This Bittersweet Life

Hello everyone I hope you are all having a great day! I think winter has finally come to Colorado Springs and I have been snowed in a few days this past week. Since I was not able to really go anywhere I was able to take some time to let my creative juices flow and think of a blog post for you all. Today's post will be about how I make my soap, essential oil and water spray solution. This is so simple you should be able to re-create this very easily.

I got my soap and water spray inspiration from the place I used to work at. I worked at a Child Development Center as an Early Childhood Teacher and we would use soap and water in a spray bottle to first clean the surface and then use bleach and water solution in a spray bottle to sanitize the surface after it was cleaned with the soap and water. (We, of course, could not put any scented oil in the soap and water spray because of state regulations.)

One day I was cleaning at home and I had gotten my cleaning cloth wet with warm water and then pumped some soap on to it, dropped a little bit of lemon essential oil on the cloth and started to wipe my counters down. I then thought why am I not making the soap and water solution in a spray bottle like at work! Ever since then I have been using this spray to first clean off my counters and then go in with a disinfecting spray such as the Method Antibacterial.

I change up the essential oils I use in this quite often, but this go around I decided to try peppermint oil and Grapefruit oil together. Usually I only put in one essential oil, but I deiced to be bold this time and mix two. The oils that I use and are familiar with are doTERRA and Young Living. I know that Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens, and some natural grocery stores sell essential oils as well. I have never tried any of those so I am not sure about the quality of them. I do enjoy the doTERRA and Young Living oils. I think that Young Living's oils might be a little better quality but they are also more expensive than doTERRA.

To make this solution you will first need a spray bottle I got mine from Walmart, Dawn dish soap or any dish soap of your choice (I just really like Dawn the best) and any essential oil sent you like. My go-to is Peppermint. I know some essential oils have antiseptic properties to them such as lemon and grapefruit but I really just like using them for the sent. I loved that my bathrooms and kitchen smelled like peppermint and grapefruit instead of an obnoxious chemical sent.

To make this solution:

You will first fill up the bottle room temp water.

Then you will add two table spoons of Dawn Dish soap

I then added about 10 to 15 drops of Peppermint Oil

and 10 to 15 drops of Grapefruit oil

After doing all these steps I gave the bottle a little shake to mix it all together. You can always add more soap or oils to your liking. I like to have enough soap in the bottle to give it a nice light blue color.

11:03 AM No comments

Hey everyone! I hope you all are having a great week and you only have one more work day to go! Today I wanted to share my night time Skin Care Routine with you. My night routine is pretty similar to the day time routine only without the sunscreen. I try very hard to keep everything fragrance free, but cosmetic companies have not really caught up on the fact that fragrance is actually not good for
the skin and can cause allergic reactions. I am a heavy make up wearer so I really have to make sure I get it all off by doing the double cleanse method. My skin type is combination oily and I have mild adult acne that I am treating.

I use an oil based cleanser, then I go in with my face wash and my clarisonic brush, I also use an eye makeup remover after all of that just because I wear two water proof mascaras and a water proof eyeliner. Next I apply my humectant on damp skin, seal it in with my moisturizer and the last step for my face is my Differin gel for my mild adult acne. I also use my Vaseline for my lips at night as well.

As I mentioned in my morning skin care routine, I had taken a lot of inspiration from a dermatologist named Dr. Dray on YouTube. I had actually found her when I was looking up reviews for Differin gel to see if it was the same formula as it was when it was being prescribed. When I would watch the skin care routines I thought, "well I have nothing to lose if I try it her way, and Dr. Dray's way must be trust worthy since she is a dermatologist." I have really enjoyed her simple way of doing a skin care routine and I feel like my face is not getting as dry as it would have been with the Differin gel. I no longer use toners, serums or eye creams because they are not necessary steps in a good skin care routine. I also keep my products fairly cheep. I do not buy any more high-end products because they are usually heavily fragranced. Also some of the ingredients listed are the same as a good drug store version, so you are basically just paying for the name not higher quality ingredients. Lets go ahead and jump in to my night time skin care routine and I will take you step by step of what I do and why. I will also give you a review of what I think of the products I use and if I would repurchase them.

The first step I use in my skin care routine is an oil based cleanser. Now this may sound scary to some of you oily folks, but if you wear heavy make up or sunscreen then you really have to make sure that you remove it all with out scrubbing your skin. An oil based cleanser will just glide on the skin and remove that first layer of makeup and sunscreen so that your regular cleanser can actually work its magic and cleanse the skin so it is ready to receive other products such as moisturizer. The oil based cleanser I use is the Neutrogena Ultra Light Cleansing Oil. I have a love/hate relationship with this product. I think it does a really great job removing my makeup and it doesn't leave a residue that is hard to get off my skin. But this product is pretty heavily fragranced. Two it smells like the green apple Jolly Ranchers, which is my favorite Jolly Rancher flavor. So it doesn't smell bad to me and just makes me want green apple candy, but it makes me cringe when I am putting it on my face and using it for a skin care step. I think I might try to find an alternative, but until I find something else, I will keep using this because it does do a good job as a first step and it has not yet bothered my skin.

The next step I use is a foaming facial cleanser. I use the CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser for normal to oily skin with my Clarisonic brush. I highly recommend the CeraVe line because they keep their products fragrance free, plus they have beneficial ingredients such as ceramides and niacinamide that help hydrate the skin. I also think they keep their products relatively affordable depending on what store you go to buy it at. The cheapest prices I have found are at Walmart and Target. It is a lot more expensive at Ulta, but if you wait for a sale such as buy one get one 50% off or even the buy two get one free, then I think you are actually getting a pretty good deal. I also always use the $3.50 Ulta coupons as you can use that on this product as it is a drugstore brand. This cleanser really helps get off the rest of the oil cleanser that I use and I love that it is foaming. Having a foaming cleanser is really not necessary its just a placebo effect, but if you like feel of having a foaming cleanser then this is a good one to try. They also have a hydrating cleanser I would like to try out because my face is getting to be on the drier side with the winter air and my acne treatment that I use. I recommend checking out CeraVe's website so that you are able to see what other products they have.

I do use my Clarisonc Mia 2 brush at night because, for me, using it morning and night was a little to much on my skin. I use the radiance brush head which is very soft and I use the lowest setting and light pressure. Even though this brush is pretty expensive, I think it is worth it because it is not a spinning brush head, it uses sonic wave which is think is a lot more gentler on the skin then a spinning brush head. You do not necessarily need to use a sonic device but I think if you really are going to invest in a sonic cleansing device I recommend this one because I have had good results with it and I do not have that need to try anything else because I truly do like this brush. On the website they say you can use this to remove your make up. But I don't use the brush that way because for one, I don't like getting makeup on the brush head as I feel it shortens the life of the brush. I also want it to just cleanse my bare skin so that I am able to get off the dead skin so that my moisturizers can penetrate deeper. Visit Clarisonic's website so that you are able to do your own research and decide if this is a device is something you need.

Since I wear heavy eye make up and use a lot of water proof products, I really need to go in with an eye make up remover. I use the Mary Kay eye make up remover. It is a two phase eye make remover where you have to shake it to combine the two phases. I really do love this eye make up remover and have not found anything as good as this. The remover does not leave an oily residue at all which is what I love the most. When I try other eye make up removers that have the two phase I feel like they do leave some sort of oily residue. The only bad thing about this product is that it is hard to get your hands on it because you have to buy it through a consultant and then you have to usually wait for it to ship. So this is not a go get it on demand product unless your consultant keeps a stock of Mary Kay products on them. I think if you have a consultant and do not mind waiting for it to ship then I highly recommend this product. I do eventually want to find a eye make remover in the drug store for you guys just so you have another good option if you do not want to buy this one. Visit Mary Kay's website so you can see the other products they have and if you really do want to try this and do not have a consultant to buy from then you can type in the area you live in and they will give you a list of consulates to choose from. Some consulates can even just ship the product to your house if they have a online website.

The product I now use for my humectent is the Simple Water Boost Hydrating Gel Cream. This product is new to me and new in the stores. My favorite product by far is the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream, but that is pretty expensive and I was trying to find a cheaper alternative that is just as good. I have been using this for only about a week but it does not burn my skin like the Cetaphil daily hydrating lotion did. I think the Simple hydrating gel cream is just like its name, it's very simple with no fragrance or irritating ingredients. I think the Neutrogena one is a little more luxurious than the simple one. But if you are on a budget like I am, then I think this is a really good product to use to prevent transepidermal water loss. They have come out with a lot of new products this year and I am really interested in trying them out since it is a very affordable brand and they keep everything simple and fragrance free, so I have a lesser chance of having a bad reaction to their products.

The next moisturizer I use to seal in my hydrating gel cream humectant is the CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion. I am telling you guys, CeraVe is where it is at for good skin care. This lotion is very lightweight and it even says that it is ultra lightweight on the bottle. This product has their famous ceramides ingredients, niacinamide and hyluronic acid in it. This has to be one of my all time favorite products from this brand and I feel like I could not live with out this, it is just that good! I know that niacinamide could be irritating to some people but I have never had a problem with it. I have heard that if you use niacinamide the first couple times it will give you that burning sensation but then go away after using it a while. The first time I used this I did have that sensation but after about a week it did go away. My skin never looked red or irritated when this happened. I think I am almost out of this stuff because it is taking it a while to be pumped out of the bottle so I am going to need to go buy another one here soon so that when I do run out I have a fresh one waiting for me. Visit the link above for this particular moisturizer so that you are able to take a closer look at the ingredients list.

The last product that I use on my face is Differin Gel, also know as Adapaline 0.1%. This product used to be by prescription only from your doctor or dermatologist but now it has come out in stores as an over-the-counter acne treatment. I think I was prescribed this product at one point in my life as a teenager and I remember it working pretty good for me. I have had really good results with this product since it has come out as an over-the-counter treatment, and I think with the way I do my skin care routine my skin is ready to receive the full benefit of this treatment and my skin doesn't feel overly dry using it. I have seen a significant reduction of the black heads I had on my nose and chin and I break out much less often then I did before using this. Some people may use this for an atnti-aging benefit also. I am not sure if I can say that I am a good person to use it for softening the lines of wrinkles because I don't really have any at this point in my life. I did start to see a small smile line on the right side of my face and I do think that has decreased quite a bit. But I am also hydrating my skin much better now, so it could be a combination of good hydration and this product but I cannot say for sure.

Dr. Dray does talk about in one of her videos how anti-aging products are not a real thing. Instead a good skin care regimen of hydrating the skin and preventing transepidermal water loss is what you really need to do. I highly suggest this if you have acne even though it is kind of expensive. You really do not need much just a pea size amount for your entire face if you have acne all over. Or you could just use a smaller amount if you only have acne in certainer areas of your face such as your chin or forehead. This product should really last you quite a while because of the small amount you really need and you get a pretty good amount of product. Visit their website so that you are able to read more about this product. They do not offer the ability to order this off their direct website, but you can order it off of Amazon or Ulta, or you can also just go into Walmart, Target, or Walgreens to buy it in store.

As for my lips I am still using plain Vaseline. I am not sure why people are scared to use petroleum jelly now but I think it is a good barrier for my lips to prevent dehydration of the lips. If you have a lanolin allergy then this is a good option for you. another good option that I have tried is the CeraVe healing ointment. The CeraVe has a few more ingredients such as the ceramides and hyaluronic acid, but i think they both preform just about the same. I never use this as a facial moisturizer or near my nose because this can clog you pores, I just strictly use it on my lips or if my nails and cuticles are dry from removing my shellac, then I will rub a little bit of this on them to prevent them from becoming more dry.

I hope you all enjoy my night time skin care routine and that I gave you some inspiration to revamp you skin care routine to a more simple one. If you are interested in any of the products that I mentioned above then I hope you have a better idea of why or why not you should use them. As always Live Life In Full Bloom.