First impressions of Aesop Parsley Seed Cleanser and Parsley Seed Anti-oxidant Serum

I bought the New York travel kit from Aesop last week. I wanted to try some Aesop face products without spending a bunch on just one full size bottle, plus the case it comes with is adorable.

In the New York kit you get:

Heaps of awesome stuff. So far I've tried the Parsley Seed Cleanser and the Anti-oxidant Serum, here are my first impressions after first use and I will post a full review once I've tried them for a little while longer.

Parsley Seed Cleanser

Feel: Gel consistency, very low foam (which is good for my dry, sensitive skin), don't need a lot for your whole face
Smell: Smells like Perfect Potion Soothe products, natural kind of herbally smell, pleasant, not too strong, but could annoy people that don't like essential oil type smells
Result: Left my face feeling a little tight, not unusual for me, very, very smooth, any pimples had diminished a bit.

Parsley Seed Anti-oxidant Serum

Feel: Usual serum kind of consistency, gel-like, went on smoothly, didn't need very much, when massaged in it dried to a shiny finish, but that doesn't bother me because I use it at night anyway.
Smell: Same as the cleanser, lavender and parsley oil
Result: Left skin shiny looking and somewhat hydrated, need to use moisturiser underneath, blemishes were half the size and a lot less red, skin looked overall less red. Eventually dried a bit less shiny. Didn't make my skin burn, itch, etc. We shall see how it is in the morning.

I'm cured! Also natural sunburn remedy

So remember how I was really sunburnt yesterday? Well thanks to my natural remedies I have cured myself (somewhat) and am not nearly as red as I was yesterday, huzzah!

The remedy:
Aloe Vera plant or bottled gel (plant is better)
Lavender oil
A carrier oil of your choice, I used almond

1. First you want to take the aloe vera leave (choose a big one from the outside of the plant) and cut it down the side, push your thumb between the top part and the gel and separate the green leaf part from the gel until you get to the underside of the leaf like so,
Cut the leaf down the side

Push your finger under the green leaf bit above the gel and separate

Separate until the top of the leave is away from the gel, but the gel is still attached to the bottom piece of leaf. Then cut off sections of the leaf with the gel on it.

Cut a section off of the leaf

Rub it where you are sunburnt. When the gel dries out cut off some of it and use it again.

2. Wait for it to dry

3. Then take your lavender oil and shake the bottle on wherever your burnt and apply probably 6-ish drops and massage it in. Don't put it on your face though because it could cause a reaction as the skin on your face is more sensitive than the skin on your body, so if it's on your face just do the first and last step.

4. Moisturise the affected area with a carrier oil of some sort, if you're going by which carrier oil to choose in this post then it will be different, you need one that is more moisturising than the one you usually use, I would suggest almond oil for all skin types.
So apply this to your legs, just enough that it makes them shiny, but not so much so that you can't sit on anything for fear of oiling it up, you will need to let it sink in for a couple of minutes.

So you're going to want to do this every day until the sun burn has healed completely.

God damn, it's bright

I have stomach flue or something horrible like that and it's really bright outside, what am I to do?

I've been treating myself with voodoo and other crockpot theories (see: aromatherapy and science). I sent my dad to go and buy me supplies, the list I gave him was as follows:

Zinc tablets
Limes
Theives essential oil
Ginger essential oil
Aspirin

He couldn't find either essential oils, so I guess I'll just go and wallow in my own illness.

I appear to be treating myself quite effectively without them though, I feel heaps better than I did this morning and I have yet to throw up. Woot.

I'd say the most effective things I did would be:

Drinking lots of red cordial. The flavour or something has stuff in it that kills bacteria (believe me, my mum's a doctor), which is both awesome and horrifying.
Started taking zinc and I also took iron, that seems to be helping.
Peppermint and spearmint oil in my aromatherapy diffuser
Taking aspirin. It's like all anti-inflammatory and such...you know how it is with anti-inflamitories.

I've been reading a lot of fanfiction and doing some studying, I'd say I'm set for my Business test, not so much Math...

I've also been writing fanfiction. I really like this anti-procrastination website, it's called Written? Kitten and you can set it to show you a kitten every time you write 100, 200, 500 or 1000 words. Totally works. I've written nearly 2000 words of fanficiton in two days, when it would normally take me a week.

The Many Uses of Carrier Oils

Yo guys, I am going to talk about carrier oils today because they are damn awesome and I don't feel like people know enough about them or use them. So here are some ways that carrier oil can be used and types of carriers oils that suit each skin type.

Super dry skin
Rosehip - Has a lot of healing properties and is good for various skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis, also very moisturising
Avocado - Also good for eczema, the most moisturising of the bunch
Argan - Really good for redness, has a nice smooth consistency, once again it is moisturising
Sweet Almond - Good for redness also, probably second on the moisturising scale after avocado

People with skin that needs more moisture (eg. mature skin, but also younger folk as well), or skin that is flaky and dehydrated should use these oils as they are quite thick and very moisturising.

Normal/dry skin
Jojoba - the thinnest, but still very moisturising (I use jojoba and I have fairly dry skin). Jojoba is the closest to the skin's natural sebum of all the carrier oils, making it really easily absorbed and regulates sebum production, also good for eczema and skin conditions similar to this
Sweet almond - the more moisturising of the bunch
Apricot kernel - best for sensitive skin, though I jojoba is good too, this one is just known for being gentle and non-irritating, easily absorbed

These ones would suit most skin types as they are fairly thin and you can use more or less as you need it.

Oily/combo skin
Jojoba - (read above)
Grapeseed - slightly anstingent, so it would be good for acne prone skin

Uses:

1. As a moisturiser
I use jojoba every second night (in combination with a cream moisturiser), there is a specific way that you have to use carrier oils as moisturiser, you have to first wet your face and palms, put a few drops of the oil in your hand and rub your palms together, then massage into the face. Make sure your hands are wet, it helps the oils to absorb and when I don't do this and just apply the oil straight onto my face I get break outs. Start with only a small amount and then add more if your skin is still a bit dry, you don't need much, I use 2 or 3 drops for my face.

2. Body and hand moisturiser
What's great about carrier oils is that you can buy one that suits your skin type and use that in many ways, not having to buy more than that one (though you can if you want to). So I also use jojoba as a body and hand moisturiser, it's really good as a hand moisturiser because it sinks in quickly and leaves my hands soft and smooth.

3. Makeup remover
This is my favourite makeup remover of all time, mostly because it's the only one that doesn't irritate my skin, but also because if you get it in your eyes it doesn't sting! I think that's pretty fantastic.
So how I use it is as follows: wet a cotton pad, put a few drops of the oil along the centre, wipe it across your eye several times and then take a clean, damp cotton pad and wipe off the oil.

4. Cleanser
A lot of people use oils straight as a cleanser, they use it similarly to how I moisturiser, but take it off with a toner and massage it more thoroughly, but I'm not really sure how that works as it is how I use it as a moisturiser...So I like Lush Ultrabland, it's mainly oils, but it's in more of a cream form

5. Healer
Carrier oils possess some qualities similar to essential oils (both from plants, etc.), so a lot of carrier oils have healing and mild antiseptic properties. Also they are very moisturising, so they would be good for burns.

6. Intensive moisturising mask
I use oils in my masks as well, it's not the main ingredient, but it adds to the moisturising-ness of the mask.
So my current favourite is:
1-2 tsp green clay
1 tsp manuka honey
5-ish drops of jojoba oil

7. Leave in treatment in hair
Probably my most used idea for carrier oils, just under moisturiser. Here are the results I find with jojoba oil (I like jojoba in my hair because it isn't as heavy as some of the others and is similar to the natural sebum).
- Shinier hair, but healthy looking ie. not being dried out on the inside by silicone, but looking nice on the outside
- Really, really soft hair
- If used as a deep treatment before washing, my scalp is nicely moisturised and not irritated
- Smooth hair, the oil smooths flyaways really well
- Healthy hair
- Smooth, moisturised ends - less likelihood of getting split ends

8. Carrier for essential oils
Carrier oils can also be used if you use an oil burner for aromatherapy, rather than putting the oils in water, which evaporates quickly, you can put it in a carrier oil and it will burn slower (you do need a small amount of water though, or else it might burn)

Another way that oils can be used to carry is when applying essential oils to the skin, for example, if you have bad acne and oily skin, you can use tea tree oil (I wouldn't use it often though) on the spots as tea tree oil is a very good antiseptic, antibacterial, all of that good stuff, but it can be too harsh straight on the skin and give you a rash or burns, so then you would mix it with a carrier oil before applying it to the skin. For tea tree oil, I would say about one drop of tea tree to 3 or 4 drops of carrier. Though some essential oils do not need to be diluted, like lavender, in most people, can be applied neat.

9. Lip moisturiser
If you run out of lip balm (it's not very realistic to use it on the go) then slap a few drops of a carrier oil on your lips, it works really well, but it is a liquid and thus hard to use any where other than home.