A Few Of My Favorite Things

I’ve been up since too early for consciousness.  I mean, I’ve been awake since about an hour before the sun bothered to peek up over the horizon.  I’ve consideried going back to bed.

Why would anyone in their right mind do this (be up) if they didn’t have to?  Normally, I’d say they’d have to be out of their mind, but as it happens, T has gone to Canada for a seminar and his taxi to the airport was leaving at 6:40am.  So we’ve been up since 5:40am, and I made him coffee and then shared it, and so here I am, waiting for a text message, missing him already, and not asleep.  Normally, however, I would be.  Asleep.  I love sleeping.

And so, with my brain running mostly on neutral (and how well does your brain function this early in the morning?!), I’ve decided to write about things I love.  Other than sleep, that is.  The inspiration for this post came from the blog of the illustrious Sophie, which had a post somewhat like it, which I enjoyed reading.  A lot.  And not just because Sophie is a friend, but because reading the post way back last summer, I realised that it’s a list that is very much worth making for myself.

Why?  Because we all have a busy life.  Really busy.  Even me, studying from home as I do, I don’t actually have that much “free” time.  I have time to do things I want (read, write, study, cook, cuddle T, water my flowers, etc.), but I don’t have time I don’t have anything to do with.  In fact, I’ve always wondered about people who go “I’m bored…” and expect the world at large or their friends to entertain them, but that’s a story for another post entirely.  Back to the list of favorite things – after reading Sophie’s, I came to the conclusion that if one writes one’s favorite things to do, eat, have, look at, etc. down, they are on paper, and then they are much harder to forget about/ignore in the hamsterwheel of day to day life.  And before you protest that you don’t forget about your favorite things – I don’t know about you.  I know that when I think about it, I realise that I do, and if I don’t think about them, I don’t do them – the things that I enjoy.  Which is, let’s face it, pretty silly in a not-good way.

Another thing which I’ve talked to a friend about recently is how a lot of people have one favorite everything – a favorite color, a favorite flavor, a favorite X.  I realised that while I do have preferences, I don’t actually have singular favorites, and so listing the variations became even more of a good idea, in the sense that perhaps I am overlooking something I’d like if I thought about it more.

Also, reading someone else’s list made me think of a handful of things which I hadn’t ever considered, but which really ought to end up on my list.  And so, I am writing it.  In no particular order.

• Coffee.  A lot of it, medium-roast with loads of milk, sweetener, and possibly whipped cream.  Or a good latte made so it’s not bitter.
• Sleeping.  Sleeping well, at night, in a cool but not cold room, in a huge pile of bedding.  Preferably with T to curl up next to.
• Tea.  Green, oolong, black.  No, rooibos (red ‘tea’) is not tea!
• Really good shampoo and conditioner.
• Long black dresses which, when worn, make T stare happily.
• Writing.  Blog, poetry, prose, nonfiction, whatever.
• Reading.  A lot.  I’m a very fast reader, so fat books are a plus.
• Sharp bladed weapons (swords, daggers, that sort).  I guess good kitchen knives go under this category, too.
• Cast iron cookware.  Also doubles as blunt weapons or home bread oven.
• Really good lip balm.  Or just pure shea butter out of a jar directly onto lips.
• Cacti.
• Leaves turning in the autumn.

• Quinces.
• Coconut ice cream and saffron-honey ice cream.  Also, fresh strawberry ice cream.  And … ok, good ice cream in general.
• Bath+unlimited hot water supply.
• Bras in correct size.  Pretty ones.  With matching undies.
• M&S hold-ups with lace tops.  Black.
• Meat.  Preferably beef, preferably not very cooked.  Steak cooked bleu or rare is amazing!
• Cured meats (charcuterie) – French, Italian, Hungarian, Spanish, you name it, I want it.  Let’s not leave out the Germans and the Austrians, either!
• Oil paintings – mostly of pre-1930s.
• Mushrooms.  The sorts you eat, not the sort you get high on.
• Apricots.
• Outdoor swimming pools (with weather/climate to match).
• Candlelight.
• Beautiful ceramic dishes and vases.

• Dragons.
• Arugula (aka rocket or rucola)
• Curling up in a warm pile of blankets on sofa when it’s snowing or raining outside.
• Skinny dipping in natural bodies of water.
• Fancy dress-up events.  Or any rason to wear beautiful clothes.
• Cats.
• Tobias.
• Citrus trees.
• Soup.
• Wide-brim hats.
• Spending time with friends.
• Long dresses in colors other than brown, beige, pink, turquoise or teal.
• Really high heels.
• Fur.

• Old buildings.  Or ruins.
• Men in formal wear.
• Jewellery.
• Food magazines.
• Expensive scented candles.  Good perfume in general.
• Sunlight – at any time of year.
• Very cold prosecco in crystal flutes.
• Waterlilies.
• Restaurants that cook better than I do.
• Milk chocolate.

Meet my ORANGE dress. Also in this photo, an orange soup I met last summer.

• Really bright colors.  Especially purple, crimson red and orange.
• Egyptian cotton sheets.
• Being right.
• Libraries, bookstores, and any place full of books, old or new.
• Roses.  In any color that’s not pink or dyed.  Also to eat.
• White star chrysanthemums.
• Stationery.  Preferably Italian, preferably very pretty.
• Cast iron things other than cookware.
• Shiny, sparkly lip gloss.  I just wish it’d not get all over T’s face when I wear it.  (I swear, teenagers get away with this sort of stuff because they don’t actually smooch anyone a whole lot!)
• Boots No. 7 eye shadow and mascara – they stay where you put them.  Really, I kid you not!
• Cooking for people.
• Lanterns.
• Fresh blue mussels, cooked by me.
• Cashemere scarves.
• Leather gloves.

• Orchids.  Looking at, owning, growing.  Getting to bloom.
• Things made of terracotta.
• Koi ponds.
• The way I feel after a yoga class.
• Seeing new places.
• Canadian maple syrup.

I could go on.  And on.  And perhaps at some point I will, but this has gotten long enough already to make me think of things I should do, should do more, or haven’t done in a while because I’d not thought how much I enjoyed them in ages.  So, I am going to rectify that, starting with making myself some lunch.  Involving arugula.  And some prosciutto crudo as well, why the heck not?  Life’s too short not to do, see, eat and enjoy your favorite things.

Review: Out Of Africa Raw Shea Butter (not food, but it may as well be!)

I have dry skin.  I always did.

It was a great thing as a teenager, because – and, please don’t start to hate me now, I barely ever had any spots.  So long as I washed my face and did a minimal amount of maintenance a teenager is bothered to do to her face, I did not need powder, or foundation, or even concealer.

Now I am no longer a teenager, and I still can go around barefaced.  In fact, the other day I got a flattering “if I had skin like yours, I’d not wear makeup either…” from a lady at least 10 years younger than me, which totally made my day (thanks!).  And in a large part that has to do with eating right, sleeping enough, not binging on alcohol, and not smoking – and I should write a post about how all that works, but that is for another day.  This here is a review, after all!

So, while I still don’t have spots, my skin is still dry – and, unfortunately, that leaves it open to environmental stress and free radicals and temperature changes (try going out from a heated Swedish apartment in mid-winter – easily a drop of 30+ degrees Centigrade in a space of a few seconds!), and generally all those things that cosmetics companies yammer at you about, and promise that their product will be the one to prevent the “insert-number-here signs of aging“.

I don’t buy that [bleep].  I have degrees in biology and chemistry, and I can read a darned label (and yes, all those cosmetics come with boxes, labels or inserts which tell you what’s in them, though they’d dearly want it to not be obligatory, and it is – thank you, labelling regulations!).  And I know full well that most of what is on that label is nothing I want on my skin.  But, see point A – my skin is dry, so I need something on my skin to protect it.  What’s a girl to do?

Well, this girl tends to buy her own oils, or shop with those brands that don’t have words I need to have a chemistry degree to understand on their label – not slamming all cosmetics companies here, you know – some are really very good!.  But many, sadly, are not.  I mean, why should I buy a “moisturizing shea butter lotion” with 97% [random stuff and water] and 3% shea butter, if I can get … shea butter?  No reason.

Out Of Africa Shea Butter Tin

On advice from a friend, I went and ordered a tin of unrefined, raw and unscented shea butter from Out Of Africa online.  If you are in North America, you can either find a shop that stocks them, or buy this directly from their website, but I had to go through an internationally-shipping site.  It wasn’t really any hassle, and after about a week of waiting for the package, I got my paws on this stuff.  And began to use it immediately – obviously.

After about a week of use, I have to give it a 9/10 rating, and it’d be a 10 if I had ordered the scented variant that my friend had.  So, a 10 for the Graperfruit-scented variety (tin pictured) at least.

What is the downside?

It’s utterly minor.  I realised that I do not like the scent of raw shea butter.  No, it is not bad, and a lot of people like it – but I think it is too nutty for my taste.  And, the scented (with natural oils) variant that my friend had, it had no trace of the nutty scent, so don’t be put off by this.  Also, if you do like warm, nutty scents, you may well go nuts for this as it is (punny, ha ha!).  Mind you, even as it is, the scent is very faint and disappears almost immediately on application, but I think what I will do is take some of it, heat it gently on a water bath till it’s stirrable, and mix in a drop or two of Provencal lavender essential oil I have, then let it set in a tin or jar before using.  If I am not too lazy – it really isn’t that much of an issue.

There is another thing which isn’t a downside, but it ought to get mentioned – shea butter is thick.  If you aren’t used to using raw vegetable butter on your skin (such as coconut, cocoa etc.), this may be a surprise, but worry not – it melts on contact with your skin, so when you warm it up and spread it on your hands and pat it on, it goes onto skin without a problem.

The upsides?  Loads of those!

First of all, to those of you who are ethically-minded, this is organic, environmentally-friendly harvested, etc., etc., read the details on their site.  I won’t go into all their certifications, but they are enough to make me feel good about paying for it.

Second, the price – it’s reasonable.  In these not-so-easy economic times, having something which doesn’t break the bank is a plus.  And for that price, it comes in an attractive and practical tin which fits into your handbag if you get the smaller size, for use on the go – as lip, face, hand, or general moisturizer.

Third, and more importantly – it does amazing things to my dry skin.  You need just about half a pea-sized amount to cover face and neck.  You put it in your palm, stir it with a finger to warm it up, and then spread it between your hands and pat onto clean, towel-dry skin.  Including around the eye – no irritants in this.  It soaks right in, and doesn’t even leave a greasy shine, and it feels – trust my spoiled self! – wonderful.  Great.  Insert other positive adjectives.  I now see why the cosmetic companies advertise their products as containing shea butter – but it’s even better to just have the 100% premium ingredient!

Fourth, it’s food-grade.  You could, if you wanted, eat it (at least the unscented version – the ones with essential oils mixed into them may taste of those and those don’t always taste good).  It is like unrefined coconut oil in that it is, among other things, a food product – meaning, it does not contain anything that would make you sick if you absorbed it through your GI tract – and thus, I am quite happy to let my body absorb it through the skin.

Fifth, better yet – it does not trigger my boyfriend’s nut allergies.  T is allergic to all nuts and peanuts, except coconuts and almonds (which aren’t true nuts), but this does not bother him at all.  So while I don’t make any guarantees, chances are, if you are nut allergic, this may work.

So far, it has made my skin elastic and smooth, and the fine lines I’d been seeing creeping up (they tend to every time the central heating kicks on and the air gets dry) have disappeared from view.  I’m not making huge claims of this making them go away or anything, it’s more that the skin gets moisturized, and it lasts all day from one application – so that the lines neither get a chance to show up much, nor get worse.  This is just from one week of use, mind you – who knows, it may wow me further in a few weeks from now (I’ll update the post, I promise!).

P.S.  I also bought a vanilla 30% shea butter lip balm from the same place.  Wow.  Just wow.  And yay!  My vanillaholic self rejoyces!

And now please excuse me – I have a face to wash, and shea butter to put on it.  I look forward to that!