Gretchen’s Morning Skin and Hair Routine… Exposed!
Good morning! Here’s a very DIY routine from the lovely Gretchen. A few of you have mentioned that you’d like a routine devoted to more sensitive skin. Well, ask and you shall receive!
Name: Gretchen
Age: 31
Current weather: Erratic, to say the least. 50’s one day, up to the 90’s two days later. Yea Chicago!
Hair: Wavy [used to be curly], fine [but a lot of it] and red [thanks to body-quality henna 2-3 times a year].
Skin: Porcelain and dry/sensitive. I don’t have acne problems generally, but I do have redness, and every once in a while I’ll get a cystic acne spot that will leave a dark scar for about a year thanks to said pastiness.
Favorite star or icon from the past: Frank Zappa. Oh, did you mean a lady? How about Nicole Kidman before she screwed her face all up? Because that’s *definitely* in the past…
In the shower…
In the winter I’ll only shower every other day, but now that’s it’s warm again and I’m exercising more, it’s a daily thing again. It takes forever for my water to heat up, so I clean my hair over the side of the tub with the removable showerhead, fully-clothed. It’s kind of like a Navy shower, in that the water is only on when I’m actually using it. If I haven’t gotten sweaty, I’ll skip the hair washing for a day or two. When I do clean it, though, I use Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and conditioner [no SLS, no parabens, no silicones]. I’ll brush my teeth while the conditioner sits, with Tom’s baking soda toothpaste. For leave-in I use Giovanni’s Direct Leave-in and then plop my hair in an old t-shirt [which cuts down on frizziness compared to using a towel]. Then I actually get in and clean my most of me. I body brush when I’m not running late, and use Dr Bronner’s bar soap, unscented baby mild version, on just the smelly bits. The rest just gets a scrub with water. For hair extras, in the middle of the week I’ll do an ACV rinse, and on the weekends I’ll do a deep condition with coconut oil.
Outside the shower…
I moisturize my face with just straight up jojoba oil, twice a day. Until very recently, I’ve been using that godsend, Soapwalla deodorant cream. However, I ran out and have been using a homemade deodorant for the last few days that seems to be working almost as well, so I might hold off on another order [$16 with shipping adds up.] It’s just Shea butter, jojoba oil, vegetable glycerin, baking soda, and essential oils [tea tree, eucalyptus, and peppermint]. It’s my first time making it, so I have some tweaking to do still, but I’m pleased with how well it’s working! [recipe: http://www.good.is/post/strong-enough-for-a-hippie-diy-deodorant-to-handle-the-sweaty-season/] For my skin, remember the weekend coconut oil deep condition? I just drop some of that into the tub with me and soak in it. You have to clean your tub immediately afterwards, but it’s totally worth it. Hair-wise, after I’ve gotten out and dressed, I will let my hair out of the t-shirt and squish a small amount of Alba Soft Hold Style Cream into to help hold the curl, and then let it air dry, trying not to touch it until it’s dry.
Finishing touches…
I almost never wear makeup. Unless I have some sort of work event to go to, I go without it. And since I don’t wear makeup, I don’t have to wash my face! I’ve found my skin has been much better since I stopped putting crap all over it. On the rare occasions I do wear makeup, it’s mineral makeup from Alima Pure, and I was my face afterwards with a sliver of Lush’s Coalface soap that I have left from back in the day. About once a week [when I remember], I’ll do a face mask with Evan Healy Green Tea Clay.
Nice and simple! I always think how easy it must be to travel if you have a simple routine (that’s not me!). I have to try this drying hair with a t-shirt thing. Wasn’t there some magical towel that people were talking about for curly hair? What is that called?
Your routine sounds alot like mine with the ACV rinse (even though I put it on for 30 minutes before I shampoo and do it 3-4 times a week b/c of my crazy scalp), the weekly clay masque and not using product to wash my face. My face has cleared up exponentially! Of course, I also stopped using jojoba oil b/c it was giving me a cystic acne zit about once a week. I am trying to phase out makeup since I don’t need it as much anymore to cover my crazy skin. I also love me some coconut oil. Is there anything it can’t do??
Good reminder that less is more! My skin was so much better when I stopped putting things on it. Alas, the product junkie in me often wins… This blog probably doesn’t help….
Wowzers! Is that picture really of Nicole Kidman? [How wonderful she looks!]
@ Leslie, what do you use to moisturize your face? At first when I got cystic acne I used coconut oil as a moisturizer but I discovered that made it worse so I switched to jojoba which didn’t seem as bad. I’ve only been using it once a day lately because my face gets too oily if I use it in the morning and my face has really cleared up so I think the jojoba oil was also causing the acne. I have tried Evan Healy blue chamomile but it was way too heavy for me. I also tried Juice Beauty’s facial lotion and didn’t like that either.
@Courtney, right now I use coconut oil. I was using nothing and I hated the tight feeling right when I got out of the shower, but by the time I got to work, it felt fine b/c it had made its own oils. Right now, I just take a tiny bit of coconut oil in the morning, rub it between my hands, and touch my face (no rubbing in). I just rinse my face with cool water in the evening. It’s what my mom used to do and she has aged very well. I used jojoba oil in the morning and it did help with the oil, but about once a week i would get a painful zit on my cheeks where I never used to break out. I think i might just have very sensitive skin.
@Leslie, thanks!
When I first started the jojoba, I had the same cystic problem and quit for a while. I then decided to go back to it after going without the makeup and washing for a while, and I didn’t have the problem anymore. I think it’s like when you start acne medication, it needs to get worse before it gets better, like it’s detoxing. I don’t have any trouble anymore. Coconut is also awesome, though.
And I believe I have perfected the deodorant recipe! The cornstarch helps it be less abrasive, so it doesn’t irritate anymore. This amount fits just right in my old Soapwalla container:
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cornstarch
2 1/2 teaspoons jojoba oil
2 teaspoon shea butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
6 drops each of the following essential oils:
-tea tree
-eucalyptus
-peppermint [winter] or lemongrass [summer]