Is Your Skincare and Makeup Routine Toxic? Mine Was. Here’s How I Changed That!

I’ve always loved beauty products. When I was a tweenager, I would go into a Victoria’s Secret, or a Bath and Body Works, and come out smelling like a very cheap, very young hooker. Rude, but true. I mean, what thirteen-year-old girl can resist rubbing something called “Amber Romance” into her skin and topping it off with a Strawberries and Champagne body spray? Not this one. My father spent years making it very well known that I smelled like an unbearable chemical hooker bomb. Every morning after my daily lotioning and spritzing routine, he would remark in a disgusted voice, “Oh, GOD, Have you been creaming again?” As a teenager, I thought he was being a real oversensitive Daddy Doofus, but as an adult, and as someone who’s struggled with chronic illness and chemical sensitivity (and, honestly, as someone who has inherited that same very sensitive Italian Dad Nose), I can tell you that stuff was simply no good. Have you ever tried to walk into one of those lotion-y, cream-y stores as a sensible Italian-nosed adult? Not to be dramatic, but it’s essentially like walking into chemical cupcake hell. Okay, that was dramatic — but, like, totally correct. […]

Tips To Detoxify Your Skincare + A Non-Toxic Skincare Giveaway From Luminance Skincare {Gluten-Free, Vegan & Raw}

I’ve spent the last two years on a furious mission to heal from chronic illness. This has meant taking a look at the food I eat, the environment I’m in, the cleaning products I use, and all of the factors that could potentially be adding to the toxic load within my system. This also means taking another look at the beauty and skincare products I put on my face, since anything you put onto your skin is absorbed into your body with as much expediency as if you put it into your mouth and chewed it. It’s kind of gross to think about putting soap or face-wash into your mouth, and I’m not suggesting you should. This isn’t A Christmas Story, and I’m not Ralphie’s Mom. But, wouldn’t it be great if the products used on your face were so safe and non-toxic that you wouldn’t have to contact poison control if you accidentally took a bite out of the soap (yeah, but don’t–k, thanks)? Yes. The answer is yes. How great would it be to flip over your face wash or moisturizer and only find ingredients that you can pronounce, identify, and knew to be nourishing!? Really freakin’ great.

As luck would have it, I found Luminance Skincare a couple of months ago. Their products are gluten-free (because, yes…gluten totally hides in skincare and that sucks), vegan, and raw to boot! They sent me some samples, and from the first wash I was hooked. So, today we’re teaming up to chat about non-toxic skincare, the art of washing one’s face, as well as giving away a whole set of their beautifully-made skincare products (happy holidays to YOU!). […]

A Few Words On Body Shaming

Body shaming is definitely a thing, and I did it to myself today.

This afternoon I wrote my Mom on Facebook, begging her to remove photos she posted on her Timeline of my recent visit to Los Angeles. They were family photos. Candids she had snapped while we were all in the pool together. I saw myself sitting hunched over in a swimsuit and I lost it. I cried. A little voice in my head woke up and began berating me like a mean girl in the high school cafeteria. “You’re disgusting,” it said. “You need to get these photos down immediately before anyone can see them–you don’t want people to know what you look like right now. Hide it. Take them down. Also, you’re worthless.” […]

Oh. Em. Gee. Time to PARTY! It’s A Relaunch Celebration + Giveaway!!!

You guys!! Welcome to the NEW So…Let’s Hang Out. Do you like my new digs?

I’m kind of freaking out right now. Like, more than a little. Hyperventilating maybe. Definitely doing a little bit of a happy ugly-cry  This transformation has been months in the making, and I’m just so happy to be sharing it with you all. I feel like a bit of  a crazy person to be weeping over a new site design… but, this little corner of the web and the community that we’ve built has become my baby. Is it weird to call a community a baby? I don’t even know. Don’t hold it against me. I’m busy doing jazz hands with a side of tears. I’m ready to party with you, drink a cocktail and then maybe go to sleep for a solid thirteen hours. All the emotions, friends. All of them. Who wants a hug? I’m feeling sappy. […]