Summer Face Oil

We’re exploring the many uses for essential oils for both our home and body. You can see our archive of essential oil posts here. liveseasoned_summer2015_faceoil8-1024x768 copy

Oh my skincare routine has changed throughout the years, and I only wish that I was as gentle on my skin in high school as I am now. Back then I thought my skin was too oily and would never have dreamed of actually applying oil to my face to moisturize and nourish it, instead, I would be drawn to any cleanser that promised to dry out my face. In reality, I’m guessing that all of those harsh, drying products likely irritated my skin, stripped it of its natural oils, and caused it to over produce oil in order to try to hydrate my face and reverse the damage I was doing. Jump ahead ten years, and I slowly came around to the amazingly beneficial characteristics of plant oils for the skin. Jump ahead another couple of years, and I’m now adding some essential oils to my basic routine.

I like to shy away from the camera when it comes to our posts, but if any post calls for a headshot, it’s this one! So I’m putting my face in focus for this post, and hopefully it will stand as a record that I can refer back to when looking at how my skin responds to a few years of essential oil use. I should also mention that I really believe that healthy skin starts from the inside. So while I’ve found these skin oil potions to be effective, I also make it a point to drink plenty of water and eat a well-balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables.

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How To Use It: Coconut Oil

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Hey all you nutty kids! Katie and I have a bunch of products that make their way into our daily lives in some form or another and one of those is coconut oil.  We thought it might be helpful to explain how we use coconut oil in case you’re at a bit of a loss.  Personally coconut oil is used so often in my house that I have a jar in my kitchen, bathroom and car!  I can’t get enough of the stuff and while I like other oils too like argon and olive, coconut is so cheap and versatile that I find myself using larger quantities of it than the others.

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DIY Pore Strips

Kate and I are always concocting potions. You may remember Kate’s DIY dry shampoo, deodorant or her rosemary body scrub.  Today we’re teaching you how to make homemade pore strips so call your girl friends and schedule a sleepover, because you’ll make more than enough for one nose!

Have you ever tried Biore pore strips? They’re the amazing!  I mean, it is creepy how much I love seeing tiny stems of dirt, oil and blackheads, but it is also awesome knowing that the gunk is no longer in my pores.  Even though I love the instant gratification of pore strips, I do have a few complaints.  For starters, they are expensive.  I don’t have a big budget for bath and beauty products so spending at least $6 ($1 for each strip) on a box of pore strips is an extremely rare occurrence.  I also feel like I only have a 75% success rate with the store-bought strips.  Sometimes they work SO well and other times they don’t adhere to the side creases of my nose, which is where I have the most black heads. When a friend told me about DIY pore strips, I decided to try them out for myself and share the results with you guys and gals.

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Headscarves: Four Ways!

Headscarves are great. What a statement, I know.  I’ve always admired people who can pull off a headscarf. Then my thrift store had a going out of business sale and I bought seven of them and I thought, ‘I better start wearing headscarves.’  That’s it folks.  That is the story of how this post was born.  For a few weeks, I would only wear them while going on a solitary hike or in my living room and then there was a week where I didn’t feel like washing my hair, but I had to run errands and just like that, I became a person who could pull off a headscarf.  I was getting compliments left and right! In the grocery store, at the post office, even at restaurants and bars.  It felt pretty great since I was initially self conscious about them.  I’m pretty sure we can all be headscarf people, which is why I want you to read this post and put it into practice. Like right meow.

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Sock Bun Tutorial

Today I learned that a summer cold-front in North Carolina means low eighties. Oh. My.  This sweet little sock bun tutorial perfect for what are sure to be sweaty days ahead.  Sock buns are magical.  Why you ask? I’m surprised you don’t already know, but I’ll tell you anyway.  They have the power to transform dirty, unkept hair into a tame, polished mane in a matter of minutes, especially for those of us (looking into a mirror as I type this) who hate spending time getting ready.  Sock buns are also perfect for work and play because while they’re polished they’re also SO STINKIN’ CUTE (katie here : after reading this post, I noticed that Sarah thinks sock buns are just a wee bit cute.). We all need something cute in our lives and today it’s the sweetest little (or big!) bun that has a secret sock inside of it.

Our sister Kristin is the sock bun queen, and how great are those pink lips and hair tips?  She wears her bun like no other, so who better to show us how to rock the sock?  Kris also put a sock bun in Virginia’s hair, which is just past shoulder length, so don’t shy away from the sock if your hair isn’t quite as long as Kristin’s.

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