Debra Darvick
enhance your now in word and imageHead to Toe
BEFORE NOW
No JoJoJoke
My skin’s drier than a liquor-free county in Arkansas. Sound familiar? As my hands began feeling like last fall’s raked leaves, something my dermatologist said over the summer surfaced, “Olive oil’s molecules are too large to be of much help.” Okay. Then what small-molecule oil I can use on my skin? Since I didn’t think to ask her that in the moment, Dr. Google stepped up with an answer — jojoba oil. I have been amazed by what I have learned about this hardy desert shrub. I’m skimming from my reading here. If you’re inerested in knowing more, Dr. Google will see you now.
1. Botanical name: Simmondsia chinensis
2. While native to the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona/California and northwestern Mexico, jojoba is also cultivated in desert climates worldwide. For centuries, Native Americans have used jojoba oil as a traditional salve to treat skin conditions, heal wounds and nourish skin and hair.
3. Once gathered, jojoba seeds are cold-pressed to release their oil, which is not actually an oil but a liquid wax closely resembling human sebum. This chemical similarity makes jojoba naturally non-toxic, non-allergernic and noncomedogenic.
4. Jojoba has a long shelf life, up to five years. (But if it’s been on your shelf for five years you must not be using it!)
5. Use jojoba as a carrier in combination with essential oils.
My Yuka app (see last issue’s Head to Toe drawer) gave NOW’s jojoba oil a 100/100 ranking. I began using it a few days ago. My hands already feel a bit less crinkly. Tonight I’ll try it on my hair. Stay tuned.
Now for the legalese: I receive no products or reumneration for this post. I am not a doctor nor any sort of health professional. This post is anecdotal and not offered as any sort of medical advice.
Photo courtesy of Debra Darvick
YUKA — A Great New (to me) App
On my last visit to see my step-mom, she turned me on to a great new app. Scan the barcode of any grocery item or cosmetic and YUKA will rank its safety on a scale from Poor to Excellent. The ranking provides info on nutrition — sugars, sodium, saturated fats, calories, as well as hazardous substances and/or additives. There’s also a note about which products are organic or not.
Not every product in a single brand receives the same ranking. A facewash by Acure received a great ranking while another product by the same company did not. Some prepared sauces in my fridge rank “poor”. No surprise there. The preponderance of what’s in our pantry ranks good and excellent. A tablespoon of a terrible hoisin sauce every now and then? Not much to fear. When a product comes up substandard, YUKA offers healthier options to choose from.
There’s a paid version that allows you to enter the name of any product without scanning a bar code; for my purposes, that doesn’t seem necessary. Here are two examples of what you’ll see when you use the app:
Why do they call it YUKA? AI weighed in: “The name for the Yuka app came from the Yucatán region in Mexico, which is the home state of the wife of one of the co-founders, Benoît. When the French founders were developing the app and needed a name for a startup competition pitch, they brainstormed and quickly settled on Yuka as a placeholder to honor the region. The name grew on them and they decided to keep it. Initially, the project was even nicknamed. ‘The connected Carrot.’ [ergo the thumbnail image of a carrot]
Try it out. See what you think. They accept no endorsements from any manufacturers. Here’s to healthy eating.
photos courtesy of Debra Darvick
Yes, We Have Brown Bananas
Woman in the Moon
Cantor Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz has been our Cantor at Temple Beth El (Bloomfield Hills, MI) since 2004. Over two decades her voice has given wings to our prayers, opened and healed our hearts, and brought to the community new and exciting composers and performers of Jewish music. It is one gift to experience Cantor Kalmowitz’s liturgical artistry and accomplishment. It is another to enjoy her renditions of oldies and contemporary music.
She has just released her first album; it is a delight to listen to. The fifth and final offering is a clip of the cantor singing Woman in the Moon at 12 (she began performing at the age of seven.) Listening to her younger self I can already hear the voice she will grow into. It was as breathaking then as it is now.
Here is a link to her album. Enjoy her glorious voice from head to toe, inside to out, and heart to soul.
Cleanliness is Next to the Washing Machine
In the “old dogs CAN learn new tricks” category, let me introduce my new detergent: nifty little sheets by HeySunday. I used a similar product when visiting our son and daughter-in-law earlier this spring and thought, yay! I can get rid of one more plastic bottle. I placed my first order which arrived in a simple brown envelope.
HeySunday sheets can be halved for smaller loads and in a further nod to lessening waste, the laundry sheets are bundled in paper wrappers. So far so good. Clothes are clean, no inadvertant spills, and I can cut up the cardboard envelope to use as index cards for note taking. An all around win.
photo courtesy of Debra Darvick
A Meal for Spirit and Body
Our friends lost power in a recent storm. Bad enough in this heat but they were also leaving on a five-week trip abroad four days hence. “Do you have room in your fridge and freezer?” We made room quickly and then made plans to have Shabbat dinner together the following evening. Our house. Their food and ours. M. would cook. The menu came together swiftly: soup, green salad, pizza for an appetizer, beyond burgers, green beans, challah, fruit and babka for dessert.
I ran errands all morning and into the early afternoon. When I returned M. was just arriving. Soon enough the house filled with the delicious aroma of cream of asparagus soup. While he worked in one part of the kitchen, I set the table, made a green salad and a fruit salad. We sat down to eat at 6:30. In addition to the traditional Shabbat blessings, I offered an impromptu blessing for their upcoming trip. The multi-course meal was delicious. M.’s choice of wines was, as always, terrific. By the time they departed, their electricity had returned. Eggs and milk went back home with them along with one of the challahs and half of a watermelon.
We often have Shabbat dinner together, their house or ours. M. usually brings wine and his legendary challah. My contribution is often a big fruit salad and/or green salad. Yet this most recent dinner had a different flavor. We all remarked upon it. There was something noticeably deeper, more special and meaningful. Perhaps it was the ad hoc nature of the meal. On a dime we had joined forces to turn inconvenience and uncertainty into a serendipitous and festive dinner. But there was something else, too. Our friendship spans three decades now. We have seen one another through the joys and sorrows visited upon us all. Our children remain friends and now our granddaughters are friends, too. Our friendship is palpable, evidential on so many planes. I think what we all felt is that we are there for one another. On a moment’s notice one of us can say, “We. need…” and the others are ready before even hearing what is needed.