Napi Horsemanship

Chemotherapy attacks fast growing cells like skin. My biggest word of advice is start skin care as soon as you can. Especially if you have sensitive skin like I did. Cancer has changed my mind set about a lot of things, especially what I’m putting in and on my body. That’s why it was important to find organic, natural ingredients, that were good for my skin. Because you know, the skin is the largest organ you have. Plus no one wants products tested on thumper and his friends.

No one warned me that loosing my hair could hurt and I can’t help but think some of these products could have made the process much easier; with or without a shaved head. Also now that I’m bald I’m taking some extra steps to do some more things to care for myself since I no longer have hair to braid etc. Mentality is as important as physical for me. Over the last few weeks I have researched and offered myself as a guinea pig in the name of science. I have found some amazing products that I’m going to recommend and take you through my application process.

I was having a hard time learning the steps to the routine like toner before primer? Both hydrating skin supporting products. Here’s a picture of the lotion I received that had a run down of the steps. I assume that treatment means primer but I could be wrong. Sunscreen’s going to be one of the most important things to have while under going chemotherapy, and after!

This is where my first few searches got me, Canviiy. A lot goes a long with this product, but then again I don’t have hair anymore. The shampoo is very refreshing and cooling. The conditioner is amazingly hydrating and soothing on the scalp.

The balm is also extremely hydrating and refreshing on my scalp. I can put this on at anytime I want in the routine. I haven’t found that it matters if it’s in a particular order. The only thing is it’s a little thicker so I do wash my hands after applying the balm. Loosing my hair ended up being a painful and uncomfortable process for me and I wish I had had the Canviiy products before it started to fall out. I do believe it would have helped significantly.

Shout out to an old friend, Savahna, for putting this in my goodie bag! If you read my Introduction to Cancer blog you are aware the first few weeks were pretty tasking on my body. Below is a picture of the ports and things I had on my skin around my neck. I was also struggling with low platelets at this time so everything bruised much more than it would for anyone with normal levels of platelets (The things that clot your blood). And as you know my skin is sensitive, so the medical glues tore my skin up along with the trauma to my skin for the ports. All those places had a lot of healing to do and this lotion was my saving grace through the process. We also stumbled across that its the best baby rash solution as well! Another product I recommend, not just for cancer, but for everyday use as well like scraps and diaper rash.

She also got me some Vaseline chap stick that I love as well and would recommend. My lips were the first skin part affected by my treatment. Super chapped. The skin on my arms and legs flaked like dandruff. Gross right? So get a lot of lotion and start asap lol.

This is my face wash and they recommend using it in the AM and PM. Whenever I take a shower this is part of my routine. I should wash my face at night but I usually end up asleep on the couch by 9 PM. This is an Australian company that uses natural products, Sukin. Very reasonably priced product as well.

Next I apply a toner. I really enjoy the milk toner and would go as far as to say it’s one of my favorite steps in my facial care. I make sure it dries completely before my next step. The price on this guy wasn’t too bad either.

My primer was a little bit more expensive but a little goes a long way with it. I apply a few dots around my face then go in with my lotion and rub the two together into my face. The lotion goes on next anyway and I find that it is easier to smooth out with the lotion since the primer is thicker. This brand is Camelina and Strobe, it’s a luminizing primer.

This vastly became a favorite lotion. It’s super light weight which is my favorite thing about it. It also has awesome ingredients in it as well, like avocado seed oil. The brand is Good Molecules. They have sunscreen options and other things as well. Which like I said, you can’t have enough sunscreen so I’ll probably get a sunscreen lotion from this company. They’re reasonably priced as well.

This is right up there with the toner when it comes to my favorite products I use on my skin. This is a two in one product. It’s a setting make up spray and a 30 SPF sunscreen. And again, organic. It is the best smelling product I own. I don’t know exactly what it is but I love it. Even my partner commented on how good it smelled. Is it wrong to purchase a product just for its smell? Asking for a friend. It’s super light weight as well. I use this on my face and my scalp.

I ended up finding a make up company that is paleo certified. Pretty much this is the most Earth friendly product in my supply as of now. This is in my top three products list. Araza makeup. My Aunt once again spoiled me and got me my first round of Araza makeup. She got me the eye concealer and bronzer. The company offers samples as well which I would highly recommend! It helps with color matching and seeing which products work for you and which ones don’t. I got samples of the matte lip gloss and the setting powder. The concealer is my favorite, especially with being a mom and the chemotherapy. I got the peach color which helps with extra cover up of the darkness under your eyes. The bronzer is great for adding color into my face. It counter acts my very white bald head. Both of those I apply onto my face with my finger then blend with a slightly damp sponge egg. The setting powder is great for blending at the end and setting up the concealer under the eyes. I would get a big jar of this in the future. I immediately knew I wanted a large tube of the lip gloss after the first try. Top favorite of my new make up.

Here’s my round two order. I got my big tube of matte lip gloss that has coconut in it and their avocado brow and eyeliner pen. Then a sharpener for that and my colored pencils. I also got foundation samples, both the powder and the cream. Their cream foundation is SPF as well which I love because my setting spray is only 30 SPF and I like the idea of extra sun protection. I cheat when it comes to my blush and use an old one I had prior to my cancer diagnosis. The brown pen is my style for eyeliner and brown filling; it gives just an enough color to give you a more natural look to the brow and eye. I suck at eyebrows so I just needed a little bit of help in parts where they are starting to thin. I got a lighter brown color to match my eyebrows. If you want it for eyeliner I would recommend the black color so you get a more dramatic look. It works for me as eye liner because I go for a more simple and naturalistic approach in my application. I made the decision that I like the cream foundation over the powder and it’s really just because of the sunscreen quality. I’m not using much when I use the cream, just on the spots on my face that need extra protection from the sun, like cheeks and nose. I also really like the setting powder and don’t really see the point in having two separate powders when one is enough for blending it all at the end. I’m very much a less is more type of girlie.

This company also offers an amazing program where if you keep five packages of one product, like five of the non sample sizes of lip gloss, they would recycle and then send me a full size tube of lip gloss back to me. Another reason I love this company. If you end up deciding to use this company here is a discount code for you to use at check out!

Here’s a fun video of what to expect if you order from them 🙂 Pretty cool little company!

Here’s my rough run down of what I’m doing to help my skin not just for chemotherapy but now for the rest of my life. I do want to make a video at some point of the application process. My nice camera is down for the moment as the wall adapter for my chord has been lost. Will try taking pictures with my phone but it’s not the same! I can make videos off the iPad though I’m sure.

Thank you for taking the time to read. If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to reach out to me on my contact page. I have also done a few little navigation edits to the site and I hope it makes it easier to move around. If you ever want to return to the home page just click on my Napi Logo at the top of the page. Keep on living your life to the fullest friends! Thank you for all the support, good vibes, and prayers.