Help Your Communities

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I don’t have grand delusions of having some gigantic platform. Written content isn’t as performant as mind-numbing short-form video slop, after all. But I do have this itty-bitty one, and there’s an aspect of stewardship that says if you can, you should.

Many Americans experience food insecurity. Too many. Hell, you may be one or may have been one.

On Saturday, November 1st, help that normally arrives on the first of the month is not coming due to the federal government shutdown. Demand for food pantries and community support, as a result, is already surging and will continue to do so.

On top of SNAP being unavailable, the number of furloughed federal workers AND federal workers who are required to continue to work without pay (Air Traffic Controllers, TSA, etc) will increase demand on these support systems.

This may be someone you know. This certainly is someone who benefits your life directly or indirectly.

So! Call to Action:

First: If you have vulnerable folks in your life, check on your people. If you’re in a position to help them directly, help them. If not, help them find resources that can help them.

If you can contribute to your local food bank(s), do that! If you need to identify your local food pantries, Feeding America can help you find them. Then, if you can contrbute:

  • 🥫 Food & Goods – this is is great!
    • 🪥 Hygiene Supplies – ESPECIALLY menstrual hygiene supplies (not covered by SNAP anyway).
      Strained household budgets that could once cover these products are now going to food. These products are EXPENSIVE and CRITICAL, so consider helping with those if you can.
  • 💵 Money – This is even better since they can stretch a dollar further than we can.
    • 🏢 If you work for a corporate employer, many offer donation matching! If you donate to a registered nonprofit, you may be able to get your employer to match. That is a huge help right now.
  • ⏳ Time – Increased demand for support resources means pantries need more hands on deck. Call yours to see what help they need.
    • Check out Food Rescue. They have an app that connects volunteers with grocers or restaurants who have food that can still be used but that they would have to get rid of and to organizations that can take and put it to use promptly while it is still good. Some communities have their own version – my area is not on this site but has its own.
    • 🏢 If you work for a corporate employer, some even offer paid time off for volunteering. Mine offers two paid work days off per year to volunteer. You’d be surprised what you can do with sixteen hours.

This isn’t someone else’s problem. This is in your backyard. You can help.

Worth It? ecoTools Daily Brush Cleaner

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ecoTools Daily Brush Cleaner

Precious few of us wash our makeup brushes as often as we should – but ecoTools Daily Brush Cleaner makes it easier for me to pull off.

Although washing our brushes at least weekly is high up there on the list of things we can do to improve both our application and skin’s health, a lot of us non-professionals just don’t do that. It is a bit silly when you think about it: caring for your tools – whether they are makeup tools or powertools – helps them last longer and perform better.

I used to use Cinema Secrets to buy time between proper soap washes, but when I saw that ecoTools, a more accessible and affordable brand, had a similar product (their ecoTools Daily Brush Cleaner), I wanted to try it out. Both less expensive and easier to get, it seemed a good fit as long as it worked.

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How DARE They: L’Oreal Telescopic Formula

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L'Oreal Telescopic has a new, crappier formula. It's dead to me.

For the first time, I wish something had been discontinued: L’Oreal tampered with the L’Oreal Telescopic formula.

Huh…That’s Weird

When I had to travel earlier this year, I picked up a fresh tube of L’Oreal Telescopic in Carbon Black because I worked through my stash (I bought a few tubes on sale a while ago). I thought I had mixed up tubes because I noticed it wasn’t applying the way I’d expect a fresh tube. And, weirdly, it wasn’t removing as easily despite using the same tools. At the time, I was on the opposite coast; perhaps the water was different? Or, Occam’s Razor: I left the new tube at home.

After all, L’Oreal Telescopic was reliable – it lengthened, separated, and simultaneously did not smear but did remove easily at the end of the day. It was super accessible – drugstore, Ulta, Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon – you name it, you could find it.

What Gives, L’Oreal Telescopic?

That wasn’t it. I bought another tube this month. Still didn’t remove easily. Going at it with a makeup removing cloth and warm water removed maybe 20% of it – I still had stubborn product clinging desperately to my lashes for dear life.

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Use a Contact Lens Case for Travel Products

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Use contact lens cases for travel products and toiletries and save money!

In June, to my dismay, I had to travel for work for the first time in five years. It was my first flight at all in five years – so I was well out of practice doing things like creatively stuffing a quart bag with toiletries. I saw some awesome wisdom from frequent flyers to use contact lens cases for travel and stop blowing money on waste generating, expensive price-per-ounce/mL travel sizes.

Let me explain.

Times Change

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WOW: ILSO Super Melting Sebum Softener

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I explored SO much in my early days of discovering beauty and skincare, I don’t encounter too many products that blow me away these days. But I had a chance to try a new K-Beauty product that blew me away: ILSO Super Melting Sebum Softener.

Managing Sebaceous Filaments

I’ve talked about sebaceous filaments a lot on this blog. I’ve derided Biore strips and similar products. I find that managing them with a good cleansing routine, a silicone facial cleansing brush or washcloth (yes, a washcloth) keeps them sufficiently in check.

ILSO Super Melting Sebum Softener (long, name, I know – we love them here) is a thin, watery solution in a twist-top dispenser bottle. I got the kit linked above, which comes with some thin woven cotton pads. You saturate those pads with the solution and then lay onto your skin in your target area ensuring good contact with your skin. It is easy and not messy.

Then, do something else for ten minutes. When those ten minutes are up, you remove the saturated strip and go about your extractions. ILSO sells the pusher/scraper tool for this separately (it came in my kit), but they mention that you can alternatively use cotton swabs. I used a metal extraction tool I already had since I wasn’t (yet) sure how to use the tool.

ILSO Super Melting Sebum Softener Blew My Mind

And oh my god, the amount of stuff that just glided off my skin with no pressure! I was and am awestruck. Normally, when I do extractions even with steam, I have to apply some pressure with my tools or use tweezers to remove individual sebaceous filaments. Not so with this.

I saw some other reviews wondering if the stuff that comes away is just the product. No – it isn’t. I know. It is night and day.

Now, I will say that it may not be for everyone. My sebaceous filaments tend to slightly firm up and I can feel them if I touch my nose. I can often tweeze and remove them (and often do as part of how I manage them). That isn’t the case for everyone. If it isn’t for you, then this might not blow your mind.

I’m super curious about whether this could have any impact on keratosis pilaris. That’s next on my list to try, and I’ll report back on that.

Price

This is a pricier product in my lineup these days – but it is outstanding at its stated use case.

The kit I got is currently nearly $40, but that comes with the tool. If you don’t want the tool or are restocking, it is around $25. Their strips are convenient, but if you run out of those before you run out of the solution, you can buy more or just use thin cotton pads like these, which I keep on hand to use for nail polish remover.

The Bottom Line

My nose is eerily smooth even two days later. It’s hard not to want to touch it in disbelief. I don’t yet know how frequently I will use this, but I suspect around 1-2x per month. I’ll report back if that estimate is wrong. Even if it is once a week it is incredible! I also expect this bottle to last me at least 6 months.