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Mabel's Journal
10/10/08 Economics of Politics As I was saying I do not like either candidate. I am not worried about the stock market until AFTER the election. NOT AT ALL. Why? Because I passionately feel the rich are manipulating the stock market to scare the common man into voting for McCain. Why? Because they will not be taxed as harshly as Obama will tax them and because it is possible the Obama Admin may have a lot of people investigated that were able to rule the roost for years and engage in unlawful conduct. I also feel Rupert Murdoch helped perpetuate the fear to sell more papers. Obama is not experienced and the experienced Democrat should have been nominated. It is pretty simple. Thus I am not endorsing either. No one. But this big economic scare? Better to let Wall Street fall and us go hungry for a bit because we just fed the monster another steak is all we did. I do hope whoever gets in starts indicting people. It would be a lot of people. I feel gas went up because the speculators knew they screwed the pooch on real estate. So, they went over to oil, manipulated that and will return when property is a STEAL. I hope they are indicted too. The poor will fare the best in this, they are not used to having ANYTHING. So, not much you can take away. Those who live in high towers will not land softly. So, do not feel so bad-they treasured the wrong thing for too long.
9/2008 IKE, Mosquitoes and Basic Stuff I was in Houston for Ike and I wish I wasn't. My friends like me to tell them the story of the "Ice Fight" because it sounded funny. I lost that fight so I won't be talking much about it. In short people were allowed TWO bags and I was a rookie up against the Katrina people. They were walking out with 20 bags each and after a few hours of standing in line for ice-there were no bags left. That is when the fight broke out...and I was minding my own...and the cops...just kidding-but I did loose the ice fight. I went home pretty bewildered, I had seen nothing like that in my life. Gas was precious and another reason it was a disaster to come home empty handed. The 12 hours of the sound of jet engines in the dark were still etched in my mind from the storm. It was EXACTLY the sound of 747s taking off every minute-for 12 hours. In Florida the storms would sound like a high pitched whistle. This was different. FYI the fence went flying before IKE even arrived. By 2:00 am I felt that sleeping in a walk in closet was the best thing in the world-or the bath tub. This was because they were the areas with the least glass and the best construction. My dog was given something so he never even knew we had a problem. He had been through Katrina and Wilma. I call him Doppler Radar because he knows rain is coming even when the weather man does not. The tail goes between the legs for no apparent reason is the cue. Good thing the vet gave me something to sedate Ringo because I did not need an 90 pound Golden Retriever up my butt. But that second or third night after the storm, something weird happened... I was praying about the electric issue-with about four million other people. I walked into my dark work space to "brail it" for a flash light or candle--and a little set of flashing lights were going off. Like a Christmas little object. It was something a daughter had brought me back from New Orleans JUST before Katrina hit. An item I never paid any attention too-and honestly? I forgot she had ever given me this little item. [Elizabeth WILL read this..] And believe me it NEVER lit up-so I did not know what the thing was in the darkness, near my lap top. It was playful and cheerful and very bright. It was a little jazz instrument at least 4 years old. I kept it next to me as I went to bed. At 2:00 AM that same night I thought someone was sticking a flash light in my face. It was so bright and I thought someone had a flashlight in my face to tease me and I kept saying "stop it" and "cut it out." Until I opened my eyes to see the electric was back on. THAT was a miracle. Bottom line, when everything was quickly back to normal-the little thingy stopped working. Like it knew I no longer needed it. I felt bad for millions of others basting in the heat-[even the winners of the ice fight] but the next day the weather was glorious and cool. I heard it had not been that cool since 2007. So, another miracle. Back in the stores I noticed people were buying expensive candles. I told them to buy the cheaper ones with the fatter wicks. So, basic rule? Price does not matter in candle buying-the fatter the wick the better for night lighting. Keep and clean empty plastic gallon jugs for emergencies. These come in handy to fill up 90% and freeze for events like IKE. Leave 10% open for expansion of the ice. The frozen jugs act as ice blocks and hold out longer-and then they can be used for fresh drinking water when they have melted. Best of all you can freeze them for other people if your electric is back on but other peoples are not. Everclear and Lemon Grass - Skeets I really love Ever clear 190 proof grain alcohol for a lot of this. Disinfecting, a great solvent and carrier for room sprays-and Mosquito killer. Mosquitoes are a really bad aftermath of most storms. I dumped 20% lemongrass into 80% Everclear and sprayed my front and back door. I use an old Windex sprayer. I leave none in the sprayer because the EO will warp it over time. Anyway-no one is going to get bit on my watch! Bugs hate most essential oils, so Citronella is NOT "all that." And lemon grass far better smelling. I am now handing out lemon grass EO for lawn care people to dab on their wrists, neck, and ankles as you may do with perfume. It REALLY helps and the bugs sure do not like it. If you do get bit, put tea tree on it right away. Do not mess with those bugs. So, this is all I really have to say about IKE. You can never have TOO much canned foods on hand. Just make sure to pick realistic things you would eat tough times. A can of corn is not really realistic. A can of chicken and dumplings is more like it. Sam's Club sells restaurant sized foods and you may want to consider joining them. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome - Many people, including myself, acted like everything was normal as soon as we could. "Acting" being the operative word. I think a week later it hit psychologically like a wall. If you had been through something like this, it is VERY important to talk about it and have fellowship. I am not saying carry it forward, but do not go into denial. Talk about it, understand it, and then move on. Any bad situation where we have no control is usually a set up for PTS. Few people can afford counseling these days, but a good church has always been a healthy solution. February 11, 2007 BUY
BEE PRODUCTS NOW
If you are into honey, bee pollen and/or beeswax--buy it NOW. Buy it where you can! The bees truly are dying in the U.S. and when it makes the major News channels--who do not feel it is a top story (they have been ignoring this for 6 months) they are not kidding. They estimate up to 1/2 will be wiped out. Why? Over 100 years of fighting off various diseases have all but depleted their immune systems. I am a bee lover and I will be holding my own stash. To store: cool, dark and dry is best. Expect honey to crystallize over a long period--(a few seconds in the microwave solves that.) For that reason, I would store in glass and not metal. Beeswax can be kept for a few years if melted a bit and mixed with ROE--it may last longer. 1 teaspoon of ROE per pound. But heating, typically ruins any beneficial properties, FYI. Bee Pollen should be frozen or keep in the refrigerator. I do see if things get any worse, those by product will be a commodity hard to come by. This may make my vegan clientele happy, but we really need bees to pollinate a huge percentage of our crops. I expect prices of bee by products to double--if not triple by the end of 2007. I will use my wax with prudence--like for body care and not candles. In doing so, you only need a little--like under 5%. I wanted to start beekeeping as a hobby, but picked a very bad time for that. I will still use SoyWax as my main wax base. But I am not sure if the market on SoyWax will lower in price or increase. This has to do with the "Trans Fat" issue. Meaning more farming fields may be dedicated to canola or other non-trans fat type item. I think there will be a surplus of SoyWax on the market by the end of 2007--but it does not hold as long as Beeswax. SoyWax has about a 6-9 month life in cool, dark and dry conditions. I am not sure the gov is to blame as one person wrote below--but I never rule out anything. Odd, this may cause people who could care less about bee by products to hoard the market also. We get most of ours from Canada--I will check and see how they are doing. Currently affected States February 2007: Click thumbnail to open. 
From a Reader: Yeah, I told you about the bee thing. It's
insidious and government induced. Kind of depressing especially
since having good food crops are totally dependent upon them. But
then the good old gov wants us coming to them for their condemned
food and not able to function for ourselves. There has to be an
answer. Edible Love Lotions, Butters and Now Crèmes As 2006 ends, I am getting a lot of requests about how to make edible "passion" butters and crèmes. They are encouraged to expand their simple passion lines due to a few years of high sales of a basic formula. My answer is the old edible Glycerin and flavor is sufficient. Astroglide basically sells that very basic formula. Grow in other Bath and Body ways. Do not expand in food ways without the costly and necessary high standards for food. When merchants go from making body care products to "edible" body care products such as crème and body butter, they are making a huge departure of product and purpose. From a product developer stand point, I would not want to ingest "butters" and "crèmes" for many reasons. Reason number one--that jumped out at me when I first heard this, is, purity. Purity is not regulated in our markets. My customers buy from many places, even if they are asking me a question. But purity alone is enough to re-think. If someone sells us "shea butter" from Africa, they are not expecting us or the end user to consume it and would never sell as such. Handlers hygiene is one of a multitude of issues that make a difference on "grade." It would have to be handled differently--to a higher standard of food. And some wholesalers do cut high end oils and butters with known allergens such as low cost peanut oil. They are not going to admit this, but they are not selling for consumption either. No insurance or liability would ever cover this. Beyond purity, I think it is just a gross idea to ingest 2 ounces of cocoa butter or whatever. I grab some now and then, because I know our purity. But not a good practice anyway. So, as much as the market pushes the merchant for "more" variations and "more" textures in the passion field--(and it is pushing) draw a line. Do not feel compelled to create an edible crème or "butter." This new craze is hardly isolated and you can bet FDA will be all over who is doing it biggest and best next year. They will wait until a profit is made so they can seize it for their fees and set example--or simply when someone gets sick. Keep in mind also, children can get a hold of those types of products. Make no mistake, I am against edible butters, lotions and crèmes. Other than simple edible vegetable glycerin. Bobby the Movie I was so excited to see the new
film "Bobby" I went on Thanksgiving Day. I have not been so
excited about a holiday released movie since Patch Adams came out
several Christmases ago. Patch was so worth it. I can hardly say the
same for Bobby. The "Bobby previews" most Boomers can identify with,
previews that impassion us to see it, have little to do with the
film. And you do not leave Bobby feeling "recharged." The song by
Marvin Gaye, "Have you seen my old friend lately...?" I do not think
was anywhere in the film. More of a post preview making
afterthought. Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 I just finished a very inspiring week in North Carolina. I have a lot of neat things to write about, including articles about the Biltmore Estate. I am still vacation, but kind of a "working" vacation. I just located some holiday files we lost and posted them back in the archives. That was a bummer our sites dropped with some of my best work. Even I refer to the sites to grab recipes I wrote. As far as vacation time, after seeing the Biltmore Estate I really wanted to clean my house when I got back! The Biltmore Estate and Winery, Asheville, N.C., October 2006 I toured the Biltmore Estate my last day in NC. It is the largest home in the United States, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt, a shipping mogul. The home alone is an all day tour. I recommend getting the "audio" tour for a few dollars more. Although I went at the height of season, in mass crowds, everyone was truly polite. It is a great work out, visitors should expect to do a lot of walking. I loved the Estate so much, if I lived near Asheville, I would get an all year pass. I found the Biltmore linen room alone to be of great interest. Cornelius Vanderbilt did everything on a mass scale, to include the laundry room. He always thought big, as well as long term. Long term was evident by all of the Bamboo alone, surrounding the property, he imported and planted years ago. In the laundry room, the staff hung their sheets across tall dowels to dry so wrinkles were not an issue (a Chinese tradition from what I understand) and used ribbon to seal the sheets after being properly folded. The Christmas decorations, laid out before Thanksgiving, truly inspires a person to run home and decorate everything. And the kitchen ringing of copper was one of my favorite spots to hang out. The Biltmore is now ran by some 1,300 full time staff. That is a staff who truly loves their jobs. I fell in love with copper for about two days. I got an education on what work it takes to keep it clean from Williams and Sonoma. Too much work. The Biltmore Winery, October 2006 When I reached the Winery at the end of my tour, I was escorted around by the Head Chef and Culinary Event Specialist, Vonciel Baudouin. I could see she does a lot of filming in her very cool kitchen. The Winery also had a great music, live bands, and unparalleled ambiance. I noticed a person could spend an entire day just there relaxing. Thanks to Vonciel, I was able to taste a lot of wine and exchange kitchen ideas with her. I do not drink, per se, so I was smashed when I left. Because it was autumn, everyone was hanging around the "Wassail" center. Wassail is basically a spice mix you can add to warm cider, a dry white wine or a good stout. I posted my own dry Wassail recipe in the recent archives of Mabel. The night before I toured the Biltmore--I ate at a French Bistro, in Downtown Asheville called Bouchon's. I had a great time and met Michael, the head Chef. I did not know he was married to Vonciel l until her and I were talking as I toured the Biltmore Winery. I was impressed Vonciel could handle a lot of complex tasks and manage to keep a friendly glow. Few people could handle the sophistication of the Biltmore duties and be so fun and "available" at the same time. It may be called good team work. I am not sure how she does it. Yes, if I lived in Asheville, I would be found at the Biltmore Winery and its endless mountain views. The Asheville Farmer's Market, October 2006 You cannot go to Asheville without making a visit to the Asheville Farmer's Market. And when you go, be prepared to ship canned goods home in a flat rate box. The market was full of fresh cheese, honey still with wax, (I explained how I would make lip balm out of the left over wax) and so much other fresh produce it would spin your head. (If anyone gives you honey with wax: Take the wax out and wash the honey off. Melt the wax it in the nuker for a few minutes. Mix in 1/2 the amount vegetable oil, such as Safflower. Add flavor oil and you should have some great lip balm when it all cools.) I figured there was about 4 ounces of wax in a one pound jar of honey. So, that wax would make at least 8 ounces (32 four ounce pots) of lip balm or salve. 4 Ounces being a vegetable based oil. Back to the Asheville Farmer's Market, Sarah Moulton, (Food Channel) was just leaving with her crew when I arrived. That was fun. They were filming a segment on cheese. At the Farmer's Market, I learned of a honey I had never heard of before. Sourwood. Does not sound good--but is purported to be the most sought after honey on the East Coast. Merchants say it has the most "honey" notes than any other honey and is not sour. Waynesville, N.C., October 2006 I spent much of the trip in the town of Waynesville, N.C. on Downtown Main Street. That allowed me to go up the mountain and hiking in the Cherokee Indian Reservation and into Maggie Valley, where I used to have a second home. It was "peak week" and I was fortunate to see snow flurries with "leaf falling" flurries. That was beyond cool. Wind shield wipers are not made for leaves. I was able to photograph snow and leaves falling to the ground. Hot Cajun boiled peanuts and a good glass of red wine basically constituted lunch for me. I stayed all over-but the most at the Herren House, and Bed and Breakfast in Downtown Waynesville, N.C.. I met a lot of neat people who will inspire my next works. The Herren House is owned and operated by a married couple, both Chefs, named Tom and Jenny Halsey. The fact they are so into food offered a lot of fun and surprises. They also have a cool kitchen. I enjoyed my stay very much. The Mayor of the town grew up in that home. Friday, October 13th, 2006 Last week our site appeared to be off the map with many others. We apologize the network we have been on for years in NYC experienced long term outages. Our sites are back up, I am going to have to update some holiday ideas we lost over the next week. Yep, it was Friday the 13th. Wednesday, June 7th, 2006: Get Sodium Hydroxide at Lowes A Houston based essential oil company said we can get lye at Lowes. They said it is in the plumbing department and you just have to look for the one with "sodium hydroxide." Sodium Hydroxide is also known as "Caustic Soda." I am about to make ton of soap, lotion and crème. I will publish the brand name when I get it. The sale went awesome so I am keeping that on a bit longer. We have never had a "sale" per se. But we had a cooler down that spurred a sale. Frieda, Okalahoma, long time customer who may be joining our customer service said the name is "Roebic." I will also confirm. Click here for the 40% off sale that applies to everything but waxes and containers. Click here for buy 24 units get 12 free on SoySpaBath. We are just starting to get great testimonials on the paraffin dip alternative. Click here for our new crème and lotion which is new but not on sale. Click here for the Crystal Drain Opener Frieda provided. Lowes. $7.66 is not bad for two pounds of it. I am pretty sure that would be much cheaper city to city--such as West Virginia stores would sell it the cheapest. I used to have a customer send me down some from WV, (1/2 the price)--until shipping got just as high and restrictions harder. I finally bought the Roebic, it is liquid--so not sure if it can be specific to my old soap formulas. Everyone else I know is getting Lye off e-Bay these days. Hemp Pain Liniment from British Columbia A lot of people wanted to know more about the pain liniment the nurse made. Kelley says she simply soaks four fresh leaves in 8 ounces of in Rubbing Alcohol for about three days. When it turns green--it is ready. Strain and apply. We endorse the use only where legal. She said if that does not help the pain--smoke it. Free Fonts for Your Line: http://www.1001fonts.com/fonts_overview.html?page=1&category_id=11 Someone asked me where I got my handwritten fonts. It was from the link above. I like the Joe and Average Joe series.
Thursday, June 1st, 2006 Organic Drain Cleaner: A friend suggested dumping 1/2 pound of baking soda and then 1/2 a gallon of vinegar down a partially clogged drain. He said he does is for general maintenance. It sounded like our bath bomb recipe to me. But I went ahead and put some down the tub and into the nearby sink. Safely, I saw volcano action for a good ten minutes in the tub and twenty in the sink. That told me the sink was the issue--not the tub. Beyond pleasing aesthetics of "action: it did appear to work. Oddly. I would say better than the stuff above I mention to make soap-which I had been using on the same issue for too long. Sadly--the drain people make their money on "the come back" not the drain fix or the soap! My friend made nothing on the advice. Securing Lye to Make CP/HP Soap is No Longer Easy, Some Ideas: Deborah: I decided to make a bunch of CP/HP Soap before I move--for the new home. Securing lye is almost impossible. Here is what one customer said about lye: "I was having trouble finding lye here in TN. I went to 8 stores and was constantly reminded that stores are afraid of carrying it because of the meth labs that are so prolific in TN. I did finally find a hardware store that sold it and had to sign for it. They sold me two bottles of it, a bit reluctantly. The name on the bottle is "Rooto". I hope this helps you to find it in your area. (Hint, go to a family owned hardware store where they may have you show I.D. and have you sign for it. They also make folks sign for some fertilizers in this post 9/11 market.) I hope this helps, Deborah: I was told by another
source to check cleaning supply companies, local. This
worked out fairly well, but they sell it in my area as a liquid,
number one. And number two, you have to buy 250 pounds of it.
I have never seen Lye as a liquid. I am sure FL rivals any state for
meth labs--I started to be "watched" when I used to buy all of
Wal-Mart's canning jars. I guess labs use them also. We are in
the wrong business, I swear. A few other customers secure lye
via net and do have to sign hazmed agreements. Adding Lotions and Crèmes I am finally adding lotion and crème base on a custom basis for those that previously asked about such. I really enjoy making these items the most, as well as both kinds of soaps--cold process and melt and pour. I am not sure of the price points, when I make product--it is high quality and not cheap fillers. I can make to a customers specs. Organizing the Supply Room and Lowering Prices Presently, we are working on assigning every item in our supply room with an item number and a weight. You will notice if you place an order. This will help tremendously in keeping track of our inventory and allowing price reductions. I understand this is basic and should have been done years ago. However, I began as a hobby and 500 items later--we sure need basic organization. We are 1/2 way done with this important implementation of assigning item numbers and keeping perfect track of trends. This will help us in countless ways. Getting Us To "Market" Many women have evolved with me over seven years and I am now searching for platforms to truly take my own and my customers products to market. I am considering securing tradeshow space in conjunction with a magazine and possibly TV air time, all simultaneous. The magazine will act as a catalog. I notice everyone on TV is doing "food" "homes" and "soil" (Gardening channel) but no one is doing crafts per se. Product Gallery We already have an excellent web base and I plan to create a "Gallery" area to also support marketing my products as well as my customers. The gallery will be a great forum for us to aim for "clean lines" but I expect most business to come from a magazine/catalog. Main rule? Products should be unique and in good taste. I can do the photo work, back ground drops and such. Product needs to stand out as you notice we do on our site. I feel we appeal to two groups; Those too busy to make natural products can and will buy from us, some own country stores--and those who really want to save money and make their own family products buy supplies and learn from MWHL. My Health is just getting better after months of being "up" and "down." I do apologize I have not been my normal self. I feel a lot of that was stress related, torn between my love for making things, but the company growing too rapidly. I feel I will have a complete grip by the 4th of July, 2006. Anyone wanting to help on the growth platform of these marketing plans is welcome to write me. I would rather be among seasoned home crafters than to hire outside of our group. Some functions are web site text, writing content, and contacting advertisers such as Maxwell House that have contacted me. Sponsors will tremendously offset our costs, and again lower product prices. This is an angle no other web based craft supply company has ever entertained.
Pain Liniment Customer Tip: Marijuana soaked in alcohol dramatically reduces pain, British Columbia, Canada I know, "who is going to dare grow it" but for our information, a nurse swears by it. She told me an old hippie taught her and it worked so well, she used it with great for her ailing Grand Mother in her final days. Kelley says she simply soaks four fresh leaves in 8 ounces of in Rubbing Alcohol for about three days. When it turns green--it is ready. Strain and apply. Tuesday, December 31, 2013 Dry, Itchy Skin & Sun Block Solutions: Titanium Milk Bath Final Personal Opinions & Summary on Experiments Below: With the use of Titanium Dioxide in the bath, every day, I use far less lotion and crèmes as I was using almost an hour a day prior. Now, the most lotion I seem to be using is just after getting out of the bath and applying while still wet. Otherwise, I feel set for the day and very comfortable-no itchy and dry skin at this time or since. None. I also feel much better prepared for a day in the sun, with not as much sun block lotion effort as would be necessary in absence of taking morning titanium baths. I am getting better skin coverage, unparalled dry skin relief and saving a lot of money on the constant use of lotions. Since I have built up a general "film" over five days, I am down to needing this type of bath once a week. Titanium comes from a natural mineral. Click here for Titanium Dioxide. To Use: Use two scoops, (one ounce) right in with the running bath water. Allow to disperse a minute before you step in. The water will look like milk. You can dip a few times for more coverage. For serious cases you may want to use two or three ounces in your initial bath. After your initial bath the product tends to "stay" on. I do not recommend mixing any other bath ingredients--such as oil-since it will interfere with the coverage of this product. When you step out of the bath you may opt to apply lotion. At that point you should have the coverage and relief you need. History: I have been working for a few weeks on real solutions to dry, itchy skin. SW Florida, as well as many other southern U.S. cities have not seen rain of any merit in 12 weeks. This also means all time low humidity. We are used to living in a lot of fog "humidity." I cannot recall ever being so uncomfortable, to such extent, I considered internal problems first. I was thinking maybe middle age hormone changes. For me, the culprit was the obvious. Lack of any humidity in the air. It is fair to say, if your skin is dry, you should be drinking more water. Because I was so uncomfortable, I tried everything I could think of. It was so bad, I was even getting up in the middle of the night to take an "bee pollen oil bath." I read, and believe, taking a cool/warm bath is better than taking hot bath for dry skin. It is also helpful to not towel dry off when getting out of the bath and applying lotion. These techniques help, but I was still back to itching within a few hours. Buttermilk in the bath tub--whether dry buttermilk, or fresh buttermilk did help. Buttermilk helps nurture the skin. Oatmeal helps to some degree with itching. Avoiding scented lotions, or lotions with 101 ingredients also helped. I found using scented lotion to actually be painful. Glycerin soap also came in handy, and I opted for that over my CP Olive oil soap for once. It got to a point I was applying aloe vera gel on my legs as I watched TV. I would allow that to sink in and then apply a heavy cream to "lock it in." Again, that bought me an hour of relief. What really helped? This was surprising and not expected. As I prepared to garden and spend a whole day in the sun, I took a morning bath, and dusted my whole body with a mixture of 1/2 titanium dioxide powder and 1/2 zinc oxide powder. I was more concerned with sun burn. Now, the down side is I looked like Casper the ghost. I covered every part of my body and grabbed a hat. I went swimming while out--and the dioxides stayed on. When I got inside the house, I noticed I had not itched once all day, and had not felt that "tight" feeling dry skin can cause. Even after a cool shower, my skin had a titanium/zinc residue, but my skin felt great. I still looked a tad like Casper--but it was worth it. (Dioxides do not wash off very easily.) Even eight hours later I felt fine. I am also sure I can sleep through the night for the first time in weeks without issue. How is that? I am not sure if my relief came from the titanium dioxide, zinc oxide or the combination of both. I will bathe tomorrow and dust with titanium and the next day, zinc. That may help isolate which one worked. It may have been both. Once I isolate what oxides work, I will start to make lotion that has an aloe vera base and sesame and avocado oils. These oils are well known for their slight sunscreen capabilities--but not FDA recognized as such. When making my lotion, the amount of the oxides may have to be high to ensure dependable relief. I will write more on this in the near future. I am curious if this can provide relief to eczema and psoriasis sufferers. The only down side so far? Hello Casper. Solution to Casper below (bath method.)
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 More Experience with Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide in the Bath
I am happy to report this "Titanium Bath" is a great way to get even coverage all over the skin and allowed me to get coverage on area's I can not reach with the former "powder direct on skin method." Plus, much less Casper effect. In the bath, the powder did attach itself evenly all over the skin area. I dipped my reading glasses in the water a few times and could see it properly fogged the glass with an even coat. I can assume the same even film was on my skin. The other attribute to using it in the bath is I did not have to look like Casper to get the same amount of relief for dry skin. I also feel doing this is a great head start for spending a day in the sun. Better, the residue does not easily wash off when you swim, or shower. I am not allowed to gauge SPF, but if I had to guess, for myself, I got a head start on a solid 15 SPF if not higher--with the Titanium bath--and full coverage on all skin areas but scalp. Perfect if I was a life guard. If I was employed in water related activities, I may have upped the amount in my bath from 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce. Downside on this? If you have to attend a formal function, you really need to soap the film off for true skin color and tone. The skin is a tad lighter in appearance because it does have a protective coat of titanium Dioxide. Zinc Oxide in the Bath Tuesday's bath I used 1/2 ounce of Zinc Oxide and that tended to not disperse as well. Also, dipping my glasses did not show as nice a coat (or film) as did the titanium. One reason could be my Zinc Oxide is not water dispersible. Final Personal Opinions: With the use of Titanium Dioxide in the bath, every day, I use far less lotion and crèmes as I was using almost an hour a day prior. Now, the most lotion I seem to be using is just after getting out of the bath and applying while still wet. Otherwise, I feel set for the day and very comfortable-no itchy and dry skin at this time. I also feel much better prepared for a day in the sun, with not as much sun block lotion effort as without taking morning titanium baths. I am getting better coverage, relief in general and saving a lot of money. Next Experiments: Will include dry buttermilk at 50% with 50% Titanium Dioxide for the Bath. I suspect this will also nurture the skin--although may reduce the overall protection and film of the Titanium. I am also very curious to see how Eczema and Psoriasis sufferers fare with this bath system. Afflicted friends will help with this. Please e-mail me if you are in this crowd and want to take part. mabelwhite@sbcglobal.com
Reference: Titanium Dioxide is the sole active ingredient in Neutrogena Chemical-Free Sunblocker (search 54 on index) and Titanium and Zinc Oxide sole active ingredients on Johnson's "No More Tears" Baby Sun Block (search 55 on index.) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202782.html#GXXg20278255 More Reports on Titanium Dioxide: Titanium dioxide is a white powder, something we eat and see frequently as a whitener for paint, processed food, toothpaste, and many other products. However, it turns out that TiO2 is also a strong photocatalyst--so when it's in the sun, organic compounds (e.g. dirt, mold, mildew, bacteria) that touch it break down, without consuming the TiO2 because it's just a catalyst in the reactions. Also, it's extremely hydrophilic, so water hitting it forms a smooth sheet instead of tiny droplets, and that sheet gets under dirt to lift it off the surface and get it easily washed away. The combination of these effects makes TiO2 self-cleaning to a large extent, and it can be applied in microscopically thin coatings to building materials, glass, or even fabrics. Research Associate in the Field of Child Development and Human Relations: (A Mom) Submitted by Cornell U
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Monday morning my skin was still quite
comfortable from the Titanium/Zinc powder applications on Sunday
morning. Slight reside still left on my skin from Sunday.
I poured 1/2 an ounce of water dispersible Titanium Dioxide
powder in my bath. It looked like a "milk bath."
(Titanium Dioxide is what melt and pour soap makers use to make
white M&P soap (btw) and artists use to make their paint white.)