The campfire smoke blues

When the weather turns bad and you love being in the woods, there's only one solution - build a tepee! Tepee's are the perfect shelter. You can stand up and move around. You have excellent protection from the elements. And best of all - you can build a fire in them and the smoke goes up instead of in your face. :]

If you cover the floor with pine boughs or dry leaves, you continue to feel like you're a part of nature and not separated from it like tents are designed to do.

So, back to the fire. Even though the smoke goes up and out the top of my tepee, I still come home feeling like my pores are clogged with ashes and smoke. I've been using Avon's soothing cleansing lotion, but afterwards, I still don't feel like my face is clean. I like it for everyday use, but not when I've been exposed to grime.

So, it was back to experimenting with Avon's products. Next on the list (because it was on sale) was the "Anti-aging Thermal Cleanser." That stuff is cool! It's gritty, heats up your face (which feels good after being in the bitter cold) and by the time you're finished you know you're clean. For now, at least, this is my pick for removing smoke scum.

I've also been experimenting with the various hand lotions and comparing them to my homemade herbal one. When I say experimenting, I'm talking about being an idiot. Instead of wearing my Thermalite gloves, I've been exposing my hands to the weather and watching them suffer the near freezer burnt look.

At this point, it's nearly a tie. Each has it's good and bad points, but I'm finding by combining them I've have some pretty decent luck in repairing the damage. Anyway! That's a story for another day!

Happy trails!
Yo