The Essential Oil Dilemma

Hi guys! I’m here today with a bit of a different kind of post… this time, I’m asking you for help and advice!

If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you may know that I’m trying to eliminate as many harmful products from my life as I can. I’ve been doing a ton of reading on this, and really attempting to use things that are more natural. As you may assume, I’ve seen a whole lot about essential oils.

I’ve read tons of blogs, watched videos, and even talked to friends about the power of these oils. I’ve been very intrigued by them for about a year now. About a year ago was when I made my first essential oil purchase! It was last fall, and I was planning to make some solid perfumes as Christmas gifts. I went to Whole Foods (aka my favorite place ever) and browsed around until I had my supplies in hand. What I got was coconut oil, beeswax, sweet orange oil, and texas cedar wood oil. I really like woodsy scents, and I thought it would smell delicious paired with this light citrusy smell. I made the perfumes, however I didn’t use enough oil and they weren’t super scented. So I was left with these two random oils. I made a room spray too, which I really liked.

Fast forward  to about August, and I had purchased some patchouli oil from the brand Natures Love. My mom had been given Young Living thieves oil as a gift, and not too far after thatI got some Lavender oil. To date, I’ve made some roller balls and some room sprays. Very very minimal. I use thieves before I go to work (in a preschool full of runny nosed kids, I need all the help I can get!) and I wear a blend of Lavender, Cedar wood, and Patchouli as perfume. I’m obsessed.

I was really excited about learning more about these oils and what other amazing benefits they can have on your overall health. I keep a little journal full of recipes and blends I want to make and try!

However…. my excitement has greatly diminished upon discovery of the brand wars that overshadows essential oils as a whole. I have many friends who live and die by Young Living, some who choose DoTerra, and others who just have a mix of oils.

I currently own Young Living, Aura Cacia, and Nature Love oils… and they all seem to be fine.

But that is not what you find if you read a little more into it… people are camped out with their brands!!! There are hundreds of claims that Young Living is the most pure, the best, the worlds most used, the one and only oil. Why? I continued reading articles bashing other brands… and then I decided to get to the bottom of this.

I started researching like you wouldn’t believe. And what I found was this: there is no governing body over essential oils. They are not regulated by anything or anyone, including the FDA. They can do pretty much whatever they want. The words “Therapeutic Grade” are made up, and nothing qualifies them as being this grade. In fact, every company will use those very words. To be considered pure, they can have only 5% of the actual oil in their bottles. Companies buy the right to certain phrases, like “The Worlds Most Pure” or whatever they want to say. THAT is what I found. If you do your research, you’ll find those very same things too.

I did NOT find, that yes Young Living is actually the only pure brand. I did NOT find, that DoTerra is the one and only company to use. Nor did I find anything wrong with my oils from Whole Foods.

So, I hope I’m not the only one in saying that I am hopelessly confused. I don’t see the reason to spend massive amounts of money to have brand name oils…. because they’re probably all the same anyway.

So what I’m asking you, is for some honest unbiased help here. What is the case, are oils more pure than others? How do you know? How can I be sure?

In an effort to eliminate harmful chemicals from my life, I want to be sure that what I’m doing is actually good and not fake oils or something. All opinions and knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

Much love,

A Girl On The Brink

Z: book review

This book had been on the top of my “to read” lists for what felt like ages, and I’m so happy I finally read it! Not only was it an amazing read, it holds a special spot in my heart. In August, my boyfriend was going away on a trip with my church to the sand dunes, and while he was away I was leaving on a trip to Myrtle Beach. This left us with about 11 days of not seeing each other… typing that I laugh at myself. 11 days is nothing! But, when you’re in love, 11 days can feel like a really long time. The night before he left, John came over to say goodbye and to give me a little surprise…. beach reading material! Wahoo!! I was so excited when he surprised me with this book, and couldn’t wait to start reading it. It made me so happy that he knew me enough to pick a book I had never talked about to him, but he just guessed at what I’d like. Points to him. Reviewing this book brings back a lot of happy beach reading memories!

The day we left, I read on the way there and I immediately loved the book. It starts out with Zelda’s childhood in the south. The descriptive language was beautiful and so accurately captured the south. She was a bit of a rebel girl, always going against the typical southern belle stereotype. When she met Scott, they had a bit of love at first sight. Their love aggravated Zelda’s parents, but she didn’t seem to mind much. He was an outsider, a northerner. But to  Zelda, Scott was an adventure. They eventually marry and move to New York, and they’re on top of the world. Scott’s writing career has begun to take off, and the two of them are like celebrities. Zelda is loving the fame, fortune, and flashy lights. The parties are wild and they’re the couple to invite. This part of the story was almost scary… They were on such a high, you could just feel the crash coming. And it does. They go from living on top of the world, to the bottom of the barrel. Their relationship and careers both struggle. They have a darling little girl, and they travel the world. But not much get’s better. Zelda’s mental health deteriorates so quickly, and it’s a time when treatment isn’t quite top notch. The story grows increasingly darker, but all the while still beautiful.

I loved the settings and the time that this book was placed in. I love reading about the 1920’s, and I loved all the places. The beautiful southern beginning, glamorous New York, to the exotic and dreamy places all around the world. The book as a whole was gorgeous. I also loved all the references to Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorite books and stories… to read about the people who inspired it and the work that went into it. Overall this is an amazing read! Whether or not you love and know the Fitzgeralds work or not.. this book is completely worth the read.

Book Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s

So I’ve known the story of Breakfast at Tiffany’s for a long time, thanks to the timeless and classic movie version. I just never knew there was a book version of it! I never knew, until my lovely friend Sarah (and queen of book recommendations) let me borrow her copy! She is so in style and always reading the greatest things, check out her blog here!

Basically, I loved this book. It was just like reading an ever better version of the movie. The details and the imagery were amazing. I could picture everything so clearly, and I found that it wasn’t always exactly as the movie portrayed it, it was so descriptive I was coming up with my own pictures! I loved how much more in-depth the book went with the characters. I felt like you got to know them all so much more than you do in the movie. Learn why they are the way they are. The story is told by Fred, and I adored the narrative quality of it. It was beautiful storytelling.

A side note, the copy that I read contained extra Truman Capote short stories at the end of it! They were all interesting, and I loved that even though the book was over I still had a bit left to read!

Overall I think this book was amazing, and definitely a must read if you are a fan of the movie! The story is so much better in book form, so lovely and bittersweet.

Camping in Caseville!

This month I did a ton of little mini vacations with different groups of people. It was so fun each week looking forward to a new adventure that weekend! The first trip I went on was with my boyfriend (John) and another couple that we are friends with! We decided to go camping up north in Caseville. This was going to be my first time really camping. I was super excited but also a little nervous! I had been to Caseville many times before staying at friends cottages. If you don’t live in Michigan you may not know this, but Caseville is a super popular beachy small town. Its located at the top of the thumb and its absolutely beautiful! Caseville reminds me so much of Daytona beach for some strange reason. Its like this tropical beach party town that should be on the ocean somehow got lost and wound up here in Michigan! We camped in sleeper state park. It was nice there but SUPER spidery! Ew! That was the only part about camping I didn’t like. I was constantly afraid of bugs crawling on me, on my clothes, in my bed ect ect. We arrived Friday night at our campsite and really just had a bonfire and went to bed. The next day however was much more exciting! We were off to kayak to Turnip rock. We drove into Port Austin and rented kayaks from Port Austin kayak. Let me give you one piece of advice, either get there at the  crack of dawn or make reservations! We were kinda lazy that morning and got there way too late. We waited three hours for kayaks, and we were all a little frustrated by the time we got them. However the wait was worth it! Turnip rock was beautiful and so much fun. It was a hard trip for me. On the way back I was exhausted and my arms were super sore, but I was very determined to do the whole thing! Which I did and I was really proud of myself for.

The trip was definitely worth the wait. At Turnip rock  there were a bunch of other people (somehow we managed to get pictures without everyone else in them! lol) and it was like a little party. Some people had drinks, but everyone was just there floating around and hanging out. That night we made “chicken in armor” or “veggies in armor” for me! It was really yummy and we were all super proud of ourselves for making real food. 

Heres a blurry picture of John doing the cooking! The next day we went to a quiet little beach and spent most of our day there. It was lovely! I don’t know why but I just love these pictures of us walking in the water. They were completely candid and I just think they’re pretty.

Heres us being dorky in our matching Michigan shirts….. haha

This was such a great trip, and such a good time with people I love. I feel like after something like this you can’t help but feel closer to the people you went with, and I am so thankful for that.

Book Review: Jacob Leviathan

Hello everyone! First I would like to apologize for my absence here in the blogging world- I have been super busy! This summer I took 7 credits while working 35 hours a week, leaving me not much room to blog! So I am back today, and hopefully going to be posting every week.

Today I’m going to be reviewing some thing pretty special! I was approached a couple months ago by a lovely lady and awesome blogger named Dawn, from the blog dawn.liz.jones. Which I have linked: here! She asked me if I would be up for reviewing her husbands book, Jacob Leviathan, The Dogwood Legacy: Part One. Of course I was super excited, and flattered! I read the book within a week- but as I mentioned I’ve been a little (….a lot) off schedule with my blog posts! Moral of the story is- better late than never!

So, I’ll just start out with saying that I loved this book! It is truly different from anything I’ve read before, and it differs greatly from the type of books I usually pick for myself.

“And so it continues, one year much like another up in the hill country…” The book is set in a small rural community in the Ozark mountains, in the 1920’s. The story centers around a man named Jacob Leviathan. I pictured a long, lean, sinewy type of man with grey ruffled hair and a unkept beard. A weathered looking man. A resilient man, who appears to have survived many storms. He lives in a little shack like cottagey type of home, with his faithful dog and friend, Methuselah. Jacob has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders- he is the local jimplicute hunter. Yes, you read it right. Jimplicute. I know I was thinking “What on earth is a….” until I continued reading. I learned that they are fierce, terrifying monsters. While reading the book, I did a quick google search to find out more about jimplicutes, and if they were found elsewhere in literature. I could find very very minimal information about them. Jacob was trained to hunt these evil creatures by a very wise old man, and other than the old man, Jacob had lived a mostly solitary life. Until a young girl named Jessica wandered up to his home. She had been on the run from her abusive Uncle, and while running through the woods she had caught herself on a bush and was bleeding. Jacob instantly knew that the “bush” was actually a baby jimplicute, and he took care of Jessie right away. She then went to live with a sweet older woman named Posey. Jessie had a very happy childhood there, and was much better loved than she was at home. Another member of the small community is a man named Bart. Right away I got the feeling that Bart was not all there, and perhaps not to be trusted. We later find out he is involved with some type of dark magic, and he manages to involve another person in his nefarious ways. That person is a rather know-it-all-ish professor named Mordecai Brood. He arrives in their town under the guise of studying anthropology, but he treats the members of the community rudely and disrespectfully. I won’t spoil the end, but he certainly got what was coming for him. The plot only thickens as the story goes on, and the suspense builds. Jesse and Jacob have a bit of a falling out, in the midst of her being in grave danger. The baby jimplicute that once bit her in the woods is now all grown up, and has a taste for Jesse’s blood. The end of this story is a complete whirlwind, but I won’t spoil it for you. Besides, I don’t think I could do it justice. You’ll just have to go find out what happens yourself! You can find the book here! Its not a long read at all, only 179 pages. As I mentioned, it took me under a week to finish. Mostly because it was so fast paced and suspenseful!

Now I’m going to discuss some pro’s and con’s of the book!

Pros:

~The imagery~ There was amazing descriptions in the book, and the imagery was incredible. I had a very clear image in my minds eye about what everything looked like.

~The suspense~ I’ve said it multiple times now, this book had me on my toes! I couldn’t stop reading, and I never got bored because the story was fast paced.

~It surprised me~ This was not necessarily something I would pick for myself to read. Its a bit outside of my usual books, but I ended up loving it and expanding my horizons! Just a reminder to try new things.

Cons:

~Vagueness~ There were some parts of the story, particularly the action packed parts, that I felt were a bit vague and there was too much description and not enough detail about what was actually happening.

~Confusing spirituality~ I haven’t mentioned thus far into the review that this book has a strong element of spirituality to it! This is a bit of a pro and a con. I liked that it was involved, but I feel that the level of spirituality was unequal when looking at the beginning of the story vs. the end of the story. At the end, the spiritual side of things comes on quite strong. I am okay with this, and loved what it added to the book, however it felt slightly out of place just coming out of the blue at the end of the book.

Overall, I think this is a very worthwhile book with a lot of deeper meaning attached to it. I think it was beautifully written, and definitely surpassed my expectations for it!

Like I said, I would definitely recommend this book and the link is above. Also go check out Dawns blog and show her some love!

Until next time!

The Girl On An Adventure

Summer 2015 Bucket List

Every year as summer rolls around… I find myself daydreaming about sunny days filled with fun and unique activities. I dream up adventures and plans. I save books on my self in a specific little pile with a pretend label that says “-For summer reading”. I guess subconsciously every year I make a little summer bucket list. Some years I actually write them out, and some years I just leave them as thoughts. This year I’ve written them out, and decided to share them with you!

1. READ. This is just my on every bucket list I ever write. Some of the books I want to tackle are “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Haddassa”, “100 years of solitude” and a few more! If you have any summer read suggestions, please let me know in the comments! I’m going on a beach vacation in August, so beach read ideas are always lovely!

2. Keep my plants alive. So. I’ve never been much of a green thumb… but I am really trying! I have had an air plant since spring, and the lil guy is still going strong. I also got a lavender plant at the farmers market (the smell is divine) and its doing also quite well! What I’m most worried about is my fairy garden. Yes, you read that right. My fairy garden. My boyfriend built me a box for my birthday, filled it with tiny fairy trinkets, and we took it to the greenhouse where they helped us pick out plants and make pathways and a tiny river through it. It has some moss, a little vine, a tiny strawberry plant, and two mini maple trees! There’s a few more plants there that I’m not sure the name of. I’ve been so careful to keep them in the right amount of sun and give them the right amount of water.. here’s hoping they last me!

3. Do more yoga. This ones simple. I just feel better when I do it. Calmer, stronger, and more at peace. I love that it’s not only good for your mind, its good for my body! I want to improve my yoga skills this summer, and try to overcome my small fear of yoga classes.

4. Craft it up! My plan is to make as many crafts as I can this summer because when school rolls around my crafting time just about heads out the window. I hope to make some fall/Christmas decorations early, and maybe even make some more items to have stocked in my etsy store! Shameless self plug- you can check out my Etsy store at Over Our Rainbow!

5. Room Projects. My number one thing that I want to accomplish is a bit of a revamp to my hope chest. My Grampa made me a big chest with “Toy Box” spelled out on it when I was one, and he designed it so the words could be easily removed when I got older for it to become my hope chest. I now store decorations I’ve picked up from garage sales and secondhand shops that I hope to someday put in my house! My plan is to mod podge the top of the chest with pages from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone” and mod podge parts of the sides with vintage map paper.

6. Not worry about my tan. I remember many years where my number one priority in the summer was to get as tan as I could possibly be! As it pans out, I was never all that tan.  Naturally, I’m quite fair skinned. I get a lot of freckles, and by the end of summer I definitely have some color, but I’m definitely not dark. I have spent countless summers grumbling about my pale skin, wishing I didn’t get sunburned, and baking in the sun unprotected for hours. This summer, I believe I have pretty much outgrown  that nonsense. I guess I finally decided that to me, fair skin is better than skin cancer. So I got myself a big floppy sunhat, and I plan on protecting my skin. I’m still looking into what sunscreen to buy for my face, and one for my body. I have rather troublesome skin, and do not want something that will break me out, or worse contain harmful chemicals that are potential carcinogens! I downloaded the app “Think Dirty” to scan all my cosmetic purchases, and it rates how good they are for you. The best and least harmful sunscreen I’ve found is one made for babies!  Make sure you’re checking out what you’re putting on your skin!

7. Savor it. I am going to try to soak up every sunny smiley day, and keep them in my mind for one of those bitter cold and grey winter mornings when I just can’t bear to get out of bed. I’ll revel in the heat of the sun on my skin. I’ll relish the taste of fresh fruit in a smoothie. I’ll luxuriate in days spent in the fresh air, or late mornings spent with a good book in bed. And so, when those nasty winter blues come knocking like they always do, I won’t let them in. My sweet summer memories will keep them at bay, until at last I find myself in summer again.

The Etsy Adventure

Hello everyone!

Today I thought I’d post a bit of an update about my latest adventure, which I’m sure you’ve guessed, opening an etsy shop! As I mentioned in my Our Culture and Boredom post, I’ve had a lot of free time this past two months. I was crafting all the time, to the point where I was making too much and knew I wasn’t gonna use it all. I had thought about etsy before, but never really considered it. I finalized the decision to open a shop, and I started crafting all the time! My shop currently consists of flower crowns and sea shell wind chimes. The shop name was really hard to pick, but I eventually settled on “Over Our Rainbow” which I am now very happy with. Below are some pictures of products I have in the shop! So theres a little peek at whats in store! There’s a lot more I’m working on, like some tree style dream catchers, and also watches with words in the face instead of a clock! You can check out my shop at this link-> Over Our Rainbow I would love if you guys could give any tips to this whole etsy thing, or even any opinions on my shop!

Lastly I just wanted to let you guys know that I have made an instagram account for this blog! Woo! I thought it would be fun to post little updates about when a new blog post is up, and just some other fun tidbit pictures. The account is thebrinkofadventure! Come over and say hi!

Thats all for today, you can look forward to more posts soon! My summer bucket list and some more book reviews should be up soon. Until then, keep adventuring!

Beach flower crown

Beach flower crown

Tropical flower crown

Tropical flower crown

Red White and Blue flower crown

Red White and Blue flower crown

Colorful beads flower crown

Wildflower flower crown

Small sea shell wind chime

Large sea shell wind chime

Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

By: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Okay book loving friends…… READ THIS BOOK. Phew, now that that’s out of the way, I can get on with this post.

I’ll be honest with you, at first glance I wasn’t too sure I would get into this story, I’m not really one for long, drawn out, kinda silly book titles. (Except for “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe” which you can read more about in my post The Ten Books You Absolutely Have to Read, at: https://agirlonthebrinkofadventure.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/the-ten-books-you-absolutely-have-to-read/ ) Anyways, my point was that I was doubtful about this book. Well let me tell you, five pages in and my doubts were gone. This book is full of characters that will just pull you and wrap you around their fingers, and its set in a place that I just couldn’t stop day dreaming about.

The book is set in 1946 London. The second world war had just come to its end, and nations across the world are just starting to come to their feet. Even though the war decimated everything in its path, writer Juliet Ashton, has managed to profit from the war! She wrote a series for a newspaper about a girl who went to war, and her stories hit it big. Next thing she knew, she was on a book tour. Juliet is spunky, smart, and absolutely hilarious. The story focuses on her efforts to write a new book, about the tiny island of Guernsey and its charming inhabitants.

A letter from a stranger arrives in the mail for her from Guernsey and that absolutely changes everything. She learns more about the island peoples special club, and more about their lives and hearts. Throughout the story, we  learn each of the characters personal lives and stories. I laughed with them, but there were most definitely tears as well. I have never wanted to be apart of any club so badly! During her time in Guernsey Juliet learns more about herself, I would argue, than the people she came to meet. She finds herself, and her purpose.

I have been recommending this book to anyone who will listen, and I sure am gonna do the same for you. If you want a beautiful story, this is a great one.

How I cleared up my acne… naturally!

So today I’m gonna be sharing a bit of my history with acne, dermatology, skincare, and what finally worked to clear up my skin!

Disclaimer: I am not a dermatologist, what I share in this post is completely from my own experience and opinion, and it is what worked for me and my skin. If using medication or harsher products works for you thats great! This is just my own opinions and preference.

So to start out, I’ll tell you a bit about my skin. All through middle school my skin was pretty good. The minor pimple or two did bother me, but nothing too serious. Even through sophomore and junior year of high school my skin was okay. Not perfect, but definitely not acne. Then the summer after Junior year I started getting really bad breakouts all along my mouth area, jaw, and cheeks. It was horrible, I had never experienced this before and I didn’t know what to do. I continued washing my face as normal and didn’t change anything else in my skincare or lifestyle. Finally I went to a dermatologist. He prescribed the pill monodox and I took that for I would say… roughly a year. Perhaps a bit less. I also had some topical treatment to put on my skin every night after washing it with a cleanser he had recommended. For months and months my skin was no better. Not at all. The medication upset my stomach unless I literally had just eaten, and the topical treatment dried out my skin like no other. Finally in the springtime of my senior year, my skin cleared up. It happened quite quickly, all of the sudden my skin was no longer covered in blotchy redness! Thank goodness. My skin stayed clear for about 2 months, and during those two months I stopped taking the medication. I didn’t like loading myself up with medication, and I felt my skin had been cleared. Well. By midsummer, my skin was worse than ever. It was also around this time that I became vegetarian. It was really frustrating. I was going to college in a few months and this acne stuff was supposed to be over by this age! I restarted the meds, with no avail. By September/October, I was about through. I began looking for alternatives. I read articles, watched videos, and scoured pins for another way to clear up my skin. What I knew was that I didn’t want to put anything on my face that I couldn’t pronounce, and what I found was that clearing up my skin would take a lot more work than I had expected. The main thing I learned and the most important thing I can tell you is that if you’re suffering from acne or breakouts, it is NOT just your skin. Acne is a symptom of another problem. I would look at what you eat and how you live and see if you can’t figure out why your skin is breaking out.

If you want clear skin, there are two components you have to look at.

1. Diet/Lifestyle

2. Skincare routine

Starting off with the diet and lifestyle bit… My first advice would be definitely to change the way you eat.

~As I mentioned, I am vegetarian. I think this played huge role in clearing up my skin because I was eating cleaner, and eating more natural foods. Definitely try going vegetarian, and if you think you can’t do it I would advise doing the Meatless Monday, or Weekday Veg program! Search either of these and you can get a ton of info.

~It is also really important to cut down on your dairy intake if you want clearer skin.. At this point in my life I consume minimal to no dairy products, and this has definitely helped my skin.

~Also another thing to cut down… caffeine! Oh this was the kicker. It is pretty common knowledge that stress plays a big role in acne, and caffeine makes our body have the stress reaction more. It’s just not good for your skin, or really good for you at all. Try decaf versions, and slowly wean yourself off! I highly recommend drinking Teecino. It tastes just like coffee but its so much more natural. It is made from herbs, grains, fruits and nuts. It is impossibly better for you, and great tasting.

~Heres another tough one, cut down on your sugar intake. Sugar is so bad for your skin and your body in general. I have no specific products for this or specific tips, just be conscious of how much sugar your consuming. A big one is in beverages. Even bottled juice and green tea are loaded with sugar.. make sure you’re reading your labels!

~Less makeup. Lets face it. Make up is just a layer were slathering onto our skin and filling our pores with… Its just not good. I try every week to give myself at least 2 no makeup days, and on days when I feel I need it, I don’t put it on until I have to leave. The more time your skin has to breathe the better!

~Hooray! Here’s something to do more of! Drink more green tea. Its full of antioxidants and I find that when I drink a cup each night my skin is so much more hydrated and glowing. The picture above is my two favorite kinds of green tea(:

~Drink more water. This is just a life tip. It can fix a whole bunch of things, not just your skin. It is definitely key to having clearer skin.

~More fruit!!!! Lots and lots more fruit. They are full of vitamins and antioxidants that are great for giving you healthy looking skin.

~Here’s my last lifestyle tip. Look at how much stress your under. Make sure you are making time to do things that make you happy and relaxed! Stress is such a huge part of why we get breakouts, and I would definitely advise that you try to exercise more, try out yoga, and get at least 8 hours of sleep! All of these things will help your stress levels, and therefore help your skin!

Here we go onto the second part. My skincare routine! I wash my face morning and night, and try to do a face mask weekly.

Here is my night and day cleanser, its the desert essence thoroughly clean face wash! Its a tea tree wash and its completely cruelty free and has none of the nasties in it! I love this wash, it really foams up and keeps my skin clean.

You may find this a bit strange, but sometimes I will was my face in the morning with oatmeal! I just gather up a little scoop, get it kinda mushy in the water and massage all over my face. It feels amazing. My skin is so soft after, and oatmeal is actually antibacterial!

And here’s my last product for washing my face, this little guy here. I got this at Sephora for like $5. I’m not sure if you can tell, but it has little bumps all over it and it works as a really gentle exfoliator! I try to use this maybe a couple times a week with my desert essence wash.

After I cleanse, I sprits this all over my face. Its Breath of fresh air, from lush. This smells amazing, and it works to balance out your skin and just makes it feel good. Another great toner from lush is the tea tree one, that stuff takes care of business.

Onto face masks! This one here is my absolute favorite, its the mask of magnaminty from lush. It smells suuuuuper minty and fresh and it makes my skin super clean and soft.

Honorable mention goes to the Aztec Secret clay mask. I don’t use this too often but I do when I feel that my skin needs a deep clean! You just mix it with water and it applies like paste. You can really feel it pulling out all the gunk.

So there we go guys, my tips about how to clear up your skin! A large part of it is changing the way that you live and eat, along side a really good skincare routine. Remember though that this takes time, and getting good skin won’t happen overnight. Stay patient, keep at it, and eventually you’ll have healthier skin and you’ll know you did it in a healthy and natural way! I am still on the road to clear skin, I still get breakouts and especially due to hormones! But I know that if I keep at it, my skin will continue to heal and get better. Nobody has perfect skin, and thats important to remember. Real beauty is not having clear skin, its from having a pretty soul. So no more comparing yourself!

P.S. Not to sound like your mom, but really. Keep your hands off your face too. They’re covered in bacteria… and its just no good!

Tender is the Night: Book Review

Tender is the Night: By F. Scott Fitzgerald

So this is actually only the second book by Fitzgerald that I’ve ever read! The other, obviously, being The Great Gatsby. And Lord knows how I love The Great Gatsby. I had pretty high standards for this book starting in, and after a quick summary of the plot I will let you guys know what I thought of the book.

**I bought this vintage copy of the book from my local public libraries used book store. For a quarter. (:

The story focuses on the lives of the Divers, a very wealthy married couple. To begin, a young actress named Rosemary meets the Divers on a beach in France and becomes enamored with them. She is traveling with her mother on vacation, and slowly Rosemary becomes very close to the Divers and their group of friends. She is particularly enamored with the married, Dick Diver. Who is of course married to the exotically and exquisitely beautiful and deranged, Nicole Diver. Rosemary admires the Divers immensely, but she hears whispers that perhaps they aren’t all that they seem. Told through mostly flashbacks as the story unfolds, we learn exactly how Dick and Nicole met. He is a psychologist, and she, his patient. Nicole’s money is the primary source of support for their marriage, and we see Dick being bought out of clinics, getting in trouble with foreign police, and slowly descending into alcoholism. Rosemary distances herself from the Divers, and Nicole eventually ends up in an affair and then divorces Dick. At this point the story is almost over, and it describes the rest of Dicks career. The book ends with the line “…in any case he is almost certainly in that section of the country, in one town or another.” This last line really cemented the fact that Dick was no longer a figure of any importance, he drifted from place to place in the murky depths of alcoholism and appeared occasionally in one town or another.

This book is widely believed to be about Fitzgeralds own life from the last years of his time with Zelda. To me, this book has a good plot and a good story, but it is interrupted by disjointed and random events that are not explained nor are relevant to the story. This is a tough read. It took me a long time to get through this book, partially because of the slight increase in level of language but mostly because it didn’t keep my interest. The plot is not a particularly fast moving or exciting one, and to get into this book I had to sit and read at least thirty minutes to become fully engaged with it.

Overall, this was not one of my favorite books, and it was definitely a disappointment compared to Gatsby. However I guess it is unfair to compare it to The Great Gatsby, because that book just stands on a level of its own. The language and imagery are not nearly as beautiful, the characters are less developed, and the plot is disjointed and rambling.

I would advise you to be patient when reading this book, and if you’re not one for slow stories then this may not be the book for you.

**Disclaimer: This review is just my humble opinions. In no way am I criticizing F. Scott Fitzgerald because I think he’s brilliant, but this book didn’t do it for me. Also if my opinions disagree with any of your own, I mean no offense! Be sure to comment about your thoughts on this book!!