Monday, July 25, 2011

New Creative Discovery

I've followed Sara's blog for almost 2 years now. She's such an inspiration! I love her photos & stories. Her "life on wheels" completely inspires me to sell the house, buy an RV & hit the road!
When she recommends a site on her blog I always check it out & this morning was no different. I really enjoyed reading the posts from her friend's new blog, Milagro Girl, & thought I'd pass on the link. I hope others find this encouraging & inspiring!

Facial Reconstruction: Day 7

I'm a week into my facial experiment. I realized at some point last week that I didn't really outline what exactly I was going to be doing. So I'll do that now.
First, my old regime:
1. Wash face nightly with St. Ives Green Tea cleanser & moisturize with Aveeno night cream.
2. Moisturize with Aveeno day cream in the morning.
3. Makeup consisted of as little as all natural/organic concealer (from Mac) to as much as foundation, blush, concealer, & eye makeup ... depended on my mood & time.
*I have naturally oily skin. I find it weird that I was using cream on it twice a day. But it felt dry & looked somewhat flaky. I now attribute that to the cleanser.
New regime:
1. Clean face with homemade cleanser night & morning.
2. Use homemade toner to restore moisture night & morning.
3. Makeup: all natural concealer (Mac), organic powder (to help control oil during the day), organic mascara.
So far I'm really digging the new routine. I'm having to get into the habit of cleaning my face in the morning. But it feels so fresh & soft afterwards, I'm finding it's easy to want to do it.
I can't say I can tell I huge difference in my skin's appearance. I still have some redness & I still get an occasional white head. However, I've noticed a big difference, already, in how it feels. It doesn't feel all tight & "roughed up" after I wash it. And the toner seems to just restore the natural moisture & doesn't make my face feel oily or greasy.
So far I'd recommend the switch to anyone!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Facial Reconstruction - Day 1

Today is Day 1 of my 90-day face cleansing regime. I wanted to see if using all natural face products really makes a difference.
I usually use St. Ives ... something that's seemed pretty natural to me. Then I read the label! Green tea my butt! There are more chemicals in there than anything! So, after explaining to my engineer husband that green tea & essential oils are not chemicals, I decided to start my experiment.
Using Herbs for Health & Healing by Kathi Keville as a guide, I made my own facial cleanser & toner. This is a great book, by the way! I've got pretty much every other page dog-eared & notes in the margin.
This is my before picture. I took it at the time of day when my face is usually at it's worst ... nighttime, after a full day of sweat & oil & baby hands & various other hazards of the mom trade.
I then used my cleanser & toner & already my face just feels better. Usually, after I wash my face, it ends up feeling really tight & dry (I normally have oily skin). That causes me to use moisturizer which then makes my face feel super oily & heavy. My face feels clean & smooth & sufficiently moisturized.
A funny side note: Apparently when you mix aloe vera gel with witch hazel & essential oils, it turns this really cool pinkish/purple color!