Lands End

currently playing// Unstoppable by Lianne La Havas

I have had the pleasure of spending my late teens and early twenties in Northern California -- from the East Bay on up to Sacramento. As much as I complained about missing my immediate family, I would not have traded this experience for anything else.

My days of living in California are quickly coming to an end and I am now realizing how much I am going to miss it. Over the next couple of months I'm going to share some old, and possibly new, photos of my life here being a somewhat West Coast transplant.

Here we are at Lands End park/trail/shoreline and my goodness is it an experience. You get the opportunity to surround yourself with landscape and breathtaking views from the steep rocky hills or with your feet drenched in the high tide of the ocean.

This is not your typical beach, but you know what makes this one feel a little more special? The hard work you've put in to enjoy it. The hike is not extremely strenuous, but it will have you feeling it the next day from the waist down.

Driving on the San Francisco hills scares the mess out of me, so we took the BART and uber'd it around town. It also gives me a chance to view the city in all of its eccentric beauty. On this ride we dropped off another rider at the California Academy of Sciences and heard an uber drivers story of riding a man around town to find a hooker. Yikes.

Our last stop was at a delicious eatery called Brenda's French Soul Food. This was my second time eating at this location, and neither time was I disappointed with my selection. 

Experience San Francisco and put this on your list of places to visit. It is truly an unforgettable and magical experience. 

It's super hard to figure out where to start using the internet, so in your google maps enter 916 El Camino Del Mar and voila! 

Summertime Skin Care Regulars

currently playing// Special Affair by The Internet

I started wearing foundation regularly about 2 years ago, and ever since then my skin has been more prone to acne. More acne yields more acne scars. Once the summertime weather made its debut, I decided to say farewell to all forms of foundation on my skin. It's the best decision I've made for my skin in a long time. 

My skin type? Oily, oily, and OILY. Since I've been taking a break from wearing foundation on my skin I have not had any breakouts, except for the occasional hormonal flare-up.

Here are a few things that have helped me reduce blemishes and minimize the size of my pores.

Six Months Post

It has been 6 swift months since I chopped all most of my hair off for the second time. I can't exactly say that that the journey has been smooth or difficult considering that I've had it in a protective style for 3 out of the 6 months. 

Before I took my very frizzy box braids down on Friday, I made a stop at Target to pick up an ammonia-free hair color.  Being in such a rush to color my hair back to jet black, I forgot to deep condition prior to the dyeing process. OOPS!

Great, my hair was jet black, dry, and not properly detangled. Be anxious for nothing, Caela. My twist-out came out a frizzy and dehydrated mess. Not to mention, I still have damaged ends at the front of my mane that I had prior to my big chop. 

It is now Sunday and I could not wait to get home to deep condition my hair after church. Deep conditioning and a proper finger detangling session made all the difference. I'm not going to lie, I was scared because this morning my hair was drier than this California drought. I ended up twisting my hair with my favorite hair butter. I've talked about this product on my Instagram and YouTube channel, y'all, this hair butter is just AMAZING! It is the Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter. 

This product smells like butter cream and the consistency is silky, melting into my hair (and skin) like nothing I've ever owned. Most hair butters leave a bit of a sticky residue following my styling routine, but this one soaks into my strands allowing them to swell into fluffy excellence. Oh yea, it's ALL-NATURAL & VEGAN too! For that very reason, I will be trying more of this brands various products. 

Tomorrow I am going to get the rest of my damaged ends cut off so I don't have to continue dealing with different textures. I'm so glad that my hair is healthy again. 

Cae.

ftc: As a full disclosure, all of these opinions are my own and I was not compensated for expressing my thoughts on this product.

Smooth & Melodic 3.0

*previously called SMS*

Here are five new and old songs that I currently love listening to.

Heavy Love -Mali Music
I have been listening to this guys music since his debut album The 2econd Coming in 2009. I was anticipating his new work for such a long time, and after 5 long and gruesome years... I didn't listen to it, until a week ago. It's so hard for me to get into new music and honestly, I don't know why I didn't try harder with this one. I saw him live a week ago and I just fell in love with it. It's all I've been listening to.

Lights and Camera -Yuna
If you guys have seen Beyond the Lights then you heard this song before. I am only slightly familiar with Yuna's music, but I can say that I have never been disappointed. The lyrics to this song fit the movies message to stay true to yourself no matter the circumstances.

Right For You -Lil Silva ft. Banks
My younger sister introduced me to this song and I cannot stop listening to it. The lyrics say enough. Blah.

Kiss of Life (Sade Cover) -Chris Turner
Heart be still. The lyrics accompanied by his heavenly voice is just enough to make me want to curl up in a ball and fantasize about my future husband. Okay, I took it too far. I was so hoping that he would sing this when I saw him live, unfortunately I'll have to wish for next time.

Let It Burn -Jazmine Sullivan
I cannot think of anything bad to say about this girl. Of course I saw her live when she announced that she was holding a show in San Francisco. You think I'd be crazy enough to miss that? Up close and personal with this woman so effortlessly set the stage on fire. This song is so fun and even my oh so single self can get into it.

Search for these songs via YouTube or SoundCloud, and if you love them enough, purchase the song to support the artist.

cae.

Skin Probs, What's New?!

I don't know how the girls with flawless skin do it, but I sure as heck need to find out.

As of late, I have started to pay better attention to the products I use to cleanse my face. If I forget to take my make-up off at night then I know my skin is bound to feel and look gross in the morning. That also leads to issues with dirt transfer onto my pillow case, and my goodness I cannot stand a dirty pillow case lol. 

I have oily skin during each season and there are so many different ways to supposedly combat excess oil secretion throughout the day. Unfortunately nothing has successfully worked for me so I will continue to carry my oil absorbing sheets with me.

Here are a few face products that are currently in rotation:

MORNING

Lush Cosmetics Dark Angels

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Facial Cleanser

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Facial Toner

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Oil Free Moisturizer 

NIGHT

Shea Moisture African Black Soap Body Wash

Shea Moisture African Black Soap Body Lotion

OCCASIONALLY 

Shea Moisture Lemongrass & Ginger Body Scrub

Bentonite Clay

Murad Oil Control Mattifier

10 For '15

I've never been one to truly challenge myself at the beginning of the year. This year I think that I will change that and see what making an annual to-do list can do for me. When a task arises I find it crucial to stay organized and put everything in my planner, but as soon as I reach about week 3 of that task... where is my planner again?! 

I want to be more successful with the things I put my mind to. Whether or not I succeed, I want to be able to say I executed what I planned to do. 2014 was not my absolute favorite year, but I usually see my glass as half full.