As the simplest recipe I found, I decided to try this one first.
Ingredients:
4 tbsp dry lentils - I used red lentils, but any kind of dal will do
water to soak
Method:
Soak the lentils overnight (or until hydrated), and then use enough water and a whizzer to make them into a paste. Use like normal shampoo.
This is incredibly easy to make. I left it on longer than regular shampoo - I figured the longer the better. It smells very fresh (and lentilly) and did a surprisingly good job of cleaning my hair. The main drawback is that it took ages to get all the bits of lentil out of my hair - in the end I let it dry and combed them out. On the up side, because they weren't too small they did come out easily.
Verdict:
Pretty good considering it costs next to nothing, but not something to use when you're in a hurry.
Living the Good Life
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Dry skin, acne, carrots and Vitamin A
As alluded to in my olive oil posts from earlier this year, I used to have horrendous skin. Bad acne, greasy T-zone, the lot. Since then, my skin seems to have swung the full width of the scale and is now incredibly dry - so much so that I can put hand cream on my face in the morning, and still have dried-out skin by midday. Unfortunately the acne hasn't completely gone away, and at the age of 29 I am still tied to using medicated face washes. In short, since about the age of 11 I have had fairly rubbish skin, as I just haven't known how to deal with it. And I am fed up with it.
A while ago I bought a book about adult acne, which told me that the three chemicals I need to look for in products are retinol (vitamin A), salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. Since learning that without one of these chemicals it's unlikely that there will be much improvement in my skin, I was amazed at how few of the marketed products actually contain ANY of them! I have succeeded in locating a few that contain salicylic acid (and only 1 at a significant percentage), none that contain benzoyl peroxide, and a couple of very expensive beauty creams that contain retinol.
The latter of these I find extremely interesting, as it seems retinol also has a widely mentioned effect on wrinkles and other skin imperfections. Excellent! But I'm not spending £12 on a teeny bottle of moisturiser.
So having done some more research I discovered that there are a few vegetables that have high levels of vitamin A: carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli and butternut squash. So while I can't afford expensive creams I do normally have a carrot or two knocking around in the fridge which I can add to face masks. Other good sources are dairy products and meat - especially liver.
While I'm not up to a Victoria Beckham-style meat mask, I can very easily combine some grated carrot and yoghurt. I often use yoghurt on its own as a face mask as it really makes my dry skin soft, but the addition of vitamin A should help not only my spots but my encroaching wrinkles too. I've been using the recipe below every other day, and my skin seems to be responding well. Hopefully this increase in skin care will mean I can cut down on the money I spend on cosmetics too!
----
Super face mask for dry, acne prone skin:
1 tsp grated carrot/ sweet potato/ squash
1 tsp natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp oatmeal
Leave on for 10 minutes, then rinse off with water and moisturise.
A while ago I bought a book about adult acne, which told me that the three chemicals I need to look for in products are retinol (vitamin A), salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. Since learning that without one of these chemicals it's unlikely that there will be much improvement in my skin, I was amazed at how few of the marketed products actually contain ANY of them! I have succeeded in locating a few that contain salicylic acid (and only 1 at a significant percentage), none that contain benzoyl peroxide, and a couple of very expensive beauty creams that contain retinol.
The latter of these I find extremely interesting, as it seems retinol also has a widely mentioned effect on wrinkles and other skin imperfections. Excellent! But I'm not spending £12 on a teeny bottle of moisturiser.
So having done some more research I discovered that there are a few vegetables that have high levels of vitamin A: carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli and butternut squash. So while I can't afford expensive creams I do normally have a carrot or two knocking around in the fridge which I can add to face masks. Other good sources are dairy products and meat - especially liver.
While I'm not up to a Victoria Beckham-style meat mask, I can very easily combine some grated carrot and yoghurt. I often use yoghurt on its own as a face mask as it really makes my dry skin soft, but the addition of vitamin A should help not only my spots but my encroaching wrinkles too. I've been using the recipe below every other day, and my skin seems to be responding well. Hopefully this increase in skin care will mean I can cut down on the money I spend on cosmetics too!
----
Super face mask for dry, acne prone skin:
1 tsp grated carrot/ sweet potato/ squash
1 tsp natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp oatmeal
Leave on for 10 minutes, then rinse off with water and moisturise.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Writing up
This article was originally published for Cambio Ltd. on 17-12-2012. Access it here.
On my official forms it says I have a minimum of 3 years and maximum of 4 years to complete my studies. I would be interested to know what the average time taken to complete a PhD is, because I know people who have had to wait for their 3 year ‘minimum’ in order to submit, and others who still have not submitted after 5 years. I am also a little dispirited by the number of academics who have said to me that you need to be extremely lucky to complete your studies within the 3 years.
For me luck has not been hugely forthcoming, owing to my PCR frustrations. However, ever the optimist, I am hopeful that I will find sufficient funding to sequence the ~1000 strains I have, and thus be well on my way to making my original scientific discovery. I am very aware that data is only part of the story though: I’ve been on enough science communication courses by now to understand that research is only useful if you can tell other people about it. A PhD is nothing without a written thesis.
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go on a GRADSchool course run by Vitae*. Towards the end of the week we did some goal setting, and gave ourselves targets towards getting where we want with our careers. Some people were going to sign up for training courses, some were going to investigate non-academic career options. Me, I was struck by our group leader’s definition of a good PhD thesis, which was simply a finished PhD thesis. With this in mind, and the end of my third year looming, I decided that the most constructive thing I can do, no matter my career choice, is to get the darned thing written. Seventy thousand words ain’t going to happen by magic!
So I’ve set myself a target to have 30,000 words written by my birthday in September, which coincides with the time my funding runs out – an extremely good motivator! This works out at about 700 words a week, and being a very visual learner I have of course set up a spreadsheet to keep me on track. I’ve also moved my working week around so that I have a day just for writing, which suits me much better than fitting it in around lab experiments. So far, so good: I have 7% of a thesis.
My only problem is that I am not a natural in the scientific lingo. Other forms of writing feel quite natural, but I am still getting my head around how scientific language works. It is a fine art, and in my experience there is a thin line between very good and very bad writing. The skill is to be technical and succinct without being grandiloquent or using too much jargon. The most helpful tip I’ve had is to write a sentence, then read the first 10 words: if you’ve not said anything useful, rewrite it.
Obviously the only way to improve at anything is practice, so all the more reason to get writing now – it’s easier to play around with badly written sentences than no sentences. I’ve heard repeatedly that “writing up takes longer than you think!” – so get writing!
* Having spoken to a number of people there (being a gregarious soul) I think I may have been the only person there of my own volition rather than ‘because my supervisor wanted me to go’, but I don’t think I met anyone who felt their time had been wasted. If you are a PhD student and your supervisor suggests you go, do.
On my official forms it says I have a minimum of 3 years and maximum of 4 years to complete my studies. I would be interested to know what the average time taken to complete a PhD is, because I know people who have had to wait for their 3 year ‘minimum’ in order to submit, and others who still have not submitted after 5 years. I am also a little dispirited by the number of academics who have said to me that you need to be extremely lucky to complete your studies within the 3 years.
For me luck has not been hugely forthcoming, owing to my PCR frustrations. However, ever the optimist, I am hopeful that I will find sufficient funding to sequence the ~1000 strains I have, and thus be well on my way to making my original scientific discovery. I am very aware that data is only part of the story though: I’ve been on enough science communication courses by now to understand that research is only useful if you can tell other people about it. A PhD is nothing without a written thesis.
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go on a GRADSchool course run by Vitae*. Towards the end of the week we did some goal setting, and gave ourselves targets towards getting where we want with our careers. Some people were going to sign up for training courses, some were going to investigate non-academic career options. Me, I was struck by our group leader’s definition of a good PhD thesis, which was simply a finished PhD thesis. With this in mind, and the end of my third year looming, I decided that the most constructive thing I can do, no matter my career choice, is to get the darned thing written. Seventy thousand words ain’t going to happen by magic!
So I’ve set myself a target to have 30,000 words written by my birthday in September, which coincides with the time my funding runs out – an extremely good motivator! This works out at about 700 words a week, and being a very visual learner I have of course set up a spreadsheet to keep me on track. I’ve also moved my working week around so that I have a day just for writing, which suits me much better than fitting it in around lab experiments. So far, so good: I have 7% of a thesis.
My only problem is that I am not a natural in the scientific lingo. Other forms of writing feel quite natural, but I am still getting my head around how scientific language works. It is a fine art, and in my experience there is a thin line between very good and very bad writing. The skill is to be technical and succinct without being grandiloquent or using too much jargon. The most helpful tip I’ve had is to write a sentence, then read the first 10 words: if you’ve not said anything useful, rewrite it.
Obviously the only way to improve at anything is practice, so all the more reason to get writing now – it’s easier to play around with badly written sentences than no sentences. I’ve heard repeatedly that “writing up takes longer than you think!” – so get writing!
* Having spoken to a number of people there (being a gregarious soul) I think I may have been the only person there of my own volition rather than ‘because my supervisor wanted me to go’, but I don’t think I met anyone who felt their time had been wasted. If you are a PhD student and your supervisor suggests you go, do.
Monday, 17 December 2012
No 'poo #2
Earlier this year I attempted to go without shampoo for a month, instead using bicarb and vinegar.
It did not work.
I don't know if it's because of the hard water where I was living, the way I was doing it, or my hair itself that was the problem. Either way, after a couple of weeks the crown of my head was permanently greasy and more than a bit gross. I may be a bit of a hippy, but I do care about my appearance. So out came the bottle of shampoo...
In an attempt to save my growing hair I also cut back how often I wash my hair to twice a week, and try not to use elasticated hair ties so much. But my hair remains unhappy, so it's time for me to try something different again.
Using the experience I gained I will be doing things a bit different this time. I think a more appropriate name for this experiment may be "no detergent" - I intend to try out a variety of 'traditional' shampoos, and report back on how they have worked for me.
My hair is now quite long and remains very thick, very fine (as per a chinchilla) and a bit greasy - I can go 3 days without a wash, but the fourth always requires dry shampoo (for which I use cornflour and a lot of brushing). I long ago stopped using chemical dyes, and rarely blow dry my hair. But because it is so fine it quickly gets very knotty, and because it grows so slowly it also tends to get ratty at the ends.
The first experiment showed me a few things that really did help with these last two things:
1) vinegar and lemon juice make excellent conditioners. I now keep an old washing up liquid bottle containing 1 part cider vinegar, 1 part lemon juice, 10 parts water and a cinnamon stick in the shower to rinse my hair after washing. It really softens my hair and makes it feel much less dry.
2) olive oil is also an excellent conditioner and detangler. I run a tiny amount through the ends of my hair by hand or by rubbing this small amount of oil onto my hairbrush. My ends seem much healthier, and less knotty as a result.
3) henna is amazing! I have more than a few grey hairs now, and it also helps with this. At about £7 for a block of Caca Rouge from Lush, it works out at just over £2 per dying session - much cheaper than chemical dyes, and much better for my hair. Obviously only useful if you have dark hair!
My main priorities with finding an alternative to standard shampoos is that it should be cheap, easy and not reliant on fossil fuels for its production; I am reluctant to use the words 'sustainable', 'green' or 'ecological', but these would also be relevant. If I can find it in my kitchen cupboard, so much the better.
Let the experiments commence!
It did not work.
I don't know if it's because of the hard water where I was living, the way I was doing it, or my hair itself that was the problem. Either way, after a couple of weeks the crown of my head was permanently greasy and more than a bit gross. I may be a bit of a hippy, but I do care about my appearance. So out came the bottle of shampoo...
In an attempt to save my growing hair I also cut back how often I wash my hair to twice a week, and try not to use elasticated hair ties so much. But my hair remains unhappy, so it's time for me to try something different again.
Using the experience I gained I will be doing things a bit different this time. I think a more appropriate name for this experiment may be "no detergent" - I intend to try out a variety of 'traditional' shampoos, and report back on how they have worked for me.
My hair is now quite long and remains very thick, very fine (as per a chinchilla) and a bit greasy - I can go 3 days without a wash, but the fourth always requires dry shampoo (for which I use cornflour and a lot of brushing). I long ago stopped using chemical dyes, and rarely blow dry my hair. But because it is so fine it quickly gets very knotty, and because it grows so slowly it also tends to get ratty at the ends.
The first experiment showed me a few things that really did help with these last two things:
1) vinegar and lemon juice make excellent conditioners. I now keep an old washing up liquid bottle containing 1 part cider vinegar, 1 part lemon juice, 10 parts water and a cinnamon stick in the shower to rinse my hair after washing. It really softens my hair and makes it feel much less dry.
2) olive oil is also an excellent conditioner and detangler. I run a tiny amount through the ends of my hair by hand or by rubbing this small amount of oil onto my hairbrush. My ends seem much healthier, and less knotty as a result.
3) henna is amazing! I have more than a few grey hairs now, and it also helps with this. At about £7 for a block of Caca Rouge from Lush, it works out at just over £2 per dying session - much cheaper than chemical dyes, and much better for my hair. Obviously only useful if you have dark hair!
My main priorities with finding an alternative to standard shampoos is that it should be cheap, easy and not reliant on fossil fuels for its production; I am reluctant to use the words 'sustainable', 'green' or 'ecological', but these would also be relevant. If I can find it in my kitchen cupboard, so much the better.
Let the experiments commence!
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