So, I’ve had acne pretty consistently and tried several different treatments. When I lived in the suburbs of Chicago, I had anything from breakouts on my forehead, chin, and the occasional white heads. I think for a while I used Yves Roches and my skin cleared for the most part. I switched over to clean & clear black head removal when I started getting blackheads instead. But…since I moved to St. Paul, MN, I’ve had a strange breakout pattern along the right side of my chin. I have no idea why it’s happening in such a specific formation, but I guess it has something to do with the change in environment! Also from the limited research I’ve been doing, I think that I’ve been drying out my skin with these daily scrubs instead of helping it. I’m going natural with my hair, so why not do it for my skin too? Here are two options I’m exploring now.

• African Black Soap, $12.95 for the Full Bar on Coastal Scents: http://www.coastalscents.com/bath-and-body/made-in-africa/as-011.html, Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umXhBNdvMhI
• SunKissAlba also has some good product recommendations, including natural treatments such as olive oil and jojoba oil. Skin Routine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cgJAN8Agkc
   Exfoliation scrubs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvXdYGTCc0E

So far the pros and cons that I’m seeing of each: African Black Soap would be a cheaper, simpler treatment.

First Option (African Black Soap):

• Pros: Would only have to worry about one product, which is usually what I need to start on a routine.

• Cons: The YouTube user did say this is more of an external treatment, so any symptoms it resolved would come back if you stopped using it. Also if you have dry skin to begin with, it will not solve your dry skin, it will clean it though. No real scent.

Second Option (Alba Products, Exfoliation per week):

• Pros: Get natural scents like brown sugar, essential oils like lavender or rosemary. Fun to make. Natural products. Jojoba oil seems like a really good idea for helping your body to stop producing excess oil in the long run. Considers ingredients for different skin types.

•  Cons: More expensive, although care products do last a while. Lots of product suggestions, could be hard to keep track of.

My friend also recommended me to a dermatologist, so I might call them up to see if an appointment is covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield, or if it doesn’t cost too much to go see someone. I will mention that I specifically want natural, more affordable products!

Beer cart Friday folks, and I will be the first to admit I grabbed a Tecate Beer and a bag of M & Ms. I did exactly what I feared. Now I have a bit of a beer belly that will hopefully go away. That said I think the rest of my day was a success:

• Was tired this morning, took the time to relax. On Tuesdays and Fridays I usually do 4 work out segments, but I just needed to take it easy this morning. I considered not working out at all, and making it a break day. I made a good compromise: I did my ten minutes abs and twenty minutes of stairmaster in the morning (heavily leaning my elbows on the arm rest of course, haha) and 20 crunches on the ab chair. Pretty good for not wanting to all. How I convinced myself: anything is better than nothing, and it’s best to keep it an enjoyable routine I want to come back to. Which means cutting myself some slack every once in a while This is how I used to claim I worked out every day (counting a 15-20 min jog or even just 10 mins of squats, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, etc.) And I knew today was yoga day at work, so I did an hour of yoga over lunch break. Success!
• Lunch was a super pretzel and some cheese. Not much but actually left me fairly satisfied. So…that kind of counterbalanced beer cart, right? Dinner was alright: four quesadillas (Bandera corn tortillas always, colby cheese, and some avocado), a spinach salad with cucumber, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, cheese, balsamic vinegar. No dessert, but hey I had a bag of m&ms before dinner so I was set on that one!
• Day Four of No Shampoo. My hair did not smell amazing I will not lie but it had a good base since I had straightened it on Tuesday, and was easily refreshed with some hair styling products that made my hair smell pretty good and normal again. Disaster averted! After my two week challenge is over (so next Saturday, or a week from tomorrow), I think I’m going to get cocoa powder to act as a dry shampoo on my in between days. I’m trying to do some more research than, because the whole no shampoo idea is so that I can keep some of my hair’s natural oils. I read that cocoa powder absorbs the oil in the scalp, so I’m not sure if that would be contradicting what I’m doing. A friend in Chicago tipped me off to it and it seemed like a great idea, hopefully I will find more info. Here’s some links on how to make a cocoa powder mix yourself (love the idea of adding peppermint or lavendar essential oil):
• cocoa powder dry shampoo for light and dark hair: http://wellnessmama.com/5047/diy-dry-shampoo/
• natural shampoo recipe: http://wellnessmama.com/3701/how-to-make-natural-shampoo-easy-recipe/

I’ll follow up on any more findings on cocoa powder as a dry shampoo but so far it looks like a pretty natural and good idea! I probably wouldn’t need it until day two or three of no poo any ways :)

It was going well: this morning I found I was within a pound of freshman zero. I probably should not have allowed myself to find this out. During lunch I had a caprese salad, but it was a coworker’s birthday, unbeknownst to me. I avoided the mass of delicious looking chocolate cupcakes for the duration of the morning . My coworker spilled sauce all over her lunch so I went to taco bell with her to grab sporks, without ordering anything. On the way back she noticed the cupcakes, said what’s that, and next thing I know we’re both grabbing them. After the first bite I find it has cream cheese frosting which I don’t like, so I stopped after taking a couple bites of the chocolate cake non-frosting part of the cupcake. Ultimately I decided it was a sign to get me back on track, so I threw the rest of it out. Success, close call right?!

Ahh but no. A coworker emails us and says she has ice cream sandwiches and starts passing them out individually to us. I’m pretty good at resisting things if they’re not in front of me, but as soon as it becomes a social thing or handed to me I can’t resist! This was my first mint ice cream sandwich as well! Given that my lunch was a salad I didn’t feel TOO bad, but I did grab two small hershey minis and a mini reeses from my boss’s desk when she called me in to discuss a large task. Foiled by my sugar tooth again! But I knew I would not have access to real dessert when I got home, as I was out of apples completely by this time…

Dinner was going well too: I had brown rice and asparagus, and a spinach salad. Should have stopped there, but instead I got hungrier as I ate, made three quesadillas with avocado, finished my box of mushrooms, and had a mango besides! I only have ONE mango left, and this one I’m saving to make a mango smoothie mix. Honestly I think it was a bit of a set back, but really I can’t beat myself up. I am very concerned about the last eight days of the challenge though: I am all out of fruit/desserts, and all I have to fall back on is tea. I will be getting drinks for the Minehaha Falls picnic this Saturday, but those will be shared. And another cupcake that day too, naturally because it’s another birthday celebration. Aaand beer cart Friday/happy hour is probably tomorrow. I love social life so I feel some of these things are inescapable, but my challenge feels all but scattered other than I have not gone out of my way to buy any specific food. 

Today is day three of no-shampoo, and I have to say with straightened hair this is much easier. My hair looks soft and smooth, and all it takes is a little serum to make my hair smell good! Buuut tomorrow I am definitely showering. Saturday will probably be my deep conditioning day, maybe early Sunday.

I have also not put away any of the spring clothing I ceremonially pulled out of my storage trunk, although my winter clothes is all put away except for a sweater and some sweatpants.

Today Kiki had to cancel our Thurday meeting for coffee, which was going to be the last time we saw each other before she left for Armenia. I am so glad now that I decided to head over to Fasika Ethiopian, since I didn’t even know this would be the last time I would see her for at least two years! This is going to be so hard, to lose a good friend like her. She was my one connection before I moved her and I can only be incredibly grateful that I also met Fatima, who let me in to her circle of friends or I would truly feel that I was alone now.