A week without posting!
Now I know I could go through each day on my trip, but I’ve decided to do an overall summary. I didn’t wear make up and it felt really great. I did run into a few problems though with my skin.
On the third day I broke out into a strange rash. I’m not sure if it was from using a different type of lotion, or applying lots of sunscreen, or just not being exposed to the sun for far too long, but it wasn’t all to comfortable. All around the outer corners of my eyes, my skin broke out into tiny bumps. It lasted for a few days before slowly fading away and as I rubbed coconut oil on my face I repeated to myself,
“I love my skin, I love my skin, I love my skin”
I stopped using sunscreen after that and I did get quite a bit of vitamin D in, but tried not to push it. There was alot of hiking and climbing around the desert. I saw a coyote and even got to photograph a herd of wild burros. There was also a quick trip to Death Valley, where my family and I played in the many flowers of the rare Super Bloom. It was alot of fun, but it didn’t take long for the sun to wear us down. Towards the latter half of my trip the skin of my chin dried up and felt extremely chapped, it really began to hurt.
When I was younger I got acne before everyone else. In grade 6, I experienced the more acne than most kids at my school, and I went to a very very large school. My problem areas were my entire face, but mostly the “T zone” My forehead, my nose, my hairline, and then off of my face. My back, my chest, and even my arms were covered in breakouts. I was so uncomfortable in my skin that I wouldn’t wear shirts that didn’t cover my back, which only made it much worse.
Lately though I have experienced strange breakouts for me around my chin line which has never been a common problem area for me. I’ve only had it happen a few times, but my skin dries up and then breaks out. So I figured I would make an all natural exfoliator using oatmeal, almonds, and coconut oil. I blended the dry ingredients and mixed in the oil, then showered and scrubbed my face with my concoction. It smelt great, but was a bit harsher than my skin could handle. I started feeling so uncomfortable that I became irritable and touchy.
My skin and I were thankful to not cover up with makeup.
It’s easy to pretend like you have it all together, but it takes strength to let go of the way we wish to appear, of the person you wish you were. But the truth is no matter how much makeup you wear and no matter how much you focus on what you want to be, it feels so much better to accept yourself right now. It is instant relief.
I’m beginning to realize just how much I have to let go of, but I can also see the a fraction of what liberation truly feels like.
The last two days of the trip my family and I stayed in the city of Las Vegas where we had a lot of fun spending time together. I definitely am not a city girl though, and I will probably have to wash my clothes twice to get out the smell of the cigarettes that filled the air of the casino. As soon as I walked into the place, my eyes began to burn, and it might of taken me a few more drinks to let loose than I am proud of, but times like these are once in a blue moon.
As I passed through security at the airport, a security women asked me how old I was and when I told her I was 23 she was amazed at how young I appear to be. I always feel like I look like I’m 16 with make up and 12 without it. I know it isn’t a bad thing, obviously, but I’ve always felt like it’s been a battle for me to be taken seriously.
When we got back to Vancouver, I could literally feel the water in the air. My skin is already going back to normal and after a long shower and some tender loving care with my lovely Andalou moisturizers, I am feeling like we are back on the same team again.
I will post again tomorrow with some photos from the trip and a current update on the skin. Until then, take care of each other.
Much Love
❤
The Skin Liberation 