Beyond Soap. Finished 8-7-18, 5/5 stars, health, 296 pages, pub. 2018

North America’s leading dermatologist offers a ground-breaking, informative, and incredibly practical book that reveals the harmful effects of our modern skincare habits and how you can eliminate common skin conditions.

Sensitive skin is one of the most buzzed-about topics in dermatology today. It can be painful, debilitating, and inconvenient. Astonishingly, many of the women and men who suffer from problem skin are unknowingly causing it by washing too frequently and using too many skincare and beauty products. Often, we slather ourselves in creams and balms that can actually damage the skin. The miracle products we buy at department stores, specialty shops, and pharmacies have the potential to make us less attractive and prematurely age our skin.    from Goodreads

I accepted this book for the  TLC book tour  and just finished it last night, so good.  I could have skimmed it and gotten it done sooner, but once I started reading I was hooked and didn’t want to rush.  I thought I was going to read about how to fix my skin and I did, BUT it was so much more than that.  It was also a history and science lesson. I loved learning about the history of how we wash ourselves.  I know, I was surprised by this too.

An average woman uses 12 personal products which contain 168 different ingredients on a daily basis.  So, when you have a reaction how do you know what’s the problem?  Labels like hypoallergenic mean nothing since they aren’t really regulated.  You need to look first for products with no fragrances and as few botanicals as possible.  The BIG BRANDS of body products (shampoos, body washes…) go to great lengths to woo dermatologists, but in reality are little fazed by suggestions from them.  The companies want what the public wants and the public loves scents so most products are full of them.  Her advice?  Wash less and use fewer (and better) products. She does provide lists of some of her favorite products, but you’ll have to read the book to find them 🙂

Dr. Skotnicki was preaching to the choir about over washing since I gave up my daily shower a few years ago,  but I think this book would be great for everyone to read regardless of whether you think you have a skin problem.  The skin is our largest organ and what you put on it will have profound effects on your body as a whole.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Last Words. Finished 5-30-18, 4/5 stars, thriller, pub. 2015

Unabridged audio read by Robert Petkoff

Mark Novac book 1

Still mourning the death of his wife, private investigator Mark Novak accepts a case that may be his undoing. On the same day his wife died, the body of a teenage girl was pulled from the extensive and perilous cave system beneath Southern Indiana. Now the man who rescued the girl, who was believed to be her killer, begs Novak to uncover what really happened.

Garrison is much like any place in America, proud and fortified against outsiders. For Mark to delve beneath the town’s surface, he must match wits with the man who knows the caverns better than anyone. A man who seemed to have lost his mind. A man who seems to know Mark Novak all too well.    from Goodreads

Mark Novac works for the Innocence Foundation, due in great part to his deceased wife, who was following a lead when she was murdered.  Fast forward a few years and Mark is not coping with her unsolved murder as well as his bosses would like so they send him to Indiana on a wild goose chase.  Only it turns into something more for Mark as his life is threatened and he begins to care again.

I liked this thriller and recommend it to fans on the genre.  There was a lot of caving details in it and I appreciated learning about something new that wasn’t boring because the story fit the setting perfectly. I like Mark and see that there’s a second book so I’ll have to get that soon.