I wrote an article about my face skin problem and I proudly announce to you that it is no longer a problem. Is it solved? Am I cured? Has my skin become dewy and flawless? Heck no, it’s not a problem anymore because I am having a bigger problem; my shoulder and back are having a full-blown breakout. So bad that as if it’s giving me a hint that I was prolly a toad in my previous life.
Au revoir to all my racerback and sabrina tops…
I’ve tried all kind of treatment from washing my back with the ultra-expensive soap from Avene which makes me cry a little in the inside whenever I have to rinse the soap down the drain, to rub it with wedges of lemon and wincing out of agony whenever the acid juice of that yellow sour fruit touches the booboos on my back. Yet, nothing seemed to work and I felt hopeless. I told myself that I could have put aside all the money I spent for repairing my damaged skin for a retirement plan instead and just accept the fact that I am slowly mutating into a toad with eyeglasses.
One day in July, we were visiting this pop general store called Le Brun Magasin General in Trois Rivieres and I found myself idly perusing their self-care section. The store is big on candies and sweet stuff, and somehow it also has a body care section where I saw a stack of soaps, it looked like it’s home-made and boring.
As I was not frantic for anything in particular and was just browsing, I picked up each bar of those simple-looking soaps, read its label and fancied its interesting smell. These soaps are from Quai de Bulles and are made out of interesting ingredients. Ingredients that you would not think of for a soap, like potatoes and ginseng roots.
Then I saw this marble grey soap made from activated charcoal to deep clean skin pores, recommended for acne skin for 6 Dollar plus taxes. I had washed with fresh lemon wedges, heck, might as well rub myself with a bar of charcoal mixed with aloe, perhaps it would work. I had no expectation. I just feel like rubbing myself with a charcoal bar. It’s weird, I know. I mean the part that you can actually wash yourself with charcoal, because usually, you want to wash yourself from charcoal. The fact that I feel like rubbing myself with something is quite normal. Why am I explaining this anyway?
After a week of using this hippie soap, I noticed that the raging inflammation on my shoulder and my back is reduced, the zits are drying out but the rest of my skin stays moist. Holy donuts, this soap actually works!!
That very weekend we went to Baie St. Paul, about an hour and a half drive away from Quebec and guess what, I found a Quai des Bulles shop!! It’s like God is showing me a way to cure my back, it felt almost religious when I saw that antique building. Perhaps God was bored hearing my whining prayers about my back acnes so he made me find my way to the shrine of the holy charcoal soap.
Quai de Bulles is a local artisan soap factory. All their products are handmade on site at their headquarter in Kamouraska, Quebec. They produce soaps and a range of body products made of natural ingredients. Their shop at Baie St.Paul is humble and yet pretty, and it perspires a strong good-smelling odor from miles away, you can’t miss it. It has all kind of soaps you can imagine, it’s like Willy Wonka factory for soap addicts.
When I got in, I suddenly had this urge to rob them and give them an exchange of money for all the items I stole. Nico said it’s not how a robbery works, it’s just an(other) spontaneous shopping spree urge that I got whenever I visit a store selling cute stuff. I don’t like the term ‘shopping spree’, it sounds irresponsible and unnecessary (because it’s probably is).
I managed to curb my urges and bought just two things; the charcoal soap (a half dozen of it) and a pot of green clay mask (which later on that night I put it on my face and pretended that I was Shrek). If you ask me if those were my favorite thing from the shop, the answer will be no. My favorite was this revolutionary invention they made: a comb for the beard. How thoughtful! Now all those hipsters with a beard should worry no more, they can use this wooden beard comb specially designed to straighten beard because using a normal comb would be weird and their wives might think they're misusing their aesthetic tools before the night out at the pub that sells gluten-free beer
Does this hipster comb actually work? I don’t know, I tried to use it on Nico but he refused. He said he is not a hipster (which btw sounds exactly like when crazy people say they are not crazy), and that his beard is naturally straight (this one I can’t refute, his beard is as straight as my religious, conservative grandfather).