Serena Williams just dropped her nighttime beauty routine and it's safe to say that she can add beauty maven to her long list of accolades. While most of her time is spent slaying tennis courts around the world, the rest is spent being fabulous AF alongside her husband and adorable daughter, Olympia.
In Harper's Bazaar's latest episode of Go To Bed With Me, Serena shared that one of the ways she gets the most out of her time off is bonding with her baby girl while doing their nighttime beauty routine. Featuring high-end and budget-friendly products alike, Serena gave us the tea on how she keeps her and baby Olympia's melanin poppin' both on and off the court.
After crunching the numbers on Serena's skin-clearing beauty routine, I realized that I'm not fit. Although I would love to invest in a $300 vitamin C eye serum, the way my bank account is set up, I'm going to have to give it a hard "nah". While we may not all be venture capitalist/world-class athletes/Forbes-list level millionaires (yet), Serena says the most important key to developing an effective skincare routine is finding what works best for you. She explained:
"It is so important to make your beauty routine your own and just own it."
Get a few steps ahead of the competition by creating your own version of Serena's 7-step skincare routine:
Loving Earth Cold Pressed Oil
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
According to Serena, there's nothing a lil' coconut oil can't fix, and when she says she uses it for everything, she means everything. Serena told Harper's Bazaar:
"The first step in my routine, when I'm taking off my makeup and coming undone, I actually do something completely different. I use coconut oil because it's amazing. I use it for everything you can think of. When I heard that oil washes were good, I'm like I've been doing that for years."
Vine Vera Vitamin C Serum
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Along with reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, vitamin C can help fight the effects of UV damage and can offer an anti-aging effect, and you better believe it's a part of Serena's skincare arsenal.
"I ran across this product from Vine and Vera on a babymoon in Mexico and became instantly obsessed with it. I just do a couple of dabs on my face and I always give Olympia some dabs."
Vine Vera Eye Collection Age Defying Eye Serum
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Although Vine Vera may be on the pricier side, their reviews don't lie, sis. Serena says that her Vine Vera eye serum is one of the few products that she uses to get discoloration all the way together. The 37-year-old athlete admitted that like most women, she notices more hair above her lip and under her chin, so she also uses this serum on areas of the face that she hopes to lighten.
Hydra-Bright Golden Eye Treatment Mask x 5
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
If there's one thing this superstar athlete takes seriously, it's dark circles, and Serena explained that she found this effective midrange product by surprise:
"I thought it must be amazing if it's pink and gold [my favorite colors], and it actually is. I usually like to sit down in my room with Olympia and watch 'Finding Nemo' because she watches it like a million times."
MZ Skin Sooth & Smooth Collagen Activating Eye Complex
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Next, she uses this collagen eye complex to hydrate. Since Serena has combination/dry skin, she says that staying moisturized is key:
"Sometimes when I'm traveling, I'll put this on my whole face because I feel like whatever you're using under your eyes is super moisturizing and could work for the whole face."
Ayur Medic Enrichment Cream for Age-Prevention
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
For ample moisture, Serena applies Ayur Medic's Enrichment Cream all over her face and neck.
Mario Badescu Facial Spray
Last but not least, she seals off her hard work with a cult favorite brand of Rose water. Serena said that after being put on by a friend, she can't stay away from her Mario Badescu Facial Spray, and even uses it as a setting spray when she wears makeup.
Check out Serena's full routine below!
Featured image by Jim Spellman/Getty Images
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These days, it's for a completely different purpose, though. Now that I am in the hopefully latter stages of perimenopause (I’m not sure because my mother had a full hysterectomy at 29, her mother died at 53 and I don’t deal with my paternal grandmother because…chile… ) — although I have always had relatively easy cycles and I could definitely set my watch to them, about two years ago, my periods started to show up whenever they felt like it and it was damn near a crime scene once they did.
It was driving me crazy, and so, my nurse practitioner recommended that I take progestin-only pills to shorten, if not completely stop, my cycle: “After a year or so, we can wean off and see if you are entering into menopause on your own.” (Whew, perimenopause, chile.)
Although the first five months of being on this particular pill made me wonder if it was worth it to take this approach, I actually re-upped for another 12-month cycle because the extra progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) has benefitted me in other areas as well because I am sleeping more soundly and my weight is more stabilized (by the way, when these things are “off,” they are signs of low progesterone levels). However, I did ask my nurse practitioner if, once I do decide to wean off of the pill, would there be any issues.
Her response is what inspired me to write this article because, until she said “post-birth control syndrome” to me, I had no idea there was such a thing. Anyway, if you give me a sec, I’ll explain to you what it is and why you should care if hormone-related birth control is currently a part of your life.
Yes, Post-Birth Control Syndrome Is a Very Real Thing
GiphyOkay, so it’s important to always remember that the way that birth control works is it “manipulates” your hormones so that you can significantly reduce your chances of conceiving. This means that taking them could result in some side effects including nausea; weight gain; headaches; irregular periods and/or spotting; increased stress; depression; blurry vision; breast tenderness, and/or a lowered libido.
That said, even though birth control pills are basically 99 percent effective (when taken correctly and consistently), if the side effects that you are experiencing are making you close to miserable, you should absolutely share that with your healthcare provider because…what’s the sense in preventing pregnancy when you don’t even feel up to having sex because you don’t feel good or your sex drive is shot? More times than not, your provider can find you another pill brand or option that will help you to feel more like yourself.
With that out of the way, think about it — if going on the pill can produce side effects, why would going off of it…not? And this is where post-birth control syndrome comes in.
For the most part, it’s what can happen to your body once you decide to come off of birth control. Typically, the symptoms will last anywhere between 4-6 months and, although the symptoms seem to present themselves most intensely as it relates to going off of the pill, any hormone-related birth control (like IUDs, injections, patches, the ring or implants) could produce similar outcomes.
Outcomes like what?
- Irregular cycles
- Breakouts
- Excessive gas and/or bloating
- Weight gain
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Fertility issues
- Migraines and/or headaches
- Shifts in your libido
- Sleeplessness/restlessness
- Hair loss
Whoa, right? And if a part of you is wondering, “Okay, if this is indeed the case, why have I not heard of this syndrome before?” It’s because it’s not a term that conventional method uses nearly as much as alternative medicine does. Still, it makes all of the sense in the world that if your body has to adjust to an uptick in hormonal intake, it would also need to adjust to removing those extra doses of hormones from your system as well. COMMON. DAMN. SENSE.
Anyway, if you were thinking about taking a break from birth control and taking all of this in has you feeling a bit…let’s go with the word “trepidatious” about doing so, I totally get it. There are some things that you can do to make experiencing post-birth control syndrome either a non-issue or a far more bearable one, though.
7 Home Remedies That Can Make Coping with Post-Birth Control Syndrome Easier
Giphy1. Take a multivitamin.Something that’s fascinating about what going off of birth control can do is it sometimes has the ability to lower your nutrition levels as it relates to certain vitamins and minerals; this is especially the case when it comes to vitamins B, C, E and minerals like magnesium, selenium and zinc. So, if you don’t currently take a multivitamin, now would be the time to start (along with consuming foods that are particularly high in those nutrients as well).
2. Up your vitamin D intake. Speaking of nutrient levels, a vitamin level that commonly drops after going off of birth control isvitamin D. This is hella critical to keep in mind as a Black woman since many of us tend to be naturally deficient in the vitamin as-is and vitamin D is important when it comes to fighting off diseases, regulating weight and keeping your moods stabilized (for starters). So, make sure that your multivitamin has vitamin D in it. Also make sure to consume vitamin D-enriched foods like fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms, yogurt and fortified orange juice.
3. Drink herbal teas. Since going off of birth control will cause your hormones to be all over the place for a season, consider drinking some herbal teas that will help to stabilize them. Black cohosh contains phytoestrogen properties, Chasteberry can help to level out your prolactin levels and green tea can help your hormones out by helping to balance out your insulin (which can sometimes directly affect them).
4. Keep some ibuprofen nearby. The headaches and migraines? Until those subside, you and ibuprofen are probably going to become really good friends; although I will add that ginger tea and inhaling essential oils like chamomile and lavender can help to ease migraine-related symptoms too.
5. Do some meditating. Waiting for your hormones to get back on track can be stressful as all get out. That said, something that can get your cortisol (stress hormone) levels to chill out is to meditate. If meditation is new for you, check out “7 Meditation Hacks (For People Who Can't Seem To Do It).”
6. Get massages. As if you needed an excuse to get a massage, right (check out “12 Different Massage Types. How To Know Which Is Right For You.”)? However, there is some evidence to back the fact that regular massages (somewhere around once a month) can help to lower your stress, boost your dopamine, increase blood flow and drain your lymphatic system so that you will have more energy.
7. Sleep/rest more. There is plenty of scientific research out here which says that sleep deprivation can throw your hormones out of whack — and since your hormones are already trying to stabilize themselves, you definitely need to get 6-8 hours of sleep and not feel the least bit guilty about taking naps sometimes too.
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Post-birth control syndrome may not be the most pleasant thing about getting off of birth control yet it is manageable. So, now that you know all about it, you can feel more confident about taking a birth control break (or getting off altogether) — without the surprises that can come with doing it. Give thanks.
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