A Winner and a Loser

So I've been busy, busy, busy testing out new sunscreens, while trying to address two chronic obsessions:  a daily body lotion that is equally sun protective as it is moisturizing; and trying to avoid checking my luggage.  To those ends, I tried two new sunscreens, one of which I loved, the other.....not so much.

Let's start with the love.  Murad Essential-C Sun Balm comes in an adorable mini-deodorant style package, flat not round, solid not liquid, cream or gel.  (Ha, take THAT TSA goons!)  However, despite being a solid, its a remarkably moisturizing product, yet not at all greasy.  The texture is silky, and it glides on smoothly.  Even better, its packed with fabulous anti-oxidants like broccoli extract, and vitamins A, C, and E.  For an overnight trip, you can combine three products with this little beauty, making it that much more likely that you'll make it through security without having to check your bag.  Despite my love for this product, it does have its downsides.  The first is cost.  It comes with a very tiny amount of product in that cute little package, and frankly, it costs a fortune on a per-use basis, so don't even think about using it every day.  The second is the type of sunscreen, which is all-chemical (but no oxybenzone, yay) which requires more frequent application, and also requires a full 20 minutes to absorb before achieving full effectiveness.  But for the frequent business traveler, all totally worth it. 

Now the 'not so much'.  I was super-psyched to try CeraVe's body lotion with SPF, as CeraVe makes amazing moisturizers, packed with ceramides and hyaluronic acid, and I am constantly looking for a more economic alternative to my beloved EltaMD body lotion.  This lotion comes in 30 and 50 spf, advertised as 'inVisibleZinc'.Now that right that is a total non-truth in advertising.  While I love zinc, and think it is one of the best options available in the US, until some genius figured out how to micronize it, it had a well deserved reputation for looking hideous and being difficult to apply.  This particular formulation is far from invisible, and is super difficult to apply.  It takes approximately eight minutes to rub it in thoroughly enough to avoid looking like I walked through a chalk mine, and I still have clearly visible white residue.  Am I moisturized?  Yes.  Am I shielded from UV rays?  Yes.  Do all my clothes now have white streaks that only the dry cleaner can remove?  Unfortunately, yes.  

Brace Yourselves

Because this topic is....gross.  But it has to be addressed, and I am just gonna come right out and say it:  fungus toenails.  

Everyone OK?  Good.  Now let's move on.  It is quite common to be afflicted by fungus toenails (or even fingernails), which are unattractive at best, painful at worst.  As the infection digs in, the afflicted toenail thickens, yellows, crumbles.  Eventually, the nail plate thins, and pressure on the nail can become very uncomfortable.  And did I mention that its a very unattractive condition?

Roughly a zillion things can cause a fungal infection under the nails, including the gym locker room floor, your pedicure place, moldy socks, a cracked nail.  Easy to get, fiendishly difficult to get rid of.  If you've seen those (disturbing) television commercials, it seems as easy as taking a few pills.  Which is sort of true, but those pills have pretty profound side effects, including potentially fatal liver damage.  (!)  Paint-on treatments take forever to work, and cost a fortune.  So what can you do?

Try this at-home remedy, which actually works, and costs virtually nothing, particularly when compared to prescription options.  First, stop polishing the effected nail.  Yes, it will look strange, but fungus thrives in the dark, so keeping polish off will both allow the treatments to actually reach the nail, and allow light to get in at the same time.  Second, keep the nail as short as possible.  Third, every day, soak the nail in a mixture of 1/2 apple cider vinegar, and 1/2 hydrogen peroxide, which will raise the PH of the nail and surrounding skin to an inhospitable level.  Fourth, after the first soak, do a second soak in a 1:3 bleach:water mixture (you only need a few minutes for this step.)  Fifth, once the nail is dry, swab on pure tea tree oil or monistat (yes, monistat) and wrap it in a band-aid.  Within a few weeks, you will see remarkable improvement, and within a few months, totally cured.