Embracing The Curl

For as long as I can remember I have not liked my hair. I have very thick, very wavy/sometimes curly hair. It has a mind of its own and I've never really known what to do with it. I don't think I ever even did my hair until I got to junior high - the ages when everyone is unhappy with how they look. Everyone I knew had super long, very straight hair. Naturally, because my hair was a curly mess, I would go to town trying to get it pin straight with my hand-me-down flat iron. This trend stayed through high school. I had a short bob that did not work with my natural curl.

It wasn't until college that I started to embrace my hair more. Not because I stopped caring, but because South Carolina humidity is absolutely insane and there is little I can do to protect my hair from it. I'm always looking for products that will help me manage my hair. 

These three products have been my go-tos lately to keep my hair nice, clean, and curly.

My hair routine starts with shampooing. About a month ago, Maple Holistics reached out to me and offered to send me a bottle of their tea tree oil shampoo. I switched to natural skin care earlier this year, so I jumped at the chance to try a natural shampoo. I've been trying out the shampoo for the past few weeks and really love it. As you can see from one of my other favorite products, I use dry shampoo often between washes. This tea tree shampoo is one of the only things I've tried that really makes my hair feel clean and removes any product build up. 

I typically shower and wash my hair at night and go to bed with my hair damp. When I wake up, my hair is soo curly. I highly recommend this shampoo! Especially because it has a great price point. If you're interested, you can try product samples for free!

Can you even go through college without dry shampoo? I don't think so. Batiste has been my favorite brand for a while now. I typically switch scents every time I get a new bottle, but they all work the same in my opinion. My only problem is that because I have dark hair, some times the white powder is very hard to rub in.

This mousse is my newest product to manage my curls. On days where I do shower in the morning, I'll put a dollop of this mousse into my hair when it's damp then use the diffuser attachment for my hair dryer. The combination mimics how my hair drys naturally and I really like it.

What are some of your favorite hair products? Do you have anything that helps manage your hair, I would love to hear about it?

Clear Your Skin Naturally

I've shared a few times now that I made a big change in my skincare this year. For the first time since I started getting acne, probably around 14, I am using products that are all natural. Most acne products are full of harsh chemicals that may help the problem, but can also negatively impact your skin. After not noticing much of a change in my skin while on Proactiv, I started to get really frustrated - which didn't make the situation any better. Then I stumbled upon a list of natural, ~inexpensive~ products on the blog Lemon Stripes. I went for it, it couldn't make things worse.

Now I've been using the products for about four months and my skin has changed dramatically. The dryness along with major breakouts I experienced before are completely gone. I'll get occasional flare ups, but with these products they clear up quickly. So here is the skin care routine I've been using for the past few months that has given me the best skin I think I've ever had.

Step 1 // Remove Makeup

This is only my first step at night, of course. I am a big fan of makeup remover wipes and have tried out many options. My favorites are the Walmart Equate brand sensitive wipes. They come in a package of 40 with a secure lid so they don't dry out. One wipe gets off a full face of going out makeup. They also don't burn my eyes ever, which is my main issue with most wipes.

 

Step 2 // Cleanse Skin

The first product recommended by Julia was this cleanser by Desert Essence. All the ingredients are natural, which I love. It lathers really nicely and completely cleans off any makeup leftover without making my skin feel dry. I recently ran out of soap, and when I went on Amazon to reorder, I discovered that Desert Essence sells a refill bottle that is only $2 more than the bottle with a pump and you get 23.5 oz more! This will probably last me the next year and a half, at least.

Step 3 // Tone

So I had never even heard of witch hazel before buying this product, but it's awesome. It's a great toner without having any alcohol and other ingredients that dry out skin. I originally bought the Original version, but for the second round, I got the Rose Petal version. They work exactly the same, this one just has a slight rose scent. The one down side to it is that the cap doesn't stay closed very well and it easily leaks out. I've lost a lot of product because the faultiness of the cap. I recommend putting it into another bottle if you're going to be traveling with it.

Step 4 // Spot Treatment

This product is a big part of what has helped my skin. I didn't buy it at first, but after not really seeing a change for a few weeks I decided to add it to my Amazon cart. Y'all it WORKS! So well! I'll put it on any spots at night and they've drastically improved by the next morning. If you're going to get anything, get this. It works so much better than any spot treatment I've ever used and it's just natural oils.

Step 5 // Moisturize

I'm kinda iffy on this Acure moisturizer. It's light and absorbs really nicely. It also doesn't make my oily skin more oily, which is pretty difficult for me to find. My main issue with it is that it's advertised as oil control. While it doesn't make it worse, I wouldn't say it's oil controlling, at least not all day oil control. I do like it overall though and repurchased it.

I picked up another product from Julia's recommendations, the Aztec Secret Indian Clay Mask. I was pretty surprised to find out that it's just the clay powder and you have to mix it with water to make the mask. I've used it a couple times and it's alright, but I haven't really used it properly to know whether it really works or not.

All in all, I am so happy that I made this change in my skin care. I've realized how bad all those chemicals and harsh products were on my skin over the years. I'm still searching for a good, natural exfoliating scrub, so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear them. Let me know if you decide to try any of these products. I've loved them all.

March Top 10!

Happy April friends! Where has the time gone?! I can't believe we're already a quarter of the way into 2017. This year is flying by! I only have a month left until I'm a senior in college...what? Crazy! March was a fun, busy month so I wanted to share some of my favorites from the last few weeks. 

Here is what I've loved this month!

1 // Spring Break was the week before last and tbh I'm still trying to get back into school mode - easier said than done. I didn't have a wild spring break, but I got to spend a relaxing few days at the beach with my boyfriend and some good friends. We had gorgeous weather and a ton of fun. Somehow I also managed to come away from it without a sunburn, which is basically a miracle for me! 

2 // The next best thing of the month happened when I got back from spring break. I got my Clemson ring!!!! For those of you who don't know, the Clemson ring is iconic. There is a ton of tradition wrapped up in the ring and ring ceremony, and receiving my ring was one of the biggest accomplishments of my college career. My mom flew in the weekend before and I got enjoy the end of my break with her, shopping around town and venturing into adorable downtown Greenville. Then on Monday I got my ring! I keep staring at my hand. I can't believe that I've already completed 3/4 of my degree and the countdown to graduation next year is seeming so short.

3 // In preparation for spring break, I picked up some fun spring items from Old Navy. I got this one piece swimsuit - love the ruffle. I also finally jumped on the off the shoulder trend train with this cute chambray top. I wore it when my mom was in town and it was so comfortable and really cute.

4 // I mentioned in my Proactiv+ Experience post that I was switching to more natural skincare that was recommended by Julia of Lemon Stripes. I've now been using these products for about two months and I have seen amazing changes in my skin, it has never been this consistently clear! I'm planning to do a skincare routine on the blog soon, so keep an eye out for that.

5 // With the improvement in my skin, I've been wearing foundation a lot less. Instead, I've been reverting to my junior high days and relying on concealer and powder to cover any little spots that come up. This concealer and this one are my favorites and I love this powder.

6 // Before spring break, I wanted to get a pair of cute, comfy, beach friendly sandals. I picked up this pair from Target for $15. I wore them all through spring break and nonstop since. They go with everything and are so cute!

7 // Like everyone else, I saw Beauty and the Beast this month. If you haven't seen it yet, run don't walk! Belle was always may favorite princess when I was little because she was brunette and liked to read - I could relate to her - so I was super excited to see Emma Watson's portrayal of her. The whole film was stunning. The costumes and music, even the digital effects, were perfectly done. I liked it way more than the live-action Cinderella that came out a while back and it makes me super excited for the other recreations Disney has planned in the coming years.

8 // I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed of this, but in the last six weeks, I have watched all nine seasons of The Office. I never watched it before and wanted to see what all the hype was about. Well I got sucked in, fast. It's really fun to see the character development over the seasons and Jim and Pam are all of the #relationshipgoals. It probably wasn't the most productive use of time, but I used it as background noise while I was doing other things.

9 // Over spring break I finally had a chance to do some reading for fun. I love to read and decided to pick up a few books to read on the beach. So far I haven't even finished one, but I am nearly done with The Shack by William Paul Young. It's really amazing and I highly recommend it - even though I'm not done with it yet. It's added a new perspective for me and changed the way I look at certain things. Definitely worth a read!

10 // I'm still in denial that within the next month I will be finishing my junior year of college. It gives me chills. I am excited to wrap up the year and all that comes with it - lake days, the spring game, Mike's formal, military ball. There are exciting days to come, I can feel it.

What are you looking forward to in April?

Proactiv+ Experience

Like most girls my age, I have struggled with acne for the past few years. I've tried out what seems like every acne product from the drug store. Last year, I moved onto using a skincare line from a department store and still saw no improvement in my skin. Over the summer, after talking with my mom about my frustration with my skin, I decided to try out Proactiv after seeing tons of commercials and hearing good things from friends. Today I wanted to share my experience with Proactiv+. 

// What's my skin type and the acne issues have I dealt with? //

I've always had normal to oily, acne prone skin. I've never had cystic (really deep and difficult to get rid of) acne, but frequently would have pimples on my cheeks, chin and forehead. One of my biggest frustrations was the bumps I had covering my forehead. I'm not sure what exactly caused them and try as I might I could not get rid of them. I definitely don't have the worst skin issues, but being a 20-year-old girl it was frustrating and I was tired of dealing with it.

// What's Proactiv+ compared to regular Proactiv? //

So basically Proactiv+ is the more hopped up version of Proactiv. It's for more intense, difficult acne. I probably didn't need the more aggressive version, but you live and learn.

// What are the products and cost? //

Each set of Proactiv+ comes with a three step system. Step 1 is the skin smoothing exfoliator, which like the name suggests is a semi intense exfoliator with 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide to help fight acne. Step 2 is the Pore Targeting Treatment, which is a clear gel also with 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide. Step 3 is the Complexion Perfection Hydrator, which is the moisturizer of the bunch with 0.5% Salicylic Acid. The cost is the real kicker that I didn't realize at the time. The first set is $39.95, not bad right? Well that's only for the the 30-day sample size and two "bonus items". If you keep the sample and your account over 30 days, they automatically send you a full size 90-day supply to the tune of $39.95 per month. So if you do the math, these 3 little bottles will end up costing you about $120!

// How did my skin react? //

I started Proactiv+ in August just as I was starting school. At first, I thought it was magical. It got rid of the bumps on my forehead and acne seemed to be stopped in its tracks. It did a lot to clear up my skin from where it was this summer. I tried to rigorously stick to the system, twice a day every day. For the most part I did, but on days I slipped up, my skin paid for it. Proactiv+ seemed helpful with the prevention of acne, but I don't know how much it helped once I was already broken out - it didn't seem to make much of a difference. At some points early on, my skin seemed much more oily than normal. I think this was part of my skin adjusting to using a harsh exfoliant twice a day, but it wasn't a fun side effect. Everything went okay until the weather cooled down. Skin naturally gets drier in the cooler weather do to the dry air - and since it hardly rained in Clemson this fall, the air was quite dry. Normally during the winter months, my skin will get a little dry - only getting bad if the weather is particularly harsh. But on Proactiv+ my skin dried out horribly, like flaking off dry. Everyday it was a battle with my makeup to see if it would stay on or crack because of my dry skin. It cracked. It was awful and I felt so self conscious about how horrible my skin looked. If we had warmer days, things would get better then immediately turn around once it was cool again.

// What did I do next? // 

I had heard horrible things about going off Proactiv+. People's skin totally freaks out and breaks out like crazy until they go back to the Proactiv. I had been contemplating going off of it but I didn't know what I would use instead. I looked into some other options, but didn't find anything I liked. I was really tired of the harshness of the Proactiv products and wanted something that would help keep acne at bay without making my skin flake. Enter this glorious post from Julia of Lemon Stripes. Julia posted about her favorite natural products for acne with splurge and save options, and when I say save I mean everything was under $12 each on Amazon Prime. I waffled a bit, but the cheapness sold me. I placed my Amazon order than cancelled the Proactiv+ subscription.

// How has my skin reacted since going off? //

Now I can't attest to the new products I have been using since I have only been using them for a couple weeks. However, my skin didn't react badly to going off of Proactiv. I've had a couple breakouts, but nothing out of the ordinary. I've noticed a huge, positive change in my skin and the dryness issue is totally gone. I am so, so happy that I decided to stop using it.

// So would I recommend Proactiv+? //

The short answer: no. While it worked to a degree, I didn't notice a sustained improvement in my skin. Someone with more severe acne may like this system better than I did, but I firmly believe there are similar, if not better, products out there for considerably cheaper.

What skincare products do you swear by or stay away from? I would love to hear!