Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico polvere di sapone

Back to my friend with a broken foot's place and I decided to try out again.... the Blue Mediterraneo Basil soap power by Acqua di Parma.

I googled all around and the only place I found that sells the Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico polvere di sapone is an online store in Italy.

I used it once before and sort of like it...

So I added some of the soap powder to my Epsom salt bath today, the way it smells... it makes yours grumpy old hen feel like a happy baby after a nice hot bath!

Hot Epsom salt bath without drying out?

Back to keep my friend with a broken foot company and also have the chance to take a nice hot bath...

It was not until when I was drafting the posting about Epsom salt did it occur to me that...

Oops... apparently, commonsense doesn't recommend hot Epsom salt bath....

Yet, I have heard of the use of hat pad and hot bath to relief pain.  Haven't heard people recommending lukewarm bath in my life-- not to mention that, based on my personal experiences, lukewarm bath is not as effective in pain alleviation and muscle relaxation.

In addition, don't the physical therapists take the heat pad away when it starts to lose its temperature?

So, the question arises... How do I prevent the skin of my body from drying out while taking a hot Epsom salt bath?

And, I realized that my fondness in product testing might have spared me from turning into an alligator today...

At home, I sometimes would add a bit of the Divine Calm Relaxing Massage Oil by Bodyshop to my Epsom salt foot bath.

Just so that you know... yours truly is a real cheapskate from hell who purchase things only at really deep discount to stretch my money.  Since L'Occitane hardly have discounts and they don't give out samples for you to try it out without purchase, I haven't had many chance to use their products-- in addition, apparently, you don't get the samples either if you get only trial size products.

At my friend's place, she has both the Peony shower cream and the Cherry Blossom Bath and Shower Gel by L'Occitane.

Personally, I prefer the Peonyshower cream one over the Cherry Blossom bath and shower gel at this point.

Why?  Might have something to do with the fact that I happened to use the Cherry Blossom bath and shower gel on the days when I was not feeling too well and the upset stomach of mine was making me feel nauseous all the time. Thereafter, my head somehow associate the shower gel with da nauseous feeling... 8-O lol

The one I used tonight is the Peony Shower Cream.... added it both to the bath and used it in the shower after the bath...

How does it feel?  Can't quite tell you whether I smell like Peony and neither can I tell you what it really does for me.  One thing I can tell you is that, when touching the skin on my arms and legs, it does feel that my skin is fairly soft and nothing alligator-like-- without the contribution of body moisturizer.

On a second thought, it seems like all that I might need is some kind of body moisturizer after a hot Epsom salt bath? 8-O lol

Morocco Black Olive & Argan Oil Scrub by bodyshop

Saw "Morocco Black Olive & Argan Oil Scrub" on the website the other day and I thought that I'd say a word or two about this product.

In case you wonder, yours cheapskate didn't purchase it at the full price of 28 dollars a piece.  Rather, I think I must have gotten it when Bodyshop had one of its 3 for 30 kinda discount when the product first came out last summer.

A jar later, one thing I can tell you is that it does leave the body nice and smooth afterwards.

In addition, it also make me feel all energized after shower... As a result, personally, I refrain myself from using it before bedtime...  The effect of Argan oil, perhaps?

The matter of the fact... if there's another chance for me to get it at a price around 10 a piece, I totally would get it again.... Keep my fingers crossed...

Epsom salt

One thing I did quite a lot when staying with my friend with a broken foot was the Epsom salt bath.

Interesting enough, I have never heard of Epsom salt in Taiwan and even my doctors had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned Epsom salt. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that I didn't quite know how to translate the term "Epsom salt" then.  


After some googling around, I found that, in Chinese, Epsom salt is called 瀉鹽 or 硫酸鎂 (Magnesium sulfate or MgSO₄·7H₂O).  Must have learned it in school though gave it all back to my chemistry teacher... oops... please don't take my high school diploma back... 8-O lol

Why is it called Epsom salt rather than Poems salt?  Apparently, one of its first discoveries was in Epsom, Surrey, England back in the Shakespearean time.  That's where the Epsom part came from.

Accordingly, you are supposed to add a whole cup or two of Epsom Salt into your bath.  Yet, usually, I don't use so much and it seems to be pretty effective for me as well.

Personally, I love hot bath and I just read it somewhere that... it is the wrong way to do it.  So they say... use warm water instead because, I guess, if it is too hot, it might strip off too much of the protective oil from our skin.

What does it do for me?

Two thing I am pretty sure about.  First, it relaxes the body and alleviates the pain all over my body (Fibromyalgia).  Second, it somehow sedates me and put me into a jolly good sleep.

When bathing is not an option, I would do foot soaking with Epsom salt instead and it also seems to have similar impacts on me.

Not quite sure about other places, in the US, you can get Epsom salt from pharmacies and grocery stores or other fancy places.

Yet, for me, all that I needed is Magnesium sulfate and I often go with the most economic kind you can find such as the store brand.

I had tried out the Epsom salt with Lavender fragrance before but have now decided to get back to the simplest form of it.  The reason... seems to be a bit backwards to introduce unnecessary chemical components to a process which might help our body to do this thing called... detoxing.

For more uses of Epsom salt, you can check out the info provided by the Epsom Salt Council.

Sleep

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to."

I second the opinion.

In recent times, I have been trying to find alternatives to sleeping pills since I am not too big a pill popper.

Amongst the things I have tried out so far, I found the Body Shop Deep Sleep Body Moisturizer to work really well in helping me sleep.  Apparently, the Chamomile essential oil is helpful in putting me to sleep.







As I was talking my walk today, I found out that the Deep Sleep Starter Kit is on discount, 50% off, and find it an excellent buy as a gift.

Of course, different things work for different people and, for the same person, the same thing might work differently at different times.  Would be interesting to see whether it works for my friends.

Body exfoliation

The concept of body exfoliation never really came to my mind until 2-3 months ago... around the same time when I all of a sudden started to pay attention to skin care for the body.

The only body exfoliators I have used so far are both products of St. Ives.

More specifically, the Oatmeal and Shea Butter was the first one I used.  I loved it because it... smells like cookies.... and... I would also smell like cookies after shower... 8-O lol

The only body exfoliators I have used so far are both products of St. Ives.

More specifically, the Oatmeal and Shea Butter was the first one I used.  I loved it because it... smells like cookies.... and... I would also smell like cookies after shower... 8-O lol

The current product I am using is "Mineral Therapy" body polish. Got it on discount from Walgreen for 5 dollars plus changes.... The last place I found St. Ives body polish on discount is at Walgreen yesterday... 5 dollar something for a jar of Mineral Therapy body polish...

Does it work for me?  I guess... the skin does feel softer afterwards.... psychological or not....

Waiting for some other products to go on discount to test them out... 8-O lol