aries

Things have been quite weird around here because of the corona virus. I haven’t been at work in about a week and a half, I haven’t left the house in days, and my only constant at the moment are my two cats.

I’m already so much of a home body, so during this time I’ve been doing my best not to allow this to put me in a rut, since I don’t have a job that allows me to work from home. It is easy to get caught up in binge watching a series on Netflix, or get stuck in a tik-tok black hole, but I am determined to use this time to occupy my mind and not get stuck in a cycle as I’ve done before.

So far, I’ve mostly been cooking, cleaning, taking care of my plants, playing with the cats. Yesterday I took some time out to be ~creative and did some drawing on my tablet which was a lot of fun and was a good exercise for my brain. I want to get back into some old habits that I’ve neglected due to depression and stress such as painting, drawing, sewing, and photography.

I also plan to use this time to practice self-care by trying to get into a routine and possibly try meditating. It’s been really easy going to sleep at 2am and waking up at 10, but I think getting into a routine of waking up early and doing some at home exercises would be a good way to keep my body active when it’s so tempting to just laze around.

I recently tried out a few products from the brand Formulate, which is a brand that asks a series of questions to create a shampoo and conditioner perfectly suited for you. I tracked how my hair and scalp reacted when using these products in a log, and here are my honest thoughts.

Some background Info:

Before using formulate, my routine was shampoo, condition, volume/(thicc)ening spray, and a little bit of a light gel/hair lotion for curl definition. Typically, using styling products after my wash is essential to help retain moisture. Without them, my hair is pretty frizzy, lacking definition, and flat. With the routine I practiced before, my hair may hold the curl/style for maybe one or two days before I have to wash and repeat. This is a little frustrating, seeing as I already am already prone to itchy/sensitive scalp, and washing my hair every other day only results in dryer hair/scalp. 

Requests for Formulate:

When placing my order with Formulate, I asked to focus on hair Strengthening, since my hair is on the finer side, Lengthen, Prevent thinning, Curl definition, and Volumnize. They also give additional options of if you want your formula to be vegan, silicone-free, gluten-free, etc. One thing I found odd, was while I filled out my quiz, they suggested adding silicone. I’ve always heard that silicones were not great for your hair, but I decided to go and trust them on this part and added silicones. I personally don’t recall that I’ve had a negative experience with silicones in the past, so I figured it couldn’t hurt.

The Test:

So after my first wash with Formulate, I had great results. I did notice my hair felt a little heavier than before, almost as if I hadn’t washed the conditioner out thoroughly, but my hair still retained a great amount of volume and curl definition, so I kind of ignored it. This may have been from the silicones, but my hair did feel stronger after one wash. I also noticed a lot less shedding/scalp irritation compared to other shampoos I’ve used, so this was also a plus.

After my second/third time using it (which was maybe 3-4 days later), I noticed the same weighed down feeling that I experienced after my first wash, except this time there was no volume accompanied, so that bothered me a little. It almost felt/looked like my hair was not thoroughly washed. On the plus side, my hair did feel very moisturized and thicker even without using a follow up leave-in conditioner, but on the negative side, it felt kind of heavy on my hair. Luckily, because of the quarantine, I didn’t need to leave the house. 

On my fourth time using this set, I experienced the same curl definition, volume, and moisture that I did after the first use. I also deep conditioned my hair, which could have added more moisture/oils, but I made sure to rinse twice to thoroughly remove any excess product. My hair felt and looked unbelievable! Seriously. It was very soft and my curls had a great amount of bounce that I’ve never seen them have before, especially without any follow up products. My hair even retained this amount of curl definition for about 4 days which is craaaazy to me. My hair rarely does that, especially being at the shorter length that it currently is at. (The photo below is a picture of my hair at day 4.)

Final Verdict:

As far as pros, I loved that this product didn’t irritate my scalp, as I have sensitive skin and have had to ditch holy grail products due to them irritating my skin. So not having an itchy scalp after washing is a plus. I also like that I didn’t have a ton of hair loss in the shower, as that is also common for me. 

The conditioner had a ton of slip which made detangling a breeeeeeze.

This product made my hair feel very moisturized and never stripped. I love that it was able to hold my light curls for extended periods of time.

Also as I mentioned before, it did follow through on what I asked for as far as less frizz, curl definition, and volume. I got my set in the scent Verdant, which smells really floral/earthy. I love it.

For cons, I would say in the beginning, the fact that the bottles aren’t labeled was a bit confusing. I would sometimes end up shampooing my hair twice or conditioning my hair when I should have shampooed first. So I think some labels on there would be helpful.

As I mentioned before, there was a little bit of an adjustment period of my hair adjusting to the silicones (I suspect–it could be the product as a hole) where my hair did feel a little bit weighed down. For my next set, I may try it without silicones and see how my hair reacts.

Would I recommend this product? Definitely. I feel like the questions asked in the beginning were detailed enough and did follow through on what I asked for. If you are new to trying out custom hair care, I think this is a great affordable option compared to Prose or other brands, and the reps who I talked to were also very helpful. 

If you’d like to try out Formulate for yourself for free, I have a giveaway that you can enter here: https://www.formulate.co/g/jelloadventures

Demir kapı, kör pencere,

Yastığım, ranzam, zincirim,

Uğruna ölümlere gidip geldiğim,

Zulamdaki mahzun resim,

Haberin var mı ?

Görüşmecim, yeşil soğan göndermiş,

Karânfil kokuyor cigaram..

Dağlarına bahar gelmiş memleketimin...

/Ahmed Arif

Muted Illustrations by Jessie Chen

Strongly influenced by social issues, fashion and human emotion, Australian illustrator Jessie Chen’s (aka Jyxchenr) most recent body of work makes use of subtle pastel shades, bold strokes and solid block colors.

This year I have done a ton of decluttering of my closet/home, but I recently have been feeling to be a little more hesitant when it comes to tossing things out. 

I’m trying to be a little more mindful of the things that I toss out–am I tossing it because I truly don’t need/use it, or am I tossing it because a minimalistic aesthetic YouTube vlogger told me to?–along with the things that I continue to incorporate into my home or wardrobe.

I wouldn’t categorize myself a minimalist at all, although I have been inspired by minimalism for years. Instead, I call myself an essentialist. I keep the things I know I need. I have my bits and bobs, but by no means deprive myself of the things I love. I don’t live in excess, just comfortable.

So far this year, I have edited down my closet to the things that I wear the most, which is about half of the clothes that I started with when my boyfriend and I moved into this apartment. I am comfortable with the amount of things I own, for now. I have tossed a few things that I regretted, but it’s not the end of the world. It definitely does make me feel a lot lighter and helps with my anxiety knowing that I am not eternally overwhelmed by material things. I feel an internal conflict, being as I went to school for fashion design and love looking and possessing things that are fashionable, vintage, trendy, etc., but I guess that’s all part of the learning process!

a day off

I had the past two days off, which I spent mostly cleaning, cooking, and organizing some plants. It felt good to have some time just to get my life together, because it feels that it has been a while since I’ve done that.

since starting my no buy month of October, I have slipped up a couple of times 😅but I have also been keeping track of my purchases/want list. so far this month, the purchases I have made I don’t regret, and most of which (besides misc. food) were on sale!

so far this month I have bought:

Hello old friends!

I took a well needed rest and am looking forward to starting this new month on the right foot!

Since February, I started my usual closet decluttering because I noticed I had a lot of items in my closet that I just wasn’t in love with anymore. Even some of which, I brought with me on vacation to the Philippines. If you watched my last vlog that I posted, I took about 15 clothing items total (not including hat, swimsuit, undergarments) and even those did not all get worn during my 1 and a half month long visit.

Realizing this made me wonder, do we simply use less than what is presented, just because we have the option to? During a 1 month time period, I know I typically wear more than just 15 clothing items when it comes to the options that I have in my closet here in the States. But when I was only allotted the bare minimum, even that felt like too much. I didn’t even buy any more clothes while on my vacation, I only wore what I packed.

Once I arrived back home, I was reminded of all of my possessions. Most of which I hadn’t thought about at all. It didn’t feel overwhelming since everything was in its place. Before I left for the Philippines, I wondered how I was to ever decide what to wear without having my usual options, but once there and away from my items, I hadn’t given most of them the slightest thought… (Except of course, my coats. It was only about 30 degrees F in Ohio Mid-January, compared to the 80+ degree weather I had gotten used to.)

Once I got back onto my regular schedule, I fell back into old habits. Currently seeking, searching, reviewing, and purchasing. A disastrous routine. It’s like everything I had learned from the month I was gone was just out the window. I was back to making excuses in my mind as to why I really need this item. Now. I didn’t see a problem with accumulating, because it’s better to keep it and need it later, than to regret getting rid of it.

I had to sit and really think about this. With this mentality, I felt that I was allowing material items to run my life and take up my space. Consume my home. This isn’t healthy. I have accepted that I am a materialistic person, but I also realize that holding on to the past and not being able to let go of what’s not needed can also consume you mentally. That goes for physical and emotional clutter.

For myself, someone who has battled with anxiety and depression, decluttering of the mind and physical space is an important and essential exercise. I feel that decluttering my physical space allows me to prepare for clearing my mental space. To let go of what is toxic or unnecessary, and appreciate and love what nourishes my life.

Since the beginning of February, I decided to give myself a challenge to keep track of what I actually constantly wear, and be real with myself. My old methods obviously hadn’t worked so well, so I decided on a different approach. I pushed all of my clothes to the not-easily-visible side of the closet with the hangers turned backwards, and anytime I wear an item, I turn the hanger the right way on the visible side of the closet. This works for me, because if there is an item that I truly miss, I will have to go to the other side of the closet and search for it, vs. it being in front of my face presented to me. Since starting this exercise, I notice that I keep grabbing the same few items on the visible side of the closet and rarely go searching for an item. I also set aside a box of items that I know I haven’t worn in a while, or that just don’t align with my current style. I had to be honest and disregard how long ago I bought it, how much it cost, how often I get compliments on it, etc. If YOU don’t love the item because it doesn’t make you feel like your authentic self, you probably (most likely) won’t ever wear it.