Everything I Learned from Laura Harrier's Nightly Skin Routine.

The other day, I came across a video of Laura Harrier's multi-step nighttime beauty routine. I've followed Laura on IG years before her recent rise to stardom. A while back, I wrote an article about how she swears by honey masks to treat her skin. You can imagine how excited I was when I stumbled on a video featuring her entire nightly routine. 


Whenever I watch these "Go to Bed with Me" videos, I don't lend my full attention to the products use. Instead, I observe for any key takeaways that I can apply to my routine ASAP. Laura's routine certainly had a few precious gems that we all can benefit from. 

Let us discuss.
I'll preface our conversation by saying that I've been really slacking on my skincare routine as of late. I'm home a lot more which only allows fuels my laziness. But, since fall is almost here, I feel a greater sense of urgency to get back on track. So I paid close attention to Laura's routine and walked away with a few amazing tips:

CLEANSE// Clarins Foaming Cleanser.
Laura starts off her nightly routine by applying a gentle, double foaming cleanser to her skin. One thing that made my ears perk up is how she admits to using cold water to cleanse her skin in the morning. If you haven't yet tried using cold water on your face, now is the perfect time to start. As outside temperatures drop, so does the water that comes out of our pipes. Rinsing with cold water tightens up the pores and brings blood flow to the surface. Your skin will look amazing. 

Instead of rinsing her cleanser away, like us simpletons, Laura opts to employ the help of muslin cloth to remove her cleanser. These cloths will mop up the cleanser while exfoliating the skin. Basically, they're sorta like Italy cloths but for the face

When I first saw her bare skin at the start of the video, the very first thought the crossed my mind was "her skin looks well exfoliated." If Laura, indeed uses this cloth twice a day, then she is engaging in the art of daily exfoliation for flawless skin. Daily exfoliation doesn't have to be intense. Just a simple way to remove buff away dead skin that dulls the complexion. Here's a quick bit of feedback from someone who's sold on the power of muslin cloths:

At first feel of this Muslin cloth, you would think that it won't be effective but I can assure you it most certainly is. Granted this feels weak when water is added but to remove the cleanser is really good, soft on the skin and definitely exfoliates well.
I will definitely be getting a set of these facial cloths 'cause I've been slacking on exfoliation. This seems like an easy, effective solution. 

SERUM // Clarins Double Serum
After cleansing, Laura skips the toning steps and reaches directly for her serum. Here, she's using Clairin's Double Serum. Basically, it's two serums that combine into one as you pump out the product. After witnessing the two serums becoming one, I paused the video and began to contemplate the pros and cons of combining two serums at once.

After a few moments of reflection, I decided that the pros might actually outweigh the cons and this might be worth a try. So I grabbed a vitamin C serum I had laying around and combined it with a few drops of hydrating serum. Then I rubbed the newly created hydrating C serum onto my skin and was amazed. Suddenly, my mediocre serum was enhanced beyond my expectations. Can't wait to pair up the other serums I have laying around to see if I can bring out their greatness.

As Laura completes her post-cleanse moisturizing, she wraps her routine by grabbing her gua sha facial tool. She then proceeds to give herself a brief lymphatic drainage massage while further ensuring that the products used are fully absorbed into her skin. If you have a gua sha tool but find yourself not using it that often, adding it to the end of your nightly routine is the best way to make it a daily habit. Gua Sha massage is also a great way to help alleviate the facial muscles of the stress of squinting at a computer or cell phone all day. If you only break out your Gua Sha massager every once in a while, you'll miss out on the cumulative toning & lifting benefits from long term use. 

Those are just some of my key takeaways from Laura's routine but she definitely drops some additional gems in the full video. 

Be sure to check it out.

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Styling Helps for those Experiencing Postpartum Shedding

So you’ve rocked voluminous fros and curls all throughout your pregnancy. Your hair was in its prime and you were on top of the world because it was just healthy and bouncy and you were in love. Now you’ve started to see bald patches, and it’s falling out at such an alarming rate that you […]

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Boost Your Growth Retention by Focusing on Strand Strength and Eliminating Confusion

I have been talking about protein a lot lately, maybe it is because I am having protein withdrawal at the moment or the fact that any conversation about hair health cannot be had without the mention of protein. The strength of your hair strand is very important to retaining the length that you gain. We […]

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4 Natural Hair Hacks for the College Curly Girl

College- one of the best and also most stressful times in our lives. In between studying and class, there’s almost no time for anything else. Being in college can be especially difficult if you are in the beginning stages of a natural hair journey. If your school is on a campus removed from different stores, […]

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Is it possible to Brush Wet Curly Hair Successfully?

The thought of brushing my hair in any state at the moment is enough to make me cringe. Will I rip out my hair? Of course! Not only is my hair dry at the moment, I am in need of some serious conditioning before I can even consider detangling at all. Believe it or not, […]

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4 Ways to Successfully Transition from Heat Damaged Hair without Doing the Big Chop

If you have heat damage chances are you have a decision to make. Do you live with your damaged curls and continue to use heat so that your hair looks uniformed? Do you big chop? Or if you do not want to do any of those things what are your options? Well you do have […]

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Vision Board Not Working? Try This Reality Creation Method Instead.

When the pandemic first began, I had a difficult time adjusting to all the changes happening at once.  As soon as my husband started working from home, we overindulged in our eating which resulted in unwanted weight gain.  By the end of March, I reached my heaviest weight.  

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I had to do something.  But, I was feeling unmotivated.  I've always had an ideal weight goal in mind but was never able to reach it.  So, instead of using the number as my means of motivation, I decided to try a different, more powerful strategy.   Based on past experience,  my ideal weight number wasn't really an effective tool to drive weight loss because it wasn't bringing me any closer to my goal.

I needed to try something different.
So instead of being attached to a number, I decided to take a different route.  

The year prior, I visited a thrift store and stumbled upon a vintage pair of Levi's jeans for a decent price.  Only one problem....they were too small.  Faced with the decision of having to walk away from this amazing find or buying them in hopes of eventually losing weight,.

I decided to take the chance.  

When I got home and tried them on, the jeans barely fit over my hips.  Although I was discouraged, I decided to use these jeans as a new source of motivation that would fuel my action.  Over the course of time, I implemented a few, fairly simple strategies that would positively affect my weight.  Like, in the mornings, I started my day with a cup of unsweetened green tea.  That, paired with morning walks really helped kick things off.  

But what really contributed to my weight loss was knowing that the ultimate mission was to fit comfortably in those Levis jeans.  They became a physical representation of my ultimate goal. Without realizing it, I turned those jeans into a living vision board of sorts.  Every so often, I'd attempt to try them on to determine my progress.  And, each time I tried them on, I had a clear image of where I stood versus where I wanted to be.  If I saw no progress in how they fit, I'd add a new activity to help fuel my weight loss. 

Finally, after months and months, I was able to slide those jeans on and zip them up comfortably.  It was a dream come true....a real-life manifestation.   Reaching that milestone was awesome but then I realized that there's a lesson from this experience.  Having a visual/physical representation of my goals helped make things very real.   

BETTER THAN A VISION BOARD.

Those jeans represented a vision of where I wanted to be and it became more powerful than any vision board that I've ever created.  Fun fact, I have a picture of a woman with a flat stomach in a similar pair of jeans on my vision board, but it never really moved me into action like these jeans have.

So then I'm like....."how can I apply this process to the rest of my goals?"

Instead of simply saying to myself "I'd like to earn a certain amount of income,"  I put some thought into how I can create a real-life representation of exactly what my financial goals will look like if achieved.  

I'm thinking about creating a photoshopped image of my actual bank account featuring my ideal bank balance.  Why? Because, like the pair of jeans, I can compare the ideal result with reality. Then, one step at a time, I can work my way towards the intended result.  

If I wanted to write a book, I'd probably start by paying for the cover image as a real-life representation of the finished product.  Then, I'd work consistently until the book is completed.  If I wanted to find my ideal soulmate, I'd probably take myself out on dates to places I'd like to experience with someone special.   I might also invite a friend with me so I can experience those places with someone I enjoy being around.  These are just a few random ideas, you can certainly come up with examples that work better for you.  Basically, your job is to come up with creative ways to bring your vision before in a very real way that keeps you consistently moving forward. 

The key is to find something real and tangible that will spark your motivation and will keep you going.  I knew I wasn't going to stop until I fit into those jeans... and that's what made this process work so well.

It's time to stop relying solely on verbal goals or cut and paste images on vision boards.  Especially if those techniques haven't worked all that well for you before.  It's time to get real.    Let's utilize reality to create reality.   This is the ultimate example of lifestyle design at its finest. 

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