My Health and Beauty A to Z

This morning, Chester visited his vet. He had to get his yearly vaccinations and check-up to make sure he’s doing well and is all healthy. He especially hated the anal thermometer, which is understandable.  He only ever mildly protests with a gentle mew.  The vet techs and vet always say how sweet he is, but he is very strong-willed. He’s a wiggler! I always feel so bad for him when he gets his shots because he’s sore and lethargic the next day, but what has to be done is done.  I had issues with that place. It seemed like everyone was sneezing and coughing. I luckily had hand sanitizer with me.  I’m just going to say everyone in there is allergic to some animal, so that way I don’t worry about catching an illness…

I just had an idea to write a post about things from A-Z I do or associate with health and beauty. You may not agree or understand some of these things, but that’s ok!

Always clean your makeup brushes! Dirty brushes can lead to bacterial growth, which can contaminate not only your makeup, but your skin as well, leaving you with icky, clogged pores and pimples.

Be bold! Don’t be afraid to use bright colors or colors that you think don’t “work well with your eyes.” Forget stupid makeup rules. In my opinion, there are none, except don’t wear orange foundation… If you like the color, just wear it. I wear orange eye shadow all the time and it’s the most non-going color I can think of, but I love it and I make it work.

Contour your features. Highlight the areas you want to bring forward and darken the areas you want to push back. This gives your face new and beautiful dimensions, and emphasizes those you already have.

Don’t overpluck! Do maintain and get rid of stray hairs, but let your eyebrows have their natural shape.

Eyeliner is not a must. You don’t need to wear dark, heavy eyeliner, especially on your lower eyeline. Sometimes no eyeliner or eyeliner just on the top lid will give your eyes a larger, more open appearance. Try eyeliners other than black and brown too.

Forgo the peroxide and denatured alcohol in your toner.  These will just dry out your skin and cause irritation. Go for toners that are gentle and contain natural ingredients or a less harmful, more natural type of alcohol.

Gentle! Be gentle when washing your face, exfoliating, toning, or even applying makeup. Over scrubbing and scrubbing aggressively will cause your face to stretch, wrinkle, and become irritated.

Heat styling is fine, but use a thermal protector, such as a spray or blow dry lotion prior to styling, so that you don’t turn your hair into dry straw.  You may just opt some days to not heat style at all! Your hair will thank you.

Incorporate fruits and vegetables as much as possible into your diet. It’s difficult and fruits and vegetables for me are rough to eat. I like to have heated food, so I cook and bake fruits and vegetables as much as possible!

Joke around. Laughter truly is the best medicine. You may not know this about me, but I like to make people laugh.

Keep your mascara for no more than 6 months! If it smells or gets too chunky, it may be time to toss it. You don’t want to transfer bacteria to your precious eyes.

Love yourself. You are beautiful and deserve love too!

Makeup is fun, but don’t let it take away from your natural beauty! Wear makeup, don’t let it wear you.

Not touching! Don’t touch your face. Avoid this at all costs. This will transfer bacteria to your skin and cause breakouts, plus, you could be putting yourself at risk for illness. Needless to say, I never touch my face….

Oily skin needs moisturizer too. Just because your skin tends toward the oily side, doesn’t mean that you don’t need to moisturize. If you find creams too heavy, try a gel or water-based moisturizer.

Popping pimples is a no-no. You’ll only make things worse by causing scarring and transferring the bacteria from inside the pimple to other healthy pores. Apply topical treatments until it goes away.  If you have more severe acne, you may want to see a dermatologist.

Quit biting those nails! Not only is it gross and you could potentially be making yourself sick, but you are damaging the nail bed and your nails will grow weak and brittle.

Read labels. Know potentially harmful ingredients in skincare and makeup products that could cause issues for your specific skin type. I avoid peroxide and denatured alcohol like the plague.  A rule I live by: if it burns, avoid it.

Sitting is the new smoking. I need to work on this. I sit all day! This is one of the major reasons why I started working out daily.

Tanning is yesterday’s news. I’m sorry if you go to tanning beds, but I have to say this. They are so not “in” anymore! You are seriously damaging your skin. Tanning will age the crap out of you!

Understand your skin type and what works for you. Not all skin, or people for that matter, are created equal. What works for me, may not work for you.  I’m pretty much a normal to dry skin type. What are you?

Vitamin C! Get it naturally through oranges, orange juice, or even through Emergen-C, which I love. I freakin love that stuff. It gives you a healthy glow and a healthy immune system. You will be so energetic and happy when you have enough vitamin C!

Water! You need around 80 oz a day folks. Your are mostly made of water, so drinking a ton of it a day makes sense to keep your body functioning optimally. I just feel like crap if I don’t get enough water.

X-ercise. Yeah, I know this isn’t spelled right, but I wanted to put it in before I forgot. I know, working out sucks, it hurts, and you sweat and it’s gross, but your heart, muscles, bones, and brain will thank you! Find something that’s fun to you and works for you.

You are beautiful! Even if you don’t know it, you are.

Zap away negative thoughts and learn to smile as much as possible! I’m working on being more positive and optimistic and right now, life is going well for me. I want you to be happy too :)

I challenge you to write one of these yourself on something that you find interesting. It doesn’t have to be about health and beauty! If you do, send me a link. I’d love to read it!

Best,
Megan