Everyday is a Crisis.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

A lot of people know about Flylady. She's pretty popular...but for some reason the only thing I really do is the crisis cleaning. I don't like to do my cleaning in little spurts during the day. I prefer to get it all done at once and then relax!

So like I said, I do the crisis cleaning...just a little modified.

http://flylady.net/pages/FlyingLessons_crisiscleaning.asp

The only thing I really do differently is that I only take 10 minutes in the bathroom and I do 5 minutes in each bedroom putting away clothes and toys and making beds, etc.

I find that 15 minutes in the kitchen and 15 minutes in the living room allows me time for everything, because I don't do everything every day. If I vacuumed inside of the sofa and chairs one day, the next I'll probably be wiping down lamps and tables instead...

Before we go to bed, we do one more quick pick-up and my apartment stays looking half-way decent, mashaAllah. It's not pristine or sterile (like my husband wants), but I don't usually have a problem with drop-in guests.

Fi aman Allah!

Skin Care

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Since I've been married, I've gotten to be significantly more high maintenance than I used to be. I curl my hair, I wear make-up (almost) everyday, and I am very picky about the clothes I wear.

But only just recently have I found a skin care routine that works for me and makes my (sensitive, acne prone) skin look fabulous!

It's actually a vintage routine...so to speak. It's something that my grandmothers probably used. Maybe even great-grandmothers.

Anyway, it starts with Pond's Cold Cream. In the evening, I just slather it on, including my eyelids. Leave it on for between 30 secs and a minute, then I wipe it off with a *very* warm washcloth. Sometimes I do this twice if I'm wearing a lot of make-up.

The great part about Pond's is that it takes care of alllllll of my make-up. It even takes off waterproof mascara and 16 hour lipstick. It's great! Of course there's the added benefit that it literally dissolves my blackheads. I haven't seen a blackhead since I started using this, mashaAllah!....

Okay, the next thing I use is a toner. Right now, I'm using what's left of a bottle of Neutragena Clear Pore toner. I added some rose essential oil to it to make it smell better, but I'm going to switch to Thayer's witch hazel when the bottle is done.

It's old fashioned and smells wonderful, mashaAllah, and I know that witch hazel has done the trick for my skin in the past. Plus it has aloe vera in it, which has also did wonders for my skin when I was in high school.

The next product isn't so vintage. Although I remember my mother using Aveeno when I was a kid, I don't know how long it's been around. Certainly this moisturizer is pretty new.

I use Aveeno Ultra-Calming moisturizer with SPF 15. This stuff is truly unbelievable. I didn't have a bad reaction to this moisturizer and it really does sooth the redness in my face, mashaAllah (ah the joys of being pasty white-every little red mark shows up tooooo plainly).

I've been thinking about buying a vanishing cream for the evening, but until then, this works for me. I've heard good things about Boots vanishing cream. I've seen it at Target, but every time I decide put off buying it at another time. InshaAllah I'll be heading to Target in the near future, though, and I think it might just be on my list...That and the Rose skin tonic. And maybe the Body Cream... I'm a sucker for cute packaging...

Anyway the best part about this routine is how glamourous it makes me feel. It's not the typical everyday wash, tone, moisturize, but it gets the job done and it does it better than pretty much everything I've tried before for much cheaper, mashaAllah! It kind of gives me the feeling of an old silver screen star taking off her make-up or getting herself ready for the day.

This is one routine I hope to pass along to my daughters when they're old enough!

Fi aman Allah!