Friday, March 30, 2007

Antihydral (for people with hyperhidrosis)

I did a post a few months ago about this cream I've been using called Antihydral. The post wasn't really supposed to be informative, just humorous... but I've noticed that there is a fairly large percent of people who find their way to my blog by searching "antihydral," or "does antihydral really work?" or "how often should I use antihydral?" I feel bad because the post I made about it is very unhelpful, so I thought I would remedy that. First, I'll give you some background on hyperhidrosis.

I am not an expert, but I do have it, so I can tell you some of the things that I experience. My hands and feet have been affected since birth. They sweat (literally DRIP) whenever I'm anxious, hot, or even thinking about it. (I used to make them sweat after eating something like an orange, so they wouldn't be sticky). I may have made it sound like a gift, but it is anything but that. It affects people in ways other people don't think about. Dating was very stressful because with each new person, I had to "break them in" when it came to holding hands. I leave pools of sweat in each individual key of a keyboard when typing, shaking hands is a nightmare, and a task like doing pull-ups is too slippery to be possible. In school, I had to develop a way of writing because the side of my hand would soak my paper until it was so wet it tore, or the words were too smeared to read. I would keep a folded piece of paper in the pocket of each notebook to use underneath my hand. I've never been able to wear sandals, or any shoes without socks because I slide around in them too much. And I've read where one woman wrote that she can't even fix her daughter's hair because of her hyperhidrosis.

Sometime around junior high, my armpits decided that they wanted hyperhidrosis, too. It sounds gross, but I could soak through a SWEATSHIRT in minutes if I was anxious enough. During college, I developed trunkal hyperhidrosis- meaning that my stomach, lower back, inner thighs, and groin area sweat in the same manner. I realized I had developed this at a very inopportune time. I went out with a group of art students one night that I had never been out with before. We were talking about subjects that I was passionate about (which can also make me sweat). I was wearing jeans and sitting down in a booth for about three hours. When I got up to leave, I realized I had completely soaked through the inner thigh and groin area of my pants, and it looked like I had wet myself. No one ever said anything about it, and I've always wondered if they noticed, and what they thought if they did notice.

I am handling hyperhidrosis better than ever at this point in my life. I wear spanks underneath all my pants, which has prevented anymore embarrassing events so far. I use Certain Dry on my armpits once a week and that has COMPLETELY stopped them from sweating- even when I work out. And I've been using antihydral on my hands and feet.

For those of you that are reading this because you have hyperhidrosis on your hands and feet and want to know if the cream works and how to use it, I'll talk about how it works for me. When I first ordered it, I ordered two tubes. I used it once a day, every day, for about two weeks. If you sweat it off, it won't work, so I put it on right before bed since I don't sweat as much in my sleep. Right after I apply it, I blow dry it, and this helps to keep it from sweating off. After two weeks, I started putting it on every other day, and I did that for another two weeks. Then I started putting it on twice a week, and I'm still on that schedule now. I've been using it for about two months and I'm very happy with it. My hands and feet haven't COMPLETELY stopped sweating, but it has helped A LOT. For the most part, I only sweat on the side and top of my fingers and toes. The palms of my hands and feet stay pretty dry. There are side effects, but they don't bother me enough to stop using the cream. My hands get very dry and wrinkled when they get wet, but after I dry them off and put on lotion, they're fine; I just carry lotion around in my purse. They also get yellow in a few places, but if you get a pumice stone and rub off the dead skin in that area, it is normal underneath. If you're interested in purchasing antihydral, you can CLICK HERE.

I've also found a website that sells sweat absorbing soles that you can put in your sandals. I think if I use those combined with the antihydral cream, I'll be able to wear sandals without socks this year. The link to that website is HERE.

For a more recent follow-up of this post: click HERE

If this has been helpful for you, you can show your appreciation by checking out my WEBSITE!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Wayne Thiebaud























































The paintings above were done by Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - ). I've never seen one of his paintings in person, but I've been wanting to for a while. Most people know him for the cakes and pies he paints; he uses such thick paint that it actually begins to take on the texture of frosting. I think his landscapes are equally interesting. In case you were wondering, at one point in his life he worked at a cafe called "Mile High and Red Hot." "Mile High" referred to ice cream, and "Red Hot" to hot dogs. I am just guessing, but I assume the cafe influenced quite a few of his paintings. Oh, and I hear that his favorite food is cheese.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Art Watch






















As I've said before, I haven't been painting as much lately as I'd like... and I can't post the progress of the painting that I am working on due to the fact that the painting is a gift, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. With that said, I hate letting my blog sit for long periods of time without new posts. I've decided to begin posting images by artists that I like (in addition to my own work). I try to look at other artists' work for inspiration, but this is yet another thing that I wish I set aside more time for. So, maybe if I commit to doing an "Art Watch" post a few times a week, I'll be more disciplined about it. The painting above is called "Turning Road at Montgeroult," and it was painted in 1899 by Paul Cezanne. Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite artists; I especially love his still lifes. I have a special affection for his paintings because I had one of my own painting "breakthroughs" when studying his work. Paul Hartley, one of my painting professors, was trying to get me to look at the edges of the objects in my paintings. They tended to be the same all the way around and offered nothing interesting. They also made the painting more flat and prohibited the eye from moving around with ease. He encouraged me to look at the way Cezanne painted the edges of his objects. In following the contour of just one apple, I could see him come in and go out of focus numerous times, and he also used multiple non-local colors around the edge that I find interesting. And sometimes, part of the edge of an object will completely disappear into the background behind it.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

I'm an aunt!!!!!!

I just wanted to announce that I became an Aunt at 7:45 am (Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, March 11. Sarah and Joey gave birth to a PRECIOUS little girl they named Clara. She is 6 pounds 13 ounces and 18.75 inches long. I have to say that the pictures below absolutely do NOT do this baby justice; she is just SO beautiful!


Thursday, March 08, 2007

She Won!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Madeline Edwards won the final round!!! She will be performing Live on "The Early Show" (CBS) on Tuesday morning next week, so be sure to watch!!! The family sent me an email thanking everyone who voted-

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Update on Madeline

I'm sorry that it's been so long since my last post. Lately, I've been working on a painting commission that I can't tell you about. The person that has commissioned it is giving it as a gift (for a surprise), and if I post my progress up here, then I risk him finding out about it. After he receives it, I'll post a picture for all of you to see. At this time, I'd like to give you an update on Madeline Edwards.

Madeline has made it as a finalist on The Early Show on CBS. The voting is going on NOW and will continue until Wednesday, March 7 at noon. You can vote AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT, so if you're sitting at your desk with nothing to do, vote for her over and over again by clicking RIGHT HERE. On the left sidebar of the website, you'll see a little bubble next to Madeline's name. Click on that, and then click "submit"... and just in case you wanted to know, it only takes 5 minutes to vote 100 times (on the average computer). If she wins this, she will perform LIVE on The Early Show!!!! She is up against some tough competitors so she needs your support!!!javascript:void(0)