5 Skincare Mistakes I was Making
Friday, 25 September 2020
My whole life, the only thing I ever did to my skin was stay hydrated by drinking shit tons of water. I was lucky enough to spend most of my teen years with clear skin and only using an everyday moisturiser.
But in the process of learning, I was missing out on so many other things. There is just so much information out there, I was taken aback with how wrong I had it.
In saying that, if you hadn't guessed from the title alone, today's post is about the 5 skincare mistakes I was making with added tips on how to correct them.
Just a disclaimer that I'm no skincare expert. Just an enthusiast who wants to share her own personal experiences and methods. It's up to you how you ingest this information but always consult your doctor whenever you want to change it up.
Here we go:
- Purchasing products for the skin I wanted-- not the skin I had.
It's so incredibly important that you treat the skin that you have, not the skin you're longing to have. I was stupidly buying the products that I thought would *give* me clear skin, when I had to treat the problems first. - Rubbing the facial oil/serum all over the face rather than pressing it in.
This was the silliest thing I could have done. Now that I think about it, it makes so much more sense to press it in rather than rubbing it all over. I think looking back, it was more so my mum-mode-activated that had me rushing and rubbing the product into my skin rather than the latter. Rubbing essentially damages the skin and cancels out the work the product could potentially be doing your skin. So take your time and press in that oil/serum. - Using my bath towel to dry my face after a shower or after applying my skincare routine.
Although it is your bath towel and you're fresh out of the shower so you consider yourself *clean*, it still holds a lot of bacteria because you do wipe your entire body with it. Adding a face towel to my routine has been a game changer. I found my skin clearing up within a week or two when I switched over to a face towel. I suggest buying a week's worth or so, and if possible, switch it out every day, or else every week should suffice too. - Rubbing my face dry instead of pat drying.
So this goes hand in hand with the tip above. Now that you've got a new face towel, work on pat drying rather than rubbing the towel all over your face. Just like with skincare products, rubbing can seriously damage your skin, and with something as rough as a towel, it can do more damage than good. Pat drying is more gentle and effective at maintaining your skin's best appearance! - Using the same cleanser for everything.
Ok, so this one isn't too bad. Some people prefer to use the same cleanser because it's what works best for them and what their skin really truly loves. But for me, I found that my skin would love one and then get too used to it, so it wouldn't work as well as when I first tried it. So switching out my cleansers for what my skin needs at that time was what worked for me.
An extra tip I would also like to share is: Wash your hands for 20 seconds before cleansing.
I'm sure we all know how important hygiene is - especially in today's society with an ongoing pandemic, we're all aware of how vital it is to maintain proper hand hygiene. This is the same for skincare. Before you cleanse your face, you want to make sure your hands have been washed for 20 seconds, or else you're basically transferring the bacteria back onto your face.I'm fairly certain that there are many other skincare mistakes I've done in the past (or even potentially could be doing right now) but these are the main ones I noticed and really took the time to change.
Anyway, I hope you learnt a thing or two from this post. May you have beautiful, glowing skin!
I'd love to know some of your own skincare mistakes and what you did to reverse them!
Leave a comment on this blog post or follow me on Instagram (@danicasarza) and leave a comment/send me a DM there. I always love learning from you guys and I love chatting and getting to know you.
Much love,
Danica Janine x
Our Breastfeeding Journey
Thursday, 6 August 2020
"Breastfeeding is empowering. It's an accomplishment that takes dedication I didn't realise I possessed!"
When I got pregnant at 15, I didn't know a thing about parenting, much less the difference between bottle feeding and breastfeeding. Not to toot my own horn but I had no idea I would be such a natural at breastfeeding after I gave birth to my son, and then again when I had my daughter 8 years later. Don't get me wrong, fed is always best. So whether you're a new mama who's decided to bottle feed, or you've stopped breastfeeding a bit after having bub, as long as your baby is happy and fed, that is all that matters. Believe that.
I was never really appreciative of the fact that I was able to breastfeed both my kids for a little over two years, in fact, in majority of those moments, I felt that breastfeeding was such a burden and I struggled consistently with being the main source of nutrients for my kids. I wanted my time back. I wanted my boobs back. I just wanted my body back. But we saved so much money on formula and when I finally dried up, my kids were eating proper food and having milk and water regularly.
 |
I realise now that I was very fortunate to have been able to breastfeed for as long as I did. That's not to say that it wasn't hard and that I didn't spend many days and nights just crying from the pain, exhaustion or lack of patience and freedom I had, but it was something really beautiful that helped me bond with my baby.
Breastfeeding is different for every woman.
With Ethan, breastfeeding was such a breeze. My milk came in right after birth and he latched immediately. We had no problems whatsoever, but because Blair was 4 weeks early, my milk hadn't come in yet and our journey was a little more trying, if I do say so myself.
I wasn't too worried though because I knew in a matter of hours after birth, I knew it would come rolling through. As if my body would just immediately know that my baby was out and needed to be fed. But because she was technically premature, she had to be sent off to the NICU while I had to heal upstairs in the maternity ward. So I was constantly taking trips down to try to feed her. But the more I tried, the less it was working and the more hungry my baby was getting. Eventually, the baby nurses started suggesting I just give my baby formula, but I was adamant on breastfeeding *only* because it was all I ever knew, and I had the misconception that if my baby had a first taste of formula, that was all she would want - which absolutely isn't the case at all.
We spent a whole day of me trying to wait for my milk to come through, trying to latch her on and seeing if she was getting anything (which she wasn't) and that same night, I had a nurse literally massage my boobs with her hands to get the colostrum going [the first stage of breastfeeding, much thicker milk, is high in protein and minerals.] But still, no such luck. I was so frustrated. Why was my body, my boobs betraying me so much? I was also very hormonal, coming straight from giving birth, so of course, naturally, I'd started crying.
The reason they couldn't let me take my baby up to the maternity ward and out of the NICU was because she was just a smidge underweight at birth (+ 4 weeks premature.) The nurses kept reminding me that it might be best if I were to just give her formula to get her weight up, and then continue working on the breastfeeding upstairs. After crying to my husband about it for a while, I finally caved and he convinced me that it was what was best for our baby at the time, so we gave her a bottle of formula and she took it down like a champ. And with a few more feeds, the following day, the doctors checked on her weight and she had put on enough for us to finally be able to get her out of the NICU and into the maternity ward with me, hoping to be discharged soon after.
That whole experience sounds so trivial. It was literally only a day and a half, but in the moments after birth, it felt like an entire week. I was so out of the loop when it came to what date or time it was. I just knew I felt like I was failing. But it's important for me to share that with you all because some of you may be currently struggling, or may be nervous about not being able to breastfeed. And trust me, that is so okay. You will be okay, and in the end, you will undoubtedly do what is best for your baby.
Soon after that, the nurses in the maternity ward had me using my breast pump to get my milk going, and without a doubt, it finally was coming through and strong, might I add! My boobs were literally creating the nutrients and healthy anti-oxidants my baby needed, and it was such a relief and so incredible that my body was able to project such a thing from my own body.
She latched on perfectly and it was so quick for us to find the right groove of breastfeeding, together. Don't get me wrong, the first few days are always painful as hell, and I'm pretty sure my nipples cracked and bled for quite a bit, but I was just so happy to be connecting with my baby like that. Nothing else mattered. Days and weeks followed and my milk was definitely here and here to stay. It got to the point where I had to be pumping when she wasn't feeding because my milk would come through and it was so painful where my boobs would go rock hard. So to relieve the pain, pumping was such a necessity and I had literally 4 months worth of milk stored away!
Having so much milk come through, to the point where I had to pump also gave my husband the opportunity to connect with our baby, by feeding her breastmilk through the baby bottle.
For the longest time, I really hated the fact that I had to give up my body, my boobs and my time to breastfeed my babies. It was annoying and I was frustrated at the fact that we already go through childbirth and then we have to do this too? It felt like my whole world was changing so much and I wasn't nearly prepared for it. But there were also often times where all I wanted to do was be in bed with my baby, breastfeeding. Staring at their cute faces and creating this beautiful, irreplaceable and strong bond.
I think about it now post-breastfeeding and I miss those special moments with my kids. There's honestly nothing like it, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, if I could do it over, I would do it all exactly the same.
How long you breastfeed doesn't diminish the fact that you did in fact breastfeed, whether it was two months or two weeks. It doesn't erase all of the hard work you went through and it certainly doesn't make you less of a mother. Breastfeeding varies between each mother and baby, and you should never feel like you failed in any type of way if it only lasted a few days. What matters is you did what was best for you and your baby.
This was our breastfeeding story, and I'm happy to have shared it with you all ♡
Happy World Breastfeeding Week!
27 Things I'm Grateful For
Thursday, 7 May 2020
Being stuck in quarantine has given me a lot of time to think and reminisce about the last 27 years of my life. The good, the bad, the beautiful and all the trials and lessons I've learnt and grown from.
In the last 27 years, I've had some major life milestones and events, such as carrying through a teenage pregnancy, becoming a teen mum, graduating from high school and fashion college, getting engaged to the love of my life, having our second baby and ultimately finally getting married to my best friend. I feel like I've lived 40 years worth of life in just a matter of 27 years, which is crazy, but I wouldn't change it for anything at all.For some reason, turning 27 this year has been more of an eye-opening and pivotal moment than turning 25 two years ago did. It's strange to think about; that I'm already almost 30 yet there's still so much I have left to do and experience in this lifetime. So many groan at the thought of getting closer to their 30's, and getting older in general, but me, I can't wait to be thirty, flirty and thriving! But seriously, I've been mistaken enough as a teenager, I'm done. I know a lot of people say having a bay face is a blessing in disguise but ya girl is just over it and wants to be able to be taken seriously.
♡
Something I wanted to touch on in this post was 27 Things I Learnt in the last 27 Years but it was a lot harder than I thought. There was no way I was going to bang it out in one afternoon. So instead, I want to list 27 Things I'm Grateful For. Here we go!
1. My family - this goes without saying because without my parents, I literally would not be here; without my brothers, growing up would have been boring; and without my grandparents and cousins; I wouldn't know the value and adoration for family like I do because distance certainly makes the heart grow fonder. And without my husband or my kids, my life would just be colour-less and lacking love and joy.
2. My friends - the family you choose. It's funny because throughout high school we called ourselves "The Fam" because right from the get go, we felt like a huge, lovable, sometimes unconventional family and till today, they're exactly that. We may not see each other as often as we'd please but the presence of the love will always be there. No matter what.
3. My bestie - someone I met much later in my life but time and time again goes to prove that it doesn't matter how long you've known someone but what matters is how often they're there for you and prove it. She is my rock, and I could not be more thankful for her best friendship being in my life.
4. Having a roof over my head - I'll always be thankful to live in a modern, simple yet beautiful home in a great neighbourhood that I feel safe raising my kids in. I really couldn't ask for more.
5. Having food on the table - another thing I'll always be thankful for. It's a basic life essential yet many families go without, so today and every day, I'm grateful that we have food to feed our family.
6. My family's health - especially in today's circumstances with the fear of this pandemic, I'm grateful for the health of my kids, my husband and myself. Our Australian healthcare system is also something I'm really glad is of priority in our country to support our communities because healthcare shouldn't be given out based off of class income. It's a basic human right.
7. Being in the right financial situation for me to be able to stay home with my kids - this is something I struggle with because as great as it would be for us to thrive financially if I were to have gone back to work immediately after our daughter was born, it wasn't what was right for our family. Now we may not have the right finances to buy our own home or much less, rent our own home, but for now, this is what's working for us to reach our life goals in the near future. It's all about patience. But I'm thankful that we're in the right place in life for me to be able to stay home with our kids and raise them as well-mannered, honest and wonderful people of the world.8. The bad days so that I can appreciate the good days more - when I'm going through a bad day, it honestly just sucks and my mood bounces off onto other people and I feel even more horrible. But without those bad days, I wouldn't be able to feed off of the feelings and joy I get from the really wonderful days. It can't all be one sided. Life is a beautiful mixture of both and I think the sooner we learn and appreciate that, the better everyday can be!
9. My room / space of sanctuary - I absolutely love my bedroom which is why I'm so excited to one day have our own home and make that house our little sanctuary. My room is my comfort zone. My safe zone. I love it so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be able to style it the way I want (thanks to my husband also for letting me make it as girly as I want without ever feeling emasculated.)
10. Coffee - I mean, need I say more? ☕️
11. Fresh or faux flowers - even though fresh florals make me a bit sneezy, I do love a gorgeous bouquet when the occasion calls for it. But artificial flowers are just as beautiful and I love how the freshen and brighten up any space. Heck, when I'm on a walk and see a neighbour's garden with beautiful flowers, I instantly have a smile on my face.
12. Music that gets me singing or dancing - if you know me personally, you know I have a very typical pop girl music taste. Taylor Swift gets me crying, Ariana Grande gets me dancing and Kehlani gets me in a whole moooOoood. But I just love any music that makes me feel good and makes me dance around or really get in my feelings. I'm partial to absolutely anything that's love to my ears.
13. Having a platform that lets me share all the things I love and enjoy - my Instagram has been a great place for me to connect with likeminded people. It's been so great making friends on there and sharing all of our different passions and opinions. I'm so grateful for a platform to be able to do something like that!
14. The opportunity to travel - my last overseas trip was to America and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to be able to take my daughter to meet my family over there. Experiencing NYC all over again was also so magical because this time it was Winter so it was snowing and Wintertime; my favourite. We have other plans to travel once this pandemic mess is over, so I'm thankful for that.
15. The sisterhood I formed with my cousins-in-law - so my husband's side of the family is rather huge and so he has a whole bunch of cousins which came as a shock for me considering I can count my cousins on one hand. Over the course of my 14 year relationship with my husband, I'd grown close to a few of them (one I actually went to primary school with years ago and had no idea I'd end up marrying her cousin!) and till today, I am so incredibly thankful for their infectious laughs, caring concerns for me and my little family's wellbeing, their friendship and most of all, welcoming me into the family long before I legally married into it! They're much like the sisters I never had because I can literally come to them for absolutely anything.
16. The time I spent studying at The Fashion Institute - probably my favourite years ever. Granted it was only 1.5-2 years of my existence but it was seriously the best experience ever. It had been a lifelong dream of mine to attend fashion school and to proudly say I'm a fashion graduate is ever so empowering and fulfilling.
17. My relationship with my son - as he gets older, I appreciate him becoming his own person more and more. Someone with his own opinions, views and values. I've seen this little boy turn into this young adult and our relationship has evolved so many times, I honestly could not be prouder of who this kid is growing into.
18. My relationship with my daughter - this girl is one to be reckoned with. The world needs to get ready for what she has to offer because she is feisty, loud and powerful. But she's also so sweet, caring and sensitive.
19. My relationship and marriage with my husband - I will never stop being thankful for all that this guy has done for me and our little family. Honestly, the most amazing man ever and I am so lucky to have him as my partner for life. We've been together for half our lives (yup, you read that right) and there's still so much adventure and life to go through together. Life would suck without him (and our babies, of course.)20. Cosy pyjamas, fluffy blankets and candles - something a little more lighthearted; because Autumn/Winter are my favourite seasons and I wouldn't get by without these things. They are so essential during this time of year and I'm thankful that they exist. (Also very thankful that they are considered brilliant gifts for Mother's Day. I will never run out!)
21. New skincare and makeup - ahhh, the simple joys in life. I'm a hoarder and thankfully my side hobby is reviewing and testing out new beauty products because nothing is as satisfying as opening a brand new bottle of skincare or makeup. I'm also very thankful for what skincare and makeup do for my skin. It's not a form of covering up at all, but enhancing and accentuating what I already have and love about myself. Beauty itself is also just really fun, and it should be normalised more to just have fun with it than made to look ridiculous or self-obsessed.
22. Being able to work with numerous reputable and wonderful brands - this goes hand in hand with what I was talking about in the previous point, but I'm so incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to work with so many wonderful brands and companies. It's still surreal to me that they enjoy my content enough to want to send me stuff, but I'm just so thankful regardless that I'm deemed worthy enough. It's a lot of fun and I love finding new brands and products to love and share with my friends and audience!
23. The colour pink (blush pink, to be precise) - if you know, you know 💗 (Apple, it's really about time you made a blush pink heart emoji btw)
24. The sunshine in a cool breeze - absolute perfect weather and I'm grateful for it. It's also one of the many reasons why I love living in beautiful Australia.
25. Self care / pamper nights - totally, completely and absolutely necessary. A high-priority essential! I am so grateful for self care days / nights. Treating yourself to a disturb-free, scented, relaxing bath while you plop a face mask on, wine in hand with some mellow music as the lights dim and the candles brighten small parts of the bathroom is all any woman wants.
26. Our Dyson cordless vacuum - thought this was a funny thing to include because ever since we got our Dyson vacuum, I have spent many days just being SO grateful for it coming into our lives when it did. Especially when you have kids who make a mess in a matter of seconds then run away, this vacuum is such a lifesaver! It's my 'adulting' pride and joy, honestly.
27. Another year to count my blessings - thankful to have had another trip round the sun. Here's to 27!
♡
I've never been a "birth week" type of girl. I much prefer celebrating the wonderful people in my life than myself which is why I've always tried to keep my birthday on the down-low year after year. A celebratory dinner here and there. But this year felt different. I'm turning 27 on the 7th of May and it seemed like quite a milestone for me to be reaching so in the beginning of the year, I had planned for a larger than average shindig to celebrate; then the pandemic happened and my plans were put to a complete halt. I was sad for like a second, but then I picked up my heels and decided to go abso-effing-lutely extra AF and do a fun little at-home birthday photo shoot! Hey, who says only infants could do this?!
Thanks to my incredible husband, who is quickly becoming an ~*Instagram husband*~ and trust me when I say I'm impressed that he manages to capture the inspiration I've got floating in my mind, but don't let him hear me say that because he'll totally eat up the glory for weeks to come. Although now I've got some stunning photos to keep in my memories forever to mark my 27th birthday as being glamorous and extravagant despite being stuck at home.
I just wanted some way to commemorate my 27th birthday and now that we achieved and nailed this so well, I feel like I want to make this a yearly thing because this was so much fun and I absolutely love the way the photos turned out. Nothing feels better than your visions coming to life better than expected like this!
♡
Love always,
Danica Janine x
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Social Icons