Everyday Self-Care Products That Will Make Your Life Better

I have a lot of problems. Most of them are taking a lot of therapy and time to work on, but some of them were really simple to fix. I came across most of these solutions on accident, or through trial an error, so I’m hoping sharing this list will facilitate the lives of those of you who have similar problems.

Chronic Greasy Hair

My hair was always horribly greasy for most of my life. I started having to shower in the morning because if I showered at night, my hair would be a visibly greasy as soon as I woke up. Even showering in the morning wasn’t always enough. Most days my hair would already be greasy by the time I got home from school. At my worst I would shower in the morning and have to partially wash my hair again at night. Literally nothing I did helped. So, it surprised me when a couple months ago I started using this new shampoo that I got a sample of and noticed for the first time that my hair wasn’t a disaster by the end of the day anymore. It was apparently the chemicals in normal shampoos that was messing me up. As soon as I switched to using more natural shampoos, I was suddenly able to go a day or two before my hair got even slightly greasy. It’s a good switch to make anyway, but especially if you have grease problems.

Annoying Acne

This likely won’t turn your face baby-butt smooth if your acne is terrible, but if you’re like me and always seem to have one or two new pimples popping up as soon as the previous ones cleared, this may help. I tried the Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque after hearing other people swear by it, and my only regret is not trying it sooner. Unlike most acne solutions, this is actually pretty cheap. You can find it at CVS and HEB for only about $3, and it lasts for a fairly long time. The reason I love this so much more than other acne products is because it doesn’t strip your face. It cleans gently, removes excess oil, minimizes redness, dries out acne without drying out your face, and leaves your skin feeling really soft. I don’t use it as often as I should, but every time I take the time to use it, my face ends up looking noticeably better.

Dry Skin

I don’t like dry skin, I don’t like oily skin, and I don’t like the feeling of lotion. This stuff solved all 3 of those problems at once. Somehow, this moisturizer was able to hydrate the dry patches of my face while getting the super oily parts under control—and best of all, it’s thin. It’s not a cheap moisturizer, but it’s definitely worth every penny. You get 1.7oz in the container that costs about $12-15, but the tiniest bit goes a long way. I’d say its just as much of a gel as a cream, which I find confusing since it feels like water between your fingers. When it’s on your skin it feels really well moisturized, but you don’t feel the actual product. I don’t really have a way to describe how it makes your skin feel other than normal. If your skin feels dry, it makes it feel moisturized, and if your skin feels oily it makes it feel…not oily. It’s good, trust me.

Lactose Sensitivity/Intolerance

I’ve heard a fair amount of people with lactose issues not have any luck with dairy pills, but most of them have also never tried the chewable ones. I’ve never used the swallow pills, so I can’t compare, but the chewable ones work really well for me. I completely forgot what it was like to eat dairy without getting sick before I got these. I don’t use them all the time, but if I know I’m going to be eating something with a lot of dairy, one or two of these tablets are life savers.

Menstrual Cramps

I have always had really bad cramps. It gets to the point where my body will react like I have a severe illness in addition to a pain in my abdomen that’s so bad it’s hard to walk, sometimes to even just exist. I tried birth control and that made it so I was just in constant pain all the time. My doctor switched me to different birth control and that just made me want to kill myself. I tried exercising to help the cramps, and I tried changing my diet, but long story short, nothing worked. I ended up coming across fenugreek and thought I might as well give it a shot. Best decision of my life. It’s usually about $7 for a 90-count bottle, and you only need to take 1 pill a day, so it’s really not too expensive. I’ve found that if I take one pill of this stuff every day, when my time comes my cramps are either barely noticeable or non-existent. There have been a couple times where I’ve gone a week or so without taking them, and usually when that happens my next period is back to normal, so it’s really important to take it everyday if you have these issues. I’ve never had any bad side affects with it, and from what I understand, it shouldn’t mess with your other medications as long as you don’t take them within an hour and a half of each other, but if you’re on any other hormonal treatments, you should definitely talk to your doctor before trying this.