Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety

Last night I went to an aromatherapeutics seminar at my yoga studio. My yogi lives a holistic lifestyle and practices aromatherapy. She explained that learning about what you put ON your body is just as important as what you put IN your body and what you DO with your body. It’s the next step in living a healthy, yogic lifestyle. While she may be at the extreme end of the scale I think its so important to educate ourselves and understand what toxins we're putting on our skin because it absorbs about sixty percent of what we put on it! Bodies are literally taking longer to decompose becuse of the amount of perservatives we are living with in our skin! Yuck!

Over the past year I’ve become very conscientious about what I put into my body. If you’ve read any of my posts (the Breakfast Smoothie, for example) you’ll know that I like to eat local, organic whole foods. I also like to feed my dog in a healthy and sustainable way (Dog Treats part 1 & part 2). What I didn’t realize is that I need to be just as careful about the cosmetics and beauty products I use. Without being very educated about the subject I already use aluminium free deodorant, cruelty free shampoo and conditioner and paraben free body wash but I never really considered the implications of all of the other products I use; makeup, face wash, toner and moisturizer.  

I love makeup. I always have. I have a vast array of products and enjoy shopping for them. This isn’t going to change but the choices I make are. My “knowledge” on the subject is very new to me and I don’t pretend to be an expert. I’d love to chat with an expert on the subject though, so if you are one and you’re reading this email us: writersthriftersanddrifters[at]gmail[dot]com.

Your Skin: The Basics

What you see on the surface is dead cells and your actual living skin is underneath. I think most of us already know this. So, putting creams and moisturizers on the skin’s surface has limited benefits. Drinking water, consuming healthy fats (flax oil, fish oil) and eating a well-balanced diet are what will truly give you supple and healthy skin. Let’s start by drinking enough water. How much is enough? My yogi said 2-3 litres/day depending on the amount of fruits and vegetables you consume. For comparison's sake the Livestrong website says eight 8-ounce cups/day which is a little less than 2 litres.

 Cosmetics

I'm not going to "out" any products here (mainly so we don't get sued haha) but I will say that I buy higher end makeup and skincare products. My yogi analyzed my foundation as actually being “okay” because its paraben free but I could tell she doesn’t exactly condone wearing foundation on a daily basis.  My bronzer on the other hand I am to throw out because it contains aluminium which causes Alzheimer’s. Great. After arriving home I realized that the second ingredient in my face wash is on the “bad” list. Another great because I have about a year supply and it’s not cheap.

So how do you know? Here is the list of things to avoid:

• Parabens 
• Aluminum 
• SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) also sometimes SLES
• Petroleum Distillates
• Phalates

Great Canadian (and American) Companies To Check Out

Some great companies to look into include Green Beaver (Canadian company out of Hawkesbury, Ontario), Kiss My Face (a natural, effective and cruelty free company out of New York state), Toms of Maine  (a well-established natural, sustainable company from Maine), SeventhGeneration  (a Canadian company working to eliminate toxins and consider the implications seven generations from now) and Rae Dunphy Aromatics (a Canadian wholesale company from out West which can be purchased at select retailers). It’s amazing how these natural companies don’t stop at using natural products but often incorporate certified organic products and are usually cruelty free; I love supporting a company that has a conscience and considers the bigger picture!

The problem is, of course, that these natural, healthy, organic, sustainable products come at a price tag. A high one. What can you do? I'd suggest making the products that you put on and leave on your skin a priority first (moisturizer, makeup) and things that are only on your skin briefly (shampoo, toothpaste) at the lower end of your scale. Create a balance that works for you.

Find Out What You’re Using

If you want to check out your products read the ingredients for the “red flag” ingredients. Then, go to Environmental Working Group (EWG) and enter your products into their cosmetics database of over 74,000 items. They even have an app so you can do a quick search while you’re in the drug store! EWG’s cosmetics database outlines the ingredients, level of concern and level of toxicity. (For example, my Eos  and Burts Bees aren't too bad! Yay! ). They also make it easy to find safe products and where to buy them.

Okay , Now That I’ve Thrown EVERYTHING OUT What Do I Do?

It’s unrealistic to purge every item in your medicine cabinet. You spent your hard earned pay cheque on this stuff! Start by getting rid of the really bad stuff (ie. the stuff that has the red flag ingredients or that comes up in RED on EWG) and work from there. Start to read the ingredients and peruse the health food aisle at Loblaw’s. Why not check out your local health food store next time you're in the area?

Moisturizer: I am going to invest in some jojoba oil for après shower moisturizing and virgin coconut oil (which smells divine if you love coconut but if you don’t try the non-virgin variety).  Alba (which you can buy at Loblaws!) has a lovely mango papaya moisturizer too. If you like to use petroleum based products (you know the one that starts with a V…) as a moisturizer try Burts Bees Baby Butt Cream instead. Don’t forget to drink water and try using a humidifier in the winter to eliminate dry skin.

Toner: Hydrosol toners that contain witch hazel distillate are supposed to be great! 

Makeup: Go to EWG and do some searching!

I hope this has been helpful and informative. Check out EWG and let me know what you think @jemcolborne. 

Gotta book it,

JEM

Book Review: The Rosie Project

WTD Rating: 3.5 stars
Quick Advice: An easy and enjoyable read despite a problematic characterization of an individual with Asberger's Syndrome.
Warning: Mild Plot Spoilers (AKA I discuss a few events in the book without ruining the ending)

The Rosie Project
Source: chrisbookarama

I feel like I heard so much about Graeme Simsion’s debut novel The Rosie Project this summer. I bought Where’d You Go Bernadette for a girlfriend’s birthday and the cashier said upon seeing my selection “have you read The Rosie Project? I think you’d like it too!” Ever since then I've been wanting to read it! I bought The Rosie Project for my mom for Christmas who read it with her book club and passed it on to me last week. At the same time she also gave me The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. When I asked her which to read first she said “The Rosie Project is an easy read but I have to say I preferred The 100 Year Old Man”. She didn’t elaborate but my hunch is that being a retired social work professor her reaction to The Rosie Project may be in part due to what I noted as a highly problematic oversimplification of an individual with Asperger’s syndrome. 

Love this hardcover copy of the book!
Source: tea-drinkingbookloverdiary

It seems readers either loved or hated this book but the vast majority of Goodreads readers seemed to love it! Reactions range from overwhelming admiration to shameful disgust in regards to how Simsion characterized the protagonist Professor Don Tillman. Don is a Professor, researcher, excellent cook, enthusiastic drinker and karate blackbelt who lives by a strict, unflinching schedule until he realizes its time to find himself a wife and thus begins The Wife Project and the total upheaval of his structured, predictable life.

Don is an indivudual who is living with Asperger’s syndrome. I don’t have a comprehensive understanding of Asperger’s syndrome however a google search of legitimate sources explains that it is an “autism spectrum disorder (ASD) considered to be on the “high functioning” end of the spectrum” (Austism Speaks). The Mayo Clinic (a great go-to medical source) states “Asperger's syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others” (The Mayo Clinic). Asperger’s is a neurological condition that is more common in males and is regarded as a developmental disorder. According to Behaviour Consultant, "idiosyncratic interests are common and may take the form of an unusual and/or highly circumscribed interest (e.g., in train schedules, snakes, the weather, deep-fry cookers, or telegraph pole insulators)" (Behaviour Consultant).  Simsion certainly integrates the social behaviours and the idiosyncratic interests into Don's character in The Rosie Project.

Don is never diagnosed with Asperger’s and never self-identifies as having the syndrome in The Rosie Project. However, Asperger’s comes up frequently in the text through Don’s research in genetics. When he finishes a presentation on Asperger’s in the beginning of the text the facilitator says pointedly to him: “remind you of anyone?”. Late in the text he does list his symptoms without coming to any concrete conclusions; he actually uses his symptoms as a method of analyzing what he needs to change in order to “get the girl”. This approach was really disappointing to me as a reader. Instead of having to change to find love I wish Don could have found love as himself. He accepts and loves Rosie despite being unsuitable for The Wife Project however he realizes that he will never be suitable to a woman without purposefully altering his social behaviour. 

Simsion’s explains his characterization of Don in an interview stating: “I didn’t want Don to be a syndrome. I wanted a living, walking character” (Library Journal).  The NY Times review states that Simsion “reminds us that people who are neurologically atypical have many of the same concerns as the rest of us: companionship, ethics, alcohol” (The New York Times). Obviously, my interpretation is completely opposite to that of Simsion and the NY Times. Where they see a normalization humanization of an "atypical" human being I see an author using stereotypical behaviour before manipulating and changing a character for the end result: love.

The Goodreads synopsis calls The Rosie Project “an international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor” (Goodreads). Truthfully, I can’t say I “felt good” after finishing it; I felt unsatisfied. Even the use of the descriptor “oddly charming” is a problematic to me. Why do we need to use language like "odd"? Instead of breaking down barriers and raising awareness Simsion deeks, ducks and avoids the critical issues raised by the book. After the first chapter I said to my boyfriend, Don is Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. Think about it: ShelDON. We find his quirks and personality traits “funny” and laugh at him when he makes inappropriate comments in public or has a chair or spot he has to sit in. Both characters are  “weird” and unfortunately society likes to laugh at weirdness instead of trying to accept and understand. Don Tillman is the literary Sheldon Cooper who studies genetics instead of Physics and makes his own food on a strict weekly schedule instead of eating pre-determined takeout.  All I can hear in my head now is Sheldon's vhoice exclaming "on Friday nights we eat Chinese food!"

Don's Sexy Literary Look-a-Like Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck)

Despite the problematic portrayal of the main character I have to say The Rosie Project can be very endearing at times. For a novel that was supposed to be a screenplay and was written in only four weeks Simsion accomplishes a lot. The book is wildly popular and is making its rounds throughout the world. The three focal projects: The Wife Project, The Father Project and The Rosie Project are all entertaining and I thorougly enjoyed the simple structure of the book. On the surface, The Rosie Project is an easy and enjoyable read. I liked the chemistry between Don and Rosie and the adventures they experience together are funny and charming. I felt a fondness and appreciation for Don and they way he lives his life. I don’t discourage you from reading the book I simply want to re-enforce what I always enforce as an English major; read critically and always ask questions! 

PS: If you loved The Rosie Project comment or tweet us! We love a good book discussion and welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Unemployment: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...for some things (not money)

It’s no secret that that job market for us recent grads is nothing short of craptacular. After months and months of searching—applying for countless jobs that I don’t particularly want and for which I am technically over qualified—I’m still coming up short. Throw me a bone, employment gods! Even an interview: I’m not even asking for a silver-platter job, just a potential light at the end of the dismal sewage tunnel that has been my job hunt.

But alas, for all my efforts I still find myself sitting home in the middle of the day, writing this blog in between episodes of Gilmore Girls. (Not that I don’t love GG or this fabulous vessel of social information; but, as far as I know, the government of Ontario will accept neither in barter for the student debt I owe…a shame indeed) And I realize that I’m not alone, since talking to friends alone reveals that people in my age group in varying fields are all undergoing an employment slump. We look at several online job boards, we network through sites like LinkedIn and family/friend connections, we even go old school and check out newspaper classifieds. What else can we do? Make the most of the time off, that’s what!

When you think about it, this is time we’ll never get back, this unemployment slump of ours, and that my friends is a beautiful thing. I say, we use it to pursue activities and dreams that we otherwise put off because we are too busy with our real world responsibilities. As we currently have none of those, let’s to the list and away for making the most of unemployment!

Read ALL THE BOOKS: Everyone has a “to read” list, whether it be the classics that everyone always talks about but you’ve never read, or new hot fiction at the front shelves of your local Indigo. Go out and READ! There’s no better time to do it.

Watch GOOD MOVIES:  Like with novels, there is always that list of movies that we always “mean” to see but never seem to have the time to. Go to your local library and rent them for free, and let the movie marathons begin!

 

Write for fun: Remember being a kid or teenager and keeping a diary, filled with the exciting day to day drama of who liked who, what she was wearing and he said what?! I used to love the freedom of putting my pen to paper, even if I was scrawling out nonsense, it was liberating to free the contents of my mind through recreational writing. We can have that again! Start a new diary or journal, write short stories or poems, anything that comes to mind! Though perhaps the content will be a little bit more mature at this point…

Try a new exercise: Generally gyms and personal trainers cost muchos dollars but that’s why Youtube is such a beautiful thing. I got started on Yoga by trying a few videos I found on Youtube, some put on by well known professionals like Jillian Michaels. Of course, trying new exercise on your own means you always have to be extra careful about not pushing your body to extreme limits, without someone there to guide you, but it’s a great way to try new methods of movement to see what you might like when and if one day you have the money to pay for real classes. And it helps me to get my rear off the couch, which is no easy feat.

Spend more time with the ones you love: Use this time to connect with those people that you don’t see as often as you should or would like. During my stint in unemployment, I make a regular effort to visit my grandparents, who are also home all day; the visit breaks up both of our regular routines, and it gives me a chance to get to know some really wonderful and interesting people even better. I also make afternoon playdates with my niece and nephew, which also corresponds to the previous “try a new exercise” suggestion because MAN ARE THEY A WORKOUT!

Pursue THAT THING you’ve always wanted to do but it’s more of a pipedream: Why not? What better time than now, when we have nothing to lose and tones of freedom to start on the road towards our ultimate dream jobs. Always wanted to be a novelist? Get brainstorming and writing! Is music your thing? Buy a tape recorder and start practicing! My ultimate, if-money-wasn’t-an-issue-and-we-lived-on-rainbows dream job would be screen writing: I happen to be 30 pages into writing a script of my own. Is it any good? Who knows, but there’s no better time to explore the possibilities.

Get together with two WONDERFUL friends and start an AMAZING blog: I think this one is pretty self explanatory.

Gotta book it,

JEM

Growing Up “Artsy” in a “Sporty” Family

I’m writing this blog today because of the picture I posted on our twitter feed for #motivationmonday. It really spoke to me and it's been guiding me all week. I can't stop thinking about it. I’m actually going to read the bigger work the quotation was taken from and I’ll let you know how it is. If you're interested the book is called Are You Ready to Dispel Fear, Seize Opportunity, and Attract the Success You’ve Only Dreamed of Until Now? by Fabienne Fredrickson and it's a "collection of compelling personal stories from top experts on how finding their life’s passion changed their lives, and how you can find yours too". Buy it here.

Source: Pinterest

Despite the fact that following my literary passion has provided me with a potentially “useless” Master’s degree in English according to some ridiculous scale created by Linkedin or Workopolis (think of an article called "The 30 Worst Degrees") and the slight detail that I haven’t “made it” yet I still think it’s important, essential really, to follow your passion in life. If you don't follow your passion you're wasting an amazing gift that you were given. Sometimes, as my yoga instructor reflected in Monday night’s class (life really does have a great sense of timing doesn’t it?) you have to “work for the man” as she called it, and put in your time, before you can truly follow your passion and be self sufficient. She is hesitant to leave her full time position to teach yoga exclusively because of her early failings as a young self-employed person. She explained that in life you need to have a solid foundation to work from before you can make those “bigger leaps” of passion. So, like my yogi, I am “working for the man” (“the man” in this case being my dad) and am building my foundation before I can follow my passion for writing. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it though. I’ve always tried to follow my passion despite growing up a “artsy” kid in a “sporty” family.

As a kid, I spent my free time writing stories, reading books and drawing. When I wasn’t doing these things I was obsessing over horses and often the two would intersect (I’d design barn layouts, write stories about horses, and read books about horses like Pony Pals and The Saddle Club – I was an artsy, horsey kid). These things came naturally to me and just felt right. Unfortunately, in my “sporty” family these things were pastimes not equal to sports like soccer or baseball and also weren't cultivated as gifts that could ever provide for me in the workforce. It's understandable, really, that practical minds think in practical ways.

One of the worst memories I have from my childhood is the basketball league I was forced to play in for two painful years in grades five and six. Not only are those awkward years for a growing girl but I was just plain terrible at the sport. I hated how rough and hard the basketballs were, (if I had to play I preferred volleyball at least they didn’t hurt as much when they hit you in the face), I sucked at dribbling, shooting and running. I couldn’t pass, catch or get out of the way fast enough. I remember running purposefully slowly down the court so I’d be out of the line of fire when my teammates were making a “big play”.  I was so bad that I actually caused a league-wide uproar when they had to trade a good player to our team to make up for my failings, subsequently breaking up a tight knit team that had been on a winning streak. The worst part was that the people from the league actually told me that I was the reason behind the trade like I couldn’t have figured it out on my own. My dad took to “practicing” with me on Saturday mornings to improve my skills. I never got better and started to resent my dad for pushing it on me. Now I hated Saturday AND Sunday mornings. 

My parents were adamant: sports were what you did to stay healthy and active. I remember one conversation with them on a canoe ride at my cottage (worse than a forced car ride talk! Where could I go... the lake?) about the upcoming school year and how I had to choose a sport to play. They said if I wasn’t more active I would be fat in my old age. I asked them if they thought I was overweight and they said well, yes. I have to say I was shocked. Great body image stuff for a preteen girl, right? The sad thing is I honestly don’t think I was overweight at the time. In their defence they truly just wanted me to be healthy and in their sporty minds joining a team was the only way a kid could get there. The irony of it all is that I would have died to spend my Sunday mornings at the barn mucking endless stalls and riding horses and I probably would have gotten more cardio trekking around the barn and carrying water and hay bales (doing something I enjoyed) than I ever did avoiding the ball on the court.

Source: Stall 101

Interestingly, as a twenty-something woman I’ve discovered that I do enjoy being active. I enjoy working out, doing strength training and cardio at the gym and I particularly love yoga. I love taking my dog for long walks and doing activities that allow me to focus on my health and well-being without all the bullshit that goes along with playing a sport. I like the calm and relaxation of going for a run or doing pilates that makes me feel at peace. In the same way that my brother feels high after a good game of hockey or soccer I love working out. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like to get my heartbeat racing or that I don’t want to sweat it out; it's that there are many ways to be healthy. I wish that someone had told me that when I was a kid. Instead, I felt like a big, uncoordinated failure and hated the S’s in gym that marked my otherwise straight-E report cards. 

So, whether it’s doing the exercises you like or pursuing the writing career you know is meant for you take time to think about following your passion this week. Whether your already have your strong foundation or you’re working on building one for yourself support yourself and believe in yourself because sometimes no one else will... and maybe no one else has to!

Source: Yoga Mats Adventure

Joblessness... the new depression.

Oh, God. It's been SO LONG since I've posted anything. Jeez.  I feel like a jerk.
Readers, if you're out there, show me some forgiveness.
I've been thinking about you. No, really, I have. And I made the executive decision 1, 2, 6, 23 times over the last few weeks that whatever I wanted to write about at that moment wasn't something you'd want to read.  'Cause most of it was bitching. Bitching about winter, bitching about my new workout regime... you get the point.
So now I'm not bitching. I'm just extending the hand of solidarity to so many of you out there who are going through the same thing: joblessness. Unemployment. The new depression.
At times-- like depression-- the shadow of joblessness recedes and you can almost forget that it plagues you at all. Then it crops back up, weighs you down, and rears its ugly head again. Every time you shudder to think of buying something (even if it's something you really need). Every time you think of your long term goals (like getting married or buying a house or travelling to Scotland). Every time you wake up in the morning and stare at the ceiling because you know there's a long day of boredom and frustration ahead of you.
Ontario's youth unemployment is among the worst in the country according to this CBC article. It's not surprising then that I know literally dozens of people in the same boat as me. Thousands of us, being scolded by our parents for "not trying hard enough", competing for crappy-wage positions that we are over-educated for, stuck in the quagmire of anxiety and shame and confusion as we battle with online applications, resumes, cover letters (those infernal beasts) and personality tests. We are the army of the unemployed. Hear us sigh.
What's more, joblessness can play real tricks on your head. Sometimes, I feel a tiny little piece of me that doesn't actually want to get hired. There's still a child in there somewhere petrified of the 9-5, terrified of waking up at 82 and thinking "wow, that's it?", afraid of getting fired for incompetence, scared of waking up in the morning and dreading going to work, put off by the possibility of insomnia and disturbed dreams that I often get when I'm stressed at my workplace (when I'm employed.) There's enough anxiety knock Dwayne The Rock Johnson on his ass.
The sheer boringness of it all doesn't help. There's never anything new or exciting to relate to friends or family. "What have you been up to?" is about the lamest question someone can ask me nowadays. Don't even get me started on the eating for boredom. If there's one thing unemployment has exposed, is that I have a only-slightly-under-control food addiction that encourages me to stuff endless quantities of sweets into my mouth, one after the other, after the other.
But I don't know what anyone is to do about it. It would be great to hop on the Righteous Indignation train and ride it all the way to the EI office (not that I'd qualify). I don't really understand how the government could fix this. People who argue it's all the boomers' fault don't really make a clear argument. I'd love to sling some blame around, but the thing about joblessness is that after seven long months, you stop looking for other people to blame and start thinking: "...is it me?"

Gotta book it for now
xox
JEM