Why Your Skin, Hair, And Nails Need Hyaluronic Acid Like...Yesterday
It’s not like I’ve been totally unfamiliar with hyaluronic acid and its potential. I mean, I don’t know about y’all, but several years back, it seemed like I couldn’t go one day without seeing actor Eva Longoria talking about it in a commercial (she was on loop just as much as those annoying and borderline obnoxious Lumē ads). Still, you know how it is — if you’re not someone who is proactive or even just somewhat intentional about skincare, the things that you need to do to keep your face, neck, and other parts of your body looking youthful and radiant are probably not something that you choose to investigate very often (if at all).
Oh, but as time is moving and, interestingly enough, more people are complimenting me on not looking the age that I am, I’ve become a student of products that are proven to keep the affirmations and acknowledgments coming — and one of them is, yep, hyaluronic acid. Give me a few moments of your time, and I’ll explain why.
What Is Hyaluronic Acid? Why Should You Care?
We have too much fun \ud83d\ude06 getting ready for a #Virgo party I went to. #virgoseason #birthdaygirl \u2764\ufe0f#getreadywithme @KimbleHairCare @saishabeecham— Sanaa Lathan (@Sanaa Lathan) 1695135499
Yeah. If you just watched the video above, you heard Sanaa Lathan actually shout hyaluronic acid out. She recently observed her 52nd birthday, and so, if that’s not a powerful endorsement for all that we’re about to get into, I promise you…I don’t know what is.
So, what is hyaluronic acid to begin with? For starters, did you know it’s something that your body naturally produces? Yep, not only is it a substance that helps to keep your body hydrated, thanks to its slippery texture, but it’s also great at keeping your joints well-lubricated, speeding up the healing process of wounds, fighting gum disease, reducing acid reflux, and keeping your vagina moist. So, even though we’re going to focus on the beauty benefits that come from it today, it’s important to know that hyaluronic acid is something that your body needs on a daily basis — whether you ever realize it or not.
Oh, and if you’re wondering if there are ways that you can get more of this acid actually into your system, the answer is “yes.” Aside from the supplements that exist, there are certain foods that are high in the acid too. Some of those include bone broth, almonds, sweet potatoes, oranges, and kale.
With all of this on record, let’s get into some of the ways that hyaluronic acid can benefit you, on the beauty front, if you opt to use it in topical form.
What Hyaluronic Acid Does for Your Skin
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For the past few months now, I’ve been applying hyaluronic acid to my face and neck, every morning and every night after washing my face with sulfur soap — and yes, I have noticed a difference! More than anything, it’s made my skin feel and stay hydrated, which would make sense since that is what this kind of acid is designed to do.
Since I’ve read that hyaluronic acid plays a significant role in actually giving our skin structure, no wonder it also provides skin more elasticity and flexibility, smooths out the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and it can provide a barrier for your skin so that it’s more difficult for bacteria to penetrate it. There are even some studies that state using this acid, in foam form, can bring much relief to eczema.
As far as the kind of hyaluronic acid that’s best, going with one that’s as pure as possible is always ideal. Avoid a brand that contains alcohol (especially in the top three ingredients) because that can actually dry out your skin. Also, if the product also contains vitamin C, that will definitely work in your favor; that’s because vitamin C is a nutrient that helps to produce the production of collagen, plus it contains antioxidants that complement hyaluronic acid very well. And definitely stay away from fragrance if your skin is naturally sensitive; otherwise, you could end up with redness or breakouts.
Personally, the brand that I use is Good Molecules’s Hyaluronic Acid Serum. It’s priced reasonably, is easy to apply, and feels really refreshing and light. If you want to read up on some other brands that are available, Allure has 15 listed here, and Byrdie has 12 listed here.
What It Does for Your Hair
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Even though hyaluronic acid and I have been rocking for a hot minute when it comes to my skin, I’m just now taking it seriously when it comes to my hair. The reason why it’s seriously worth considering when it comes to your tresses is, since Black hair tends to be naturally dry (because it’s challenging for the natural sebum on our scalp to twist and turn around all of the curls we’ve got on our head), this is an acid that can add some additional moisture to our locks as well. As a result, it will reduce breakage, decrease frizz, and add shine to your locks. Something else that’s pretty cool about it is, if like me, you have a dry scalp, you can apply the acid directly to it, and it will moisturize that part of your body, too.
So, just how should you apply this acid to your hair and scalp? There are a few different ways that will work in your favor. You can use it as a pre-poo treatment. You can apply it after giving your hair a final rinse on wash day in order to “lock in” the moisture that remains. You can mix it in with a carrier oil like avocado, plum oil, or grapeseed oil in order to seal your ends. You can apply it to your hair after dyeing it to give it some extra hydration (by the way, I recently watched Natural Reign’s YouTube channel, and she also recommends Wella Professionals’s Ultimate Repair too; she’s got quite a bit of hair on her head and it stays healthy so…that’s just a bonus tip).
What I personally do is add some of the serum that I have to my shampoo to give it more “slip”; however, if you want to check out some popular products that contain a concentrated amount of hyaluronic acid, you can see a list of ‘em here.
What Hyaluronic Acid Does for Your Nails
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Too little iron and/or vitamin C and/or folate in your system, aging, and low thyroid levels — these are all things that can lead to brittle nails. Know what else can be the culprit? Dry nails? In fact, a lack of moisture on your hands can cause raggedy cuticles, too. A surefire remedy? Yep, you guessed it: hyaluronic acid. By applying some of the serum to your hands (your nails and nail beds especially), it will boost hydration to them, so that your nails (and cuticles) can remain healthy and strong. A great hack is to mix some serum with a bit of coconut oil or vitamin E first; if you do so, your nails will look and feel amazing!
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So, there ya go. If you never really thought about adding hyaluronic acid to your daily beauty routine, now you’ve got several reasons why you absolutely should. It’s something that I don’t regret over this way — hell, wish I had researched it sooner. Super glad that I know about it now.
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Different puzzle pieces are creating bigger pictures these days. 2024 will mark a milestone on a few different levels, including the release of my third book next October (yay!).
I am also a Professional Certified Coach. My main mission for attaining that particular goal is to use my formal credentials to help people navigate through the sometimes tumultuous waters, both on and offline, when it comes to information about marriage, sex and relationships that is oftentimes misinformation (because "coach" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, oftentimes quite poorly).
I am also still super devoted to helping to bring life into this world as a doula, marriage life coaching will always be my first love (next to writing, of course), a platform that advocates for good Black men is currently in the works and my keystrokes continue to be devoted to HEALTHY over HAPPY in the areas of holistic intimacy, spiritual evolution, purpose manifestation and self-love...because maturity teaches that it's impossible to be happy all of the time when it comes to reaching goals yet healthy is a choice that can be made on a daily basis (amen?).
If you have any PERSONAL QUESTIONS (please do not contact me with any story pitches; that is an *editorial* need), feel free to reach out at missnosipho@gmail.com. A sistah will certainly do what she can. ;)
This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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Not too long ago, while in a session with one of my clients, they were talking to me about having strong sex cravings that seemed to have come out of nowhere. After asking some questions for clarity’s sake, I got that the reason why they used the word “craving” is because it’s not like they are hornier than usual all of the time. Nah, it’s more like the urge creeps up at some pretty random and/or unexpected moments. What they wanted to know from me was if I thought that it was normal.
The short answer is “yes.”
Now, while it’s another message for another time that if this type of sex-related craving feels impulsive or out of one’s control, it could be a sign of someone who is leaning into some level of sex addiction; however, that is not what we’re going to unpack today. Today, we’re going to look into what could be going on with you if it seems like, lately, you’ve been having a greater desire for sex, and you can’t quite pinpoint why.
Because, just like, say, a craving for a particular type of food oftentimes reveals something that is going on with you physically or mentally — sex cravings tend to bring certain things to light in those same areas, too.
Let’s dig in…
Hormonal Shifts
GiphyAlthough I don’t have social media accounts, I do tiptoe out there to see what’s going on — and boy, do I roll my eyes whenever I hear folks act like being over 40 is old. SMDH. It’s especially annoying when I hear about it in the context of sex because, believe it or not, there are a lot of late perimenopausal and menopausal women who are “gettin’ theirs” more than some of these 20 and 30-year-olds are (just ask them).
One reason is that the fear of experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, for many, is now in their rearview mirror. Another is because some are taking a form of hormone therapy to treat the changes that their system is going through — and when you’re getting more estrogen, progesterone, and/or testosterone into your body (in order to level things out) — HUNNAY.
For other women, even consuming phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogen) like peaches, garlic, berries, spinach, and cabbage can make them want sex more than when those aren’t a part of their diet. Bottom line here, a shift in your sexual hormones can definitely cause you to desire sex more than you have before (or have in a while).
Ovulation
GiphyBack when I was a teen mom director for the local chapter of a national non-profit, something that I used to tell “my daughters” all of the time is when you know that you’re ovulating, that’s when you need to be hypervigilant about using wisdom when it comes to the sex-related decisions that you make. I’m thinking that most of you get why: your body was designed to feel its horniest when you’re able to get pregnant — and that is during your time of ovulation.
That’s why it really is a good idea to keep up with your cycle and, if a baby is not something that is on your priority list right now, you either avoid having sex during that time of the month or make sure to use some form of birth control. Chile, even women with low libidos can find themselves wanting to hang off of a chandelier or two when they are ovulating. It’s nature’s way.
A Healthy Diet
GiphyIf you happen to be someone with a sluggish sex drive and you know that you spend most of your time in a drive-thru, there is probably a direct correlation there. No joke. There is plenty of research out in cyberspace to support the fact that a wack diet and low sex drive have a lot in common. While processed foods and unhealthy fats can throw your (sex) hormones off, foods that are filled with zinc, vitamins B12 and D, and iron can ramp up your desire for intimacy.
This is why many people who decide to make a lifestyle change as far as their eating habits are concerned are oftentimes surprised by how much sex is on their minds and how much easier it is for them to orgasm because of it. While a part of it can be due to a boost in their sexual confidence, a lot of it has to do with consuming foods that will literally feed their libido (in a healthy way).
More Exercise
GiphyPlainly put, exercise makes you hornier. Not only does it boost your testosterone levels, (consistently) working out also lowers your stress levels and gives you a boost in the self-esteem department. On top of that, exercise makes you more flexible, builds up endurance, and increases blood circulation which can turn around and intensify your climaxes as a direct result. In fact, this is oftentimes why people will want to have sex right after a workout session.
While we’re here, let me also share that too much of a good thing can end up being counterproductive. What I mean by that is, that although it is wise to exercise on a regular basis, make sure to not overdo it. Something known as overtraining syndrome can result in fatigue, insomnia, and irritability; no one can really have amazing sex when all of that is going on.
Being a Certain Age
GiphyWhile it used to be said that the sexual peak for men is in their teens and for women, it’s in their 30s (some believe it’s because after 35, it’s more challenging for women to get pregnant and so our biological clock plays a role in it all), some research believes that coming to that conclusion isn’t fair because aging affects people differently. For instance, while on one hand, people in their 40s tend to see a dip in their sex hormones, as we’ve already discussed, hormone therapy (for both men and women) can level some of those issues out, if not increase some people’s sex drives altogether.
Adding to that, it should also go on record that some studies indicate that women between the ages of 27-45 actually have a stronger desire — or craving — for sex than women between the ages of 18-26. So honestly, there goes the myth that being younger (automatically) means that you’re hornier. #Elmoshrug
Certain Medications
GiphyIf you used to have a higher sex drive and you’re currently on an antidepressant, that could be why your desire for copulation has decreased. Some studies say that as much as 40 percent of people who are on these types of medication end up having a lower libido (by the way, antihistamines and beta-blockers can have this effect, too).
On the other hand, if you’ve been taking a prescribed drug to increase your sex drive (perhaps like Vyleesi or Addyi), then it would make sense that you may have an increased libido level. Other meds that may have a similar effect include birth control pills (since they alter your hormones), medications that help to treat Parkinson’s disease, along with dopamine-related drugs.
Less Stress
GiphyIf, on the days when you don’t seem to have a care in the world, you also desire sex more than usual, that’s not a coincidence either. Thing is, when you’re all stressed out, that can cause the stress hormone known as cortisol to work overtime and, when that happens, that can end up suppressing your sex hormones which can deplete you of sexual urges. Ironically, there is a flip side to this because when you engage in sexual activity, that actually elevates feel-good (and bonding) hormones like dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins, which can also de-stress you.
So basically, if you’re craving sex, you probably aren’t very stressed out (right now), and if you want to stop being stressed out, you probably should have some sex (some protected sex, if you don’t want to be stressed later up the road…if you know what I mean).
Having an Amazing Sex Life
GiphyTo me, this one right here should be a given because when something is both good to and for you, why wouldn’t you want more of it? So yeah, if you have a great sex life with someone, it’s common sense that you’d want to engage in that act with them as much as possible. Hey, not to mention the fact that orgasms activate your brain in a way similar to a drug high does.
So, if while reading this, you’re thinking about sexting your bae to make arrangements to — eh hem — satisfy your craving, I say go for it! To “greatly want” to connect with your partner in order to have some fulfilling and satisfying sex? What in the world could possibly be wrong with that?! Not a damn thing.
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