Life Lately {My Favorite Charcoal Face Mask}

Guys, this is my hands down favorite mask to even out skin tone, clear up trouble skin that is breaking out and to brighten up your face! I put it all over my face but you can definitely just put it on your T-zone or your breakout zone. Wherever you are having the trouble. It is quite alright to mix and match with different masks on different parts of your face. Some areas might be dry, like near your nose, and other areas might be oily and clogged, like your chin. 

Since your taking the time to mask...go ahead and treat yo' self! Get your goodies together! 

*Headband

*Washcloth

*Facial Brush

*BONUS - hot tea to sip while your waiting for the mask to set

Make sure you start with makeup free skin and go ahead and get your washcloth soaked with hot water. I like mine HOT! But, you be the judge of your own level of comfort. Place the washcloth on your face and just let it sit there for a little bit. Get it all nice and McSteamy up in here. OPEN up the pores!

I want my pores to open up so I go as hot as I can stand it. You don't need to towel dry. Just let your skin stay slightly damp.

Load up your brush if you have one. I highly recommend getting one if you don't. It feels so SPA! A little extra special treat. If you don't have one by all means use your fingers! No biggie. 

With this mask, I do avoid getting it to close to my nostrils. It just tingles too much. This is where the brush comes in handy. 

Unless you are extremely confident in yourself...

If you used a brush, wash it out with a little bit of mild soap and let dry on a towel before your put it away for storage.

I usually let it sit about 10 - 15 minutes. Now is the time where you make yourself a little hot tea...sit on a sunlit patio and soak up the sounds of nature! OR plug in your headphones and listen to some relaxing music while your in the tub. You know where you feel the best.

 I will use the same washcloth and get it hot hot hot! I let the washcloth just kind of sit on my face and really just warm up all of the pores. Then just wipe the mask off, rinse and repeat.

Here's a before and after to scare the living daylights out of you (since I'm not wearing any makeup)

You may not be able to see a big difference since you're not living in my skin (hahahaha) but I see a difference. Just an overall better skin tone, less redness and a brighter color.  

You'll want to finish up with a moisturizer. This just happens to be the one I use for daytime. (I use organic Argan Oil at night). Don't skip this step! 

(I'm not affiliated with Origins at all! Just wanted to share!)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a free photo session plus portraits to take home (in print and on cd) from The Portrait Studio of Asheville! Over $100 value!

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Health & Beauty {Pura d'or Argan Oil Review}

Recently I found a wonderful product and I thought I would share it with you guys. I had been using organic, cold pressed coconut oil for my body lotion and my face lotion. It was very moisturizing but at the same time was proving to be very pore clogging. I read this article on Wellness Mama and fell into the rabbit hole of finding the right oil to use on my face. I landed on Argan Oil. I also found a great deal on amazon and at that point, it just didn't hurt to try.

I noticed an immediate change in my skin after using it for just a few days. I wasn't getting as many breakouts as I had been. I also noticed that it moisturized my skin a lot better than the coconut oil. It felt like it was really sinking in ya know? I noticed that it helped my laugh line wrinkles as well. I mean, nothing can take those babies away except something surgical but this stuff sure did help them to look less severe!

In case you're wondering...I'm in no way affiliated with Pura d'or Argan Oil! No one asked me to do this post. I just wanted to share it with you in case you are like me and have a terrible combination of dry skin AND acne. I bought this bottle for around $20 and there is still more than two thirds of the bottle left. I've been using it for about 4 or 5 months.

I also use the Proactiv system at least 3 times a week just to stay on top of my acne. Since I am no longer on birth control because of the Essure procedure I had back in 2013, I really see my hormones come through my skin in the form of breakouts. It's worse at different times of the month and also gets worse if I eat unhealthy foods. I still have lots of other methods I want to try that Wellness Mama lists on her website to ween myself off of Proactiv.

I still use my coconut oil. I just stick to using it on the rest of my body immediately after I exit the shower. My body oil/lotion formula is half coconut oil half cocoa butter (in oil form). If I just use coconut oil it doesn't moisturize enough. But my skin is far too dry to just slap some drug store lotion on and go. I need to step up my water drinking game to help my dry skin. Sometimes I feel like it is so dry it hurts! Sheesh!!

You could use this on the ends of your hair after you get out of the shower too. I've really cut down on the blow drying time on my hair since I don't go to an office everyday. I really don't need deep conditioner much anymore. I only shampoo my hair twice a week. Doing those two things together leave me with pretty healthy hair already.

Ok guys and gals! Just wanted to share a great product with you! Try it! I know you would love it. Even if you just used it on your hands!