Chicken Skin

I woke up to rain, hail, thunder, and wind claps. It's so dark and dreary outside. I planned on exercising today, so that's what i did. I went 20 min on the elliptical and did a couple of ab stuff in the room before taking a nice shower. My roomie has the Sugar Scrub that i like. Ever since i was little, i had these little bumps on the underpart of my upper arm. I went to the doctor about them and he told me it was hereditary. There was nothing he could do, so i put it in the back of my mind. It's nto horrendous and not noticeable, unless i point it out and you look really closely. The bf has this problem, too. We decided to look it up and narrowed it down to Keratosis Pilaris, also known as Chicken Skin. It sounds horrible, but it's not so bad. They kind of look like small white or red dots that resemble pimples. They’re not painful and rarely itch, but can become inflamed. And more than 50% of the American population has them. Keratosis Pilaris is caused by the skin’s inability to exfoliate itself. [source] The bumps are essentially clogged pores around which a protein called keratin builds up. You can't totally cure it, but you can definitely control it. It's an ongoing war against you skin. The first step in controlling your skin is finding a good exfoliant, preferably sugar based and not salt.
I only started exfoliating my underarms two weeks ago (i'm not sure). It smells really good and it's cheap. I don't know how much my roomie bought it for, but i looked it up and it should be around $3-$4. The scrub mildly heats as you scrub and the scent doesn't stick, but it does a good job exfoliating. You only need a dapple for your arms (or infected area), then you need to rub in a circular motion. Be gentle because you don't want to aggravate your skin. This scrub is applied while you are dry. I exfoliate 3-4 times a week. When you towel dry, you're going to need a good topical cream. There are certain ingredients that you want to look for in your cream. Look for a cream rich in alpha hydroxy acids (AHA’s) or lactic acid as they help dissolve the keratin and build-up of excess skin cells. Urea is also a key component in the fight against KP. I'm using Vaseline's Intensive Care Moisture Locking. That's because i bought a huge jar and need to get rid of it. The bf used to use this [here], with all the important active ingredients. Once you find your lotion, apply day and night. If it doesn't work, then make sure to do more research. This is a basic regimen that you have to keep up with, otherwise your skin will never get better. My underarms appear to be getting better. It looks and feels a lot smoother. I'm fortunate and only have KP on my underarms.

As mentioned from last post, i went shopping with the BF and bought a leave-in conditioner. I used to use Garnier Fructis, sleek and shine leave-in conditioning cream. It was good, nicely fragranced and helped a little, but sometimes it left a sticky feel. I tried to repair my damaged ends, but i eventually had to cut my hair. I'm looking for preventatives and so i bought Beyond the Zone Last Call Natural Nalance Leave-In Conditioner. It's a really cute bottle and cheap-o! It's only $4.99 at Sally's. I used it today, after my shower, and i really like it. It smells pretty nice and doesn't leave a sticky film on your hair. The best part about it is that it's a spray. You just spray this product into your hair and comb through to distribute it throughout your head. The lady at the counter told me it was a god-send product. I'm hoping this will do wonders to my hair and keep it healthy. I've realized that my hair is incompatible with some shampoos. There are some products that make my hair fall out like no other. I particularly hate Herbal Essence. It dried up my hair, made it lose its shine, and i saw a greater percentage of hair loss when i used it. I'm still looking around for a decent product, but right now i'm using suave. It's cheap and it works really nicely for me.

I'm on a cleaning spree this morning, trying to de-bf my room. If you've seen pictures or have been in my room, you will know that the bf is in conjunction with the room. Taking down all evidence of his presence is sad and hard. If you're wondering, there's nothing wrong with us! But rather, my momma is visiting. The parents don't know about the whole dating thing. They're in denial, thinking that us girls (my siblings and I) shouldn't date until we've stopped studying (the date is constantly pushed back...first college, then grad school). For some of us, like my older sister, that means the duration of med school with no dating experience?! That's unheard of...sort of. Anyways, we disobeyed that rule and did our own thing. So i'm kind of trying to erase all evidence of the bf in my room, hoping that i won't get caught. Seeing that i'm a horrible liar, i'm going to try to avoid all questions at all costs. My mom is attending my sister's capstone presentation. I've realized that the word "capstone" may be exclusive to selective schools. A capstone is like a senior project that allows you to graduate. It shows the a panel of people what you've aquired over the years and how you put it into use. My sis has been working on this ever since sophomore or junior year. She's finally been able to finish it and write a long-butt paper (40+ pg?). Today is her presentation and i'm super happy/proud of her. She's well on her way to fulfilling her (and my parent's) doctor dreams. I remember on her 19th birthday, i gave her a build-a-bear dressed in scrubs. It was jsut too darling. I think she really liked it. I named the bear "mr. dep trai" which means mr. handsome in vietnamese. I'm so clever - haha.

Kim's capstone was a blur. I didn't understand whatever she talked about. It was a jumble of big words and concepts. My sister is weird. She had the choice to buy a new filter for her air purifier, instead she opted to buy a whole new one. Sigh. The weird-o things she does. My mom is staying the night with me. This should be fun. We spend some time at my sis's place so that my mom can make 3 dishes. She's so nice. We spent the day shopping and eating. Gosh, i'm going to gain so much weight.

Cute picture of the day.

And i'm still thinking of food.