Mani Monday

Happy Monday!!!!  Hope you all have an amazing week & St. Valentine's Day!!  With that in mind I went with a simple polished look & my fav Valentine shade, Essie's French Affair.

This shade is a beautiful pale pink, very girly.  

Essie French Affair

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!  Hope you have a great weekend!

Love this look!

Love these Hunter's, as they would work with any wardrobe colors.

Avocado Hummus…YUM!

An Adorable Valentine Idea

At Home Facial

Some of us don't have the time or money to consistently get facials, although they are extremely beneficial for your skin.  I'm going to give you some easy step by step instructions for a beneficial facial, you can conduct in your own home.  I recommend doing this monthly for the best results.

First off, I have to say it is extremely important to clean your skin morning & night with an appropriate cleanser.  Also, moisturizer is key for all skin types, even oily skin needs hydration.  Exfoliating is very crucial too.  Everyone should exfoliate at least 2 times a week.  Once you begin your 20's, your skin stops exfoliating on it's own.  Eye cream or eye gelee is important too, 16 year olds should begin using eye cream.  Seriously.
If you have certain concerns such as fine lines, pigmentation, and/or sagging, it is easy to find the appropriate products to aid in correcting or minimizing these concerns.  I personally have been using serums for many years, as they penetrate deeper into the skin, offering better results.

1.  Fill a large pot with water, place on your stove, & bring the water to a boil, then simmer on low.  Grab a bath towel & keep it near by.

2.  Remove any eye makeup with an eye makeup remover.  Please do not use baby oil or vaseline.  These are not appropriate for removal, as they can seep into the eye & irritate.  They can also clog pores surrounding the eye area, creating break outs.

3.  Cleanse your face, neck, & décolleté thoroughly & remove with a warm, wet washcloth.

4.  Tone your skin if you have a toner.  Toner helps regulate the pH in the skin & also allows for better product efficiency.

5.  Exfoliate your face, neck, & décolleté with either a fruit acid exfoliant, beaded exfoliant, or facial brush.  Always use light circular motions & stay away from the eye area.  Then remove exfoliant with a warm, wet washcloth.

6.  Tone your skin & head over to your steamy pot of water.  Lean over the pot keeping 12 inches from the pot & hold your bath towel over your head & face, locking the steam in.  Steam your face for about 5-8 minutes.  Steaming is crucial for opening pores & allowing gunk or build up to be removed easily.  If you plan on removing any black heads, this is the time to do it.  Please be mindful, cover your index fingers with damp cotton squares & be gentle.  This should be conducted by a professional but we all know that may not always be the case.

7.  Apply your mask appropriate to your skin type on the face, neck, & décolleté.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Remove thoroughly with a warm, wet washcloth.  Tone again.

8.  If you have facial oils & aren't heading anywhere for the day, apply your facial oil using light circular motions, as to lightly massage the skin.  Do not remove.
If you do not have a facial oil or are heading out later, apply your appropriate facial serum to face, neck, & décolleté.  Always apply lightly, using gentle sweeping motions, then pat into skin gently.  Do not rub.

9.  Apply your eye product of choice & apply with your ring finger gently.  The skin around the eye area is very delicate & thin.  Tugging, rubbing, or using force can create lines & wrinkles or even irritate the eye area.

10.  Finish with your moisturizer on your face, neck, & décolleté.  Use light sweeping motions moving from the bottom up or gently pat into skin.

Admire your beauty & freshly renewed skin.  : )

Check back next week for homemade masks ideas.  Hope you like! XO

Favorite Products for January

So many goodies for the month of January, mostly due to my mom's awesome stocking stuffers.  She always gives the BEST stocking goodies.  

So for skincare, my favorites this month are the Clarisonic Mia, Fresh Soy Face Wash, Mojo Spa Clarifying Facial Mask, Egyptian Magic Face Cream, Kiehl's Creme De Corps body cream, Josie Maran Argan Oil, Jergens Natural Glow Body Lotion & Face Lotion Medium to Dark shade.

For makeup my favorites this month are the NARS Guy Bourdin palette & Physicians Formula Blush in Blushing Mocha.  

The Clarisonic Mia is an amazing tool everyone should own & use.  It's a facial cleansing brush that removes impurities, sloughs dead skin, & improves skin's tone & texture.  

Fresh Soy Face Wash is a gentle, effective cleanser for all skin types.  This cleanser suds up & smells great, while thoroughly removing makeup & grime that gets on the skin through out the day.  

Mojo Spa Clarifying Mask is a gentle soft mask that detoxifies & balances skin.  The mask states that it's best for acne prone skin, yet the driest of skin can benefit from this puppy.  
It smells like heaven & has poppy seeds, which aid in exfoliation.  

Egyptian Magic Face Cream is truly magic.  A tiny bit goes a long way & moisturizes beautifully, making the skin looking impeccable.  It is a rich moisturizer but great for all skin types.  It has saved my skin a great deal with this dry, bitter winter.

Kiehl's Creme De Corps body cream (grapefruit scented) is another magical item.  This one is specifically a whipped version and leaves your skin feeling richly hydrated.  After using this amazing body cream, it truly makes your skin look & feel better.  

Josie Maran Argan Oil, I use this for my face, neck, and décolleté.  I use a different less expensive version on my hair.  Argan Oil has essential fatty acids & heals any skin ailments.  It moisturizes well as a light moisturizer.  I really love this as a serum before moisturizer.  

Jergens Natural Glow Face & Body Lotion has been my savior this winter.  I tried to embrace my pale skin in the fall & did pretty well without using any self tanners, but this harsh Chicago winter has pushed me to endure a gradual tanner.  I personally LOVE having a bit of a glow all the time, while in spring & summer, LOVE a deeper tan.  This stuff gives my skin a pretty glow & much needed warmth.  


As for makeup, I have a ton of favorites heading your way for February & chose only a couple as January was more focused on skin care.

The NARS Guy Bourdin palette is an ultimate fav.  The shadows, blush, & bronzer, & gloss are so pretty & wearable.  The light highlight shade is probably one of my favorite highlighters.  The warm brown is beautiful & really makes my eyes pop.  The black is a richly pigmented black, great for lining.  The blush looks almost like Orgasm but is so much prettier.  The bronzer is similar to Laguna but not quite the perfection of it, still pretty though.  The gloss is (I believe) Deep Throat & a pretty barely pigmented gloss.  I love wearing the warm brown on my lid & in my crease, this is an easy way to wear it, while still being fun & pretty.  I actually prefer wearing a lipstick with the gloss on top, as I like color on my lips.  But for running out to do errands I like the gloss alone with my day makeup.  

Physicians Formula Blush in Blushing Mocha is similar to a bronzer.  It is beautiful for contouring & adds a soft warm glow to your skin.  Need I say more: Blake Lively's favorite blush/bronzer.  So of course, I was sold.  LOVE Blake Lively!!!  : )  This is a really pretty blush that goes beautifully with any lip color & especially red lips.

Mani Monday

Happy Monday!!  I went with a pretty pink, purple shade for this week.  Hope you like! Have a great week!!

Essie Cascade Cool