In About Face, xoNecole gets the 411 on IGers who give us #skincaregoals on the daily. Here they break down their beauty routines on the inside and out, as well as the highly coveted products that grace their shelves and their skin.
Kaylen Zahara, better known on Instagram as @AmazedByKay, is an entrepreneur and digital content creator taking the beauty and wellness industry by storm. "My favorite part about this career field is the opportunities it provides and the realization that my entire lifestyle is sponsored," she tells xoNecole. "I get paid just to be myself and use products and services that I would if I weren't in this career field."
She reminisces back to when her relationship with beauty and skincare began to strengthen five years ago. "I would have to say 21 is when the shift happened," Kaylen tells xoNecole. "It was an older gentleman who taught me about the importance of taking care of my skin at a young age so that I would age beautifully. After that conversation I never looked back and began manifesting a lot of skincare beauty deals."
Courtesy of Kaylen Zahara
Whether it's through her quick tips for hair and beauty on YouTube, giving advice on personal branding on IGTV, or speaking on panels for marketing and entrepreneurship, the 26-year-old Los Angeles resident proves that she's a businesswoman and budding beauty guru to be on the lookout for in 2020. With over 115,000 Instagram followers and counting, she has proved to her growing audience that she can be the new go-to girl for fashion, beauty and reliable lifestyle content.
In this installment of xoNecole's "About Face", Kaylen talks about keeping her skincare routine simple, the personal benefits of cannabis and her spiritual journey to appreciating beauty and skincare on a deeper level.
My morning routine consists of...
Courtesy of Kaylen Zahara
"A typical morning for myself is waking up, giving gratitude, meditating, checking emails and social media, along with with jamming to my favorites like Jhene [Aiko], Kehlani, Alina Baraz, Masego, Ari Lennox to set a vibe and intention for my day to be joyous and soulful!"
My AM skincare routine looks like...
"My skincare routine is extremely easy and quick. Day and night stays the same. I believe in less is more and just focusing on one thing at a time per season."
My evening routine consists of…
"My evenings are typically accompanied with music, vision board sessions, sound baths, binaural beats, YouTube, and maybe even cannabis."
My PM skincare routine looks like...
"I keep my routine the same. Less is more for me, no need to complicate things. Occasionally, I will use a sheet mask to assist with removing under eye bags if I haven't been getting adequate sleep. Sheet masks by The Creme Shop are super affordable and they cure any under eye bags overnight. [They] keep them away if you use them each day!"
How my skincare changes for the seasons…
"My fall and winter skincare is ALL about moisture and hydration. Spring and summer is where I focus on cleansing and preventing acne. In the fall and winter, I focus on hydration. I start with washing my face with warm water and First Aid Beauty face cleanser. I like to dry my face with a clean towel after and I apply my favorite choice of gel cream, which is typically Erno Laszlo Hydra Therapy Gel Cream - this cream is so hydrating! I then follow up with eye cream by Dermalogica [because] bags under the eye can happen any time of the year.
"If we are in the spring and summer season, I would apply Dermalogica's Age Brightening Acne Serum after washing my face and before applying a gel cream for hydration."
My go-to makeup look consists of…
Courtesy of Kaylen Zahara
"My go-to makeup look is always the 'no makeup' makeup look. I like to start off with a primer that is hydrating and has a shimmer to it. I find that it allows the light foundation on top of it to shine like a diamond. I touch up with shimmer-like bronzer around the perimeters of my face and add concealer to my eye and forehead area to make sure my makeup doesn't look flat or one dimensional."
How I approach beauty from the inside-out…
"Honestly? Being a woman that partakes in consuming cannabis has allowed me to awaken to my authentic self and led me onto the path of becoming my highest version. Cannabis is such a healer, a mentor, a soulmate, and more for me and so many others."
What self-care looks like to me…
"My self-care must-haves are sheet masks, a gel cream for hydration, cannabis, crystals, herbs, tea, sage, binaural beats and of course my devices."
My earliest beauty memory…
Courtesy of Kaylen Zahara
"My earliest beauty memory that really stuck with me and made me feel like a woman was when my mom finally allowed me to get acrylic nails when I was 13. That trip to the nail salon was extremely impactful and ignited my love for nail care and acrylics!"
How my view on beauty and skincare has evolved…
"I used to think that beauty and skincare was just at a surface level; vanity and external. I learned with my growing spiritual journey, that it's much more deeper than that. It is internal. It's energetic. What we put in our bodies, how we think, what we feel, and what we choose to believe has a major direct impact on our skin and its health just as it does everything else. Present day, I have adopted a lifestyle that supports healthy skin that consists of herbs, meditation, adequate alkaline and kangen water intake, and care of all other organs."
For more of Kaylen, follow her on Instagram.
Shop Kaylen's Beauty Staples:
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Featured image courtesy of Kaylen Zahara
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Again, the answer never changes because, if there is one thing that Shellie Reneé Warren is gonna get, it’s 6-8 (sometimes nine) hours of sleep. However, since my chronotype (check out “Ever Wonder What Personality Traits Make Someone A 'Morning Person'?”) means that I like/prefer to write in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes I will sleep for the night for five hours and take a nap in the day. And y’all, that is just fine with me because I am well aware of the fact that napping does everything from give me more energy, heighten my alertness and even make me more creative to decrease stress levels, strengthen immunity, and reduce my chances of experiencing a heart attack or stroke.
My problem is I will oftentimes go “overboard” with my daytime zzz’s. What I mean by that is, in order to get the most out of a nap, they say thatyou shouldn’t sleep for longer than 25 minutes or so; otherwise, you could wake up feeling sluggish (I don’t but…). Also, it can make resting, soundly, at night a bit of a struggle.
So, what are you saying, Shellie? We should get quickies in? Yeah. And it’s funny that the word “quickie” would come up because just like a sex quickie can do wonders for you (and it can — check out “12 Super Solid Reasons To Have A Quickie Every Single Day”), it’s a full-circle moment when I say that something that can improve the quality of your sex life is to have a power nap (a nap that lasts between 10-30 minutes).
Wanna know how the two things correlate? Honestly, it’s no secret that sleep and sex work together to optimize both (check out “6 Fascinating Ways Sex And Sleep Definitely Go Hand In Hand”). Today, though, we’re going to tap into how a nap, specifically, can have you partaking in some of the best sex that you’ve experienced in a minute. I’ll explain.
Naps Reduce Stress
GiphyIf you’re feeling super stressed out right now, you are not alone. There is plenty of data out here that says that most of us are stressed for at least a couple of reasons at a time — and that can impact your sexual health on a few levels. For one thing, it can bring about feelings of depression and/or anxiety. Stress can also throw your hormone levels off (including your cycle) which can weaken your libido. Stress can make you want to put distance between you and your partner (yes, literally).
Stress can also make it challenging to get aroused or to have an orgasm. And just what can help to decrease stress? Taking a nap. Since sleep has a way of helping you to “get off of the clock” and relax a bit, that can lower your stress levels and “reset” your body so that you are calmer — and that, in turn, can do wonders for your sex drive and ultimately your sex life.
Naps Improve Your Mood
GiphyThere is one person in my life, and fairly 80 percent of the time, she’s in a super good mood. Oh, but let that girl go without sleep, and…who is this woman? LOL. There’s research behind why this happens. When a person is sleep-deprived, it messes with their brain chemicals, and that can amplify emotions like anger, restlessness and sadness. In fact, one study revealed that people who had their sleep disrupted throughout the night, they ended up having their positive outlook on life reduced by about 30 percent.
And geeze, who wants to have sex when they’re not feeling very good? Anyway, since serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate your moods, your sleep patterns, and your libido and sleep is what helps to keep it in balance — by taking a nap, not only can it help you to feel better, it can also increase your desire for sex (it can also build up your endurance which is also…sexually beneficial).
Naps Increase Your Focus and Concentration
GiphySomething that some of my clients bring up is how, when it comes to having sex, sometimes the flesh is willing while the spirit is weak because, although the desire for intimacy is there, so much is going on that they aren’t able to get still enough to focus on experiencing copulation with their partner. This also tracks because, when you don’t have enough rest, your brain finds itself not working in harmony and that can make it hard to do everything from approaching life with a sense of flexibility to making necessary decisions.
Certain data also reveal that a lack of rest can cause you to have a really poor attention span and not process things in context (the more you know). So, if you really want to get some yet it’s hard for you to focus long enough to make it happen, ask your bae to lie down with you and take a nap. Between the sleep and the snuggling (check out “Fall's Coming: 8 Wonderful Health Benefits Of Cuddling”) — you may wake up with your mind and body totally on the same page. #wink
Naps Can Make You Feel Better About Your Body
GiphyEven if, overall, you feel really good about your body, I think that we all have moments when we feel less attractive than others — and who wants to have sex when they don’t really feel…very sexy? Well, something else that sleep, in general, can do is increase your confidence in your body.
For one thing, if you want to lose a few pounds, sleep can actually make that happen by helping your body metabolize the glucose (sugar) that’s in it so that you can better manage your appetite. Other studies go on to share that since sleep deprivation can impact one’s mental health and emotional stability in a negative way, of course, getting enough rest would increase body positivity.
Shoot, science even goes so far as to say that insomnia can cause people to have an elevated level of dissatisfaction when it comes to their body image. Don’t take their word for it, though. Look in the mirror before a nap. Then look in a mirror after waking up from me. Do you feel better? I’d be surprised if you don’t.
Makes Your Brain Bigger…Which Could Make Your Orgasms Better
GiphyI saved the best for last by design. Now if you’re wondering how in the world a nap can improve (and possibly increase) your orgasms — oh, there is a method to the madness…trust. For starters, the saying that your biggest sex organ is your brain? That isn’t a myth. Long story less long, the brain is what houses your central nervous system and that is what controls how men and women sexually function (yes, literally).
And since the brain also releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin during sex and brain activity significantly increases in women during sexual activity (especially right before she orgasms) — well, would it trip you out to know that when you take a nap, your brain actually expands? A bigger brain (that’s healthy) can potentially intensify your sexual experiences (and your climaxes) — and who doesn’t want that to go down?
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Like I said earlier, I never have to be convinced to get a nap in. However, if your sex life has been a bit stagnant lately, you’ve been feeling a little sluggish and you’re not sure what to do — I’m hoping that a nap can get you right.
There’s enough science to prove that it can. All you need to do is give it a shot.
Now where’s your pillow and sleep mask, chile?
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