I don’t know about you, but my skin dries out badly as soon as the central heating is turned on at my house.  I wake up feeling like I’ve been sleeping in a hot sand bath.  So I wanted to share with you my favorite winter product:  Mary Kay’s Oil-Free Hydrating Gel.

I buy this from my own Mary Kay consultant.  Since these women are all over the country, you can find them just about everywhere, but you can search for one through the official Mary Kay website.

The Oil-Free Hydrating Gel is super lightweight and, as the name states, completely non-greasy.  I am a combination skin girl myself, so that is a huge plus.  Also there is almost no fragrance at all.  Which is also excellent for me because I have found (since I turned 30) that I have some sensitivity issues now.

Good bye tough, throw-anything-at-me, 20-something skin. Hello sensitive, let’s-not-use-harsh-products-anymore, 30-something skin.

Not all of the ingredients are listed on the website, but the two key ones are.  They are dimethicone (a silicone based polymer) and green tea extract.  I admit I don’t know too very much about dimethicone except that it is also used in Sephora’s Photo Finish Primer (which I also love.)  What I do know is that I’ve never had a reaction to either of those products.

When I get out of the shower in the morning, I put the Oil-Free Hydrating Gel on as soon as possible.  And it feels like my face is a dry sponge being run under a stream of cool water.  My skin soaks it right in, and I feel normal again.  I don’t bother to use this gel in the summer time.  I guess I produce more oils then or the lack of central heating keeps my skin’s moisture levels at the right levels.  But in the winter, this is a life saver!

How old is too old to wear pigtails?

I’m 30 years old now, and I still enjoy wearing them.  I don’t put them up high like my mother did when I was a kid.  But low pigtails on the back of the head aren’t bad, right?

I suppose as long as I enjoy them, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the world thinks.  But I don’t want to be the woman who is trying desperately to appear younger.  I am happy to be 30, and I know I have a great many more wonderful years ahead of me.

But pigtails are so damn practical.  And they do not give me a headache like one ponytail in the back of my head does.  You’ll let me know when it’s time to stop with the pigtails, right?

And as promised Pecan Pie.  I never really enjoyed pecans as a child, so when I started baking, pecan pie was never really on my list.  However, I’m hosting a Pie-n-Tea Party tonight [it’s the opposite of a Pity Party.  Pie-n-Tea.  Get it?  I kill me.]  And one of the attendees requested pecan pie.

Now she’s about 6 months pregnant, and what she wants, she gets.  So I went to my go-to main culinary man, Alton Brown.  And he did not fail me.  I used his Bourbon Pecan Pie Recipe complete with Spiced Pecans.  It looks beautiful.

You want to know how it tastes?  Well I don’t know yet, because I’m not going to cut into that bad boy until tonight.  However, I did sample one of the spiced pecans before they went into the pie.  And they were tasty.  Sweet, a little salty and with a tiny kick that shows up after you finish chewing thanks to some cayenne pepper.

So give it a try if you’re into pecans.  And if you’re not, maybe this will convert you.  If you do try it, tell me what you think.