Welcome to "Cheers to Beauty!"

Here it is! It's been a long time coming... but I figure there is no time like the present! 

I have been a self-proclaimed "product junkie" for quite some time. Unfortunately, with the masses of beauty supplies in my cabinet, I was not satisfied. Only recently have I discovered the magic that is "DIY Skincare." Seriously. I've been making my own skincare pieces and cannot say enough amazing things regarding them. No more preservatives, harsh chemicals, and crap I can't even attempt to pronounce. I have decided that my skin is my priority. I can't keep hiding it under layers of chemicals, concealor, foundation, and powder. It is young and it deserves to be free! 

What seems to be the problem?  ACNE. Acne is a dirty B!#%h and should die a most horrible death. We all deal with it one time or another, some have better luck than others with getting rid of it.  I don't even get those cute little whiteheads... I get deep-rooted cystic acne. It hurts and it's cramping my style. 

First things first, get to the cause of your acne. Get to know your enemy. Mine was attributed to mounds of stress and poor diet and imbalanced hormones. I also suffer from a chemical imbalance in the brain that requires some attention from time-to-time (but we'll save that for a later post, once we get to know each other a little better). Based on the areas of my skin that were breaking out, I knew hormones and diet were some primary issues. I spoke to my doctor about my hormones. I have been on birth control pills for quite some time now, and here's how my doctor explained it to me:

Your hormones on the pill:

Yeah, crazy spikage going on there. That's no fun. That's also why it is important to take the pill at the same time every day. Also why your body retaliates and acne can occur. He gave me an option of a constant, low-dose of hormones via NuvaRing. 

Your hormones on NuvaRing:

Ahh, peace. There are other options as well, but to be frank, I don't notice the damn thing (neither does my partner) and I don't have to worry about taking a pill daily. If you can wear a tampon, you can do the ring. Like I said, there are other options, but talk to your doctor if there is a chance your acne is related to your hormones. 

Now for the diet... I'll be honest, I hate vegetables. So much. If it's green, get it the hell away from me. Greens are the greatest thing for your body... I know this. My solution: JUICING! We bought a juicer over the holidays and I can actually get all my greens in and it really tastes great if you throw in some apples to kill the "earthy" taste. That helped me kickstart my diet. I became more regular (oh yes... there will be a future post about poop) and my skin started clearing up. All the nasty toxins were leaving my body and my skin was thankful.

Then came the products. Oh, the products. There are millions of things that claim to heal your skin and believe me, I've tried most of them. I just wasn't having any real luck. I found stuff that would work a little, keep some stuff at bay, but nothing really helped heal my skin. My miracle has been "DIY" skincare. I've made my own skincare for the last few months and have had astounding results. I will touch more on this later with my next post.

There are certainly many holes in this first post. I want you to get a small sense of me, and what I've been dealing with. I will take each category and devote a post to it specifically so that all the questions will be addressed. I am looking forward to creating posts that can help educate and inspire you to become the most beautiful version of yourself. Internally and externally.

xoxo Kayla Rae