**REVIEW** Organic Black Seed Oil

Here I go, trying another oil for my health.

From Sun Essential Oils

That right there, folks, is Black Seed Oil. Another of the remedies that's supposed to be good as an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory because of the Thymoquinone in it.

(Believe it or not, I actually take most of the oils and other natural remedies I talk about here; I just stagger their use and try not to overdo it.)

I have managed to gag down a dose of this for a few days. It's tough though. If my sister were here, she'd say that this oil could "gag a maggot". I can barely get it down and I only take a little less than the teaspoon recommended.

Looks harmless. 

First off, the smell is off-putting. Black Seed Oil smells like what I imagine crude oil to smell like if you threw in a couple drops of car-ready gasoline. I am very serious. I have to plug my nose every time I bring the spoon anywhere near my face.

Next up, this oil has one of the weirdest textures ever. And I use lots of oils - face oil, hair oil, skin oil, foot oil. If there is an oil out there on the general market, I have probably tried it. Just like with the smell, the texture of this reminds me of the stuff I see being drained out of car engines.

This is the streaky, stinking, residue in a little bit of orange juice I used to mask the taste. (The orange juice did nothing to mask the smell or taste, by the way.) Notice how it sort of clings to the sides of the cup? Yeah. That's the way the taste clings to the tastebuds.

By the way, I was so concerned about the taste that I Googled it, and apparently, lots of people use words like oil, turpentine, gasoline, and motor oil to describe it. I have a tribe.

As I said, I wanted this oil for the anti-blah blah blah properties. When I was reading up on it, I learned that it's possibly good for weight loss. That's no wonder. For about two hours after I take this oil, I can't eat or drink anything else without that nasty taste echoing back into my mouth. I really can taste this stuff for the longest time. However, I do think there is something to the weight loss thing. For some reason (and not just the gag factor), my appetite goes way down after taking this first thing in the morning. Not sure what that's about because I haven't done much more research.

I didn't realize how small the bottle was going to be with that 9 dollar price. I just wanted to get one that had the best reviews and feedback at a decent price. At first, I was a little annoyed that the bottle is so teensy -

- but after tasting this stuff, I am glad I will quickly finish it off. I like what it's doing to relieve some of my general fatigue so I will probably buy more - in a pill form. though.

As far as using this on my skin or hair, that is a big old nope. This smells as strong and awful as Neem oil does - just in a different way. I don't want to walk around smelling like I work at Jiffy Lube. I have enough issues.

Some benefits (it is claimed) of using this oil on the hair and skin:

• Anti-Bacterial In Nature. The oil is anti-bacterial in nature and when applied on the skin may prevent acne by fighting off skin infections
• Packed With Antioxidants
• Fights Hair Fall
• Improve Hair And Scalp Health
• Fights Skin Infections

The smell of it could run off any kind of infection, I am sure. Still, I am tempted to use it when I know that I won't have to get within 50 feet of another human being. If you want people to keep their distance during this COVID thing, just wear some of this oil or some Neem oil. Yuck.

If you do decide to try this orally, I suggest just taking it straight. Swallow it down fast and then take a sip of lemon or lime juice. If I try any on my hair and skin, I will certainly let you know how that goes.

To Summarize:

There are natural remedies for health and wellness. Do your research. Talk with your medical care team. Ask questions. Find out what other people are using to solve problems/issues similar to your own.

Peace
--Free

UPDATED **REVIEW** Stardrops Pink Stuff (cleaning paste)

***UPDATE***

This stuff turns out to be great for dealing with hard-to-remove grease on plasticware. I don't know if I would use it on expensive plastic containers but I used it on my cheap old containers and it removed every bit of the red grease stains from some taco meat I stored. Of course, I made sure to rinse completely clean of any paste residue. So there.

 So...

A few weeks ago when I was rearranging things on my kitchen countertops, I discovered something about my Keurig: it can stain the crap out of cheap Corian counters. Ugh.

First, I was stupefied that I had never noticed the staining before. I mean, I am kind of a neat freak and I clean my counters all the time. I even move things on a pretty regular basis to clean under them. I guess though that the last time I moved the Keurig was about 6 months ago when I was draining and cleaning the tank. There had been no serious stains then. When I moved the machine this time though...

I think that what happened was is that some spilled coffee went unnoticed for a while.  Like I said, I have been on an instant coffee kick and using my electric kettle more than the Keurig. However, the Keurig stays on constantly and exudes some heat. Maybe the heat combined with a sitting stain just sort of... grossified? 

The first thing I did to attack the stain was to use a mixture of baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn. It sort of worked but not really. Next, I left some bleach on the stain for a few minutes. Better but still there. 

Should I be ashamed to say that I just covered the remaining stain back up with the Keurig until I could figure out a better solution? Oh well.

I actually kind of forgot it because, well, I haven't been using the Keurig as much and I have the attention span and memory of a drunk gnat. 

Because nothing else had worked on the stain and it was really starting to irk me, I went hunting for something. I found this:

That's really called "The Pink Stuff" and it's a Pepto-pink. Or maybe Pla-doh-pink? It has the consistency of toothpaste. In fact, that is exactly what the feel reminds me of - except super gritty.

I don't like that there is not a complete list of ingredients on the product container and was irritated that I had to go to a website listed on the product just to get a full listing. I was REALLY irritated that I had to input a barcode just to get to the list. What???  

"Amongst other ingredients"?
Well, LIST them!

The product is made by Start Brands out of the UK so maybe that's why the ingredients aren't listed (or don't have to be?).  By the way, the product photo on Amazon has a UK flag on it and my jar does not. Seems a tiny bit sketchy, does it not?

Anyway.

Here is a screenshot comparing the list that was on Amazon as an answer to someone's question (and the one shown on the dpi page for the barcode on my jar - 5060033823705. (And here is the head dpi page in case something changes.)

I went ahead and got it because I really needed something for that stain. Of the currently almost 30 thousand reviews, 85% are 4- and 5-star. Most critical reviews are to do with it not living up to what other products can do. 

I didn't take a Before photo because I wasn't thinking about this review at that moment. But the un-treated stain was really brown. Think badly stained teeth. The treated area is much, much better. 

I think one more treatment ought to do it

Once I saw how well this worked on the stain that had taken up a lease on my counter, I cleaned everything I could with the paste. I cleaned around the faucets and along the edges of the sink. The hard water here does a number on the faucets and The Pink Stuff has those gleaming like new money. My counters are so clean that I was worried about how nasty they might have been before. Makes you think of those pressure washing Before-and-Afters

Okay - maybe not THIS bad...

 And then I thought of this and got sidetracked watching 10 more full episodes:

Anyway.

Yep, The Pink Stuff works. If you get it, be careful what you use it on. The paste is super gritty but the grit is so fine that you might think it's safe on surfaces where it's not. (Did that even make sense?)

By the way, another thing I noticed is that the cleaning rags I used the paste with were amazingly soft after I rinsed them. I almost want to treat my bath towels with it just to see what happens. Maybe I will do a test on an old towel. Hmmm...

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I see that on the Startdrops Store on Amazon that The Pink Stuff can also be had in a foam, spray, etc. I see no reason to buy another version. If I want, I can dilute the paste with a lot of water. Maybe there's a reason to get the other products but I see no reason. The paste was about $10 for 1.1lbs. I'm sure I can find it cheaper at Walmart, Walgreens, or some other store.

Introverts Unite! (Separately)

  Ran across this a while back and thought "Yeah!"

My people!

I'm not sure why my being a home-body-introverted-loner bothers people but I'm tired of being confronted about it.

The kinds of pouty-passive-aggressively rude things I hear when I just don't have the energy to be social:

"You never want to go anywhere." (Not true. I just don't want to go where you want to go or I don't want to go right now.)

"Why don't you want to...?" (Why do I always have to explain? I'm not asking why you do want to go.) ~see how repetitive this gets?~

"It's just for a couple of hours." (I don't want to go. Not for 5 seconds, 5 minutes, an hour. I don't want to go. Period.)

"There won't be many people there." (Many or any. Doesn't matter. I don't want to go. Maybe we can talk one-on-one for while, without an audience or props? Let's try that sometime.)

Or, not too long ago, I got a super-heated and extremely rude passive-aggressive swipe:

"That's because you never get out of the damn house!" (So what exactly is your problem with that?)

Yeah, that made me want to go hang out with the person and be social for real. Guilt me on something and see how fast I want even more to do the exact opposite of what you want me to do. Go ahead. Try it. I'll wait.

I am beginning to think I am not the problem here...

I recently started coming up with retorts to use for specific people and situations. I plan to start calling people on their traits. I know a lot of super-extroverted people and co-dependent, can't-move-without-their-sidekick people. I know people who use the Lord's name in vain so much that I get sore from all the cringing I do. I know people who have recreational habits that I don't like being around. Most people have no idea how gracious I am by not screaming all this at them while they are judging my loner personality.

The problem for extroverts is that we are, of course, outnumbered in social settings. We get called "wallflowers" or "stuck up" when we can't summon the energy or will to put on a socially-expected public facade and mingle, muggle, and do the social snuggles.

Also, like some introverts, I send mixed messages. I'm not overly shy and I can talk someone's ear off - if it's the right person and the right subject. Otherwise, I am faking interest, being Instagram-sincere, and parroting canned phrases to indicate engagement. And it's freaking tiring. It's stressful and draining and sometimes leaves me feeling unduly resentful.

I think that the reason people can be irritated by introverts is that they misunderstand the behaviors. Maybe they think we don't like their company (we do, in small bits and at the right time). Maybe they think we don't appreciate their personality (we do, in small bits and at the right time). And maybe it's because we clash with their social and emotional cycles (our 5 minutes of chattiness runs into their constant chattiness or our need to be introspective runs into their need to be, well, them).

Whatever the case, I'm putting my foot down. I have put up with people's harmless (but very irritating crap) because of love, friendship, or social grace. I've listened to the snide remarks about how "anti-social" (aka: being a witch-with-a-b) I am. However, from here on out, when someone tries to call me out or guilt me on my loner traits, I'm going to flip the mirror and let them know what I think about their irritating traits.

I'm over this and it's time to handle it.

This irritating but funny extrovert here...

My best friend and I were talking about all this the other day. She too is an introvert and, like me, she struggles with depression and social anxiety. She mused that her depression is always worse after having to deal with people who don't "get" her and her personality. I told her that I tend to stay away from people when my depression is worse because they sure don't make it better.

To be honest, I am very sensitive and find it easy to nosedive into depression at the slightest perceived wrong word or action. I don't mind about dings from strangers who don't know my life or struggles, but when someone who knows me insults or hurts me, I shut them down for a while. I realize that about myself. If I feel slighted, my first emotional bandaid is the deepest solitude and extreme avoidance. I don't want to willingly subject my balance of sanity to your thoughtless behavior until I know that I won't lash out in defense. Children learn quickly to avoid hot stoves; I likewise avoid certain social burns.

Besides, being around even the people you really like or really love can be draining at times. Here's the thing I want to tell them: My introverted personality is not about your extroverted personality. You should know me by now. And if you like or love me, you should know me really well. Don't make me go all Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes on you. Explaining is even more tiring...

Drains faster around some people

For those people who wonder what introverts do with their time - and I will speak only for this introvert because we are all different in many ways. Since I only feel fairly well and "normal" for about 3, maybe 4 days a week, my useful loner time is really important to me. My life revolves around my health so... Here is what a good day can be like.

• Cleaning - because things pile up easily in a small space and I find that I feel mentally better in a clean space.
• Feeding and caring for my plants. My plants are a huge part of my mental health therapy. They don't talk or make noise; they just radiate peace and calm and the complexity of the beauty of God's creation. Nature is really stunning to me.
• Blogging here or at Free & Faith or Lotta Laughs. (I have been neglecting the 3 or 4 other blogs because they are too much to keep track of on any kind of regular basis. I can just barely keep up with this one!)
• Reading my Bible and meditating on it. If not for my faith, I don't know where I would be during all these ups and downs of the past 10 or so years.
• Trying to write. I kind of gave up on setting goals for my writing. I can't seem to carry lines of thoughts long enough to put down and pick up where I am in a plot. Now, I just write as therapy and self-enjoyment. (I've been thinking of getting back into knitting or crocheting but don't feel very confident about patterns and designs.)
• To keep my mind as sharp as I can, I check out a lot of adult-learning sites. I even bought a basic Maths workbook once to review algebra. It was a nightmare.
• Sitting and watching this kind of video to calm my anxiety. I have a whole playlist. It's what I use my TV for most. This underwater theme from the Mario game is my long-time favorite music to relax too when I get super anxious. Soothing stuff.
• Preparing meals to last for a few days or a week - depending on how I am feeling or on my budget. Trying new ways to eat healthily is an ongoing quest for this chunky gal. Right now, I'm working on using cayenne, ginger, turmeric, and black rice to boost my mood, immune system, and get my weight in check.

But the one thing I do, no matter how I am feeling, is thinking. When I am out of commission, I can spend hours just thinking about almost anything: life and circumstances; blessings and struggles,; why people do this or that, or what someplace or the other looks like; if turmeric is really all that beneficial to our health and how in the world can I get more of it into my daily diet because the stuff is not that tasty on just any old thing; why it is that plants are so mentally healing; whatever happened to the girl in fifth grade who was so pretty but always looked so sad; what did my mother mean that time 30 years ago when she said I reminded her of Sister Carruth; why I sometimes can't remember my phone number (and still can't remember the house number) but have the main lyrics from "The Crawdad Song" stuck in my head after hearing it the first time when I was about 12 when Daddy sang it to me...

And I heard the Crawdad tune a few weeks ago while re-watching some "Andy Griffith Show" episodes on Prime.

Forgive the Andy Griffith stuff. I get on a kick of watching oldie shows and that one is in current rotation. 

I like the TV show version also

And how cool is it that the families of these men can always go back and look at them through the different ages of their lives?

Anyway.

My best friend has a line she sometimes tosses out when I ask if she plans to go out shopping or anywhere else: "Nope. Can't do people today." Let me tell you: Instacart is our thing!

The worse thing about some extroverts is how petty they can be. Just because you don't like being out and about all the freaking time, they get offended and will exclude you to prove a point. It's as though they are triumphantly (and childishly) saying, "See, you do need people!" 

Here is my triumphant (and almost-but-not-quite-as-childish) reply:

"Of course, we do, you ninny. We just don't need the round-the-clock, in our space, co-dependent, unnecessary, bodyguard-like company to feel okay with life. If that's your thing, have at it. It's not my thing. I put up with your personality needs so why don't you try returning the favor?"

I am, as you can probably tell, feeling some kind of way about this right now...

So, for all my fellow introverts out there, I am just asking the rest of you to stop and think before you go all judgemental and critical of us. We are who we are and you are who we are. Let's learn to get along better - but you know, with you over there and me over here.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Softsheen-Carson Care Free Curl Gel Activator Lite

 As a hair product junkie, do you ever run across a new product that you feel you should have known about all along?

I have used almost every kind of Softsheen Carson product there is. For years. StaSofFro has been a staple product in my hair care. It's a product I use to soften up my hair when I have used a curling gel or other treatment that leaves behind "crunch". The one problem with it though is that it can loosen my curls too much.

So.

I was looking online for one of my regular gel activators but wanted something a lot more softening than the one Aunt Jackie's product I've ever used (the Curl Boss). 

That Curl Boss gel works like crazy BUT it tends to flake & look just like dandruff and it dries a bit stiff. I wanted to find something to either replace it or to make it play nice.

When I saw this:

I thought that I had surely tried it before. I know for a definite fact that I have tried the activator/moisturizer that comes in a bottle. I've even tried the "Gold" version. It was a bit too "wet" for me. 

So, hmmm. Had I ever tried the gel in the jar? Once I thought more about it, I realized that I probably had not. For one thing, the jar with the Care Free branding just looks foreign to me. Nope, I had most likely never even seen the product in a jar. 

The price on Amazon is a little bit scary at close to 10 bucks for under 12 ounces of product. I looked elsewhere and no one had it in stock or up for shipping (unless I wanted to reach a $35 cart total). The price at Walgreens.com is $529 as I type this draft. 

~sigh~

I went ahead and ordered from Amazon. Dang, how I miss living just down the street from a Walmart!

 (By the way, I have seriously considered giving the Walmart+ membership another try just so I'm not so heavily reliant on Amazon. I will tell you in a postscript what I don't like about Walmart + after doing a short trial run...)

I felt a tiny bit better when I got the actual product in hand. The jar isn't as teeny-tiny as I had visualized. It's still not big enough for the price when I KNOW that the price at Walgreens.com is $529 as I type this draft.  Unfortunately, it's only for shipping in my area and it's currently out of stock. What.Ever.

It's not that big a jar either 😠

The product looks (in the photos) like it's a regular, thick activator, but it is not. This is like a jelly-water type of texture if that makes sense.

Very wet - not oily

The ingredients list explains the texture. (And you can ignore that number-letter combo. I Googled it to see what it had to do with hair products and... think it has to do with the brand or plant location or something ~shrug~)

1st ingredient is... water.

The order of the ingredients is something I can get behind. The water, other humectants and softeners... Perfection.

It will do no good to show photos of what this does to my hair. You can't see the benefits as much as feel them. Now, it does NOT bring out my curl pattern as well as something like Curl Boss. What it does (and what I ♥♥♥) smooth and soften my hair. I used the Curl Boss to get the deep definition, then followed up with this Care Free Gel to give my hair "touchability". 

Thankfully, on top of softening the crunch of the Curl Boss, this also hydrated away the flaking.  And... zero greasiness. ZERO.

Well, let me back that up a few feet. At the time that this is being applied, it is very wet and on washed and damp hair, it has the slick feel of an oil-based product. But when it dries, it's oil-free.

One other thing I want to point out is that, on my 4C and desert-dry hair, I had to do 2 applications. I had washed my hair and used the Care Free gel to do overnight twists to hydrate and seal in the moisture. When I took out the twists the next day, my hair wasn't as bone dry as usual but it was still dry. I was ready to be very disappointed in the gel. What I have learned is that it is better (for me anyway) for this to be applied and worked into hair that is mostly or completely dry. 

When I did apply this to my dried hair, smoothing it from root to tip in small sections, I got the results I needed. I can now use this with to without another product like Curl Boss - but I will never again use Curl Boss without this gel.

So, yeah, this one is a keeper. I have other softening products that I love but this one is so grease-free and does a better job. I will have to find it at a cheap price or I won't be buying anymore for a long while though!

I'm really glad that I gave this a try. I almost passed it by because 1 - that price and, 2 - I thought it was going to be like the bottle version.

The only other product right now that I am planning to try (for my scalp) is some rosemary oil mix and some Blue Magic hair dress. I remember the Blue Magic from when I was a kid and I want to give my scalp a break from thin oils like that pricey Jamaican Black Castor... 

By the way, I have been contemplating doing a big old chop-chop on my hair. I am kind of wanting to start over with it. Right now, it's in decent shape but, because of my meds, I have to fight so much breakage and dryness that it's exhausting - especially on wash day. I don't know yet. We'll see...

Peace

--Free

P.S.: Almost forgot to do this!

I tried the Walmart + on a trial basis. It's nice but... I don't like that I could never tell if something was coming by "regular" shipping or just from a pop-up delivery by a person. Also, the program only works for items that are sold by Walmart.com - not 3rd party. Most things I seek to buy there are hair and grooming items I can't find on Amazon and they usually happen to be 3rd party. Also, most 3rd party items don't have the low Walmart prices - which is why I am there in the first place. If I can't find something on Amazon, I hit Target, Dollar General, Walgreen, or Walmart. But I go for the Walmart prices. So that's the deal with that. Oh! And... the membership is about the same price as for Amazon but without the reach.

I do suggest at least giving the trial a go. You might find it more useful, depending on your ordering habits

Sick-bed to ER to Well-dom

 Just over a week ago, I spoke too soon about feeling better. I thought I had the flu bug licked. Until I didn't. My fever came back to visit a couple of times then, just when I thought I really was getting better, one night my throat started hurting and I felt as if it were trying to close up. I took some aspirin and went to bed. 

Oh, Lord. What if I really am sicker than I think? What if I ignore this the way I ignored the sarc and it gets worse? What if I suffocate in my sleep?

Yeah. My anxiety kicked in the door and I imagined being found dead in my apartment. My messy apartment. 

I have a thing about keeping my place neat. I'm not fanatical about it but when your living space is as small as mine is, the least bit of clutter or thing out of place can resemble a scene from that show about hoarders. Seriously. So the only place I let things pile up is either on my bed or at my writing desk. And by "piling up", I mean having my computer, writing paper and pens, and some post-its taking up space. Since I'd been sick, I was keeping all that stuff on the little bed-tray-table thingie I have on one side of the bed. And because I was sick, there were some extra items on the bed - tissue, nose-spray, my pill organizer, a couple of bottles of water, and my Bible. There was barely room in the Queen-sized bed for my body.

The body that my family was going to find dead. In my messy apartment.

from the King Street Gallery
Wish I could afford a copy!

Not only was my bed a mess but so was the kitchen. Again, small space and things out of place. My kitchen is so small that I have to store my toaster on top of the fridge with I'm not using it. All I'd been doing since the bug had bitten me was fixing toast, coffee, and tea. But that had created a mess I had not cleaned up in days - paper plates and used paper towels and spoons sticky with honey and knives coated with old butter.

Someone is going to have to come in here and clean all this up before they can properly mourn my death.

Just like my own kitchen except neater

The more I laid on my bed, waiting for the aspirin to kick in, the more my throat seemed to close up. I was worried that maybe I did have COVID instead of the regular flu or a bad cold. I would die of COVID because I'd been too hospital-chicken to get myself checked. 

Lord, I don't mind dying but I sure don't want to die in a messy apartment.

I felt so sick and sorry for myself that I started to cry. And I started dozing off. Until my throat ache woke me. I sat up and realized I would have to go into the bathroom pantry to see if I had any more aspirin. But I was too freaking tired to walk to the bathroom and back. But my throat...

I guess the crying just made things worse because suddenly I felt like I couldn't swallow comfortably or get enough air in through my snotty nose.

When I called my family, it was about 11 or 11:30. They didn't even hesitate. As soon as I said that I thought I might need to go to the hospital, they went into action. The Conway Calvary was on the way!

Actually, the staff were all
very nice

And, of course, then I had to somehow get dressed. I hadn't showered in days and I had been sleeping in the same yoga pants, ratty t-shirt, bra, and underwear for at least 3 days (don't judge me!). There is not much that can get me to leave my house like that but I just didn't have the energy to do more than mask up my face, lock up my apartment and get myself to the lobby where I could sit and wait for my ride. They were there by the time I made it to the door. Looking all kinds of a hot, pitiful mess.

One I use here all the time

Now here's a weird thing that happened. Not even halfway to the hospital, my throat seemed to be opening up a little. it didn't hurt much to swallow and I actually felt as if I could fall right to sleep. 

The ER people are going to think I am overreacting to minor flu symptoms.

That's what I thought for about 2 seconds and then I remembered that this is 2021 and COVID is a thing. Thankfully, my family is vaccinated.

Too late, my friend.
It's too late,
though we really did try to make it.

So... A 10-minute ride to the ER; 5 minutes to disinfect my hands and sign in; 10 minutes in the waiting area (empty); 15 minutes in an exam room to strip, hide my icky bra and undies in my purse and under my coat (until they could be safely burned); 5 minutes with a nurse; and 10 minutes with a doctor and a lab guy who administered a COVID test. Then I laid there on the table and dozed for who knows how long? 25 minutes? An hour? When the doctor came back he was chipper and non-judgemental.

I don't have COVID. What I had was the lingering effects of the flu. And the problems with my throat closing up? That was most likely from an anxiety attack. I was released with orders to drink LOTS of water, take aspirin for any fever and see my regular doctor asap. I slunk out of there, relieved that I would live.

Funny enough, the ER doc said that he hadn't seen a "regular" flu patient in a long time.

Probably because "regular flu" patients don't rush to the ER in the middle of the night like manic hypochondriacs...

So, yeah. I live. I'm still super-fatigued and am using a lot of energy laying on my side in bed as I type this but at least I don't have COVID.

It was, Apparently, it was.

I've had bursts of energy. I have managed to empty the garbage, pick up the kitchen, and shower myself. I am still living mostly from my bed but I am feeling SO much better. Silly for running to the ER in the middle of the night, but...

If I die now, at least my bed will be the only messy thing about the apartment. 

Today, I made it to infusion and even stopped at the store on the way home for a quick minute. And I have finally gotten to try that WTRMLN Juice I've been hearing about. 

A bit of a 
disappointment :-(

That's the WTRMLN drink I've been searching everywhere for. My family picked it up for me. It's exactly like drinking the juice from a could-be-sweeter watermelon. I don't taste the lime at all, but I keep wanting to add sugar to it. I was disappointed the way I am when I am looking forward to a piece of tasty melon only to get one that's underripe. And I can taste the rind in this. It's not totally disgusting but I won't be rushing out to get more. Nope. (Maybe the other versions are better?)

In addition to trying the WTRMLN, I found a good ginger tea. The WTRMLN I tried might be a bust but...

Instant Ginger Tea with Honey

Now the ginger tea? That is so delicious. I don't like spicy things (wait til I get to the cayenne in a moment) but this is not the same kind of spicy as the pepper I force myself to add to juice. This tea is the first one I could find online that had ginger as the first of the ingredients and didn't have a lot of ingredients - just ginger, cane sugar, and honey. I like to drink it cold with a little bit of apple or pineapple juice or the occasional bit of coconut water (occasional because of the high potassium in coconut water). At night, I will drink it hot before bed.

And, yeah, I have been adding cayenne to my diet - for the capsaicin. Yep, me, the woman who can barely take too much black pepper in her food. 

Haven't had that problem. Yet.

I don't go crazy with it though. I have just been adding a little bit of cayenne powder to my juices and smoothies. If I add it to coconut water or apple juice, the heat isn't too much. Instead of ingesting a lot all at once, I just do little 6-ounce shots throughout the day.  One tip I picked up for cooling the heat is to use dairy (knew that one), something acidic (lime or lemon), or carbs (bread). For me, coconut water or apple juice works well.

Capsaicin is found in various types of peppers but is higher in the hotter ones (I think I'm saying that right). I have heard that, like ginger, it's good for the immune system. I also heard something about how it can rev the metabolism. Hmmm? I don't know. I'm almost beyond caring about that for now. But I can say that it does affect the appetite. On the days that I add some cayenne to my juice, I feel less hungry and less inclined to snack. ~shrug~

So, yeah, I'm trying to help my immune system out as much as I can. 

At any rate, I didn't die in a messy apartment. I am still here and feeling a little more back to my usual (hah!)  level of wellness every day. Hopefully, I will be getting some more posts out of the Draft basket and posted soon.

Peace

--Free

The Big Black Swatch & Shade Post

This post is in lieu of a finish to the Juvia's Place review. No need to go on beating that dead horse. In the meantime (and since even being the hermit I am, this lockdown is crazy) I thought I would do a swatch post that includes the 2 new Juvia shades.

It's nice that a lot of the established cosmetic brands are adding shades for "deeper" skin tones. New brands seem to be popping up all the time (like Juvia's Place). Still, finding an affordable and appropriate shade of foundation is tough for a lot of us. I know ladies of all races and colors who have almost as hard a time as I do in trying to find something that works with their peach- or olive-hued tones. If you can't pull off one of the basic shades - porcelain, ivory, buff, light, tan, medium, "deep", chocolate, almond, or some variation of "toast" - then you have to be the Indiana Jones of the makeup world.

These are some arm and face swatches of all the shades I have lying around. I throw nothing out so I have stuff from 4 years ago. Don't judge me!

Just so you know:

• I photographed my leg in the natural light of my home. (ceiling and floor lamps)
• I applied a light primer and nothing else other than the moisturizer I already had on  
• I did not apply any other powders or setting products
• I used a makeup spatula to apply (cleaning after each use)
• I ran a line of the Nars shade along the top so you can compare it to each of the other shades.

These are the ones taken a couple of minutes after applying all the swatches:

sorry for the bad cropping
see names and shades below

It's easy to see that the Khartoum, Ebony, Mali, and Bronze 8 shades are ones I can work best with. The others can be used, I suppose, for highlighting, contouring, and blending to lighten or darken other shades.

This is after I lay a paper towel over them and did a light blotting:

You can barely tell the Nars from my skin. Perfect.

This is after I have let the makeup rest and completely set for about 5 minutes

I tried to keep the camera the same distance away but there could be some variation. You get the idea though.

By the way, this is the wonderful primer I used. It was sent as a full-size sample (yay) from Tryspree and I will be buying more when I am finished with the jar.

Hard Candy Primer Balm

If you are always on the lookout for shades in "deep" tones, here are some that I have considered. With a couple of exceptions, they are affordably priced and seem to come in a good variety of deep shades. And, since I was only looking at shades, you would have to judge for yourself how good they are as far as wear and staying power. The links are to where I found the item and not always the brand site.

Black OpalTrue Color

NYXBorn to Glow

MaybellineFit Me

MilaniConceal & Perfect

 

e.l.f.Flawless Finish

I did notice that Target carries quite a range of brands with diverse shades. Also, the site has a "foundation guide" to help locate suitable brands on their site with your shade range.

Actually, once I started searching, I found quite a few brands with "deep" shade choices. You have probably heard of most, but I think at least a couple will be new for you.

Here are some with prices in the mid to higher range - depending on what your budget is. I'm too tired to do links for all of them but hit up Google.

• Uoma Beauty (totally new to me)
• Fenty (Rhianna's gig so I won't bother with it. Personal bias.)
• Il Mikiage (see this a lot on social media platforms)
• ColourPop (I've seen this on Influenster)
• Black Up (I had one of their foundations in a near-matching shade for my skin. Good foundation as long as you get a match.)
• Urban Decay
• Nars (of course)
• Becca 
• Marc Jacobs (who knew?)

• Lancome (love theirs but it's pricey for me at around $45)
• Hue Noir (another totally new one for me)
• MAC
• Makeup Forever
• Black Radiance (of course)
• Flori Roberts (I used to love their Gold perfume but it's no longer made)

The name of the last one I want to mention gives me the creeps but I love that they seem to have a wide range of shades. It's called Flesh Beauty. See what I mean? Anyway... The prices are mid-range ($32 for a foundation) but they offer free shipping. If you sign up for their mailing list, you get a discount on your first order. 

Believe it or not, there are more I could have listed but I got tired.

Hope this helped.

Peace
--Free

Shopping Helps While Quarantined

My best friend and I are natural hermits. When this COVID thing really got hot and everyone around us started the "social distancing" trend (we do love trends, don't we?), the two of us laughed and called them amateurs!

from elbruno.com

I imagine that the idea of being quarantined is pretty stressful for most people. Listen, I was made for this time. I am someone who lives as if everything outside the doors of my home is just waiting to attack me.

I am sort of a 'herma-phobe'. I mean, I'm not extreme about germs or anything but I really am wary of other people spreading their colds and viruses to me. I so easily catch everything that makes me sniffle, sneeze, cough, or go into full-on body-aches. I am already dealing with this nasty sarcoidosis so I don't need to catch any other health issues. Plus, I have hermit tendencies.

Last week, when my neighbors and family were starting to take more notice of which stores ship or deliver, they were checking with me. I know where to get my prescriptions, toiletries, groceries, and cosmetics without ever going past the door to pick up my mail. And, no, Amazon is not the only game in town.

I am going to share a little condensed information with those of you who don't read my blog on a regular basis. For more details, you will have to use the search bar at the top of this blog. Don't you wish you'd paid a little more attention now? Ha!

Here are the places I use to shop from home:

• Amazon (of course), for non-perishables, household stuffs, and all other courtesy-of-billionaire Bezo-supplied goods. Until Trader Joes and other Prime-Pantry suppliers start delivering dairy and meat, I can't use them but you might be able to. Check the Amazon full directory. By the way, Amazon has a cool Prime Wardrobe deal on certain items of clothing and accessories. I've used it once but the free returns were done via UPS drop-off. I don't drive so Amazon arranged a free UPS pick-up for me. I don't know if they would make a habit of that. I was told I could do free returns via Kohl's drop-off. That's better but, still, no car.
• Hyvee and Aldi's for perishable groceries because they deliver in my area. I use Instacart because I pay the monthly membership for free delivery on orders of $30+; I can go directly to Hyvee online for more variety via Aisles Online but the delivery and fees are upwards of $10 and they won't split the annual $99 membership into monthly payments.
• Speaking of Instacart - depending on your location, you might be able to shop from several stores. Hyvee, Aldi, Target, and Petsmart are available to my hick zip code. Target's offerings there are slim and it's better to go directly to their site (see below). Maybe more will be added because of this COVID situation?
• Dollar General is a new discovery for me and I love it. I personally like to get all my "ethnic" hair care goods from them but there are some good deals on lots of DG stuff. Shipping is reasonable and not too slow although the tracking sucks and using the website is weird (I couldn't even set up an account!) I prefer using the app (here you go, iPhone users, though I've never used that one) because it's better a set up than the website.
• Target is not a place I regularly shop (too highbrow! Haha) but I like checking out the site. I get my Target beauty box every now and again. 
  
• Walgreens is currently doing free shipping with no minimum. I don't know when that started or how long that will last. I might have to check them out for my cosmetics and such.
• Walmart is where I get anything that's cheaper than what I can find on Amazon. I have to do some work comparing but it's worth it. Shipping is free on orders $35+. Searching and sorting what is available to ship-to-home is sort of a pain. Also, prices tend to be a little higher than in-store or store-pickup. By the way, you can even order your contacts from Walmart Vision.
• RiteAid is not a place I have ever shopped in person or online but I see they have the same $35+ thing as Walmart. The other day, I saw the FREESHIP being used but I don't know if it's still good.
• I happen to use a local pharmacy that does free delivery of my prescriptions. That's a service that other pharmacies might provide.

Shopping online is the norm for me. I get over-anxious around even middling-size groups of people and shoppers can be the worst. For some of you, though, this new kind of protective living is overwhelming. I happen to think that we are being set-up to accept this as the "new normal" so you might have to get used to it.

By the way, I do NOT understand the hoarding of toilet paper but because other people are, might I suggest getting a cheap little portable bidet. I did and I can't wait till I can get one actually installed on the toilet.

Don't you wonder if this is going to be the way things remain? I do. And I bet the retailers are going to figure out how to make it work. I would not be surprised if shopping, working, learning, and socializing is about to become more of an online thing than it ever has been.

I will update this with any new information I get about retailers cutting us some online slack. Hopefully, more of them will go easy on the shipping fees and return policies.

Peace

--Free

A List of my Favorite Products 2021

 NOTE: You might want to skip to the bottom

and just check out the photos. This 

post is kinda... long!

I don't think I have done this for a while. The lists I share on Amazon are not something the get a lot of views. I forget they are even there sometimes. But I wanted to think about some of the many products I blog about and pick some stand-out favorites. Here goes. (By the way, photos are just randomly placed throughout.)

Hair & Beauty

• Honey Hydrate. I trashed it in a review, then fell in love with it. It's not cheap but it's worth every penny.
• Taliah Waajid's Intense Moisture & Coconut Milk Leave-In Conditioner. Like the Honey Hydrate, it has the power to soften the crunchiest hair. I like to use it as a twisting cream after a fresh wash.
• Joah Beauty makeup brushes. I might actually use brushes over silicone blenders after using these angel-kiss tools. I got to sample the large brush and the blender brush and, yeah.
• Blistex Conditioning Lip Serum. This is the best lip product I have that's also very affordable.
• Neutrogena Hydra Boost Lip Treatment. It's one of those really effective products that you only have to use every now and then, so that makes it affordable. I think it's the hyaluronic acid that smoothed my old-age lips!
• Dermalogica Melting Moisture Mask is a product I got to sample & would probably have to skip a few meals to afford. HOWEVER... this stuff is amazing. Like some of the other products on this list, I have to use this sparingly because it works that well.
• Dashing Diva Gloss Ultra Shine Gel Manicure. I don't like going to salon manicures - they are too expensive for a regular treat - but I love pretty nails. I wore the nail wraps from this inexpensive kit for probably 15 days.I could have gone for longer but the edges on a couple were lifting and snagging my hair when I was styling it. I'm getting more sets and plan to have cute nails more often!
• I'm going to include a couple of fragrances here: Angel Nova by Mugler is just... divine. Eros by Versace made me want to be in love. Then there is Gorgeous! by Michael Kors which is more playfully sexy. They are from the samples I get in the mail from Macy's on a regular basis. 
• The Tangle Teezer. Oh. My. Goodness. My nappy hair loves this brush/detangler. Best thing that's happened to my hair in a while.
• Making Cosmetics makes a few things I heart. Their Almond, Apricot and Nourishing Oil are must-have-arounds. 

Home - Kitchen - Pantry - Office

• The Lemon Poundcake scented oil from Candle Science will probably forever be a favorite. I had to give up the Iced Lemon Sugar Cookies wax melts because the price got stupid. When I found the Lemon Poundcake, I stopped missing the ILSC melts. 
• I love, love, LOVE my Bissell Bagless. It's almost 3 years old and still a workhorse.
• My Electric Kettle is life. I got the cute gooseneck one & I use that thing at least 3 times a day - more now that I am drinking instant coffee.
• The Brother HL-2300D that I have had since 2016 and dragged from Alaska to Iowa to Alaska and back here to Iowa. That thing uses cheap toner and cheap paper and just never stops.
• My Echo Smart Pen that I still use and love, love, love. For someone with my memory issues, it's sometimes a real lifesaver.
• The Instant Pot. You know what it is.
• Cascara Tea. I need to drink it more often but it makes me feel great. It's full of antioxidants.
• My first food sealer just keeps going and going. I hate the 2nd and more fancy one I got.
• The set of cast iron I never want to be without. I am still thrilled with the Dutch Oven/Skillet combo.
• Cavender's All-Purpose Greek Seasoning is right up there with my Lawry's Seasoned Salt. The Cavender's is actually better because their low-sodium version tastes better than low-sodium Lawry's.
• Of course, I am going to add the Beaumont and Nescafe instant coffees.
• Banquet Fried Chicken. If you don't want to fry chicken but you want it crispy & seasoned, this is it. Plus, you can fix one piece at a time.

Vape Products

• Since my Smok Veneno gave up the game a while back (poor thing just gave out one day!), I rely on my Sigelei Shikra. It didn't start as a fave but the tank is the main thing in a vape and this one uses my Voopoo UForce tank.
• I just discovered the best Juul-like disposable ever: Simple Sticks. I only tried Peach and Mango Freeze. They can keep the Mango but that Peach is a juicy gem.

So, in your face, Oprah. You don't have to be rich and have rich tastes to have a nice list of favorites.

I'm sure I could add a few more things but I wanted to stick with the real highlights. If I wanted to be silly, I would add the Banquet Chicken I've been craving lately. KFC lost me when they wanted about 20 bucks for an 8-piece bucket. Banquet not only is more affordable, it tastes better and I can cook one piece at a time. Girl, bye.

Some of the things on these lists were given to me as samples to try. You all really need to hop on the samples wagon. Use an email address separate from your main one and sign up. My free Macy's sample fragrances are such a mood-lifter. Also, some places online let you get to try luxury-priced items that you might otherwise skip. The Dermalogica is something I probably would never have looked twice at. Now it's going on my Birthday & Christmas Beg lists for my family! The Diva nail wraps were in my cheapo Walmart Beauty Box. Do you know how excited I am that I can spend less than 10 bucks and 10 minutes to end up with a really pretty manicure? And no messy brushes involved? I'm on that.

Photos of all the ones I might 

or might not

have been too lazy

to categorize!

Better than ~gasp~ Aussie Moist

The most awesome primer

                                                                        

                                                                                                                 

Fresca - the non-diet-tasting
diet soda

Best nappy hairbrush

                                                                                                  

The dream bread
machine

Must-have cast iron
Dutch oven/skillet combo

Milk for single people

Best honey EVER

If you are gonna drink
it black, this is the one

too pricey but so 
worth it

 

Smells like You

Yes, chile, yes

My shade match

Never clean up 
a pot's boil-over again

Cascara Coffee

 

I will never pay for a salon manicure again

Last but never least is my sugar bear. I can never do a "favorites" list without the most important, all-time, numba one:

This is all of my heart!

Next, I will do a list of my favorite online shops (and tell you why they made the list).

Peace

--Free