

This Influencer Shares Her Investment Skincare Routine
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.
Natacha John, or Tacha, is a 24-year-old beauty and lifestyle content creator. The DMV native came on my radar after a viral photo of her made its way to my Explore page on Instagram. The rest is history.
Last month, she revealed to her followers that she was officially taking the leap into full-time entrepreneurship, having grown an impressive following of 40,000 followers and counting. As a creative who earns her living by literally doing her. "I get to be myself for a living," she tells xoNecole. "I get to share my interests, exercise my creativity, and connect with women. Those are definitely my favorites parts!"
In the process, she is also putting us on to her favorite beauty finds and it's nothing short of amazing. Although I live for her aesthetic and her thought-provoking questions, I am also an admirer of her glowing, radiant skin. That being said, I had to know what her beauty arsenal consisted of.
Below, Tacha shares with us the products she swears by and how she achieves beauty from the outside in.
My morning routine looks like...
"I'm still trying to establish a consistent morning routine but usually it starts off with taking care of my puppy and straightening up my apartment while I make a cup of tea. Then I'm usually checking emails and reviewing my to-do list for the day. Some mornings, I'll toss in journaling and meditation. Those two things always make me feel level-headed but I'll admit I'm bad at making consistent time for them."
For my skincare routine in the AM...
"I keep it ultra simple in the morning. I don't cleanse, I just rinse my face with water and sometimes, depending on my skins condition, I'll tone either using Goode Skin's two hundred dollar water micellar cleanser or Thayers Witch Hazel. Then I moisturize with a facial oil, like Aura Cacia Jojoba Oil, and top it off with my favorite SPF, La Roche-Posay's Anthelios Clear Skin Sunscreen."
And for my skincare routine in the PM...
"Things are more extensive in the evenings. I always start off by double cleansing. Face wash is the one thing in my routine that I'm constantly switching out but I'm currently enjoying the Farmacy's Clean Bee cleanser and Neutrogena's Hydro Boost cleanser. Once or twice a week, I'll add in exfoliation using Lush's Dark Angels [or their] Herbalism [herbal wash], or Goode Skin's SKINZYME. And follow up with First Aid Beauty's Ultra Repair Liquid Recovery. That's become one of my favorite steps! The liquid recovery goes onto your skin like water and is so soothing and calming, I can't get enough. Then, I moisturize with an oil again. About 2 or 3 times a week I'll apply a face mask, I like Farmacy's Bright On mask."
How I approach skincare on-the-go...
"When I'm on-the-go, I have to have products that I know work for me so if my skin starts to act crazy, I'm ready! You'll usually catch me with a mask that's good for breakouts, either my Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment Mask or Yes to Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Mud Mask. And something that's good for dry/dull skin like my Origins' Drink Up Intensive Overnight Hydrating Mask."
My go-to makeup look consists of...
"I'm a natural makeup kind of girl. On a day-to-day basis, I'll be bare-faced or maybe have on some concealer or tinted moisturizer, blush, and mascara. Lately, I've been reaching for my Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer (in Almond), Glossier Cloud Paint, and my trusty L'Oreal Telescopic mascara. I like to keep things pretty low-maintenance but if I have to be in front of the camera or have an event to attend, I'll go all in."
How I approach beauty from the inside-out...
"Something as small as starting my day with a cup of hot lemon water and half an hour of uninterrupted alone time helps me to feel refreshed and ready to put forth my best self throughout the day. I get pulled in a lot of different directions and it's easy to feel overwhelmed when you're a one woman team, so taking that time to level myself out really helps me to feel more at peace."
What self-care looks like to me...
"To be completely transparent, I don't make a ton of time to unwind. It's something I'm really working on though! Usually I'm working well into the evening, and when I finally unplug, all I have time for is a hot shower before I crawl into bed. But I value that time and make the most with what I have. While I'm getting ready for bed, I usually play a good podcast or Audiobook and add a few drops of essential oil to my shower to make things extra relaxing."
For more of Tacha, follow her on Instagram.
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Featured image via Tacha/Instagram
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Russell and Nina Westbrook Dish On The Key Ways To Avoid Resentment In Relationships
Russell and Nina Westbrook are one of those low-key, unproblematic couples we don’t talk about enough. They met in college and got married in 2015. They also have a beautiful family with three kids. While Russell is an NBA star, Nina is a licensed family and marriage therapist and a mental health advocate.
She recently launched the podcast The Relationship Chronicles with Nina Westbrook, and in the latest episode, she had none other than her husband on as a guest. The college sweethearts dived into important topics from marriage to children and how they navigate it all.
One of the topics they touched on was dealing with resentment in your relationship. The former MVP highlighted the sacrifices his wife has had to make in order for him to pursue a career in the NBA, and that’s why it’s also important for him to support his wife whenever he can.
“For me is respecting and understanding what your partner do and the time it takes,” Russell said. “Not kind of downplaying what they do, understanding the time and energy and effort they're doing to make sure whether it’s their job or making sure home is taken care of, and understanding that, I think that is the challenge of not being resentful.”
Nina agreed and also shared her thoughts on resentment. According to her, one of the best things couples should do is have their own identity and passions outside of the relationship in an effort to be fulfilled.
“I also think that when you’re in a relationship, that’s why it’s so important that each individual kinda pursue their own passions and follow their own dreams as I feel like it only becomes or leads to resentment when one person is not feeling fulfilled in what they're doing in their lives,” she explained.
“And so, they will start to look at the other partner who’s happy or excelling or promoting or moving along in their journey, then they’re left feeling stuck like they sacrificed themselves, their happiness, their career, their future and have not pursued it in the name of the relationship or their partner. So, it’s so much easier to avoid those feelings of resentment when you’re each equally pursuing your passions.”
The couple has many passions that they work on together and separately. Outside of basketball and his family, Russell has become known for his eclectic style and started the fashion brand Honor The Gift. Nina has her podcast, and she also started the mental health website Bene. Together, they run the Why Not? Foundation, which works with kids in underserved communities.
“I’m a firm believer that one person can’t be everything to you, so you have to sort of seek out those different friendships or groups or hobbies or activities that help to fulfill you,” Nina concluded.
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Feature image by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Religion of Sports