Rehydrate without the Chemicals

     I tried to make myself sit down and write yesterday, but I think writing my final research paper for my grad school class did me in.  I could not sit down and make myself face the computer again.  I did do a lot of thinking about what I could have written, too bad you can't just make your thoughts appear on a blog :).      
     Yesterday morning my skin and lips were so dry, and I could hardly breathe.  In addition to needing to start off the week with a detox from the weekend festivities in San Diego, I was in desperate need of hydration after the long plane flights.  Since I couldn't breathe, I decided I needed to fix that little problem before rehydrating my skin.  I love love love my Neti pot.  For those of you who don't know about them, they are amazing.  I'm not going to lie, I was really skeptical about pouring warm salt water through my nasal passages initially, but now I don't think I could live without it.  There are several versions available that can be purchased at just about any drug store or health food store.  My favorite is the Neil Med Neti pot.  I use it when I'm feeling a little congested and especially when I'm sick.  I used to get sinus infections almost every year, but the Neti pot has kept any infections from starting.  It  also helps moisturize and alleviates the headaches that often come with sinus issues and dry nasal passages.  I immediately started feeling better after the saline rinse.
     Able to breathe again and sans headache, I could think about my face and lips which were also desperate for moisturizing after spending 6 hours on a plane within 2 days.  I probably should have done all of this moisturizing as preventative steps before and even during the plane flight, but it's sometimes hard to think about that when you're soaking up the last few minutes of California sun!  For my face, I followed my daily baking soda scrub with my Genoma skin care.  The Age Inhibiting Toner comes in a spray bottle and is amazing, I should have used it during my flight to keep my face refreshed.  On hot days when my skin need a little nourishing, I will spray it on top of my makeup for a little pick-me-up.  Did I mention it feels amazing?  I always follow the toner with the Genoma Day Light Face Cream.  It is super moisturizing without feeling greasy and like the toner always leaves my face feeling refreshed.  The Genoma skin care line was developed by Dr. D'Adamo, the brains behind Eat Right For Your Blood Type which I also love.
     My lips were all kinds of dry and cracked.  Not attractive, definitely not comfortable.  For my lips and even for extremely dry skin, I always keep Alba Botanica un-petroleum jelly on hand.  It is made with beeswax, coconut oil, and vitamin E instead of chemical-based petroleum jelly.  I've written before that pure coconut oil is great for moisturizing, but I really like the un-petroleum jelly for my lips.  It instantly heals and protects them while moisturizing the cracks away.  Also, instead of lip gloss, I often use the un-petroleum jelly on top of my lip color for a little shine.  Yesterday though, there was no lip color, no looking pretty.  I just needed straight up moisture.  I finished my detox with my daily vitamins and herbal tea and sat down to finish my research paper.  See, I didn't forget about you yesterday after all, I just needed some time to freshen up.