Month: August 2019

Why I Love Oil Cleansing

IMG_6440I have fallen in love with oil cleansing. 

What is oil cleansing, you ask? Well, let me tell you!

When you oil cleanse, you use a natural oil on your dry, dirty face to remove dirt and makeup. I know that sounds crazy. But here’s a fact: like dissolves like. Oil dissolves oil. 

When you use the right oils, you can cleanse your skin of the bad dirt and bacteria while replacing it with the good oils that your skin NEEDS to be healthy. Oil cleansing has been shown to be effective not only for dry skin, but also for people with oily skin and acne and sensitive skin.

Many times we try to strip our skin of oil thinking it will solve our breakouts, but that is actually making it worse. Our skin needs oil. When we strip it, we then signal our skin to make MORE oil. So oil cleansing is an effective way to balance out our skin’s needs. Oil cleansing works with your skin, instead of against it, to protect, heal and moisturize.

The way my face feels after oil cleansing is like nothing I’ve felt before. Clean, smooth, soft….ahhhhh! Also, I think it’s way easier than typical face wash. I am so much more consistent with washing my face at night since starting with an oil cleanser. It really feels like..self-care. It’s such a luxurious feeling.

So how exactly do you oil cleanse?

First, pick a good oil! I’m a huge fan of the Countertime Lipid Defense Cleansing Oil! It’s a luxurious, lightweight cleansing oil that gently yet effectively removes makeup and other impurities without stripping essential lipids from the skin. Rich in vitamin E, fatty acids, and our plant-derived Retinatural Complex, the formula reinforces the skin’s fragile moisture barrier for a soothed, nourished complexion

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Step 1:  Use two pumps of oil and massage into your dry, dirty face. 

Take your time here. Give yourself a little facial massage. You deserve it!

Step 2: After a minute or so you will be able to feel that the dirt has dissolved from your face. Then take a warm, wet washcloth and hold it to your face for a second. Let the steam open those pores. Wipe it all off.

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And that’s that. Easy peasy.

I follow with the Countertime Mineral Boost Hydrating Essence, Tripeptide Radiance Serum and Tetrapeptide Supreme Cream…it’s so dreamy… I can’t wait to wash my face again tomorrow!

 

Have you tried oil cleansing? Tell me about it in the comments 🙂

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XO, Nicole

 

::When Hope Hurts::

“Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.” Friedrich Nietzsche

Well geez, Nicole, that’s a little dark. 

I know… and it’s not my usual outlook, but today, I’m angry at hope. I’m angry at the small, tiny voice of hope that says “what if”. What if you really are pregnant this time and not just late?

Of course I’m not. The red streak on that wad of toilet paper confirmed it for me just moments ago.

I’m angry that despite all logic, all knowing, all the years of irregular cycles that tell me this is just another late cycle…despite it all…I google the symptoms, I count the days, I negotiate when I will actually pee on that stupid stick…if I make it until Saturday morning I’ll test.  It’s Friday afternoon. 

I’m angry that I still, after all the needles and dollars and dates with ‘wanda’, I still found myself feeling giddy and daydreaming about how I would tell my husband that we were pregnant– on our own.

I still calculated the due date and wondered if maybe we wouldn’t find out the gender until the baby was born. I still allowed myself to believe it was possible.

Hope. Today I wish I could silence her tiny but unyielding voice. Today I wonder if I will spend the rest of my life, at least my pre-menopausal life, facing the heartbreak of hoping despite all odds that I’m actually pregnant this time. 

Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow I will embrace hope, love hope, believe in the necessity of hope.

But not today.