LITH Vol.7 - Mask Your Troubles

In maintaining the theme of a 'how to spend' your well-deserved summer break, I figured now would be as good a time as any to throw around a few more ideas. Midsummer is upon us and whether you're gearing up for college in the fall as I was just one crazy year ago (eek, another year down) or slaving away at your summer jobs and internships, there must always be time carved out for the all-important Y-O-U. In my last entry, I was pretty vague on all of the wonderful ways to unwind this season, but in the weeks that followed my seemingly-endless job hunt I found myself with, shall we say, plenty of time on my hands.

What's a kid to do when there's...well, nothing to do? Aside from sleeping in until well past noon and eating the fridge and pantry bare, much time went into coming up with productive ways in which to take advantage of the two months left of summer—hopefully any of you thumb-twiddling timeline-scrolling peers will be able to take a little something away from this. So here we go! Fun stuff. If you're feeling a little self-critical and you're inner Regina George just won't give it a rest, then these next few suggestions are so seriously for you. Summer is an easy season to develop a harsh evaluation of oneself and so it is crucial to both recognize the areas in which this evaluation is ridiculous and areas in which you may be serving yourself a nice hot cup of truth tea.

Yes, sometimes there is something to be said for the voice that finally shouts out what others may be saving behind closed lips in scrutinous thought. Maybe you're hair is a bit dull, perhaps you are breaking out more than normal, and maybe it is time to get rid of last season's beat up Jack Purcells but fear not! A little revamping and soon you'll have those others begging for your oh-so-fabulous little tricks and treats. For starters, if skin is your problem there are both a number of possible causes and plausible solutions. During downtime, it is common practice and common error to put pure crap into your body, so do yourself a favor and lay off of the unhealthy midnight snacks for a while. I don't care how tasty it is, there's nothing glamorous about finishing off an entire bag of cheese puffs at 1:00 in the morning. In short, your body puts out what you put in and one of the most obvious points of exit is through the skin. Some quick-fixes include drinking six to eight glasses of water a day, adding a Biotin supplement to your diet, and practicing a little health-stealh in the food department—cut up an apple and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on it! All of that should spruce up your interior nicely, to the point where you can start work on the exterior.

It will come as no surprise to those who are in even the slightest bit of social contact with me that my first recommendation for revitalizing dull skin is (drumroll, leme' hear it) face masks! Face masks are perfect because they're intended to reach just deep enough beneath the surface to freshen up what you already have versus starting from scratch. Facial peels and harsh treatments can certainly be effective but they're both costly and complicated. Running out and grabbing a nightly face mask is so much more simple and fun. Of course, you'll need to do a bit of research to see which will suit your skin type so as not to cause further irritation. In the interest of time I'll recommend starting with LUSH's fresh face masks, they're flawless and will leave you as such. As a side note, if you do desire a bit of a deeper cleanser/exfoliant, then I highly recommend M-61's Power Pro-Peel available at BlueMercury.

Now! On to smaller matters, but important nonetheless. If rescuing dull or damaged hair is on your list then try shampooing every other or even every third day but try and find a really good conditioner to use everyday. If this seems like overdoing it, just hush and try it. Your hair will thank you, and then you will thank me. Also, the Biotin supplement I mentioned earlier (conveniently available at all major thrift stores and pharmacies) will also help with hair strength and growth. To top off your new inner-outer healthy glam routine I suggest running daily. Nothing crazy, just a mile or two on the treadmill, sheesh! Since I seem to have gotten a tad carried away with the tips and tricks in this post, I'll save dealing with wardrobe dos-and-donts for a fall entry—let's all be real, the best clothes are all in the fall lineups anyway.

This all may have seemed like a lot so I'll refer anyone interested in further product suggestions to my Pinterest where I have posted each and every little beautified secret in my closet, right next to those skeletons. Now go forth kiddies, and enjoy the rest of summer...and for goodness sake, put down bag of Cheetos.