vegan chai

skin care

if you're a longtime reader, you may remember this post from november 2006, wherein i bemoan my stupid acne-prone face. i wanted to revive the conversation a bit, because i've tried a couple of new things since then, and i'm still not 100% happy. maybe some of you share my plight and have ideas?

i am so super duper sick of feeling like i'm always working around at least one blemish on my face. it's driving me bonkers. i've had some really bad patches over the past few years, and lately it's been better, but not better enough, if you get my drift. the minute something clears up, something else pops up, and i just want to have a normal 35-year-old face like all of my friends and colleagues. is that so wrong? i used to be able to go out without makeup and not feel like i looked gross. my sister doesn't even wash her face, ever, and she doesn't have to wear makeup. how did i end up on the shallow end of the skin pool? MEH. 

anyhow, i mentioned in that post way back when that i had started using dermamed, which is from canada. i love it because it's so simple--only four ingredients--and it's relatively effective. it's a bit drying, so i switch to a slightly heavier moisturizer than i would otherwise use, and that pretty much takes care of that. i used it for about 13 months or so, and then switched to a different product because my face still wasn't quite as clear as i wanted it to be. in december of 2007 i started using mychelle products, which are lovely because they're all-natural, but they aren't all vegan so it means a bunch of label-reading. anyhow, i settled on several products in their acne/oily line, and i liked them a lot, although they are very expensive, especially if you buy them at whole foods. i eventually found several of my regular items on amazon, which helped save moolah, but still--lots more expensive than one bottle of dermamed, which lasts for a billion months. 

switching to the mychelle stuff added a bunch of steps to my regimen: i went from cleanser & moisturizer to a cleanser, toner, serum, & moisturizer. i also used a mask (which i have done forever, so no net gain there) and a peel from the mychelle line, basically alternating nights. a lot of products and a lot of money, but it seemed to do the job relatively well... but not truly fantastic results or anything. i used mychelle from december 2007 until about a month ago--so, almost a year and a half--when i decided once and for all that i really didn't need to spend all that money to get basically the same results i was getting with the dermamed (i'm stubborn when it comes to this stuff, and i like to give things a few months to work themselves out, and then i get stuck in my rut).

last month, i decided to go back to the dermamed, because i had almost an entire bottle still in my cupboard and i figured what the heck. i went through the same drying routine, but after a few weeks that's under control with the right moisturizer. i'm still incorporating the mychelle mask and peel every other night, because i have them to use up, but i'm not sure if i'll stick with them for the long haul. i'm just really tired of playing this game, and i hate that every time i try something new i have to commit to two months of(even worse) breakouts while waiting to see if it will work. i know that nature's gate has a "kit" for acne and so does aveda (holy spendy!), but i don't know anyone personally who has used either one, and i'm wary of getting involved. heh. 

thanks for letting me whine. if any of you are fellow sufferers, let me know if you've found your magical solution yet. 

the veganity of nail polish

i'm just going to come right out and admit my ignorance: what makes nail polish Not Vegan? is it potential animal testing, depending on the company? or is there an actual ingredient that is animal-based in most nail polish?

i ask because i have a large back-stock of OPI nail polish in my cupboard, and i'm wondering if i should be grossed out by it or not. i've had these bottles almost forever, seriously, because they hold up well and i only use it on my toes and i don't necessarily paint my toes year-round. i know there are a couple of vegan nail polish companies, and i've tried the no miss brand, but honestly i much prefer my OPI stuff. there is really only one shade of no miss that i like (zinnia zephyr or something like that), and while it's quite pretty, i get bored of wearing the same color absolutely all the time. also, i feel like the OPI wears better and longer. 

does anyone know the ins and outs of nail polish? is my OPI stuff okay? are there other vegan nail polish companies out there that i should know about? especially ones that don't only have "fun" colors? i'm kind of a shimmery-taupe kind of gal when it comes to nail polish, so turquoise and fuschia and bright red aren't selling points for me. someone, de-mystify nail polish for those of us who are clueless!

lunch without garbage

so! i'm trying to reduce the amount of ziploc bags we go through, which admittedly isn't tons, but also admittedly could be about zero if we worked at it. whenever i go to campus for any length of time, i bring lunch along with me, and i usually use at least two ziploc bags each time: one for my sandwich, and one for crackers or something (to be dipped in hummus), and/or one for dessert, if it's cookies or something "loose" like that. now, i don't go to school all day very often (especially this past year, being on sabbatical), but still, even going a few times a week adds up to a bunch of garbage. my husband tends not to pack lunches for himself (he just packs them for me! score!), so it's really just me using all these bags.

i decided to buy a few reusable sandwich bags to give them a try. i ordered a pair of these lunchskins from 3 green moms, and i also ordered two snack taxi bags (one in the sandwich size, and one in the snack size). i haven't had a chance to try them out very thoroughly yet, but i'm working on it. my first impressions are pretty good, although i have a couple of general concerns. 

first is the dreaded jelly problem: i can't tell you the number of times i've pulled my pb&j out of my lunch bag and found that some jelly has seeped out of one side. not a ton, but just enough to get on the ziploc and be sticky. i'm not really looking forward to that happening in these new bags, because wiping up jelly everyday is kind of yucky. the couple of times i've used the bags already, i've made Extremely Neat Sandwiches with Very Careful Peanut Butter Boundaries, but let's get real because that's not always going to happen. well, and now that i think about it... sometimes the peanut butter seeps out the side, too, and that's not fun to clean up, either. meh.

second is the freshness issue. as my husband pointed out, velcro flaps don't really mean airtight, so i'm wondering if i'll ever end up with slightly stiff bread or mildly stale cookies. so far, so good, but only time will tell! 

if anyone has had experience with either of these bags, let me know how you like them... or if you have any specific cleaning tips. so far, i think i prefer the snackTaxi bags, because they're more flexible, and therefore easier to quickly turn inside out and back again. then again, the velcro strip is wider on the lunchskins, so maybe i'll notice that they keep things fresher. stay tuned, i guess!

my next project is finding the perfect lunch bag (i.e., the bag to carry all this stuff in). right now i'm using a (free) insulated bag from whole foods--they gave them away when they opened up in our town. i like it okay, but it's designed kind of funky and i've been wondering if i'd like different shapes better. i'm also wondering whether i need insulated or not, since i have a mini-fridge right next to my desk. any recommendations, i'd love to hear them!