"Hoofmaker"

My horsey lotion arrived yesterday, hooray! I used it a few times throughout the day after washing my hands and I can already see a difference in the condition of my skin today. My skin is soft enough my 5-year-old daughter told me that my hands feel nice and soft. I am impressed by it so far.

The husband tried the lotion last night and said he liked it. The man is rather picky about these sorts of things, but he stated that it soaked in fast and he liked that. I hope he sticks to using it. Lizard hands aren't so lovely or romantic, lol Last winter he was using Aquaphor lotion and it was so greasy that he had to wear gloves over it. It was sort of weird waking up in the morning next to a man wearing Mickey Mouse gloves.

I give "Hoofmaker" two thumbs up!

I was hoping some of my other Amazon purchases would arrive today, but no such luck. Being shipped via USPS it shouldn't take longer than 3 days after they are shipped for them to get here. Hopefully the rest of my stuff comes tomorrow.

This is sort of beauty related, but I got a good deal on coconut oil from Amazon. There was a sale on a subscribe and save item, so I ended up getting 2 15 ounce tubs of coconut oil for $13.23. I got the Nutiva brand. I really like coconut oil for pan frying vegetables in. It is just cool stuff and a very good alternative to regular vegetable oils that contain soy. I need to experiment using it for hair conditioning, as I believe I used too much previously. I have had better luck using olive oil to deep condition my hair, but you know how olive oil smells... it is sort of yucky to have your hair smell that way.

Some day I need to actually put on some makeup and take a new picture for this blog. The current picture is really annoying me. It used to fit in its allotted space, but now it is too big and is sticking off the side in a horridly un-neat sort of way! I do need to take a more recent picture, as that one is about 25-30 lbs ago.

It is really obnoxious not having many hot things to drink in cool weather. I have tried to drink tea a few times and have just decided that I don't really like tea more than a couple times per year. I used to like hot tea, not sure why I no longer enjoy it. I am getting tired of coffee (been drinking decaf). I really need to break down and just buy some spiced chai tea bags and try to have somewhat healthy chai tea latte that I use my own sweetener and cream in. I have been craving spiced chai latte tea, but it is so expensive to buy the mix and not available in a low carb variety locally. This town is NOT low carb friendly.

I am rambling. I have better things to do, I just need to go do them...sigh, what I wouldn't give for a mug of hot chocolate heaped with marshmallows! Oh well, one more cup of decaf coffee with a little too much cream coming up! Now all that remains is what to watch; Star Trek again or some random anime? I don't remember Next Generations being so funny when I was younger. Guess that answers that. Coffee, Star Trek, and sock knitting... Engage!

Bueaty order from Amazon.

Yep, another amazon order. I found some pretty cool things though. I have been pretty down lately, so part of the purpose of the order is something fun to look forward to, and hey, who doesn't like getting packages in the mail? :)

The only shampoo and conditioner that I seem to like is the "Mane 'N Tail" stuff for horses from Straight Arrow. That sounds so weird that I like horsey shampoo, lol Most shampoos and conditioners I have used over the years haven't really done it for me. After having children my hair got much worse and became quite frizzy and uncontrollable. I strive to not damage my hair, and I trim off the split ends often (individually, I don't trim all my hair more than every 4 months or so, and then just an inch or less). I am careful with my hair, but it is still frizzed and crazy. "Mane 'N Tail" has been the only thing that has made my hair stronger, shinier, less frizzy (still pretty darn frizzy though) and grow faster. Really the only way for me to tame the frizz is to use a flat iron. Using heat on my hair is something I try to avoid, so it isn't something I do very often (special occasions only, same with using a curling iron or blow drier).

I am hopeful that I may have found a product that will help my frizzy hair. It is also "Mane 'N Tail" so I have high hopes for it. It is a leave-in spray that is supposed to strengthen and moisturize hair. Link to product on Amazon.com here. Reviews for the product are very good, so I am hoping for decent results at least.

The second product I ordered is also a "Mane 'N Tail" product, called "Hoofmaker." Doesn't that sound like an awesome product? lol It is basically hook lotion for horses, but has very good reviews for human use as well. It is supposed to be very effective for dry hands (better than bag balm even (I grew up on a ranch, can you tell? lol)) and it is supposed to strengthen nails and make them grow faster.

I am having pretty good success with my nails from using the GNC Hair, Nails, and Skin pills I've been purchasing from Sam's Club. They are much harder now, they aren't peeling or splitting and I've noticed the surface of my nails are a lot smoother and nicer looking. My nails are still breaking however. I believe this is due to them getting too dry. I use a moisturizing undercoat to try to help with this, but it doesn't seem to be enough. I am hoping that the "Hoofmaker" will help with this. I am also hoping it helps my husband's hands. He is a laborer and very rough on his hands. It is common place for his hands to be rough and scaly, and in the winter time they crack and bleed. We have found a couple lotions that are helpful with preventing his hands from splitting as badly, but I am hoping this will prevent them from splitting at all. I am not sure I would know what to do with a husband who didn't have lizard hands, lol Anyways, I hope the whole family uses it, because I ordered a 2 lb tub of the stuff, lol

The third thing I ordered was a nail polish. It is by O.P.I. from the Burlesque collection in the color "Take the Stage." It is a very glamorous rusty orange color that has a foil look to it. It should be perfect for fall and is so pretty looking. I got this just as something fun and pretty. Many of the colors in this collection are very pretty, but I liked this color the best from photos online. I am hoping to buy a couple more in the future. A note about the movie Burlesque: it wasn't that bad of a movie. It sort of had a "Coyote Ugly" vibe to it, but it wasn't nearly as risque as I was expecting. Some of the costumes were fun and the singing was actually quite enjoyable. I liked it enough to watch it twice. It is more of a feel-good type movie than I thought it would be. The only reason I watched it was because I was surprised it was rated PG-13 and not R, and I had been curious about it but assumed it was filled with, you know, burlesque type stuff, lol Cher's songs in it were great, and I really enjoyed Christina Aguilera's songs as well (strange, because I've never been a fan of hers).

The fourth thing I ordered was another bottle of Bio Oil. I am going to try to commit to using the derma roller more. I haven't used it in a few weeks and am not keeping up with it at all. I would really like to actually use it and lessen some of my scars. After I use up this bottle, I may try using Emu oil the next time. I want to try emu oil for hair and skin conditioning anyway, and it is supposed to help skin heal and fade scars. It seems to be fairly similar in price as well.

The last thing I ordered isn't exciting at all. It is a pair of thermal underwear for my husband, lol If they work really well and keep him warmer this winter, it will help me in a sense as maybe I won't have to listen to him complain so much.

I have not been paying attention to my weight at all. I am eating moderate portion sizes and have been avoiding all bread and grains except for flax meal bread, and I limit that to one serving a day. I have stopped eating "treat" type items and have been working on cutting down my consumption of sweeteners and cheeses. I have switched from regular coffee to decaf, seeing as how caffeine can interfere with weight-loss and I drink coffee for the taste only. I have really slowed down on the iced tea since the weather has gotten cooler. I want to hunt down a good spiced chai tea that I can add my own sweetener and cream to. Spiced chai latte is one of my favorite winter-time treats, but it is super high in carbs. I am also a bit loath about not being able to have Baileys Irish cream anymore. I could make my own that would be low carb, but not sure I want to spend a day doing that. Why don't more companies make low-carb alternatives? It seems like gluten-free diets are on the rise, so that helps some, but more low-carb choices would be great.

I wore a crochet sweater a couple days ago. It felt pretty good to put it on and see what a difference it was from when I had made it at the end of April. It fits so much better now, and it is much more flattering looking. I was pretty pleased with how much nicer it looked compared to spring time. Little boosts like that are helpful. Like when I got down into my size 12 jeans, that felt pretty good :)

I suppose I should be done with this and get back to my knitting. I knit to relax and rid myself of stress. Knitting is probably one of the things I feel the most pride over. It is always nice feeling to complete a project and have it look nice. There aren't many things that I do which have any reward to them. Being a mother and wife is pretty darn thankless and often times just plain difficult and frustrating, so it is nice to have something that I actually get a tangible pay off from. I am working on Christmas gifts at the moment. I think I have done a decent job picking out things that people will like. I do hope that when I give people knitted gifts they don't scoff at it or think it is cheap. It actually takes a fair amount of work to complete even small gifts, and yarn certainly isn't free. I like to think that when I spend over 100 hours making a gift for someone that they have some concept of how much effort and time was put into it, just special for them. I nearly have the gift for my brother complete. I am really looking forward to working with another yarn and starting a new project.

One last note (after this I really will stop, I swears it!). I just finished watching season 3 of Merlin on Netflix instant streaming. It was a strange show at first, but now I am hooked and can't wait to start watching season 4. I believe it is airing on BBC currently, but I need to find out if it is on syfy yet, as we actually get that channel. I think I will set the dvr up to record it, if I can find it available anywhere to actually do that. Not so impressed with how the dvr works, I thought it would be better :( Oh well, that's cable for ya! See, I'm done now :) Gonna go watch some Star Trek, knit and drink some warm coffee...life ain't so bad sometimes :D

Weigh in.

Okay, weigh ins are actually depressing me, and I am not keeping up with my updates at all like I wanted to. I won't be updating every week anymore. I will try to update once a month on my weight. I did not lose any weight last week. In fact the scale said I had gained 9 lbs, even though I have went down to a size 12 jean from size 14 and my wrists are noticeably thinner. Weighing myself is just becoming too frustrating to be worth it. I will continue to eat right and lose weight, but I am not going to weigh anymore than once a month for awhile. I am just too stressed out from everyday life, and I really don't need the added stress from an evil scale.

If anything awesome happens I will of course blog about it, but I think less thinking about the weight right now is what I need to do. I have slacked off on the derma roller and stopped using the Bio Oil. Honestly, it is very hard to find time to use the derma roller, and when I do find the time I am generally too stressed out to feel like using it. The Bio Oil is a bit expensive, and remembering to do it is a bit of a hassle right now. There is just too much stress and junk going on to worry about this stuff so much at the moment. Better luck in a couple of months I say. Until next time, Sayonara!