April Favorites

April was a pretty fun month—a visit from my mom and step-dad, discovering a gem of a used bookstore, and taking two really good hikes. It was also a good month for favorites. I mean, I always love the things I share in these posts, but I SUPER love everything that made the list this month.

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Odacite Beautiful Day Moisturizer : I hate that I love this moisturizer as much as I do. It came in the green beauty box from The Detox Market that I bought myself for my birthday, so I didn't pay retail price for it, which is great about because it's $75. *CRIES.* But it is super lightweight and absorbent, so it goes on the skin so smooth without the tacky feeling that a lot of moisturizers leave behind. It also has ingredients to stimulate collagen production, which helps firm up the skin (which is a thing I have to care about at age 33, *cries again*) and I am seeing a difference in my skin texture while using it. I don't know if I can stomach the price to replace it once I'm done with this bottle, but for now I'll savor it.

Gaycation : This is Ellen Page's documentary-style TV show in which she and her best friend Ian Daniel travel around the world to explore LGBTQ culture in various countries. If you know me at all you're already aware that I love travel shows, but I also care a great deal about social issues and supporting the LGBTQ community. This show was so well done; it was informative, insightful and at times infuriating and heartbreaking. I admire Ellen Page so much for having some really difficult conversations, and for continuing to speak up even when her voice would shake. Season 1 has four episodes—Japan, Brazil, Jamaica, and USA—and I believe they're filming a second season right now. Please watch it if you can.

Clue app : What would we do without period tracking apps?! I'd been using another app (that shall remain nameless) since probably 2011 or so, but I've always thought the interface was total garbage. It got to the point where I just had so much data in there that I continued to use it out of habit. But enough people recommended Clue recently that I downloaded it just to try it out, and OMG the interface is so much better. You can choose what you want to track along with your monthly cycle (ex: exercise, skin, energy levels, sex, mood, etc.). And the more you use it, the more it is able to predict about your cycle, down to exactly when you'll get a zit. And it's free! The only downside is that my previous app won't let me import my data into Clue, so it looks like I'll have to do it manually (but that's the fault of my previous app, not Clue, which does allow data importing through the native iPhone health app).

La Croix Cúrate : I've always been sort of indifferent towards the sparkling water trend. I'd almost always rather drink plain tap water (which is literally my favorite thing to drink, how boring does that make me?) and I've never felt like I needed it as a soda replacement because I don't like soda. I'd rather reach for a kombucha if I want something different. But I saw La Croix Curate on sale at Target recently, and decided to try the Melon-Pomelo flavor (cantaloupe and pink grapefruit). It's really refreshing and not too sweet or fake tasting, and I sort of get the hype now! I'm curious to try their other flavors, especially Cherry Lime and Apple Berry.

Lemonade by Beyoncé : I bought my first ever Beyoncé album! I caught pieces of the visual album when it aired a few weekends ago and just had to see the whole thing in its entirety. Such power and vulnerability. It's been incredible to witness and learn how this album has affected fans and what it represents to black women specifically. I'll leave you with some links to insightful pieces from women of color—A Call and Response with Melissa Harris-Perry: The Pain and the Power of 'Lemonade', Beyoncé's Lemonade is Made for Readers, Lemonade is Beyoncé's Body and Blood, and Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' is What Happens When Black Women Control Their Art.

Hot For Food / Lauren Toyota on YouTube : I've mentioned these channels in a favorites video before but I don't think I've blogged about them yet. Hot For Food is a vegan cooking channel on YouTube run by Lauren Toyota and her boyfriend John. Their cooking videos are so well-produced and I love the variety from sharable 1-minute recipes, to cooking challenges between Lauren and John, to Recipe?! videos where Lauren uses what she has in the fridge to come up with a recipe on the spot. I also like Lauren's personal channel for Q&As, What I Ate in a Day, and vlog videos. Lauren has a fun and sassy personality, but she seems really grounded in herself and is not at all preachy about vegan issues. It's much more about good food that happens to be vegan than pushing an agenda. (I tried their artichoke "crab" cakes and cauliflower buffalo wings, and both came out tasty!)

2 Dope Queens podcast : This podcast is SO GREAT and SO FUNNY. It's hosted by my fantasy BFF Jessica Williams of The Daily Show and her friend, writer-comedian Phoebe Robinson. It's a mix of BFF chatter (which has become one of my favorite types of podcast conversation) and storytelling/stand-up comedy featuring many women and people of color. I enjoy comedy podcasts and stand-up comedy in general, but it's a field largely dominated by straight white men. I love these ladies for focusing on diverse comedians, and the stories they share are often hilarious (though, as with most stand-up comedy, you should go in expecting a certain level of inappropriateness).

Thayer's Rose Petal Witch Hazel : To counter-balance the expensive moisturizer I mentioned above, I also want to rave about Thayer's Witch Hazel, which I think is a great budget beauty buy at $7.99 for a large bottle. I've used it as a toner and a face-mist, and it's as good or even better than the pricey bottle of Herbivore Botanicals rose face mist that I won in a giveaway recently. They smell almost the same, and both contain aloe, witch hazel, and rose water. And if rose is not your jam, it also comes in various other scents.