a diy facial cleanser that actually works

i have tried a lot of facial cleansers in my day. everything from aveeno to neutrogena and most recently to trader joe's. nothing seemed to be the perfect fit for my skin. between washes, my face would get oily, but then after i would wash it, my skin would feel tight and in certain areas, become super dry and flaky. and even though i am nearing 30 (wow that is weird to say), i still break out every now and again (thanks hormones!). so i started digging around for other solutions and settled on trying a make-your-own which consisted of extra virgin olive oil and castor oil both of which i already had on hand! i would be lying if i said that i wasn't a little nervous about washing my face with 2 oils but it is actually really good for your skin. rubbing it on your face removes the dirty oil and replaces it with good oil. i have been using it for over a week now and my skin has never looked better. it is so much softer, the color is more vibrant and healthy-looking and my break-out prone areas are clearing up!




here are the ratios for skin types:

normal skin= one-to-one ratio of castor oil and EVOO.
acne-prone or oily skin= three parts castor oil to one part EVOO (this is what i go by)
drier skin= one part castor oil to three parts EVOO

the nice thing about these ratios is they can be adjusted if one isn't working well or could work better.

all you do is rub a quartered-sized amount of the oil mixture onto your dry skin, massage for about a minute, then take a hot washcloth and cover your face so you are essentially steaming out your pours. let that sit until it is room temperature, rinse the washcloth and wipe the oil off.

do this once a day and you're on your way to healthier, softer skin! (wow i sound like a t.v. ad...but it's true!)

clémence's first birthday!

it finally came! it was such a whirlwind of planning and handmaking things for the few months prior that when it was the actual day, it was so nice to just be able to relax and celebrate our beautiful daughter and the most incredible year for jeremiah and i. it was a french soiree that included a grilled cheese bar, mimosas, lemon rosemary cookies and madeleines, a photobooth with disguises, an awesome (if i do say so myself) and handpicked french 1960's pop music playlist, and the closest and most incredible 50 people in our life!

we asked a family friend (who also happens to be a great photographer...lucky us!) if she would be so kind as to take photographs that day so i wouldn't have to worry about catching everything and actually just BE in all those moments. you will have to forgive me for the amount of pictures that are to follow...there were so many good ones that it was hard for me to narrow them down!

the birthday girl!!

                                                             
                                                                   photobooth fun!

cake time!

backyard transformation

we have lived in our home for about a year and a half now. when we first purchased it, this is what the backyard looked like:

as we were focusing on things inside, it stayed this way for a little while, but slowly we began to fix it up. first, we had the fence fixed and painted...along with the storage shed after we moved that into the

far corner. 

 after that, we created an oval, bordered it with bricks, and grew some grass. then ordered 13 tons of rock and shoveled it ourselves because it saved us over a grand and honestly the weather has been so nice this winter i really didn't mind it much at all. once the grass grew in, we set up a play area on one side with a sandbox, some toys, and a swing that we built from a wooden, thrift store chair. we finished our pallet table (previous post) and called it a day (or more like a few months). here's our backyard now:

it is incredible the difference. where we once never really went back there (because what was the point?), now we play outside at least once a day if not more!