Practical joke?

I'm not going to say that I'm obsessed over my age. My friends might say I have a major slight problem with growing older, but they would be wrong. I can't help it. And I think that anyone who says that they have absolutely no issue with their advancing age is lying. I will follow that with the fact that I do not miss my younger years. I don't try to act like I'm twenty, because I'm not. I simply appreciate the present. I've never wished to be younger, and I've never wished to be older. SO.....

....what the hell is this????

Which joker decided to subscribe me to this magazine? Because it sure wasn't me! This was was how my after school shuffle went down:

After picking up the kids from school, I cart them over to the grocery store because I have to buy some supplies for dinner. Pulling into the driveway I notice that there's a bag peeking out of the mailbox. Ooh! What could it be!? Before I can check, I have to make two trips lugging various backpacks, computer bags, purse, groceries etc from the car and into the house. Then, lo and behold: yay! A new magazine. Hmmm...I've never heard of this one before, and I certainly didn't subscribe, but there's my name and address. Let's take a look. "MORE: for grown-up women with smarts, spirit, style." I guess that could be me. Oooh! Salma Hayek. She's pretty. "Why her forties are her favourite decade." Ha! "Look better with age" Hmmm. "Caring for aging parents". Okay... Let's look inside:

"Easy on the knees workout"

"Anti-aging beauty awards"

"Osteoporosis action plan"

WTF?

Yep, it's a magazine for old ladies mature women. Or supposedly for women over 40. I am not over 40. I'm not even close. Well, I'm kind of close, but I've still got a few years left. Here's the kicker though. I DIDN'T HATE IT! It's a decent mag. I appreciated the advertising not displaying grotesquely thin children to peddle their wares.[Did you know that there's such a thing as a purse with an illuminated interior!?]  The articles are engaging, if not completely relevant to my situation. And frankly, I'm not sure it's all that relevant to most women in their 40s either. I have friends who have long passed that age threshold, but they still have young children. They, like me, are still reading parenting magazines, not wondering how to support adult children who have moved back home. We're still concentrating on getting them through grade school. 

So, thanks, but no thanks. If this magazine was sent to me by a well-meaning friend, then I say: not yet, friend. Not yet. If it was sent by a misinformed marketing company, then I'm not surprised.

While I usually read articles online, and get most of my information there, I do like the shiny new feel of a magazine. When I do read hard copies [at the library!] I read Canadian Living, Canadian Family, Chatelaine, Today's Parent, the occasional Martha Stewart Living and various wedding magazines to keep up on trends for work. 

How would you feel receiving this type of mag in the mail, unsolicited? Am I over-reacting [again]?

Olive Oil For Hair Too!

If you read my last post, you'll know I was enamored by AThriftyMrs's suggestion for oil and water as an eye make up remover. She's also done posts on egg and mayo in her hair as a conditioner. That was the inspiration for my own "mayonnaise" experiment.

While I usually have some form of mayo in the house, I only had salad dressing when I wanted to try this treatment. Of course. And since I didn't want to wait until I went grocery shopping again, I decided to improvise. (Is impatience the true mother of invention?)

What is actual mayonnaise but oil and egg, right?

I put equal amounts (okay, I eyeballed it - this isn't exactly rocket science, or baking ;-) of egg and olive oil in a cup. I then used my magic bullet mixer (I'm sure any blender would do) and mixed until the mixture was thick and creamy. It was not quite as thick as store-bought mayo, but definitely easier to manipulate than just egg or oil alone. I slathered this goop on my head, paying special attention to the ends, which are seriously splitsville. I left it on for about 20 minutes.

I read a chapter of this while waiting for the mayo-y goodness to steep. Yay for libraries!

I was worried that this would be stinky, sticky and gross, but was pleasantly surprised to find none of the above. After the initial "ick" factor of dipping my hand in to the cup, there was no more unpleasantness than any other leave-in treatment. It smelled like olive oil - surprise, surprise. Olive oil makes me think of bread and tomatoes so I was kind of jonesing for a picnic.

After a good wash and conditioner my hair was definitely shinier - not dull at all. Sadly, my ends are still nasty and I know the only cure is to cut them, but the frizz was GONE.

So, it's off to the salon for me!

Have you ever tried anything like this before? What's your fave homemade hair or beauty treatment?

Olive Oil For Homemade Beauty

I have to be honest, I'm not usually one to give beauty advice, but I do love trying out everyone elses. Especially if it's something homemade and natural.

One of my fave blogs is A Thrifty Mrs. She's so entertaining, informative and fun. She posts quite a bit about homemade...everything. One post that intrigued me was about the use of olive oil as a eye make-up remover. I had to try it. No, really - I had no eye make-up remover and some super stubborn mascara to get rid of.
She suggested the use of 1 part pre-boiled water to 2 parts olive oil and add a few drops of rose water. Shake well and use a cotton ball/pad to remove the eye make-up.

However, it was such a loooong walk from the computer to the kitchen [at least 4, maybe even 5 metres] that I somehow contorted all those "complicated" instructions and ended up with something like this:

1 part olive oil
2 parts pre-boiled water
Mixed both into a repurposed maple syrup bottle (every good Canadian household should have a couple lying around:)
Shake it before every use.
Be amazed!

I admit I was skeptical. I thought it would leave my eyes greasy and gross. Au contraire, mes amis. First of all, the make-up seemed to just slide right off, no serious rubbing necessary. A couple swipes and it was gone. I followed that by washing my face with my usual Noxema cream, avoiding my eyes, and by the time I had dried my face, any residual oil had absorbed into the skin around my eyes leaving it super soft, but not greasy. Amazing! Thank you, Thrifty!