Regina’s Morning Skin and Hair Routine… Exposed!
Meet Regina, the kind of woman you’d like to have a sleepover party with because her morning routine starts the night before, when she brews strange and wonderful herbal concoctions before hitting the hay. Also, she had this to say, which kind of made us want to cry (in a good way):
“Before your book, I used to feel like a total freak-monster-hippie for making a lot of my own products. I would cave to the peer pressure of having a fancy tube of something from Sephora to set on my counter or throw in my purse. You guys made me feel totally empowered to keep whipping up my potions!”
Nothing really to say about that other than: Awesome, and screw Sephora with its fancy bottles.
Name: Regina
Age: 25
Current weather: Not as hot, but still humid in NYC
Hair: My hair cycles between a pixie cut and waist length. I cut it off, I donate it, I grow it out again. It’s grazing my shoulders now and is pretty thick and oily but prone to weird little frizzies on top.
Skin: Combination/oily, prone to acne. Oh, the great acne migration. At age 12 I had acne all over my forehead (so bad that when I went to my doctor for something entirely different, he gave me a prescription for acne medication), then it moved to my cheeks in my late teens, and now it’s migrated to my chin. It’s WAY better since I stopped using the benzoyl peroxide and started actually moisturizing my skin instead of trying to make it a desert.
Before the shower…
My morning routine starts the night before, when I make my herbal infusion, lately a mixture of nettles, oats, algalfa, rose hips, slippery elm, and marshmallow. It’s your full spectrum of vitamins! I put about 2 tablespoons of my mix in a jar, pour the water over, and cap it tight, leaving it to sit overnight. I get my herbs from NYC’s Flower Power. They’re super friendly and helpful and it’s a great resource for people who are interested in making their own products, from lip balm to medicine. I try to wake up around 4:45 am (my daily commute takes almost an hour and a half, so I try to maximize my time at home) and roll out my mat for an hour of yoga. I’m currently obsessed with classes from yogadownload.com. I pop my headphones in and do my class before anything else. After my yoga, I strain and drink my herbal infusion, while running the water for my shower.
In the shower…
I make my own face cleanser with a mixture of orange peel, ground rose petals, and clay (whatever I have around, currently green clay). I keep it in a jar on the counter and pour out about a tablespoon into my palm. I step into the shower and mix enough water with my cleanser to make it a paste and then clean my face. It is gently exfoliating and seems to be helping my acne. I wash my pits and bits with Dr. Bronners, usually peppermint. If it’s a shaving day, I’ll shave with my Preserve razor and Dr. B’s. I wash my hair about 2x per week, sometimes more if it’s been really gross outside. I have used natural shampoos (Acure Organics lemongrass is my favorite) and the no ‘poo method and straight Dr. Bronners. Currently I’m making my own shampoo with a decoction of black walnut husks, sage leaves, and comfrey leaf, a teaspoon of argan oil, some liquid Dr. Bronner’s and a generous sprinkling of rosemary essential oil. So far, I really like it! My hair feels clean, soft, and smells pretty great too. The black walnut makes the brew dark (for dark-haired ladies like myself) but you can use chamomile if your hair is lighter. Can you tell I’m in love with herbs?
Outside the shower…
I towel off and then brush my teeth with Nature’s Gate toothpaste and my Preserve toothbrush. I comb through my hair right away because I have short, thick bangs and they’ll stick straight out from my head if I don’t coax them down as soon as I get out of the shower. Then I apply my deodorant (also homemade). I tried the various natural deodorants, like Burt’s Bee’s Herbal Deodorant, Tom’s (not sure if that’s clean really), Weleda, etc but none really worked on me. I sweat a LOT and CONSTANTLY. My current deodorant recipe is a mix of shea butter, beeswax, cocoa butter, grapeseed oil, arrowroot powder, a TEENY bit of baking soda (any more than a teaspoon causes angry red skin), a few essential oils, and a dash of shelf stable probiotics. So far it works but I have a feeling I’m going to reformulate when this batch is done and the weather gets even hotter. I make a shea butter based lotion but I only use it if my skin feels dry. I tone my face with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, willow bark tincture, and rose essential oils splashed on my reusable face pads. I was using argan oil for a while as my moisturizer, but lately I’ve been using calendula-infused olive oil.
Finishing touches…
I tried going barefaced for a while, but the recovering goth kid in me can’t seem to leave the house without eyeliner. So I use Alima Pure Black Matte eyeliner, which is a powder and black, like my soul [Ed's note: LOL!]. I dip my brush in water, mix it with the powder and draw on my signature cat eye. Sometimes I dab on some RMS Beauty un-coverup, most of the time I just use the eyeliner. I don’t do anything to my hair, just comb it and let it dry (mostly because I’m lazy about blow-drying and styling, but partly because no matter how I try to tame it, it does whatever it wants anyway). I put on some lip balm (homemade, again) and that’s it. I love lipstick and I have quite a collection of Ilia lipsticks (love this stuff!) but for some reason I can’t ever remember to reapply, so I only use it if I’m going out somewhere; otherwise the only people who see my lipstick are my fellow early morning commuters.
We’re speechless except to say, again: Awesome. And how do you infuse olive oil with calendula? Do you just stuff it in a jar together and wait?
Yay, thanks so much for running my morning routine! Infusing is super easy (along with a lot of other herb making skills, it sounds really fancy and intricate but it’s really not hard at all!). You take the dried flowers and pour the oil over top with plenty of oil over it into a clean jar. I smack my jar on the counter a few times to get out the air bubbles (which can make your oil go rancid if you’re not careful). Screw on the lid and leave it in a sunny window for 2 weeks shaking it every day. Strain your oil through muslin or a coffee filter into another clean jar, label, and use within 3-6 months (depending on your climate).
Thanks for everything, you guys are inspiring!
@Regina, awesome. Yay for all the DIY! Excellent use of herbs, something I haven’t ventured into yet. I have the Alima liner and their brushes, I must practice a cat eye. My soul is black too, well, really more of a charcoal grey.
Such an awesome routine! I remember awhile back I found some YouTube videos from Mountain Rose Herbs that showed how to make the infused oils and some other goodies – I totally recommend watching them!
@ Regina, Any recommendations on how to get into herbs? Books? I’d love to learn more but I have no idea where to start!
@regina you’re awesome!! I love your routine! quick question, where did you find your reusable face pads? thanks!
This is the raddest morning routine. It makes me want to learn more about herbs immediately–what they have to offer, combinations, how to use, the works. Regina, where did you get your start? Books, websites, or just trial and error? If you have any recommendations, I’d love to know.
Hi All,
Some of you are curious about starting with herbs and how I got MY start. I was always interested in herbal medicine so I sought out books and classes. There are plenty of schools that teach herbal medicine if you’re lucky enough to live on the west coast or visit and drop in on some classes. I highly recommend books by Rosemary Gladstar (she’s a supernova in the herbal community and totally accessible for someone new to herbs) or check out sites like learningherbs.com. (I don’t get anything for promoting either of those resources, I just think they rock.)
An easy way to start is using herbs for cooking or teas. You can find a TON of healing herbs in your supermarket, you’d be surprised. There are a lot of herbs and ways to use them and that can get discouraging because of the sheer volume of information out there, but be gentle with yourself on your journey. One of the most important things I’ve learned with my herbal studies is that just because you only use 2 or 3 healing herbs doesn’t make you less of an “herbalist”. For instance, dandelion leaves are a great salad or stir fry ingredient, but also have a ton of vitamins and act as a digestive bitter. The flowers can be made into wine and the roots can be roasted as a coffee substitute with mild diuretic properties. One plant, tons of applications and you can find it growing in the sidewalk (although I wouldn’t suggest harvesting it from there, haha).
Have fun, experiment with safe herbs, and enjoy learning about them!
@katie
I actually got to know about the reusable face pads from this blog! I think the brand is \Better for Grown Ups\? You should be able to get them on Amazon.
Yes, I second that on the wanting to get started on herbal knowledge myself – any recommendations would be wonderful.
Love your routine!
This. Is. So. Awesome.
Aren’t these morning routine postings the best? Thank you Regina for sharing yours . Beyond awesome!
You must be pretty fantastic too… Love the part where you describe your hair length ..and why. Way to go!
Fabulous routine Regina. I second Rosemary Gladstar. Here books are amazing. This is inspiring me to get back to using my herbs and remedies. I just bought a bunch of stuff from Mountain Rose herbs.
Hope Gillerman also has an essential oils deck that is pretty cool.
@ Regina, thanks for mentioning Rosemary Gladstar she’s one of my favourites too. I love her Family Herbal, lots of good recipes. Another good one if you live near Boreal forests is The Boreal Herbal by Beverley Gray. Also a beautiful practical book.
@therese, I have heavily used my Hope Gillerman EO deck in my experimentation lately. It’s got some great basics for understanding the uses of the oils, recipes, general info – so cool to have all that in a compact form.
You are so bomb-diggity. I second/third/fourth any books/websites you can suggest!
Random question. That herbal concoction you drink in the morning, do you happen to know the difference(or if it makes one) of steeping your herbals in hot water and letting them cool overnight versus just using cool water overnight? Does it change the pH?
Wow. Regina is a rockstar! Can she please regularly contribute to NMDL?!
Fascinating! And what benefits does the herbal concoction have, skin or otherwise?
@Chelsea
I steep them in hot water in a tightly closed jar overnight to extract more nutrients. When they’re infused that long, you get more of the benefits than if you were to just make a tea (steeping for a few minutes). I don’t know about using cold water, I’m not sure it would be as effective, but it couldn’t hurt to try it and see if you taste/feel a difference!
OMG i have a question because I have been using the alima satin matte black eyeshadow and i REALLY want to do a cat eye with it but anytime i use water to draw it on my eyelids the stuff turns weirdly grey/cakey as it dries. its totally fine and black when used dry, but if i try to apply it with water it just dries to a really gross grey. i cant seem to figure out WHY this is happening, i’ve emailed the alima people about a bazillion times (and i’m sad to say their customer service is pretty crappy, they only got back to me ONCE) and i’m considering just going back to my shitty drugstore eyeliner because i can’t make this powder stuff work. i miss my cat-eye. any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Love love love this! I buy herbs in bulk and have infused a few things but lately I have sort of forgotten about them in favor of other DIYs. This has inspired me to combined all of my serum and oils with my forgotten herbs-yay!
Also, an excellent resource on the subject of herbal infusions is Crunchy Betty! She is my other go to for really thoroughly researched easy to understand advice! She does a lot of DIY and breaks things down in a very lovely and funny way. I’m pretty sure all of you would love her and should check her out! http://www.crunchybetty.com
@Moni, I second Crunchy Betty!
@mim: I use Alima eyeliner daily and have noticed that problem as well. If you just run your finger (or a dry brush, or q-tip) lightly over it afterwards, it lifts that gray sheen and reveals the dark color underneath. Maybe just apply slightly more than you usually would, so when you lift the top layer, there’s plenty left.
Regina, this post is incredible and inspiring. Thank you!
@rebecca she kind of change my life she was the beginning or close to the beginning of my personal experimentation’s…she and two books I still love, the names of which escape me at the moment.
Emanuel H. Bronner was the maker of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, a concentrated liquid notable for the vast amount of lather produced from a few drops and the vast amount of tiny text on its packaging. Bronner, whose parents were killed in the Holocaust, promoted a belief in the goodness and unity of humanity. All Dr. Bronner’s classic liquid & bar soaps are not only certified under the USDA National Organic Program, but also certified Fair Trade! In addition, they offer a range of high-quality organic and fair trade personal care products, from lotions to shaving gels – all certified under the same USDA program that certifies organic foods.