Today is Martin’s birthday.  Martin is not only a great friend and associate but seriously one heck of a guy.  He just returned from Puerto Varas, Chile, where he was working on some projects with Stiven Kerestegian.

One project in particular worth noting is Es Sustainable - and whether you’re looking at this project from an environmental or design standpoint, either way, these guys are on the right track.  They provide sustainable products to the design community and in turn, sales from these products go back to the local Patagonian communities and towards the efforts to keep alive the indigenous craft traditions that also happen to have little to no impact on the environment.

From cured salmon pelts that come out looking, feeling, smelling - and even with the surprising strength of cow leather to woven products and crin jewelry - there is a solid range of design products that needs to be seen - not only by the public but designers and stores looking to make high quality sustainable products a priority.

Without a doubt, I’m buying some of the salmon leather this summer and sending to my friend Marjorie (of Maud & Marjorie) in Paris so that she can make me the coolest bathing suit in the world.  How about it, swimming in fishskin?

Anyway, happy birthday Martin, and I hope you enjoyed your “Coconut-covered-lemon sponge with blueberry/strawberry surprise filling” cake.  I have to come up with a better name for it. Coconut Lemon Bomb, maybe?

Today when I woke up it was three degrees (Celsius, in Fahrenheit that would be about 37 degrees) - so we’re into winter and all of Argentina is getting colder in these months. Even though the cold here doesn’t even compare to my hometown Chicago’s blistery weather, it still wreaks havoc on my skin. There are tons of products available to care for your skin, but a lot tend to be over-perfumed, overpriced, over-packaged and sometimes even require you to purchase 3-4 other supplementary products (that’s unethical marketing!). So today I’m going to break this down and give you a few economical suggestions to maintain your beautiful skin in cold weather - the sustainable way.

The beauty industry seems to be constantly telling us that the road to beautiful skin is paved with moisturizers, foams and all sorts of age-defying creams and soaps but we should exercise a bit of caution because some soaps and moisturizers work temporarily to relieve dryness but in the long run can actually damage or dry out the skin. Here are some ways to avoid that:

# 1 - Water thyself.
The first rule of thumb is to keep yourself well hydrated. I could probably write an entire book about the benefits of drinking at least 2 liters of water each day. But since my objective here is to keep this post short and sweet, let me ask you a quick question.

Would you rather eat crispy fresh lettuce or wilted old lettuce? Because lettuce is mostly made up of water, the wilted old lettuce is a good example of what happens to our skin over time if we do not properly hydrate ourselves. So if you want pretty skin, number one thing to do is hydrate yourself.

For example: Try drinking 3 glasses of water* 15 minutes before breakfast, 2 glasses of water just before lunch, two glasses just before dinnertime or before you have that pre-dinner glass of wine and finish off your last meal with one last glass of water. It’s not hard! Believe me!! (Even *I* do this! - and I don’t even like water!)

* water should be the non-carbonated, non-flavored type stuff.

# 2 Olive Oil Treatments
You can find a lot of ways to use olive oil to help your skin. It’s full of Vitamins A and E - plus, it’s natural, few people have any allergies at all to it - and combined with castor oil, provides a deep cleansing solution that also regulates your facial oil production.

For cuticles: Rub a few drops of alcohol between your fingers to warm it up slightly and try applying it to your cuticles to soften them and help maintain nail strength.

For dry skin: Use a high quality extra-virgin olive oil. Apply a few drops of oil to your hands and rub together to warm. Then gently press the warmed oil onto your dry skin.

Hot oil hair treatment: Combine 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of honey in a small plastic sandwich bag. Fill a coffee cup with hot water and dip the sandwich bag in the water until oil and honey are warmed. Apply warm oil and honey to your wet (but not soaking wet) hair paying special attention to your scalp and ends of hair. Cover head in a shower cap to retain warmth and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Shampoo twice to remove oil and don’t even bother with conditioner.

Deep Cleansing: Although at first it may seem illogical to use oil to combat oily skin that seems to generate acne on the skin, its actually a really good idea. The idea behind the oil cleansing method is that the oil that you massage into your skin will dislodge the oil hardened with impurities that is stuck in your pores. The website (http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com) has some in-depth instructions and alternatives (such as sunflower, jojoba or almond oils) to use in combination with a small percentage of castor oil to really clean out and purify the skin. Here are some suggested cominations according to skin type:

• Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Olive Oil
• Normal Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Olive Oil
• Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Olive Oil

Massage your oil combination into your face and neck (no need to remove makeup as it will be removed with the oils). Soak your washcloth in steamy hot water, ring it out and drape it over your face, letting it sit there until it cools. As it cools, rinse it off with hot water and continue soaking away the oil with the steamy hot cloth (don’t burn yourself!). After the oil has been removed, splash your face with cold water and if your skin feels tight, apply a tiny bit of olive oil to your skin.

If you find that your skin starts producing a lot of oil after your first deep cleansing oil wash, don’t be alarmed - your skin is regulating itself with oil production and if you keep doing this process you’ll find a vast improvement of well balanced skin!

# 3 Tomato Juice Toner
If you find that your face slips off the pillow while you’re sleeping because your skin is so oily, you may want to try a little acidic toner on your skin. This naturally acidic juice balances the PH levels of your skin and alleviates excess oil.

# 4 Honey Facial
You may already be sweet enough, but you could make your face really happy by treating it to a naturally moisturizing honey facial. Use room temperature, non-flavored honey and apply it directly to your face avoiding eyebrows and your hairline. After 20 minutes, remove the sticky mask with a warm washcloth.

# 5 Avocado treatment for dry skin
The fatty acids in avocados are perfect for extremely dry skin. Just open an avocado, remove the core and mash up the inside contents. Smooth the paste onto your dry skin and relax for 20 minutes before washing it off.

ok I’m hungry after writing this article. I need a salad.

Stay beautiful!