As you may or may not know, there are so many beauty-related uses for honey! To me, honey is almost like one of those miracle products that do everything. It can be used as a cleanser, a facial mask, a spot treatment, even as a moisturizer. It is also great as a hair treatment, although I won't be talking about that here. It is great for acne, acne scarring, hyperpigmentation, sensitive skin, dry skin, aging skin, and other skin issues such as eczema. It pretty much covers everything. It is amazing.
(Note that I am talking about raw honey here. You don't want to used processed honey here, because through the heat processing that many honeys go through, much of its beneficial properties are killed off.)
So what makes honey so amazing?
- It has antibacterial properties that kills bacteria, making it a great cleanser and treatment for acne.
- It is a natural humectant, meaning that it will draw moisture into your skin. Perfect for dry skin.
- It contains gluconic acid that can help even out and brighten your skin tone and fade acne scarring.
- It also contains many other nutrients that are good for the skin. But I am not a scientist so I don't know about every single nutrient in it and what they all do, so I'll just stick with the first 3 major ones that I talked about.
What about manuka honey? What makes that so special?
In addition to all the properties of regular honey, manuka honey is extra microbial, which makes it even better for fighting acne. I'm assuming many of you know about tea tree oil already, and how it can be used to fight acne due to its antimicrobial and inflammatory properties. Well, manuka honey is made from bees that feed from the manuka (tea tree) bush. So think of it this way - it creates a combination of all the beneficial characteristics of honey and tea tree!
Now, as I discussed in my skincare routine, I use honey mainly as a cleanser and mask. Right now, I mix it with rice powder, ground oatmeal, and a little bit of water and apply it all over my face. This not only helps to clean my face, but also acts like a mask because I let it sit on my face while I brush my teeth and do other stuff. Before though, I was only using the honey by itself for a few months, and it was still amazing. I just recently decided to add a few more ingredients just because I felt like I could benefit from them too, but if I'm lazy or really tired, I don't even bother with the rice powder and oatmeal, and I just use the honey alone again.
I have been doing this since last summer, so probably about 10 months now. And my skin has never been better. I rarely break out now, only when I am really stressed from school. And when I do break out, its usually only a small pimple, and I'll just put some honey on it directly and leave it on overnight. It has also helped me fade some of my acne scarring, although its not like I have a lot of scarring. Just two scars on my one cheek that wouldn't go away. Other than that, my face has been pretty much completely clear. And I no longer have any dry patches or any dry skin issues either! But these might have to do with my change in moisturizer as well, since I pretty much introduced both at around the same time.
19 March 2014
My current (mostly natural) skincare routine
Since last summer, I've been gradually phasing out most of the products I had previously been using on my face with all the harsh chemicals in them, and replacing them with gentler and more natural products. I have dry, acne prone skin, which had always made it difficult for me to find the right stuff to use on my face. Either I would find something that helped with the acne, but made my face drier, or I would find something that would help with the dryness, but either made me break out more, or didn't help my already existing acne. And on top of that, being in my mid-20's now, I am becoming more concerned about aging, especially with all the stress that I go through in school, including all nighters at least once a week, it has really taken a toll on my skin and overall appearance. I also find that in the past few years, whenever I do break out, I tend to scar, and the scars don't heal like they used to. So in my search for a better skincare routine more suitable for my skin, I turned towards the natural route.
Here is a list of all the products that I currently use on my face:
- Wedderspoon Premium Raw Manuka Active 16+ Honey
- Tarte Maracuja Oil
- Fushi Organic Jojoba Oil
- Thayers Lavender Witch Hazel Toner
- Ombrelle SPF 60 Face Ultra-Fluid Lotion
- Delon+ Premium Cotton Rounds
- Shu Uemura Anti-Oxy Skin Refining Cleansing Oil (Green)
- Rice flour
- Oatmeal
- Clarisonic
(I will probably do separate, more in depth posts about most of these later.)
Starting off in the morning...
I don't really wash my face with anything in the morning - just splash it with water - while I'm in the shower. After I get out of the shower, I apply Thayers Lavender Witch Hazel Toner with a cotton pad. I like to use the Delon ones because of the mesh layer for a little bit of exfoliation. Also I just happened to have picked a huge package of them from Costco, so I've been using them forever and still haven't run out. After the toner, I apply a mix of Tarte's Maracuja Oil, and Fushi's Jojoba Oil. I'm not going to go into too much detail about these oils right now, but I will try to do another post later about them. I have a separate eyedropper bottle that I premix the oils in, and I'll just put 2-3 drops on my fingers, rub them together and then massage onto my face. After that I'll put my sunscreen on, and makeup if I'm wearing any, and that's it for the morning!
Night time is when everything gets a little more fun! But also, takes a lot more time.
If I wore makeup that day, I'll start by taking all my makeup off using Shu Uemura's Anti-Oxy Skin Refining Cleansing Oil. I just put a pump of it in my hands and rub them together then gently rub it all over my face and eyes to take everything off. Then I'll rinse all of that off and dry my face. I keep a jar of a mixture of ground oatmeal and rice flour in the bathroom, and a small jar of manuka honey that I portion out of the original container so it doesn't get contaminated. I'll then put about half a tablespoon of the ground oatmeal/rice flour mixture, and a teaspoon of manuka honey in a little dish (I don't actually measure any of this, I just do it by eye...), add some water and mix until it's at my preferred consistency, and apply onto my face using a foundation brush. Or just my fingers. I'll also talk about this more in another post later. And then I let it sit on my face while I floss and brush my teeth, and make my breakfast for the next day (Refrigerator oatmeal!) After that, I rinse it all off, pat my face dry, apply toner and oil to moisturize. Once a week, I will also use my Clarisonic, I don't use it with anything really, just water. Just to exfoliate. And that's it!
I'm Back! Sort of...
Hi everyone!
I know, I haven't posted anything in a really long time... But I am really hoping to start blogging again. There's just been so much going on in my life the past few years and I just got so busy with school that I had to put everything else aside. Including some of the things that I used to have so much interest in. I'm still in school right now, but I just realized how important it is to still do the things that I like to do, and to give myself some personal time, no matter how busy I really am. I admit, I was kind of in a rut the past little while and started to let myself go... But recently I've been trying to focus more on my health and beauty, trying out new things, working on being more active, basically, just balancing my lifestyle a little more.
So to start off, here's my plan for some of my upcoming posts:
- Skincare routine
- Current favourites
- Heatless hair styling tools (What works and what doesn't)
- DIY hair treatments
- DIY skincare
- Various product reviews
I know, I haven't posted anything in a really long time... But I am really hoping to start blogging again. There's just been so much going on in my life the past few years and I just got so busy with school that I had to put everything else aside. Including some of the things that I used to have so much interest in. I'm still in school right now, but I just realized how important it is to still do the things that I like to do, and to give myself some personal time, no matter how busy I really am. I admit, I was kind of in a rut the past little while and started to let myself go... But recently I've been trying to focus more on my health and beauty, trying out new things, working on being more active, basically, just balancing my lifestyle a little more.
So to start off, here's my plan for some of my upcoming posts:
- Skincare routine
- Current favourites
- Heatless hair styling tools (What works and what doesn't)
- DIY hair treatments
- DIY skincare
- Various product reviews
16 June 2011
How to remove hair colour using household products.
Notes:
You want to make this right when you are going to use it. Do not make it beforehand. Make sure you have at least two hours to spare at home if you are doing this.
This isn't supposed to lighten your natural hair colour if that's what you're looking for. It may lighten it a little bit, but it's not what it's meant for. This is for removing hair dye colour. Also it works only on hair that has been dyed a darker shade, or hair that has been dyed some artificial colour. If you had dark hair and lightened it, your hair will not become dark again with this. You will want to dye your hair again with a darker colour to get your hair dark again! I know it sounds stupid... but some people just don't understand these things!
This may make your scalp itch. Try to bear it. If you can't bear it, wash it off.
You may have "vitamin water" dripping from your hair. Keep some paper towel by you while you're waiting.
I really wanted to take pictures of the whole procedure but I honestly forgot. Shame on me for my horrible memory! But really, this is so easy to do, I honestly don't think it can be messed up.
Ingredients:
Vitamin C tablets (I used Jamieson 500mg Delicious Chewable Formula with Antioxidant Support Grape flavoured, but really, whatever Vitamin C you have at home should work.)
Baking Soda
Shampoo (Clarifying shampoo works best, but if you don't have, use any. I used Quantum Clarifying Shampoo.)
Directions:
1. Take some Vitamin C tablets and crush it up. I crushed up about 20 tablets and ended up using only half of it, so for short-medium hair, I'd say 10 is a good amount. Judge according to the length of your hair. The tablets shouldn't be too hard to crush. I put them in a plastic bag and used the bottom of a small pot that I had to crush them. If you have a hammer, that works as well. After crushing them I put it in a little container and used the handle of a wooden spoon to crush the larger pieces so I would have a finer powder. The finer you can get it, the better.
2. Place the powder in a plastic bowl.
3. Add some baking soda. I don't know how much I used exactly, I just took the box and sprinkled some on top of the Vitamin C powder, but I'm guessing 1/2 tsp. is about right.
5. Make sure your hair is damp before going on to step 4.
4. Add shampoo. I just took the shampoo and covered the powder entirely. Supposedly, it should be a 1 Vitamin C: 2 Shampoo ratio, but I really don't think it matters. Just use however much you think you would need for your hair.
5. Mix it all up. As soon as you start mixing it, a chemical reaction will occur, causing the mixture to lather and foam up.
6. Apply it to your damp hair like you would with shampoo. Lather it up and make sure all the hair is covered.
7. Pile hair on top of head and place a shower cap or a plastic bag over it.
8. Let it sit for about an hour. Use a blow dryer to heat it up if you want.
9. Rinse, rinse, rinse. And shampoo. And condition. When I was rinsing it out, my hair felt like straw! As soon as I shampooed and conditioned it though, it felt normal again.
10. Try to let your hair air dry and not heat style it, but if you have to... like I did...
11. If it did not lift all the colour, or as much as you wanted to be lifted, wait a few days or a week, or as long as you can to let your hair recover, and repeat the process. It may or may not lift all the colour, depending on how recently you coloured it and how many times you have done so.
You want to make this right when you are going to use it. Do not make it beforehand. Make sure you have at least two hours to spare at home if you are doing this.
This isn't supposed to lighten your natural hair colour if that's what you're looking for. It may lighten it a little bit, but it's not what it's meant for. This is for removing hair dye colour. Also it works only on hair that has been dyed a darker shade, or hair that has been dyed some artificial colour. If you had dark hair and lightened it, your hair will not become dark again with this. You will want to dye your hair again with a darker colour to get your hair dark again! I know it sounds stupid... but some people just don't understand these things!
This may make your scalp itch. Try to bear it. If you can't bear it, wash it off.
You may have "vitamin water" dripping from your hair. Keep some paper towel by you while you're waiting.
I really wanted to take pictures of the whole procedure but I honestly forgot. Shame on me for my horrible memory! But really, this is so easy to do, I honestly don't think it can be messed up.
Ingredients:
Vitamin C tablets (I used Jamieson 500mg Delicious Chewable Formula with Antioxidant Support Grape flavoured, but really, whatever Vitamin C you have at home should work.)
Baking Soda
Shampoo (Clarifying shampoo works best, but if you don't have, use any. I used Quantum Clarifying Shampoo.)
Directions:
1. Take some Vitamin C tablets and crush it up. I crushed up about 20 tablets and ended up using only half of it, so for short-medium hair, I'd say 10 is a good amount. Judge according to the length of your hair. The tablets shouldn't be too hard to crush. I put them in a plastic bag and used the bottom of a small pot that I had to crush them. If you have a hammer, that works as well. After crushing them I put it in a little container and used the handle of a wooden spoon to crush the larger pieces so I would have a finer powder. The finer you can get it, the better.
2. Place the powder in a plastic bowl.
3. Add some baking soda. I don't know how much I used exactly, I just took the box and sprinkled some on top of the Vitamin C powder, but I'm guessing 1/2 tsp. is about right.
5. Make sure your hair is damp before going on to step 4.
4. Add shampoo. I just took the shampoo and covered the powder entirely. Supposedly, it should be a 1 Vitamin C: 2 Shampoo ratio, but I really don't think it matters. Just use however much you think you would need for your hair.
5. Mix it all up. As soon as you start mixing it, a chemical reaction will occur, causing the mixture to lather and foam up.
6. Apply it to your damp hair like you would with shampoo. Lather it up and make sure all the hair is covered.
7. Pile hair on top of head and place a shower cap or a plastic bag over it.
8. Let it sit for about an hour. Use a blow dryer to heat it up if you want.
9. Rinse, rinse, rinse. And shampoo. And condition. When I was rinsing it out, my hair felt like straw! As soon as I shampooed and conditioned it though, it felt normal again.
10. Try to let your hair air dry and not heat style it, but if you have to... like I did...
11. If it did not lift all the colour, or as much as you wanted to be lifted, wait a few days or a week, or as long as you can to let your hair recover, and repeat the process. It may or may not lift all the colour, depending on how recently you coloured it and how many times you have done so.
15 June 2011
X-Men: First Class
I finally got the chance to see X-Men last night and it was AMAZING! Though I'm still sort of grudging over the fact that the guy I wanted to see it with didn't seem like he wanted to go so I went with a group of my friends instead. He didn't even say sorry. Actually, he never even told me straight up if he wanted to go or not. He just kept putting it off and making excuses, which is what I'm really mad about. So I haven't talked to him ever since. And he probably doesn't even realize it.
I know... I'll never be happy if I get mad and grudge over such small things. But he hasn't even tried to talk to me ever since either. I just feel like it was completely one-sided love, and he had absolutely no feelings for me. But every time I think that, I just wonder, why did he say some of the things that he did if he never meant it? I just feel like I was trying way too hard and that I was just embarrassing myself. It's the first time I've ever tried to open up to a guy, the first time that I tried to ask a guy out and not the other way around. It's also the first time that instead of me turning the guy down, I was being turned down. Except not even directly. Actually I don't even know, because he confuses the shit out of me. Maybe he didn't even mean to make me feel the way I do. Maybe he didn't mean to make me think that he's not interested. But I don't know... It's like, a part of me just won't allow myself to be happy.
I'm just scared. I'm scared of ending up with a broken heart again. And I just have this feeling that if I were to keep trying and if we were to be together, it won't last forever. He will break my heart. It would be a lot easier to just let go now. Even though I still keep thinking about him practically 24/7... And I know I'll regret later on in my life for giving up, for letting go, for not doing anything. But if I were to try and make things happen, and I end up with a broken heart, I would regret that just as much. So either way, my life is going to be full of regrets.
Or maybe it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Maybe I should go for it, and just have an adventure.
I don't know...
Back to X-men, there was something that Raven/Mystique said that really got me thinking. It sort of inspired me, I guess. "How can society accept who you are, if you can't even accept yourself?"
I really liked the movie because I felt like I could really relate to it. Actually, I think a lot of people can relate. Everyone's always trying to be accepted by society. Okay well maybe not "everyone", but a lot of people. Including myself. I mean I'm not shunned away by society or anything, but I just always feel like I don't belong. And I'm always 'hiding'. Everyday before I can go anywhere, without feeling uncomfortable, I MUST take a shower, put on some nice clothes, wear makeup, do my hair, put on some perfume... I will never be seen in public without doing these first in the morning. It has gotten a little better over the past couple years. I don't wear eye makeup all the time, but face makeup is still a must. And everything else is still a must as well. Wow, I probably sound so fake right now... But I guess I just haven't come to accept who I am myself, that's why I need all these things, to make myself "better". And how can I expect anybody to love myself for who I am, if I can't even do it?
I know... I'll never be happy if I get mad and grudge over such small things. But he hasn't even tried to talk to me ever since either. I just feel like it was completely one-sided love, and he had absolutely no feelings for me. But every time I think that, I just wonder, why did he say some of the things that he did if he never meant it? I just feel like I was trying way too hard and that I was just embarrassing myself. It's the first time I've ever tried to open up to a guy, the first time that I tried to ask a guy out and not the other way around. It's also the first time that instead of me turning the guy down, I was being turned down. Except not even directly. Actually I don't even know, because he confuses the shit out of me. Maybe he didn't even mean to make me feel the way I do. Maybe he didn't mean to make me think that he's not interested. But I don't know... It's like, a part of me just won't allow myself to be happy.
I'm just scared. I'm scared of ending up with a broken heart again. And I just have this feeling that if I were to keep trying and if we were to be together, it won't last forever. He will break my heart. It would be a lot easier to just let go now. Even though I still keep thinking about him practically 24/7... And I know I'll regret later on in my life for giving up, for letting go, for not doing anything. But if I were to try and make things happen, and I end up with a broken heart, I would regret that just as much. So either way, my life is going to be full of regrets.
Or maybe it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Maybe I should go for it, and just have an adventure.
I don't know...
Back to X-men, there was something that Raven/Mystique said that really got me thinking. It sort of inspired me, I guess. "How can society accept who you are, if you can't even accept yourself?"
I really liked the movie because I felt like I could really relate to it. Actually, I think a lot of people can relate. Everyone's always trying to be accepted by society. Okay well maybe not "everyone", but a lot of people. Including myself. I mean I'm not shunned away by society or anything, but I just always feel like I don't belong. And I'm always 'hiding'. Everyday before I can go anywhere, without feeling uncomfortable, I MUST take a shower, put on some nice clothes, wear makeup, do my hair, put on some perfume... I will never be seen in public without doing these first in the morning. It has gotten a little better over the past couple years. I don't wear eye makeup all the time, but face makeup is still a must. And everything else is still a must as well. Wow, I probably sound so fake right now... But I guess I just haven't come to accept who I am myself, that's why I need all these things, to make myself "better". And how can I expect anybody to love myself for who I am, if I can't even do it?
14 June 2011
Olive oil removes hair colour? Not really...
Yes, as always I am trying to get the hair colour out of my hair once again. It hasn't even been a week! This time around though, I'm not using drugstore bought colour strippers. I'm trying other methods. As of right now, crazy as it may seem, I have completely drenched my hair in olive oil and have a plastic bag around my head. And it's almost 2 am so I really have to sleep... So I am going to bed tonight with olive oil in my hair, and a plastic bag on my head. And a towel on top of my pillows so they don't get all greasy in case the bag comes off. I'm really skeptical that this will remove any colour at all, but olive oil is good for the hair anyway, right? So even if it doesn't do anything for my hair colour, at least it will condition my hair over night. I'll come back in the morning with the results.
I just washed the olive oil out using my clarifying shampoo, and the olive oil was so hard to wash out! I shampooed my hair 3 times, left the shampoo in for a few minutes the last time, and I could still feel it in my hair. I have to say though, my hair feels super soft and silky now! But I can still smell the olive oil... And I HATE the smell of olive oil. I don't know if it's just me, or if it actually does, but I honestly think it smells like fish. Oh and of course, my hair didn't lighten one bit. And if it did, it would've been so little that it's not even noticeable. Maybe it's because I didn't apply heat to it. Or maybe it's supposed to be done regularly to gradually lighten it. But I would probably never do this regularly since it is such a hassle to wash out. Now I know though, if I need a good deep conditioning treatment, this is definitely something I can do.
I do have another plan though, and I'm more confident that this one will work. I'm just trying it out now, and waiting for it to do its magic. :)
Heheeeehe it worked! :)
I will be posting a tutorial for it very soon.
I just washed the olive oil out using my clarifying shampoo, and the olive oil was so hard to wash out! I shampooed my hair 3 times, left the shampoo in for a few minutes the last time, and I could still feel it in my hair. I have to say though, my hair feels super soft and silky now! But I can still smell the olive oil... And I HATE the smell of olive oil. I don't know if it's just me, or if it actually does, but I honestly think it smells like fish. Oh and of course, my hair didn't lighten one bit. And if it did, it would've been so little that it's not even noticeable. Maybe it's because I didn't apply heat to it. Or maybe it's supposed to be done regularly to gradually lighten it. But I would probably never do this regularly since it is such a hassle to wash out. Now I know though, if I need a good deep conditioning treatment, this is definitely something I can do.
I do have another plan though, and I'm more confident that this one will work. I'm just trying it out now, and waiting for it to do its magic. :)
Heheeeehe it worked! :)
I will be posting a tutorial for it very soon.
10 June 2011
L'Oreal Sublime Mousse (#60 Pure Light Brown)
Okayyy, I finally decided to try out the L'Oreal Sublime Mousse just because it seems so easy to use!
So I just applied the mousse to my hair. I can't stop thinking about how easy it was to apply! In some reviews that I previously saw, people were saying that their mousse wasn't foamy or lathering once they put it in their hair, but when I put it in mine, it lathered just like shampoo! It made it so easy to make sure that every strand of my hair was covered. And the mixture didn't smell all that bad. Or maybe I've just gotten used to the smell of hair dye now. So far, this product has earned a major thumbs up for how easy it is to apply to the hair. It didn't drip at all, no mess at all! I didn't even get any on my skin! And it didn't take nearly as much time as it usually does for me to put it into my hair either. So far from what I can see and feel though, it seems like it is making my hair darker... almost black! But we'll see. Maybe that's just the way it appears at first? And I can already tell, my hair is going to be so dried out from this...
Now I'm just waiting for it to develop, and I'll come back after washing it out with the results!
I just washed my hair, and I have to say, while I was rinsing the dye out, my hair didn't feel all that bad. It actually felt quite smooth, tangle-free and didn't feel dried out at all. But then I applied the conditioner that it came with, and instantly, my hair felt like a mass of tangles and it felt sticky and I literally could not run my fingers through it at all! So I rinsed it out right away. But my hair still felt like that. I put my own deep conditioner on and it felt a little better, but it was still sticky and difficult to run my fingers through. I let it sit in my hair for about 5 minutes and then rinsed it out, and all I could smell was the conditioner that it came with. It smelled horrible! I can still smell it now. I feel like I smell like a man that just went to the gym or something... And my hair still feels dried out. I've put some Moroccan oil in my hair and now it is still damp. I dare not blow dry it today after putting my hair through the colour removal and the dye in the past two days. From what I can see with the colour on my damp hair though, it actually looks darker. It looks like the colour I started with before removing the black dye from my hair. But the lighter streak in the back of my head seems to be evened out. I wonder why I put my hair through so much though, if it would just end up with the same colour. Not even close to the colour on the box! Hopefully it will fade out into a lighter shade...
The next day:
After shampooing and conditioning my hair today, it felt a lot better. Almost like normal! But, my hair still has that terrible scent! I checked out the back again today, and looking at it under proper lighting now, I can see that the colour was not evened out at all. I still have that lighter band running across, though its not that apparent. I was just thinking, if it couldn't cover that... would it be able to actually cover greys? I personally don't have any grey hair, but I sort of doubt that this hair dye would cover grey very well. Also, my hair is still dark. It's actually almost exactly the same as my natural hair colour.
I would only recommend this hair dye to those who have healthy, virgin hair without very much grey and are dying their hair the first time. Also I don't think this dye can lighten hair at all. Not even one or two shades, so if you have dark hair and you want to lighten it just a teeny bit, it's not happening. My hair wasn't even that dark and I chose a lighter shade and it darkened my hair even more! So I'd probably say use this only if you are planning to go dark brown or black.
And now as for my hair, I am not happy with it. I mean, I'm not saying it's ruined or anything, but it just wasn't what I wanted, so I'm going to be trying something completely different with it over the summer and see if I can gradually lighten it in a different way instead. And of course, if it works, I'll share it. (:
The next day:
After shampooing and conditioning my hair today, it felt a lot better. Almost like normal! But, my hair still has that terrible scent! I checked out the back again today, and looking at it under proper lighting now, I can see that the colour was not evened out at all. I still have that lighter band running across, though its not that apparent. I was just thinking, if it couldn't cover that... would it be able to actually cover greys? I personally don't have any grey hair, but I sort of doubt that this hair dye would cover grey very well. Also, my hair is still dark. It's actually almost exactly the same as my natural hair colour.
I would only recommend this hair dye to those who have healthy, virgin hair without very much grey and are dying their hair the first time. Also I don't think this dye can lighten hair at all. Not even one or two shades, so if you have dark hair and you want to lighten it just a teeny bit, it's not happening. My hair wasn't even that dark and I chose a lighter shade and it darkened my hair even more! So I'd probably say use this only if you are planning to go dark brown or black.
And now as for my hair, I am not happy with it. I mean, I'm not saying it's ruined or anything, but it just wasn't what I wanted, so I'm going to be trying something completely different with it over the summer and see if I can gradually lighten it in a different way instead. And of course, if it works, I'll share it. (:
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