Aubrey’s Morning Hair and Skin Routine… Exposed!
Happy Monday, everyone! Meet Aubrey and her nifty routine. To help deal with the hard water on an Air Force base, she uses a cool lemon-juice wash for her hair. A lemony scent plus sandalwood soap… Judging from her routine, I have a feeling she smells amazing. Read on…
Name: Aubrey
Age: 25
Age: 25
Current weather: Heavy, cool, just barely humid…and dusty. Not a normal combination, but it’s spring in Post-Flood Minot, North Dakota and the weather manages to be just humid enough to not be dry, just dry enough to not be humid, and as soon as the snow is melted, its always vaguely dusty.
Hair: babyfine, stick straight, light ash blonde, shoulder length, tendency to be greasy at the roots. Currently growing out years and years of heavily processed platinum highlights which were the last “unclean” beauty addiction I was clinging to. I took the plunge a few months back and did what will be my last salon dye-job EVER…all over, to my natural ash blonde. It’s been growing out natural ever since and love not having to touch up my roots with toxic chemicals every four weeks!
Skin: Fair (natural blonde), oily t-zone, incredibly acne-prone and moderately acne scarred.
In the shower…
First of all, I shower at night. I hate showering in the morning, because its really freeking cold here, and I don’t want to be cold and wet in the mornings. I wash my hair once a week with Aubrey Organics Swimmers Normalizing Shampoo. My husband is in the Air Force, and our last three bases have been in states with hard water… at least, I thought the water was hard…until we got to Minot. This place has some of the hardest water in the country. Think, ‘turning on the shower and getting hit in the head with bricks’ hard. My hair suffered badly until I figured out it just had to be clarified with a swimmer’s shampoo (removing chlorine, minerals, etc) once in a while. After shampooing, I rinse with 2 tablespoons of Volcano Lemon Juice mixed into two cups of very cold water mixed in an old conditioner bottle. The rest of the week when not shampooing, I just rinse my hair with the lemon juice mix sans shampoo. If it feel dry or intend to blowdry my hair, I deep condition the bottom 1/2 of my hair with John Masters Lavender and Avocado Conditioner after rinsing with lemon juice. And whether it’s marinating in lemon juice or conditioner, I pull it up in a bun and leave it while I shave my legs with a Preserve triple razor and the lather from my Zum Bar Goats Milk Soap by Indigo Wild in Sandalwood Citrus. I am in LOVE with this soap; the smell, the lather, the moisture. I don’t wash my face the ‘traditional’ way very often (washing daily just seems to exacerbate the acne I’ve had consistently since age 14), but if I’m exceptionally greasy that night, I use my Zum bar to wash my face, too. Then, I use my dreaded acne scrub. The only thing I’ve ever used that has worked on my acne is Carly’s Clear and Smooth Kickass Scrub (used daily), which is NOT 100% clean (germall preservative and benzoyl peroxide are the only two offenders). Carly’s was like a miracle for me; I’m acne free for the first time in over 10 years. It’s hard to give up something you know has some nasty chemicals in it when the alternative is the cysts and scars and I’ve battled before. However, recently, after much research, I’ve started taking 1000mgs daily of Pantothenic Acid (vitamin b5), and I’ve cut down to using the scrub only 3x a week, still no breakouts/cysts. I’m hoping I’ve finally found the clean answer, but I’m cutting down on my scrub slowly to allow my skin to adjust. (I’d be happy to update No More Dirty Looks on how this process goes and if Pantothenic Acid is a possible clean acne solution!) The last thing I always do is rinse my hair.
Outside the shower…
I use organic, unrefined coconut oil with a few drops of tea tree oil to moisturize my legs and body. I also rub a good amount into my armpits; it replaces deodorant for me 90% of the time.( I carry a Thai Crystal with me in my purse, so if things start to get swampy, I’m prepared.) For my face, I use the same coconut oil (MINUS THE TEA TREE OIL!) to remove my eye makeup…rub it in till you look like a zombie raccoon, then gently wipe away. After that, I adore John Masters Mandarin Maximum Moisture and John Masters Vitamin C Anti-Aging Serum. I apply a few drops of the serum, let it dry, then apply a few drops of moisturizer. The combination of these two has been plumping my few deeper scar pits and I have noticeably less dark marks after a few months of consistent use…it looks like my skin is healing (dare I say, thriving?), not just surviving. I dab it under my eyes, as well. Finally, I take 100% pure, cold pressed argan Oil and use it on the ends of my eyelashes. I try to take extra care of my eyelashes because I wear mascara pretty much every day.
Finishing touches…
When I wake up in the morning post-shower, I make myself a piping hot cup of green tea. When I take the tea bag out of the hot tea to drink it, I use the tea bag like most people use a toner-soaked cotton ball. It takes any greasy residue from the night off and wakes my skin up beautifully; no soap and scrubbing required. If it was a rough night, I use two tea bags and let them sit on my eyes for 10 minutes (steeping my swollen under eyes in hot, steamy, anti-oxidant goodness) before I pat my face dry and apply Vapour Atmosphere Luminous Foundation, shade 115. Then…my eyelashes. Now, I love my hair color; light natural blonde. I love not having to shave my legs, really, at all if I don’t want to. I love that I have no arm, knuckle, or upper lip hair to speak of. But this comes with a price; and that price is that I have no eyebrows or eyelashes unless I coat ‘em in makeup. So I use Dr. Hauschka Volumizing Mascara in Black and (and if I want to be able to demonstrate facial expression along with having eyelashes), I color in my eyebrows with Gabriel Cosmetics ZuZu Luxe Eybrow Pencil in Flax. If I’m feeling exceptionally vampish I’ll add Zuzu Luxe Liquid Eyeliner in Raven to the mix. Hair wise, it lives in a messy bun on top of my head most of the time; but if I happen to style it, I pat in some Aubrey Organics B-5 Design Gel before it gets the curling iron. I spray Indigo Wild’s Zum Spray in Sandalwood Citrus or Frankincense and Myrrh (both are orgasmic scents) or Pacifica Waikiki Pikake on my wrists and my hair, add some cat hair, and I’m good to go.
Thanks, Aubrey! Is anyone else dealing with especially hard water and have any tips?
Image via
I once tried Gabriel Cosmetics lipstick in color Red and it lasted for a longer time on my lips, no matter what I ate it was a wonderful lipstick with moisturizing properties.
This sounds like a lovely routine. I might try ythe tea tree oil + coconut oil deodorant since I already have both at home. We have hard water, too. But I don’t have any specific tips, other than trying apple cider vinegar maybe?
Thanks for sharing this unique routine. Cat hair is a staple to my routine too – ha! Try a filter on your shower head – better than trying to deal with it through products in my opinion.
As far as shower head filters, when her morning routine was exposed, Spirit Demerson says that she uses this one. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001OVKH70/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
About the pantothenic acid, it’s true that it really does work. I have lately been taking Pantothen, a supplement that contains pantothenic acid and L-Cartinine ( plus some other vitamins and minerals ) to treat acne at the source. I’ve been taking it for almost a month now, and there are definite improvements. My once really oily skin is actually normal now, and there are visibly fewer breakouts. It should be taken for several months to see the complete results, though.
If someone out there wants to give Pantothen a try, you might as well get the most of it by cutting out all dairy from your diet, because dairy foods make acne worse. I’ll admit it is hard even for me to completely avoid that food group, but it is totally worth it for breakout-prone skin. The switch shouldn’t be that hard – there are plenty of non-dairy options; like switching from cow’s milk to almond milk, from regular cheese to maybe soy cheese, and so on. It’s the other things that might be hard…I’ve always had a weakness to ice cream, smoked Swiss cheese, and creamy dairy desserts…….Enough talk about tempting foods:)
Can we talk about ZuZu liquid eyeliner? I just (last week!) bought some (also in Raven) and it’s the damn best liquid eyeliner ever. I was using Jane Iredale liquid eyeliner, and the brush is annoying, plus the eyeliner itself would sorta do this cracked-desert thing on my eyelid instead of staying in a line. The ZuZu has one of those foam/rubber applicator tips and the eyeliner is greattt.
What is cat hair-besides what is covering the kitties that live with me?
It’s fun that Aubrey uses Aubrey products :)
Hi,
In regards to the acne. I’ve been reading Feed your Face by dr. Jessica Wu and she advises people who suffer from acne to avoid diary and sugar products. Maybe it is worth a try?
It is totally worth it to avoid dairy. It made a HUGE difference for me. It’s not even difficult anymore once I experienced how nice it was to have markedly clearer skin. It’s totally worth giving up ice cream and butter and whipped cream for. …coconut milk ice cream is still delicious (though high in sugar, so I eat it sparingly and only after meals) :)
I suffered from terrible cystic acne until I gave up dairy. It is important for me to avoid dairy as an ingredient in baked goods, as well as contamination from a grill at a restaurant. I noticed a significant difference after cutting out the obvious items (ice cream, cheese, butter, milk etc), but wasn’t until I cut it ALL out that I had perfectly clear skin. I lucked into not having scarring too, but I also use rose hip seed oil on my face every night and I’m sure that helped. I never would have thought that I could use something so oily, the media has us all (or at least me) convinced that our problems are cause by our hygiene and can be fixed topically. However, I found that cutting out dairy (I feel it is the natural pregnancy hormones in the cow’s milk that create the problem for me) and using gentle products that don’t tire out my skin works like a charm. I’ll be wearing powder, but I’m not even concerned about covering up blemishes for my upcoming wedding. THAT is an amazing feeling. 5 years ago before I removed dairy from my diet, my skin would have been the biggest cause of stress for my wedding.
Hahaha! Love the cat hair part! I relate, I get decorated by the cats every time I’m out the door.
I was raised without dairy and avoid it to this day…coconut milk and coconut ice cream are better, anyways! I also eat all organic, meats and veggies…but thanks for the feedback on Pantothen! I actually crafted my own supplement blend from their recipe…they had some binders I wasn’t happy about swallowing ;) And I can’t recommend ZuZu luxe eyeliner enough, it’s amazing! I didn’t like their mascara tho. Thanks for the feedback ladies I’m going to try a shower head filter!
I’m starting to believe the sugar-acne link: I gave up all refined sugar for Lent this year, and it was pure torture, BUT…well, I didn’t really notice my acne clearing up, but now that I am back to being a sugar junkie, my forehead looks like a 16 year old boy’s. Worse acne than I’ve had in the past couple of years. However, I had more milk during Lent than usual, so maybe that’s why it wasn’t noticeably better during the sugar-free times. At any rate, my skin is NOT happy with me right now.
Hi Aubrey!
I started using the Carley’s scrub after I read your review, and then went on to read hundreds of other positive reviews. I was just wondering about how long it took for you to see results and if you used any other products with it, or if you followed their regimen exactly?
Thanks!