Young Living Essential Oils!

"The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine" - William Osler, M.D. If you've read some of my older posts, you know that I'm all about the living the most natural lifestyle that I can. I always believed that there was a healthier alternative to hospital trips, doctors, drugs, and medications. As a result, I have worked very hard for a long time on balancing a healthy diet, exercise, and rest regimen to avoid all of those scary things! So naturally when I learned of the existence of essential oils I was overwhelmingly curious! Essential oils are liquids and compunds that are distilled or pressed from plants. Like the blood in our body, the essential oil of a plant works the same way. It is used to seal the cut, protect the wound, and provide oxygen and nutrients for cell regeneration. Now after extensive research and numerous stories of personal accounts, I have become an essential oil distributor through Young Living! If you'd like to ditch the drugstore, keep on reading for some of my favorite essential oils and just some of their countless uses. If you're more of a "must see it to believe it" type, then order through my distributer number: 3506759 on www.youngliving.com, and see for yourself how they work!
Lavender- Topical, Aromatic, and Dietary
Lavender compliments favorite shampoos, lotions, or skin care products. Apply it to cuts, scrapes, burns, cold sores, insect bites, rashes, or acne to sooth and cleanse. Diffuse it for relaxation, meditation, or a restful sleep. Ladies, you can also massage it into the abdomen for menstrual discomfort!
Peppermint- Topical, Aromatic, and Dietary
Peppermint enhances and supports healthy bowel, gut, digestive, and gastrointestinal function. It can also be added to water to curb appetite and assist in weight loss. Apply it topically for cooling and refreshing relief from fever, sore muscles, or arthritis. Diffuse it for improved focus and concentration, and reduced nausea.
Frankincense- Topical, Aromatic, and Dietary
Apply Frankincense directly to moles, skin tags, scars, wrinkles, acne, and age spots to support skin health. Diffuse it to increase spirituality, inner strength, lift mood, and balance emotions. Frankincense oil has even been shown to help fight cells of specific types of cancer.
Lemon- Topical, Aromatic, and Dietary
Lemon is a flavorful addition to water that also detoxes, balances your PH, cleanses bad gut bacteria, and relieves heartburn and acid reflux. It can be diffused for a stimulating and uplifting scent to purify the air. Use it topically on cellulite to improve circulation and eliminate waste from cells. Apply it to skin to balance oil glands, rid acne, calm inflammation, pain, and redness. It is also a natural bleaching agent for scars!
Digize- Topical and Dietary
Digize can be taken with every meal to support a daily wellness regimen. Massage it directly on the stomach to relieve digestive problems like heartburn, gas, constipation, diarrhea, and bloating. Careful with which direction you are massaging though! Apply clockwise to get things moving, and counter-clockwise to slow things down.
Panaway- Topical and Aromatic
Apply it topically to reduce discomfort from everyday aches and pains, and relax joints and muscles. Panaway helps to relieve tension headaches when applied to temples, back of neck, or forehead.
Thieves- Topical, Aromatic, and Dietary
Use Thieves at the first sign of an upset stomach, sore throat, or signs of a cold. Apply it to the bottom of feet or on the thymus gland daily, or take it orally to support a healthy immune system.
Stress Away- Topical and Aromatic
Apply it directly to wrists or back of neck to induce relaxation. Inhale it from the bottle for peace, mental stability, and equilibrium. Diffuse it at bedtime for a restful night's sleep.

Designing My Way Into 2016!

Being an artist, I'm never going to be fully satisfied with my work. I have an ever-changing, ever-evolving personality that shows the most prominently in my artwork. A design that I might so proudly show one month could seem embarrassing to show the next month. Artists are constantly looking to improve, to stay ahead, and to impress themselves and their audience. At the beginning of the new year in 2015, I made it my goal to create the quality of designs I knew I could produce. I wanted a more realistic croqi, more depth, more vibrant color, and a wider range in design. So I worked a little outside the box, and took my ideas past my comfort zone. I started off with celebrities like Taylor Swift, blogger Kristina Bazan, and VS Angel Candice Swanepoel, to see if I could interpret their features and style in my own way. To achieve my ideal colors and depth, I tried some new tools until I found my perfect match. After testing several brands, I found that Copic markers with the paint tip ruled over Prismacolor. I also discovered my love for Micron pens over Prismacolor, and the uncanny improvement in using Bienfang marker paper over Canson marker paper. I then challenged myself to create several different designs that resembled each other enough to be considered a collection. I created three seperate collections and stylized them around themes like, "Miss Pastel", "Wicked Bunch", and "Holiday Posh". This year, I did something I've never done before, I copied another famous design. I illustrated a look from Zuhair Murad's Resort '16 Collection, which proved to be challenging. Lastly, I created my own costume in a comic book style for Marvel's Black Widow. In the end, I like to think that I successfully worked towards my 2015 goal. I'm not going to say I achieved it, because I'm a perfectionist, remember? ;) Maybe I'll be satisfied by the end of 2016! So if you're an artist, in any aspect of life, never stop improving. Set goals for yourself, and practice to attain them. Work to become the very best at your craft, and relish in the satisfaction of the difference your time and efforts made. You never know to what heights it may take you.

Détroit Is The New Black!

Last week I was kindly invited by fellow fashion blogger of DolacheSpace, to a Sip and Shop Event at local store, Détroit is the New Black! The invitation read: Enjoy champagne and recieve 20% off your purchase of featured pop-up designer, Tracy Reece, along with Roslyn's in-house label! I'm not one for drinks, but boy am I one for a sale! So obviously my friend Katlyn (who I recently dubbed as my fashion partner in crime) and I headed downtown and got our shop on ;) On the outside the store is very inconspicuous, but on the inside it has the feel of a spacious loft featuring fine art, and fine clothing. The store was very minimalistic, open, inviting, and shoppable. Fine art pieces were spread throughout, and metal jewelry was shown in cases. Clothing was neatly hung from racks according to color and style. The CEO and owner of DITNB, Roslyn Karamoko, was a very pleasant host, and kindly explained her store, and listened to our fashion endeavors. We had previously seen her speak at the FashionSpeak Conference, and had been dying to see her store ever since. Her designs adorned the Détroit is the New Black logo, or the simple D insignia. The clothing was simple, but held a very powerful message. Her pop-up designer, Tracy Reece, had clothing of a very different type. Her designs were considered more high fashion, and consisted mostly of dresses and gowns with a vintage twist. Katlyn and I both very happily purchased something from Roslyn's collection. While unwrapping my purchase at home, I found a small card containing the company's message on it. It read: "Détroit is the New Black is inspired by the city. We are a forward movement of millennials energized by the history and resilience of Detroit. We combine minimalism and high street to achieve the perfect balance of urban fashion. A mantra for Rebirth. Inspiration. Authenticity. Culture. We believe in the power of manifestation. Join the movement". This small card gave me the chills. It was the perfect desciption of my experience at her store, and her brand. That's a designer that knows herself, and knows what she stands for! So needless to say, we had a wonderful first time shopping with Détroit is the New Black. I plan on visiting them again in the near future, and encourage you to do the same! Visit www.detroitisthenewblack.com, or @detroitisthenewblack on Instagram to purchase or view Roslyn's work! Or visit the store for yourself at 52 East Forest Avenue, Détroit ;D