Minimally Invasive

Sometime in the past 15 years I developed an allergy to nickel so severe my dermatologist was alarmed by my recent reaction to a patch test. One month later, a red square lingers on the oh, so delicate skin on my back. The doctor assures me it will fade in time, but since I can’t see it, who cares? Oh yeah, that would be my husband, who points it out regularly.

Anyway, now that I have confirmation that wearing any of my old earrings (and a favorite watch, siiiigh) is out of the question, I decided to turn my lemons into lemonade and convert the earrings into pendants! I know I’m hardly the first person to think of this, but I am proud that it occurred to me at 6:15am as I was getting ready for work. So now I have a cute little pendant that’ll be great with that deco trend Lucky promises will be So. Big. This. Fall. And now that the pliers are out, who knows? I may not need to buy necklaces again for at least another year. That’s four whole shopping seasons!

Not to be outdone by mere skin, my sinuses have gotten into the allergy act, too. Some scents make me stuffy (certain florals, mostly), while others cause immediate, searing headaches (like the Paloma Picasso perfume one of the commuters wears on the bus — I’ll be heading to work in a hamster bubble in five years’ time). Unfortunately, the wonderful scrubs Gil and I bought at Sabon fell into the “searing headache” category. They were such luxurious products it was tough giving them up, but Gil grew tired of my bitching moaning cries, so into the garbage they went. Now we use something that works every bit as well, saves us money, and keeps me headache free — 3 parts white sugar mixed with 2 parts olive oil. The only problem is making sure to rinse really well, but it leaves my skin incredibly soft and my alligator elbows disappear every time I use it.

I think I’ve read too many “green” articles — I seem to be all about recycling and repurposing these days.