Self Serve Beauty

I mentioned before about the after effects giving birth was having on my body. A lot of those woes have subsided, thankfully! The one that lingers (other than residual baby weight) is the skin on my face. All of those night sweats and free fall of hormones did a number on my face. I broke out all over. To combat this beauty woe I decided to give myself a dose of self serve beauty. That’s when you go to some old faithfuls that you have in your home to spice up your beauty regimen. Here’s what it’s looking like for me at the moment.

For my face:

I’ve been giving myself what I like to call a greasy ghetto facial. This is when you wash your face with soap and a warm cloth, then slather on some good old petroleum jelly to moisturize. This offers a bit of nostalgia for me too, because ya’ll know that in most Black homes, Vaseline is the number one most versatile beauty product that sits proudly in the medicine cabinet! The progress of clearing up my skin is slow, but it feels super soft! My dry skin is always thirsty for some moisture so this is right up my alley. I’ve also been increasing my water intake to help get my skin flawless! *gettingmyhalleberryon*

For my feet:

My best friend and I had big plans last weekend to spend some girl time at the nail shop to get pedicures. That dream was quickly deferred when I remembered some other expenses we’ve got coming up, so I decided to cancel on that splurge. I dug into the linen closet for my basket of ‘self serve’ pedicure tools and got to work. To my surprise I didn’t event paint my toes. I decided to give them a break and be free/natural for a little while. It felt good to be ‘fiscally responsible!”

For my hair:

This one is a big one. Like, really, really, big. In fact, it should have its own post, but my time is limited! LOL I read on curlynikki.com about apple cider vinegar being useful to treat dandruff. That reallllllyyyy got my attention because I’ve suffered from sebhorric dermatitis for virtually all of my life. And I really do mean suffer! Living with incessant dandruff is beyond annoying. So anyway, my best friend (she’s pretty popular in this post!) just recently gave me a bottle of ACV that she never used. I initially wanted because my friend said it was helpful in removing build up from my retainers (hey TLC!). But then I read about it helping dandruff and decided to try it. It’s funny because as desperate as I’ve been all of these years to get rid of the dermatitis, I never wanted to try home remedies. Well, I got over that and finally gave it a go.

I treated my scalp with it, then washed and conditioned my hair as usual. Then I ‘greased’ my scalp with shea butter (which I’m also loving as a self serve beauty all purpose beauty product) and the results have been astounding! My scalp has never been so clean and clear. A few people have even told me that it looks thicker (including my hair stylist). I’m not sure if there’s any correlation, but hey…I’ll take it! I’m going to keep doing this self serve treatment in between salon visits and will let you know if I truly have found a way to get rid of this troublesome issue.

Let me be clear: I LOVE going to spas, the nail salon, and getting my hair done, but  I’m also very happy to be able to take care of my beauty needs at home when I need to. I want to teach my Natty-Bear how to do the same thing. Sometimes you gotta just get in there and do things yourself. Get to know your body and don’t leave your beauty (inside or out) solely in the hands of others!