Eureka (Again)!

(Ptooey! I smell-a like-a Lilac Vegetal.) ;-) I'm no "Heisenberg," it's true, but I second-guessed that I was wrong about putting the witch hazel first, and finally got a great shave utilizing the liquid glycerin today. I applied Shave Secret first, witch hazel directly, then wiped both off together, for the oil cleanse prep. Then, a drop of glycerin in the palm, and pumpkin juice melted into it, no pop-to-face. Williams, fully palm lathered, did not bring ruin to my stratum corneum, but still picked up some glycerin enrichment over the course of the shave, giving me a large quantity of "crema" on third pass. And you know what? I liked it, just like I used to like it with Stirling. It felt wet. Progressive wetting balances decreasing traction, so that the lower degree of cushioning protection is not harmful.

I'm going to start curing my witch hazel in my little solution cup overnight, to evaporate some of the alcohol. Then maybe a one-shot liquid can be concocted, a week's worth at a time. But today, my skin did feel very oil-depleted when I was done. The moisturizer was mandatory; and I took advantage of it by taking pick-ups. BBS with a dying Racer? Yeah, I'd say that was good prep. There is one bump where I tend to get bumps, on the contralateral jawline. Otherwise, no signs of distress or over-exfoliation. There is a difference between being really smooth, and removing a layer of skin with hair in it. (Wow, that's like a summary of my blog, right there in one sentence!)

"Shaven on the Darkside" in my video queue reminded me of the Lilac Vegetal. It's been sinking back in the cupboard, actually sliding into the toilet cleaner section, ever since I realized that its character changed for the better in the presence of residual carbamide. I don't usually smell like that. But since then I've realized the bigger picture, of the calcium matrix. It's not that carbamide (as in sweat) is required, rather chelation. The witch hazel, pumpkin juice and Williams in my routine take care of that, in spades. Not a HINT of cat urine, and I'm probably going to ride out the summer with it.

Finally, some emollient cocoa butter brought my skin back to its proper oiliness.

Project Pancakes Update

Speaking of chelation, the little midnight-blue betta that could was seen holding in an air bubble this morning! Swimming at the surface to induce me to drop in some pellets, his butt dropped whenever he slowed down, but impressive swimming for him. I've also seen him take a less settled stance when he's on the bottom, standing on ventral fins.

I've been trying to soften some old dry beans, and it turns out this is also a problem in chelation. They have "skins," like us... if you think too much about it, a bowl of beans is like eating a bunch of little homunculi. Well, one home remedy recomended for betta constipation, also related to air bladder disease, is the feeding of frozen peas.

I'm going to soak my beans in spinach juice, smash one after enough cooking to eliminate toxins, and give it to the fish. I bet I can get fragments that look just like his pellets.