Thank you for being normal and putting food on your face, and suggesting that this could be a normal thing other people can do if they want to, too.
A very long rant incoming- apologies and ty in advance haha:
Not what this is about, but it’s bringing up for me how I always find it baffling how people on the internet and beauty journalists fear monger over homemade skin products, often with a tone of condescension. A similar thing happens with reproductive self-help and and any sort of herbal/folk remedy.
They’ll be like “haha you think some little plants can do something? They’re ineffective and won’t do anything! But omg herbs are DANGEROUS! HEMLOCK IS A PLANT!!!! You should NEVER touch a PLANT!!!” Lol meanwhile popping NSAIDS like candy and conveniently forgetting the stimulant effects of extracted bean juice (coffee) and down-regulating effect hops (beer--- side note I think it’s the hops that cause beer-poops, I’ve just realized this and wanted to share).
Or like “you think a little STEAM can affect your UTERUS? It does nothing! But ITS SO DANGEROUS NEVER LET STEAM NEAR YOU”
Or fear mongering about sex toys made of like, jade or quartz, meanwhile gross boys have been sticking grubby fingers up there from the beginning of time. Poor quality sex toys that off-gas and degrade in your body are also implicitly A-OK.
Tangent- I once had a (female) urologist shame me for seeking care from a Sexological Bodyworker when I developed interstitial cystitis (which I have healed from thank God) since nothing conventional was helping, claiming that this modality could cause my harm. Like bro, we did genital mapping she brought still touch to various locations on my genitals for me to somatically register the sensation and build that good mind-body connection. But yeah anything some guy wants to do with his dick is fine and no warnings needed and no harm could ever come to the pelvic door this way.
Finally, with the homemade skin products. About once every year or two there’s a wave of articles and podcast episodes about how it’s so dangerous to make face masks out of food because you can get an infection or something? Or irritation? Not sure what the warning ever is haha. Like sure if you’re putting ACV and lemon juice mixed with a rotting avocado and pasteurized milk you’ve left out of the fridge on your face it will probably mess you up. But imagine being like “NEVER PUT YOGURT ON YOUR SKIN” lmao what????? Is it ineffective or the most dangerous thing ever??? Lmao. It would be better to educate readers/listeners about best practices and what to avoid.
Meanwhile, repeat PEG exposure is definitely okay, even though this creates anti-PEG antibodies which at a certain level can cause PEG allergy which causes allergies to anything processed with PEGs including processed foods, cosmetics and some drugs.
This is obviously about money and giving our power (and money) over to other people who have an interest in this, but i will get off my soap box now lol.
Gods as someone who has dealt with IC since I was a teenager, I felt the "shaming by the medical establishment for seeking relief anywhere outside of their pills/break and enter tactics" story so much. And congrats on having gotten a handle on your symptoms.
My insurance recently stopped poorly covering the only FDA approved treatment for IC because ??? but, you know, boner pills? ONE HUNDRED PERCENT COVERED because my pissing rivets/not sleeping from constant pain is probably psychosomatic but some dude can't get it up HOLY SHIT WE NEED A SOLUTION NOW. MAKE IT NEARLY FREE!!!!
Sorry for the rant but goddamn I am 30 or 40 years old and do not need this shit.
Hey y'all, same boat IC wise and the only thing that has given me long term help and healing is Uva Ursi (bearberry) in pill form. Don't know if you've tried it already but if you haven't, it took me from constant pain to almost pain free.
I would also add to milk's association “with youth, since that is what we drink as babies and children...and youth will always be an attractive concept in beauty.” I can't help but wonder if we also imagine women with firm, full breasts of milking age (ie: fertile, abundant, beautiful, forthcoming) when we think of milk's value.
I also relished your take on jojoba oil. I often come here and think "but surely some products work!" because, hey, when I have dry skin on my hands, cream HELPS. So what products that are closest to their original form/ least adulterated for profit are actually worth having in our bathrooms? I'm sure you've done a post like that, which I've missed. But I'd love to see it re-pub'd.
Finally, a doctor named Icecreamwala is the ONLY expert who should tell us anything about milky skincare products in August.
I really enjoyed the books "Clean" by James Hamblin and "The Remarkable Life of the Skin" by Monty Lyman re: thinking about what products actually work and why!
Excellent breakdown! Growing up in india we often used milk to mix with rosewater, raw tumeric and chick pea flour -- this is our standard beautifying face pack. in hindu weddings there is a ceremony a day before called haldi (literally hindi for tumeric) where this pack is slathered on the bride and groom by friends and family, as a representation of the prepping they used to do to brides in days past. if you're a fancy wedding, this ceremony is also done while the bride & groom are seated in a large ornate dish filled with milk and rose petals. having enough milk to use for beauty has always been a signifier of luxury where i come from. but those of us who actually use home remedies our grandmothers gave us know that milk is not as useful as, for example, curd/yogurt is. put it in your hair and it will help reduce dandruff. put it on the skin and well, you already know haha
Glad to see Cleopatra getting a shout out for her milk baths but slightly disappointed not to hear about Elizabeth Bathory and HER baths. Hungarian queen bathed in the blood of virgins. How can Glossier top that?
I had no idea about the history of real milk in modern beauty products! This was a fascinating read.
In Japan, there are a lot of skin products that have "milk" in the name, and I used to vaguely think it was a false friend situation where it *sounds* like the English word milk, but means something slightly different in Japanese, specific to beauty products. Now I'm desperately curious to see if any of those products actually have literal milk in them....
Love this take on the "brand equity" of milk. The shift from cream to milk is interesting from this vantage and feels like it straddles the line between beauty and diet culture? As in--cashes in (at least unconsciously) on the idea of milk as "healthier" than, say, Ponds cold cream. Kind of a reversal of the Crème de la Mere or Bader's The Rich Cream insofar as the aspiration to luxury/wealth < aspiration to be healthy, i.e., skinny.
I've started using Manuka Honey as a face mask once a week and not only does it feel great and leave my skin looking lush... I can eat any that melts into my mouth!!!! Mmmmmmm...
Food on face > face is food haha
Thank you for being normal and putting food on your face, and suggesting that this could be a normal thing other people can do if they want to, too.
A very long rant incoming- apologies and ty in advance haha:
Not what this is about, but it’s bringing up for me how I always find it baffling how people on the internet and beauty journalists fear monger over homemade skin products, often with a tone of condescension. A similar thing happens with reproductive self-help and and any sort of herbal/folk remedy.
They’ll be like “haha you think some little plants can do something? They’re ineffective and won’t do anything! But omg herbs are DANGEROUS! HEMLOCK IS A PLANT!!!! You should NEVER touch a PLANT!!!” Lol meanwhile popping NSAIDS like candy and conveniently forgetting the stimulant effects of extracted bean juice (coffee) and down-regulating effect hops (beer--- side note I think it’s the hops that cause beer-poops, I’ve just realized this and wanted to share).
Or like “you think a little STEAM can affect your UTERUS? It does nothing! But ITS SO DANGEROUS NEVER LET STEAM NEAR YOU”
Or fear mongering about sex toys made of like, jade or quartz, meanwhile gross boys have been sticking grubby fingers up there from the beginning of time. Poor quality sex toys that off-gas and degrade in your body are also implicitly A-OK.
Tangent- I once had a (female) urologist shame me for seeking care from a Sexological Bodyworker when I developed interstitial cystitis (which I have healed from thank God) since nothing conventional was helping, claiming that this modality could cause my harm. Like bro, we did genital mapping she brought still touch to various locations on my genitals for me to somatically register the sensation and build that good mind-body connection. But yeah anything some guy wants to do with his dick is fine and no warnings needed and no harm could ever come to the pelvic door this way.
Finally, with the homemade skin products. About once every year or two there’s a wave of articles and podcast episodes about how it’s so dangerous to make face masks out of food because you can get an infection or something? Or irritation? Not sure what the warning ever is haha. Like sure if you’re putting ACV and lemon juice mixed with a rotting avocado and pasteurized milk you’ve left out of the fridge on your face it will probably mess you up. But imagine being like “NEVER PUT YOGURT ON YOUR SKIN” lmao what????? Is it ineffective or the most dangerous thing ever??? Lmao. It would be better to educate readers/listeners about best practices and what to avoid.
Meanwhile, repeat PEG exposure is definitely okay, even though this creates anti-PEG antibodies which at a certain level can cause PEG allergy which causes allergies to anything processed with PEGs including processed foods, cosmetics and some drugs.
This is obviously about money and giving our power (and money) over to other people who have an interest in this, but i will get off my soap box now lol.
Gods as someone who has dealt with IC since I was a teenager, I felt the "shaming by the medical establishment for seeking relief anywhere outside of their pills/break and enter tactics" story so much. And congrats on having gotten a handle on your symptoms.
My insurance recently stopped poorly covering the only FDA approved treatment for IC because ??? but, you know, boner pills? ONE HUNDRED PERCENT COVERED because my pissing rivets/not sleeping from constant pain is probably psychosomatic but some dude can't get it up HOLY SHIT WE NEED A SOLUTION NOW. MAKE IT NEARLY FREE!!!!
Sorry for the rant but goddamn I am 30 or 40 years old and do not need this shit.
Hey y'all, same boat IC wise and the only thing that has given me long term help and healing is Uva Ursi (bearberry) in pill form. Don't know if you've tried it already but if you haven't, it took me from constant pain to almost pain free.
I would also add to milk's association “with youth, since that is what we drink as babies and children...and youth will always be an attractive concept in beauty.” I can't help but wonder if we also imagine women with firm, full breasts of milking age (ie: fertile, abundant, beautiful, forthcoming) when we think of milk's value.
I also relished your take on jojoba oil. I often come here and think "but surely some products work!" because, hey, when I have dry skin on my hands, cream HELPS. So what products that are closest to their original form/ least adulterated for profit are actually worth having in our bathrooms? I'm sure you've done a post like that, which I've missed. But I'd love to see it re-pub'd.
Finally, a doctor named Icecreamwala is the ONLY expert who should tell us anything about milky skincare products in August.
I swear I thought Dr. Icecreamwala’s name was a farce initially!
I really enjoyed the books "Clean" by James Hamblin and "The Remarkable Life of the Skin" by Monty Lyman re: thinking about what products actually work and why!
Excellent breakdown! Growing up in india we often used milk to mix with rosewater, raw tumeric and chick pea flour -- this is our standard beautifying face pack. in hindu weddings there is a ceremony a day before called haldi (literally hindi for tumeric) where this pack is slathered on the bride and groom by friends and family, as a representation of the prepping they used to do to brides in days past. if you're a fancy wedding, this ceremony is also done while the bride & groom are seated in a large ornate dish filled with milk and rose petals. having enough milk to use for beauty has always been a signifier of luxury where i come from. but those of us who actually use home remedies our grandmothers gave us know that milk is not as useful as, for example, curd/yogurt is. put it in your hair and it will help reduce dandruff. put it on the skin and well, you already know haha
Glad to see Cleopatra getting a shout out for her milk baths but slightly disappointed not to hear about Elizabeth Bathory and HER baths. Hungarian queen bathed in the blood of virgins. How can Glossier top that?
I had no idea about the history of real milk in modern beauty products! This was a fascinating read.
In Japan, there are a lot of skin products that have "milk" in the name, and I used to vaguely think it was a false friend situation where it *sounds* like the English word milk, but means something slightly different in Japanese, specific to beauty products. Now I'm desperately curious to see if any of those products actually have literal milk in them....
I read the word “milk” so many times it lost all meaning, which seems like is maybe the whole point of the piece?
I showed Dr. Icecreamwala to like 3 of my friends, and no one would believe me that that's her real name.
Love this take on the "brand equity" of milk. The shift from cream to milk is interesting from this vantage and feels like it straddles the line between beauty and diet culture? As in--cashes in (at least unconsciously) on the idea of milk as "healthier" than, say, Ponds cold cream. Kind of a reversal of the Crème de la Mere or Bader's The Rich Cream insofar as the aspiration to luxury/wealth < aspiration to be healthy, i.e., skinny.
I've started using Manuka Honey as a face mask once a week and not only does it feel great and leave my skin looking lush... I can eat any that melts into my mouth!!!! Mmmmmmm...
This was so interesting! I hope you have more information about skin science in your book!