Categories
Low-Tox Living

Mascara That Survived My Ugly Cry

A selection of makeup.

Let’s talk mascara. The non-toxic kind, because if I’m going to flutter my lashes, I don’t want them coated in mystery chemicals that sound like they belong in a car engine. The problem? A lot of the “clean” mascaras make big promises and then crumble down your face like sad little mascara dandruff by lunchtime.

I had to put them through the real test—the ugly cry. Yes, the kind where your face gets blotchy, your nose does that weird drip thing, and you question all your life choices. For me, it happened in the Target parking lot. I realized halfway through checkout that I forgot oat milk, again. Max pretended he didn’t know me while I spiraled into tears over my cart full of kale and paper towels. That’s when I realized: this mascara isn’t just about beauty—it’s survival gear.

Here are the survivors:

ILIA Limitless Lash Mascara – Lightweight, doesn’t clump, and somehow makes me look awake even if I stayed up too late watching baking shows. Survived one full meltdown and still looked decent in the rearview mirror.

Lily Lolo Natural Mascara – More subtle, but bless her heart, she held up. Perfect for days when you want lashes but don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard. Passed the “tears + Miami humidity” combo test.

Inika Long Lash Vegan Mascara – Hello, length! My lashes looked like they took a yoga retreat. It didn’t smear down my cheeks, even during my Target cry-fest. Bonus: it’s actually comfortable to wear all day.

W3LL People Expressionist Mascara – Old faithful. Gives volume without the tarantula lash effect. Stayed put through a sweaty workout and an emotional rewatch of Grey’s Anatomy.

Not everything made the cut. One brand (which I’ll be polite enough not to name) left me looking like a raccoon that had been caught in a rainstorm. Max actually said, “You have something on your face,” which was his way of saying, “You look like a Halloween costume.”

So, yes, there are mascaras out there that can handle real life—the stress, the tears, the forgotten oat milk. Because if a mascara can make it through my ugly cry and still keep me looking halfway human, that’s true love right there.

Categories
Clean Eats

My Lazy Girl Pantry Staples

Healthy grain bowls.

Some days I’m the chef who can whip up a three-course meal like I’m auditioning for a Food Network show. And then there are the other days. You know, the ones where opening the fridge feels like an Olympic event and I’d rather eat cereal straight from the box than cook. That’s when my pantry swoops in like the true hero of the house.

Let’s start with oils. I keep olive oil and avocado oil like some people keep wine—always stocked, always ready. Olive oil is my drizzle-on-everything queen, and avocado oil is my ride-or-die for high-heat cooking. I once ran out of both and tried to cook eggs in coconut oil, and Max said the kitchen smelled like sunscreen for three days. Lesson learned.

Grains are my other lazy girl lifesaver. Quinoa, rice, oats—boring maybe, but they’re like blank canvases. You can throw literally anything on them and suddenly it looks intentional, like “oh yes, this was totally a grain bowl, not just me panic-cooking at 7 p.m.” One night I topped quinoa with roasted sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and feta, and Max thought it was some fancy recipe. Nope. Just pantry roulette.

Canned beans deserve a round of applause too. Black beans, chickpeas, white beans—I keep them lined up like little soldiers. They rescue me when I forget to thaw meat or when I need something filling in five minutes flat. Pro tip: rinse them really well unless you’re into that mysterious bean goo vibe.

And let’s not forget the “extras” that make lazy meals taste less lazy: tahini for quick sauces, nut butter for everything from toast to stir-fries, and dark chocolate for, well, survival. If I’m feeling extra adult-y, I’ll keep jarred pesto around too. It turns pasta from “plain carbs” into “wow, I made dinner.”

Honestly, my pantry isn’t glamorous, but it’s reliable. On those nights when cooking feels like climbing a mountain barefoot, I know I can open the cabinet, grab a few basics, and still end up with something that makes me feel taken care of. And that’s all I want at the end of a long day: food that loves me back without making me sweat over a stove for an hour.

Categories
Latest

5 Reasons Why You Need to Ditch Sugar

Updated 08/08/2025

I’m not going to lie, I have a sweet tooth. It’s my only real vice.

Too bad refined sugar is pure poison.

Refined sugar consumption is linked to diabetes, serious chronic health conditions, fungal overgrowth, premature aging and it can even affect mental health.

The average adult American eats about 18 teaspoons of refined sugar each day – or about 66 pounds per year! Although, I’ve even seen some studies that suggest the average American eats close to 100 pounds of added, refined sugar each year.

And we wonder why our country has rampant disease! Decreasing your sugar intake is literally the best thing you can do for your health in the long and short term. It’s not easy, but I swear you will look and feel better for it.

There are over 100 ways that sugar destroys the body, but I chose the five reasons that resonate with me the most that I want to share with you.

Sugar lowers your immunity.

This is the reason that gets me every time, but especially around the holidays. Ingesting 2 tablespoons (about two cans of soda) will decrease your white blood cell count by 40% for about five hours. Your white blood cells are basically the soldiers of your immune system army, so this is a big deal!

Sugar feeds disease.

Sugar is the favorite food of harmful microbes like bacteria and yeast. Even cancer cells like to chomp on sugar. If we remove the food source for these dangerous illnesses, the likelihood of getting them goes down. If you continue to eat refined sugar on the regular, your chances of getting diseases – acute and chronic- are much higher.

Sugar is addictive.

You’ve probably already heard that some studies have shown that refined sugar is as addictive as cocaine. Addiction makes you eat more and more without feeling satisfied so you continue to eat more and more and more and more and more over the years.

I recently read a blog post that suggested sugar addiction is often used as an easy (unhealthy) method of self-care. If you have a true sugar addiction, it might be worth examining your self care practices.

It’s bad for your liver.

A recently study suggests that excessive sugar consumption is as bad for the liver as excessive alcohol consumption. The body has to process sugar through the liver, like it processes alcohol. While this study is specifically talking about liver disease, my take away is that eating refined sugar eats up time and energy that the liver could be using for detoxification.

SUGAR CAUSES Unpleasant physical changes.

Guess what? Sugar is what causes us to gain weight, not fat. It also causes acne and breakouts. It even can contribute to other types of skin problems like eczema, by causing fungal overgrowth.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Be cautious when purchasing packaged food product. Sugar is added to every from condiments to baby foods! Look for following words on an ingredient label:

Sugar, Cane Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), Corn Syrup, Cane Juice, Cane Juice Crystals, Confectioner’s Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Dextrose, Evaporated Cane Juice, Glucose, Maltodextrin, Sucrose.

Ditch refined sugar for a solid month. It might be difficult, but you can do it! Those of us in my Facebook Community are giving this a whirl as a group for 30 days. Come join us and gain support from your new friends.

If you feel like taking your sugar detox to the next level, check out my 10 day nutritional reset program. I created it just for our community and I personally go through it myself.

Categories
Low-Tox Living

Do We Really Need 12 Different Cleaning Sprays?

Homemade cleaning spray.

At one point, my under-the-sink cabinet looked like a cleaning aisle exploded. There were bottles for glass, bottles for counters, bottles for bathrooms, bottles that promised to make my stainless steel shine like the top of the Chrysler Building. I had so many sprays that Max started calling it “the chemical graveyard.” And honestly? He wasn’t wrong.

The irony? I only used two of them regularly. The rest sat there, gathering dust and leaking mysterious blue liquid that stained the shelf liner. Every time I opened that cabinet, it was like being guilt-tripped by a cluttered rainbow of half-empty bottles.

So, I cut the drama. I found one all-purpose non-toxic cleaner that actually works on almost everything (yes, even the bathroom sink after Max “forgets” to rinse his toothpaste spit). Then I keep one other spray specifically for glass and mirrors because streaky fingerprints on windows drive me absolutely bananas. That’s it. Two sprays. Done.

And you know what? The house is still clean. My countertops aren’t sticky, my bathroom doesn’t smell like a swamp, and I can actually find the sponge without knocking over twelve bottles like some kind of sad game of Jenga.

Max, for the record, doesn’t trust me with bleach anymore. Long story short: I may have ruined a favorite pair of his jeans during a “deep clean” phase. Let’s just say bleach and multitasking don’t mix. Honestly, it was the perfect excuse to banish bleach forever—I didn’t want that stuff in the house anyway.

Now, cleaning is so much simpler. No cabinet full of chemical chaos, no fake “lavender meadow” scents that make me sneeze, just a couple of sprays that don’t make me feel like I’m fumigating the house. The best part? I can actually open the cabinet without holding my breath.

And maybe, just maybe, Max has stopped side-eyeing me every time I wipe down the counters. Well… almost. See Latest.

Categories
Latest

How I Style My Short Hair

Back when I had short hair, these are the methods I used. I hope you learn a thing or two.