I Hate Modern Art.

Art and Architecture with Dr. McFarland is this: Look at the building/painting. What era is it from? What was important to people in this time? What was the artist trying to say? Is the artist important, or the patron? Where did its ideas come from? and so forth. I've been doing all right, although sometimes I bemoan my long lost ability to look at a building and think, "PRETTY!". Now all I can think is, "Wow, they really botched the neo-classic in this. It looks much more historicist." and other such boring things. Which makes me sound too big for my britches.

Make Amends With Your Face!

I've been using the "Oil Cleansing Method" for a couple weeks now. And my face has never been happier with me!


It's a lot easier than it sounds, but the first step to "OCM" (as the internet calls it) is getting over the idea of putting oil on your face. Now, do this with me: put your oil removing wipes and oil-free makeup remover in a cupboard where you cannot see them and think really hard about science.

Yes, Science.

Your face is covered with skin. Skin is, just like your stomach or your brain, an organ. And how it keeps doing what it needs to do (keep the bad stuff out, keep the good stuff in, and look pretty while doing it) is by being well hydrated (hey, that sounds a lot like me)! And hydration for skin = oil.

Oily =/= dirty.

There are 5 really easy steps to replacing the dirty, used oil of the day with clean oil to keep your face healthy and hydrated!

1. Prep. Get your hair up out of your face, find a clean washcloth and the oils of your choice.
• Don't wash your face, or even take your makeup off! The oil will take care of that for you.
2. Mix. Mix the oils of your choice in the palm of your hand to warm them up.
• I will give you a list of very excellent websites very soon that will help you decide what proportions and oil types are for you, based on what kind of skin you have. That's part of the greatness—this process is highly personalized.
• I personally use a 'very little' amount of castor oil, for nitty gritty cleaning, and 'more' extra virgin olive oil for making my face happy. These are the two most common oils.
3. Massage. Massage your oil mix into your face, using happy, relaxing, circular motions.
• Don't be harsh or mean! The whole point of this process is that I am beginning the long road to forgiveness for all the nonsense I've put my face through.
• I bet you think putting oil on your face will feel really gross—just try it, and prove yourself wrong! It feels like it's supposed to be there, because it is.
4. Steam. Get your washcloth really hot, ring it out really well, hold it to your face, and relax.
• This is the part where you can tell if the blogger is an existentialist or not, but there's truth here. Both relaxation and heat are really good at getting pores to open up, and that's when all the bad stuff can get out.
• I let the washcloth sit under running hot water while I'm massaging so it gets really hot, then I hold it against my forehead and closed eyes until it cools. Then I get it hot again, and hold against my chin and lower half of my face until it cools. I do it as many times as I want because it feels so nice!
• Once you're done steaming, gently wipe extra oil from your face. Don't forget the crevices if your nose, your eyelids, underneath your chin, etc. 
5. Moisturize. Remove the oil from your face and, while it's still damp, put a tiny bit back.
• Depending on your mix choices, and whether you have naturally dry skin, and whether your skin has adjusted yet, you may want to do this one extra thing.
• While your face is still damp from the steaming, put one or two small drops of extra virgin olive oil (the happy one, remember) onto your clean hands, and rub that into your face. That'll keep that tight, dry feeling at bay.

I do this every night, but I'm 19. Many bloggers only do this every other night, depending on their faces, and how much makeup they wear, and a bunch of other factors. The point is, you don't have to do anything else for your face, and you don't have to do it morning and night. 

Lots of people say they'd try this, but they just don't have the time. It can take 30 minutes, but it doesn't have to. It takes me maybe 10 minutes at night and zero time in the mornings. I will do anything to wake up 10 minutes later, wouldn't you?

If you're an avid oil-stripper, your face may be producing extra oils to keep up with you, and when you switch to OCM, your face will take a few days to notice. A lot of people experience an adjustment period. If you decide to try this, you must do it for a month before passing judgment, because in a month, your face will have time to go through its whole process.

If you're not intrigued yet, my 16-year-old sister tried this last night. This morning I got this text:

"My face feels happy."

There you have it. Make your face happy, too.


~ Lauren Margaret


P.S. 
As promised, a list of very excellent websites:

• The Oil Cleansing Method
• Nitty Gritty on the Oil Cleansing Method by Crunchy Betty (face genius)
• OCM—The Oil Cleansing Method (great source for choosing your oils)

"German"

About five minutes ago I figured out why Germans are called Germans in English, thanks to a fun little game called MooT. 

In German, the people are called Deutsche and the country, logically, is called Deutschland, land of the Germans. So where do we get off calling them Germans?

German derives from Latin germanus, meaning "closely related". Also the source of the word germane, meaning "that which is relevant to the current subject." Another similar Latin word is the proper noun Germanus, which is where the Romans got off calling those barbarians to the north Germans, because, as a tribe, they were very closely related.

Cheers.