Personalized toner: trial 1

After a lot of reading on the internet. Here are the ingredient that I finally decided on:

Ingredients
4 tbsp (2 fl. oz.) rose water
4 tbsp (2 fl. oz.) apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp (2 fl. oz.) aloe vera juice
4 tbsp (2 fl. oz.) green tea
10 drops of jojoba oil

Proportions
This is the recipe I mostly based the proportions upon.

For the green tea portion, I am going to use the 1 cup green tea leaves/1qt of water. Probably not that much water and tea, as per this article. 

Explanation of ingredients
To start off, I never even knew there was a difference between different toners and such. This is a pretty good overview of them.

This is customized to my skin which is a bit acne prone during certain times of the month, dry/combination, but tends to be a bit more oily during summer, I think.

I wanted to create a toner because I started wearing makeup again and it'll be nice to have something to help take everything off.

Rose water (found in ethnic section of grocery stores, I found mine in Ralph's. It was better than the ones I found in Henry's): I'm using rosewater as a base because it has mild astringent properties and does not contain alcohol. It's good for dry/sensitive skin. If my skin was a bit oilier, I'd probably use witch hazel hydrosol instead (which also does not contain alcohol, but I have no idea where to get it.)

Be sure to get the kind that says "distilled rose water" as opposed  to "water, rose oil" or something to that effect. Distilling is really how one creates rose water. It's also why the one I found at Ralphs was better than the water/oil mixtures I found at Henry's. tsk tsk. 

Apple cider vinegar: originally I wanted to use lemon juice. However, the latter is more perishable than vinegar. I wanted the acidic properties of either. Acid is not a good environment for bacteria to grow in. It also helps in exfoliating the skin.

Aloe vera juice: can be gel or juice. Using it just because everyone knows that aloe is good for skin. I'm using juice to make mixing easier. However, it seems to be quite perishable. So that's a drawback.

Green tea: anti-oxidant. Replaces vitamins E, C, and A apparently because it's that much stronger.

Jojoba oil: good for moisturizing and makeup removal since it's an oil. Fairly useful it seems.

Ultimately though, who knows if any of that is effective? Who knows whether some new properties will emerge when all of them are mixed together? Beneficial or detrimental? Perhaps it's all placebo effect. Ah well, it'll be fun.

1st ever beauty post! The hunt for a perfect toner

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While I was home in LA for the weekend, I observed that my mom had awesome skin! I mean, she has her periods. There was one time when her skin looked pliant, radiant and taut and she told me she was using lemon juice diluted with water to rinse her face with every morning. I wanted to try it, but couldn't keep up the regiment. And this time, she told me she had been using Artistry, a beauty brand from Amway (for some reason though, I have an association of Amway with scam. I don't know quite where that came from.)

That and Clinique's bonus days this past weekend got me thinking about toners. With a simple question to google, "Is Clinique's clarifying lotion a toner?" I came upon several cool sites with my mind teeming with ideas for an ideal toner for myself.

First and foremost, Skin Deep, a cosmetic database that evaluates products based on the safety of their ingredients. It compiles a compendium of published research on different ingredients. I've been able to find a fair number of common products that I use on a daily basis. While I take its reviews with a tablespoon of salt (since many scientific studies feed rats a great amount of a particular chemical to amplify the biological effects), I find it useful when used as a relative safety guide.

After being scared by Skin Deep blaring about the dangers of the various chemicals we are committing suicides with, I searched for a decent all natural toner, but I couldn't find one easily available on the market. In my search, I then stumbled upon care2 make a difference. I find some of the articles fairly useful and on the dot, such as using apple cider vinegar as a cleaning agent or a hair rinse, or using baking soda as a clarifying agent to get rid of residues from hair products. Anyway, by logical extension, since they are not crazy green people, their advice might be worth trying. I am particularly interested in making a sugar scrub (pictured, and I already have one as a gift which works totally well, but that's the allure/fun/pitfall of makeup and skin care, it's the novelty of it all), it seems super easy to make, add vinegar to Butters' water as a flea deterrent (from the apple cider vinegar article), apple cider vinegar toner, and a green tea toner.

That got me thinking about my own toner. Initially, someone recommended using just aloe vera juice. In wondering what other properties/goodness I can add to it, I thought about the more traditional witch hazel. So far, a witch hazel hydrosol (one without the standard 14% alcohol, using water instead) has been rather elusive. However, it might not even be necessary because according to this, for my skin, it's better to use a floral water as a base rather than witch hazel. I totally feel like a chemist, trying to navigate the creation of the toner btw. What is the purpose of glycerin in some of these recipes? What is the shelf life of this concoction? Will the different properties even counteract each other? Only time will tell...

Shopping for healthcare

Yesterday was my first experience calling doctors' offices for a price quote for a procedure (this is for B). It was predictably frustrating and tiring.

The first call was the worst because I didn't have my scripting down and was testing the waters to see what the standards are for the procedure. I reached a receptionist named Edward, told him about the lack of insurance and need for the procedure, ending with a simple request for a price range (emphasis, again, on range) that includes, office visit, consultation, lab work, procedure, and anything and everything else associated. His first line of defense, "Well, I can't really tell you that. You'll have to come in."

"Well, can you transfer me to someone who can give me an estimate?"

"The nurses assistant (I think that's what he said) would know, but they are all busy."

"Ok, is there anyone else you can transfer me to who can give me a number?"

"Hold on, let me ask." Wait for a few minutes with the nice elevator music. "It's really hard to say without a consultation. Can you come in so we can look at it?"

"I don't have insurance. I understand that a lot of places offer free consultation. Even then, you understand that it's not feasible for me to go around to every office for the free consultation in order to get a quote..."

"Yeah, I appreciate your situation...If you had insurance it would be much easier..." *sigh* Face-palm moment. If I, or anyone else had insurance, I wouldn't be calling you. I'd call my fucking doctor. Anyway. "Well, it'll be *blah blah blah* for the procedure. I urge you to go to a well-known place. It is your health we are talking about." And he went on about how good the practice is, by which time I zoned out.

"Yes, I understand. I picked you first actually because I heard good things about you." Lie. I found them on yelp.com. There were two good reviews.

And so it went on.

Apparently, I became rather well known in the office fairly quickly. When I called back, not five minutes later, a woman answered the phone. I barely started explaining the situation to her when she interrupted, "Oh! You were talking to Edward! Let me transfer you!" Oh! Thanks for your bubbly personality and your unwillingness to talk to me or even listen to my question! Poor Edward. He once again had to bug the doctors to get an answer to my question and once again lamented my lack of insurance and once again urged me to make an appointment.

To be honest, I really did appreciate everything he did for me. I've been on the other side with persistent customers with unusual requests. It's really good service when he left his station to get answers for me.

The rest of the calls went more or less smoothly. I changed my scripting to, "Hi my name is...., and I know this is a difficult question to answer, however, I don't have insurance and I'm looking for a quote for ____ procedure that includes, consultation, procedure and lab work." With that, I got a bit of a spiel of the dependence of the price on the type of procedure (it seems like quite a few people don't really understand the concept of range), but mostly I got the two numbers out of them.

I can't help but think that maybe part of what ails our healthcare is the lack of transparency of prices. Why shouldn't the doctors offices or hospitals know how much a procedure should be? Why shouldn't the patients be able to shop around for an estimate, kind of like car insurance? I can see the pitfalls, such as in an emergency situation, I might not have the time or be conscious enough to make a decision. However, for a majority of procedures, I'd bet that this will help bring down the cost of medical care.

I was listening to a podcast by The Economist talking about two opposing view points on the US health reform bill from two Britons. I can't tell you how refreshing it was to be able to respect the opposing view point. He brought up a good argument that the biggest problem is the cost, even Obama acknowledges this because he said that healthcare spendings is taking up 16-17% GDP. However, the present bill does not do enough to control cost. Based on my earlier experience that day, I thought that if we made the market more open and forced consumers to face the numbers of the procedures we are choosing, it'll put a downward pressure on the market prices.

Throughout my talks with various people about healthcare, I've been surprised to learn that my view of the insurance companies as evil was not shared by even a majority of people. In my group of friends, I've been able to learn other likely causes and has been persuaded to change my mind, even about universal healthcare from the federal government. I find it frustrating that we lack exactly this type of productive, educating, and enlightening dialogue furthering the knowledge of both parties at the national level. It's especially sad that the two major Parties cannot even talk to each other to form a compromise that takes the best of both idealogical standpoints, since to my knowledge, implementing one does not necessarily mean the exclusion of the other. That's why it was so surprising and satisfying to listen to these two English guys talking about healthcare, disagreeing with each other on certain points, but ceding others based on common goals, and having a civil debate. When can we move beyond "You lie!" and "Baby killer!" and reach that point in our national dialogue?

Household knowledge

It struck me as I was running errands today in my job as a personal assistant that different households have different stores of knowledge that is, for the most part, not shared outside that household.

Let me first define household. It comprises of either a single person, or two people in a relationship, and any nuclear family that lives together. Thus, roommates or housemates don't count.

Stores of knowledge can be described as habits, places we frequent, things we learned from each other etc.

For example, I needed to go to Willy's Electronic Supply Store, but had no idea where it is. Upon googling, I realized that it's right next/behind/in close proximity to Aquatic Warehouse where L and I go all the time for our aquarium supplies. I don't know anything about the price or quality of things electronic, but I figured if B, the tech guy, patronizes this place, and he's a SD native, then there must be something about Willy's. I told L that we should check it out just so he can evaluate it to see if it's any good.

B goes to Lubrimart on Clairemont for basic car needs. L has his own place. Who's is better?

That's what I mean by unique household knowledge. We all go to different places for different things. We might totally go to this awesome place for Italian food for example (which we do, Gusto Trattoria), yet even our close friends might not even know about it. I can't help but think that we'd all benefit from these bits and pieces that we don't even consider significant enough to share.

Things almost impossible to do one handed

My right hand is out of commission and I had to take a shower today to wash my hair. I tried putting it off, but I have to work tomorrow.

Inconveniences of one-handedness
1. Had to put up with a cold glob of face wash.
2. Really hard washing the right side of my head. I had to reach over to lather up the shampoo.
3. Almost impossible to soap the left arm. Actually, right before I discovered that little fact, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. Though everything was taking longer, I was managing quite well cleaning myself and keeping my right hand dry. When the time came to soap my left arm though, I stared at the soap in my left hand and realized the impossibility of the situation. I was quite amazed. I quickly ran through the options in my head. The easiest is having L help me.
4. Took me quite awhile to wrap the towel around head to dry my hair.

So now you know. Hormones control everything.

Honey experiment with evidence Part II

Back in September of last year, I tried the honey experiment when I cut my finger with fairly good results.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to repeat it when I dropped a plate of frozen wontons and in the process of getting them off the plate, I once again cut myself. I sliced a pretty deep chunk off the tip of my index finger, two pieces, albeit smaller, from the middle joint of the middle finger, and another piece off of the knuckle on the ring finger. (This time, I think I'll spare you the pictures.) I thought about leaving one cut untreated as a control, but decided I couldn't take the pain.

I was googling the usage of honey as an antibacterial today and found an article online detailing the various properties for why honey makes a good topical antibacterial dressing. The one finding that makes the most sense to me is that honey contains glucose-oxidase. Meaning the enzyme is constantly turning sugar to small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which we all know has antibacterial properties, at a level that does not damage healthy cells. This is better than the 3% solution typically available at drug stores because at this level and form, not only does it damage healthy cells, but its effectiveness is limited as exposure to light and heat causes it to decompose to water and oxygen. Another interesting fact is that honey somehow is effective against resistant bacterial strains while also promoting healing. Studies found it to be effective against MRSA, ulcers, and burns of various kinds where "traditional" (ironic since the use of honey is actually older than any modern antiseptic we have) antibiotics have failed to make improvements at all.

From personal experience, I find that it helped with pain too. I generally try not to use band-aids for wounds, but with the skin having to create new layers instead of just stitching itself together, I have to use it to keep the wound clean. However, I always worry about too much moisture creating a bacteria friendly environment when using band-aids, so using honey for me is a peace of mind.

Update 3/30/10: by the third day the cut no longer hurts if I don't press on it. By the fourth day, I was able to take the band-aids off. New skin seems to be growing vigorously on the deep cut. The others formed scabs once exposed to air. There was a bit of inflammation that developed on the 5th day on the shallower cuts that weren't really there when the honey was on.

Movie date

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L had been wanting to watch Alice in Wonderland since it came out. I was indifferent but generally preferred to watch something after a week or two so there won't be so many people in the theater. He didn't care too much if it was in 3D or not, but come on! It's a fantasy movie! 3D has to be better right?

Overall, I liked it. Not quite like the book at all, but a refreshingly different story about self-discovery of inner strength and resolve on Alice's part. In the end, I even commiserated with the Red Queen. Perhaps due to a life-long comparison to her normal head sized-sister, who also happens to be beautiful, from parents, peers, and subjects that she chose power by fear as opposed to love. Despite my sympathy for her, the ending provided vindication for all involved (perhaps with the exception of the White Queen. What happened to her king? Who said she deserved the crown?), as the Red Queen and cohort are justly punished.

L thought it was a good movie too but said it wasn't worth buying. That and him buying Cloudy, with a Chance of Meatballs told me all I needed to know about his movie taste: unreliable. Jk. I agree with his choices around 80% of the time. I thought if anything, he would buy this movie. Afterall, he does have Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (which, between the two, I liked Alice better.) I guess I tend to like or dislike movies based on messages more than entertainment value and he decides based on the latter.

What happens with too much fresh chives

Wontons is the answer. Lots and lots of them.

Went to 99 Ranch on Friday and found some incredibly fresh chives on sale. I couldn't resist so I bought some. But what to do with all that chives? I guess I'll have to make wontons! I've never made my own before, though I've had plenty of my mom's. So it's a challenge!

Sunday noon found G and I busy chopping, defrosting and mixing. Mostly chopping though. We added chives, pork, and shrimp. For binding and other flavorings: 2 eggs, rice wine, corn starch, white pepper, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic, ginger and soy sauce (生抽, it's less color for more saltiness). We saved the adjustment of salt level for last because neither one of us were experienced in using the particular soy sauce. We had to cook a little bit of the filling to taste whether it's salty enough. If there's one thing that ruins a good wonton, it's over salting the thing.

Then on to the wrapping!

(Paratroopers vs. militias!)

This is the wrapper I will be using the next time as well. All together, I used almost four packages for that much filling.

Remember the Panda brand!

I used a premade soup base I bought also at 99 Ranch. It comes with seaweed, flavor packet and a dehydrated packet of green onions and carrots. I used the first two, but prefer to use fresh green onions and cilantro.

With wontons:

Inside to make sure they are cooked:

They looked and tasted a bit more eggy than they should. Surprising, considering I only used two eggs. Maybe next time I should reduce that to one, or just use egg whites.

Anyway, they tasted really good. And now I have a whole bunch in the freezer. I'm quite proud of our accomplishment.

Making our displeasures known...

I was merging on to the 15 along with everyone else in line at 4:15pm when a blue SUV zoomed, braked, and turned from a lane going straight and squeezed onto the on-ramp. Then I saw a white car do the same. All the way till I actually got on the freeway I fantasized about the logistics of an egg launcher. I visualized me aiming a mini-bazooka-like-thing at the assholes' cars and watching the lovely egg wash cover their clean exterior.

On the way home, I discussed this with L. I thought maybe instead of an egg-launcher, I could made a ketchup-packet launcher where the packets will pop on contact. These various launchers don't need that much range or accuracy. A car is a pretty big target. For the ones who cuts people off on the freeway or local streets or the ones who cut lines, I'd say 50ft is fair. L thought that eggs would make better projectiles since they have more weight. However, they are more delicate than ketchup packets. I suggested a modified version of a supersoaker. Again, the problem is the eggs breaking inside the barrel.

L then suggested modifying the front of the car where the bumper is with a row of paintball guns. The car in front won't even know what hit them till later. I think it goes too easy on the driving jerks since paintballs wash off too easily. Plus, I'd have to get behind them to do this.

I then thought of darts that carry messages. "Yes I saw what you did you asshole." Something along those lines. The problem there would be making sure they stick to the car so they'll get the message.

When we turned the last corner before hitting home, I realized I've spent way too much time fantasizing about it. In the end, I'll be more pissed when somebody uses my invention/idea on me injudiciously. Still, egg on car is a lovely thought.

Quantity vs quality

I've been blogging daily for about a week, maybe a bit more. Now I'm wondering if in the process of trying to come up with something everyday, the quality of the blogs are suffering? Too mundane? Too much complaining? Too much information?

I guess this question was going to come up eventually.

I suppose if I cut back on the entries till I have something truly interesting to say, then I might actually miss a few posts because I won't have time to write them down.

In the end, it's a quality issue. New and awesome ideas do not materialize and flesh themselves out everyday. However, given the choice between daily entries or a few a month, I choose the former.

Strawberry update

One plant died, but it was real little. I should have planted it in a different location and it might have had a better chance. Most of the others have sent out a third or fourth leaf. Basically a leaf that they didn't have when I bought them. It hurts to pinch off the flowers, but I feel so much better doing that now when I see the leaf growths making the plants look really strong and thriving. The rains recently has been great for them, too.

Dear journal

I tentatively started my job as a personal assistant. I just realized that what I really am is basically someone's bitch. Doing work that they don't have time to do or don't want to do. Which I don't mind for now. It'll be an interesting side job.

I also ran 1.5 miles today. I spent an hour picking out my interview clothes and realized that I need to lose some weight to fit into my pants. Well, let today be the day that two new things are starting.

Do you remember someone ever giving you advice on keeping a list of your life's history so you can use it for applications, resumes, CVs and so on? Such good advice. I wish I took it.

Relationships in Glee

We had a Glee marathon last night. We were one episode short of the entire first season. I love the music, but the same cannot be said of the storyline. Something about it bothers me. Other than Kurt, there's really no one else I can truly sympathize and relate to and cheer on. Rachel is too much of an overachiever. Finn is so dumb at times. I feel sorry for Quinn but she's also such a bitch. Just when I thought Puck was about to redeem himself, he disappoints by refusing to give up tail. The others are way too minor to comment on.

The way adult relationships are portrayed is bothersome as well. I have no real problem with the antagonism between Will and Sue. The protagonist needs an arch nemesis right? The one between Will and Ken is rather flimsy. He asked her to settle for him, why blame anything then on Will and her? The main problem I have are the relationships between Will and Terri, his wife, and Will and Emma. We don't really know what the real problem in the marriage is because they never talk about it. All we know is that Will and Terri were high school sweethearts. Terri is by no stretch of imagination a good wife as portrayed in the show. However, does Will do the mature thing and talk to work it out? No he doesn't. Sure he "does the right thing" by trying to please her the best he could, but they never talk about the root of the problem. Yet, in school, in order to try to escape problems at home and seeking approbation elsewhere, he builds an inappropriate relationship with Emma. The tension between the two is palpable. So much so that word reaches Terri and she gets a job at school to remind the two that Will is still her husband. Will shows great impatience at Terri's presence. Even that does not curb the sexual tension between him and Emma. Why am I laying the blame on Will? Because he's supposed to be the good guy. We already know that Terri is a dumb bitch. It disturbs me that the essential message this sends is that if you are a good guy and you find a decent woman, it's perfectly fine to find and flirt with someone already in another relationship (no matter how imperfect) and not work on your relationship with your wife of at least five years (no matter how much of a bitch she is).

And one more thing, the other problem I have is between Quinn, Finn, and Puck. Since when has it been acceptable to pin paternity/fatherhood on someone who's not the father? Fine, she's pregnant, she's a teenager, she's confused. Then Mercedes tells Puck to back off because he's done enough to Quinn already? What's her excuse? She's a teenager too? Quinn is shallow, ruthless, a daddy's girl, and a bitch...I don't have a point. I just wanted to call her names.

What a stupid show. I want to skip all the drama and go to the numbers. Now that I've thought it through, watching it irks me.

Damn you Glee!

I resisted watching Glee because it just seems like such a cliched high school drama. Yes, high school drama *eye roll*. However, I heard some of the songs the other night during game night and thought I'll see what other songs they have. I watched one episode on Hulu and I couldn't stop. This so far is one of my favorites:

So beautiful. I want the soundtrack.

Attraction and relationship

I was driving on the freeway when I thought about the L4D2 game the other night when we let the computer sort the six of us into two different teams in versus. L told LP who were on the same team, "At least winning is making the girlfriend and husband happy." When he relayed this to me that night, I complimented him on how big-hearted L and LP are. As my thoughts wandered, I realized quite a few of my friends has elements of my personality that is quite similar to mine. Yet, I am dating someone who is completely different. And here, it struck me: there are two different attractions to people. One to people who are similar to us. The attraction there is pretty obvious. We understand them and we understand their motivations. The second is to people who are different from us, to the point where we are left scratching our heads going, "What the hell?...What are they thinking?...I don't get it." The reaction afterward can be laughing in amusement or tearing our hair out in frustration. (The third group is "wtf, you are crazy and I'm outta here.")

How this relates to relationships:
I am going to make a generalization (I think it works for me) that it's the second type of attraction that makes a better relationship. Reason being that it tends to round and balance out the relationship. The difference keeps things interesting. What we don't understand about each other both amuses us, makes the other person more endearing as well as drives us insane during moments of conflict. Hopefully, this results in a long conversation (assuming good communication skills) resolving the conflict and bringing the two people closer.

I say this because I am in the second type. It's only due to his incredible patience with me that we've lasted this long. His inscrutability (pronounce it. Yes you, L. Correctly.) makes me smile or yell depending on the situation. Yet, it keeps things interesting.

Star Wars review

I just had to post this. I have not watched the entire Star Wars series. And I certainly didn't intend to watch the entire 50 minutes or so of the whole thing. This is the first of seven.

Coming back to Southern California

L and I were discussing the other day that despite our desire to see the world and whatnot, we would like to eventually come back to southern California for its beautiful weather. For the house we want in the future and things we'd like to plant, California is awesome. Where else can we plant mangoes, citrus, avocado, peaches, roses, etc. etc.? We really don't have to worry about harsh winters here. I'm glad in a way that my winter clothes consists of a coat, a scarf, and a sweatshirt (this coming from a person who hates being cold). Not heavy duty long underwear or down coat, or whatever people wear in seriously cold weathers. It's nice to walk outside and look at the sun and blue sky and feel warm enough to take off a layer and end up in T-shirt and jeans.

Raised bed gardens/sq ft gardens

Raised bed gardens are nothing new. They are a good way to bypass soil problems.

I recently learned of a new concept: square foot gardens. It's a basic raised bed garden divided into foot squares. One may plant a certain number of vegetables, herbs, or fruit in each square.

There's a good website to help gardeners plan and research their garden from Gardener's Supply Kitchen Garden Planner. For example:

 It tells you how many of each plant one can fit in each square automatically. After this stage, it generates a page giving more details on how to plant each selection:

So cool.

Oh and the best thing ever: a salsa garden!

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One shop stop for delicious homemade fresh salsa during summer. =)

Current music obsession

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I love Lady Gaga! In her style, both fashion and her work, there is only one Lady Gaga. I love how she's not afraid to dress up in her costumes. Her music is incredibly catchy. Her music videos are mesmerizing, and not with cliched dance moves. Because of her, I'm currently on a dance music kick. There should be an easy way to get that music into the iPod for when I'm exercising.

Speaking of fashion, I would love to get my hands on any copy of Asian fashion magazine where the stars are stars and stay in their film world and models fills the pages as they rightly should. The pages are so much more informative with the currently styles, accessories, makeup colors and how to's. Looking at them even helps me, who's never been into fashion, get a sense of what goes with what. This is incredibly sadly lacking in American magazines. We are too star and gossip focused.