SKIN CARE

Left: Container I Store Coconut Oil In For Beauty Purposes
Right: Bottle Of Homemade Toner And Bag Of Baby Wipes With Witch Hazel and Tea Tree Oil

  So after having a baby, my hormones are out of whack. I have allergies, eczema, colitis, asthma and they all do NOT help. Steroid medication and so on is not the way to go, although I can't refuse it all I've been steering clear of as much as I can. Recently I started up a new skin routine. It's been a few months and the situation has gotten far better. One of the first things I did was stop using moisturizer on my face and switch to straight up coconut oil. It has been amazing! My face used to be so sensitive and dry that when I came right out of the shower if I didn't put moisturizer on right away, it would crack, peel and rashes would develop without even touching it. I would hop out of the shower and immediately put on moisturizer and it didn't matter which one I used but it would sting. I would fan my face until it felt better and then have about 5 mins to put on my foundation right away or else my face would dry out. HEHEHEEEEE NOT ANYMORE!! Yay coconut oil!! For the first little while my face would be uber shiny, but I didn't care because my face under my make-up felt amazing and without reaction and I was so relieved. I wish a dermatologist would have been able to steer me in this amazingly cheap and natural direction instead of having me try a million other things. I gave up on the dermatologist a few years back. W.E. Anyway my health conditions all lend themselves to my reoccurring issues so I thought I was hopeless. So my face was slowly clearing up and is finally balancing out and adjusting. 

Here is my routine:

1. Baby Wipe soaked with tea tree oil and witch hazel. I massage around my face/ pop pimples etc. clean my pores  etc. I have a ziplock that I poured witch hazel and a few drops of tea tree oil into and shook it up.

2. Green Tea Witch Hazel Tea Tree Toner.

1 Part Witch Hazel

3 Parts Green Tea

20 Drops Per Cup

3. Coconut oil

I let the coconut oil sit for a little bit but if my face is a little too oily before I do my make-up then I blot the oil off with some paper towel. 

Here is a picture right after my routine before bed. I'm so happy it's working out!

Awks picture of my face without make-up!

Oh and a few months back I had a REALLY bad allergic reaction to my deodorant I have been using for years. I stopped deodorant completely and used baby powder instead. It BURNED so bad and was horrible when I sweat. EEEEeek just thinking about it makes me cringe. As the weather got hotter I neeeeeeeeded deodorant so badly. I went to shoppers and at this point my armpits healed enough and found CRYSTAL Body Deodarant. Hypoallergenic, fragrance and paraben free. Exactly what everyone who can should be using and even has a breast cancer ribbon on it. It has been amazing and in conjunction with coconut oil as a moisturizer for when I'm not wearing deodorant, my VERY horrible allergic reaction is now just a very, very slight case of eczema and I am SO relieved.


BATH ROUTINE.

So because I have eczema the 40 degree humid weather did not help me. SO much sweat and no time to deal with it. I have been bathing multiple times per day to help my skin. I have a break out all over my arms, down my back and covering my full legs. :( It has been exhausting but I've been trying my best to keep up with it. Cooler weather has helped but sun exposure has been the only thing to help completely heal everything. I haven't been out in the sun as much as I would hope to but my baths have helped.

1/2 cup Epsom Salts
20 drops Tea Tree Oil
10 Child Free Minutes

Right after my bath I coconut oil and try and stay as clean as possible.

Eczema has been almost impossible and started when I hit 13.  I guess my hormones were intense! Hopefully one day I can have the pretty smooth skin I had as a kid(Hahaa sometime soon before I get wrinkly!).

Mah, LIFE!

-MamaMeow

150 Calorie CHOCOLATEY AMZINGINGNESS

Most basic source of chocolatey amazingness in my life. I'm insanely in love with cocoa. MMMMmmm. I'm sharing this little dose of rich with you. I'm sure you can hand whip this if you really want to but I use my magic bullet. 3 Seconds and it is done!

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Whipping Cream
2 Packs Splenda
3/4 Tbsp Cocoa
Dash of Vanilla

1...2...3... DONE! Source of calcium ;)

Tip: Fill up on salad if you're feeling snacky and you might appreciate this snack a whole lot more.

NAIL THERAPY!

So, I'm an artist that doesn't make much art. I don't have time. I'm still breastfeeding. The end. No LIIIFE. Pretty much every week one night I stay up until 3am to do my nails. I get to let my girly out and fit some painting in. Well and look pretty. It's pretty much the only activity I give my full attention to. I'm bad like that. I'm specED so I probably have some undiagnosed something to do with attention thing. :) Pretty recently I have been attracted to hot pink so of course that is my latest colour.

HOT PINK <3

My nail routine generally includes, choosing a colour, washing my hands, pushing back cuticles, filing, base coat, colour and top coat. Sometimes I use a cuticle remover and sometimes I just soak my hands and gently push them back a bit with my thumb nail. My thumb nail is my preferred method. The less you touch your cuticles, the less they grow. They are there for protection and you actually shouldn't go crazy removing them. My mom is a Filipina and she would go INSANE cutting off my cuticles and they would grow back like crazy, I would have them getting infect and sore, so I read up about it and found out that I would be better off just leaving them alone. My nails have never been better! They even grow in better and the edges don't break because there is skin on either side to guide them. When my nails were styled square shape, the corners would always break. It took about a year and a half for the skin around my nails to fully heal and adjust to act normal again after having been chopped off and stimulated for so long. So happy I figured that out.

I'll post about pedicures another day.

I think my favourite manicure to do and look at and appreciate is a french manicure with nude pink, white tips, pink shimmer on top and a jewel on my ring finger. I don't get to do it too often because I don't have the time/ patience to wait for the multiple layers to dry but every so often I do it and fall asleep in a position that allows them to dry completely without any damage. When I have them done like this, I feel clean, girly and like a princess. I LOVE IT!

Other than the fancier manicures I usually try and to do my nails as quickly as possible. Solid colours and if the nail polish is good enough, one nice solid coat.

NOW regarding quality of nail polish, generally speaking I buy my nail polish at winners or shoppers and a few other common places when something catches my eye, but, dollar stores aren't necessarily somewhere you want to buy from. Sometimes you get a good deal and find a brand that you are familiar with, those cases are amazing, but other times cheap nail polishes can be SEVERELY expired and made up of old harmful formulas that can damage/stain/dry out your nails. You might not want to save two dollars and kill your nails. Walmart and NYC products are amazing for saving money. Just do that. As long as you have a good base coat (unfortunately some formulas aren't compatible with ALL nail polishes) and a good topcoat, any brand should do. I'm pretty sure both my top coat and base coat were $4 each at Walmart and are salon size. Total steal and work amazingly.
Here are some pics of my nails:

Top Left: Chevron Glow In The Dark French Manicure (Real Nails)
Top Middle: Short Natural Clear Pink Shimmer French Manicure
Right: Caution Hot Orange
Bottom Left: Pride Week Gems
Bottom Middle: Lilac Pink French Manicure

Music Video

Inspired by Xtina

Sooo just got home from a music video shoot for "Jermaine". It was fun. It was a closing party outside with cars and an escalade scene. They had smoke bombs and fireworks, MORE than roman candles. It was pretty epic. The cops were called for sure. It was fun to pile on some make-up today. 

Han Shot 1st

So meet Buddy WiThe Skillz, the man that stole my heart. Take a listen and let me know what you think. PLUS how can you deny that cute thumbnail? Credz to JaguarShark. James makes amazing music. He's truly an artist. Watching his process is inspiring. When we have more time collaborations will come. In the mean time he scores for t.v. and film and is just always creating. Amazing visual artist as well.

 

Veggies Gave Me My Belly Back

It's honestly only been 3 weeks that I have consciously started to eat vegetables. It has made a huge difference already and the time flew by like nothing. For a while I was stuck thinking I would have to work out hardcore to see any results, then I started eating veggies and its like my stomach is now inverting. Jamming yummy vegetables down my throat whenever I got munchies. I'm so guilty of junk food! Slowly sipping, adding iced cubes and water to my home made iced coffees help a lot too. Curbs my never ending appetite. Eating veggies fills you up so that you can actually guilt free enjoy something REALLY YUMMY.  I definitely eat really yummy food with a fat worthy title, and my weekly McDees for sure but just being aware of the nutritional facts helps me make better decisions. In no way am I restricting my calorie intake or anything but I'm definitely trying to stay within a general guideline. I see results and it is totally worth it. Most of my junk food eating is out of boredom anyway, why not try and occupy myself instead?

Salads are definite amazing stomach filler. SO LOW in calories, refreshing and energizing and massive proportions can be consumed in one sitting. I like to shovel food into my mouth. WHAT CAN I SAY? So snacking on salad and crunchy carrots or even a whole cucumber is A LOT better than a chocolate bar, which I'm still a sucker for. A chocolate bar generally speaking is around 300 calories and I can have a handful of carrots for 30 cals or a pile of spinach and lettuce (2 cups) for 20 cals  or a whole, very filling, cucumber for 50.  MELT YOUR FAT AWAY WITH VEGGIES!

I'm not a vegetarian, I love my meat but I have noticed a difference in my digestive system and it's amazing. I have Ulcerative Colitis, it's not a pleasant disease at all, I'm stuck with it for life. The medication I've been skipping out on would cost me over $500 a month and isn't guaranteed to work. I've gone through years of trying meds and finally gave up. I left my body alone and tried my hardest not to stress about it. It cleared up. Unfortunately the stress and strain of my pregnancy woke it up again  and I began another life of loss of energy, blood and the whole shebang on top of breastfeeding. WELL WHATEVER, so I saw a specialist, she wanted me on the same junk. I tried it for a month which she promised would help, steroids, it didn't. Anyway, I don't have $500+ per month so I just decided to be medication free. Live as normally as I could. It was manageable, still a nuisance, but since actively eating veggies I think I'm clearing up again and I feel GREAT!   

Feel free to ask me questions. Below is a typical lunchtime pita with veggies, no oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, chilli powder and a bit of dressing. IT'S DELICIOUS. 

Don't forget to make sure you get your daily intake of important and required vitamins.

Thanks for reading! 

Teeth Whitening - Coffee Stains

Ok WOW! So I've had posts up for 6 hours and I already have 40 page views,  I feel welcomed! Well, and creeped. HAHA WEIRD.  Anyway, being a mommy means I drink a crap ton of coffee. I was drinking tea at one point because it was easier for my lazy ass but the stains were impossible to deal with so I switched back. I also love energy drinks!! Anyway, my coffee stains inspired me to take a before and after pic and share my technique. Alright so if any body were to live with me they would find out that I try and find a million uses for baking soda. Yesterday I used some to wash my feet and today they are amazingly soft. Its a wonderful product because it is so inexpensive and there are a million ways to use it. SO I use it to whiten my teeth. It leaves them feeling amazingly clean and actually does lift stains. Recently I discovered that if I used baking soda paired with Crest 3D White toothpaste, I get amazingly fast results. Here are the pics! WARNING: GRAPHIC TEEEEEETH

I swear my teeth are scary looking but they look good with my face. I THINK?! 

As you can see its a pretty dramatic difference! Imagine if I kept up with it?! :) :D Smile On!