Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

Oatmeal: good for cookies *and* good for your skin.

Side note, here is a recipe for oatmeal cookies. Make them ASAP. You’re welcome! 😁

Colloidal oatmeal is a common moisturizing ingredient in skin care products, and my dry skin and I are definitely fans (hence my obsession with all things Aveeno). Its main jobs are to protect and soothe skin and to prevent water loss. It’s the active ingredient in a couple of things I love from this new-to-me line I’m trying called SkinFix.

This “clean” (airquotes) brand burst onto the beauty scene in 2019, and they’re known for uber-moisturizing products that focus on protecting and hydrating the skin barrier. You might recognize their Triple Lipid-Peptide Cream; it won an Allure Best Of Beauty Award in 2019.

If you continually fight the good fight against dry skin, firstly, welcome to my world. Secondly, I’ve found a couple things from the line you might like.

Yup, they both have colloidal oatmeal!

I’ve been LIVING for the Eczema+ Dermatitis Face Balm, which has 5% colloidal oatmeal as its active ingredient.

It’s a rich, soothing balm that you can use all over your face, even around your eyes and lids, to protect and relieve irritated skin, rashes and eczema. I don’t suffer from eczema; however, sometimes I do get dry, red patches at the corners of my eyes and on my lids, and this is the only balm that doesn’t cause me to break out in those areas. LOVE IT.

My hands love the Eczema+ Hand Repair Cream, which has 1% colloidal oatmeal as its active ingredient. This thick, non-greasy hand cream relieves eczema and soothes irritated, dry skin. A little dab goes a long way! Like most of us nowadays, I’m washing my hands a lot — all the time — and they get uncomfortably dry, and this cream really helps.

OK, raise your hand if taming flyaway baby hairs takes up an inordinate amount of time in your day!

*RAISES HANDS* 🙋‍♀️

Mine are BANANAS! They stick up wildly every which way, and when I let them run amuck, I walk around lookin’ like I’ve been electrocuted.

A friend of mine has the same issue and recently clued me into this Amazon find called the Samnyte Hair Finishing Stick.

It’s a clear, super strong hair gel in a tube with what looks like a curved mascara wand, and, allegedly, when you brush it onto your flyaways, it smooths them down and keeps them in place without looking greasy.

The marketing kinda makes me laugh…

What does dating have to do with “flyaway hair troubles”? LOL.

I just ordered a two-pack for seven bucks. DAGNABBIT, just when I think I’m done with Amazon (too many sketchy sellers and not enough protection for buyers, among other things), I get roped back in with this nonsense. My baby hairs and I are waiting with baited breath!

Last night Dinner Rage was averted thanks to a channel I recently found on YouTube called Yeung Man Cooking. The star of the show is Wil Yeung, and he cooks vegan and plant-based recipes that are simple and easy to follow. Our family eats everything under the sun, but I do like to cook plant-based meals whenever I can because I feel great when I eat a lot of veggies.

For dinner last night I made Wil’s 15-Minute Weeknight Noodle Stir Fry…

He has the recipe pasted in the description box, but here it is again in case you’re curious…

Yeung Man Cooking’s 15-Minute Weeknight Noodle Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 60g broccolini
• 1/4lb thin rice noodles
• 150g mixed fresh mushrooms (cremini, shiitake, shimeji)
• 2 sticks green onion
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp white sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Boil some water in a kettle for the noodles
2. Chop down the broccolini into bite sized pieces
3. Place the noodles in a pan or bowl and soak in the hot water for 3-4min
4. Slice the cremini mushrooms and roughly chop the shiitake
5. Chop the green onion into bite sized pieces
6. Make the sauce and have it ready by combining the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and both soy sauces
7. Give the noodles a stir to get rid of some excess starch. Then, strain out the water
8. Heat up a nonstick pan to medium heat. Drizzle in some olive oil
9. Sauté the broccolini and green onions for 2-3min. Add in and sauté the mushrooms for another 2-3min. Then, add in the noodles and sauce. Sauté until the noodles are cooked (about 2min)
10. Plate and sprinkle over some white sesame seeds

This was really good, and the reason I didn’t snap any pics of it is because we ate it all, and we ate it fast! Next time I make it, I’ll try to remember to take a quick snap…

The beauty of this recipe is that you can tweak it with whatever you have on hand. I subbed the flat rice noodles for ramen rice noodles, and I only used shitake mushrooms rather than a mix. I also didn’t have any dark soy sauce on hand, so I added more hoisin sauce and regular soy sauce to taste. I also left out the sesame seeds because El Hub isn’t a fan.

If you don’t have hoisin sauce readily available, you could probably substitute it with barbeque sauce in a pinch.

Another plus is that you can also customize each person’s noodles, too! El Hub usually likes a little extra protein in his meals, so I added smoked salmon slices and an egg over easy to his bowl. I made a sunny side up egg for mine, because you know that runny egg yolks are life, man! I kept Connor’s noodles as-is, and I let her shake some pre-grated parmesan on top. I know it sounds crazy to put parm on top of an Asian-style noodle dish, but it works, and if it motivates the Coywolf to eat a few more bites, I’m 100% for it.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen