The Oil Cleansing Method

Okay so as of late my skin has broken out and dried out SO much.  I don't know if it's due to the screwy TN weather this year or just stress (probably both) but I'm HATING it, especially so close to graduation and pictures for the holidays.  I haven't changed any of my face products either so I'm really frustrated.

So naturally, I complained about it on the ol' Facebook and a lovely woman suggested I try the oil cleansing method.  I remember very vaguely my sister saying something about the oil method a few years ago but this woman reminded me.

-The Oil Cleansing Method-

This method uses natural oils to help balance out the oils in our skin.  "Like dissolves like". This is also a more eco-friendly way to take care of your skin and rid of the chemical products we often use to rid of acne, dry skin, grease, etc.
Depending upon your skin type (dry, oily, combination), a certain blend of oils will be combined and applied directly to the face.  Suggested oils are castor combined with olive, sunflower, or grape seed.  

For similar recipes and information, check here, here, and here.

For dry, combine more castor than the other 2:1, for oily, more other than the castor 2:1, and for combination a 1:1 ratio.  For my personal ratio I combined 1 part castor oil and 1 part olive oil.  I also have some tea tree oil to add a drop or two in for whenever I'm feeling a tad dry.  I purchased a small bottle in the travel size section of my local store to try this out for a few weeks.  I also purchased small bottles of the oil so in case it doesn't work, I don't have a ton of oil just laying around.

1) Apply approximately a quarter size about of mixed oil to palm of hand.  Rub together to make "warm", blended.
2) Apply oil directly to face.  That's right...just slather it right on there.  If you've got make-up-DO IT!  The oil should get it all off.
3) Gently rub oil in pores all over face and neck.
4) Wait about 1 minute.
5) Apply a pretty hot (but not scalding) wash cloth directly to the face (lay it over).  Leave on until cool.
6) You can rinse it and reapply a warm cloth again if you're not feeling confident.
7) After it's cool, gently wipe face and neck of all oil.

**PLEASE NOTE: I've read from many different sources and from first hand accounts that your face will go through a phase of getting zitty again.  DO NOT FRET! That's your face getting in deep and pulling the impurities from way down up and out of your skin.  Just leave them alone, keep up the method, and between 3-7 days they should leave and your skin should be back to its awesome, blissful stage...and STAY there! (at least from what I've heard and read)

I started it on Sunday and tried it out for a week.

Day 1 (Sunday)
Before the "wash": I haven't washed my face today nor have I applied anything to it since yesterday.

(You can see my T-zone is especially zitty lately)

After the "wash": My skin feels pretty silky and not dry.  It was kind of bizarre just slathering oil all over my face but it came off well and my skin feels hydrated.  Nothing else is on my face!

(I know it doesn't look different (YET!) but it feels different)

Day 2 (Monday)

Before "wash": I hadn't done a thing to my face before washing it besides getting in the shower.  It got a little wet but I dried it really well before "washing".  I did notice this morning, however, that my t-zone zits had gone down in inflammation. SCORE!

After "wash": It still feels silky smooth and the whole process is kind of relaxing. I can dig it.

Day 3 (Tuesday)

Before "wash": I put on a full face of make-up today and it went on SO well!  No flaky parts, no spotty foundation, nothing!  (Unfortunately I forgot to take a before picture...maybe next time?)

After "wash": E.V.E.R.Y bit of my make-up came off AND my face still feels amazing!

Day 4 (Wednesday)

Before "wash":  I woke up to a tiny amount of dryness on my upper lip and upper eye lids.  I also have a few zits in my eyebrow...but the zits from day 1 have gone WAY down in both size and inflammation.  I wore makeup again and it went on fine.

After "wash":  I had a bit of a hard time getting all all of mascara off (in part because I had a ton on) so I used a tad of Vaseline to finish getting it off.  Other than that it all came off and my skin feels like a baby's =]

(Ignore my hair-I just got out of the shower)

Day 5 (Thursday)

Before "wash": I've got a few more zits...I don't know if it's due to the method, my upcoming cycle, or stress.  Besides those zits my skin feels hydrated and soft.  I didn't wear any makeup today so maybe that will help out a bit too.

After "wash": Everything went well, as usual.  I added a tad of tea tree oil to my zits afterwards so the skin around it won't dry out and peel when I put on makeup.  Maybe tomorrow things will start looking better?  Maybe this is my "bad" stage and things will clear up again?

Day 6 (Friday)

Before "wash": I have broken out more BUT now I realize it's probably more due to my monthly cycle than the method.

After "wash": I actually "washed" my face in the morning instead of at night so that was different but my skin held up and didn't get dry all day (even under my makeup!) 

Day 7 (Saturday)

Before "wash":  I slept in my makeup from the night before.  I was trying not to do that but alas...I did.

After "wash": Since today was INCREDIBLY busy, I "washed" again in the morning instead of in the evening.

So yesterday, on the 8th day, did I keep it up and see any difference? YES!  I plan on using this method at least until my little bottle of the mix is gone.  After that I'll decide whether I want to go back to using a billion different products to make the "perfect" combination...and spend a small fortune. Ha! As of now, unless something horrible happens I see myself using this method.

If you use this, let me know how it goes for you!  Any problems, any awesome results.

If something bad comes about from this I'll post an update.

Happy "washing"!!

And the Giveaway Winner is...

SarahKL over at The Ooey Gooey Daily News blog!

Sarah-please send me your address via facebook messaging and you should receive this new awesome FREE gift at the end of next week!

Now what I need to ask of all of you is this-Since I had so few participants with this giveaway please critique me:

1) What did I do wrong? (i.e. Was the gift too drab? Was there too short of a time frame in which to enter? Was it too easy to enter?)

2) What makes YOU sign up for a giveaway? (i.e. the gift, the blog itself, the fun-ness of a blog giveaway?)

3) Was it just plain boring my giveaway?

I need tips! I would like to do a giveaway each month and have a few other goodies in mind but if the participation is going to continually be this low...maybe not.

What do you think? I am SO very glad that Sarah won this-she loves the "fall-y" look of this bracelet and I am sure she can doll it up and dress it down!

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

HEY EVERYONE! DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR MY GIVEAWAY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A ONE-OF-A-KIND PIECE OF JEWELRY! Win it for yourself or re-gift for a friend-remember the holidays are coming up!

PLEASE enter guys-I need to know if doing giveaways via my blog are worth it or if the following for my blog at all is lacking!

The deadline is THURSDAY so hop on it if you're interested!

XOXOX
J

Giveaway!

Alright-so it's the first giveaway here at "This Train Don't Stop" and I am super excited about it!

The winner of the giveaway prize will receive a LOVELY piece of handmande jewelry from Full Redhead Jewelry!  It is a one-of-a-kind orange amber, black onyx, Swarovski crystal and antique gold platted spacer bracelet with a crown charm-perfect for these up coming fall months! A memory wire is used so it will fit any wrist and doll up any outfit!

Full Redhead Jewelry is both unique and whimsical.  Colors to match any season and any mood, Full Redhead Jewelry supports both the romantic and the quirky. She says that "What my jewelry means to me-it's a release. No matter how wild the day has been I can always lose myself in making a piece of jewelry and feel like I've added something pretty to the world too! It's my escape and my salvation sometimes. Plus, in a world full of crass consumerism, it is nice to give someone something I spent my time on, as time is our most valuable commodity, next to love."

Rules:
1) Subscribe to my blog (duh!).
2) Check out Full Redhead Jewelry on facebook.com and "Like" her page.
3) Tell me (via a comment on this blog) what your favorite piece is from the Full Redhead Jewelry FB page.
4) Those who want to participate must be within the Continential US.
5) The deadline is September 1st (1 week away!) so get to "liking" and commenting!
6) Selection will be random.

And that's it! Simple and sweet and I'm HOPING you (all) will participate!  Spread the word and if this picks up then a giveaway will occur EVERY month! I've got so many ideas in store already so I'm hoping for a good turn around!

Cheers and good luck!

This is my first so if YOU have done any successful giveaways and have tips to offer, I am aptly listening!

XOXO
J

Pin Board Project

One of my goals for July was to make a pin board to hang all of my necklaces on. Well ladies and gents, mission pin board was a success!  SUPER easy and can be made into any shape or size wanted-I highly suggest this project for making a regular picture/memo cork board too-it's just so cute and simple!

Step 1-Purchase "blank" cork board.  At Hobby Lobby, they had the perfect size and shape for me but they also had framed ones and cork tiles that are easily cut and put together to make that shape or size you may want.

Step 2- Purchase fabric, pins, and any other detail/accessory (such as trimming, ribbons, tassels, etc.) you want to grace yours with.  I already had pins (see below) and wanted a crisp, clean and simple fabric to go with the color and relaxing motif our bedroom has.  I got a wonderful patterned white (though you can't really see the pattern in the pic) that was just the right size!  May I suggest: once you've decided the size and shape of your board, take it (or at least its dimensions) to the fabric counter.  They'll do the calculations (math was never my strong suit) for yardage and cut accordingly.

Step 3-Wrap fabric around cork board.  I selected the smooth side as my "front" and the rough side as my back, and with the aid of a heavy duty stapler (or a lot of patience if you've got a regular one!) and staple the fabric into the cork back-SUPER easy.  Though I will say if you have a regular stapler, it will try your nerves because going through fabric and the cork messed with mine A LOT-it took quite a while.  I suggest the heavy duty if possible.

This is the back-all stapled! The make the corners not stand out, I folded them over like you would when tucking in a sheet to the bed, then I stapled it!

Step 4-Attach hardware you plan on using to actually hang the board.  I used a regular picture frame piece since it's fairly small but depending on why/who you're making it for, some ribbon or fishing line would also work for this.  Once the fabric is on securely, you can iron out the wrinkles and dents if needed.

Step 5- Get your pins out and place onto board.  I had these left over pretty faux-pearl corsage pins from the wedding that I decided would look sweet with my design.  For 24 it was only $1 (thanks Hobby Lobby!) and I knew that would be more than plenty for this project. 

**Additional step:only for using these pins-Since these were corsage pins they were incredibly long.  I borrowed a pair of wire cutters from a friend and cut them way down to fit the board.  I didn't want them sticking out too much from the board, nor did I want them going through it! Using any sewing pin or corsage pin like this should require at least trimming them (unless you're cork is heavy duty).

This is it completed! The little "shadows" in this picture are the pins sticking out!

 A close up of the pins in the fabric. (I forgot to iron mine until I put them all in, haha!)

Step 6-Hang it up!  It was super easy to hang and once I had all of the pins already secured before I put it on the wall, it made hanging my necklaces a breeze! 

The finished product-hanging in out bedroom over my jewelry box and bedroom table! 

I would definitely suggest making one of these for pictures of for jewelry-so easy, cheap and a cute detail in our bedroom!  It's also a great idea to spruce up your place at the office or to give as a gift to someone.

Did you like this blog? 

If so, I'd check out Leaping Over the POND's blog on great re-vamping of her seat-stool or To share and never forget's awesome overhaul of her craft room!  I must say, both blogs are impressive and seem so cool, unique and fun!

Until next time-go make something!

April Goal Results

Alright-April kicked my ass, but I still got a fair amount accomplished! Take a look:

*Fun

1) Start and Finish Breakfast at Tiffany's for the Boro Book Club (DONE! A quick read and a few of the members discussed it-success!)
2) Finish Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (DONE! A good book-I suggest it)
3) Travel to Oklahoma with Mom and Jen to visit grandparents (DONE! Check it out)
4) Go to RUSH Time Machine Tour in Nashville with Derrick (DONE! We had SUCH a good time!)

5) Buy shorts for summer (here's to hoping to being a size smaller!) (DONE-I only got 1 pair so far, and unfortunately in my same size, BUT they are totally cute and I hope to grab a few more pairs this Summer)

6) Mindy's baby shower for baby Sealya (DONE! SHE'LL BE HERE SOON!)

7) Pick back up on a photo-a-day project (DONE-I need to update them on Facebook. I didn't get every day but I got a lot more than I did in March, haha!)

8) Volunteer for Middle Tennessee's "The BIG Event" (DONE)

**Addition-Visit the Raley family in Kentucky**

**Addition-See Tonya in "Hairspray" the musical**

*School

1) Start and complete transcription of interviews (DONE! It was such an awesome experience and I gained a ton of insight into the whole research process!)

2) Do well on all Stats homework(s) turned in  & ask for help when needed (DONE! I should get my last grade within the next few days-wish me luck!)

3) Lecture on dramaturgy in Theory class (hopefully....) (DONE-it went so well)

4) Complete Methods research analysis project (DONE-got an awesome grade and may use this to start developing my thesis!)

5) Continue with Homework Sundays (with the Oklahoma Sunday as the only exception) (DONE)

6) Register for Fall 2011 classes (DONE-YAY!)

**Addition-got accepted for the 2011-2012 year for my GA position!**

*Health

1) WORK OUT (for real this month....) (FAIL-In part because I was busy but mostly due to my health. I had to go to an MD to check out why I'm having severe muscle aches & fatigue in my legs-so I didn't work out but maybe 3-4 times the whole month and I can't WAIT to start back in May!)

2) Drink more water-I think since I cut this out from my last month goals I really didn't drink a lot when I needed to and I can totally tell a difference (DONE-I kind of did this thing where for every cup of coffee (as in 8-10 oz.) I drank 1 bottle of water.  There were same days where I hardly drank anything but for the most part I stayed much more hydrated this month =D)

3) Continue to take my vitamins-I used to be all gung-ho about them but I sort of just forgot, LOL. Now I'm planning on reorganizing them and starting them back every day! (DRAW-I was taking them daily but my doctor and I both think that one of them, though we're not sure which, may be causing or contributing to my leg issues-so I stopped for about a week and 1/2.)

4) Stretches in the AM and PM-I always feel so much more relaxed when I do this! (DONE-I didn't do these every day but on most days and it felt really nice! It wasn't yoga or anything but enough to relax myself a bit before starting or ending the day)

5) Find an SPF lotion to start wearing to protect against those harmful sun rays! (DRAW-I did find an SPF sunblock, instead of a lotion, but I didn't wear it...I hope to get a lotion to wear daily and to use the SPF block on days I plan on being outside a lot)

*Budget

1) Bring lunch to work at least 2 times per week-this should DRASTICALLY cut down on fast food consumption and wasting money on crap food  I don't need. (DONE-though my fast food consumption still can be cut A LOT more.)
2) Save for potential trip to Pensacola to see Destiny in late May (which may or may not happen but just in case) (FAIL-We're planning a potential trip in June)

*Home

1) Select pictures and frames to hang in entry way (DRAW-I do know most of the pictures I want to hang and have selected most of the frames I want to use....)
2) Hang bathroom pics (This is like the 18405th time I've tried to make this a goal, LOL) (FAIL-Is anyone surprised, lol?)
3) Re-paint the bedroom-more to match our new comforter set (DONE-IT'S SO GORGEOUS! I'll be updating pics of the place soon!)
4) Select fabric(s) to make bedroom curtain (FAIL-maybe next month?)


And the tally is:

FAIL-4     DONE-18     DRAW-3     ADDITIONS-3


WOW! April was an intense month but a great one-so much was done! May will be much more laid back-maybe I can actually relax?!

Design help

Friends-I need help!

Our hallway is now bare after pulling down the frames in hope of updating some of the pictures that hung there.  Cute, but bare.

It's a nice soft green color on the wall-white front and closet doors.

But I need help-what should I do with it?  I have a few ideas but I'd like input from you guys first!  Should we get an entrance rug?  A table and topiary? Re-hang the pictures?  Nothing? I just don't know but it's so borrrrrring at the moment and I'd like to start on it this Spring Break.

Any thoughts?  Any different ideas?

HELP!

100th post!

Wow! I'm on my 100th post! Look at me go-a writin' and a bloggin', LOL.

In honor of my 100th post I shall "celebrate" with a long overdue project I have completed!

The bedroom table.  

(Those of you who follow probably are sick of hearing about it but it's done! No more random blogs saying I'll do something about it and then letting it fall by the waist-side!)

     In regards to said tables history: one of my best friends (Kelly) gave it to me when we moved in to our first place over a year and 1/2 ago. She was using it as her laundry table to set detergents and mismatched socks on but when they moved they had much more room so she gave it to us.  It was never fully finished (whether with primer or paint I'll still never know) but it had function so I took it.  It sat in the corner of our little "landing" in our last place but when we moved here I decided I'd like to use it in our bedroom...and there it has sat.  Kelly knows I love doing crafty/project-y things so she said I should renovate it.  So I did...well I wanted to.  I just never got around to it. It sits in the corner of our bedroom holding my jewelry box and a photo of my an my love so I never really saw the push to actually do something about it-that is until I started saying I would do something via my goals lists and then having to mark it as a FAIL every month.  So I sucked it up and this is how it came to be.

The bedroom table project-part 3

     After many an agonizing FAIL on my goals list I decided I'd had enough and wanted to do something about it.  I finally sanded and primed the actual table (with drawer chucked full of craft goodies removed).  Neither the sanding nor the priming actually took long and it was kind of fun.  I put the t.v. on in the background and made sure I was in "paint drip worthy" clothes.  I put on 2 coats of primer for good measure and left it for a few days to dry.
     After a few hectic days involving school and work I realized it was time to start painting it.  One thing that is very random and for some reason private (though never intended to be) is that I L.O.V.E. painting.  I can't actually DO the damn thing (meaning it won't look like a "work of art" and you not want to commission me) but I absolutely love to pretend I can.  Be it walls, tables or on canvas I thoroughly enjoy picking up the brush and opening a new can/tube or paint and going at it. Anyway: I cracked open the shaken can and smiled at the bright white paint glimmering up at me.  I was so excited to put this on a project I had been working on!
I carefully painted the table-waiting several hours to put on the second and "sealing" coat.  It looks so nice and brand new!
     I only had 3 days left to complete the drawer before my January goals were to be done.  Luckily, I had a fairly light weekend so I sanded and primed the drawer before going out and about to do some light shopping and get my nails done before the great date.  The next day I splashed on 2 coats of that gorgeous white paint and it was done! The whole project was done (though not put together) and I was so excited!  Here's a shot of the drawer in its painted glory:

Just lovely.

So I moved the drawer back in to the bedroom to be placed with its partner. Table and drawer-together at last! I threw some details on it and it looks just fabulous!

Isn't it beautiful!? The basket holds all of the wedding stuff (cards, newspaper articles, etc.) patiently waiting to be organized and put away.

My favorite of our engagement photos graces the top

My bits and bobbles of jewelry

The finished product. I am very proud.

And that was how the table came to be-well: to be again, LOL.

Now if I could only keep my dresser clean our bedroom would look pretty decent with the new bedding and awesome table, haha!  We shall see....

<3

The bedroom table-part 2

The table is finished!  (If you're confused check this blog to know what I'm talking about).

I have it painted white (2 coats) and placed back in the bedroom! Now I've got to sand, prime, and paint the drawer this weekend and it's DONE; it looks so nice already! YAHOO!

Check it out:

Here's the table all painted with its built in gloss! (Ignore the bad quality pic-the light this am didn't/wouldn't do it justice with any camera)

The finished product! (In the living room)

The finished product in the bedroom-obviously without the drawer and decor on it BUT it's DONE!

No more procrastination! No more painting it! No more putting it on my "To Do" list every month!

Now once I get the drawer done and the decor put on-watch out! It's going to be pretty rockin'.

Love and kisses for all!

The bedroom table-part 1

Okay-so do any of you remember that over the past 3 months I've been talking about sanding, priming, and painting the white table in our hallway?!  Okay so...I've started it-finally!

These are the pictures of the actual table (without the drawer) before being primed.  It had a crappy coat of paint throw on it and it just looked bad.

This is the top of it-notice the gross stain/scuff on the lower right side? And the paint coat looks sloppy and uneven?

These are the 2 separate angles of it without the drawer-notice on the bottom the untouched-by-paint parts? Ew.

This is the close up without the drawer.

So yeah...it was given to me by a great friend but I really wanted to spruce it up...and now the time has come!

Below are the pics of the table (without the drawer) sanded and with two coats of primer:

The top-it almost looks painted! I can't wait to throw some bright white paint on it-it'll sparkle!

This is the table without the drawer and FULLY sanded and primed!  It looks soooooo much better already! I've got 1 more coat to do on the base board (if you can't tell) but that's it! 

The primer dries so fast so this weekend I should have the WHOLE TABLE done!  I'll still have to sand, prime and paint the drawer but that shouldn't take as long.

Cheers to a good started and half way completed project!