Hello Y’all, It’s Me Candace…

Man. It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve been on here writing. Quite frankly, I was feeling ashamed at my unintentional absence. Days turned into a week…weeks turned into a month…months turned into over a year. Smh. Yes, I’m actually shaking my head. I’ve been uninspired almost the entire time I’ve been absent. Life really just has been a lot to tackle over the past couple of years. I could go on with specifics, but I’m sort of a private person and out of respect for my family I won’t indulge.

Otherwise, I’m truly excited to be back! I’m not sure if I’ve ever shared my name but by now you’ve probably figured out that it’s Candace. I just wanted to reintroduce myself but in a private, personable way. Look, plenty of influencers take breaks and I’m no different. I never thought I would NEED a break from blogging because I loved it so much but this time off has taught me a ton! As a matter of fact, that’s the reason I wanted to start off by telling you guys my name. I intend to exude parts of my personality more in this style blogging thing-a-ma-jig. Y’all ready? Set? Let’s go! Let’s see what I come up with! To be continued…

2019 Favorites!!!

Can’t believe it’s the year 2020! Time truly waits for no one and has flown by! This past year, I took a much needed break. I needed to focus on me.

In doing that, I had to really make some repairs to myself. I started taking full advantage of chiropractic care and really communicating with my doctor about how I wanted my healthcare to go. I was unwilling to be unheard as my health largely depended upon ME! It can be scary to not only speak up but also disagree with your doctor about the care that is being received. I had long conquered that fear because in the end, I pay for a service and refused to just go along with care that I didn’t agree with since I would be the one living with the end results.

Some things I refused to go to the doctor for. I was suffering terribly from skin issues. It seemed that no matter what I did, my skin condition worsened. I began to get frustrated as I was not even eating certain things that were known to aggravate my acne. The acne I was experiencing was cystic in nature. I sat in pain for days sometimes. My frustration increased when that wonderful time of the month rolled around, que eye rolls, I was also suffer from hormonal acne. Needless to say, I did heavy reading and research to figure some things out.

My hair was having shedding issues. Now I do have Hashimoto’s disease so the shedding can be a problem from time to time but my shedding became coupled with massive tangling and some breakage. Again, I did research and found what I needed to help.

I didn’t play in makeup much this year, I only wore makeup about 8 times this past entire year. I did make a purchase for some faves that I had run out of…I was a hostess in my big sister’s wedding so, you know how that goes…I HAD to look good! Otherwise, I made sure to focus on healing my skin. I will still share what I bought to replace my long used favorites!

I’m on a weight loss journey so I’ve been avoiding sugar and carbohydrates like my life depended on it, partly because it started to. I had gained weight due to medication and became insulin resistant. That insulin resistance made it incredibly difficult to lose ANY weight!!! When I tell you I cried (and I’m not a crier) but I swear I could have jumped out my window without opening it. I was so done. The only thing i could think of was trying the Keto ‘way of eating’ again. Honestly, Keto is not a diet to me. I’m not indulging in anything that can contribute to insulin resistance or diabetes. If you’re unsure, be sure to do your research. One thing is sure, the SAD diet (standard american diet) has the appropriate acronym. I’m not by any means telling anyone to do keto or low carb, do what works for you but please take care of your health and eat for nourishment! That being said, below I will list all of the faves I have for this past year.

I hope you have a great day, week, month and year! I’m back to go through it all with you! 💪🏾

Favorites of 2019

Health

  1. Doctor’s Best MSM Powder

     

  2. Sports Research Vitamin K + D3 with Coconut Oil

  3. Renew Life Women’s Probiotic 90 Billion CFU

  4. EzyAbsorb Gluten Free Berberine 500mg (blood sugar and cholesterol support)

  5. Best Naturals Betaine HCL 648 mg 250 Capsules

Hair

  1. MegaFood Blood Builder Minis

     

  2. Doctor’s Best MSM Powder

  3. Sports Research Vitamin K + D3 with Coconut Oil

  4. GLISS Hair Repair Conditioner, Ultimate Repair for Heavily Damaged Hair 13.6 ounces

  5. Whole Blends Honey Treasures Repairing Shampoo 22 fl oz

  6. Sulu Aloe Vera Oil

  7. Sulu Cold Pressed Unrefined Avocado Butter

Skin

  1. Sports Research Vitamin K + D3 with Coconut Oil

     

  2. Tumeric Powder (used to make a mask with milk, yogurt and honey)

  3. Shea Moisture African Black Soap Problem Skin Toner

  4. Philosophy the Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

  5. Tetyana Dark Spot Corrector Brightening Serum [LOVE this stuff!]

Keto/Eating

  1. Surkin Fiber Syrup

     

  2. Isopure Zero Carb Protein Powder

  3. Surkin Gold Brown “sugar”

  4. Nutricost Allulose Sweetener

  5. Magic Spoon Cereal Variety Pack

  6. Premier Protein Caramel (for coffee)

  7. Slim Fast Keto Fat Bombs

Makeup

1.

Why I Needed a Blogging & Social Media Break…

I swear I never thought I’d get back to the point of being excited about blogging again. Quite frankly, blogging had become more of a chore and pretty much a bore…no “bars” intended lol.

If you’re a blogger of any kind, I think you can probably relate to how ruthless the blogging world can be. Since I hate drama and am content in my own little bubble, putting myself “out there” got me more than I bargained for. I expected more comraderary from fellow bloggers but ya’ll competition is real out here…even if you’re not competing. I won’t spend much more time on that negativity but to say with real things going on in life, I couldn’t fathom letting trivial bits of pettiness and mean girl personas to move me in any way. I had to focus on getting me back to my best self.

In the midst of blogging, I think I neglected myself more than I realized. Truth is, I neglected myself a ton! I spent a lot of time researching info, growing my Instagram and social media influence and that left little time to really take care of me. I’ve talked about some health issues I have before and not putting myself first was having a negative effect on those pre-existing issues. The oxymoron of it all is that all you saw was me writing about what I was wearing, my skin, my self care solutions. Sadly, I let…myself…go.

As if my own self sabatoge wasn’t enough, our family suffered a few losses last year. One loss this year. Yes I said a few and then one. Mentally, everyone who loses a loved one needs time to reflect and gather themselves to be emotionally fit to move forward. That’s just reality. When you have children, you need more time because children need consoling and nurturing. Ours (hubby’s and mine) are at the age where they are “aware” and have questions, legit ones, about the situation surrounding the death. After they are “okay”, us parents need to usher into self care.

I’m currently on that journey of self care. I suffered extreme hair loss, skin flare ups of all kinds including hives, acne and eczema, headaches, joint and muscle pain and more things that I’ll not have to mention because the above is enough. I had to get these things in order and fast! To resolve these issues calls for more than just some sort of salve or serum. Deep research, medical help and just re-acquainting myself with my body again was essential. Now while I am still in process, I am discovering other fruits that need pruning or plucking from my life. Not that they’re necessarily bad but they provide no enrichment or “nutrition” to me as a person or to my life.

Folks…rid yourself of people, habits, so called goals, mindsets, platforms, loves and hates that don’t help you to be a better person. We grow physically but mental health and growth is just as important…actually more important. Social media is social. It’s not essential in order for us to survive. If IG was shut down for good, if YouTube was outlawed, where would that leave you? I had to ask myself if I was too deeply enthralled with something that encourages faux realities. I actually became a part of it. I looked like I took better care of myself that I actually did. That’s the long and short of it. And look, we all neglect ourselves from time to time but I was extreme. I saw problems and put them off making excuses of not having time. Buy out time. (I got that straight from the Bible lol.) It will cost time from something else but its worth it.

Where am I now? Well I am still a blogger and I have some posts that will be coming out but I am pacing myself. I don’t have to post a new look every day or every three days. I’ve decided on once per week. Maybe a lookbook in between. I’m working on my social media plan but it can not overtake my life. Perspective is important and I’ve put things in perspective.

That being said, I am working on some things that I will share a little later. Hopefully, you guys will be as excited as I am about them!