Mortem's Apothecarium: A Hairy Situation.

Lots of things have been happening.
So much, that I am deciding to trickle it throughout the subsequent posts so as to not overwhelm my blog with too many of my life updates. Plus I lose a lot of writing steam when I make the posts too "private life" specific.

It's been a while since I posted in my apothecarium, I've been taking a short break from my sewing since the first projects to come out of my awesome and most fabulous sewing room were two of those dreaded totes I kept making in New Mexico. How ironic that one of them is made with Cowboys material, though they're both shipping back to NM...

I hope they're the last two I'll make in a really long time. These make my 9th and 10th totes, and if you know me, you'll know I absolutely detest making something that many times... but I am a people pleaser, and if I can make people happy then I am quick to say yes.
I am often asked how I don't burn out sooner from sewing, it's simply because I keep my projects fresh and new. When I don't, I do burn out as thus.

Anyway, Texas has taught me a lot about myself in the short month or so... like, I never knew my allergies could get any worse than they were.
It's been so bad that my entire body was thrown off tune. I was exhausted everyday, though I don't even have a job except to keep the house tidy. My eyes burn, my skin itches and I sneeze all. The. Damn. TIME. With being so exhausted, and not feeling so attractive because of it all I have really neglected my image.

So I began tackling my problems one minor symptom at a time, starting with my hair.

The most I did/do with my hair these days is throw it into a tail and make pretend beards with it...
It was all I could do! Something in my body was whacky!

Though it seems that by saying something went whacky, I suddenly grew hair in odd places... no, it is not so, heh. My hair was oily. Not in the "starting to look a little rough" kind of two day oil, but in the "Did one of BP's carriers have an oopsie on your head?!"

Call the clean up crew, this one's a doozy

It was clunky, chunky and really dang gunky. Washing my hair everyday only exacerbated the issue, as one might assume... but I was desperate. I felt filthy even after I had showered. I tried an ACV rinse, but even after 2 weeks it did nothing. So I tried letting a couple days pass between showers, and it started looking like that might work. It wasn't quick enough, though-- I was self conscious every time I stepped out the door, which in turn amplified my already severe social anxieties, and low self esteem.

While at Sprouts I took a detour to try and find myself a clarifying shampoo, because I've done the whole adding essential oils into my shampoo and I just didn't feel like going through a very cluttered tiny bathroom/shower again. I know a lot about the clarifying effects of tea tree oil, so I had a general idea of what to look for. I took home a bottle of Nature's Gate Tea Tree shampoo omitting the conditioner, since conditioner on an oily scalp is not typically recommended during a cleanse.

I never used Nature's Gate before, never even heard of it till I went looking down the aisle, and I only briefly read the reviews on my phone before buying it.

It is amazing. Simply amazing. After one wash the oiliness was reduced greatly-- I had a single grease spot near the nape of my neck (which has always been my trouble spot). Second time around, my entire scalp was clean! Success!
Although, because I haven't been using conditioner in the shower my ends have been rather thirsty, so I started using leave-ins again just around the ends-- I am currently using Palmer's coconut oil hair milk.

This combination has been working pretty awesomely. Plus my hair is all levels of wonderful smelling, too. Who knew tea tree oil and peppermint complimented coconut so well?

I didn't want to go back to showering everyday, though I wanted to-- the tingly and clean sensations of this shampoo are addictive.
I am still very much about water conservation here, so my research extended into dry shampoos. I admit for the sake of my wallet a bit, too; spending $10 on a small bottle (I might add) of tea tree shampoo, and $9 for the conditioner for my amount of hair is going to prove expensive in the long run if I don't make the most of each dollop of product in these bottles.

I was looking for a more simple ingredient make up for dry shampoo brands... but my visit back to Sprouts for that yielded a unanimous 'hell no'. They were expensive-- yeouch. My research then took a U-turn into DIY, as it tends to do when faced with a predicament like this.

I found the most common recipe for a homemade dry shampoo is arrowroot powder with equal parts cocoa powder for darker haired maidens. However, and this is going to take away some of my Halloweenite points, but here goes...
I didn't fancy the idea of my hair smelling of chocolate.
... I know, I know!
Chocolate belongs in my belly, not so much my head...
I began altering the recipe using essential oils that not only benefit my scalp, but also overpower the cocoa smell.

Patchouli and Eucalyptus. Yep... they certainly did the trick. I mixed and mixed till the powder was pretty much infused with their scent. I then sifted the powder to take out the chunks of resiny patchouli, and my mixture was done.

I cleaned out an old gum container to store the powder in for use. It's actually pretty handy, those little containers-- they have a spout for small deposits, or you can open the big flap. I bought a $3 brush from Wet n' Wild to apply the powder to my head, because sprinkling it onto my scalp posed a challenge of applying too much on my floor sometimes...

I applied it onto 4 day hair, which was surprisingly not as greasy as my second picture (that shampoo is magic). It gave me a glimpse of what I may look like with greying spots, and I actually kind of liked it. I have always thought greying patches on people look ultra fetching and distinguished-- here's looking at your greying doll's out there! You make my heart swoon.

The results? Even more surprising...

That's 4 day unwashed hair? WUT?!

I think I recovered a bit of my spark again.
I've been playing around with a lot of really easy and cute styles-- I might just go ahead with my intention of posting a list of my favorites, too-- and they are easy, I promise... take it from someone who can only make a barely passable bun and braid, heh.

Edit to add:
I feel like a putz, I didn't write in the recipe for the altered powder!
I made a tiny batch, but it looks like it'll last  me a month when used in conjunction with the brush; minimal waste, maximum coverage.

You'll need:

• 1 part arrowroot powder-- 1 tbsp
• 1 part cocoa powder-- 1 tbsp
• 2 parts parts patchouli oil-- 8 drops
• 1 part eucalyptus oil-- 4 drops

You'll mix it with a tiny whisk for 10 mins, and then sift it into a container of your choosing. Brush onto oily parts of your scalp and let sit for 5 mins before brushing it out. Look into mirror and admire!

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: The Face Routine Part 1

In this my second post and part of my steadily forming "Foundation" series, I share my obligatory 'days in the life of me' cleverly titled "Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm" whereas you get to live and learn vicariously in my status quo. So onto the show!

This is my face the minute I wake up:

Not pleasant at all. Note the haggard expression and reddened eyes

My face, just like anything else in this life, requires attention and patience-- lest I wallow in self-loathing in front of a mirror pinching, picking and poking.
I have combination skin; meaning at any moment it can transform from dry and cracked as the dessert, to greasy, lumpy and uncomfortable.
It's hard times finding a happy median for this external organ.


This is what I use to fend off grease, gunk and other junk that accumulates on a daily basis:

Just add water; preferably hot.

 The first thing I do is open up my pores to allow for thorough cleaning and susceptibility to any other products and/or medication I will apply during this whole process. The key is in the hot wet towel which I leave on my face for about a minute before continuing onto cleansing....

About the only expensive item in my facial repertoire is my cleanser at a whopping $13 for the little container of Angels On Bareskin by LUSH Cosmetics. It took a lot of convincing and crying over breakouts to finally make me pay that much for something I go through, well... on a daily basis.

All you need is a pea sized amount; this is just slightly more than that

But I don't believe that after trying this I'll be so quick to try the newest thing yet! It has helped my skin pull itself together more than cussing and begging has ever done. You don't really use that much, and as such the little tub turns out to be more than enough to last you a few months of daily washings. Plus you can't beat that earthen lovely lavender scent. My only gripe is that it's tremendously crumbly and will leave crumbs and residue if not rinsed thoroughly. 
 As much as I wish this was enough, it isn't so. After said cleansing is done I must confront any breakouts that for me are aggravated by abrasive touching AKA: washing.
I feel that as a precautionary measure, I must warn you that this next step is not for the faint of heart... or skin.

Many have told me of the awesome rejuvenating powers of tea tree oil. Ridding ailed skin of blemishes and other attack-on-the-eyes on your skin. But like I am warning you for the sake of it, I too was warned only to use it in a diluted form.

While my skin is still dripping wet (which also means pores are still open) I apply tea tree oil onto a cosmetic cotton pad and dab the ailing areas on my face; my cheeks, jaw, and forehead.Working quickly while the skin still feels spongy like after a shower.

After finding various diluted ways and not reaching the potency I wanted, I decided to say 'what the hell' to all those warnings (I am in no way advocating that you do the same!) and use it in its purest 100% state. And let me tell you... it burned like mentholated gel!
But once my vision was restored (I jest) and the initial burning had died down... sweet clarity! Sweet bliss, could it be? In just minutes my skins reddening was less than before and my breakouts were visibly shrinking!

Alas, all things are too good to be true... for in drying out my breakouts with the tea tree oil, I essentially dried out my skin. It was visibly dry like a sponge that was left out in the sun if I didn't apply the moisturizer before the tea tree oil gets soaked into the skin. When your skin is normally dry and tensions are normal, it means that your pores are closed and not much will be all that effective.

To this day, I haven't really found a lotion that cooperates with my regime as I want it to.
 For now I use this lotion that my mother gave me from a mail order company called Yves Rocher.

Still not completely convinced about this product

I've normally had a lot of success with Yves Rocher and their hair and perfume lines, but this the first time trying some of their skin care products and I must say I am underwhelmed. It's not bad, but it's not good either.

But anyway, there you have it; my facial routine and my battle for skin bliss.

Refreshed and eager!

P.S. As a rule I only wear t-shirts to bed and to hang about the home... but since this is post not pertaining to fashion but personal care, I chose to go the easy way and just wear the atrocity.