I haven't been this excited about getting the mail since college

I was really excited when I got home & checked the mail tonight. Both my beauty subscriptions had arrived!

My first ipsy Glam Bag!

I think the fact that they package in these cute makeup bags is adorable. 

And my Birchbox

I don't know how excited I am about the haul itself, but it did make me realize how quickly I'll get behind on trying things if I don't get to it faster. 

Birchbox

Got my first Birchbox!

I'm really looking forward to trying the facial scrub & the eyeliner. 

Exploration time!

Since my last post (which has been quite a while, I know) I chopped my hair off.

It's been pretty weird getting used to it. One if biggest challenges has been just how naked my face feels when I look in a mirror. I decided to handle that by renewing my exploration into makeup. I now have subscriptions to both Birchbox and ipsy. I'll start posting the contents as they arrive, and then, if I'm feeling bold, I'll post some of the experiments. 

https://www.birchbox.com/invite/violetdiva

https://www.ipsy.com/new?refer=v2vj8

This happened

May 16 - Semper Fi Fund 5K
 

I actually don't remember my time, but it was around 55 minutes. 

I'm hoping to get my time back down to less than 45 minutes by the end of fall.

Back to square 2?

This fall, I totally fell off track on all my fitness plans. Pole, running, yoga, nutrition, sleep, strength training, all of it. I've gained 9 pounds, my blood sugar levels are up, my depression has worsened, and I just generally feel awful.

So, I've been trying to creep back into good habits. For some reason, food logging is always a tough hurdle for me. I've made it to a few Zumba classes in the past couple months, and this weekend, I did a 5-miler. Well, now I have shin splints, so I  have to rethink that. I've also tried a couple of "tv workouts" but that's inconsistent.

So, stay tuned for a nearly complete re-working of the plan.

DIY Beauty

I'm trying my hand at making my own beauty products. So far, I've made a face polish, lip scrub, lip balm.  I'm also planning on making body scrub & body butter. Since I had already purchased quite a few oils, there wasn't too much more to acquire. Beeswax was the most "difficult" to get, but I grabbed some while I was at the Renaissance Festival last month. I still need to pick up some cocoa butter & shea butter for the body butters, and epsom salts if I decide to make bath salts.

I'm really looking forward to expanding my use of natural products.  I've had dry skin for as long as I can remember, and I already see improvement in that from eliminating sulfates. I can't wait to see if natural products truly are as beneficial as I think they will be.

My hair care products

I decided to share a comprehensive list of the products I'm currently using in my hair.

My relaxer:



I usually get normal strength rather than extra strength.  If I do use extra-strength, I don't use all the activator, so that it's not full strength. I also plan on experimenting with mixing some olive oil into the relaxer to weaken it further.

I also regularly use the rest of the products that come in the kit, especially the Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion and the Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Hair Wrap Set, . I also really like the ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner . I used the ORS Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo regularly until I started moving away from sulfates. I still use it as my neutralizing shampoo on relaxer week.

My protein treatment:
I'm using a lot of the ORS products, because they work for me & I'm trying to use fewer product lines, especially on relaxer week. This is a heavy protein treatment that seems to be working. 

My deep condition/moisturizing treatment:
I'm also using the ORS Hair Masque as an occasional deep conditioner.

Shampoo & Conditioner: I'm using the organix line, primarily the coconut milk (although I'm trying the argan oil later). So far I'm loving these, especially the smell!



Anti-breakage treatment:

I'm having major breakage issues. I like the Organix products so far, so I grabbed this on sale one day.

I'm still experimenting to find a moisturizing conditioner and a leave-in that I like.