KEEP IT IN THE PHAMLY

I turned off my social media notifications a month ago, and it’s probably the only good decision I’ve made all year. Washing crystals with my klutz hands in the bathroom sink and chipping the basin - terrible idea. Spraying my herbs with a homemade mix that sunburnt all the leaves cause I did so at the wrong time of day with a too-heavy mix and breaking my sister’s spray bottle when the cayenne pepper clogged the pump - also not great ideas. Hanging out with someone I referred to as No Fun - worst idea. But reducing the number of notifications I get by turning off notifications for non-essential apps? Best idea ever.

I was forever guilty of checking notifications when they popped up on my phone, then spending the next 10-30mins scrolling through whatever app I had opened. I no longer get notifications for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, Twitter and LinkedIn - the worst offenders on my phone. I also started scheduling social posts for my blog using Hootsuite so I don’t need to go into any apps.

I turned off email notifications except for direct, personal e-mails - G Suite / Gmail is my hero here, you can set it up to filter out all the non-essential emails like e-newsletters, order updates, social media updates etc. And work emails no longer ping my phone unless it’s from an address marked as “VIP” - as in, the boss, the CEO etc. The rest of the digital world can wait until I’m in the mood for virtual socialising. And if it can’t, the people who need to reach me have my mobile number. Yup, I’m one of those old people who still uses their phone for calls some of the time.

I still love a good scroll through social media but these days it’s at my own pace and not when someone else is interacting with me on the apps. So sorry (not sorry) if I haven’t gotten back to anyone on social media - take no notice, I am not ignoring you, I just haven’t gotten around to opening the app yet.

I like my face the way I like my morning walks - free from lumps and bumps. Meaning, I don't like acne on my face the same way I don't like walking up or down slopes at more than a 15 degree angle. I take oratane for my acne; currently on 1-2 per week, I'm trying to get it down to 1 per week but my skin keeps playing up when I do that. Because my skin is super dry and sensitive on the meds, and super reactive because of the acne, I have to be careful with what I use on my face. This is my current skincare routine for those suffering from acne and/or dry skin:

Facewash - Dr Bronner's Bar Castile Soap. I was using Neutrogena's Oil Free Acne Wash for a long time and love it, but they don't use certified sustainable palm oil and also the plastic packaging so I switched it with a bar soap. Dr Bronners soap is not oil free but it's only a wash so the oil isn't on my skin long enough to soak into my clog-prone pores. It isn't as gentle as a liquid wash, but lathers up nicely and I usually only feel the extra tightness of dry skin after I've been in the pool or on a bad skin day - which thankfully is rare these days. I'm currently using the lavender scent which reminds me of a soap my Aunties used to have in their bathroom. It makes me happy, but I'll try the rose or citrus scents next for funsies.

SPF moisturiser - Cetaphil DermaCare Moisture SPF 30. I want to break up with Cetaphil because palm oil and testing on animals and the plastic bottle. But I haven't been able to find an alternative yet. If anyone knows a gentle, oil-free ('cause acne) SPF (cause meds) face moisturiser, please let me know! In the meantime, I've found this moisturiser to be the best for my skin. It's very gentle, the moisture is subtle and absorbs nicely.

Makeup remover - Byphasse Micellar Water. I do love the convenience of wiping my eye make-up, blush and face moisturiser off at the end of the day. It's very gentle and nourishing. When I wash my face at night instead of using micellar water my skin gets dry and tight. But it does come in a plastic bottle and I'm trying to reduce my waste so once I finish this bottle, I will swap to coconut oil, which comes in a glass jar to remove eye make-up. Then I'll use Dr Bronner's Bar Castile Soap to wash my face and with the new night serum I've found, I hopefully won't have tight, dry skin from washing twice in one day.

Night serum - Acure CGF Oil Free Serum. If only I could use rosehip oil on my skin without breaking out. I've been looking for an oil-free night cream for yonks, and came across this serum on Biome Eco Store's website so thought I'd give it a shot. I bloody love this serum. I wake up each morning and my skin is glowing. I don't have bad skin days anymore, which happened because I lost too much moisture overnight especially over winter.

Face mask - Corrynne's French Limoges clay face block. I stopped using face masks for a long time because the packaged sludge in chemists and supermarkets has oils or other chemicals to keep it in sludge form, causing my skin to break out because face masks sit on your face long enough for fat pores to gobble up all the bits it needs to go clog itself. I came across this face clay while browsing Biome one day and have never looked back. It is my friend for life. You apply water to liquify the surface then rub it on your face. Leave it to dry like regular packaged face masks, then wash off. My skin feels smooth and refreshed afterwards. I use this once every 1-2 weeks, and one $6 block has lasted me months. Best of all, it has no plastic packaging going into landfill and no chemicals mixed into the clay to keep it in a sludge form. Lurrve it.

So there you have it - all the things that take care of my face. Hopefully some can help take care of your beautiful face too. If you know any oil free, plastic free alternatives I can try, please let me know.

Dad Pham is the most zen and neutral person in my life thanks to Buddhism. When I was younger, I mistook it for him not caring. Now I know better. He lets us lead our own lives, only nudging us a little in the right direction if we stray too far. Dad wasn't always religious. Actually, he was the naughtiest kid in his Phamly and constantly copped beatings (don't panic, this was the norm for his generation) when he was little and not so little, but that didn't stop him from being a cheeky monkey. He was a bit of a wild child, and ended up in the navy because a regular job and life would bore him.

The horrors of war and prison camp splintered Dad's mind. He wasn't raised with structured religion and he wasn't born a schizophrenic. It was brought on by PTSD and he had many, many bad episodes in Germany when my Long Lost German Cousin was living with him and Mum Pham - though judging by our photo albums of his time in German, he looked mighty fine doing it. My dad is the coolest. To focus his thoughts, Dad Pham read a lot about many religions including Buddhism. To this day, he can talk circles around the Mormons that used to visit his house until they gave up trying to convert him. Dad Pham found Buddhism resonated with his personal beliefs best, and made sense of his challenging life so he became a devout follower.

It wasn't smooth sailing from the beginning. Being severely ill, I remember schizophrenic episodes where Dad Pham thought he was so close to God and to get to the final stage, he had to cleanse his body by drinking insane amounts of water. He was right - that would have been the last step to meeting God, because that's also when we learned you can drown yourself drinking water. Dad ended up unconscious and rushed to hospital where the doctors saved his life. This was the last major episode I remember.

Dad's mind still races with a hundred thoughts a second, Buddhism hasn't calmed his schizophrenia in that sense. But its philosophies have helped him find peace with mankind, and the atrocities he witnessed and took part in the war. I believe a combination of time, distance, and Buddhism has helped him find a good place.

In the next episode, I'll tell you about how Dad Pham knew Mum Pham was the woman for him.


If you want to start from the beginning of Phamly history, read:
Part 1 - O Captain! My Captain! Dad Pham's navy days during the Vietnam War.
Part 2 - P.O.W. Viet Cong Re-education Camp Dad Pham's time as a prisoner of war.
Part 3 - Living with Viet Cong Mum Pham's experience with communism.
Part 4 - Boat People Dad Pham seeks refuge after the war.
Part 5 - Finding Faith Dad finds peace.
Part 6 - When Herr met Frau - Dad Pham meets Mum Pham.
Part 7 - Life in Germany: the early years - Dad Pham sets up life in Germany.
Part 8 - Life in Germany: the later years - Dad gets sick, Mum steps up.
Part 9 - Getting ready for Australia - Mum Pham is on a mission.
Part 10 - Coming to Australia - My first memories of Australia.
Part 11 - Live in Brisbane the first time - The story of why we left Brisbane.
Part 12 - Moving to Melbourne - First impressions.
Part 13 - Life in Melbourne - Dad Pham - The good old days.
Part 14 - The Other Phams - Our neighbours in Melbourne were Phams too.

Big Brother Pham tells me to 'go hug a tree' when I tell him something too politically correct or left wing for his comfort. Well, brother, I am trying to hug as many trees as I can by being an informed consumer and producing less waste. I can't take any of the credit for becoming aware of the impact my mindless consumerism has on the planet. I have places like Biome Eco Stores doing the research and hard work for me. It all started with my search for a palm oil-free  and cruelty-free deodorant, and has snowballed into more tree-hugging hippie choices from there.

I shop online with Biome and not at one of their 4 Brisbane locations, because I like their online loyalty program where you earn as you spend, and score $1 vouchers for every purchase reviewed. But even better, they have free in-store pick up so no shipping fees either. AND even better than that, Little Sissy Pham works near their Brisbane CBD store so I don't even pick up my own orders, I send my sibling to get my shopping because I am the ultimate at lazy bastard.

It's simple to reduce and reuse once you get into the habit. It takes a conscious effort in the beginning because we're so conditioned to live our throwaway lifestyles, but once you get into the swing of things it becomes second nature to question whether you really need a plastic item, whether there's an earth-friendlier alternative, or maybe you can do without. Here are a few things I've bought from Biome's stores to make me a less wasteful Earthling:



Reusable Coffee Cup - Of course, as soon as I got my KeepCup, I gave up my takeaway coffee habit. Now my cup is a morning tea travel mug and is super cute to boot. You can also get professional (read: minimal) colour combos so if happy colours ain't your thing, they have sad colours too.

Reusable Produce Bags - These things are a great replacement for the disposable plastic bags in markets - the ones you see floating in oceans and choking turtles and whales and all the marine animals to death. So, you know, they're handy and less evil. Also handy to wash the produce while still in the bag 'cause it's mesh then easy to hang out and dry.

Soap nuts - I was using EarthChoice laundry powder, which is a great vegan, and environmentally-friendly supermarket option (though each box comes with a plastic scoop). But after trying a bunch of other Biome recommendations that I love, I was curious about That Red House Organic Soapberries. It works a treat and is gentle on fabric so I no longer use fabric softener. I like to mix in lemon and lavender essential oils to give my kit a nice scent but that's optional. Winning.

Bamboo toothbrush - I gave up my beloved electric toothbrush and that lazy-fresh feel because the guilt of throwing plastic toothbrush heads into landfill every few months got to me. The bamboo brushes are like the plastic manual toothbrushes - they get the job done.

I'm an optimist so of course I believe every little bit helps - if there's anything you can see yourself switching up, go head and give it a try. Go forth and explore! biome.com.au