by any of it in the least.

2 weeks ago I just had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to call a different preschool that had been in the back of my mind for a while. I had heard great things about it, but didn’t see the point in switching to a whole new preschool. If anything I figured I would maybe look into moving Madeline into a morning class at her current preschool, but I had this nagging feeling that I needed to call the other one.

So, I made the call and we went in for a tour last Monday. We loved it! The only problem was that the class was full and there was a waiting list, and we weren’t at the top of it. The director told us that usually around the holidays/end of the year there is a little shifting and a spot might open up in the next couple of months.

I was somewhat disappointed since we had found a school we loved, but we couldn’t make the switch. Well, turns out 2 days later a spot opened up for Madeline and we quickly ran into the school to drop off her registration fee to hold her spot. She starts on Monday.

The new preschool will have a completely different schedule. She’ll go Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings. Originally I had thought that wouldn’t work out, but I’ve come to realize mornings really do work best with Anthony’s nap schedule, and 3 days a week is even better than 2!

Even though I’m really excited about Madeline’s new preschool and I think it was a great decision, I was so sad yesterday picking her up from her last day at her current preschool. It would have been easier if I was taking her out because I didn’t like the preschool, but the thing is I really do like her current preschool.

I loved her teachers, and I know Madeline did too. I thought the way they ran the school was great, and the price was awesome. The big problem was that I was not happy about the kids in her class, or their parents for that matter. When I put Madeline into preschool I wanted her to get a little “school” experience, meet some new friends, and socialize. The fact that there were only 4 other kids in her class made the whole idea of socializing and making new friends much more difficult than anticipated especially because 2 of the girls were already friends and were not too nice to Madeline.

So, when I picked her up yesterday I watched the end of circle time when they all said goodbye to Madeline and I got all choked up. Her teachers were so sweet to her giving her hugs goodbye, and were so gracious to me.

For those of you who may not know me well, I don’t necessarily enjoy change. Even really good, positive change makes me feel a little sentimental and sad. I know once Madeline gets in her new school I’ll be fine, but the whole idea of Madeline leaving her very first preschool makes me tear up a little.

Madeline has done well with the idea of moving to a different preschool, so I’m hoping she’ll enjoy her new preschool and we won’t have any difficulty with the transition. I’ll keep you posted!

Baby Cuddles

Neither of my kids are big cuddlers. For a while I felt bad about it, because I had this image in my mind about babies being these sweet, cuddly creatures and my kids would sit with me for all of 5 seconds before wiggling their way out of my arms back to the floor. Then I realized that my kids are just not happy unless they are on the move. If they are awake, then they need to be exploring, getting into mischief, climbing, jumping, and tearing apart my house. This past Sunday David and I worked in the nursery at church and spent some time with a few babies. We marveled at how happy they were to just sit in one place and play with toys, or just lounge in our arms happy to be held. Basically the complete opposite of our kids!

I had thought Anthony might be different from Madeline and maybe be a little more calm, and not quite so rambunctious but he has been proving that he can outdo Madeline in the craziness department. Changing his diaper is a daily battle. He squirms, tries to sit up, and crawl away. We dread changing his diaper! We can not leave chairs out at the kitchen table because he will climb up onto the table. He tries to climb out of his highchair even with the lap belt on. If we take him out of his highchair and put him on the floor while we finish dinner he tries to climb up onto our chairs. He unrolls the toilet paper, tries to play in the toilet, and eats dog food whenever we forget to put Lucy’s bowl up.

But I love him just the way he is. I love his personality and spunk. Even though he makes me a crazy person almost daily I wouldn’t change a thing. When he does choose to slow down and give me some cuddles they are even more special.

That’s why today when I was holding a sleeping Anthony in my arms I decided I’d better take a picture of the two of us to document it, since it’s not all that common!

 

I know in a couple of years I might be able to convince him to cuddle with me on the couch while watching a cartoon…kind of like I do with his sister!

Leaves Everywhere!

The weather has finally decided to start acting like it’s fall. These past few days have been beautiful! Friday we were able to spend some time at the park with friends. It was great to see Anthony finally able to play on the playground. Now that he’s walking he was able to toddle around the playground, and climb on the play structures. Just in time for it to get cold outside. By the time we’re able to go back to the park regularly he should be very capable of playing on everything!

Today was another beautiful day and I wanted to spend it outside since it seemed like such a waste to sit on the couch all afternoon when it might be one of the last nice days we have. So I decided to do some raking. Not our yard! We live in a neighborhood that is less than a decade old so all of our trees are still small and require very little raking. For the most part the wind blows the leaves away and you’re able to avoid the task completely.

I was raking at my parents’ house. I had been over there yesterday to water some plants while they are on vacation and noticed that leaves were overtaking their entire yard. They live in a neighborhood with lots of very mature trees. It’s beautiful when the leaves are on the trees, but when they start falling to the ground it’s a nightmare. The leaves were literally starting to engulf every inch of their yard. Even their front porch and driveway were covered. Just going over there to water the plants was stressing me out, so I figured maybe they could use a little help. By the time they get home the weather will probably not be so nice, and let’s face it I could use the exercise. I can’t quite recall the last time I exercised so I think I was due.

I brought Madeline with me so she could enjoy some time outdoors and so David could watch the football game in peace while Anthony napped. In the beginning she was happy to pretend to rake with her little rake, collect leaves for art projects, and ride her bike but eventually she started to get a little crazy and impeded my raking abilities. So I had to drive her home and drop her off so I could finish up.

I only got the backyard raked, so tomorrow I’m hoping to get back to finish up the front yard. Steven said he’d come help me so we should be able to finish it up pretty quickly.

Before Madeline went crazy she took a few pictures of me in all of my leaf-raking glory.

Shortly after this I had to drive her home. Then I had to take over the picture taking responsibilities. Here I am reclining in my hard work. I’m fairly certain the last time I was in a pile of leaves I was in grade school. I was overdue!

Raking leaves makes me so happy.

Here you can see my finished project, and the huge pile of leaves in the back.

Here’s another view of the huge leaf pile.

Don’t you all wish you had a neighbor with a bright, purple garage door that you could see out your back window every day? It really adds to the rustic appeal of the neighborhood, don’t you think?

This is what I have to look forward to tomorrow.

That’s our new van parked in the driveway. Here is a better picture of it.

I love my new van, almost as much as raking leaves!

We may have a small backyard with puny little trees that give us very little shade, but I am thankful for our tiny trees this time of year. There is nothing quite as disheartening as raking leaves while new ones keep falling from the trees right behind what you just raked. It’s kind of like shoveling during a snowstorm, which I happen to know a little bit about too. I always thank God for our small driveway during the winter, but that’s a story for a different day. Hopefully a day very far away!

Oil Anyone?

The weather lately has been all over the place! When we went to Mexico, just over a month ago, the weather here in WI was sunny and warm. When we got home it was cold and rainy. Talk about a shock to your system! Since we’ve been home the weather has been unseasonably cold, with a few random warm, sunny days thrown in. What does all of this mean?

Totally bad news for my skin! Prior to going on our trip my skin had a nice, healthy glow. These days it’s akin to a sheet of sandpaper. It’s irritated, and flaking off. No amount of moisturizer is even touching this situation, and trust me I have been loading up on the moisturizer with no luck whatsoever!

I’ve been thinking that eventually my skin will stop rebelling against this weather and go back to it’s normal self, but I am starting to get tired of battling it. So I am trying a new approach. I’ve read about it online for the past year and have finally decided that it is time to give it a try.

It’s called the Oil Cleansing Method. It’s pretty popular in the blogosphere, so some of you may have heard of it. Basically the premise is that your face has natural oils that it produces, and when you wash it with soap it’s basically like putting detergent on it, and it’s very irritating for it and causes it to dry out and then produce more oil. Currently my face seems to be in a drying out mode, because I’m afraid if I smile too big my face might crack.

Anyway, different oils serve different purposes. Some are good for cleansing, others are good for moisturizing, and some are even good for clearing up acne. By putting the oil on your face you are able to cleanse, moisturize, and tone all at once without having to use soap, thus no irritation or drying are supposed to occur. Instead you are just putting beneficial oils on your face, which should hopefully remove the desert landscape I have going on.

You have to experiment with different combinations until you find what works for you. The 2 basic oils you use are Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) which is great for moisturizing and Castor Oil which is known for cleansing. The drier your skin the more EVOO you want to use.

Okay, so after you rub the oil all over your face (you’re supposed to gently rub it in for up to 2 minutes) then you take a hot washcloth and put it over your oily face and let it sit there for a while until it cools. The steam from the towel opens your pores and encourages the impurities to come out. You can do the washcloth a few times in a row if you feel like it, and once you’ve steamed yourself sufficiently you gently wipe the oil off with the washcloth. You need to be sure to rinse it out a few times to be sure you get all of the dirty oil off your face. If you leave it on, it will not be a good situation. We’re talking breakouts people, and that’s not the effect we’re going for!

I’ve only done it twice, and my face feels slightly more moisturized although I can still peel little chunks of skin off my nose. I know it will probably take some time, because my skin has never been so dry in my life.

I have to admit that it goes against every fiber of my being to rub excessive amounts of oil on my face. I’ve always been of the mindset that oil=grease=bad idea for your face. As a teenager you’re told not to eat greasy food because it will make you breakout, and there are numerous oil-free beauty products out there to prevent breakouts so it just doesn’t seem right to put oil on your face on purpose.

But it’s more than just rubbing some oil on your face. You want to be sure to use the right kind, the right combination, and you also want to remove the excess (a little gets left behind, and that’s a good thing because it helps moisturize). If it turns out to be a good thing I will be able to save lots of money on beauty products and just head to my kitchen for a refill whenever I start to run low on it.

I will keep you posted about how it goes. Hopefully it does the trick in getting rid of my dry skin!

If you’re interested in a better explanation of the method you can go here.