SURPRISE INGREDIENT
Pumpkin - as in pie and jack-o'-lantern - is the unlikely beauty ingredient that is turning up in masks, moisturizers and exfoliators (nothing to do with Reynolds wrap).
According to Margaret Ancira, president of a company that manufactures products for doctors, "Pumpkin contains fruit-acid enzymes that work like alpha hydroxy acid by speeding up cell turnover with less irritation."
Got that?
Other experts have been cautious about the pumpkin's potential benefits. "Pumpkin products may be a good choice for anyone with sensitive skin," says Rebecca James Gadberry, a Los Angeles cosmetics formulator.
"You should still do a patch test on your lower neck to be sure," she says.
The wise Glamour magazine editors suggest that if you're allergic to vegetables, you may want to avoid applying pumpkin to your skin.
Smart.
And hey . . . did you catch the recent television interview of the incredibly youthful 72-year-old Soupy Sales?
Wasn't he the guy who always got a pie in the face?
Perhaps it was pumpkin.
HALLOWEEN FACTS
- The first jack-o'-lanterns were actually lamps made of hollowed turnips that European children carried with them on Halloween for light. Traditional pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns did not appear until Irish immigrants discovered the large fruit in America.
- The word "skeleton" comes from a Greek word for dried up thing.
- The Old English term "ghost" means life force.
- You know the spirit of a deceased loved one is with you if you see a spider on Halloween.
- To ward off evil spirits, walk around your house three times, counterclockwise and backward, before sunset on Halloween.
SPEAKING OF PIE
Make your own pumpkin pie spice by combining:
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Combine; blend; store in tightly-covered jar. Yield: 2 tablespoons.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
To eat is human
To digest is divine.
- Mark Twain (1835-1910)