Chloe J Sayers

Homemade Face Wash | The Recipe

As promised, I’ve copied down my recipe(s) for what I use as a face wash/astringent. When I still used a store-bought wash, I’d use this at night after washing my face before bed. As I stopped using the store-bought variety, I would use this 1x a day to keep bacteria away and inflammation down. Nowadays, I just use it when I feel a blemish coming on or after an extra hard work out.

The great thing about using apple cider vinegar and witch hazel (plus water) as your face wash is that you can always adjust the ratios to find what works for you. Here’s the 3 varieties I use:

Everyday Use

1 part apple cider vinegar + 1 part witch hazel + 1 part water

Delicate Skin

1 part apple cider vinegar + 1 part witch hazel + 2 parts water

Removes Extra Redness

1 part apple cider vinegar + 2 parts witch hazel + 1 part water

These are the 3 recipes I most commonly use, but half the fun in home remedies is experimenting! Since everyone has different skin, you’ll probably need to adjust the ratios to meet your skin’s needs.

Warning: If you make a batch and use it over the course of a few weeks, be sure to keep adding water. The water evaporates over time, leaving a higher concentration of apple cider vinegar and witch hazel which can turn your face red. If you apply this via a cotton ball, you’ll have nice rosy streaks all over your face for an hour. Don’t freak out. It does go away and there’s no lasting damage. You should also mix the solution regularly to avoid separations and a higher concentration of one ingredient over the others.

Happy mixing!

P.S. Apple cider vinegar is sold everywhere (Costco has great prices on the bulk organic stuff) and you can find Witch Hazel at any drugstore. It’s cheapest at Walmart or Target.

About Me

Why I Don’t Wear Make-Up

I once read that “Women who don’t wear make-up are lazy.” As someone who hasn’t worn make-up for 4 years, I can affirm that that’s 100% true. I used to wear make-up in high school, despite my complete inability to get eyeliner within 3 inches of my eyes.

Then sophomore year of college hit and I was literally running around campus in my business professional outfits trying to make the next meeting. I condensed my morning routine into an efficient 10 minute process that involved me sprinting to the community bathroom to get ready and eating most of my meals while in class (sorry, professors). The application and removal of synthetic materials on my face simply didn’t make the cut of essential activities. When you’re at the point when you’re choosing between sleep and dinner, you’re not worried about aesthetics.

My initial break-up with make-up was because I was lazy/way overbooked, but I haven’t incorporated it back into my routine because I just like my face better without it. As an added bonus, my skin is 100% better than it ever was with make-up.*

Confession time: I now use absolutely no products on my face. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Adios lotion, sayonara face wash, see you later exfoliating scrub.

It took my skin a solid 2 years of adjusting to the make up free life before it learned to self-regulate oil and dry patches. In the meantime, I’ve become a huge believer in the idea that the body can take care of itself better than all the aisles in the beauty section of CVS put together.**

If you’d like to save 10 minutes in the morning or are just grossed out enough by my facial product free lifestyle to be curious, here’s how I did it:

1. Switched from medicated products to cleansing ones (big fan of Cetaphil)

You might be thinking that using no facial products is fine for someone with naturally perfect skin, but believe me, my skin had its fair share of puberty-induced acne, irritation, and dry spots. I tried Proactiv and even went to a dermatologist for some heavy duty cream. But honestly, it never made sense. The internet told me that drugstore solutions were designed to addict your face to them so that you could never go off of them without breaking out again and the prescribed variety actually said on the tube that it would make your face break out MORE for the first 6 months. No, thank you!

2. Reduced how often I washed my face

3. Started switching from store-bought products to homemade ones

Instead of lotion, I started using coconut oil to moisturize my face once a day. I ditched the astringent for a witch-hazel & apple cider vinegar combo that not only cleans without drying your skin, it also reduces redness and irritation. Let me know if you’d like the recipe!

At this stage I still used Cetaphil to wash my face.

4. Ditched store-brought products entirely

I ran out of Cetaphil once and decided to wait a few days before buying more. The craziest thing happened. Nothing. No new pimples, no oily skin, nada. I still used my homemade astringent since the apple cider vinegar kills bacteria and does a great job cleansing.

5. Went to every other day

Instead of applying astringent every day, I started only doing it every other day. This time, my skin actually started to improve!

6. Committed to au naturale.

No products, no problem. My skin produces the perfect amount of oil to keep it from drying out without causing my face to break out. I still shower every day, so my face does get rinsed regularly and I wipe it down with a wet towel after I work out so the sweat doesn’t soak into my pores.

On the rare occasion that I find a blemish, I simply go back to using my homemade astringent and it disappears in days.

Of course, everyone’s skin is different. This worked great for me who had combination skin. It’s also worked great for my husband who trends on the more oily side.***

Has anyone else made the leap? I’d love to hear what worked (or didn’t work) for you!

* I am not at all anti-makeup. I’m super impressed by all the women out there who have mastered what is truly an art of applying eyeliner on the actual eye area of the face and I think it looks great. It’s just not for me at this time of my life.

**This journey all started with my hair, when I stopped washing it in high school. But that’s another blog post entirely

*** Disclaimer: This will NOT work AT ALL if you have the habit of picking at your blemishes. It does everything you’ve been warned about–spreads bacteria, creates scars, makes it harder for your skin to heal.

About Me, Writing

Welcome On Board

I’ve been sharing my thoughts, fears, and musings on this web log (blog for short) for over 6 years. If you’ve been following along, you’ve patiently bared with my 16 year-old angsty self, saw me navigate the perils of my freshman year of college, fall in love with my husband, move to San Diego, and read all the laughs & losses along the way.

I started this blogging journey on Blogspot, moved it to Wix over a year ago, and finally took the leap and bought my own domain name. After months of painstaking copy & pasting, I have my whole history of blogging under one happy blog roof called chloejsayers.com.

I’ve been slow to announce this change because if you followed my blog while I was moving posts over, you’d be getting 5 annoying e-mails a day. Now that everything is in its place and the dust has settled, I’d be honored if you’d follow my blog (see the button on your right). You’ll get an e-mail when I post a new blog, nothing more and nothing less. I’m fanatical about keeping my inbox clean so I promise not to clog up yours.

Since I’ve been on a blogging fast while getting this one set up, I’ve got lots of thoughts bursting to get out. Stay tuned & thanks for joining me on this journey.

Until next time,

Chloe

Capsule Closet

Capsule Closet Part 2

Chloe here, reporting in on what might be the most fun project of my summer thus far. The last time we talked, I had embarked on my journey to a capsule closet and passed the milestones of clearing out the clutter and selecting a color theme.

I’m happy to report that I’ve applied the same techniques to my shoes, and currently have a shelf of loafers that are waiting to be donated. The footwear has definitely been the most challenging part of this process. I want comfortable shoes that I can wear to work and around town that go with all my outfits. It’s a tall order, but I’m taking a page out of my husband’s wardrobe style guide and going with grey flats. They go with my base colors (white & black) as well as all the accent colors (pink, blue, and purple). I’ve kept all my nice heels and am investing in some new walking sandals to replace my current ones.

Since it is physically impossible for me to do anything halfway, I made a Pinterest board not only with the items I’d like to add to my closet, but also the ones I currently have to give a good birds eye view of how well things are coordinating. You can check it out here: https://www.pinterest.com/chloejsayers/capsule-closet/

I thought there would be a lot of items I’d have to buy to round out my closet, but I was pleasantly surprised. Only 7 items on my Amazon wish list, none of which will break my clothing budget (if I don’t buy them all at once 😉

This is really the first time in my life that I’ve strategically thought about what I want to be wearing. Who knew learning how to dress oneself would take 22 years?!

Major lessons learned:

Stick to a few colors so everything matches
Only keep clothes that fit well and that you feel good in
1 high quality piece for $50 > 5 low quality pieces for $10 each

Any tips you’d add to the list?

Social Media, Tools

Sales 101

I’m on a mission. A mission to find the best social media publishing, monitoring, and analytics tool out there. Countless hours of searching, spreadsheet compiling, and sales calls later and I’ve decided that the perfect solution doesn’t exist. However, I learned some valuable sales tips along the way.

Do your research but don’t be creepy. Every good salesperson LinkedIn stalks before calling a prospect. I’ve seen my profile up on a tab during demo screen shares many a time and I appreciate the due diligence. However, asking extremely detailed questions about my interests is unprofessional. Questions like, “When was the last time you went mountain biking?” and “Where exactly do you live?” just aren’t necessary and a waste of both of our time.

I reached out for information, not a new best friend.

2. Do e-mail before calling. I don’t have Caller ID on my desk phone, so I’ll always pick it up. It’s frustrating to be interrupted in the middle of a project so please try to do most of your communication via e-mail first. With the advent of Inbox Zero, a lot of us do actually respond to most e-mails.
3. Don’t ask for sensitive information over the phone. Love it or hate it, the open office is a reality for most professionals nowadays. If you ignored #2 and called me anyways, there’s a good chance everyone in my department can hear what I’m saying on the phone. Asking for sensitive information about my company or budget puts me in an awkward position and won’t get you closer to the sale.
4. Do have an awesome accent and keep it short. The 2 best sales calls I had in this entire process were from Sendible and Buffer. Sendible is based out of the UK and the salesperson had the best accent ever. Maybe faking a British accent isn’t for everyone, but what really sold me on him (and maybe his product) was that he was honest and upfront about the strengths and weaknesses of the product (see #5). I’ve been a huge fan of Buffer’s culture and personality for a while, so I wasn’t surprised that their sales call was quick, informative, and not the least bit awkward.
5. Don’t avoid giving information to focus on the sale. When I take the effort to reach out for more information or a demo, that’s actually what I want. Information, not a sales pitch. There’s nothing more infuriating than asking a specific question (Does your service provide xyz?) and getting a pitch for another feature returned.
6. Don’t belittle the gatekeeper. I get it. I’ve gone through Sales 101. You are trained to ask if there’s someone else involved in the decision making process. I know you’re eager to get to whoever holds the purse strings, but the reality is, you’ll probably never talk to him. The gatekeeper (aka me) who is doing the research will make the proposal of which company to use. If you want to be in that presentation, stop worrying about talking to someone who doesn’t have the time and focus on the one who is actively seeking your product out.

Not only did my research give me valuable insights on what makes a great sales call, I also learned a lot about social media platforms and how hard it is to pick one. I’ve got some helpful tools up my sleeves for other social media specialists in the same boat–stay tuned!

This article was originally shared on LinkedIn. You can find it (and other social media/professional related writings) on my profile.

Change, Friendship, Life Lessons

Living with Ghosts

Every single time I drive to work, Bad Blood plays at least twice on the radio. And every time I 295591 hear the sad saga about the inadequacy of Band-Aids to cover bullet-hole sized wounds, I try to gather up those “I hate my back-stabbing friend” emotions (it’s a long drive and it gets boring) but I can’t think of a single friendship that ended with knife scars. I almost wish I could, partly so I could empathize with Taylor, but mostly because even a angst-filled relationship sounds good right now compared to __________ (I’ve got a blank space and I’ll write your name).

We joked about getting all of life’s transitions (graduating college, getting married, moving away from home, moving across the country, starting new jobs) out of the way in two months but the reality of that drastic upheaval is wishing you were part of a T-Swift video just so you’d have some friends nearby. To the many friends I do have, thank you for keeping up. Thank you for the texts, calls, letters, and e-mails that remind me that I am loved and in a way, who I am. I know we shouldn’t define ourselves by who we are to other people, but we do and I have learned how much I depend on those coffee dates and conversations to help me process life and determine who I am and where I’m going.

Taylor Swift may be ubiquitous but there are so many things in Southern California that are new to me. My runs around the neighborhood are a full aromtheraputic experience, ranging from roses to delicious Mexican dinners. It’s different working full-time instead of being an eternal intern. It’s far different to be a wife than a fiance and much more wonderful. I can see palm trees out my bedroom window and the work break room and everywhere else.

Church Life, God, Personal Finances

401K vs. Faith

I’m writing this in my favorite corner of our love seat as I will myself to stay awake. I’m exhausted in the worse way, when sleep that brings dreams seems more tiring than simply sitting here staring into space.

It’s in these quiet mental moments that the thoughts from the back of my head finally get to percolate. So now I’m staring into a full mug of brain coffee and I’m trying to see if it’s any good. Here goes!

One of my passions in life is financial literacy. Right after God, my husband, and breakfast baked goods. I’ve been balancing my accounts since age 11 and budgeting since age 5. As I’ve learned more about economics and stewarding money well (and I have a loooong way to go), I’ve also run into a few roadblocks.

From friends, to articles, to the incredible auto-biography of George Muller, I’m constantly reminded of the importance of trusting God with one’s finances. We’ve all heard the stories of the mysterious checks that appear in people’s mailboxes just in the nick of time. These stories humble us and remind us of our ultimate dependence on God. And I believe all of this is very good.

But I also believe God has called us to be wise with our talents and treasure and that means saving for hard times, investing for the future, and living within one’s means.

Friends, I need your help. Have you ever felt like you had to choose between a 401(k) and your faith?What helped you balance complete dependence on God with wise planning?

Goodnight,
Chloe

P.S. Exciting new blog & business updates coming soon! Stay tuned.

Capsule Closet, Organization

Capsule Closet or Bust

A few weeks ago, I posted about trying to start creating a capsule closet and was surprised with the response. Evidently, a lot of my friends and family are on the journey themselves or are interested in slimming down their wardrobe.

The first thing I did was simply weed out the clothes that don’t fit great or I don’t wear often. I honestly didn’t think this would be a big pile since I got rid of a ton of clothes to move to California. However, I filled an ENTIRE garbage bag with shirts, skirts, and dresses that I simply don’t wear.

This next step was crucial: I didn’t donate them right away. Since removing those clothes from my closet narrowed me down to about 60 items (which sounds like a lot, but doesn’t feel like it), I eased my transition by keeping that garbage bag of clothes nearby for a few weeks to make sure I really didn’t need those clothes.

Here’s the crazy thing. I never opened that garbage bag. Not even once. Okay, that’s a lie. I just opened it up TO GET RID OF ANOTHER PIECE OF CLOTHING. I really didn’t miss those clothes.

The second step in my journey towards a bonafide capsule closet was picking a color scheme. If I want a core set of quality items that can be mixed and matched, then I need a few base and accent colors to ensure that each piece is versatile. Picking the colors was fairly easy. Base colors = black, white, grey. Accent colors = pink and blue. Surprise just for fun color = purple. The pink and blue go with each other and each of the base colors. The purple is because we all need a little purple in our lives.

The best part about this journey so far? Simple packing for trips. I’m filling a suitcase to head back to the Mitten & PA for a family reunion and wedding, and it took 10 minutes tops. Usually, I’m a chronic conditional over-packer. “But what if I need this outfit? Or it rains that day and I need this one? Or that one?” With a limited number of bottoms, tops, and dresses, I can pack exactly what I need and know that it will all match. Actually, I can pack less than what I would typically need since items can be worn multiple ways.

Overall, I’m super excited to be on this journey to a less chaotic closet. Because life is hard enough without 500+ options in the morning.

Next steps:
Invest in good shoes that go well with my color selections (sandals & work shoes)
Catalog what pieces I already have & which ones I need
Slowly purchase items/replace poor quality ones to fill out capsule closet

Adventure, Books, Happiness, Life Lessons

A Happy Weekend

As a social media specialist, I spend most of my working hours browsing feeds. And I’ll be honest, it’s a little depressing. I haven’t run any stats but it does feel like 87% of posts are predominately negative.

In an effort to balance out that ratio, I wanted to quickly share 3 wonderful things that happened this weekend and 2 silly ones.

3 Wonderful Things

1. I had a chance to read in a coffee shop and this sparked a conversation with a girl and her grandma about Russian literature and wedding planning. If you’re hesitant to start a conversation with a stranger, go for it. It might just make their day like it did mine.

2. I went into a local gift store where I had a gift card to use. The name of the store had changed and I found out when I got inside that the entire ownership had changed, and thus the current owners didn’t have the money that was paid for my gift card and would basically be giving me free merchandise so they couldn’t take it. As a business-minded person, I completely understood, we had a pleasant conversation, I said I would make the purchase anyway, went to grab my item and when I came back was told they would honor the gift card anyway. Customer service for the win.

3. My husband and I made our bi-weekly trip to the library used book store and realized once we got there that we didn’t have enough cash for the awesome new (old) classics that had come in. Before we realized what was happening, a sweet elderly lady pushed a $20 bill into our hands and told us to buy all the books we wanted. Since our bill was way under that, we passed the book money on to the girl behind us.

2 Silly Things

1. We went to Costco on Friday and the receipt checker said “Thank you and see you tomorrow!” as we departed. I died laughing but almost felt bad we didn’t come back on Saturday to say hi.

2. A man was brushing his teeth in the Home Depot parking lot when I dropped Luke off for work. Weird, but funny.

How was your weekend? What made you smile?

Happiness, Life Lessons, Marriage, Personal Finances, Writing

Marriage | The First Year

As of today, we’ve got 365 days of married bliss under our belts and while that doesn’t quite make us marriage experts, it does give me the authority to comment on the dreaded “First Year of Marriage.” Cue the dark lights and sad faces.

Real confession time: the first year of marriage was great.

I’m 100% speaking only out of my own experience so if you’re first year of marriage was the worst or just so-so, I’m truly sorry & hope things got better. But since I have so many friends that are getting married this summer (as evidenced by the growing number of bridesmaids dresses in my closet), I wanted to share this ray of hope.

The first year of marriage does not have to be horrible. Contrary to what every well-meaning marriage book and article will tell you, the first year of marriage does not HAVE to entail:

Fights over money
Time battles over friendships
Arguments over where you spend the holidays
General despair
No more fun
Battling over how you squeeze the toothpaste tube (does anyone actually fight over that? Buy separate toothpaste tubes people. Problem solved)

Those are the common issues that a quick Google search will show you. Or just read the first chapter of any marriage book. Most of the ones we read started with: “You thought marriage would be great. But it’s actually super difficult and painful. Say goodbye to happiness now.”

That might be a bit of an exaggeration and while I completely appreciate the effort to set realistic expectations, but I fear that going into marriage with this deluge of fear-mongering propaganda about how much you’ll fight, the dark secrets you’ll discover, and just how generally miserable marriage can be won’t exactly set you on the path to success.Thankfully, Luke and I were blessed with great premarital counseling, wise older friends, and an innate love of budgeting. I’d highly encourage you to read those marriage books because they have a lot to offer after the first chapter. Here’s my summary of the advice from books, the Bible, and mentors that helped us have an awesome first year of marriage:

Discuss as many unspoken rules as you can find before marriage.
Embrace the money talk. Budgeting can sound scary, but it also can be super fun to set saving goals and get creative with a food budget.
Over-communicate. Girls, we love to get offended when guys can’t read our minds. “But shouldn’t they know exactly what I want to eat for dinner without me telling them?” Or worse: “He should know that xyz would make me upset! By doing it anyway, he clearly doesn’t care for my feelings.” Actually, it’s pretty uncaring to get mad at someone for not being able to read your mind or your hints.
Don’t keep score. I learned this one the hard way, which you can read about here.
Know which battles to fight. If I wanted to, I could probably get annoyed with Luke about pretty much anything. But I don’t have to. I can choose to take a page out of Queen Elsa’s songbook and simply let. it. go. It’s beautiful. And my out-of-tune warbling rendition of this overplayed mantra always lightens the mood 🙂

I’m beyond excited to witness the many marriages that are forming this summer and have loved learning from the other newlyweds and not-so-newlyweds in my life. As I reflect over this past year and sentimentally sob my way through the many wedding cards, notes, and kind advice given to Luke and I, I mostly want to say: Thank You. Thanks to the family and friends that made our wedding day so special. Thanks to the new friends that helped us move across the country and settle down in the foreign land of California. Thanks to the old friends who have stayed in touch and encouraged us every step of the way.