July 2020 - Old Busted Hotness

A Better Way to Help Maskne

Good Advice, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 312020

With the advent of having to or choosing to wear masks in public, a new word has entered our lexicon. . . maskne. This, of course, is acne due to the wearing of a mask. If you have acne-prone skin, anything disturbing it will tend to cause breakouts. But even those not normally prone to acne are seeing zits, inflammation and redness due to the conditions created by wearing a mask. Our facial skin is used to being out in the open. And, by the way, this is NOT a should you or should you not wear a mask. This is a better way to help maskne.

Standard Stuff

You can always use the standard OTC acne treatments. These things are chemical farms, though, and I’ve had enough of that stuff on my skin to last three lifetimes. But, again, many of them DO work and, if it’s your only option, you may want to try it. CAUTION: If you are over the age of 20, please do NOT use Clearasil. It’s made for super oily teen skins and will turn you into the Sahara Desert unless your face is normally an oil slick. There is a better way to help maskne.

My New Way Begins With Lavender

So now we get to my favorite method, essential oils. Do they help? Research says yes. And one of the words I use most often in my oily adventure is LAVENDER. I think if I only had one bottle of essential oil it would have to be lavender although I’m not a big fan of the smell. (Getting more used to it, though.) I put it on my itchy bug bites last night and wham, bam, thank you ma’am. . . they stopped itching. It’s good for all kinds of skin things, acne being only one of them. Since we’re not supposed to touch our faces, put it on a cotton ball and spot treat. It’s a super gentle oil.

Tea Tree Oil

Lavender DOES have some competition in the acne department, though. The biggest contender is TEA TREE OIL, another one I can’t stand the smell of. LOL Despite the smell, its healing benefits are legendary. Add one to two drops of this oil to a cotton ball and spot treat. You can also dilute it if your skin is super sensitive. Dilution of an essential oil with a carrier oil does NOT reduce its effectiveness. NOTE: If you have oily skin normally and not just in our age of masks, don’t use coconut oil for carrier oil as it can clog your pores.

Frankincense

One of my faves, FRANKINCENSE, can also be used to combat maskne. The boswellic acids contained in this beautiful oil are capable of soothing inflammation and killing the bacteria that causes acne (P. acnes).

Thyme

And my favorite nightly back rub, THYME, is also a champion of the cause. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that Thyme is an effective way of killing P. acnes. NOTE: Do NOT apply Thyme to your eyes or get it near them.

Rosemary

ROSEMARY has also been shown to damage P. acnes. It’s is currently being studied in the lab as an antifungal, too.

Cinnamon (or Cinnamon Bark)

CINNAMON (cinnamon bark) is good for more than baking. It’s also proven effective at fighting P. acnes. There have been studies that seem to show a reduction in menstrual pain as another benefit to this wonderful sniff.

A little research will turn up a few others in your search for a better way to help maskne.

Sadly, Maskne is here to stay for a while. So grab your favorite essential oil and have at it! You should also check the video below for tips on how to properly wear and care for your mask.

DISCLAIMER (1): I am NOT a medical or scientific professional and nothing you find on this page is intended as medical advice, nor is it a substitute for professional medical care. References are given for certain statements and facts which are not my own. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

DISCLAIMER (2): I am a Young Living Independent Representative. If you follow the links for the various essential oils you will end up on a website with my member number on it. If you follow it and purchase, I will receive a small portion of the sale. My member number is 18641551 if you’d like to join me on my oily adventures. 🙂

Email Marketing Gone Wild (or nuts!)

Rant Lite, Rants, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 242020

My email box is overflowing with ad after ad after ad. Okay. I get it. Retailers are in business to sell product and online buying has blossomed during the pandemic. In fact, so many people are buying online that many small-to- medium brick and mortars are closing their doors for good while Jeff Bezos and his Amazon Empire get richer and richer. Sad, but the way it is right now. And just like everyone else, I’m shopping online more and more. These retailers send me emails. LOTS of emails. Six or more per day. Why are they bugging the snot outta me? Folks, this is email marketing gone wild.

Is Email Marketing Even Still Relevant?

Yes, I believe it is. Even in this day of texts, FB ads and Instagram, there’s still a place for emails. Plus, you don’t have to make the extra click as you do on a text ad to see the product. You can see it right on the email in most cases. Yes, you have to click if you want to explore further, but you can make that decision almost immediately. And everyone checks their emails, right? Don’t you do that first thing in the morning? I do.

The Old Reliables

There are reliable companies like L.L. Bean. One email every other day, maybe every day if they’re running a hot sale. No “Hey, you forgot this!!!” No “Why are you not buying? Do you hate us now?” None of that. Just an email a day or every other day pointing out something they think I might like or that’s on sale. And I can deal with this. I even like it. They are a good, reliable retailer with quality products, fair prices and fast delivery. And they don’t bombard me with useless emails!!!

The Repetitive Emails

I subscribe to a lot of stores because, buying online, I want the best deals possible. I don’t mind one email a day with features and special purchases. In fact, these emails are welcome. BUT SIX TO TEN A DAY? Cut me a break!!! I had to ditch one place that sent one every single hour on the hour for 24 hours straight. Do they really think this “pester marketing” is going to win them loyal customers? They must.

The Reminder Emails

It used to be if you looked at something but didn’t purchase, a day or two later you’d get an email saying it was available if you were still interested. Nice. Friendly. Non-intrusive. And if you were lucky, they’d offer you a small discount to go and complete your order. Now? Within an hour (sometimes minutes) after looking at something, I get, “Hey, did you forget this?” or “This is yours, right?” or “You left this in your cart!” And if I don’t go purchase the product more emails come in a regular progression throughout the day. To answer the questions they feel they must ask, “No, I did not forget this” and “No, it’s not mine as I haven’t bought it” and “No, I didn’t leave it in my cart. I don’t want it.”

The Guilt Emails

The ones that really get me are the ones that attempt to hang the guilt. . . on the CUSTOMER!!! Again, haven’t purchased in a while. I got one that said, “Why don’t you like us anymore?” And then there was, “Did we do something to make you hate us?” That was a good one, even I have to admit. No in both cases. Maybe I just don’t need anything right now. Novel concept, eh?

The Threat Emails

So I don’t buy something from a company for maybe a week. Then cometh, “We’re going to have to drop you from our email list since we haven’t heard from you.” HUH? Wanna drop me? Go for it! If you hit me with this one I don’t want your stinkin’ emails or product anyway.

So What’s the Answer?

STOP SENDING SO MANY @(&$&)(@*#$ EMAILS!!! Quite truthfully, if you bombard me with 10-12 emails a day, I’m off to a competitor to find that product. You just lost a sale. Do you care? Probably not. How do I know this? HERE COMES ANOTHER EMAIL!!!!

Retailers send you way too many emails to get you to buy something!

‘Wow! I’ve got one from someone I know!’

The Little Girl Who Still Asks Why

Life's Little Observations, Rant Lite, Uncategorized 4 Responses »

Jul 172020

As a child I always asked why. I was a pain about it. I am still the little girl who asks why. I was a pain in the butt as a child. Everyone around me got tired of me asking questions. It was an Olympic sport with me. The family thought I would be a journalist as I was the princess of What, Where, Why, When and How. Probably should have been. I was one of those kids who just had to know. As I grew, I realized that some questions just don’t have answers. It saddened me then; it saddens me now. And even as an old lady, inside of me is the little girl who still asks why.

Recent Events

So many recent deaths have taken a toll on my psyche. Young beautiful people, successful people, and now they’re gone. Some are a bit older. Some are very old and have lived a good long life. And as we know, all good things must come to an end. But when that end comes way too soon, you start to question why. And why now? Is there something in the air besides COVID-19? Are we going through a planetary shift? Climate Change? Oooops, there I go again. But. . .WHY?

When Money Doesn’t Cut It

My mom used to tell me, “You can’t buy happiness,” to which I usually shot back, “Maybe not, but it makes the misery more bearable.” Does it? After the alarming rate of young folks with money leaving this earth, I honestly think she was right and I was wrong.

I don’t pretend to have any type of knowledge of the whys and the wherefores of this world. That’s the department of a higher power well above my pay grade. But it sure makes you wonder why someone like Naya Rivera, by all accounts a good mom who worshiped her son, couldn’t get back in that boat. She made sure her baby was safely in and then, for whatever, reason, she slipped away. Why did she have to go? Where was that one last push of gargantuan strength that many say saves them?

There I go again, the little girl who still asks why.

A young man like Brandon Keough. He looks so much like his famous Grandpop (Elvis Presley) it’s scary. By all reports a nice and talented young man from a famous and talented family. Took his own life. Why? What was missing in his life? He didn’t suffer, as most of us define suffering. Or did he? Why did he feel suicide was the only way out? According to a lifelong friend, he felt the pressure to carry on the Presley name, especially since he looked so much like Elvis. His friend said it was an overwhelming force on Brandon. So sad.

Others Taken From Us

Actress, wife and mother Kelly Preston passed on the other day from breast cancer. She was only 57. She hadn’t finished raising her children. Why her? Why now?

Nick Cordero, 41, a bright star on Broadway and a reported great guy who would give you the shirt off his back. He fell victim to COVID-19 and went through three months of hell before his lungs gave up the ghost. He left a wife and a one-year-old baby. Why him? Why now?

And the disaster that opened up this strange year in January 2020, Kobe Bryant. Whatever you thought of Kobe, he was only 41 and way too young to go. He left a wife and three kids. One daughter died with him. Why them? Why now?

There I go again, the little girl who still asks why.

The Ones Who Went the Distance

We lost a lot of “old folks” in the past few months, too. I don’t feel so bad about these people. They got to live a long life and left an enduring legacy. What more can you ask for? I think my question here is why did they make it when others didn’t? What spark did they have that let them live into their 80s, 90s and beyond? Good genes? Maybe. I’m talking about people like . .

Jerry Stiller
Carl Reiner
Little Richard
Ian Holm
Buck Henry
Kirk Douglas
Orson Bean
Charlie Daniels

What did they have that was special? Why did they live so long?

If you want a more complete list of who we’ve lost in 2020, click here.

And Then There’s Me

I guess you could call it survivor’s guilt. I was supposed to be dead at 30. Then again at 45. Then I went for the hat trick at 50. So why am I still here when others who battled with me are not? I’m not so special. But here I sit and so many others are just memories. A nurse said to me one time, “Well, honey, you have a family to raise.” So did the others. I feel blessed to be sitting here writing this, but I still ask why the others are not here with me.

If you have any answers for me, please put them in a comment. Maybe there are no answers. And maybe I’m just doomed to be the little girl who still asks why to the questions that have no answers, except for those that are blowin’ in the wind.

A Woman’s Talent Depends on Size

Life's Little Observations, Musings, Rant Lite, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 102020

Today a woman's worth or talent hinges on her being able to wear an itsy bitsy teenie weenie bikini The words *hot bikini bod* can cause my hot (not so) bikini blood to boil. Everywhere you look these days, all folks want of women is a hot bikini bod. Cut me a break!!! Men can have a beer belly, hair sprouting everywhere and be bowlegged, yet they will still be reviewed based on their talent. Women? No hot bikini bod, no talent. Sadly, in our society a woman’s talent depends on size.

What They Want

You would think that Carrie Underwood would fit the bill of what they want perfectly. She’s young, gorgeous, ripped after two kids and can tear up a song like nobody’s business. Looks? Check. Brains? Check. Bod? Check. Talent? Well, depends on if she bulges in that bikini or not. As long as she has that hot bikini bod, yeah, she’s talented.

The Older Folks

Melanie Griffith, a talented actress, is 62. Want to know what’s the only headline I’ve seen on her recently? “Melanie Griffith, 62, stuns in sports bra.” Forget the talent. Let’s gawk and gape at that sports bra. Yes, she looks good for 62 and, yes, she was wearing a sports bra. Stuns? She looked fairly ordinary to me. And just in case the question is burning a hole in you, she had on a rather plain pair of khaki shorts under that sports bra.

Elizabeth Hurley. She was a model. I don’t expect her to have instantly morphed into an old hag. And like most models, she’s skinny skinny. Headline, please. “Elizabeth Hurley, 54, stuns in sexy Versace dress from 21 years ago.” Here we go with that “stuns” crapola again. My first thought when I saw this was. . . why is she wearing an old dress? If you guess it’s because I’ve never owned a Versace, you’d be right.

Almost Old Folks

Let’s move into some folks who aren’t quite old yet, but are old for today’s society. If you watch the Real Housewives (yeah, right) TV shows, you’ve probably heard of Kim Zolciak. She doesn’t impress me, but she’s a mom of six and still has a pretty hot figure. So here’s the last headline I saw: “Kim Zolciak celebrates her 42nd birthday in a tiny pink bikini.” Kim may have had on a tiny pink bikini, but all I saw was boobs. Let’s just say the gal is well-endowed by her creator.

Another old lady at 42 is “Mad Men’s” January Jones. Headline: “‘Mad Men’ star January Jones, 42, stuns in nautical-inspired bikini.” And, yes, she DID look phenomenal in that bikini. I’ll admit it. But forget about her character on “Mad Men.” What acting talent? Just look at that bod! And what is it with that word “stun” these days? I think some of the so-called reporters gawking at these bods need to get hit with a stun gun!

Young Stuff

And now on to someone I had to look up. Never heard of Francesca Farago. She’s all of 26. What caught my eye, though, wasn’t the headline. . . “’Too Hot To Handle’ star Francesca Farago shows us her new bikini line”. . . but the fact that her entire arse was hanging out of that line! I mean the whole thing. Could that be what people were looking at? Ya think?

THE ULTIMATE

Okay. I admit I’m jealous here. The girl is only two years younger than me. I’m speaking about the incredible Christie Brinkley. She’s always been beautiful. You won’t get any arguments from me there. She’s taken to showing off pics of herself in bikinis with her much younger adult daughters to prove she’s still got it, so. . . “Christie Brinkley, 65, flaunts incredible bikini bod.” (That was last year, BTW. She’s now 66.) Okay. We get it. She’s got it. She has fandamtastic genes. She will never look her age, but she’s still 66 and, if she ever allows a pic of herself without makeup, unretouched and close up, you’ll see it. However, I’d bet the house and the dog on the fact that she’ll never look really bad or really old.

So How’s YOUR Hot Bikini Bod?

Oh, you don’t have a hot bikini bod? Sure, you do. It’s said that to have a hot bikini bod, take your bod, put it in a bikini and go out on a beach where it’s hot. HAH! But seriously, if you’re a senior and don’t look quite like Christie Brinkley, it’s okay. You’re YOU and there is no one else out there like you. Got wrinkles? You’ve earned them. Got gray hair? You worked for it! Got rolls? You’re a busy woman who doesn’t live in the gym and likes the occasional snack, so of course you do. And I’m sure you have many talents that may never be spoken of.

This country needs to get real. Nobody focuses on a woman’s talent, only her body. And if you still don’t believe me, have you seen Adele recently? This girl can SING!!! She was an extreme talent when she was bigger than what society wants to see. She’s always been an extreme talent. But the world went gaga when she dumped a ton of weight recently. No mention of her extreme talent, just her body. It’s sad really.

So. . . get that bikini, that tankini, that one-piece, that swimdress or whatever you’re comfortable in and take your (OLD) hot bikini bod out on the beach. Nobody’s really looking anyway. They’re too worried about their own hot bikini bod and, God forbid, if any flab is showing. Enjoy yourself!

Hard to believe this was 60 years ago, right?

Setting and Not Setting Goals

Life's Little Observations, Musings, Serious Stuff, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 032020

Do you set goals? If not, you're hurting yourself. Do you set goals? Or do you go off half-cocked and what happens happens? I know many folks of both persuasions and I’ve seen success and failure in both groups. While some folks do better intensely focused on a goal, others throw it all up in the air and work with what hits the ground. It’s been the fight of my life, setting goals or not setting goals

A Little Background

I was never a goal setter. I’m not even sure why. I was an expert at tossing it all up in the air and working with what came down. I did pretty well. . . most of the time. And it seemed like every time I DID set a goal, I didn’t make it. So I stopped even trying.

The Teacher

And then I met a wonderful woman who became my mentor for 13 years in a business that I was pretty successful in. She was a BIG goal-setter. She really tried with me. I’m more than a bit of a hard case. She explained, cajoled, taught and begged me to set a goal and follow through. So I did. And I blew every last one of them, thus proving my point that my balls in the air method was better for me. She never bought it. She has now passed from this earth and she kept trying to focus me until the day she left us. She didn’t succeed.

Failure and Settling Become the Norm

I tried a succession of things, not setting goals except for wanting to succeed. Did I? Mildly. But it wasn’t the type of success I wanted. I would get into trainings and they would tell me to *identify my strengths.* I was like, “Hmmm, procrastination, no concentration, a mind that constantly yells SQUIRREL. . . you mean like that?” No, that’s not what they meant. I could not focus on a goal and, therefore, I didn’t make much. I didn’t entirely fail, but I was far from successful. So I settled for what I got and called it a day.

New Passion

And then I found something I desperately needed for my own health. I was NOT going to make a business out of it. Nope, no way. I was happy with things just the way they were. But I wasn’t satisfied. There IS a difference.

And Then Things Changed

One day I sat up and said, “Hey, why not? I can do this.” But still no goal. Toss it up in the air and see what falls out. As you can expect, the answer to that is not much. But I was getting my name out there. And all the while, there was this voice whispering in the back of my mind, “You need a goal to meet, woman!” The other voice argued back, “NO!!! No goal. I’m going to fail!!!” And then I heard a third and wiser voice that said, “You can’t even fail if you don’t try.”

So Now There is a Goal

I dragged myself kicking and screaming towards a goal. I set one. Still didn’t work. Why? Not specific enough. I figured it I made it broad enough, it would give me some wiggle room. You don’t need wiggle room. You need a goal to reach for. A specific goal.

So Now There is a Specific Goal

Okay, okay, I did it. Did I want to? Hell, no!!! But. . . I couldn’t avoid those meddling voices in my head any longer. The one voice said, “Set a goal and you will fail once more!” The other one yelled in retaliation, “Don’t set a goal and you will fail once more!” Since I had more experience with not setting a goal, I decided I owed it to myself to try the other one. So now, would you believe, I have TWO goals? One short-term and one long-term. They are both specific, the short-term more so than the long-term goal. But they are both workable and they need a sense of focus that I hope and pray I can still pull out at my age.

What Next?

Work towards that short-term goal. What happens if I don’t make it? I refocus and try again. One thing my goal-oriented mentor of long ago taught me that DID get through my thick skull is that it’s okay to modify a goal. I intend to keep that in mind.

How About You?

So which one are YOU? Are you setting goals or not setting goals? If you’re a goal-setter, please leave me a comment and tell me what works for you. This old dog intends to learn new tricks. But maybe I should have said old cat. Watch this guy. He knows how to set that goal and SCORE!!! 🙂