A Joy to See You…
20th July 2026
Good morning my most beautiful and precious starshine,
How are you? I hope you’re feeling wonderful my lovely. I hope you had the bestest night’s sleep, and you’re having a very gentle morning with sunshine {} xxx
It was gorgeous yesterday as well. I was hoping you were enjoying it with a scenic walk or in your magical garden. I hope you all enjoyed a fabulous day together xx
It was such a joy seeing you in my dream last night! I was going to my hairdresser, but it was somewhere else. You kindly offered to drop me off, and then you surprised me by saying you’d wait for me. It was so lovely of you.
The place was small and it was very busy. There was also a piano class due, and there were lots of young kids there. They were so cute. We were being playful and having fun, which was lovely. Hair never got cut, but it was so wonderful spending that time with you {} xxx
It’s 11:00. Thoroughly enjoy your heavenly moment with coffee my lovely xx I’ll join you now with a cuppa, so we can enjoy their hugs and kisses together {} xx
Van Morrison at Montreux is sadly no longer available. I’m keeping everything crossed you saw it. I watched, or rather I listened to it yesterday. I loved it, and I know you would too. Snatch It Back and Hold It is fantastic, isn’t it?!!
I think the new song from Matt Berninger, Martini Me Fatso, is also great. I hope you enjoy both of them my beautiful sweetheart {} xxx
It’s 12:12 xx I hope you’re starting to feel a little bit more rested, but I imagine it’ll take a bit more time. Take everything at your own pace my lovely, there’s no rush {}
My brain worked this morning! Such a relief. It’s struggling now, so it needs rest. Not writing definitely helps it. Having said that, writing to you has always been easy and not as draining.
I still haven’t finished writing the message I was meant to. Fingers crossed tomorrow.
I need to add and test 0.05% Tocopherol (vitamin E) in the cleanser today. It’s such a miniscule amount, but it does help hydrate. 0.1% gives a boost of hydration, but it also makes my skin sore.
The formula still needs working on and tweaking. Cocoa butter might be needed. The extra 1% cetearyl helps as an emollient, but the irritation is still there. This is the cleanser formula right now:
- 71.2g water
- 15g sunflower oil
- 3.4g vegetable glycerin
- 3g cetearyl alcohol (moisturiser and emulsifier)
- 2g Montanov 68MB (emulsifier and moisturiser)
- 2g Geogard Ultra – preservative
- 3g tri-sodium citrate – stabilises the Geogard Ultra (3-2 ratio)
- 0.4g xanthan gum – thickener
____
100g
- 1g (1%) borage oil added to the whole mixture at the end. Helps irritation, hydration and restores barrier function.
The extra 1% cetearyl alcohol helped as an emollient, but the irritation is still there. Cetearyl alcohol is 30% cetyl alcohol and 70% stearyl alcohol. The ratio can be altered. You can buy cetearyl at 50/50 as well. I’m asking Liron to reduce the cytearyl by 0.5 and add 0.5 cetyl, to see if it helps reduce the irritation.
I am enjoying learning. The formation of cleansers and moisturisers don’t really vary that much. They all have the same base. It’s easy to recognise now. What is surprising is that most of the products we use consists mainly of water.
It’s 13:33, lunchtime. What are you going to enjoy? I bet it’s superb. That reminds me, did you see the Guardian review for Vieni restaurant in the Jewellery Quarter? The food sounds amazing. I would’ve gone in an instant. These are the moments I wish I was still healthy. If you ever visit it, thoroughly enjoy the amazing food for me too my lovely {} xx
I have a feta and olives salad for lunch, and then I will rest properly. I’ll do the cleanser later.
Take the greatest and gentlest care of yourself my precious starshine {} Thoroughly enjoy your scrumptious lunch for me too, and have the most beautiful, relaxing, fun and joyful day, doing the things you love {} xxx
I love you so much, and sending you tons and tons of love, with the biggest and tightest of magical healing bear hugs, bursting with warm kisses {} xxxx
It’s 14:24. I just saw Andy Burnham’s speech. I imagine you’ve seen it as well. What do you think? It’s a great speech. Let’s hope they’ll keep to those words.