Good ol' '80s Eddie Murphy. I watched Coming To America censored on TNT and USA networks, and man, it got 1000 times funnier when I rewatched as a lady with all the curse words and sexual innuendo. His love interest was betrothed to the son of a hair-oil empire, Soul Glo! I, too, have to be careful not to leave greasy stains behind on surfaces because, besides my genetic gift of extra sebum, I also cover myself in oils head to toe regularly.
I usually like to let it soak in, and the more time you spend nude, the better they do so. But when rushing, I have been known to leave a little residue on my sheets or office chair. Whoops!
Another famous Ed, Edgar Cayce was a psychic, healer, and researcher. This dude supposedly founded the New Age movement in the early 20th century and even had Woodrow Wilson as a client before passing away in the mid 1940s. A company called Heritage has taken over his research and created a line of products based on his teachings.
The first product of theirs that I tried was Aura Glow. I was introduced to it by my unicorn of a former co-worker, Curtis, a shiny happy human who showed me that it was OK to let your flag fly no matter what it was. Plus, he was a gym fanatic, and always had to keep his guns well-oiled.
I will never forget smelling the almond-scented version and following my nose to the back room of our salon, where he was frantically trying to morph from gym rat to polished stylist, covering his arms and chest with this shiny, shiny oil. It was so shiny that it looked like shimmer powder!
I marched right down to Farm Boy and found myself reading the Edgar Cayce products section for my entire lunch break, grabbing a bottle of the Coconut Musk version before running back to work.
I must be very honest: I blossomed late, and that includes taking care of myself. I almost NEVER applied lotion after the shower until I was about 20. Eye cream? HA! When I was 22, I finally bought some because I was being scolded every day by makeup artists. Aura Glow was my first toe in the hippie pool AND the beauty pool--never before would I buy anything with the word "Musk" written on the bottle, or a freaking BODY OIL.
I remember using tiny amounts at first, only on my legs that I just started showing, and getting compliments all day about how shiny and smooth they looked. So I figured, why not use it everywhere? And glow I did.
One of the reasons Aura Glow is named such is because Heritage store claims to alter their products with magnets, electricity, and energy, "making your aura glow more positively." In fact, RationalWiki (I occasionally read for laughs) calls it all a bunch of BS, saying that they sell, "gallons of woo," whatever that means.
What I DO know is that Heritage makes products that are as close to natural as possible, "blesses them" or whatever, and doesn’t charge too much for them. One bottle of Aura Glow has been known to last me months, and it is only a 2 on the comedogenic scale, where as my beloved coconut oil is a 4, and is known to provoke my bacne out of hibernation.
It is also harder to spread, which seems like a bad thing, but consider this: you use less oil and spend more time massaging it in, helping to increase circulation and cover all areas, since you can really feel the difference where you haven’t applied any.
If I had to answer honestly whether or not I think Aura Glow does actually make your aura more glowy, I would say sometimes yes, but it certainly makes my skin gleam like a Photoshopped magazine cover every single time. I include it in my post-shower ritual, where I once had none. Taking time every day to moisturize is one of the few luxuries I CAN afford.
Also, Aura Glow is a blend of peanut and olive oils with lanolin and vitamin E. Lanolin is basically sheep sebum, keeping their skin and wool moisturized. Vegans tend to stay away from this, as obviously it is an animal-derived product. Others should know that it is collected from shorn wool, not dead sheep, so vegetarians are safe here. Having tried numerous times to create my own oil blends as well as other cosmetics, I know that lanolin keeps products on the skin. Lipsticks without lanolin spread the color all over the place in pools, and moisturizers without it tend to do the same with their emollients.
As far as smell goes, these oils are really deliciously scented. From vanilla spice to rose, each of the scents I have tried have been outstanding and extremely long-lasting. I can tell you that I use this product five out of seven days of the week, using pure olive and coconut on the other two just to mix it up.
Mixing them is even more fun, almond and coconut together smell like you walked into Ferrara bakery. Having a subtle gourmand base all over your bod for your perfumes is divine; it adds sweetness and complexity and only can be smelled in close proximity, so it isn’t offensive to the general public unless they are pastry-hating meanies. For them, there is an unscented version.
Aura Glow was a frequent topic of discussion in the salon and even amongst co-workers at other jobs, because who doesn’t want to have the shiniest skin ever while radiating a "positive glow"?
One unfortunate "perk" of working with the public is that people touch you casually all. the. time. This was a bit of a double-edged sword, as I feel very "meh" about being touched by strangers, but couldn’t help but feel awesome when they wanted to know “what the hell moisturizer do you use you have the softest skin zomg.”
Now you can, too! Just try not to hurt people when they want to smell and touch you all the time!