One of my most active High on Health readers, Kevin, suggested to me the other day that I create a Facebook group for High on Health. Thanks for the tip Kevin!
Well, yesterday I did and after I created the group and wrote a few things in there I honestly didn’t know what to do with it. So today I had a quick look and was very surprised to already find six people in my group! Yes, my sister is in there and so are three of my close friends, but that’s not the point ..I made a Facebook group and now there are people in it.
I’m not ashamed to say that yes, I do spend a lot of time procrastinating in Facebook when I should be doing more productive things like writing in my blog.
But lets face it, we’re all turning into Facebook addicts. So what a great place for friends (and friends of friends) of High on Health to meet and share ideas. I also needed a place to post bulletins and updates on what I’m researching and what I’m doing and Facebook is the perfect community environment to do that.
So if you’ve got a Facebook account, join my group and write something on the wall, or post a picture …or just do whatever you normally do in a Facebook group.
And of course please let me know if you have any suggestions on how you’d like to see me utilize the group as the owner. Because I actually think it looks kinda dull in there and I want to pretty it up a lot.
An update on what I’m doing
And for those of you who don’t have a Facebook account for whatever reason, here’s an update on what I’m doing –
This week I’m in Montreal trying to get myself around without being able to speak a single word of French. It’s beautiful here and I’m loving immersing myself in the French language and pretending I’m a French-Canadian too. My short time here has definitely inspired me to learn the language.
For High on Health, I’m currently trialling an exciting new 100% raw, 100% natural moisturizer that I picked up in New York City. I had planned to meet with the owner of this product before I arrived in Manhattan, so my trip was a bit of a business trip too, not just a holiday
I’ll wait another 2 weeks before I write about the product so I’m absolutely certain that it’s the best moisturizer ever for the skin. But so far the results are amazing. I have never used anything like it.
I’ve also just learned about a very promising supplement for adult acne sufferers, pantothenic acid, which I’ll be doing a lot of research on because it sounds like something that really works well with the body at getting to the root cause of the problem. This means a possibility of clearing the skin by 100%. I can’t wait to share what I find!
I love the idea of using organic oils on my skin as a cleanser and moisturizer. And I did that for almost four months with the oil cleansing method, but unfortunately it ended in disaster.
For the first three months using the oils was heaven. My skin was so soft and glowing, and most of my cystic acne disappeared. However, into the fourth month I realized the oils were clogging up my pores big time.
I ended up with a BAD case of cosmetic acne. My skin was clogged over my entire face, with a multitude of blackheads and hard whiteheads over a lot of my skin. And I kept getting these small pimples on my cheeks as the gunk tried to make its way out. It took me the next six months of being incredibly gentle on my skin to clear it up.
This of course doesn’t happen to everyone that uses the OCM or natural oils to cleanse or moisturize their face. There are countless testimonials from both girls and boys on the net that rave about using simple oils or natural products that are packed full of oils on their skin. They claim that the oils actually help unclog their pores and dislodge stubborn blackheads. So why did my skin have the opposite reaction?
I have a few theories, and you may have even seen the videos I did after my OCM disaster which explain a couple of them, like perhaps it was the humid weather in Brisbane that didn’t work well with the oils and clogged me up. Whatever the reason is, my bad experience with the OCM has made me vary wary of using oils on my skin in the future.
Even when I know that a list of ingredients in a product is full of organic oils that all have low ratings for pore clogability, to be honest I’m still very hesitant to use that product on my skin, simply because it contains so many oils.
On my second day in Manhattan I stopped in central park for a rest and sat beside one of the smaller lakes. There was a lady sitting on the rocks under a tree not far from me, peering into a small mirror and picking at a spot on her chin.
She continued to peer and scratch at that spot, then moved onto another area. She must have been focused intensely on her face for a good 10-15 minutes.
And on the subway in Toronto just yesterday, I was sitting next to a girl who was examining the skin on her face with the back of her iPod. It surprised me that she wasn’t embarrassed enough to do that in front of a subway full of people.
That used to be me …
I used to be just like these two women. I once carried a pocket sized mirror around with me in my hand bag and secretly stole glances at my skin when I thought nobody was looking. And I made extra trips to the washroom in the hope that my acne had magically disappeared in the last 5 minutes. Or maybe if I could somehow scratch or pick the bad stuff away then I could make it go away faster.
I also used to go straight to the mirror first thing when I got up in the morning. My stop to the mirror came before going to the washroom, or even just drinking a glass of water. I was always so hopeful that my skin had cleared up in my sleep.
Spending all of this time focusing on your face is destructive. It’s stressful and a constant reminder that you’ve got this acne on your face.
I’m in New York City!! I’m a self confessed shopaholic and a massive Sex and the City fan (yes, I do own the entire series and it did come in a stylish pink overnight bag), so Manhattan being the shopping capital of the world and the home of Sex and the City was a destination I’ve wanted to travel to for a long time.
On my second day here I walked past the Magnolia Bakery by accident. If you’re not a Sex and the City fan, then let me explain. The Magnolia Bakery sells gorgeous little cupcakes that two of the characters in the show, Miranda and Carrie, where eating in one of the episodes.
This scene put the Magnolia bakery on the map. I read online that you have to wait 1.5 hours in a line to get served, and they churn out around 10,000 cupcakes a week.
And since I stumbled past the bakery, of course I HAD to have one of these little cupcakes. And not just because I was passing one of the landmark Sex and the City sites either. There’s something about cupcakes that I absolutely love. They’re small, sweet and pretty. I love them.
Me at the Magnolia Bakery
I’ve since been into the bakery to buy a cupcake four times out of the six days that I’ve been in Manhattan. The longest I’ve had to wait in line is five minutes so I think the site claiming the 1.5 hour wait is a little exaggerated, but it has been surprisingly busy every time I’ve been in there.
I love the idea of using organic oils on my skin as a cleanser and moisturizer. And I did that for almost four months with the 
On my second day in Manhattan I stopped in central park for a rest and sat beside one of the smaller lakes. There was a lady sitting on the rocks under a tree not far from me, peering into a small mirror and picking at a spot on her chin.
