So not much to report on the whole, but I have to post about my new discoveries. I used to be oily... my skin, my hair, etc. Ever since I went on the birth control pill, however, my skin and hair have been dry, and it's been a nightmare trying to find something that didn't make the problems worse. When we started gearing up for the wedding, my mom bought me a bunch of skincare stuff from Clinique, and it worked, on the whole, pretty well (at least better than anything I'd ever tried before). Now that the wedding has passed and everything, though, it's really ludicrous, in my opinion, to buy another round of the stuff when it's more than $60 a go. While perusing Megan's site, I found a recommendation for a brand called Paula's Choice. I poked around there, and saw that you can order samples, so I figured, what the hell, I'll try it. Before I tell you how they worked, my complaints with the Clinique were, besides price, the cleanser marked "very mild" still gave a slight sting when I put it on my face. It also didn't do anything at all for my roseacea, which is mild, but I still get sick of my face always being red. The Paula's Choice line is the answer to my prayers. It's half the price of the Clinique stuff, and when I put the cleanser (Skin Recovery Cleanser) on my face, I don't feel anything. It's no more irritating to my skin than water (actually, less so: my face feels noticeably softer and more hydrated after I wash it. beat that.) The toner worked just as well, again, felt really nice and soothing going on, and left my skin feeling really nice. At this point I wasn't even sure I needed a moisturiser. I haven't tried Paula's moisturizer yet because they're out of it. At night I use a little bit of the Clinique stuff just until I can get the other one. I tried it, though, went without it for a couple hours, and my skin wasn't dry at all. If I did that with Clinique, my skin would have felt dry and been visibly flaky, so Paula's stuff makes a huge difference even the first time. During the day, instead of a regular moisturiser, I use her Pure Mineral Sunscreen. It's a creamy, full spectrum sunscreen that makes my skin feel dewey all day. It's not greasy at all, and my face isn't shiny with it on, it just feels very hydrated (but not oily, either), soft, and really supple. By this step, the roseacea isn't even visible anymore. The people at the Clinique counter told me that if their line didn't work for me my next step would be to go to a dermatologist, and this line, for half the price, has made it disappear entirely. Finally, I use the barely there sheer tint for a foundation, which has an spf 20, again full spectrum protection. It's light, and the color is a great match (probably because it's sheer and pretty neutral.) It feels really light and it doesn't look like I hav anything on, it gives just enough to even out my skin tone and make my skin look really nice. I've been getting a lot of compliments on my skin since I started using this stuff, and I've been recommending it so enthusiastically to so many people, they probably think I'm getting a kick back or something, but I really can't recommend it enough.

I also found something that works really well on my hair. I have to be careful, because some products make my hair fall out more, or dry them out. The Neutrogena Triple Moisture stuff makes my hair really soft and it's even falling out less than before. I also use the leave-in conditioner like you would use a gel or mousse, and it makes my curls look better and feel really soft.

I'm loving my new mixer. I made pizza dough with it the other night and it was so much easier. I think I'll still do it the other way when I have stress or frustration to work out, but in general this way is much more likely to happen on a regular basis, so Chris is happy.