Greta’s Morning Hair and Skin Routine… Exposed!
Everybody, meet Greta, who may have created the word “glowifying” and definitely personifies it! Must be all the exfoliating and John Masters-ing she does. Read and enjoy (keep you eyes peeled for her tip for stopping scars before they start)!
Name: Greta
Age: 26
Current weather: Coastal Northern California, so cool, foggy and breezy. Essentially jacket weather 24/7.
Hair: Dark blackish-brown, natural color (not dyed), thick, wavy, and slightly coarse. Boob-length (aka halfway between my armpit and elbow)
Skin: Pale, reddish, very sensitive and prone to sunburn. No acne but prone to roughness and bumpiness.
In the shower…
Pre-shower, I massage a generous blob of Burt’s Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment (NB: contains fragrance) from the middle to the ends of my hair. This is my very favorite for softening my coarse and unruly hair—even better than the various oils I’ve tried. Then I wipe my face with a Seventh Generation baby wipe in preparation for slathering my face and neck with Fage 2% Greek Yogurt. The lactic acid in the yogurt is a great gentle exfoliant and I find this to be very smoothing and glowifying with no irritation. I leave it on until the yogurt is nearly dry—about 10-15 minutes. While I wait, I’ll putz around in the bathroom, occasionally dry brushing with a Hydrea London Body Brush or massaging a dropperful of John Masters Organics Pomegranate Facial Nourishing Oil into my nails and scalp. Once in the shower, I apply John Masters Zinc & Sage Shampoo with Conditioner followed by John Masters Organics Lavender & Avocado Intensive Conditioner. They both smell incredible and keep my pouffy waves in check. I’ve tried other lines but always come running back to John Masters for haircare. I can definitely see a difference in my smoother, healthier locks. I soap up my Hydrea London Carbonized Bamboo Exfoliating Gloves with whatever soap we have on hand. I’m always switching kinds. Right now I’m using Big Sur Country Soap, which is made locally and I picked up at the farmer’s market. I shave my pits, legs and bits with a Gillette Fusion razor, and I’m done!
Outside the shower…
I wash my face with Pai Camellia and Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser, and if it’s nighttime, I use my Clarisonic Mia with it. I follow with a couple spritzes of Pai BioAffinity Tonic in Lotus & Orange Blossom. Daytime, I smooth on Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Moisturizer or Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream Light. Nighttime, I massage in John Masters Organics Pomegranate Facial Nourishing Oil or Pai BioRegenerate Oil. Any extra oil goes on the ends of my hair. Obviously, I adore Pai—my sensitive skin responds beautifully to their gentle yet effective products. I recommend them to all my friends! My body gets a slather of Pai Comfrey and Calendula Calming Body Cream, and my abdominal incision from last month’s surgery gets a mini-massage with Jason 45,000 IU Vitamin E Oil. Floss and then brush my teeth with my Preserve toothbrush and The Natural Dentist Antigingivitis toothpaste and mouthwash.
Finishing touches…
I wear makeup maybe a handful of days per month, and when I do it’s Dr. Hauschka mascara in Black and Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Rose.
Soap & Paper Factory’s Bois de Cedrat Hand Cream is my favorite scent. I dab some on my neck and wrists like perfume. I’ve been stingy about using it as I don’t believe they make this fragrance anymore [Ed's note: they don't] and I want my tube to last!
I rub a smudge of John Masters Organics Hair Pomade between my hands and then smooth it on the bottom half of my hair. The last step is Soapwalla Deodorant Cream and I’m good to go.
John Masters and Pai: Hire this gal as your spokeswoman! The rest of you: What think you?
Image of Vivien Leigh via
John Masters website looks so beautiful that I feel like just starring at it :)
I once tried a sample from Pai of their combination skin cream and it smells amazing, very aromatic to me.
A quick warning about the vitamin E! I was doing the same thing a while ago for a recent abdominal surgery scar (strange coincidence!) and about two weeks into the daily vitamin E applications I broke out in hives around the scars. After a few days it spread all over my abdomen and onto my chest and face and took about two weeks and lots of antihistamines to fully disappear. At the time I had found a medical journal article which found that vitamin E did not improve the appearance of scars, but was actually more likely to make them worse. Unfortunately I can’t find that article now, but the Mayo Clinic briefly mentions it here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-e/NS_patient-vitamine/DSECTION=safety
So, um, moral of the story is go easy on the topical vitamin E. I’ve just been using my usual body oil and lotion since, and I can’t really tell if it’s having any effect on the scars, but at least I’m not red and itchy anymore!
Thank you Greta . Your routine is really nice (great actually..maybe that is why your name is Greta;)..
Nice choice of products … What really caught my eye was the idea for a face mask using Fage 2% Greek Yogurt and the use of Vitamin E oil to prevent any scar formation.. (i’m prone do them so I’ll definitely use your suggestion).
All the best and again, thank you for letting us in your daily routine
@ Jess… thank you for the input on Vitamin E oil around scars..
Any suggestions to minimize or even prevent the formation of them will be greatly appreciated!
Your routine sounds lovely! I’ve been wanting to try both the John Master’s hair care, and the Pai skin care. Was nice to hear positive reviews.
Thought on ingredients…There has been research saying that we shouldn’t use suncare products with Retinyl Palmitate because it may advance the growth of cancerous lesions when exposed to UV rays. Is anyone else worried about this in other products? For example the hair pomade in this post has it. I don’t think I’d want that ingredient on my scalp. When the announcement came out, I found that several of my lotions and products contained the ingredient. I also noticed that Retinyl Palmitate and Vitamin A seem to be used interchangeably, so when I see isolated Vitamin A as an ingredient I tend to stay away. I worry that to simplify the ingredient list the company lists it as simply Vitamin A when it is really in the Retinyl Palmitate form. It isn’t really untruthful, just unspecific. Any thoughts?
Hooray for using yogurt as a facial mask! I have recently discovered doing this and I LOVE what it does to my skin!!!
Ooh, very keen to try the yoghurt as a face mask – thanks for the tip!
Great stuff in this routine! I am a huge fan of John Masters (that shampoo smells AWESOME), Pai and Hydrea London. Before I went vegan I ate Fage every day, but I never thought to use it on my skin, that’s a brilliant idea. The texture would work well.
@Kate, as part of my cleaning up my routine I ditched anything with added vitamin A/retinyl palmitate. I use the Pai Bioregenerate Oil which is naturally rich in vitamin A due to its source, but even Pai recommends using it at night not during the day (because it makes skin more sensitive to sun as you mention).
Smashing photo of Viven!
Thanks Greta! We have similar skin types and I too love Pai. Use the same products you do, but they get so pricey. I’m still trying to find an alternative… we’ll see
FYI John Masters is having a 25% off Earth day special on all products that goes thru today. If anyone is thinking of trying their products this might be a good time. I just placed mine and thought I would share. I don’t work for them just love the products. :)
Hi there everyone!
We wanted to give you a heads up that we have a great offer – all PAI ships FREE with the promo code PAI at the moment at NuboNau.com
We have the full Pai collection in stock ( not just a body cream) and although were not highlighted in the post we also have Clarisonic ( with a free juice beauty cleanser at the moment ) and the full John Mastershair and skincare collection plus Dr Hauschka collection too – and don’t forget your loyalty points!
Were here as always if you need any help or advice ( and we hope you all had a happy Earth DAY yesterday!)
The NuboNau team x
Totally intrigued about the yogurt mask! Will definitely have to try that out – Thanks for sharing Greta!
x
Re: scar tissue. I had a deep scar on my hand from a dog-bite (2 years ago, dog attacked my dog….I was dumb and tried to get in the way). I’ve been drizzling about 1/2 tablespoon of flax seed omega-3 oil on my salads (with 1 tsp maple syrup and 1/2 tablespoon whole mustard dijon…yum!) for the past two weeks. My scar has lightened considerably! I showed my hand to my husband yesterday and it was so light that he thought I was showing him my other (non-scar) hand. Also it makes your skin feel like velvet, in general.
Just my 2 cents :)
Thanks for sharing. :)
I recently tried Soap & Paper Factory’s Vivian Hand Cream and immediately fell in love. I plan to get the solid perfume soon; I can’t believe I had never heard of the brand until recently!
Also, I am by no means Burt’s Bees biggest fan, but I’m pretty sure their fragrance is phthalate-free…so that’s a plus!
@Ashley,
I must be extra tired tonight , so my apologies for the lack of understanding.. Did you mean that having flax seed oil in your daily salad serving (great recipe by the way) helped with the appearance of your scar? Thanks
Greta, love your routine! Sounds like we have very similar hair and skin, so I’m definitely going to try the burt’s bees hair treatment and yogurt mask. Thanks!
Hi Nancy– sorry for the confusion!
Yes, most things you put ON your skin are not able to be actually absorbed through the 1 million layers (not the actual number ;)) of epidermis so you’ve got to take care of things from the inside out. Ingesting the 1/2 tablespoon omega-3 oils daily has made a great difference in my skin. :) c
great routine :) re using yogurt as a mask, i tried that recently, but does anyone have a problem with it sort of sliding off your face as it warms up? or am i using too much? the smell was also a little too strong after awhile… or is it just me??
@Ashley, thank you! I’ll definitely try it.
Wow! Thanks for all the great comments on my routine!
@Jess: Thanks for the heads up! I’ll have to do a little side research as my naturopath recommended it, but I certainly don’t want to use it if it isn’t going to help… :)
@Kate: Rebecca pretty much hit it on the head. Vitamin A (in its various forms) increases skin’s sun sensitivity, thereby making burning without adequate protection more likely, etc. Knowing that, I’m ok with applying the pomade to my hair as retinyl palmitate doesn’t have toxicity, per se, just increases the sun sensitivity of skin. Increased sun exposure means more DNA mutation from UV light, which means more chances for cancer. The ingredient itself doesn’t cause anything except for heightened sensitivity. (Sorry for the paragraph; I have a degree in molecular biology and read these types of studies a lot in grad school)
@Ashley, I’m all for healing from the inside out! I’ll definitely be using your salad dressing recipe!
@Charissa: That’s why I use the greek yogurt (quite thick, stays put well) and it is “plain”, so it is as unscented as you get, although still smells a bit like yogurt.
@Greta: I forgot to mention that the Pai Bioregenerate Oil works really well on dark facial scars. On a few occasions it has lightened them noticeably overnight, so it may be worth trying on your surgical scars. I haven’t tried it yet because after the vitamin E incident I’ve been a bit hesitant to mess with mine too much, and I’m also a bit curious to see what they do on there own.
@Ashley: that dressing sounds amazing. I’m trying it tonight!
Yogurt does WONDERS for my skin as well! I mix up some Fage 2% with honey & either rose water or orange blossom water and leave on til it dries. Then rinse off in the shower & ouila! Glowy, soft skin.
*I looove John Masters!! A huge fan of Sweet Orange and Silk Protein Styling Gel. *I’ve been taking a spoonful of Nutra Sea Omega 3 in liquid form (lemon flavor) for about a month now and have noticed calmer, more balanced skin as well as less cramping during my “Monthly Flo”~so excited !
*Also, Soap & Paper solid perfume in Gardenia is sooo beautiful~my boyfriend loves it, and it makes me feel so lovely! You certainly don’t get that icky/overwhelming feeling after spraying a synthetic on yourself…
Great post, great comments, Girls!
Much Love!