Week 3 - January 2021

I feel like we have entered the cold moon part of the month, despite the waxing moon. The late January/February part of the year has been the coldest the last few years. 

Random: 1) I got a new rug for the living room and the cats keep sliding and playing on it. (Dog never does that and would like to proclaim his innocence of the mess behind him.)  I've taken to wondering if the cats are trying to decide if the new rug is Arabian or Persian. When I find it rucked up, I know it didn't fly. When I find it flat in other rooms, then I wonder what they did while I was gone.

2) Here's the thing about projecting... it's about you and people may call you on it.

3) There were big orange leaves outside on the road by the river. When I looked more closely, a deer had smashed a pumpkin and licked it clean! I'd thrown the pumpkins from my front door decorations into the compost pile. Less than 2 days for the riverside deer to find and pillage them!

Books: Weekend reading is so much more than a guilty pleasure. It is sanity restoring. I recommend doing it.

- Wild Cards and Witches by Annabel Chase (finishing out the Pandora's Pride). The ending felt rushed after all the build up of three books.

- Twice the Fun by Rosalie Hunter. Eminently skipable.

Gratitude: Friends who distract you. Snuggle cats. Sweet dogs. Chinese food. Beautiful candles. Unstinky puppies. Face masks. Reimagining things. Lip balm with a pretty tint.

Listening: Christy Wright's new podcast. P!nk. Dido. 

Watching: Finished The Magicians (burning the Castle Whitespire candle from Novelly Yours  to set the mood.) Watched the Madame CJ Walker special on Netlfix. (I know it got dissed a little for the historical accuracy, I enjoyed it more as a story than strict history.) Flack. PR show. Dark and surprisingly fun. And Dexter. I've watched it before and read the books. It's also, like Queen of the South, a non-stress show. Vikings. I'm restarting it. Willing suspension of disbelief on calling it "England" in the 8th century.

Wearing - Scent & Skin 

Scent

Imaginary Authors

- Memoirs of a Trespasser - Scent notes: Madagascar Vanilla, Guiacwood, Myrrh, Benzoin Resin, Ambrette Seeds, Oak Barrels. This smelled like a vanilla ice cream root beer float on me. No idea why. It was not something I'd buy, so it's a good thing I found an additional tiny sample. Almost no sillage, either. 

Sucreabeille

- We Are Stardust - Scent notes: Daisy crowns and sandalwood, a bouquet of peace lilies, vanilla cream fresh from Max’s dairy farm, and a drop of patchouli. We are stardust. Remember. And someone said I smelled good.  Sucre came up with both a patchouli and daisy that I don't mind. On me, it's a delicious cream and lily with a sandalwood base.

- Frozen Moon - Scent Notes: crisp winter evening air, frost, sweet sugar plums swirl with delicious marshmallow. This is such a sweet scent. I continue to get a lot of sweetness off it crossed with fruit. It lasts a good well into the day.

Skin

Sunday night face masks are now a thing. Malaya Advanced Repair Mask (with neem flower honey) is wonderfully skin clearing. No change in daily or nightly skin routine. But I'm about to run out a  few things - so the routine will change in the next few days.

 - Day time - Standard in-shower wash of tea tree cleanser  - plus a buffing scrub - followed by a third finger (gentlest finger) tapping into the skin of 100% Pure's Super Fruit Oil Nourishing Eye Cream (which is almost out), then Votary day oil and Votary cream. (No change.)

- Night time - 1st cleanse with 100% Pure's Blood Orange Cleansing Balm following with a 2nd cleanse with my DHC Washing Powder for a little extra exfoliation. First moisture layer is the Naturallogic Elemental Advanced Hydration Red Wine Essence to restore moisture and fight off lines. Next, Blüh Alchemy's Multi-C serum topped by the Live Botanical Sanctuary Barrier Balm (the December Boxwalla box.) And slapping that Frownie on the forehead because forehead wrinkles are aging.

Take-away - Sometimes it feels like you are standing still. You aren't, even if the progress is small. And the time will pass, whether you make progress or not. So start now.

Reminder - It you are looking for some journaling inspiration, I've got you covered with a digital book of journal prompts. 3 per week, plus an inspiring quote. Check it out on Gumroad with this link: https://gumroad.co/NZTt  

All photos by moi! And you can tell...

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