an ode to rosewater

i've changed considerably in the last year. i feel like a brand new person pretty much every month and it's refreshing to see how much i'm evolving and learning and growing into a person i'm kinda proud to be.

one of the things i've been working on recently, has been to rid myself of my extremely toxic and materialistic tendencies.
you know. learning to care less, to value less, the things that you can buy. the things that money can buy. and it's working. slowly but surely, and i honestly feel so much lighter, so much more content with the life i have.

i used to be of the mindset where i felt like i needed the most expensive stuff and how unfair it was that i couldn't afford them. 17-year-old me wanted to buy all the products youtubers raved about in their monthly favourites but i'm such a different person now.
it feels as if the switch in my brain that gave importance to those things has been turned off (mostly anyway).

and along with my decision to transition to natural hair came the urge to rid my life of all things unnatural. unnatural foods, unnatural products.
suddenly, i found myself feeling really uncomfortable about using that nivea exfoliator i was so excited about just a few months ago.
truth is, it's most likely full of things i don't need or want. if a simple sugar scrub will exfoliate my skin just fine, why would i feel the need to spend so much? and to do so on ingredients i barely know?

i've heard a lot about rosewater over the years but i never really looked into its uses or benefits. but i recently re-watched a video of Princess Nokia making her own and was inspired to try it out, like i promised myself i would all those months ago.
you can find the benefits of rosewater anywhere online but overall, it's just a really versatile product and so so good for you hair and skin. also, there's just something really therapeutic about making your own shit you know? and if you're anything like me, you'll have lots of fun doing it too.

you can check out princess nokia's video on how to make rosewater which is the one i followed.
also, here's a pic of mine mid petal infusion!

i feel like this is the start of something new. feels good to have something i've made myself to nourish my hair and skin and i can't wait to make more of my own products! sans toxic ingredients


thanks for readin'
luci x

why the girls i draw look the way they look

whenever i post pics of some of my personal illustrations or show them to friends or family, i always worry that they think the girls i draw are a little bit weird and unusual.

maybe they do, maybe it's all in my head but either way it's got me thinking about my intentions as an illustrator when i am drawing women. for a while, i genuinely believed there was no real message behind my drawings of girls because after all, they're just drawings of girls.

but actually thinking about it has made me realise that when i do draw them (which happens pretty much all the time), i always do so with a conscious effort to diversify images of women out there.

and even if i'm not intending it to, whatever i'm making will have a message - whether it's obvious or not & whether i want it to or not. 

and i know my illustrations are only being seen by a handful of people on instagram who probably don't give a shit anyway but they are still being seen; they're still media that someone out there is consuming. so to me, it's comforting to think that maybe a gal out there will see my illustrations and think 'wow that girl has pointy boobs like mine' or 'i finally see my body shape in a character!' and feel like their existence is being somewhat validated.

well, validation might be a bit of stretch there (that's my massive ego speakin' lol) but truth is, i know how important images like this are to me. that feeling i get when i see an image i feel totally represented by is unusual but priceless and truly golden! so i can only hope the shit i'm making will have the same effect on someone else.

and to be completely honest, i'm tired - i'm exhausted of seeing the same images, the same mantra being fed to me every single day. and i'm not about to subscribe to that. i'm not about to only draw skinny white girls because there's more than enough shit on them already. what i'm interested in is the shit i don't see - the neglected body shapes, the unrepresented skin tones, the unusual facial features. anything but what we're all shamelessly and constantly bombarded with.


thanks for readin'
luci x