Update

Often on the internet, we share the best things we have going on in our lives but we never share the real issues and the difficulties we're experiencing in the real world. That’s part of the reason I created The Sick Life. Life is beautiful but it’s never perfect and we should never think that someone else has a flawless and glamorous life full of sunshine and rainbows because that’s what they choose to show us on social media. Life is also messy, and it can be tough sometimes.

Things have been very difficult for me, and my family, recently. I haven’t posted much because I didn’t want to pretend that things were going well. I’m not going to go into too much detail right now but my Dad hasn’t been doing well and it’s been really hard on all of us. He’s on the mend now, though, and things are slowly but surely getting back to normal. One of the hardest things in life is to watch a family member struggle. I was so afraid, for so long. I guess I still am because I know one day I’ll have to say goodbye and my heart already hurts so much thinking about that, but one day is not today and hopefully not tomorrow. He’s doing better now and I’m going to make the most out of the time we have now. All we can do is love, and love is what I’m doing.

As for me, I’ve also been struggling. I have never been in as much pain as I have been this last week. I’m still in it, unfortunately. Every day I expect to wake up feeling better but that hasn’t been the case as of yet. I’m very scared of becoming dependent so I try not to take them very often, even when the pain is severe, but I’ve been taking multiple pills every day. I’ve never experienced this amount of pain before and I hope I won’t have to again.

I was in the shower a few days ago and it struck me so hard all at once that I doubled over and had to curl up in a ball on the shower floor. I couldn’t move and I had to call my Mom for help. It just happened again only not in the shower this time. It’s been so constant for several days and I just don’t understand what it is. I think one of the most difficult things with chronic illness and pain is that I don’t know what pain means I should go to the hospital. I just don’t know what pains mean I should go and which ones mean I should just deal with it at home. You know what I mean? I’m always in pain, granted this one is worse than normal, but what do I do?

My Dad is getting better so hopefully, I will too. I'm hoping everything will be perfectly normal by this time next week.

Anyway, that's it for now. Have a great weekend! 

What to do with Beautiful Basics?

I’m feeling sort of unhappy with Beautiful Basics and I wanted to talk about here, on The Sick Life, before I made any big decisions or changes. Blogging about natural beauty has been a saving grace for me other the past 6 years and 2 months. I can’t believe how much time has gone by and how much my little blog has grown in that time. I’ve truly enjoyed creating for Beautiful Basics even though there have been some highs and lows but I’m not enjoying it right now.

As I have become more and more ill my sensitivity to smell (not just chemical or artificial fragrance, it’s ANY smell - including essential oils) has gotten more prominent. I’ve also developed a lot of skin sensitivities so a lot of the time when I’m sent skincare products to try my skin freaks out and gets really sore, red, irritated and inflamed. I usually have to spend weeks trying to get my skin back to normal. I’m at the point where I just need to step away from trying new skincare. And body products, and hair products, and anything that comes in contact with my skin at all. Or anything, really, that has any kind of scent.

So that leaves the question of what becomes of Beautiful Basics and this is where I want your advice. Do I turn Beautiful Basics into a natural makeup blog? Or, should I become a cruelty-free beauty blog? The second option is where I’m leaning. There are so many brands who are cruelty-free with products made of pretty good ingredients that don’t qualify as “natural” or “green”. I’ve slowly been transitioning into more brands found at Sephora and maybe that’s the kind of stuff I should start focusing on. Of course, I won’t use products with parabens or anything totally scary and/or toxic but cruelty-free is what matters most to me these days.

I’m kind of at a crossroads and I’m not really sure where to go from here. What I do know, however, is that I’m not really happy with the whole situation now but I don’t really want to quit. Would you stay with me if I transition to being a cruelty-free beauty blog with a focus on cosmetics instead of a natural beauty blog?