Amazon's Been Hiding (Bulk Buy) Stuff

 Katt Williams will understand me when I say that I am both happy and sad right now.

I just found out that Amazon has a bulk Bulk Food Supply department. I do probably 90% of my grocery, household, and personal goods shopping on Amazon. I actually once found their site directory. And that directory does not link to the Restaurant and Bulk Food Supply department I just discovered. By complete accident.

So I am happy that I stumbled onto the page but sad that I didn't know about it before.

Lately, I've been in bread-baking mode. I have refined my basic bread skills and am working on learning the Tangzhoung method for my yeast bread.  I love baking for two reasons: it's cheaper to bake it than to buy it (especially brioche or other specialty bread), and it's therapeutic. It's probably beneficial to brain function because I really have to focus and concentrate on each step. 

The smell of flour and yeast and eventually, fresh-baked bread is just a whole other level of aromatherapy. 

Yesterday, I made my first mostly-successful loaf of Japanese Milk Bread. Next time, I plan to get it just right. Because mine did not come out this nicely...

Anyway, I was going to buy more yeast in the little neighborhood market. A tiny set of packs - about a tablespoon each - was almost 2 dollars. The last jar I had - that has lasted me for a long while - was from a neighbor. Once when we were out and she lost her card, I gave her a tiny bit of money. I wouldn't let her return it so when she saw me baking one day, she ran home and came back with a brand new jar of yeast. She bought it thinking she needed it for a one-time recipe.

I checked all the groceries on Instacart and, yep, yeast is pricey. I decided to look for something in bulk. Nothing at Walmart, Target, or Amazon. At least, that's what I thought when I tried just using the Amazon search bar.

Where do most of us go searching online? Google. My search query? "online food supply".  Because I' lazy. Guess what came up right near the top of the search returns?

It's probably because the internet spies know me better than my own family. I wasn't surprised that Amazon was at the top. But I kinda was...

Normally, when I'm searching for food products and Amazon switches categories for me it's from "All Departments" to "Grocery & Gourmet Food". Not this:

Anyway.

Since I was there, I went about looking for some yeast in larger packages. I found this 1-pound package.

I like everything about it except that the package is not resealable. 

I had to put some in my old yeast jar in the fridge then seal the rest airtight to keep in the freezer. Every time I open the main package, I will risk spilling yeast everywhere. Annoying.

Back when I started this post, I had only been looking for things very basic bread-baking supplies. Recently, I have been looking into buying things to make seeded and sprouted grain bread. I will have to check out this Bulk section so I can do price comparisons. Another thing I find worth buying in bulk are paper plates, plastic utensils, and other household items I love as a single gal.

Anyway, there you have it. In case you were looking.

To summarize:

Buying in bulk saves money. You don't have to have a large family to buy in bulk. Amazon has competitive prices when buying in bulk. Compare prices. Get a food sealer. Do your research.

Peace

--Free

UPDATE **REVIEW** Monoi Tiki Tahiti Tiare & Vanille

UPDATE to the update: I figured out that this reacts very well to warm skin. The first time I used it, I had been out of the shower for long enough that my skin was cool. When I used this on my warmer skin (warm day, warm home), the scent was much more noticeable and pleasant. So... yeah. 

UPDATE: I received the Vanille and... The positive: it feels and works just like the Tiare scent. The not-so-positive: the vanilla is so faint that I had to hold the bottles side by side and sniff to notice a difference. I was really disappointed by that because I love most things vanilla-scented. Because my skin is "mature", it does not hold or project fragrances as well as when I was younger. Now, if you are younger, your body chemistry will probably enhance the scents better - as with perfume. 

Also, I noticed that the bottle from Piping Rock has a nicer cap. 

Look for this ❤❤❤❤ if you want to bypass my chatter & skip straight to the review.

When I lived in Anchorage, there was a sizeable and growing population of Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. A lot of my immediate neighbors in the 5 years or so before I moved away were Pacific Islanders. We had a lot in common with our love of family, food, and cooking. Unlike some of our former neighbors, they knew that a large gathering of people at our house didn't necessarily mean we were having a riot or a party. It might just be a night where my sister made collard greens or a night when half our family decided to visit the "main home".

Another thing I loved about my P.I. neighbors was that they shared with us their recipes and cultural life hacks. My sister told them how we fix greens by adding smoked meats (neckbones or turkey pieces) and one of them told her about Monoi oil.

Well.

I have since learned that Monoi (which just means "scented oil") was traditionally used in ways I would never use it for (various religious rites and ceremonies). When I started using what the neighbors gave us, I was just amazed at how much better it worked for me than straight coconut oil. And Monoi is basically just coconut oil with a specific floral added. The Tiare (a type of gardenia) is steeped in the oil to infuse it with whatever properties that make Monoi better than coconut oil by itself.

Here's the thing: I had forgotten about the oil. It's been about 8 years since the neighbor began bringing it to my sister on a regular basis. I was into oils but not obsessive like I have become since then. The other week, I was perusing blogs and forums for something new to use on my skin. It's my opinion that one can never have too many oils and natural butters! 

❤❤❤❤

This is when its not warmed up:

It's warmed in a 75 degree room:

That's Monoi oil from an approved seller. There are lots of fakes out there. And because I didn't want to deal with fakes, this is one time I bypassed Amazon and went elsewhere. It seems that Amazon is becoming a home for fake products. This one is from Piping Rock (where I rarely shop anymore because...) but I have now ordered some for a friend from the actual  U.S. importers of the 'original' Monoi (according to their site).

How is this different from plain coconut oil? 

In my opinion, this has a totally different feel on the skin. I'm not sure why. I did check around online and found some interesting information:

• Wikipedia mentions the strict process for manufacturing Monoi. That involves hand-picking the flowers. Hmmm...
• Also according to Wikipedia, the Tiare is sometimes used in perfumery but is costly.
• According to Eminence Organics Skincare (which is where I learned about the religious uses for Monoi & that there is an actual Monoi Institute) the blossoms have anti-inflammatory properties and are used to cure earaches, some eczema, and to prevent insect bites. That last part made me remember how we used to use Avon's Skin So Soft to repel mosquitos! Going to the (possibly untended) Monoi Institute site, you can even download documentation and technical information about Monoi (I did not).
• When my brain woke up from its nap, I thought to check the importer's site for some information. Hah! I learned more about the flower; more than I ever thought to know about the coconut tree; why the rules of processing are so (thankfully) strict; more about Tahiti (since I am horrible at geography and details); and lots and lots of technical data. Lots.

I was a little alarmed until I realized that this "floatee" thing is the flower. The flower should always be in the bottle you purchase.

Is my bottle authentic?

Because I have had issues in the past with a couple of purchases from Piping Rock, I immediately checked my bottle carefully. The shelf life is shown to be 12 months but I noticed there are no manufacturing or expirations dates on the bottle. Hmmm... 

Again, because this is from Piping Rock, (they are either really good or not) I wanted to ask some questions. The Piping Rock customer service rep I chatted with couldn't tell me any more than that the bottle was from a "recent batch". Not good enough. Not from Piping Rock. I contacted the U.S. importer sending photos of the bottle and its labels and markings. I got a response directly from the "Regulation Advisor" who verified that the product was authentic. The bottle I received was from the official distributor. I was assured that:

"As this product is registered in Europe, it is conformed to the European regulation which requires the batch number and the time after opening (12 months) for any cosmetic which shelf life is longer than 36 months. This is the case of Monoi oil. To be clear, Monoi can be maintained unopened 36 months, then 12 other months after opening without hygiene risk." (my emphasis)

Good enough. So if you wonder if your bottle is authentic, I suggest you contact Boutique Monoi Tiki at info@boutique-monoitiki.com.

Shelf life & mark of the origin process

Nothing I could find explained more about why Monoi seems to work better than plain coconut oil. Of course, I have not read all of the technical data I've linked to.

I have been using coconut oil on my hair (for pre-poo) but not so much on my skin. It seemed to quit being as soothing and moisturizing as it was a couple of years back. 

How does it smell?

Monoi comes in a variety of scents. I did not know this until recently. The neighbor always gave my sister some in a plain glass bottle with a dropper. I think she was just sharing from her bottle. This must have been the "original" or the Monoi Tiki Tahiti Tiare scent because, as far as my nose remembers, it smells like what I currently have. 

The scent is, again in my opinion, very, very faint out of the bottle. On my skin, the body heats brings up a stronger (but still faint) tropical scent. Not really floral and not very coconut-like. Hard to describe. It is really pleasant. I cannot wait to try the Vanille. 

 

I have ordered my friend and myself a bottle each of the "Vanille". I counted 9 scents (including the original. You can see the various scents here with descriptions.

What else?

In addition to the oils, there are also soaps and perfumes. You know how I love perfumes! I will put the perfumes on my Christmas Wish List. I probably won't try the soaps because I'm not a fan of bar soaps.

Top Benefits, IMO?

On my skin, Monoi has a silkier feel than plain coconut oil. It makes the skin feel almost velvety and the softness lasts longer than from coconut oil alone. I can apply some after an evening shower and my skin still feels good the next morning. Also, there is no oily shine. This stuff absorbs really well. My hands tend to be very dry and this leaves them feeling really supple and smooth.

I am using it daily on my skin and I hope that it will help keep my psoriasis at bay.

On my hair, I notice it more when I use after washing - but not as a sealer. I apply it before I apply something heavier and more coating (usually Blue Magic grease). I apply a little bit every day to my hair and every now and then to my scalp.

(It's just my opinion, but I would not use this as the sole sealant to washed hair. This seems better applied before sealing so that it can soak into he hair for overall moisture.)

After I use it on my hair and body, I rub the excess into my cuticles and over my lips.

By the way, even though this is fragranced, I tested it on my face and had no problems. I like to spritz my face with water, then massage in just a couple of drops of the oil. Like velvet, baby!

And on a personal note:

Monoi has been really trendy and popular for a while now. I was looking at some of the many, many products that have "Monoi" included in the names or on the labels. Then I looked at the prices. Crazy, stupid, high prices. High as giraffe's noses. 

I'm too broke for nonsense. Even if I wasn't...You guys know that I would rather get base products from suppliers like Making Cosmetics to add to less expensive OTC hair and skin products. Why on earth would I pay 15 to 30 bucks or more for a product that probably only has a few drops of Monoi included? And how do I know the Monoi they use is authentic and not just any kind of "scented oil"?

What I have done is taken some of this Monoi (about $13 for 4 ounces from the importer site and about $9 for a 2oz bottle from Piping Rock) and added some to my current conditioners and curl creams and puddings. People, there is a reason that somebody and her daughter and somebody's auntie are making all that money hyping their over-priced products. 

I'd rather buy something cheaper than those "name-known" brands and add the Monoi, argan, hemp, or whatever else there is. DIY, people. DIY and SYM (save your money). I'm just saying...

Peace

--Free

Milestones, Markers, and Guideposts

 A credit card company sent me an "anniversary" letter today. I applied for their card to save on my flight when I was moving here 4 years ago. Four years? Already?

Thinking of the stupid credit card anniversary had my mind sliding right into corners I try to avoid at times. I start to think of my life's milestones as mile markers. Let's mark the year this person died or that person. Let's mark the year since this or that. And when I am in a certain kind of mood, these markers that dot my life don't make me feel better.

I moved here a couple of years after my sister died. Another "anniversary" reminder. 

There is a piece of notepaper taped to the inside cover of my Bible. When I put it there about 2014, I started adding dates I was having trouble remembering because of the sarc that was creeping into my body. I had the marriage, birth, and death dates of my parents and grandparents. Birthdays of some of the nieces and nephews. Not too long of a list, really because I was adding things as I could recall them correctly.

2015 was the year when my list began growing. I had to add my sister's death, then a "play" sister, then aunts, uncles, ex-husbands... 

I hate to even look at that list now. I play a pointless and silly game with myself called "If I Don’t Look at It, the List Won’t Grow". I feel so faithless when I play that game.

Today, I caught myself about to play the game again and I stopped by asking God for comfort. When I made the brief prayer, I realized that not all is said and bleak. There are those wonderful points in life called Guideposts.

We saw this SOOO many times!

Guideposts - or what my dad used to call Travel Signs or something like that during the days we drove so much. We drove a lot. Whenever Daddy was given a new assignment, we drove from one Air Base station to another. We drove to visit family in Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina. I remember (very vaguely and with a dreamlike haze) driving through Wisconsin, Utah, and maybe even Florida? 

In those days of our family travels, there were no Google Maps or GPS. Mama was the navigator for Daddy, reading maps and watching for exits and turn-offs and signs that might be hidden behind branches or something. We ate bologna sandwiches from meat kept in a cooler and sometimes were given little sweets that Mama pulled out of her purse and handed around. It was during these years when I fell in love with Honey Buns. The Honey Buns back then were not the pitiful and puny little additive-laced things I sometimes pick up these days from around the store's checkout aisle. The packaged, ready-to-eat Honey Buns of my youth were never as good as what my mom and aunties could bake but they were so danged good. Thick and rich and gooey. The closest thing I can come to the taste now is packaged butter cake treat that Walmart sells.

So we would ride and eat bologna sandwiches and honey buns and get road-schooling. Daddy gave history, geography, and math lessons using scenery, locations, and travel mileage. He would often point out a marker or guidepost and tell us something about a place off to the east, west, south, or north of our location.

Even with my poor short--term and not-much-better long-term memory, I can recall some of the guideposts of that time. And I realize that my life - all our lives, really - are marked like any other journey.

What life sometimes feel like: 
beautiful and scary

I can't go in reverse to any of the markers in my life. I sometimes wish I could. For now, I just think back on them. 

That email from the credit card company bummed me out until I started writing this post. I came here to whine and then all the sad stuff in my head got knocked out by all the good stuff I can recall. There are going to be more markers in my life - good and bad. But isn't that beautiful? Isn't it just life? Even though it makes me sad sometimes, I'm glad for my life. One day, there will be Heaven and I won't even mourn the mortal markings and ditches and tears,

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I'm not the only one missing food from the '70s. I found a recipe here for a honey bun. I am going to have to call my almost 90-year-old auntie to see if she has a For Dummies recipe I can use! I couldn't even find one in my reliable cookbooks - 2 of them fairly ancient!

The top one is a heritage cookbook; the middle one (blue-ish) was given to me by a neighbor born and raised here in Iowa, and the bottom one is my favorite because it has so many dishes from before my mother's time.

Trying Sumac For Antioxidants

**UPDATE**

 As a CKD stage 3b patient, I cannot eat a lot of sumac. While it's highly antioxidant and a diuretic, I found some information that will keep my use of it at a minimum. As always, you should talk with your doctors before trying anything new in your diet. Just because something is healthy that doesn't mean it is healthy for you!

 Have any of you ever heard of Sumac? Have you ever used it?

I had never in my life heard of Sumac until the other day. It was mentioned in a chat among other sarcoidosis folks as being very high in anti-oxidants. It's been about 4 years since I blogged about ORAC numbers (ORAC = Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) and measurements of antioxidants in foods and other things. Sumac is on one of the lists I posted but... I guess because I had no idea what it is, I just spaced it out.

Anyway.

Let's talk about Sumac. When it was mentioned as being such a healthy spice, my American brain immediately thought salty/savory or spicy hot. What a surprise to learn that it is more sour/lemony/tangy.

When I heard about the flavor makeup, I realized that I probably would not use Sumac on meats. I started Googling for more info on the spice, looking for other ways I could use it. I started seeing all these recipes for "Sumac Lemonade" and I got so excited at the description "Think hibiscus-tea-meets-pink-lemonade!" on this page.

I have been drinking so much water the past few months, there are days when I feel I could float away. I occasionally drink calorie-free sparkling water but I always want something with a little oomph to it. Maybe this could be it?

Other than wanting the supposed health benefits, I would also like to forgo any sodium. I have ordered a sodium-free powder and today is the day. I wrote all of this so that I could take some photos and do a taste-test before I give you my opinion. Kind of an on-the-spot/in-the-moment blogging thing. So, give me one minute...

Okay. Here is what I think after trying it right out of the bag, then on a small piece of baked salmon, as a hot tea, and as a cold "lemonade".

Right out of the bag, this was such an interesting flavor. It's weird because it's new but kind of familiar somehow. (Keep in mind that this brand has sodium and I will be testing a salt-free one soon.)

It's salty-tart with a taste of hibiscus. Interesting. I knew right away that, yes, I would be able to eat this on savory foods. So, why not?

On the salmon - a leftover bite of some I had baked with a little butter and nothing else (I like seasoning the salmon on my plate). The sumac I have is dry so I moistened the fish with a few drops of water and warmed it in the microwave. I lightly sprinkled it with sumac and, man... That is tasty. It's almost like I used a blend of seasonings instead of just the sumac. The piece of fish was way too small so I'm going to have to make some more so I can use a little more butter with the sumac. But, yes, yes, yes, the sumac is definitely a "go" with the fish. This particular brand is salty to me so maybe that's why it was good on the fish?

As a hot tea, this was better than I expected but way too salty. I had to add a little bit of sugar. It was pretty yummy but I will wait until I get a brand that is totally salt-free.

The "lemonade" is just what I threw together by making a larger glass of the tea, adding a bit of sugar, and letting set all morning in the fridge. I think I like this salty brand better cold than hot. Still...

I have contacted the seller about the salt in this. They mark the label as "no added sugars" and there is zero sugar shown. However, they don't label it as "no added salt" and the sodium shows as being 77mg per tablespoon. When you say "no added" whatever, I take that the whatever is naturally occurring. When you just show an amount, then I think it's added. That's not a lot of sodium and, as I said, it worked on the fish. The thing is, I have since seen the label of another brand showing zero sodium. 

Bottom line, this is a yummy spice with a lot of seasoning possibilities. I can tell that I would not need to add any salt to the salmon. However, there is no way that I would add this brand to non-savory drinks and smoothies. I am hoping to return this one and get a salt-free version. I really wanted this to use as a tea and lemonade.

To summarize:

Antioxidants are important. Do your research. Talk with your medical care team or health care providers. Ask questions about antioxidants found naturally in foods and beverages.

Peace

--Free

Y'all, These Shoes Here...

NOTE: This post is covering reviews for 2 different pairs of shoes. It's a long post so you can skip to the first review by looking for these hearts: ❤❤❤

Hi, my name is Free and I have really bad feet. Being over my recommended weight by quite a few pounds doesn't help. My fallen arches don't help the situation. So, yeah, that's my story.

Anyway.

I have a hard time finding good shoes that I can afford. When I was about to move here to Iowa and had a couple of flight connections and a really long layover in Dallas, I was worried about being able to get through the trip without crying over my aching feet. A friend bought me a pair of Under Armour sneakers and I was amazed at how comfortable they are. Best sneakers ever. So good that I got a second pair at one point. I still have both. However, Under Armour is pricey for me. Their slides are cute and slightly more affordable but I still had to put them on my Kohl's charge, I bought 2 pairs over 3 years and wore them to a nub. I'm too ashamed to even show photos of the last pair. I will not simply be throwing them out but will be wrapping them in a paper grocery bag so that no one sees them when I go to the dumpster. If I could, I would burn them. Or dissolve what's left of them in acid.

What they look like when new...

Even though I still have the sneakers, I save those for traveling (hah!) and walking when out with the family for more than a couple of hours, or when I walk for exercise. The slides were my daily shoe. I wore them inside and outside; to the store; to appointments, and on quick jaunts across the street to the Post Office or bank.

As I said, I finally wore my last pair of slides down to the point where I almost gave myself a heart attack. Seriously. I was walking from the bedroom to the bathroom and saw an Australian-type if spider-snake-scorpion thing between me and the bathroom door. For a minute, I couldn't breathe or think or-

Oh, wait. It's not a spider. Or snake. Or scorpion. It's a piece of fabric from the insole of my raggedy, worn-to-shreds slide.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Not that funny.

So it was time for new slides. But I really wasn't excited to pay 30 to 40 bucks for sandals that tend to wear out after a year. I could pay about 30 to 35 for shoes but not unless they were going to last longer. Unlike the sneakers, the Ignite slides don't even stay that comfortable after about 6 or 7 months. Not the fault of Under Armour that I got fat and flat-footed. But still.

I had to find an alternative. 

At first, I looked at a bunch of the trendy "Pillow" shoes. Nice but the reviews were iffy. And I really don't like the look of them.

Cheap but ugly.

REVIEW of the slides

❤❤❤Because Amazon tracks your every eye-blink, once I looked at several pairs of slide-type shoes, the Funky Monkey slides popped up on my suggestions. And, come on now, with a brand name like that, I had to go check these out. This is what I saw on the product page:

Not bad but...

"Umm... I don't know." That was my first thought. But I read reviews and looked at photos of other customers wearing them. 

I could afford the $18 price easily because I had set aside 35 bucks for shoes anyway. And I could always return them. In the meantime, I was wearing my sneakers anywhere outside and just wearing a double pair of socks for around the house. I dislike being barefoot. I ordered the shoes.

Now.

When the box arrived, I thought it felt awfully light to be holding any sort of size 9 shoes. I opened it and felt like crying. 

The shoes looked like some plastic imitation of a shoe that you could find in the 99-cent store in a bin marked "giveaways". They were so lightweight that I couldn't believe it.

I was ready to text my family that I would need to be going to Khol's to do a return. First, though, I wanted to put the shoes on to get a photo. You know, for the scathing review I would be writing.

I slipped into the first shoe and was so mad that I wasn't thinking. I put on the second shoe and-

I am not mad. Not at all.

These shoes, y'all. These shoes are like standing on one of those very firm but comfy chef's mats. 

I walked around the apartment - all 650 square feet. Then I masked up and stepped out to walk down the hallway. Then I went ahead and stepped out the doors to pace the paved walkway in front of the building. 

By the time I walked around the whole building, I realized I'd left my keys and phone inside and had to walk some more until a neighbor came by and could buzz me in.

People. The last time I walked in a shoe this comfortable was when I was wearing my UA sneakers. The UA slides had never been this comfortable. They had been a lot softer and they had fabric lining the insole but... They were not as well-fitting and comfortable as these $18 dollar Funky Monkeys.

Ignore the in-need-of-a-manicure toes

So, the straps are adjustable, which is nice, but the winning feature is how these shoes cup the foot. 

Remember the product photo? Did you notice the details of the insole?

Those are amazing. It's got to be down to the material of the shoe - the EVA (which I had to check the page for an explanation of):

Whatever the case, I like these a lot.

After the first couple hours of wearing them, the bottoms of my feet felt tender. The next day, after wearing them for about 5 hours, I was getting used to them. My feet were no longer tender from walking in them. I think the material needed wearing to soften up a bit. 

I will tell you what: these are much better, in my opinion than the "foam" in the Ignite slides. And I don't think that the support is going to wear out as fast because of the material - even under my weight. If these wear out before 6 months, they will still be a better deal than the UA slides.

(By the way, when my SIL saw these shoes, she actually asked if they were Birkenstocks. My answer: "Uh, you're not new around here. I am much too birken-broke to be rocking Birkenstocks!" The cheapest 'Stocks I've seen recently run around 50 dollars, not that I check on a regular basis...)

REVIEW of the  shower slippers

Because of the affordable price, I ordered the shower slippers which cost $14.

REVIEW of the shower slippers 

❤❤❤As with the slides, my first impression of the shower slippers was less than delightful. As a matter of fact, I actually initiated a return form after I had tried on the slippers. I had stepped out of the slides to try on the slippers and that might have something to do with my dismay. 

First of all, where the buckle slides have very firm support, the slippers are softer and looser. There is no way to tighten the strap across the top of my feet. Also, the material is different. Even though it is EVA (like the slides), the design is bubbled and, again, not as firm. 

After I was convinced to hold off on doing the return until after wearing the slippers for a while, I started to like them. A lot. 

I won't actually use these as shower (or right-after-shower) slippers. I will use these to wear around the house while saving the buckle slides for outdoor wear. 

Since I was testing these out, I wore them all day instead of the slides. I have to give Funky Monkey credit for making 2 of the best pairs of shoes I've worn in a long while. Keep in mind that these slippers are less than $14. 

When I was reading reviews for these slippers, I saw a couple that I want to mention. One said that they "sweat her feet". I didn't have that problem and the weather here is warm and humid. Of course, I wear these inside only. (And I do not have any sweaty feet problem with the slides.) Another reviewer warned that hers warped after leaving them outside overnight in warm SoCal weather. I don't plan on wearing or leaving my outside overnight. Also, another reviewer mentions that she likes wearing hers to the beach. I assume a beach is warm and damp. One reviewer claims that her pair broke/tore after a short period. If that happens before 6 months or so, I will pitch a fit and ask for a refund. I think I have until mid-June to return these but most sellers are pretty good about dealing with poor product quality. However...

 ☣ ☣ ☣

WARNING: I do want to agree with one reviewer who shows a photo of her wet foot slipping completely through the straps. She warns not to wear these around water. Strange because they are literally called "shower slippers". Well, I knew just from looking at them and wearing them with dry feet that I would never wear these for shower slippers.

 ☣ ☣ ☣

There's not much else I can say about either pair of these Funky Monkey shoes. Make sure to go over and read the reviews and weigh the pros and cons for yourself. I can only tell you why I like them. They are affordable ✓, they are comfortable ✓, and they are cute ✓. I don't have any more to add to this review.

For Mother's Day, the nieces and nephews sent a bit of money for me to buy something for myself. They know their auntie so well! I paid bills with that money but next month, I might be able to get an extra pair of each of these Funky Monkey shoes. I might even go outside my usual type and get the slides in another color. I see that there is a "New Black" that looks more muted than the black ones I have. ~shrug~

Peace

--Free

The Beauty of Aging (or: In Case You Haven’t Been Warned Yet)

 If you have paid attention at all to the older people in your life, you might already know some of what I'm about to tell you. I thought I had paid attention and yet, here I am, getting surprised almost every day by some new aspect of growing older. 

I want to point out that aging is a wonderful thing. Whenever you feel bad about having to add another candle to the yearly cake, just think of the alternative. Aging is wondrous and amazing. You won't always feel that way about it, but there you go. By the way, for reference, I myself am not yet 60 but no longer 50. Here goes (and this list is in no particular order):

Some of this might make you laugh so maybe go pee first...

Bunions. When I saw the misshapen side-knuckle on one of my big toes, I thought I had broken a bone that was healing back wrong. 

Toenails. They get weird before you notice the bunions. One day, you no longer have cute little toenails that are normal. Somehow, when you weren't paying attention, your nails grew darker and thicker. Before you know it, you can never go polish-free without attracting stares from young people who cringe when you are wearing sandals. And good luck clipping these monsters without wearing safety goggles and warning anyone in the area to be ready to duck for cover at any moment.

Dry Feet. Of all the horrifying things that happened to my body as I got older, I think skin dryness has been the most annoying. But dry feet are on a whole other level. The only way I can explain it to you without showing photos (and that will never happen) is to tell you about the things I now have to use on my feet often: glycerin mixed with lotion mixed with oil mixed with anything that I think will soften, moisturize and camouflage the sandpaper that makes up my soles. Young people, I actually own tools that my SILs and I call foot-graters. Yes. Cheese-grater-type things made just for grating the dead, dry skin of the feet. Stop and think about that for a moment while you're mad about being too young to be old enough to do whatever thing you think we adults do that so fun. 

Your health runs your schedule. Seriously. I once had my brother and SIL turn around halfway through a 4-hour road trip because I left my pillbox at home. Talk about "not leaving home without it". I set my clock to take certain medicines so it's not done on an empty stomach. I don't do things that require me to leave the house most Thursdays, Fridays, and, possibly Saturday mornings. Or I rearrange my medicine schedule so that I can leave the house on those days.

More things make you gassy. And bloated and constipated or... very much not constipated. I have become a connoisseur of fiber supplements. I'm sure Amazon and Google are tracking me and shaking their heads in confusion about my buying fluctuations of laxatives and, um, non-laxatives...

Dark spots on the face. I don't know if these are the infamous "age spots" that cosmetic brands are always trying to warn us about or not. I just know that one day, I spent a few minutes inspecting a weird infected pimple on the side of my face before I realized that I had never seen a pimple that was so dark and resistant to all the home remedies for pimples. This thing was like a spot that wanted to be a cute beauty mole but decided to be ugly instead. I now have several of these tiny little things on my face. 

Your hair gets weird. It's true. My hair seems to go through a change with each passing decade. It's been coarser and less coarse; frizzy-dull and smooth-shiny; auburn-tinted, cinnamon-tinted, and grey-streaked. It's gone from thick and healthy but untameable to thick and lovely (that lasted about 6 years) to thick and needs so much work that I no longer just have a regular hair wash day but a day for deep conditioning, one for moisturizing only, and one for rotating products so my hair doesn't get bored and have a real hissy fit.

Your hair migrates. True again. And this one is lovely. The first migrating hair incident happened for me at work. I was sitting near the SIL I worked with at the time and she noticed me swatting at something on my face every now and then. She was curious. Was I being bothered by a pesky fly or mosquito or something? I told her that I couldn't get rid of a piece of lint or something on my chin. She came over to take a look and help me out. She then went into a fit of laughter. The "piece of lint or something" was a hair. A chin hair. A quite long and grey, hair the texture of a hair not found on the head but somewhere further down the body. I had chin hair. Okay, just one chin hair. Of course, I yanked that one right out but it had strong and deep roots. That thing comes back in the same exact spot ever so often and I have to take a pain pill, apply a numbing agent, and have someone to coach my breathing while I yank it out. If only the hair on my head was so strong.

Your favorite perfume will no longer be your favorite. It's a dry skin and changing body chemistry thing, folks. 

And growing older isn't all about giving up on a lot of vanities. There's the stuff that happens that will make you wonder if the 7-year cell renewal of the human body doesn't include just becoming a totally different person altogether.

Sleeping patterns change. Over the past decade of my life, I have gone through cycles of needing less sleep at night to needing more sleep during the day. For long stretches, I will have insomnia, then I suddenly turn into Rip Van Winkle. I think it was around the age of 40 that I learned to love naps. For a while, I couldn't sit through a television commercial without going into a drug-like nod. (I remember laughing at my mother who once admitted going to sleep in church and waking herself up with a snore.) Depending on what mood my wonderfully and fearfully made body is in, I need to spray myself down with magnesium oil to get a good nights sleep or I have to run through 3 refills of the water reservoir on the Keurig to make it through to noon without going into a narcoleptic coma.

Calories become very important. When I was younger - birth to mid-30s - I could eat Paris and not gain even half a pound. At around 40, the bread and cookies and Moose's Tooth pizza and all the other yummy food I loved began to show. Not much. I just grew a little bit of a backside and actually needed a bra that came in sizes more defined than Tween-to-Teen. It was kind of awesome. Until I suddenly had to actually start paying attention to the clothes I wore because not just any old thing I snatched off a rack looked great. I had to worry about button "gaps" and whether or not pants gave me a "muffin" or not. (We won't even talk about when I got sick and gained - never lost - a lot of prednisone weight.) I'm now to the point where choosing between having a piece of bread with lunch or dinner is a serious decision. 

On the other hand, my best friend struggled with keeping her weight down for years. As she ages, I often have to ask if she's eaten anything more than her usual fruit or half-sandwich. She "forgets" to eat. Food is just not as important to her as in yesteryear. Half of our conversational repertoire 5 years ago was sharing what yummy recipes we were going to be experimenting with. These days, she celebrates my weight losses and I cheer her gains. Life is strange.

Your tastebuds grow up. As a kid, I hated the usual things that kids tend to hate: liver and onions; broccoli with no cheese or dip; or anything halfway healthy or green that wasn't barbequed, fried, or served on a pizza.  I think I was close to 35 when I started to like juices made from beets and carrots and kale. And I'm not talking the sugar-swamped concoctions from trendy brands but the hippie-pure stuff from the organic aisles in health food stores. I even got into wheatgrass shots for a while when I was seeing a guy who was too much into ugly shoes and scratchy-fiber clothing for our relationship to flourish.

 About 15 years ago, I actually requested that my sister fix me some liver and onions "the way Mama used to make". And, boy, I never tasted anything so good as that. Since then, I have come to love collard greens and all kinds of beans (pinto, navy, lentil) and stews. I can literally have a meal of nothing but a bowl of steamed mixed vegetables with a little bit of salt and pepper. I once got on such a long collard green kick that the people at the store would see me headed to the product section and start picking out the best bunches for me. I have even very recently started seasoning my food with cayenne and red pepper flakes. Look at me!  (I still only like chitlins half-a-closed-eye bite at a time but chitlins aren't healthy so...)

One of the best things about growing older is that you take time to get to know people better, including yourself.

You become more sensitive to noise. I've become that cranky woman who gets extremely annoyed by loud chatter, loud music, loud TVs or radios, and anything louder than the thoughts I'm trying to hear in my head while your car stereo is shaking windows and scaring small children. 

You don't need a lot of friends. And you learn what it means to truly be a friend. My mother had a mantra that every child in our extended family heard: Not everyone is your "friend". She would teach us that we might think we knew a lot of people when we really only knew of them. More than acquaintances and less than friends. 

I have known lots of people throughout my life. "Friends" I made at work or via other people. People who passed in and out of my life. Most of them were like lightning bugs, lighting up and delighting me but only briefly. I have had 4 got-your-back, thick-and-thin friends in my entire life - not including my siblings who are always Team Me. Two of my friends are no longer alive here on earth. The other two friends? I could call them from the moon saying I want to come home and they would try to find a way.

You care more about some things and less about others. 

You realize you are both smarter than you thought and less intelligent than you always believed. "Book learning" has never come easily for me. I always had to study harder and concentrate deeper to even try keeping up with my brothers and sister. But some things can be learned if you study and concentrate. Some things come by living and making mistakes and watching. Wisdom is a real thing. Turn on the television or just sit back and listen to people. You will find that there are a lot of really stupid people labeled as "intelligent" and a lot of wise people who watch.

You grow to understand that everything is a choice. Even not making a choice is a choice. Christians out there will understand what I mean by this without any further ado. For everyone, doing or not doing, deciding or not deciding - be hot or cold but be not lukewarm.

You will become very well-acquainted with yourself. Not the 'you' that shows up at work or for lunch with friends. Not the 'you' at family get-togethers. You will spend more time with the ypu-person who has made your life choices and mistakes and wrong turns. For me, it took getting older to be both harder and easier on myself about my past. I had to look at the past as "what's done is done" but not let that be an excuse for any current actions.

You will find beauty & joy in different places and situations. As a cute (no modesty here!) and perky 20-something, I thought I knew what "beautiful" was. I thought I knew what would make me happy for life. I actually thought I knew these things! Imagine this: you don't like baked chicken. You really hate it - and especially if it's on the bone - not even the best-seasoned and most delicious chicken. Then you are stranded on an island with no food. All you have is a source of fresh water to keep you alive. You survive for weeks on this island (we're just imagining here so don't go factoid on me). Then, one day you are rescued by someone on a boat and all they have is fresh water to drink and baked chicken. Chicken on the bone. You won't reach land for another few weeks. How delicious do you think that baked chicken is going to taste? Probably like the best thing that any person ever ate before or will again.

As I get older, I know I haven't been starved of life or happiness. But I have gone through things that are just a natural part of living. These days, I find such beauty and joy in things I never had to pay much attention to. It might sound trite or corny to you but so many things in life represent that island survivor's meal. I can taste all the seasonings and nuances of flavor. I am appreciative and deeply satisfied in many ways. And because of life and how it can happen, I have fewer material riches than I ever have.

You will appreciate kindness in people maybe more than ever before.

You will find people attractive for different reasons than perhaps you did before.

You will realize how "rich" you are in ways that have nothing to do with money. I personally sometimes walk around my 650 square foot apartment and am amazed at how blessed I am. I feel like the richest person who ever lived. Don't let me mess around and have a day when I'm not sick or forgetful or physically off-balanced or depressed. Boy! That is a day that rivals anything any billionaire or celebrity can know.

These last bits won't be appreciated by just anyone. Those of you who don't believe in God might want to skip this.

Death becomes less frightening. I've not been afraid to die since I came to know the Lord. However... I often half-jokingly quip that it's not dying but the getting dead part that I'm afraid of. As I get older and older, I become less afraid of the "getting dead" part. 

I pray more for people who don't believe, even though some would hate me for that. The older I get, the older my former pop-culture favorites get. Michael Jackson, Prince, and Lady Di. I find myself mourning and wondering about the fate of people I didn't "follow" as a fan. Just in the recent past, there have been the reported deaths of members of former boy bands, video vixens, songwriters, actors and actresses, and sports "stars".

Of course, I pray that everyone will come to know the Lord before they die but we hear get so much news coverage of some deaths. And I wonder if they had a change of heart or if they cried out for forgiveness. I only wonder because I know that I could have been someone dying without salvation. 

You are bolder about sharing your "wisdom". I am not as shy about sharing what I have learned. If I think it's going to help someone else cope better with their depression and anxiety or whatever physical illness they have, I will try to speak up. I am not as shy about speaking to people about considering their eternal soul. 

I am getting older. Any of us could be taking our last breath right at this moment, but getting older makes death more "in-reach" in my thoughts. Day by day, I have less time to speak up about things so I'm taking my shot.

There is a reason my blog name is "Free".

Peace

--Free

UPDATE & APOLOGY **REVIEW** CAMILLE ROSE NATURALS Honey Hydrate Leave-In

UPDATE & APOLOGY - 

First, I have to backtrack on all the trash I talked about the product. As with so many other things in my crazy life, most of the problem was due to user error. I need to remember that every product can't be used the same way for every person.

The Honey Hydrate saved my hair after I dried it out trying to wash out an unfortunate dye job. Clarifying shampoo is awesome for getting rid of buildup - with a good single wash. After using it 3 or 4 times in a row on my hair, I ended up with tresses like those straw-headed dolls. And the dye was still horrible.

My hair was so dried out that it felt like damp steel wool. When all the water evaporated, I was afraid to comb it for fear of strands just snapping off.

Honey Hydrate to the rescue!

I sprayed my hair so that it was very damp then I applied the Honey Hydrate to my hair in 4 sections. I ran my palms from root to tip to make sure I was coating the hair well. Then I wrapped my hair in a satin bonnet for the night. In the morning, my hair was softer and felt less damaged, if that makes sense. Still, I avoided combing it for a few days. I just sprayed my hair lightly with water every morning and wore a scarf and let the Honey Hydrate do its thing. 

Now that I have more respect for the healing power of Honey Hydrate, I try to use it more. I don't use it full strength because that's still just too much. What I do is add a couple of drops to my sprayer and use it for curl refreshing or for softening after applying those hard curl gels. I also tend to add it to almost every other hair product I have! 

Basically, I have to use the product sparingly. Otherwise, it's too hydrating.

So, yeah, I had to come back and give Honey Hydrate credit where credit is due.

P.S.: My best friend says that I never tell this update story the same way. Probably. But gist is the real deal! LOL

**********************

 Oh, the hype out there about this stuff! I read, watched, and listened to probably more than 50 reviews about Camille Rose Naturals Honey Hydrate Leave-In. Well, hype is hype but results are what count. The price of this ranges from $14 to $20, depending on where you buy it. I got it from Target for 14 bucks and Amazon has lost its mind and has it for around 17 bucks with free shipping (and up). So, is it worth it? Let's take a look at everything about the product:

The look: It looks exactly like the amber-colored supposed-to-be-honey you find on most store shelves. Well, it might be a touch darker.  When you hold it up to the light, it looks even more like honey because of the tiny bubbles and what looks like sugar granules.

The smell: I've heard other reviewers describe the smell as "nothing", slightly sweet, and "just like honey". Sniffing the jar, I thought it smelled faintly of honey and amber with the tiniest hit of... chocolate??? It's not stinky and it's not strong. However, once I used this on my wet hair, the scent got much stronger and sweeter. It was more candy-scented than perfume-like. When it dries, it retains the sweet scent but is not overwhelming or unpleasant.

The texture: I  saw where other reviewers said that this felt just like honey - very sticky and unpleasant to the touch, in some opinions. Maybe I got a different batch but I don't find this to be sticky at all. It's not lotion-like, but it not overly tacky. You can see from the photo what it looks like just smoothed across my palm and the back of my hand.

A test strand: Before I did my entire head, I tried applying this to some strands of my hair. The first thing I noticed is that it brings out the curl pattern. Second, it seems to have an elongating effect. The hair was *not* sticky but had a slightly "coated" feeling that I didn't mind because it seemed to protect the hair and make it feel stronger. 

Doing my hair: The instructions are to apply to conditioned hair. I use a leave-in conditioner - which seems like overkill but... I use the Hydra Steam that I reviewed here so I applied that first, then applied the Honey Leave-In.

As I always do my twists

I want to note here that, just as mentioned by other reviewers, there really is a warming effect when rubbing the Honey between my palms. I didn't notice this when I was just applying it with my fingers to the test strands. It must be a chemical reaction between the ingredients and it actually feels nice. As I applied this to my hair (I did it in sections), there was that slightly sealing/elastic kind of feel left on the hair that I previously mentioned. 

I was spraying my hair to keep it from drying out as I applied the Leave-In. At the finish, my twists - which are normally only damp at this point - were dripping wet still. I took that as a good sign.

By the way, I have fairly thick hair and I ended up not using a lot of the product. 

Overall results: I am not that impressed. See for yourself. My hair is very moisturized but looks dry.

This did leave my hair incredibly soft but it also 'floofed' out any curl definition. I love the way my hair smells and feels, but it looks like I haven't done any styling at all. 

I ordered this online but, after one more test, I plan to return to Target when I go back into town. It's just not living up to the hype. The other "test" I plan to do? Since this suggests applying to conditioned hair and I used a leave-in, maybe the low-quality results are on me. Next week, I am going to do a "traditional" wash and wash-out condition and see what happens with the Honey Leave-In. 

Keep in mind that I used this in conjunction with Hydra Steam Curl Designing Cream - which is highly moisturizing by itself.  This next photo is the 2nd-day results of the Honey Leave-in used as described and then the Hydra Steam product used by itself (no Honey Hydrate).

Top - Honey Hydrate Leave-In applied over Hydra Steam Leave-In
Bottom - Hydra Steam Curl Design Leave-In by itself

Look at how those curl pop! with the Hydra Steam. My curls have never been so defined and shiny with less work...

Summary (and to be fair): I saw where some reviewers used Eco Styler and other aids to help with curl definition. As I said, maybe the other leave-in I used over-softened my hair and ruined the curls. Maybe. 

I am not totally knocking this product. I think that results depend on how you use it and what your hair type is - or maybe just your styling method. I don't want to have to buy another product (styling gel) to use with one that costs this much. I would like to use just this and get all the benefits it's hyped for.

I will update this when I use it solo.

To summarize:

Natural hair needs moisture. Afro natural hair needs lots of moisture. Moisture retention is important for hair growth, length retention, and hair health. 

Peace

--Free

**UPDATE** Curly Chemist(ry) Does It Again With the PMP Method

**UPDATE** Welp, I now know that my hair hates coconut oil. Apparently, this is something I can use on my skin but not on my hair...

I am now looking for something else to use. I'm considering a few different oils - olive and grapeseed are the first two I will look at trying. I was going to use my babassu oil but it comes in small jars and is too pricey for pre-poo use. At this point, to recover from my experiment with coconut oil, I am going to use some of the Hydra Steam Masque I have left. I am learning that a lot of people can't use coconut oil on their hair. Live and learn, right? This natural hair thing is a journey!

 You all should know by now that one of my favorite YouTube channels is Curly Chemistry. The young lady with smarts and great hair shares good ingo & I always call her the Curly Chemist. By the way, she has a website where you can find out about her book (I need to get a copy soon), and she is on Instagram and Facebook. I pick up a lot of hair tips from her videos and she had done it again with what she calls the PMP method. Listen, she really tells you how to PMP (or pimp, get it?) your hair.

I was fascinated with the video because I had already recently switched up my own hair routine by adding some old-fashioned Blue Magic grease and learning to better use the curl creams in my pantry.

With all the curl creams I have collected for a few years now, I only just recently realized that I was using them all wrong. And there's no excuse. They are curl creams with instructions right on the labels. Most curl creams are also moisturizing, and I had been using them only as moisturizers. Instead of smoothing them through small sections of my hair to accentuate my curl pattern, I had been globbing them on and waiting for them to just magically produce curls. Dummy-dum-dum. Now, I actually use them as directed.  Imagine that. As a result, I have fallen in love with products that I had given poor reviews to.

The hair grease thing was brought to mind when I recalled my mother using it all the time when I was a kid. She used it herself and never combed, plaited, or styled my hair without some grease. 

Back when my family lived in our little West Texas hometown, a local man did hair in the basement of his house. Mr. Leon (who later went on to become quite a sought-after hairdresser all over Texas and beyond - to the point where he and his clients used limousines to pick each other up for appointments) never did my weekly hot comb press- and-curls without using hair grease. 

Seeing memes like this tells me that a lot of people have similar memories!

These days people refer to such products as "hair dress" or "conditioners" (which I think is how they were always labeled), but back in the day, Mama called it "grease", or "pressing oil". A lot of people would just refer to any hair grease by the name of whichever one they grew up with: Posner's, Blue Magic, Ultra Sheen, Royal Crown, Super Grow, or Sulfer 8. 

My mother had beautiful, healthy, shiny, glorious hair. Then again, she was a glorious woman.

That's a hot comb press n curl right there!

So, anyway, I am going to be trying to pimp my hair with the PMP method. For those of you like myself, who have to take notes about everything, here is the basic rundown as I caught it (and how I will be applying it):

• Penetrate using a pre-poo for from 30 minutes up to overnight. (Overnight for me.) I'm going to use either coconut or babassu because I always have those around already and use on my skin daily. Good stuff. (For my skin, I mix babassu with glycerin.)
• Moisturize using a water-based conditioner or leave-in. I already use a mix of water and Aussie Moist as a leave-in after washings so...
• Protect with oil (not coconut though & I can't remember why not so watch the video). I am going to use the Blue Magic I have.

Between-wash care depends on whether you have low- or high-porosity hair. I have very low-porosity hair so I will continue to use my "wet" leave-ins or water-Aussie blend (or water mixed with whatever conditioner I have around). Lately, I found a big old bottle of Lustrasilk when I had a burst of energy and cleaned under my bathroom sink. 

This stuff is amazing! That is a FULL bottle of activator and an almost full jar of curl pudding. Just been hanging out in a box under the sink for about 5 months...

Anyway, yeah, Curly Chemist has inspired me once again. Now, of course, as with anything, you have to do what is right for you and use common sense. I'm not a professional so I can only tell you what I like for my own hair routine. 

Meanwhile, I was talking with my best friend about the Blue Magic I've been using (and love!) and she said that she grew up using Murray's.  And a lot of people know about the famous Madame C.J. Walker. I'm pretty sure that some of us have folks in our circle of family and friends who used some of her products.

As for me, I have to tell you that I have fallen back in love with Blue Magic. I forgot how soft and lovely it makes the hair feel. Also, one application keeps my scalp nice and moisturized for days. When I was using some other oils and butters, I had to re-apply them almost daily. The big jar of Blue Magic is cheap (as long as you don't get it from Amazon!) and it takes literally just dabs of it to treat my entire scalp and a few more dabs to palm over my hair. On Amazon, you either have to get a 3-pack of the 12-oz for around 17-20 bucks or a single for about $9. I got mine for 5 dollars at a beauty supply and when I run low, I can go to Ebonyline (not secure until checkout!) or another online beauty supply and get it for about $6.  If I want to order a minimum of 3, I can get them from Family Dollar for under $2.50 each and have them shipped free to a local store for pick-up. So, yeah, Amazon can go away on this one.

The ingredients in Blue Magic (and I got the "original" anti-breakage formula) are shown on Amazon like this:

• Petrolatum
• Lanolin
• Lecithin
• Mineral Oil
• Fragrance
• Green 6
• Violet 2

This is the label on the jar I have:

Not much different

I also remember one of my aunties using the green-colored Blue Magic. ~shrug~

Anyway, I am going to give the PMP method a try. It's not much different from my regular routine except for the pre-poo with oil. That is... lots different. We'll see how it goes...

Peace

--Free