Category Archives: Beauty, Skincare, and Body Care

What’s in my purse?

How fun is this post going to be?! Nah, maybe no one actually cares, haha. Thatʻs okay if you skim over this one. I knew it would be fun and lighthearted and thatʻs exactly what I needed after yesterdayʻs post.

I just carefully laid out everything from my purse (backpack) on my bed and snapped a photo. I usually use a rather large leather tote from the same designer/small business as my backpack, but with not working right now, I donʻt need such a big purse.

Lets talk about the contents:

  1. The black backpack with the teal ʻawapuhi (ginger) flowers are from Cay and Col. It holds quite a bit of things, as you can see, and I really love how medium sized it is. Itʻs perfect for me right now. I also want to say that this is a small, woman, and Black owned business! She is amazing at what she does.
  2. The olive green ʻawapuhi pouch also comes from Cay and Col. I really love this print! Within this pouch are the contents:
    • Pacifica underarm wipes – these are aluminum free and for the occasional times where I need a re-up of deodorant
    • My Saalt menstrual cup – in case I get my period while I am out and about! (kinda like carrying around extra tampons/pads)
    • Tylenol and Advil – evidently, I am asked pretty often if I am carrying any sort of pain reliever, I rarely ever take them myself lol
    • Victoriaʻs Secret Bombshell perfume roller ball – my favorite all day scent
    • Extra liners and intimate wipes – for the days I’m out for hours and feel like I need to refresh
  3. The bright green pouch (on the left) is a Clinique pouch from a friend who had a beauty subscription. The contents within this pouch are:
    • Eclipse gum – no one likes stinky breath, also it curbs the appetite, haha
    • Alcohol wipes from Daiso – in case I need to wipe something or my devices
    • Pens – this is the single most “adult” thing to have in your purse! I canʻt tell you how many times you need a pen and never have one. I now carry a few in case I ever need to sign something.
    • Bath and Body Works lotion – my legs and arms are actually quite dry as compared to my oily face
    • Oil blotting sheets – for my oily face, which is often needed
    • Victoriaʻs Secret Tease perfume roller ball – my second favorite VS scent
    • A jumpdrive – you know, Iʻm not entirely sure why I have this in my purse, but it could possibly come in handy
    • Līlīkoʻi tea – this tea does not need any sugar, and is super delicious cold or hot
    • Reusable straw – need I say more?
  4. The black and floral velvet smaller pouch was from Target! The contents in this pouch are:
    • Anker portable charger – I swear by this brand! Itʻs really good and this one specifically has 20,100 mAH and two USB ports (for multiple device charging). It charges my phone from less than 20% battery life to full about 5-6 times before dying. For my Hawaiʻi peeps, Amazon will not ship it to us and I am not too sure what stores may carry it, but here is the link in case youʻre interested in the specs
    • Mini USB and iPhone lightning cords as well as a couple of power bases – for the portable charger and in case I am in an area with an outlet
  5. Bath and Body Works A Thousand Wishes spray hand sanitizer. Letʻs all be responsible and stay clean when there is no available sink.
  6. Lastly, my Kumumea wallet (no, I will not show you what is inside lol). This is a Hawaiian and small business brand. The owner is the sweetest woman and is a cancer survivor. This is her Hiapo waterproof leather wallet.

I know this blog post might not be what you were looking to see today, but if you stayed this long, thank you! Again, this was a fun and lighthearted post. What do you carry around with you?

Thank you for the continued support so far this year!

Happy Curl, Happy Girl

Signing off,

Curly Island Girl

10 Things I Can’t Live Without

Besides the obvious, phone, husband, etc… Here’s a list of things I feel like I can’t do without:

 

  1. Tweezers. My tweezermans to be exact. Even if I never had any wax or razors, I could always tweeze the hairiness away. It’s a really expensive brand, but I swear by this one. Any other, just doesn’t seem to grab any hairs. Tip: Disinfect them consistently. I keep alcohol wipes next to my makeup for this reason. *I’m really hairy.
  2. Sweatpants. I love to wear sweatpants. It is the ultimate comfort clothes. It’s loose, it’s soft, and you don’t have to worry about being cold. Buy you some good sweatpants.
  3. Moisturizer. Even if I am super oily, without my moisturizer (for my body and face) my skin would shrivel up. I have a mixture of products I use, currently most of it is Perfectly Posh.
  4. Caffeine. I know it’s not healthy, but I do consume it every day. I drink energy drinks most of the time and tea in the morning and night. Until I wean myself off of it… It’s here to stay.
  5. Flushable wipes. Let me just tell you, nothing feels better than using wipes to clean yourself after a number 2. Laugh all you want, but this is a lifesaver.
  6. My NYX Micro-Brow Pencil. My brows have always had no shape. When I was younger I would over pluck them. Nowadays, it really has no shape unless I fill them in. I use this pencil every day. I could live without any other makeup but this product.
  7. Nail polish. Just for my toes. My toes look like sausages without nail polish! My favorite brand is Essie and my favorite colors are pastels and browns/nudes.
  8. Music. It just feels good, and there is always a song for everything you do. Currently my favorite songs are Hawaiian music, specifically Josh Tatofi. I listen to him every day.
  9. Face masks. I use a face mask probably around 3 times a week. I love it. There’s nothing like painting it on your face. It’s so soothing to me. I have about 10 face masks (mostly from Perfectly Posh), and a stack of sheet masks.
  10. Earrings. My face is pretty oval shaped, with my forehead being the biggest section. I only wear silver jewelry, so I have 3 sets of sterling hoops and many Koa wood pieces. Earrings always draws attention away from my forehead, so I constantly have some sort of ear jewelry on.

 

 

I know this was a different kind of post. I don’t even know how I feel about this. I guess its a Get To Know Me Better post.

Have a wonderful week back to school/work!

Happy curl, Happy Girl

Signing off,

Your Curly Island Girl

Update on my Skin Care

It was hot at home on Big Island… and now it’s even worse in Oʻahu! My skin is still trying to adjust to more than usual heat. I’ve added to my skincare routine and since it’s been a while, I figured I would update you all! (Both face and body)

1. Face care routine

  • Cleansing: Shea Moisture African Black Soap with a soft face brush (exfoliating purposes)
  • Toner: I’ve just recently went back to using toner, however, this time to try and avoid too much stripping of my natural face oils, I’m using alcohol free toner. Thayer’s Witch Hazel (rose petal) is perfect! It cleans and takes off excess oils that my soap doesn’t remove. Before my skin completely dries, I move to the next step
  • Moisturizing: In the morning I use the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Moisturizer. At night I use a water-based gel moisturizer from Perfectly Posh- Gel Yes! I like that it’s really lightweight but very moisturizing, especially because I do an extra step at night.
  • Face Oil/Serum Step: I use a Perfectly Posh face oil called Love Me Dew. It’s light and you only need a few drops. It’s important to do a face oil step last in your routine, because once the oil is on, no other moisturizer can get through to your skin. Face oil helps to replenish natural oils that have been lost (and could be causing overproduction of oil during the day!). If you were to put a moisturizer after the oil, it would have a hard time penetrating through to get into your skin.

2. Body Skin Care Routine

  • Cleansing: I try to use good body wash, and right now I’m using Dove. I need to do more research but I’ve heard that Dove clogs pores because it has no sulfates. From my time as a CG girl, I know that sulfates can be very very drying, however, I’m not sure if that’s true for skin on your body. What’s most important about cleaning your body, is that you are exfoliating daily. Your skin sheds cells every day, we should probably wash it off more often than not. Get a Japanese scrubber to wash your body. It’s scrubs and cleans well.
  • Moisturizer: When I get out of the shower I put lotion on my body. My skin is normally really dry on my legs, so I try to get my lotion on as soon as possible. I use Aveeno!
  • Oil: I’ve recently just purchased the FUR ingrown concentrate and pubic oil. I think it’s much too early to tell whether it’s actually working or not, but I can tell you that the oil smells really good. The smaller bottle meant for ingrown hairs is pretty pricey, but the oil mixture is supposed to clean and reduce inflammation on your bikini line. The bigger bottle (much more worth your money) is just to make the pubic area soft (especially the hairs, if you have any). I put these on as soon as I finish doing my face skin care routine.

3. Other extra skin care:

  • I also just purchased my own derma roller with 540 needle measurement. A derma roller should always be clean with rubbing alcohol before and after every use. The needles make tiny holes in your face which trigger your skin to react and grow new skin to heal it. Afterwards I go straight into my normal face routine (after cleansing). I won’t do this type of thing every day. It can damage your skin if you go overboard.

I hope this gives you an idea of my new routines! I miss talking to you all, but it’s been so crazy working all day every day and then passing out from exhaustion as soon as I get home.

Happy Curl, Happy Girl

Signing off,

Curly Island Girl

Menstrual Cups…Yay or Nay?

Hello lovelies!!!

Tonight, I wanna talk about menstrual cups. I know what you’re thinking… “Ew. Ew. Why.”

I said the same thing when I first heard of it, maybe in freshman year of high school. Last year, I made two new friends who used menstrual cups. If you don’t know what it is, look it up. Let me tell you, it has changed my life, and I am never going back. I got my period the summer before I turned 12 years old. I only used pads, but I was always struggling with them because it was a lot of work to keep myself clean. In-between my sophomore and junior year of high school, I switched to tampons. Last July, I took the plunge and bought my first menstrual cup. It took me a while to get to that point.

First, I did an insane amount of research (as you all should, if you’re curious). I read forums, blogs, Facebook posts, testimonies, YouTube videos, everything. I even took a quiz that told me what brand of menstrual cup I should buy. Taking a quiz is important! Not all menstrual cups are the same; some are a little bigger and wider than others and the quiz takes into account how high up your cervix is. Some cup brands will work better for lower cervixes and vice versa.

My cervix is pretty high, and I’ve never had any children so I ended up with the small Lena cup. Most brands have two sizes, a small and a large. Most times size large is for women who have had children or have heavy flows.

I started with the small Lena (even if I knew my flow was pretty heavy, evidently I only bleed for about 3-4 days). Reason One, I had no idea if I was going to be successful even using this. Reason Two, if I couldn’t figure it out, I didn’t want to waste 40 dollars.

It was a success, and I made the decision to never use anything else again. However, I ended up buying the Large Lena after an incident of the cup overflowing in too short of a timespan. As I mentioned before, I have a heavy flow.

Menstrual cups are amazing because:

1. It can be left in for up to 11 hours (longer than any pad or tampon) with little to no risk of TSS

2. Because the “period smell” that a lot of girls/women hate about having their period is an issue, this takes care of that immediately. The smell comes from the blood making contact with the air and just sitting. Menstrual cups keep the blood inside the cup and leaves no trace of a smell.

3. It’s cheaper in the long run. You don’t have to buy a new cup every year, but if there is discoloration (yes, that happens as with any silicone) you can. It costs a bit more when you buy your first cup, but because it’s reusable you don’t need to purchase a box of pads/tampons every month.

4. Its a healthier choice for your body and the environment. Only buy certified menstrual cups because they are FDA approved and makes of medical grade silicone or high grade rubber. In my opinion, tampons were a better choice for me, but menstrual cups are an even better one.

5.Once you get the right insertion/position you will never leak (it seals against the vaginal walls). I haven’t gotten to that point quite yet, I’m still learning, but I’m pretty close. Just use a liner until you get it right. Also, many women and girls believe you bleed a lot during a menstrual cycle, in actuality you do not. Normal amount of blood loss is 30-40ml and can be up to 60ml for those who bleed heavy, in one cycle. Menstrual cups come in the typical sizes of 15-20ml (small) and 30-40ml (large). Do the math (which I’m horrible at) and you shouldn’t overflow in a day, unless you only bleed for one day!

I know you’re probably thinking, well how does this even work? How does it not go leak out? Can you lay down with it? Can you swim with it? Can you do cartwheels with it? The answer is yes. You can do anything with a menstrual cup. Read up on how to use it, there are so many types of folds to get it inside, and with practice it’s quite easy to use. Watch a video of someone who explains how it works. Do the research.

I am about to start my 6th cycle with the menstrual cup and I cannot be happier. The only struggle I have with it right now is getting the right routine down for dumping/re-inserting in public restrooms. Some bring water bottles in and rinse over the toilet, some use napkins or wipes to clean it out before re-inserting. I’ve done both, but because you can leave it in for so long, I’ve only had to change it in public maybe 3 times?

Here is a picture of the brand that I use. I have both small (in the color pink) and large (in the color purple), and use small on my lighter days.

I swear it’s worth it. Menstrual cups are a definite yay for me. It has never inhibited me from doing anything. I try my best to get all my friends on this healthier choice and some people just can’t get past the blood being collected and having to dump it out and re-insert. Honestly, that’s the best way to to get to know your period and flow, accurately.

I hope you take the plunge, like I did!

Happy curl, happy girl

Signing out,

Curly Island Girl