Still no snow day, but I'm thankful for the two-hour delay we did get. I just really hope we'll get to have sledding and a snowman at some point this winter. It'd be sad to miss out on that...
In other news, it's the last Tuesday of January. Wow! Time flies (sort of). Here's what's on today's soundtrack:
I realized it was officially winter when, halfway through third period, my knuckles started bleeding. Fortunately, my sweater sleeves were long enough that I was able to disguise the desert that is my skin, but the whole cracking/bleeding/burning thing was nevertheless not fun at all.
www.prevention.com
My mum actually had to bring emergency moisturizer (*cue superhero theme song*) with her in the car when she picked me up after school, and now I carry a lovely little bottle of Shikai hand cream in my backpack. #becausebleedingisbad
www.iherb.com
But the great thing (and I'm not being sarcastic here) about dry skin is that moisturizer isn't the only solution!! As it turns out, it can be combined with a multitude of other things to help make flaky flesh less disturbing and painful. Without further adieu, here are some tips for saving your skin, one dry-skinned person to another:
Use warm water instead of really hot water. This can be especially difficult during the winter because the idea of hot water is particularly enticing when it's really cold outside, but hot water isn't very good for the natural oils of your skin and therefore will prevent it from staying hydrated later on.
Apply moisturizer immediately after washing your hands. Even if you're at school, wash your hands and return to class from the bathroom to put on some moisturizer. This really does do a lot for the skin. It's saved me from bleeding during many a lecture period.
Gloves! I actually have a pair of cute little arm warmers that I wear sometimes when my skin is particularly bad. They're fun to look at, soft, and not only protect my hands but also disguise the fact that they look like California during a drought.
Gloves at night! Take some moisturizer, put it on, and then pull on a pair of gloves. They'll trap the moisture so you wake up to nice, soft skin in the morning. Spa time, anyone?
Drink more water. This is one of those suggestions that you hear all the time. (Headache? Drink water. Bloated? Drink water. Irritable? Drink water.) But it's also a really good suggestion. I actually have two reusable water bottles with me at school today so I can be sure that I don't run out. Having a dry throat and dry hands is just way too much dryness.
Be gentle. Don't dry your hands off roughly. They're in a very fragile place and need to be treated as such. Pat them dry. Don't scrub too hard when washing them.
Hopefully some of these tips will be able to help you deal with your chronic dermal dryness! Best of luck to you and your skin!
The snow that I was hoping would earn us another day off from school today has apparently been delayed until tomorrow (that means we're doing the snow dance tonight, by the way), and I'm both excited about the possibility of some local wintry weather and hopeful that those experiencing the Nor'easter are going to be okay.
www.topwalls.net
Weather is so dynamic...in one part of the country, everything's fine and people are almost wishing there would be some snow, and a few states up people are being blasted with blizzard conditions. And don't even get me started about all the horrors of global warming...maybe we'll save more of that for another post.....
63 years of climate change, according to NASA. Image from www.bgr.com.
On a less traumatizing note, it's the last week of January 2015. That means we'd better start writing "2015" instead of "2014" on everything because, whether we like it or not, the year is sticking around for the next eleven months. Has anyone lived up to their resolution yet? Has anyone forgotten their resolution yet? Has anyone changed theirs? I'm not entirely sure what mine was--it keeps changing every time I think about it--so I've decided that I perhaps promised myself to just work hard, do well, etc. Yes, very vague, very broad, very simple.
I hope you have a happy Monday! Stay warm!
Midterms are over! Thank God. Now comes the painful "wait" period between turning tests in and getting them back, and as much as I'd like to leave my study-coma, I'm tempted to remain within it because I know that I can't let myself study any less vigorously than I did for the midterms. #APproblems
Complaints aside, though, I hope that everyone had a nice Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I did some homework (and a little procrastinating, LOL), attempted to actually draw backgrounds for the characters that I draw (usually I just leave everything behind them on the paper completely blank--not any more!), and helped my mum around the house (folding laundry is surprisingly therapeutic!). I also got to keep up with my running streak. I've gone running for about 20 minutes every day for the past few weeks, and it's done a lot as far as anxiety is concerned. Though I did still get one new acne for each midterm I took last week....
Because it's another back-to-work/school morning, here's some music:
The Postal Service: "Such Great Heights"
The Cure: "Pictures of You"
Jasmine Thompson: "Demons" (Cover of Imagine Dragons)
We had a snow day off from school yesterday (which has unfortunately resulted in the cancellation of one of our precious previously-scheduled days off), and, between helping in my mum's class and studying for midterms (I have an AP science one today--wish me luck!), I managed to find some time to rediscover some "vintage" music from the 1990s. As it's a #ThrowbackThursday and I've started wearing butterfly clips in my hair to keep loose strands down, it seems like the perfect day for a 1990s-era soundtrack.
Mazzy Star: "Fade Into You"
The Smashing Pumpkins: "Today"
Sinéad O'Connor: "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Cover of Prince)
Today is the first day of midterm exams for me in my university-level classes, and to say that I'm anxious would be a complete understatement. However, just as it's important to study (so much studying!), it's also crucial to take some moments of break time just to give your brain a chance to recuperate and file everything properly. Music helps me take these emotional/mental pit stops. Here's what's on Tuesday's soundtrack...
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Maps"
(The lead singer was crying real tears in this video...the person she wrote the song for hadn't showed up for video filming to watch her perform, and she thought she'd been stood up and was brokenhearted!)
Cat Power: "Sea of Love"
Lykke Li: "Tonight"
Sigh. Thank you, music! Now I get to return to thermodynamics and nation-states....
