I recently turned thirty-five! When I think about it, I`m kind of in denial that I`m already heading into my late thirties. To be honest, I still feel like twenty-five.
But in restrospect, I`m not the same woman when I was twenty-five. I´m not the same woman when I started fashion blogging ten years ago.
Yeah, it´s been that long since I discovered blogging.
This is my no make-up and no filter selfie.
For the most part of my life I rarely smiled. There were many reasons to it but the major one was my crooked teeth that I was insecure about. I only found the courage to finally brave the painful procedure of adult dental braces, which also costs a fortune here in Europe, when I hit my early thirties.
The moment my teeth started to align nicely, at around two years in procedure, I couldn´t help but smile all the time, and smile big all the time I did! Yet, almost in my middle thirties, I realized that smiling all the time created lines on the side of my eyes. (Is that why Victoria Beckham rarely smiles?)
What a wake-up call! I really wasn´t getting any younger anymore. I got to do something about it.
And that´s when I became obsessed with aloe vera. I`m determined to deal with aging organically and all-naturally.
See: How to Get Even Skin Tone on Your Face Naturally
I spent weeks researching on the effectiveness of aloe in combating aging. But I spent more time researching about the different varieties of aloe vera and which varieties are the most effective. Arguably, aloe barbadensis miller is the most effective.
Then I scouted for aloe veras in all the plant retail stores in our city. But it happened to be winter and I couldn´t find any aloe in stores. So I hunted on Amazon and eBay. When I finally found the types of aloe veras that I was looking for, my obsession began.
I currently have five types of aloe veras. The fifth type are still seeds, yet to be propagated.
Does that make me look like aloe-obsessed to you? And yet darling, they´re just half of my aloe vera collection. 😉
When my aloe veras were big and old enough to harvest (two to three years old leaves are the most nutritious/effective), I started using aloe gel for my face.
I would cut a leaf from the bottom of my big aloe vera plant, peal it, then dip the gel into a deep basin full of water (I do this twice) in order to remove the yellow juice, which can be found just below the skin — poisonous if ingested and topical irritant — called the latex.
I then cut the cleaned gel into cubes. I put the cubes into the blender and then blend them until I get an even consistency. Once I have the consistency that I want, I set aside a portion that I would use right away and freeze the rest using an ice cube former.
Before I apply the blended aloe vera on my face, I add three to five drops of rosehip oil.
I`ve read that ingesting aloe vera gel is more effective than topical application, but I haven´t tried eating aloe vera yet. I will try in the future.
After four months of consistently using aloe vera, people started noticing my shiny, flawless skin. When I posted the above selfie on my facebook account, many friends asked what´s my skin secret, which of course, I graciously shared.
I must add that I also regularly clean my face, twice a day. I try to get enough sleep, even afternoon naps, and I`m constantly drinking water. Whenever I go out under the sun, I use sunscreen and I wear sunglasses and a brim hat.
For my regular moisturizer, I use the LaCura anti wrinkle face cream for day and for night.
And that´s pretty much about it.
I don´t have a fancy facial skin maintenance. I try to really go organic, even for my shampoo. Yup, I also use organic shampoo which I prepare by myself. I will share about it on my next blog post, so stay tuned.
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