Sea Salt & Sunshine Recipe from Jana Blankenship

Dry skin is a nightmare for so many of us during the fall and winter months. Luckily, Jana Blankenship, founder of Captain Blankenship products and author of Wild Beauty: Wisdom & Recipes for Natural Self-Care, has the recipe for smooth, hydrated cold weather skin. 

Sea Salt & Sunshine Scrub Recipe 

YIELD: 8 OUNCES

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup fine sea salt, or mix of fine and medium grain
• 1⁄4 cup coconut oil, or more as desired
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vitamin E
• 20 drops sweet orange essential oil
• 10 drops lemongrass essential oil
• Optional: 1 tablespoon shea butter

 

ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT

8-ounce glass jar with lid

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix ingredients together in bowl with spoon. (If coconut oil is hard, you can melt quickly and add to mixture once cool. If you want to add shea butter for even more nourishment, do the same thing.)

Once mixed, with spoon, scoop scrub into jar with lid.

Use once or twice weekly or as desired; by rubbing salt with dry, clean fingers in circular motion all over body and feet.

Rinse well.

If stored out of direct sunlight, will keep for up to a year (if water is kept out of jar).

Let's Face It

At the risk of sounding vain I am just going to go ahead and say it: I want to look cute forever. And at the risk of sounding full of myself I am just going to say this: I don't even want to live in a world where I am not adorable. Having been the biggest girl in the room for my whole life, my million dollar face has been the one thing that has gotten me a seat at the couple of tables I have been invited to. You would think my personality would be the show winner but, believe it or not, a lot of people don't take to loud overweight girls that enjoy having open and honest conversations about vaginal hygiene at the dinner table. Go figger. 

Where is this all coming from? Well, I have talked to you all before about how worried I have been about my skin since I turned 30. Gone are the days of me having an effortless complexion. My pores are getting larger, and I need a moisturizer like a fat kid needs cake. On social media, girls that I went to high school and college with are looking ten years younger than they did when I met them. And since I am not ashamed to admit that my face is the one good thing I have going for me you know, outside of my brain, I can't afford to let it go. Let's be honest,  I let my body go in the 3rd grade happily and without effort once I started wearing a bra. Since I am not really excited about getting things injected into my face or having appearance altering surgery, I have to keep this face tight and right. 

Tortilla has great skin, but she uses those trillion buck Korean skin potions you can order from Sephora. I am currently using a scrub that I got out of a gift bag. I like it though, it smells like sweet potatoes! But it is going to take more than sweet potatoes to keep my skin on the up-and-up. I watched a Youtube nighttime skincare tutorial that included seven products, so I guess I have to step it up. I guess I was naive for assuming I could keep my face from cracking off of shower gel and Vaseline. 

At this moment, I would just like to express how pissed I am at men. They can look like something the cat dragged in and women will still be beating their doors down as long as they have a good paying job and health insurance. What is a poor girl like me to do? Home chemical peels with hot bacon grease and a plastic knife?

Well, I guess there is nothing left to do but enjoy my face while it is still here. Beyonce said that pretty hurts, but she forgot to tell us that it also fades. But there will be no fading over here, not yet, as long as I have my bacon grease. 

Dark Spots

I tell myself that I am not vain, but I am. Oh, am I! I may not be one of those women who do those IG videos where they are making kissie faces into their phone cameras, but I am close, particularly when it comes to my skin.
My whole life, I have enjoyed a beautiful, creamy complexion. Even as a teen, when I had friends that had such bad acne that they were on prescribed meds for it, I coasted through my days zit-free. My twenties were also wonderful years for my skin. Now I'm in my 30s. Let's just say that things are a little different.
I AM GETTING DARK SPOTS!
Dark spots are a very common skin issue, but they are enough to drive a self-obsessed person insane!
I am so jealous of those girls that made the right decisions in life to get a job that gives them the insurance go to a top-notch dermatologist. Since I am not one of these girls, I have been Googling ways to get RID of these spots. For the next month or so, I will be washing my face with apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. All the articles I have read have said that this is a sure thing. And yes, lemons break me out. I know. But I will have to just drink tons of water to get rid of the zits. Getting rid of the spots are my top priority.
My grandma once told me that your skin is a gift. She died this year at 91, practically wrinkle and blemish free. So I guess I am at an age where I have to take my gift seriously. I will keep you posted on the results.

Your Summer Skin Fix: Sand & Sky Brilliant Skin

You may recognize Sand & Sky's Brilliant Skin from social media. All the influencers are in LOVE with this new Australian product that includes Australian Pink Clay. This formula is non-drying, and helps to shrink pores. A deep cleanser, Brilliant Skin also helps to brighten your complexion. It also serves as a skin detox. 

Need more info? Visit the Sand & Sky site here.

Review: MyChelle Dermaceuticals Gentle Cleansing Wash

My whole life, I have enjoyed a bright, healthy complexion. However, since turning 30, I have gotten breakouts that you wouldn't believe! You would think that I was a teenager the way that I have been experiencing breakouts out of nowhere! And to be honest, I never considered myself a vain person. I am not one to spend hours and hours in front of the mirror before I leave the house. However, having pimples was making me self-conscious. I found myself examining my face in any surface I could see myself in. Plus, the fact that I have sensitive skin and can't use a lot of the products that I researched that are acclaimed from getting rid of zits only added insult to injury. Luckily, I came across MyChelle Dermaceuticals Gentle Cleansing Wash.

The MyChelle Dermaceuticals Gentle Cleansing Wash is unscented and mild, which is great for my skin. It is free of gluten, parabens, and sulfates, and reduces redness and irritation. It also includes the MyChelle DermaCalm Complex, which is made of Blue Daisy and French Oak extract that helps to moisturize skin. So far, this cleanser is helping me to keep my skin under control, and it is affordable at only $16! 

Learn more about MyChelle Dermaceuticals and this product here.

Giving Me Life 4: Nourished and Smooth Oatmeal Scrub + Mask

Short story: Not too long ago I was on Facebook and came across the page of a girl I went to high school with. I SCREAMED! For us to have gone to high school together, she looked a good ten years older then me. She already had wrinkles. Can you imagine? Wrinkles before you are even 30! It dawned on me then that I needed to take taking care of my skin seriously- doing something besides letting water run on my face in the shower.

After using the Nourished and Smooth Oatmeal Scrub + Mask, my face felt so smooth! I have sensitive skin and had tried a facial scrub before and found it to be too strong. But this oatmeal scrub was really soothing and made my face feel so soft. I used it as a mask, keeping it on my face for about five minutes. Here's to the fist step to making my skin fab for the long run.       

Nourished and Smooth Oatmeal Scrub + Mask, $4.59
Target.com



 

                   

Written All Over My Face

When it comes to describing the past month of my life, I don't know which word to use: dramatic or traumatic.
My grandmother used to tell me when I was a kid that I was a drama queen, that I made things seem worst than they really are. So for a split second, I thought that maybe this has been the case of late. So what if I am technically homeless. I still have my health and I'm not dead, right?
This is what I told myself as I laid down to sleep on the floor of the motel that my family is currently staying at. And I have to say I even felt refreshed as I got up to go to the bathroom. Then I looked in the mirror.
MY FACE LOOKS LIKE A PIZZA!
I swear to you that I almost screamed. My face is soooo broken out! Not to toot my own horn but toot! I usually have good skin. The few instances that my skin has ever looked this bad has been when I was really stressed.
I remember having Pizza Face in the second grade when taking my ITBS Test. You know, that whack placement test they give you in elementary school that more so grades the teachers than your abilities. That doesn't stop the teachers from pressuring you to tears to pass. And of course, I had Pizza Face right before I went to Xavier. Ah, when I had little non-problem problems.
So back to my face. It looks horrible. And on top of that, I have lost my Afro pick and my hair feels like a rug. I do not look cute. I need to get myself together ya'll.