Donald Garcia

Co-signing the zinc frosting - pick a 40% zinc oxide paste (fragrance- and lanolin-free if possible) and put it on thick enough that you can’t see the skin then a thin layer of petroleum jelly on top. Clean with plain water or gentle, fragrance-free wipes, give a minute of air-dry each change, and do an extra-thick coat before the longest sleep and... skip “natural” creams with essential oils, and if it’s a beefy red rash with little satellite dots or isn’t better in a couple days, that often points to yeast and is worth a quick call to the pediatrician.

Love this so yeah one tweak that helped me: set the weekly transfer based on my worst recent month and only adjust it quarterly so I don’t drain the buffer on a good streak. When the buffer is healthy, I split the sweep 80/20 between an emergency fund and sinking funds for annual bills and I park a quarter of rent each week in a separate subaccount so month‑end never raids groceries.

I’d add to look for separate heat and speed controls so you can run high airflow on low heat; on many budget dryers those are linked which forces hotter air to get any power. A cool-shot that drops the temp helps set your curl cast and and a diffuser with vents at the prong tips dries roots without blasting ends. Don’t stress over ceramic/tourmaline buzzwords - good controls, a deep diffuser, and an easy-clean filter matter more for gentle curls.

Keep it simple. I say "Appreciate the invite, I'm tapped today, can we plan something next week?" If I want to keep the door open but not commit, I use "Short notice is tough for me, but I'm in for the next one." If it's close friends, "Would love to, just not tonight, send me the next date." Send it fast, no essay, and follow up with an actual time later.