Reflecting on unnoticed growth. Advice from personal experience. Journal with me!

Growth is so uncomfortable. It really doesn’t feel good. It makes you unsure about your future and worried about changes. It makes you question your own thoughts sometimes and wonder if any of this is worth it. Sometimes you don’t even realize you are going through it, whether that’s mental, emotional or spiritual growth. All you know is that you feel shitty. 

“It’s okay not to be okay as long as you’re not giving up!”

-unknown

Yupp, I think we’ve all been there at some point in our lives. Some of us still don’t recognize growth in our trauma and troubles, but I guarantee you that you came out of that situation, that dark hole, that draining environment, stronger than you even realize. Every event in our lives should be looked at as an opportunity to learn. To learn about perspectives, to learn about your reactions and feelings, to learn about your weaknesses and strengths, to learn about your flaws and be more aware of others’ as well. There’s always a positive in a negative. It’s just a little hard to find sometimes.

We need to congratulate ourselves more often for our big and small wins. Little celebratory dances, night out with friends, a glass of wine, etc. Make your wins obvious to your brain! Remind yourself everyday of how far you have come and how far you will go. It doesn’t matter if you can’t see your next steps or how you will even get to your goals. The path is already created for you, all you have to do is take the first step. Then move on to the next step. Don’t overwhelm yourself thinking too far into the future. You are a much different person than what you were 5 years ago. Because you have grown. A LOT. But did you even notice the growth during those years? Unless you have a good journaling system and practice self-care regularly, you probably didn’t notice much. You also don’t notice that you are currently growing and becoming a whole new person who will be quite different from who you are today. You will continue to change based on your habits, values, priorities and just dealing with life in general!! The important thing to remember is, you are the biggest influence on this change. You are in the driver’s seat.

You waste vital time thinking about the future. Yes, visualizing and manifesting is all good, but taking action is even better if you want to see tangible results. You have to find the time for yourself to do more of what you want to do. Even as a parent, entrepreneur, corporate, business owner, etc. There is at the very least 10-20 minutes that you can take out for yourself every day to take care of you and nurture yourself. Read a book, listen to a podcast, meditate, do some yoga, journal, etc. Whatever it is that brings you peace and sparks your creativity. When you have the opportunity to express your creativity (in any form), you are more likely to feel happiness and fulfillment. And we are all about doing what brings us happiness and filling our cup, because if it’s one thing I know being happy and enjoying life is absolutely a purpose everyone has on this earth.

Don’t you agree?

Here’s a journal prompt for your today… What will you sacrifice today to keep your peace? What will you release control over to improve your mental health and happiness?

Xo, J

3 skin care products to add to your daily routine TODAY (perfect for beginners!) 

Strength Scripted

Hello Hello!!

  I am back and feeling good! How are you?! I hope everything is going great where you are. I hope when you’re reading this that you are in some comfy pajamas, curled up on the couch, got a warm cup of tea or wine- whatever you are feeling this evening, and ideally you have a candle lit as well, creating a nice and cozy vibe. After a long week, it’s time for you to sit back, relax and read helpful ways to improve your skin care with clean beauty products thus improving your self-care routine because that is the goal here- fulfilling our self-care needs. Which, by the way, did you know there are like 8 categories of self- care?? We are most familiar with physical and emotional self-care. That’s the bath bombs, yoga, meditation, journaling, skin care routines, etc. However, it’s important that there is more to self-care than that. There are other areas of your life that also need nurturing. There is physical, emotional, psychological, social, professional, environmental, spiritual and financial self-care. It seems like a lot, but it’s all about balancing and maintaining these areas in your life. We can get more into it in another post (let me know in the comments if you’d like me to write a post on this!). 

Moving on, I wanted to share my top 3 favorite skin care products that are perfect for those who don’t know where to start when it comes to their skin care routine and for those who are looking for a cleaner beauty product to swap your current product with. Since I’m all about using products without any harmful and harsh ingredients, most of the products I recommend are usually safe for most skin types. I’m all about keeping your routines simple so that you can stay consistent!! If you have a 7-step skin care routine, you’re probably not going to be as consistent as you should. So, I want to recommend 3 products to get you started. A cleanser, a moisturizer and a salve (for lips and lashes!). As time goes on and you have a solid routine, then you can start adding or removing certain products and really fine tuning your personal skin care routine based on your skin type and needs. Okay, lets get into it!

tea tree and charcoal face cleansing bar soap

First one up is the tea tree and charcoal face bar soap! My cleanser! The perfect cleanser for most skin types- seriously. I paid $12 for this soap and it lasts MONTHS. It smells reallyyyy good as well which is always a plus during self-care. Fragrance in products is so harmful so when you get natural fragrance from clean beauty products, I always see that as a WIN WIN! Anyways, this soap is gentle enough to use daily and doesn’t leave your face feeling dry like other face cleansers that I have used do. I literally feel like I don’t need to put moisturizer on afterwards! But don’t be silly, apply that moisturizer!!!!!

organic jojoba oil

Number twoooo!! Moisturizer! Again, use your judgment here! I use organic jojoba oil on my face daily after cleansing. I honestly do not cleanse every day because I don’t feel like my skin needs it (it’s on the sensitive side!) so I only use cleanser 3-5 times a week, however, I rinse my face with cold water every single day then apply the organic jojoba oil very lightly. I only pour a tiny amount into my palm then use my finger and basically dip it and gently rub into my skin. A little goes a very long way here. You don’t want to plaster your face with oil because it’ll feel too heavy and suffocated. Any excess can be rubbed into your neck and chest area. Don’t forget to include this part of your body in your skin care routine because it’s one of the first things that age in women so show it some extra love now.

Organic salve

Last but not least, organic salve! I know what you’re thinking, what in the world is salve?? Is that what you put on cuts?! Okay, yes it can be. However, salve can be used for so much more than small scrapes. I have replaced my lip balm with organic salve, and it leaves my lips nice and smooth and shiny, and it doesn’t build up in the corners like chapstick does sometimes. No one has time for that white build up on your lips after reapplying the chapstick that keeps drying out your lips. Yes, you read that right! There are literally ingredients in your chapstick that dries out your lips so that you must reapply- the more you use the more you buy. Save yourself some time! I even found that it gives my lashes a boost when I apply a little salve to them then brush them with a lash brush. Be sure to gently wash your lashes in between uses. (YouTube simple ways to clean your natural eyelashes). You can use salve for many things, but I really love using it on my lips and lashes.

Three super simple products that can really give you the boost you need. Check my other blog post titled “Simple and effective ways to enhance your natural beauty without adding any makeup!” for some straightforward tips on skin care and lash care using the jojoba oil and salve as well as other products you may or may not already have! Click the link to check it out. In the meantime, I hope you benefited from this post!! I hope that it has made you feel more confident and in control of your skin care routine. Little by little you will learn the needs of your skin and know which products will work for you. It’s a journey as well as a trial-and-error process so do your best to not feel overwhelmed about it. Just take one step at a time! You do not need to have it all figured out! You got this! As always, I’m here for you!! So if you have any questions just shoot me a message! (Check the contact tab for my info and social handles).

Now go be great, darling!

xo, J