Moisturizing the Sahara Desert!

Water!….WATER!!!

<gasp>  Can a girl get some Poland Springs when she needs it?!

I don’t know about you, but Autumn has not fully arrived until my skin and hair feels like all moisture has been sucked out of it! I have tried fancy (and expensive!) moisturizers, cleansers, conditioners and whatnot but I always feel my skin and hair is back to dry, flaky and dull within a couple of hours. This has plagued me since I was a kid and I remember being told that as a teenager it was great since I never broke out but as an adult I would wrinkle up like a prune at a young age.

BAH!

Like I said, I have tried many products but ultimately only two things worked.

Wait for it…

Coconut Oil and water…water, water, water!

The water thing seems obvious but admittedly, I have to force myself. I easily get distracted and hours will go by before I’ll take a swig of my water bottle. And the truth is, the dry weather combined with the seasonal comfort food tend to create an odd combination of puffiness AND driness on my face. It’s like my face is saying “Hey, she’s got dry wrinkly skin and we’re going to highlight it by making her good and puffy without smoothing it out.”

<shaking fist in the air> Curse you, dehydrated skin!!!!

English: Coconut oil in solid state. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So aside from drinking tons of water (duh!) I have discovered that coconut oil has done more things for my skin than any expensive moisturizer. Originally, I was just using it as a way to repair my dry cracked hand by applying a thin coat on my hands overnight.  It worked like a charm! However my face was getting worse and worse. The fine lines were becoming deeper and deeper and the flakiness was putting a crimp in my morning make up routine.  So on impulse, I put a thin coating of coconut oil on my face before bed, praying that I wouldn’t wake up with a face full of blemishes.

Viola!

My skin was smooth and quite lovely! I started by using it once a week but as the cold weather continues, I’m using it with more and more frequency. Even when I first come out of the shower! Just take a pea sized amount of the creamy solidified oil then rub it between your hands to liquify it, then spread it on, concentrating on the driest parts of your face.

Now, would I recommend this to EVERY skin type? I dunno. If you suffer from dry cold weather skin, then it should be great. If you tend to have oily skin then obviously this isnt for you.

Give it a try and leave a comment on how it worked for you!

`

Showering Daily? ….Ummmm, yeah, sure.

I’ve heard all the idioms associated with how you should exercise and eat well daily. It should be like a habit…brushing your teeth, brushing your hair, taking a shower.  In my case, putting on make-up and doing my hair for work. This made me think.

Have you ever been in a funk where you didn’t brush your teeth or take a shower until your family is complaining about the stink?

When I first broke my foot back in May I was a complete and total hot mess. Showers were not on the list of priorities…they were actually quite exhausting and at times painful. My thought was that I was sitting on my duff with my foot elevated… I’m not exactly working up a sweat so I could wait a few days to take a shower. Unfortunately, I was also heavily drugged at first (did I mention the had to re-break my foot TWICE in a week!) so days melted together, come to think of it, weeks did too. A shower was not on my radar…until my husband would get a change of clothes, set up the bathroom to be crutch friendly and very gently explain that it was time.

What’s my point? Well, I’m getting back in the swing of things and the more I feel a little bit like myself, the more I realize I am falling into old habits of pre-“Reinventing Danni”. I THINK about exercising but I don’t actually do it (except when I post it on Facebook…it’s not real unless you post it on FB) Hell, I’m barely interested in taking a shower much less look nice. So where does this leave me? Exercise should be like taking a shower or brushing your teeth….you do it daily.

I’M NOT EVEN SHOWERING DAILY! <snort> Does this make me a lost cause? Am I destined to be like the girl on the left of the picture below? Danielle…just coasting through life, uninterested in myself….

Or am I Danni, the girl on the right? Ready to take on the world! Push herself to new heights! BE THE BEST SHE CAN BE!

This is a VERY slippery slope people!!

I can’t continue to cling on to the excuse that I am a hot mess from my injury….

I’m going back to work in a couple of weeks and I was thinking I need to start making the habit (and effort!) of wearing make up again. Do my hair. Dress nicely. Do some modified exercises.

…and, yes, taking a shower daily.

No one is a lost cause. Sometimes your “marathon” training  is just to get up. Take an action. Be interested.

I know I’m not the only one that’s gone through this…it’s why I’m sharing.

Because YOU are not alone either.

❤ Danni

Rainbows and Unicorns…or am I just delusional?

As many of you know, I have often stated that I’m all “rainbows and unicorns”.

Yes, it is somewhat tongue in cheek. I am a naturally positive person but “rainbows and unicorns” tends to denote someone who is living in La-La-Land. Though, let me tell you, there is something to be said for La-La-Land! Everything is beautiful, people are happy, we randomly break out in song and  little critters are skittering about… It’s a nice place to be. But sadly, it is not my permanent place of residence.

Like many of you, my life is complicated.

Financially these past few years have beaten my family to a pulp. Medically, we have had at least one long term medical issue that threw a wrench in our daily (and financial) lives and then as that just started to get better, I broke my foot and haven’t been able to work for several weeks. Last fall, we got hit with Sandy which was probably a good month of daily insecurity, on top of what we were already dealing with. And right now, we are barely keeping our head above water, catching up seems  elusive and  typically, my husband’s anxiety levels fluctuate between orange and red on the “terror alert scale”.

Uh-huh…La-La-Land suddenly sounds very appealing doesn’t it?

A few years ago, before I started my whole “Reinventing Danni” mission, I think I would have marinated in misery. I mean, really, we went from middle class comfort and contentment with vacations and savings and 401ks… to debt to our ears, rationing food and praying the electric doesn’t get turned off before we scrape the money together. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not sharing this for a pity party (which I only indulge in for one day every three months…I pencil it in on my calendar). I’m sharing this so you can see how attitude is EVERYTHING.

I decided, some time ago, that even though everything was falling apart, I would not. Every time something went wrong, I trained myself to look at every negative situation as a life lesson that would only enrich and enhance our lives. Mind you, sometimes it takes a couple of days to figure out what that opportunity to grow is, but I’ll be damned if I don’t find it!! And when I do find it, I embrace it.

I broke my foot so now I can take the time to appreciate some precious moments with my children (where I would normally be working).

Woohoo!!!

I have time to look at my career path and adjust my dedication to learning new skills so I can be even more successful!

Yes!!!

I am developing a new appreciation of how much I underestimated  what my body REALLY can do and I’m excited to start a fitness program to take me to a new level of health!

Woot Woot!!!

I get to appreciate how wonderful my job really is because I miss it so much!

AWESOME!!!

It’s very easy to forget how lucky you are when you’re in the day to day and all these great things that I’ve learned in the past several weeks makes me realize that the mess that we are in today is temporary. There IS a glorious light at the end of the tunnel and I am being handed all the life lessons to make it work. I am going to be SO SUCCESSFUL!! Hell, I already am!

Do I live in the land of “Rainbows and Unicorns” or am I just delusional?

<shrug> Only time will tell. 🙂

~Danni