The Attempt at Beauty #2

After skimming through my Pinterest home page the first 'category' I tend to click on before all others is the 'hair and beauty'. Most of the pins are absolutely ridiculous to me while a few of them are quite useful and others are interesting enough to store it in the back of my mind but not worthy of pinning.

Some of those interesting ones are things to do to help cure acne, acne scars, hair conditioning, quick lose weight tricks, make-up tips, etc. Most of them I wonder why on earth women will go through such lengths for such results when there are way simpler ways of achieving their goal...

Acne:
There is no need to make nasty combinations of ginger and honey and all this gross ooey-gooey stuff that costs a butt load to buy anyway... In my mind the more ingredients (and dollars put into it) then the less I want to use it.

1. Tea Tree Oil
    Yes that's a repeat I know but for the category I must list it. It's amazing stuff. Use a q-tip and dab it on the blemish after washing your face or rub it all over the area of your face that tends to breakout.

2. Coconut Oil Scrub
    I gotta admit, I was avoiding this stuff because it was becoming so popular and I hate joining bandwagons...but there is a reason why this stuff is getting so much attention...because it works! I finally got a jar of this stuff. I scooped some out into a small container and poured in a decent enough amount of Sea Salt to give it a scrubbing texture along with two drops of Tea Tree Oil for extra cleansing (even though salt is a natural cleanser). I have been using it as my face scrub in my morning shower and I must admit the stuff is amazing; it was the perfect solution for the kind of face wash/scrub I've been dreaming of.

3. Vitamin E Oil
    Yes I know this one is a  repeat too but I again, I had to put it on the list. Leaving this stuff on my face over night after using the coconut oil scrub made my skin so amazing times ten the next morning!
    The thing I love most about Vitamin E Oil is that it's one ingredient and yet does so much...but the thing I love most that it does is it diminishes scars. I always used it on my body to prevent scars and I never thought to use it on my face to reduce/prevent acne scars...but I am so glad that I did start using this one my face because I was immediately seeing a difference in my acne scars.

Following just these three things (plus of course not sleeping in your make-up or touching your face constantly) should help you with your acne issues...of any many kinds.

*UPDATE -click on to read about an even better natural face-wash I've discovered.

Detox Bath:
Don't take them!
So I followed the ingredients the best I could from a popular recipe found via pinterest for a detox bath. I do not know what exactly happened but I had to get out of the bath ten minutes after getting in. I had become dizzy and my butt and hips literally felt like they were burning. It started out as just a tingly feeling on my skin and it kept growing too intensely. I walked away from it and had to lay down because I felt so sick and drained from the bath. Like I said, I am not quite sure what happened but I would never recommend following detox things unless you have a skilled herbalist or doctor or such person to approve it.

But what you can do in the meantime, if you are for sure needing/wanting a detox, is the safest thing...drink tons of water and stay away from bad foods and harsh chemicals until then.

Make-up:

I saw this pin about using eye drops to keep your mascara from drying out that was one of those bonk-on-the-head things that made perfect sense. Eye drops are sterile and easy to get into hard places...like your mascara tube....and what do ya know! It did make a difference to my mascara just enough to keep it from clumping.

I have also seen pins about the 'best eye make-up removers' or make your own 'eye make-up remover'...but the thing is those aren't needed... Not a single one of them. There is one thing that I know every female already has in her home, especially since it's the winter season, and that's lotion. All you need to do is dab a q-tip in some good non-scented/non-sparkly lotion and rub it along and below the eyelids (make sure not to get any in your eye). I tend to get mascara under my eyes throughout the day and doing that little trick allows me to keep my mascara and make-up on without taking a ton of time or needing to rewash and make-up my face.

Teeth:

Another popular pin I've seen go around about fifty times is the one about using Peroxide to whiten your teeth. I tried it. I would swish peroxide in my mouth twice a day before brushing my teeth. After about 3 days my teeth became so dog-gone sensitive that I had to stop for a couple days and do a little research. Any sip of water I drank (even when room temperature) my entire mouth tingled...it really freaked me out. Since then I've only been swishing it in my mouth once a day and putting a little water in it first to give it to make it more diluted and that solved it. No more sensitivity and I still got the effects of a good mouth wash...however it has not given me the amazing whitening transformation that the pin so solemnly swears by.

Weight Loss:
Update -click on for update on my weight loss journey.

I myself have been wanting to lose about 12 lbs. Over the month of December I fasted from all sweets. I still ate sugar since that's in most food anyways, but I kept away from sweets (that wasn't to lose weight but to break a sweets addiction)...well I lost 4 lbs from that and I am already taking steps to lose all 12 to be back down to my favorite weight (108 lbs). I know what I need to do, and it's nothing like what we constantly find on pinterest.
There isn't some quick fix to losing weight because to successfully lose weight in my mind would be to do it in a healthy fashion and most of those are not. We are to eat a certain amount of calories each day and not getting enough does more harm to your body than good. We are also to have a certain amount of produce and I know for a fact that most of us do not get the recommended amount. We also are not to eat 4 hours before bed and we are to drink a lot of water...I drink about 6-7 glasses of water every day (teas included in that) and that is still not enough...we're supposed to drink at least 8.
Really, there isn't some magic drink that will burn off all your weight and keep it off the rest of your life. And while yes we need exercise there is a point of over-doing it. When I was a teen I was obsessed with exercise and while I wore my tennis shoes to gym I never wore them outside of school. Going barefoot or in flip-flops has torn my knees up in so much that I cannot do regular 'hard core' exercise. I have to do low impact exercise...and you know what...that is all we need anyways. Just a bit of movement each day to get our heart-rate up for about 30-60 minutes. Pilates are great for me however I have put together my own low impact workout that I am starting and I shall let you know of the results probably by Valentines Day.

Part #1.