Monthly Resource Collection May 2021

My newest obsession (aside from quitting coffee- which is going amazing by the way) is learning about how beauty, health, and wellness spaces have been colonized and therefore systematically made inaccessible to many people because of varying identities. I’ve been seriously studying this topic because it inherently intersects with just about every “ism.”

As a beauty professional (but also just as a human committed to social change) I believe it is so important I make the effort to understand how beauty, health and wellness practices have been stolen and appropriated from different cultures and religions, but also how these sectors of business have been whitewashed and healing has been constructed as a privilege for the few. These practices have very real and dangerous ripple effects on the mental and physical health of our society, affecting some much more than others.

Currently I feel like I’m constructing my own college semester (or several semesters) consisting of books, podcasts, webinars, documentaries, and articles created by BIPOC, people of various body sizes and shapes, disabled folks, and LGBTQIAA+ folks to try to learn from those who have not been placed conveniently in the front and center of the behemoth which is our current beauty, health and wellness industrial complex.

I’ve been on my fitness, health and wellness journey for years, focusing on the physical components. As I transition into a me that still loves moving my body, but is much more focused at this time on working on my mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness I think it is imperative to seek out a wide range of perspectives as teachers. People who specifically consider and recognize intersectionality and social systems as inextricably entwined with our healing and wellness. Individually, and as a collective. Healers who understand the implications these systems have on physical bodies.

If you were to look at my home library, I’d like to think the diversity of voices there is great. But when I started looking at the wellness / self improvement section of my collection, the majority are written by cisgender, non-disabled, White women, with some cisgender, non-disabled White men sprinkled in there. I didn’t have ONE book on business, self improvement, fitness or veganism written by a Mexican (my other half). What a disgrace.

Instead of feeling disempowered or guilty, I instantly saw a huge blind spot in my learning and turned it into an opportunity for change and growth, that hopefully I can share with you. There are so many more amazing authors, teachers, badass fitness instructors, vegans, and holistic health practitioners that want to share their gifts with us. Unfortunately, it takes more than diversifying our social media accounts to find many of them. It takes effort. Research. Time and energy. It takes paying them for their services if you are able. Until one day when finding a Latina business coach with a emphasis on holistic wellness from an intersectional perspective becomes as easy as finding a White woman on social media, eager to help you lose weight.

These are the resources I found particularly enlightening this month, but there are many more coming.

Books:

The Body Is Not An Apology, Sonya Renee Taylor

Every. One. With. A. Body: READ THIS BOOK! I received it with my monthly subscription to http://www.feministbookclub.com and oh my, did it deliver. Taylor posits that in order to dismantle systems of oppression we must learn to practice “radical self-love.” This is different than self-acceptance, confidence, or even self esteem, which she argues are not “scalable,” but restricted to the individual. When we work to unlearn and dismantle the systems that have taught us not to love our own bodies this will translate into empathy for bodies different than our own, and ultimately help to create a world where hate and terrorism against bodies will no longer be acceptable or common practice.

When we speak of the ills of the world – violence, poverty, injustice – we are not speaking conceptually; we are talking about things that happen to bodies… Racism, sexism, ableism, homo-and transphobia, ageism, fatphobia are algorithms created by humans’ struggle to make peace with the body. A radical self-love world is a world free from the systems of oppression that make it difficult and sometimes deadly to live in our bodies.”

Check out Sonya Taylor: https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com

Vibrate Higher Daily, Lalah Delia

Lalah Delia is a “spiritual writer, wellness educator, and certified spiritual practitioner.” She is such a light in the world and I am so glad I am learning from her! This book is an overview of her concept of “vibrating higher daily” which is essentially a way of existing in the world in a positive and enlightened way that draws you closer to your purpose, the collective, and the “divine” in order to use your gifts to create a better world.

Lalah Delia also teaches amazing webinars on everything from energy cleansing to divine timing. I signed up for her monthly subscription at https://www.vibratehigherdaily.com and I have been extremely happy with the amount and quality of content available for the $22 / month. I highly recommend!

Podcasts:

Shine Brighter Together Podcast with Monique Melton
Season 3, Episode 29: “Do Better w Rachel Ricketts”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shine-brighter-together/id1464945623?i=1000518800938

Latino USA
5/21/21: “Masks Off With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/latino-usa/id79681317?i=1000522634422

No Meat Athlete Radio
5/13/21: “NMA Chats: On Being a Vegan Activist in the Black Community with Jasmine C. Leyva”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-meat-athlete-radio/id476196931?i=1000521580114

Get Loved Up with Koya Webb
Season 2, Episode 47: “11 Rituals to Raise Your Vibration”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-loved-up-with-koya-webb/id1455677259?i=1000470869132

Black Girl in Om Podcast
12/17/29 59. #55. “Creating Space To Expand: A Live Conversation with Rachel Cargle”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-girl-in-om/id1117951237?i=1000459859296

Real Food Reads Podcast
Episode 22: “Decolonize Your Diet: Luz Calvo and Catriona R. Esquibel

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-food-media/id1215522970?i=1000414763700

Movies:

Seaspiracy

This documentary focuses on the environmental impact of fishing, but also touches on the human rights violations perpetuated by a highly unregulated global industry.

Let’s Talk About Coffee

Part 2 In the “I’m Quitting Coffee” Series

I’m not a doctor. I’m not even medical field adjacent. However, I can do research (thank you internet) and make decisions for myself based on my findings. I’m not trying to give anyone health advice; this blog is mostly about telling you what works for my body and lifestyle with the hope and intention that my adventures will give you something interesting to think about. If you implement one of my lifestyle changes or experiments in your own life and it works for you, that’s awesome.

That being said, the research on caffeine and its effects on anyone with a menstrual cycle who is not planning on having a baby are discouragingly minimal. Shockingly, research on caffeine and the “human body” in general, is everywhere. We’ve all heard that too much caffeine could mean increased heart rate and blood pressure, more anxiety, maybe some irritability and headaches, a touch of stomach issues, and then usually there’s a slight mention of “pregnancy and fertility” issues. None of those reasons inspired me to look into quitting coffee… at first glance. My husband and I aren’t having kids, and the other reasons just weren’t enough of a concern to get me to quit my beloved and delicious coffee. Then I started thinking about it. Women have hormonal cycles that can be significantly disrupted by many things (including stimulants) who may NOT be trying to get pregnant. Pregnancy and fertility are not a concern to me, but obviously there is an underlying issue there that is specific to women.

To summarize the readily-accessible mainstream data: unless I’m planning on being pregnant, I shouldn’t worry about what coffee is doing to my body even though something about regular caffeine consumption could alter my hormones enough to make it hard for me to get pregnant.

Why isn’t women’s health important to study outside the context of our ability to grow babies? Most of us know the answer to that question. The good news is that the research is slowly being done, but because there is so little data many of the findings are considered anecdotal or unsubstantiated. We need more information, but I’m fine with that. I’m willing to roll the dice on something like this. If it helps, that’s excellent. And quitting won’t hurt me.

Here are the three reasons I am quitting coffee:

1) Blood Sugar

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you know that I quit eating refined sugars over two years ago. I noticed that every time I ate sugary foods I would get extremely tired and lethargic, and my anxiety levels would skyrocket. I almost never felt hyper or energetic; I went directly to having an exhausted body with a huge amount of anxiety and mood swings. I did some basic research and concluded that my body can break down and benefit a lot from natural sugars (I still eat a ton of fruit throughout the day and get plenty of clean energy from it) but anything too high on the glycemic scale causes my blood sugar to get too high. For anyone who may not know, this means that in response, the pancreas releases insulin (a hormone) into the bloodstream to help cells absorb the sugar.

What I didn’t know, until recently, is that these spikes in insulin production can interfere with ovulation, which interferes with progesterone production and can lead to estrogen dominance. I will let you do your own research from here, but estrogen dominance and progesterone deficiency (essentially hormonal imbalance) are some of the major contributors when it comes to any and all “PMS” symptoms like cramping, headaches, bloating, moodiness and depression, chronic exhaustion, etc.

The other thing I didn’t know is that studies have been done that show that caffeine, just like sugar, can have similar effects on the body, especially if consumed in the morning before food. Even without the sugary creamer, coffee on it’s own causes blood sugar levels to rise, which in turn causes insulin and cortisol (stress hormone) spikes, and therefore, hormonal imbalance.

2) PMS and Estrogen Imbalance

Even though I’m breaking this down into my top three reasons, there will be overlap because all of these issues are so interconnected – that’s kind of the point.

As long as I can remember I have gotten headaches, or even migraines, right before my period starts. Recently, I’ve also started to experience increased cramping and lethargy, which I haven’t had for many years. The flood of estrogen into my system is what I’ve found to be the culprit and I’ve done several things to help. I increased my intake of flax because the omega-3s help reduce inflammation in the body, I take b vitamins to help with energy, and I upped my magnesium consumption with dark leafy greens and cacao in my smoothies almost every morning. Magnesium helps convert food into energy, helps regulate blood sugar levels, increases cell’s ability to absorb sugar from the bloodstream, and has anti-inflammatory properties, among many other benefits.

I have definitely noticed an improvement in all of my PMS symptoms after quitting refined sugars and increasing my omegas, b vitamins, and magnesium consumption, however, I have begun to wonder if caffeine consumption is somewhat sabotaging my results as it works actively against all the progress I’m making by contributing to hormonal imbalance.

3) Magnesium and Micronutrient Absorption

This last point sealed the deal for me. Caffeine, plain and simple, drains the body of hormone-balancing minerals and nutrients. On the one hand, the acidity in coffee can create an imbalance in your gut flora which can make it harder for you to absorb all the nutrients in a healthy diet. In turn, this makes it harder for your endocrine system to balance hormones. Additionally, caffeine doesn’t necessarily leach magnesium and b vitamins (amongst other nutrients) out of the body, but it may reduce the intestine’s ability to absorb the nutrients in the first place. Therefore, it can lead to deficiency’s over time.

So, in conclusion, I’ve made many changes over the last several years to heal my mind and body, and for some reason I feel like I’ve hit a plateau with my PMS symptoms. It’s not a surprise when I look at these findings and realize that caffeine (something I consume on a daily basis) is contributing to blood sugar spikes, hormonal imbalance, and less absorption of hormone balancing minerals and nutrients. Caffeine is actively working against my efforts to improve my symptoms in pretty much every area. So it goes!

I begin my transition out of coffee drinking today. Instead of two cups, I’m having one. And then I’m going on a mushroom latte adventure.

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Useful Resources:

http://www.Floliving.com

https://moonjuice.com

https://us.foursigmatic.com

My Top 10 FAVORITE VEGAN Makeup Products

Shop all my vegan favorites and support my small business at http://www.twobeauties.org by simply clicking the photos below. 💞🌱

These are truly my personal favorites that I use almost daily. I’ve worked hard over the years to curate a specific collection of brands at Two Beauties Skin + Makeup (the business I own) that I actually use and stand behind. I recommend these as a licensed esthetician with a vested interest in your skin health, as an experienced makeup artist that understands ease of application and wearability should be a given, and as a vegan who loves seeing the cosmetic industry step up to help our world become a kinder place!

1) GloSkinBeauty Moisturizing Tint SPF 30 / $48 (My Shade: Light)

This is my go-to product for a luminous, even tone. Moisturizing tint is excellent on its own (best way to even skin tone with a formula sheer enough to not be disturbed by a mask) or used as an oil-free primer for a more full coverage foundation.
Plus, it has SPF that is comfortable to wear!

2) UOMA Stay Woke Concealer / $25 (My Shade: Fair Lady T2)

Stay Woke is a concealer that’s full coverage, won’t crease up, and that is easy to blend out to any level you desire. I wear this under everything from my tinted SPF to a full coverage foundation. It also comes with an easy to apply applicator and is available in a great shade range. **Best applied with UOMA Big Head Dual Density Sponge**

3) GloSkinBeauty Satin Cream Foundation / $52 (My Shade: Natural Fair)

This foundation is unparalleled as far as ingredient standards, coverage, and camera-quality formula. I’ve been using this foundation in my professional kit for over a decade and nothing holds up better while still looking like skin. This is also my go-to for nights out or work events when I want a full coverage, flawless look. I can’t wait until we can dress up and go out again! **Best applied with UOMA Big Head Dual Density Sponge or GloSkinBeauty or SIGMA Flat Top Kabuki Brush.**

4) SIGMA Beauty Sculpt Highlight & Contour Palette / $49

I use this palette every single day I wear makeup. If I want a slight touch of bronze and a light highlight on those no-makeup, makeup days, or a camera-ready sculpted look, this palette has everything I need in one convenient product. I will also wear these shades as eyeshadows.

5) GloSkinBeauty Blush $32 (My favorite shade is Papaya.)

This blush blends out flawlessly, and each shade can be worn sheer, or fully vibrant. It also does not wear off throughout the day.

6) UOMA Drama Bomb Extreme Volume Mascara / $19.50

Finding a vegan mascara that also gives your lashes some serious volume and length is tough. This mascara has answered all my prayers, and is water resistant, NOT water proof, making it easier to remove without worrying about smudging throughout the day. **Best Practice: Use over GloSkinBeauty Lash Thickener & Conditioner for even more volume and lashes that won’t budge.**

7) GloSkinBeauty Brow Collection / $50 (My Shade: Brown)

This little kit comes with everything you need to give your brows that beautifully sculpted look… almost. You get two brow powders, a setting wax, an under brow highlight, and all your tools! It’s an excellent value and I love that I can just throw this pouch in my makeup bag so my brow kit is easy to find. However, I do think that it’s missing a brow gel… so I’ve included my favorite one below!

8) UOMA Brow Fro Blow Out Gel / $22 (My Shade: 005)

This brow gel is highly pigmented and sets hairs in place all day. I use this sparingly, in conjunction with my brow kit (or on its own if I’m in a hurry!) for the perfect brows.

9) SIGMA Lip Care Trio *COMING SOON* / $39

I literally got this kit three days ago and I’m OBSESSED!! I will bring it to Two Beauties very soon. It’s the perfect lip set for current mask-wearing times where lipstick and liquid lips can be difficult to wear. It comes with an ulta-hydrating lip mask, balm (one shade), and topper gloss (also one shade) with hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, and jojoba oil. This way we can focus on keeping our natural lips looking and feeling fabulous.

10) COOLA Makeup Setting Spray Organic SPF 30 / $36

Okay… here’s the thing. I think we’ve all looked at our sunscreen tube in confusion as we mull over how to reapply every 80 minutes with a full face of makeup on. Or at least I have! I want to protect my skin and keep my makeup in tact all day. That shouldn’t be too much to ask! And then I found this product. I can now reapply my sunscreen throughout the day using an easy, refreshing SPF 30 makeup setting spray. Specifically formulated to dry down matte, it won’t make you feel dry but will also not disturb your makeup. I use it every day. Full face, or almost bare, it works amazingly! This is a can’t live without, especially once we’re all poolside again!

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Alright, for those of you who’ve made it this far, thank you! Use coupon code IREADTHEBLOG at checkout for 15% off your total order! 🌿💕

http://www.twobeauties.org