We Aim To Slay

Sometimes you just need to pamper yourself, you know?

One of my favorite ways to do so is to have a mini spa night – at home! My spa nights usually involve a more in depth nightly routine, a face mask, and a movie to wind down before bed.

This particular spa night will be multi-functional; a relaxing Sunday night, and a way to deeply treat the problem areas on my face.

A couple of months ago, my mom, Stacey, and I began developing an all natural skin care line (more details to come, I promise!).  Of course, we ourselves began using the products, and I can’t even begin to explain the differences in my skin!

But with all good things, there are downsides. The downside to glowing, hydrated, smooth, and fresh-looking skin? How many impurities had previously become trapped beneath the skin due to years of using chemical-laden, store bought products.

So as a result, I’ve been dealing with a lot of big, painful whiteheads and blackheads. Dianna Mazzone, beauty editor for InStyle, wrote ‘The Difference Between Blackheads and Whites – And How to Treat Them‘

which perfectly describes the difference between them:

Having one kind of these blemishes sucks; having both at the same time?! Ugh, it’s practically killing me. To combat them, I’m going to steam my face using hot water infused with lavender and eucalyptus oils.

Steaming is one of my favorite ways to prepare the face for a mask as it encourages the pores to open a bit wider, allowing blockages more room to escape and for the healing ingredients to seep deeply into the skin. Eucalyptus has a natural anti-inflammatory benefits, and lavender is hyper soothing.

Above are some *horrible quality* close ups of the areas I’m talking about: my forehead and cheeks.

I started by boiling water, pouring it into a bowl, and adding a few drops of each oil. Now, to keep the steam concentrated on your face: I do so by draping a towel over my head and over the bowl, forming a sort of tent. (Also, I added WAY too much eucalyptus at first and “smoked” myself out of the tent, so maybe only try one or two drops (LOL) ). I then set a timer for twenty-five minutes, but in reality, I probably only spent twenty minutes in the tent. I’d recommend starting with about ten to fifteen minutes, depending on how long you’re able to handle the smell and the heat.

After steaming, I patted my face dry with a clean towel, and put on this TonyMoly charcoal sheet mask. Many of you may know of my love affair with charcoal in my skincare routine.

Charcoal works almost like a magnet, drawing bacteria and impurities out of the skin.

So! I put on the sheet mask, and then proceeded to watch Netflix until I fell asleep with the mask still on (LOL!) I probably woke up about an hour later, peeled off the mask, rubbed the excess product into my skin, and then went back to sleep

And here you have my skin the next morning. Unfortunately the photo quality still isn’t great, but I saw a noticeable difference!

Are there skin treating products or techniques that you swear by? Let me know in the comments below! And, as always, remember to SLAY my loves 🙂