Detoxifying Moroccan Red Clay Face Mask

Not too long ago, I picked up a jar of Moroccan Red Clay Powder -- I'm sure there are multiple brands that sell this. I just chose this brand because it was what they had and happened to catch my eye on the shelf. I bought it from a natural grocery store in Ferndale. I love going in there to browse. 

I like clay masks because clay is naturally absorbent meaning it makes a great detox to free your skin (and hair...) of any impurities by absorbing the bad stuff. Next time I want to try a hair mask...

Benefits of Moroccan Red Clay:

• absorbs impurities + cleanses
• moisturizes
• helps protect skin from damage
• soothes 
• tones, evens + balances 
• improves texture
• helps control acne
• safe for sensitive skin

Moroccan Red Clay Mask: 

• 1-2 tsp Moroccan red clay powder
• 1 tsp water (distilled works best)
• 1-2 drops of your favorite soothing and/or aromatic essential oil (optional)

This is basic...just blend until you have a creamy paste and apply to face and/or neck (avoid your eyes...).  Funny, I don't think this is meant to smell good, as you can see in the ingredients there are no added fragrances but I actually like how this smells as is. It's a subtle, sweet and earthy scent. 

Allow to dry completely around 10-15 minutes. If it starts itching, don't torture yourself. Just wash it off early. You may experience some redness depending on how sensitive your skin is and how long you leave it to dry. If you have sensitive skin, I suggest mixing a more watery mixture to reduce drying time. Either way, the redness should disappear back to normal shortly. What you will look like:

What do you think of Moroccan Red Clay?

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Delicious Dark and Stormy + Lychee Gimlet Cocktails

Of course football Saturdays with my friend and vlogger Rita from The Rita Way would be nothing short of Booji. Instead of watching the University of Michigan vs. Minnesota game, (which we won!) we drove to Plum Market and picked up ginger beer, lychee fruit, and sea food appetizers for a mini cocktail party -- for two.

We made our own versions of the classics dark & stormy and gin gimlet. They were both delicious! And perfect for our girls night in. And luckily...we remembered our recipes:

Dark & Stormy:

2 oz. The Kraken black spiced rum

3 oz. Fever Tree ginger beer (currently on sale at Plum Market)

0.5 oz fresh squeezed lime juice (about a little less than a quarter lime) 

Lychee Gimlet:

2 oz. gin

0.5 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

0.5 oz lychee juice (we used the juice from a can of lychee fruit)

1 oz St. Saint Germain Elderflower Liqueur 

To measure, I used my new bartending tool...it's basically 10 utensils in one. Rita gave it to me for a birthday present. I don't have a bar set up yet. But when I do...it will have a permanent home. :) We paired our fancy cocktails with equally fancy brie, toasted baguette, and smoke salmon with cracked peppercorns along with shrimp cocktail. 

To enjoy the Dark & Stormy, you have to like ginger. In all forms. Including liquid. It's delicious--with a strong spicy kick that makes it fun + interesting. I also loved the lychee + elderflower liquor combo. I love floral flavors in general and whenever I see or eat lychee, it immediately brings me back to Thailand. I never tried lychee fruit until I traveled there where they were super popular and cheap. We probably ate them everyday fresh from the local markets wherever we roamed. So naturally, I enjoyed the lychee gimlet just as much. Yum...

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New Hair + New Goals + New Life

I don't really have any good excuses why I haven't blogged in 4 months. But I have some okay ones. I graduated college. (Go Blue). I started a new job...and getting used to 9-5 solid hours every day is rougher than I thought it would be. I'm in the middle of buying a teeny tiny house to call my own (eep, I know right?). I've also started another blog that has been eating up a good amount of my time -- and is worth taking a look at if you enjoy spinach: SpinachBlog.com. I'm still working on it and trying to give it the look and feel I want it to have before running wild and free with it. But it's coming along. 

I'm also working on starting a magazine with a friend from college. When that gets moving...I'll post more about that. For a while over the summer I was working on a preliminary biz plan with my cousin for possibly opening a resto-bar somewhere downtown. I'm not sure which is trickier...figuring out how to even begin to write up a business plan...or figuring out our menu! We're still trying to figure out both... I've also been scheming a possible patent idea. But you know how those work, top secret. All I can say...is it's related to hair (of course). 

And as you might be able to see, my hair has changed a bit. At the end of May right before I graduated, I got a hair cut...that I very much hated. (I can get into that experience in another post.) It's grown a bit since, but the shape is a little different. Longer layers on the top and less choppy. My hair isn't super straight either in this picture...due to a lazy straightening job + lazy touch up. But anyhow...back to mediocre excuses for why I have abandoned my blog + Latidoe store.

Really, the excuse is that I've been busy with a handful of other projects and have put Latidoe on hold. I've also been feeling a bit discouraged with some of my interests. It hadn't even occurred to me that people are actually still visiting my blog...but then I noticed that page views have really only decreased slightly since I've stopped posting. And I also realized there actually are page views at all. Which made me realize that updating my blog is something I should probably continue...

In some ways, my blog essentializes my life and all my interests. The things that I enjoy doing and the little things that make me happy. And I noticed lately since I've been taking up so many new interests...I've lost touch with old ones. And a part of me isn't as happy as I was. So hopefully when I say I am going to make a conscious effort from now onward to dedicate more time to me-time, blogging, and old-loves (crafting, artwork, writing, natural hair, songwriting...a lot), it will be more than words on a page and I hope I actually will. 

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