You've got a little food on your face

I am on a frugality/simplicity kick these days which has caused me to rethink my beauty routine. When my Clinique soap ran out, I broke open a bar of plain Dove. My usual salon visits for haircuts and highlights were recently replaced with a darned fabulous $10 cut from my friend Nicole who is a professional stylist staying home with her kids, cutting hair on the side. I didn't even get highlights this time because am looking for the best lemon juice application method--lemon juice is supposed to naturally enhance those golden strands.

Last night I hit the frugality jackpot! I went to an activity, sponsored by the women's group at my church, which offered classes devoted to five topics. (To get all Mormon on you, this was old school Homemaking night--back in the day, it was all about mini-classes! I loved the classic feel of the evening.) One class taught by a thirty year old woman with impossibly gorgeous curly hair and glowing skin offered tips on delaying our youthful complextion's decline into the world of deep wrinkles and age spots.

She opened herself up for questions--I raised my hand, "What is the best, cheap night cream for people of my age who are begining to wrinkle?" After the 45+ crowd stopped laughing (they know we will look back on our thirtysomething skin with fondness), she unloaded the secret of all secrets----OLIVE OIL!!! Or coconut oil but I already have extra virgin olive oil on hand so I rushed home to try it out. After cleansing with dove, I dabbed on a little olive oil and massaged it in. My skin felt as soft and smooth as when I use the $75 Clinique cream! The instructor suggested using the oil only at night and I agree. The moisture lasted 24 hours without feeling oily. I did a little reasearch on homemade skin treatments and the reason olive oil is so great is that the molecules perfectly fit skins moisture holding pores--or something like that.

It is also, apparently, good to exfoliate on a regular basis (the one time I had a facial the esthetist suggested regular exfoliation after she removed layers of sediment from my dull skin). I found a recipe for homemade exfoliants online: For normal skin (mine is on the oily side but I can usually get away with treating it like normal skin) a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of baking soda should work wonders. I tried it and it did. Again, I am walking around with baby's butt skin on my face! These miracle concoctions were hanging out in my pantry just waiting for me to unleash their potential. Now, if I could only find a cheap food item that would make my eyelashes thick and lush!