{life-changing- shaving tip}

Raise your hand if you use Venus or Mach3 blades to shave your legs/underarms?

Raise your hand if you cringe every time you spend $25 on an 8 pack of blades?

Raise your hand if you cringe every time you shave because you know you'll be getting razor bumps?

Hopefully I am not alone in this, but I have struggled my whole life with this.

I hate shaving.

I was reading through my Blog list last week and noticed a post from the Pioneer Woman. Who doesn't love them some PW? Now, I couldn't love her more. She has a really smart tip I thought I should share.

I tried it this morning, and it felt amazing! A 12-pack of single blade razors from Walgreens cost me $3.  Cetaphil was a little more expensive than shaving cream, but it will last sooo much longer. I bet it ends up being less expensive too.

Here is the link to the post. And here is the post so you don't have to go there to read:

I have…this friend.

Every winter, this friend is afflicted with itchy calves and shins. Not hands, not arms, not the body…just the lower part of her legs. The itching is very uncomfortable and can result in this friend of mine scratching so violently that she leaves claw marks on her legs. It’s a good thing my friend doesn’t like to wear shorts, because cosmetically speaking, she’d be out of luck.

This friend of mind happens to have a younger sister who has suffered the same wintertime malady. And even though my friend’s sister is younger, she did some experimentation and diagnosed the problem.

Shaving.

My friend’s sister’s findings are that using soaps, bath gels, or even shaving creams on the legs, then using super-sharp double-edge razors to essentially slice off the extreme upper layer of the skin, combines with the dry weather and basically causes the skin on the legs to stage a protest. Add in special razors with “moisturizing” strips and the problem is only compounded. One is simply introducing too many irritants to one’s skin at one time…and chaos in the form of severe itching ensues. The body is basically saying “leave me alone!"

So on a recent visit, my friend’s younger sister gifted her with this simple kit that she declared to be the solution to the problem. Cetaphil cleanser, known for its lack of perfumes and irritants, and a simple Bic disposable razor with no moisturizing strips or special bells and whistles.

Skeptical, my friend took her kid sister’s advice and has exclusively adhered to this shaving approach for three weeks.

And here’s the outcome:

Her legs are like new again. Not a single itch. Not a single scratch.

Her legs are completely healed of the trauma they’d been through all winter long, and they’re smooth as silk and claw mark-free.

I’m ready—I mean, she’s ready to wear shorts to church next Sunday!

(Well, except for the whole desperately-needs-a-tan thing. And the whole desperately-needs-muscle-tone thing. But we’ll take those one at a time.)

Hope this helps someone’s legs!

Love,
PW

{living simply, living intentionally}

"Look for the bare necessities,

The simple bare necessities.

Forget about your worries and your strife.

I mean the bare necessities,

Old Mother Nature's recipes

With just the bare necessities of life"

"The Bare Neccessities"

by Phil Harris and Bruce Reitherman from Disney's, "The Jungle Book"

I have a passion in my life for living simply. That's not to say I am always successful. But, I try and always be mindful of it.

In my 20's, I have come to learn many life lessons. One being that life just continues to get busier, and it's important to stop every once in a while and reflect. Am I going in the right direction? How can I serve and glorify God in what I do?

I am pretty sure I have cited this blog several times, but here it is again. Simple Mom, founded by a lady named Tsh Oxenreider, is a wonderful resource. Not just for Moms, but anyone who sometimes feels overwhelmed by the daily grind.

She talks about keeping the house clean and organized, saving money, managing money, raising children, work-life balance, among many other things. Her blog has been so successful that she expanded into a network of Simple Living blogs with many different contributors on many different topics.

She has written a book called Organized Simplicity, which ironically, has been sitting unread on my table for about month now. Nice, Kate. This is what I am talking about. Ugh. (Hanging my head in shame)

She also has written an e-book called, One Bite at a Time. It's $5 and outlines how to make life simpler one step at a time. (Did she write this for me?)

I just downloaded it, and just scanning through makes me so excited to read through it. 169 pages of tips for people like me, who need a plan to wade through the everyday mess of life.

I recommend.

Happy reading! Happy Simplifying!

(*Side note: Caroline is eating breakfast next to me, I have Pandora's Disney radio station on, and I am typing this post. The Bare Neccessities comes on. How appropriate. :)