My Favorite Beauty Products Lately

Since I had the kiddo, I've been looking for things to simplify my routine and still stay well maintained. I like my skin hydrated, my hair shiny, my lips not chapped. I don't want a lot. And, I've been making a push to use more natural products since my pregnancy. I realized at some point that you put over 200 chemicals on your body every day, and I thought it was time to cut back. Sometimes, you look up from life and realize you're just going with the flow. You're grabbing products from the shelves at Target and getting by. And when you look up, you realize you don't have to go with the flow, that Mother Nature has been providing wonderful products for you to use all this time, if you just know where to look. 

via

My number one product these days (totally not natural, by the way. If you know of something better, that is, let me know.) is Carmex. I use it religiously to keep my lips soft and smooth. I was addicted to Eos lip balms, because they're pretty and taste good, but this windy weather calls for bigger guns. And I seem to be having a weird reaction to the Eos lately. Like it makes my lips worse. No bueno. 

I discovered Argan Oil. (I read about it while pregnant. I've used Morrocan hair oil which is made from it. And then I was on The Glow and rediscovered it here.)Oh good gracious, you can use this for EVERY thing. I put it in my hair, on my stretch marks (which are FADING!) and on my nails. It is mixed with my daily moisturizer/sunscreen, too. Super skin! It's also replaced the "It's a Ten" product I was using as a leave in conditioner and detangler. I think it works better than the product it's replacing. My bleached hair has never been this shiny. And it gets the rats out of my daughter's hair and I know I'm not putting chemicals on her. Plus, her hair is super shiny too. Since she isn't patient enough for me to condition her hair, this is great.

Speaking of oils, I use Tea Tree Oil for my dry scalp. My scalp is ruined when I start bleaching my hair, and I get this massive patch of dermatitis. The tea tree oil gets sprinkled in my normal shampoo and voila, my dry itchy scalp is much improved. I also mix a few drops with my face scrub once or twice a week and my skin stays super clear.

I use a sugar scrub that I make myself, also. It is wonderful for the dermatitis on my arms and it keeps my legs from getting ashy. It's made with sugar, extra virgin olive oil, cinnamon, tea tree oil and argan oil. (these oils are so multi-functional. it really makes things simple when you can use the same two things for so many beauty needs.)

The more natural products I use, the better I feel. And the less products I use in general simplifies my routine and helps me get out the door faster. I seldom wear make-up these days, so I like my skin to be clear and clean. I keep my eyebrows tweezed and my hair cut and bleached, and that's about it for maintenance. I just don't have time for a complex routine. I take long enough to shower as it is. It needs to go fast, be simple, and be effective. I've found these products (can you call oils products?? and home made sugar scrub? idk). 

Note: Tea Tree Oil is poisonous to cats, so it is very important to make sure to keep it closed, and stored safely away from your precious felines!

The Gift of Grandmothers

via

My little family is SO lucky. You see, my husband and I both work full-time and he works full-time plus. But here's the thing, we don't have to put our daughter in daycare. How do we do this? We have two wonderful mothers, and they do so very much for us.

My mom watches our daughter twice a week and my MIL watches her twice a week. Ideally, my husband (who works Saturdays) takes a day during the week to keep her, but since that doesn't always happen, one of our mothers fills his shoes. They never complain or tell us they just don't feel like keeping her. Never.She wears them out (she's almost two, so you know she does). Some days, when I pick her up I can see in my MIL's eyes how tired she is, I can see that she didn't have time to  fix her hair. But when I ask how my daughter was that day, she always tells me "Mimi's girl was so good today." 

The gift our mother's gift us is priceless. Daycare is expensive and it probably wouldn't be beneficial for us both to work. But since they keep her, we can both work, and thereby provide more for our little girl. I don't want to down day care here, because I know for a lot of people it is the only option. Personally, though, I don't think I could stand knowing she was being kept by strangers.  I would never be able to relax at work and get into my job. This way, we know she is being loved and kissed by people who love her as much as we do. 

Andplusalso as a nice bonus, my mom keeps her at our house. That means I don't have to spend time in the morning taking her and again later picking her up. And it also means that I have some seriously needed assistance taking care of my house. She helps me keep my laundry up and she mops and does a lot of other miscellaneous cleaning.  It saves me SO much time and energy.

I'm so thankful for the both. I'm thankful we have them both available, nearby, and healthy enough to help us out. It is such a blessing. 

On Being a Working Mom....

via

Being a working mother is like a double edged sword without a handle. Sometimes, there is nowhere you can grab to hold on, and you know you're gonna get cut but you do it anyways. 

I like working. It provides for my family and my lifestyle. I feel like a productive member of society and I keep my sanity. I'm not a person who would be productive at home all the time. I would never get out of my pajamas, or do anything. I secretly want to be a hermit. Working combats that and keeps me busy. 

Andplusalso, in this economy, if you have a job, you don't quit it. Especially if you know in a few years you'll be sitting at home bored and alone and wishing you had it back. You tough it out for a few years. You keep the job, the income, the benefits. Every day isn't easy but the reward will be there. 

I do not like leaving my child. Even though our mothers keep her, I still hate it. On the bright side of that, the grandmothers get plenty of time with the baby cakes and that gives me more time with her, in a manner of speaking, because I don't have to share as much on weekends. I'm not good at sharing. 

I do not enjoy the criticism that comes with it. Family members who never left their children blame my husband for not being a good enough provider. My house is never clean and no one thinks I do enough. Forty hours a week at a job, clean dishes, clean laundry, a clean child, a fed and healthy child, none of that is enough. Some days, I look around and feel like a failure because I haven't swept the leaves off the back porch, taken out the trash or folded the laundry. And instead of doing any of those things, I'm sitting in the floor reading to my child or helping her paint. And I feel like a failure?

I'm not sure why society puts pressure  on us to do it all. I'm not sure why we feel like we have to do it all. Our husbands don't face this pressure, and as long as they aren't dead beats, they get kudos for everything they do. Daddy's playing with the baby, oh, how sweet. Oh my goodness, daddy can change a diaper, how wonderful he is. The same things we are expected to do are the things he for which he receives applause. 

Every day, I look around and think I do a good job. I tell myself I'm doing it all right, that I do everything I possibly can and I find solace and comfort in that. I tell myself because no one else is going to tell me. Not only will they not tell me how great I am, they're going to do everything in their power to tear me down. So I tell myself. And I keep going. What else is there to do? At the end of all of this, I'm not going to remember how messy my laundry pile was and neither is my child. She's not going to love me for my clean house. Nor is she going to hold it against me that I decided to keep working. In fact, I hope she does the same thing. I'd love to keep her kids one day!