All posts by Laytee Samida

LINK-END ROUND-UP: January 18, 2019

18 January, 2019 Laytee Samida

Stained Couture’s weekly series, Link-End Round-Up, features interesting reads I read from around the internet this week.

LINK-END ROUND-UP: January 18, 2019 | STAINED COUTURE

Happy Friday, peeps! I had a very emotional week; good and bad emotions. This week, I found myself feeling very sad and sympathetic for the 800,000+ federal workers who haven’t gotten paid in over a month due to the government shutdown. Although a law was just passed that will give these employees back pay when the shutdown ends, it’s not enough. These employees are having to deal with the possibility of evictions, negative credit scores, and not having the money for daily necessities such as food and gas.

Although this situation made me feel grateful that I and no one in my family is currently going through this, it doesn’t outweigh the stress that those 800,000+ people and their families are going through. I just can’t fathom going through this and I pray that this ends sooner than later.

As for my weekend plans? Thankfully, I’ll have a chill weekend, which is just what I need. Last weekend, I did clean out my closet and bagged the clothes I no longer wear. So, I have another closet in my spare bedroom to purge, before I go to Goodwill to drop them off. I’ll do all that on Sunday during halftime of the NFL Playoffs. At this rate, I might not have much to during spring cleaning!

I hope you all have a good weekend and let’s chat some more next week.

LINK-END ROUND-UP: January 18, 2019

43 easy sheet-pan dinner recipes – Epicurious
An introvert’s guide to networking – Ideas.Ted.Com
50 ways to live on your own terms – Thought Catalog
How to tell if your wine has gone bad – Cooking Light
Small feel-good routines for anyone in need of self-care – Goodful
What happens to your body when you stop eating sugar – Domino
How to stay neat and tidy according to organized people – Refinery 29

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Easy Acne Skincare Routine

16 January, 2019 Laytee Samida

If you’ve been reading this blog for a minute, you might have seen my numerous skincare routines. Personally, I think you should at least 2 different skincare routines; morning and night. However, you should also have one for cold weather and hot weather, which I have. Another skincare routine I have is one for when I have breakouts. Thankfully, I don’t have berakouts as much as I used, but I still get them occasionally. Therefore, I need an easy acne skincare routine for when my face decides to erupt.

Easy Acne Skincare Routine | STAINED COUTURE

Like some people, my skin flares up mostly around the holidays due to stress and sugary treats. Typically, the products I use to clear up breakouts are gentle and natural face products, because the ingredients don’t further aggravate my skin. However, I was recently introduced to a new skincare line acne system; Kamedis. I’ve been using these products throughout the past couple of months and they’re currently staple products in my life. Keep reading for info about each item.

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acne skincare Kamedis

IOTW: Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask

14 January, 2019 Laytee Samida

ITEM OF THE WEEK is a weekly series on Stained Couture that highlights a product I’m currently loving. This week: Glow Recipe Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask.

ITEM OF THE WEEK: Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask | STAINED COUTURE

I feel myself sliding down a rabbit hole of sleeping face masks, but I’m okay. Actually, they became really clutch during the holidays. They were great to use on those cold, dry nights when my skin needed extra attention, but I didn’t have the time nor energy. Instead, I would slather on a soothing, hydrating mask, and then peacefully wake up to soft, supple skin. This Avocado Melt Sleeping mask from Glow Recipe is a new addition to my “Products that help me wake-up with glowing skin”. However, it’s been great and so worthy of being my favorite item of the week. Keep reading to see why.

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LINK-END ROUND-UP: January 11, 2019

11 January, 2019 Laytee Samida

Stained Couture’s weekly series, Link-End Round-Up, features interesting reads I read from around the internet this week.

LINK-END ROUND-UP: January 11, 2019

Happy Friday, people! I really hope you had a good week or at least a productive week. Although my week started off slow, it quickly picked up and I’m super glad that it did. For some reason, it’s been taking me a little longer than usual to shake the “holidays hangover” that occurs after the new year. Typically, I fall back into my schedule and usual stride after a couple of days of being back in the office. However, this year, everything didn’t feel like it was back to normal until this past Wednesday.

Thankfully, I got my mojo back just in time, because it’s fasting season! Yes, every year around this time, my church does a corporate 21 day fast. This year’s fast started yesterday and I’m actually very excited. In the past I’ve done the Daniel Fast, fasted off of coffee, and even fasted off of meat. Each year, I used that time to strengthen my faith and pray for things on my heart. This year is no different. This year, I’ve decided to fast off of sugar, which I decided on just days before while preparing for my fast. Initially, I was going to fast off of bread, but sugar seemed to be bigger scope. Plus, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do to see just how it effects my health; mentally and physically.

While fasting, I’m going to be praying and preparing for the all the good things that I know are in store for me this year. I’m praying for some big things to happen this year and need to make sure that I’m focused. After spending these last few years fasting, I’ve notice that I become more focused when doing so. I assume it’s partly due to the fact that I’m not distracted. When you fast off of anything, it causes you to become more focused on NOT doing something which has a tendency to spill over to other things. It’s weirdly good!

Personally, I think everyone needs to fast off of something every year, but this doesn’t have to be limited to food. Over the past few years, I’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people who fast off of social media. This just shows you how big of part that social media plays in people’s lives now. I might do it one year, but not this year. 🙂

Anywho, I hope you all have a great weekend and use this time to rejuvenate something that you’ve been missing in your life. Spending quality time with loved ones, picking up a hobby you use to enjoy, or binging old episodes of The Office on Netflix are some examples. In other words; just do you, boo!

LINK-END ROUND-UP: January 11, 2019

The sugar conspiracy – The Guardian
Redesign your workspace for a productive 2019 – Fast Company
How the keto diet works. (FYI, I’ve fallen off the keto wave) – Vox
How to transform supermarket flowers into cool bouquets – Domino
Where have all the women’s magazines gone? – The Washington Post
Ways to apply retinol without irritating your complexion – Well + Good
Motivate yourself to do things you don’t want to do – Harvard Business Review

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Going Back To A Natural Deodorant

9 January, 2019 Laytee Samida

A couple of years ago, I experimented with natural deodorants. Although I found some that were “strong” enough for me, I eventually went back to ones I grew up using. However, after a recent bad reaction, I think I will use a natural deodorant for the rest of my life.

Going Back To A Natural Deodorant

FYI, a deodorant is mostly considered natural if it’s free of aluminum and parabans, which most everyday deodorants contain. Thankfully, we now live in a more advance and knowledgeable time when you can buy natural deodorants on the same aisle as the non-natural ones. Keep reading to see what exactly happened that had me make this decision. Also, I share my current collection of natural deodorants.

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