Travel Tips

Hello everyone!!

In this month’s post I am going to talk about some tips that are quite useful for traveling, I am referring especially to long trips. In the current moment, traveling seems a thing of the past, but sooner or later we will return to normality.

Due to my job I have traveled many times on long flights (transoceanic), flights of at least 10 hours. The longest lasted 14 hours! So, I have some experience and I have seen what is best for travel, from my personal experience. I am going to offer a list of recommendations, especially suitable for long flights, although they could be used for other types of trips, I hope they serve you!:

1. Comfortable clothes. I am always surprised by the photos of celebrities arriving at the airport super divine, with jeans, heels and makeup. I suppose those are occupational hazards. But for those who are not or aspire to look like celebrities, the best thing in the case of long flights is to wear comfortable clothes: leggings, sports shoes, sweatshirts. Clothes with which you can sleep in the most similar way to how you would in your pajamas. Footwear that you can put on and take off easily. And don’t wear a bra. If you have big boobs you can wear a comfortable sport bra. I don’t wear any bra when traveling. In a previous post I already talked about the lymphatic system and the convenience of not wearing a bra, but on a long flight this is even more necessary. When I have flown in the summer and I was wearing a T-shirt at the airport because of the heat, and I felt that I could not go without a bra because it was going to be too evident, what I did was to take it off in the bathroom of the plane and put it in my handbag or backpack. On airplanes it is never excessively hot, rather it is cold because there is usually ventilation going on, so you will be able to put on a sweater, even if it is thin, and not feel that people will realize you are not wearing a bra. Although, as I mentioned in my previous post, wearing a bra or not, noticeable, or not, shouldn’t be a problem or cause for embarrassment. Also, even if it is summer/hot, I think it is always better to wear more than less clothes when flying. On airplanes, I repeat, it is usually cold. Although they give you blankets, you can get cold, and anyway the excessive clothes that you wear can always be removed. For this reason, I never get on a plane wearing sandals (unless I have thick socks in my bag to put on later) or with not enough clothes, I always wear at least one sweatshirt just in case. And I also wear a neck scarf because the cold of the plane can cause sore throat.

2. Travel pillow. Although they also give a mini pillow on the plane (in the case of Iberia) it is better to take a travel pillow for the neck. You can end up with a terrible torticollis if you fall asleep with poor neck posture.

3. Glasses. If you wear contact lenses, do not take them to travel. You can take them off when boarding the plane or going directly to the airport with glasses. On airplanes your skin and mucous membranes get very dry, even if you do not fall asleep it would be very bad to fly for many hours with your contact lenses on.

4. Big bottle of water. Continuing with the above, on the plane you get very dry on the outside and on the inside. It is advisable to drink plenty of water during the flight. At meals time (on a transoceanic flight there are usually 2 meals and a snack) they offer you a glass of water, but it is advisable to drink much more. And it is better not to drink wine, coffee, or anything like that, just water. Since I cannot carry liquids, I always buy a bottle of water as big as possible (1 or 2 liters) in a store inside the airport.

5. Ear plugs, eye mask, headphones. Again, they usually offer them to you on the plane, but just in case. The earplugs can help you sleep well, the mask protect you from the light, and the headphones are in case you want to listen to your own music, audiobooks or whatever, or if you are uncomfortable with those that are provided on the plane.

6. Toothbrush and toothpaste. After a long trip and several meals, bad breath can occur. At least before landing it is advisable to brush your teeth. Depending on whether you are going to see someone important when you arrive or not, you could also wear some cologne or makeup. I prefer not to wear makeup for long flights, because the skin suffers a lot on those trips. Sometimes I put some aloe vera before landing in order to hydrate. Some underarm wipes can also help you arrive with more dignity (I remind you that I don’t use deodorant).

I hope it helps you! Until next post!

I wrote a book!!

In the last post of this strange year 2020 I want to share that I have written a book!! It is not my first book, but it is the first that I did not write for work reasons and that I’m publishing as Mariahelpsyou. It is available in Spanish and English, both in ebook and paper format. For every taste!

The possibility of self-publishing for free with Amazon had caught my attention a long time ago. Knowing the difficulties of gaining a foothold in the publishing world, it seems like a great option for all those who want to publish something that may not sell, or who are not professional writers. Taking advantage of the low social life imposed this year, I took on the task of compiling some of the blog posts into a book, which has the same title as the blog. It is a short book, with eight chapters, with the posts I thought were the most important to include. In the five years that have passed since I started writing the blog I discovered new things and I had to update several posts. So, in the book I wanted to include all that information together. For example, how I progressed with electrolysis hair removal, belonephobia, skin care, in dyeing my gray hair, in oral care…

The book is aimed especially at teenage girls and girls in their twenties. Every time I wrote a blog post, I mentally relived my past dealing with different beauty / health issues, and each time I thought: “If someone had told me this at the time.” I remembered how I felt so lonely and hopeless with certain problems, which apparently only happened to me because nobody around was talking about them, and that despite my many attempts seemed to have no solution. Some of them (like acne or gingivitis) may seem more common and not as serious. Others, like hirsutism or belonephobia, have really embittered much of my life. That is why the book is aimed at young girls who may living a similar situation. Although it has taken many years, I have found a solution to all these problems. And it has not been thanks to the many specialist doctors, or dentists, or hairdressers, or any so-called “professionals”, but only with my persistence and research on the Internet, losing a lot of time and money along the way. Whoever seeks finds (even if it is later than sooner). Although the book is aimed at young girls, of course anyone can benefit from reading it, at least one chapter, be it a man or a woman of any age.

And well, what better date to launch a book than before Christmas! I do not expect to earn lot of money with this, it would be enough for me to know that the knowledge I share arrived and helped someone who needed it.

Merry Christmas!!

*Where to buy the book:

As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

*Book in English: https://amzn.to/3fNCJxK

*Book in Spanish: https://amzn.to/33tbuUd

Double cleaning: oil+soap

Hello everyone!!

In this post I am going to talk about a new method that I have been using to cleanse my face. This added to applying only pure aloe vera gel (extracted by me from the plant, as I mentioned in this post) is working very well for my skin.

First of all, I know that what I am going to explain is something similar to the Korean double cleansing ritual. But since I have adapted it in my own way, I have not called it that. Official Korean cleanse includes wiping off the oil with a hot towel and I don’t do that. As always, I seek maximum efficiency with minimum effort, the famous Pareto law. And since I am already using one side of a facial towel (small towel that is only for my face) every night, that’s one facial towel that waits for the washing machine every other night, so I don’t want to also use even more towels to remove the oil from my face.

What I do every night is, always after washing my hands, put 5-8 drops of argan oil on my hands and rub it all over my face, massaging well, insisting where my skin is more greasy (forehead, nose, chin). Oil cleansing is also great for removing makeup, but I don’t normally wear makeup. Then I rinse my face with warm water and apply a few drops of Dr. Bronner’s soap. It is not a soap that dries out the skin because it contains all natural ingredients, although I know that there are people who simply wash with their face with oil and that’s it. But I also like to put a little of this soap. Then I rinse, already with cold water, and gently dry my face with the facial towel. And then I put some cool aloe vera that I have in a glass in the fridge.

Regarding the oil to use, I use the argan oil because it is not comedogenic and it is the one which bottle I have now opened. When it is used up, I will use one of jojoba oil that I have unopened. Many also use olive oil, coconut oil…It all depends on whether you have oily or acne-prone skin, in that case you should look for non-comedogenic oil. If you don’t have this problem, any oil will work.. Anyway, as you rinse and wash your face with soap afterwards, it is difficult for oil to clog pores on the skin, it is not the same as using it as a moisturizer. Rather, what is sought with this method is: 1) a good cleaning, 2) avoid drying the skin when applying the soap or cleanser (since the oil creates a protective film on the skin). There are people who even apply oil to the body before showering so that their skin does not dry out with the lime from the water or due to soap, and the same to the scalp before washing their hair (I also do this, with coconut oil, and my head no longer itches, which sometimes happened to me before). Having a limescale/chlorine filter in the shower also helps with skin and itchiness.

That’s it for today, until next time!

*To buy the products I speak about (I only recommend products that I’ve tested):

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

*From the United States:

*From Mexico:

Aceite de argán: https://amzn.to/2EfHxh2
Aceite de jojoba: https://amzn.to/2ZPEC6c
Aceite de coco: https://amzn.to/2HclWHr
Manteca de karité: https://amzn.to/33MuInn

*From Spain:

Aceite de argán: https://amzn.to/2FOMIVQ
Aceite de jojoba: https://amzn.to/35SjIre
Aceite de coco: https://amzn.to/3mDjYQw
Manteca de karité: https://amzn.to/3iLz44r

Shampoos, hairbrushes and showers

Hello everyone!!

In this month’s post I will continue along the same lines as the previous one, talking about hair discoveries. Given my intention to reduce industrial cosmetics to the maximum or eliminate them completely (news about toxic ingredients in lipstick are nothing new) and my success in covering gray hair with henna, is no wonder I’m not satisfied with just using any supermarket shampoo/conditioner/mask products. Also, since I like to be as minimalist as possible, I have been searching for the simplest formula for months.

Well, I had heard about solid shampoos and about how convenient they are when travelling, but I had not tried them. For a long time I used the traditional yellow Johnson & Johnson (baby shampoo), because shampoos for babies’ ingredients contain less “shit” (although there have also been alarms for toxic ingredients in this type of shampoo). So, I started to look at solid shampoos and I think I have found the one that suits me very well, lasts a long time (another advantage of solid shampoos is that, since they are not diluted in water, they yield more) and it is decently priced for its duration. The shampoo I like is this one:

I also bought the container to put the donut-shape shampoo, and in the shower I simply leave it resting on the soap holder, because the hook that came with the shampoo doesn’t work. The ingredients of this shampoo are:

Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate
Cetearyl Alcohol
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Starch ^[1]
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Stearic Acid
Glycerin^[1]
Aqua (Water)
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Coco Glucoside
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter^[1]
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Parfum (Fragrance)
bentonite (volcanic clay)
Illite
Behenyl /Stearyl aminopropanediol esters
Hydrolyzed Gluten Protein
Limonene
Eugenol
Citral
Linalool

This shampoo also has versions for greasy, colored, children hair… but its composition does not vary much. I had tried another one that contained the typical caustic soda/sodium hydroxide that grandmothers’ shampoos/soaps used to have and that is still used a lot for homemade cosmetics today, but with that ingredient my hair looked too dull. As I dye my hair with henna, it is normal for my hair to get a little dull in the first wash after dyeing because there is still some mud residue, but by the second wash it is already perfect. And what I do after washing my hair and having it with a towel for 5 minutes is to spray it with white vinegar. Vinegar works as a conditioner for your hair (and for clothes in the washing machine, as well as cleaning the whole house along with baking soda). I use regular white vinegar because it is much cheaper than apple vinegar, and the effect is the same. Don’t worry about the smell because it goes away when your hair dries. And that is all, my friends! Henna, solid shampoo bar and vinegar, the 3 products I use for hair. Very cheap, ecological and non-toxic.

I am not going to dwell too much on the dangers of industrial shampoos, as there are already thousands of articles and blog entries that explain the harmfulness of parabens (endocrine disruptors), silicones (they damage hair) and sulfates (they cause dye to last less and they spoil hair). In addition to that, with industrial shampoos hair lasts clean much less time. The transition from industrial shampoos to natural shampoos can be a bit difficult (we seem to be doing better with industrial shampoos), but it takes a few washes. I do not usually use hair masks, but if I want to use it, I would simply put coconut oil before washing my hair and that’s it. And aloe vera gel works very well as hair gel, although I don’t use it either.

My hair is thick and strong, and although it may seem like an advantage, it is also complicated to deal with. Except when I straighten it, I do not brush my hair every day, only when I’m going to brush it (that is, every 4 or 5 days). And I need a good detangling hairbrush, especially after applying henna. I have looked for hairbrushes that would help me detangle my hair easily, and the two best I have found are these:

The Tangle Teezer hairbrush detangles very well and is made of plastic, so it is easy to clean in the dishwasher. It detangles very well, you can use it also in the shower with your conditioner (or vinegar). I also bought the Mason Pearson hairbrush because I saw a Victoria’s Secret model recommending it 😊. It has surprised me because it is indeed very good. Since I already had the Tangle Teezer, I bought it in the bag version to carry in my bag (it’s cheaper that way) and I love it. I have it in blue and with nylon bristles (white ones, for thick hair). If your hair is medium (neither very thick nor very fine) there is a version with nylon and boar bristles, and if your hair is very fine with only boar bristles (the dark ones). I already had a boar bristle wood hairbrush, so I bought the nylon one.

For frizz (it happens in humid places and after drying my hair) I sometimes use a wooden comb. It is also good to roll your hair with a microfiber towel or a cotton shirt Anyway, the best thing for frizz is to iron your hair a little.

Finally, speaking of showering, I wanted to take the opportunity to point out that it is not necessary to lather the whole body every time we shower, and less with industrial soaps, because it causes too much dryness. I use the same soap for my body as for the face (Dr.Bronner’s) or a baby one (Mustela). I only use soap daily for my private parts armpits and feet. For the rest of the body, soaping it once a week is more than enough. This way the skin does not dry out so much and you do not need moisturizer after the shower. By the way, the best body creams, in my opinion, are coconut oil and shea butter.

Until next month!!

*To buy the products I speak about (I only recommend products that I’ve tested):

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

*From the United States:

Solid shampoo: https://amzn.to/3hNbfb5
Tangle Teezer hairbrush: https://amzn.to/2EkqGtE
Mason Pearson hairbrush: https://amzn.to/35RBElu
Microfiber hair towel: https://amzn.to/2FMBCRg
Dr. Bronner’s soap: https://amzn.to/2RHjk6u
Shea butter: https://amzn.to/2FUYLRb

*From Mexico:

Champú sólido: https://amzn.to/3muRRTE
Cepillo Tangle Teezer: https://amzn.to/2HhomEP
Cepillo mini Mason Pearson: https://amzn.to/2H9pGJK
Toalla turbante de microfibra: https://amzn.to/3iMDU1c
Jabón Dr. Bronner’s: https://amzn.to/2RHSZp2
Manteca de karité: https://amzn.to/33MuInn

*From Spain:

Champú sólido Secrets de Provence: https://amzn.to/35TYlWi
Cepillo Tangle Teezer: https://amzn.to/3iN5Xh5
Cepillo mini Mason Pearson: https://amzn.to/33OWKP8
Toalla turbante de microfibra: https://amzn.to/2FMabXz
Jabón Dr. Bronner’s: https://amzn.to/3mE033W
Manteca de karité: https://amzn.to/3iLz44r

A small summary

Hello everyone!!

This month’s post is going to be a compilation of everything I’ve been writing about on the blog, since I started with three posts in 2015, until I decided to take it more seriously and write a monthly post as part of my goals for the year in 2017.

When I started the blog I wanted to share things that I had discovered by myself, especially through the Internet and from my own experience and that of others, over the years. They were doubts, questions that do not appear so much in beauty magazines and on blogs and YouTube channels, or that in the case of appearing I considered they had wrong or incomplete answers (such as taking the pill if you have acne or resorting to laser if you have hair on your face…). I really wanted to address problems and solutions that I thought were not being publicized enough.

In 2015 I explained how the irrigator (in its eco-friendly and cheap version, the Italian So-Wash) is the secret weapon that dentists do not want you to discover, along with the coconut oil + bicarbonate toothpaste. A toothpaste that also works as a deodorant. I also published the most visited and consulted entry of the entire blog, the one that talks about electrolysis hair removal. A post that I updated later showing the progress of my “do it yourself” results in this regard.

In 2017, I started talking about my experience with hirsutism and acne, I defended Roacutan and Ovusitol against the contraceptive pill and I talked about some simple and cheap measures like aloe vera, castile soap (Dr. Bronners), the importance of changing face towels and the pillowcase (better if it is made of silk) often. I have also talked about the importance of nutrition (the now fashionable smoothies) for the skin and the little-known mineral makeup.

Also in 2017 I dared to confess the existence of tonsil stones and anal blackheads, in the most eschatological blog post. I spoke again about hair, but this time about hair on the head: I was interested in henna as an alternative to dyes and allergies, but I was worried that it would not cover gray hair well.

I also talked about health issues, such as period pain, and how I try to control them by always keeping omeprazole and ibuprofen close at hand, in my emergency bag. Or the problem of belonephobia, so poorly treated by most health professionals and which causes serious trauma to many people. I still hadn’t found a definitive solution to this issue, but reading the book Overcoming Medical Phobias gave me some hope. Trying psychological treatments (hypnosis, neurolinguistic programming) gradual exposure (with images, videos…) and using the applied tension of the muscles could be the key. In my case, I also think that choosing a different site from which to draw the blood (perhaps the hand and not the inside of the elbow) could have an influence. I’ve been working on this for the past few months, and I’ve gone from feeling a bit dizzy just reading or watching videos about it, to being able to tolerate it (at least from a distance). I also think that the time of day influences, since for example I have the lowest blood pressure and I am weaker in the morning, which is precisely when the blood extraction procedure is done (and on an empty stomach). A reader advised me to use Buzzy and I have it ready to try in the future. What I’d really like to try though is the Seventh Sense Biosystems TAP. I keep writing them to see how to acquire it but it seems that at the moment only certain laboratories have it (I have also written to them and they do not respond). I hope it is only a matter of time, because it gives me the impression that there may be the solution. Other alternatives are the use of Vacutainer or butterfly needles for extractions. I had considered these alternatives, so I would also like to try. Anyway, hopefully in the future I can write a post explaining how I finally solved the issue. It would be my personal big hit on these issues, along with the discovery of electrolysis :))

In the blog I have also shared my personal manias, such as my rejection to long nails (which does not mean that I do not take care of my hands), my rejection of feet, of absurd fashion stupidities like ripped pants, my horror of intestinal parasites and of noise. And I have defended the use of the forgotten bidet, protection from the sun but not with creams, internal and external hydration and attention to the lymphatic system.

Some posts include novel therapies, such as the natural solution to myopia (including much cheaper glasses), a problem that I had previously discussed. In this regard, I recently read a piece of news about some drops to solve myopia developed by a university in Israel … I’ll be watching too. Hopefully ending myopia without surgery will my third hit :))

*To buy the products I speak about (I only recommend products that I’ve tested):

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

*From the United States:

·Buzzy: https://amzn.to/2ZTLvDF

*From Mexico:

·Buzzy: https://www.buzzy.com.mx/

*From Spain:

·Buzzy: https://amzn.to/2RUnzMh

Take care of your hands!!

Hello everyone!!

It is said that the hands reveal the age of a person: a lady may have put botox, acid, vitamins and things like that on her face, have a facelift … and even tough the appearance of her face is that of someone younger, her hands provide a clue about her true age. This is because hands don’t receive much attention and, even when they do, it is difficult to make hands “appear younger” than their age (however, I have heard that infiltrations exist also for hands).

Hands have hardly any fat or collagen, so the aged appearance is noticeable earlier. Older people often have brown spots on their hands, just as on the face. These spots, as I said in a previous post, can be removed with the electric hair removal machine (although I suppose there will also be laser methods).

Although the advice that I am going to give seems quite obvious, I want to remember some things here precisely because I see many people who do not follow them every day:

1. Protect your hands from cold weather. Especially in winter months, never forget your gloves! Cold weather causes hands to become dry, scaly and rough.

2. Protect your hands from the sun. I already explained previously that I am not in favor of applying sunscreen every day, that this type of recommendation seems to me somewhat interested from people who want to sell creams (in addition to many other issues regarding their ingredients). My advice is to walk in the shade and to be protected with an umbrella, which also works for the rain. Besides, I use hats! I leave sunscreen only for situations in which I am going to be directly exposed to the sun for a long time (beach, swimming pool …). If we use umbrellas hands are already protected in the shade. But if your hands are going to be exposed to the sun, remember to also put sunscreen on your hands.

3. Use gloves for housework. It horrifies me when I see people washing dishes without gloves, exposing their hands to hot water and the chemicals in dish soap (it is better if you have a dishwasher, it saves water and involves less work for you). The same when we clean the house or wash clothes by hand. I have a hairdresser friend with shattered hands, because of course, she spends the day washing heads … in this case I don’t know if there will be any type of suitable gloves for it, but it would be recommended.

4. Hydrate your hands. Just as you wash your face and moisturize it at night, do the same with your hands. We wash and dry our hands several times a day, so they need extra hydration. Coconut oil is good for it. If you prefer creams (I am quite anti-creams), one that seems awesome to me is Neutrogena. Or you can just put petroleum jelly (although petroleum jelly is derived from petroleum and I’m a bit anti-it too).

5. Wash your hands! Well, this no longer applies to hand care but we all know that it is a basic hygiene measure: wash your hands before eating, cooking, after going to the bathroom, changing diapers or playing with the dog … Outside home it is always better, if we have the option, to dry our hands with paper than with hot air (it dries out the hands). And if it is not so easy to find a sink, antibacterial gels are a good option, they do not need rinsing and can be carried in your bag. And another tip that may also seem obvious but it is not so obvious: you have to wash your hands before washing your face or applying moisturizer or makeup. That is, our hands are clean when we put the soap with which we are going to wash our face, moisturizer or makeup. UPDATE!!: This post was written long before Covid-19, but this last recommendation seems more useful than ever.

*To buy the products I speak about (I only recommend products that I’ve tested):

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

*From the United States and Mexico

·Neutrogena hand cream: https://amzn.to/3mzZIzg

*From Spain

·Crema de manos de Neutrógena: https://amzn.to/3iOulPa

What is the bidet for?

Hello everyone !!! And welcome to this post-summer post in which I am going to talk about the bidet, that great unknown in much of the world.

According to Wikipedia (thanks, oh, great oracle) the word bidet comes from the French “bidet”, which would mean “little horse”, alluding to the posture used during its use. Well, I don’t know in France, but in French-speaking Belgium it is not very popular. And neither in the United States, Mexico (they who consider themselves so clean compared to Europeans, I don’t know why we have a reputation out there that we don’t shower) and the rest of Latin America (except Argentina, where the water from the bidet also comes out vertically). I have been to all these places and I have not found a bidet in hotels/hostels or in private homes. Wow, their presence is not something common as in Spain.

But the fact is that even in Spain the debate about what the bidet is for has reached my ears: that if it is useless, that if nobody uses it … Well, here I am to explain the two main uses of the bidet and why they are necessary in the bathroom.

Use # 1. Wash your ass and genitals (here following the eschatological line from months ago). In Spain a very uncomfortable question is to ask acquaintances if they use the bidet after going to the bathroom. Surprisingly, some consider the affirmative answer as obvious as if I had asked them if they wash their hands after using the bathroom (and I know that many do not, but nobody recognizes that), while others do not. Well, if you get shit stained on your arm, would you just wipe the shit with a toilet paper? Or would you rather wash your arm with soap and water? That is the use of the bidet. Very useful also for women when we are in our days. Add, also, that in some cultures (Arabic …) they do wash with water every time they go to the bathroom, but in a more rustic way (luckily we have the bidet).

Use # 2. Clean your feet. In summer, one can return from a walk “in the fresh air” at night, or in the morning after partying, and if we have worn sandals, feet are usually dirty. Are you going to go to bed like this? Are you going to shower at midnight just to wipe your feet? Here is the usefulness of the bidet.

And well, for use # 1, where there is no bidet purchase available, at least people can install a supersonic toilet, one of those from the Japanese, which not only have a bidet included but also they warm the chair in winter and make noise so that nothing is heard at the time of the “plof”.