Spring Is Almost Here!

It certainly doesn't feel like spring yet in Nashville but I'm prepared as they come! Finding pretty colors to pull me out of winter and get me ready for the Easter Bunny. I'm absolutely in love with this Little Sway Mini "dress" from Free People. It's hardly a dress on me but with a cute pair of shorts it could look that way. I'm wearing it with skinny jeans and loving it as an oversized top. Very loose fitting and airy, so easy to just throw on with any bottoms. It makes me want to jump on a plane and fly somewhere tropical with a strawberry margarita in one hand and a juicy book in the other. This clutch by Tory Burch is on my everyday wear list right now. It's way more spacious than it looks and can be used as a clutch or a bag to throw over the shoulder. Looks great day or evening and holds everything. Oh these darling Joe's shoes that I literally just bought two weeks ago and can't find anywhere on line for some reason. If you aren't familiar with Joe's shoes yet, they rock. I have a bunch of their shoes and they are super comfy and so cute. Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's both carry Joe's shoes.  My jeans are Paige Denim and I think my belly may have had it's last day in them but I can't wait to get back to these after my pregnancy. They are a bit stretchy but don't lose their shape and make my booty look great! I have always been a fan of Paige Denim and I highly recommend them! Fingers crossed that it feels likes spring here soon, at least we will be ready with cute clothes awaiting us!

This bag is so awesome! It zips on both bottom and top and has deep pockets to hold a lot!

My Evening Face Makeup

Good morning!!! Or afternoon!!

So, I'm always exploring new makeup because it's so fun to do. I discovered a lot in the last month. I like to have a pretty easy routine for both morning and evening and keep a natural healthy glow. Sometimes that can be hard to achieve when my skin is broken out or splotchy. I have been using some new fun products that help bring that natural glow back to life. If my makeup application takes longer than 10 minutes I better be going to an award show or somewhere real fancy. 

Here's my little evening night routine for a date night or party. Keep in mind this is just the face makeup. I don't have eye shadow, brows, lips, or mascara on here.

I start with mixing a pump of Skin Illuminating Foundation (I wear Light EF03) by Kevyn Aucoin with a tad of the Gleam Body Radiance in peach deluxe. Go easy on the gleam because it has a nice amount of shimmer. I'm telling you this gleam radiance is magical and you can use it all over your body if you want to get crazy! I like to put a very small amount on my chest and neck to keep the glow going. Every time I mix it in with my foundation, I get so many compliments on my skin. TIP: When mixing the gleam and foundation, be sure to mix it well so you have an even formula. Don't mix it with your brush. I suggest using a stainless steel foundation mixing spatula tool, you can find one at Nigels beauty. My go-to brush that I apply my makeup up with is the bdellium tools brush #968. This brush has been a game changer for me and the way my makeup looks. You can get this brush at Nigels Beauty as well. See below. Use this brush to apply your mixture of foundation and gleam.

Once I finish with this, I love to use my Graftobian pallet to highlight my face and cover any problematic areas that the foundation wasn't strong enough to combat! Apply the Graftobian with a smaller blender brush. I love all the brushes in the bdellium line. I like to use a thinner flatter version of my foundation brush with the pallet but if you have a go-to brush I'd use that one. Then I blend this in with my bdellium brush to even my skin out. I like to use a little of the Graftobian under my eyes and on my lids to wake me up a little more before I apply my Bye Bye concealer by It Cosmetics. I use the Bye Bye concealer in medium because the light is way too fair for my skin and I'm pretty fair. TIP: A little goes a LONG way with this concealer. I use a tad of this just in the darkest part of my eye to hide my tired eyes. Use your finger for the best results. If you TIP: When using concealer under your eyes, don't take it all the way up to your laugh lines or it will enhance your lines. This all may seem like a lot but I promise you it's not. If this step takes you longer than 3 minutes, Houston we may have a problem. The cool thing about the Graftobian pallet is there are so many colors that you can blend and mix them through winter, spring, summer, and fall! Use the darker colors in your pallet to shade and the lighter colors to highlight. You will end up using one or two of them more often than the others and probably mix them together for your perfect shade. I have the Neutral Palette # 1 and Neutral Palette #2. I blend about 4 different colors between the two pallets to get my perfect shade!

Once I finish applying my foundation and concealer I like to take a little of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Poured in Opal (this one is a cream base) I use my middle finger and dab on the tip of my nose all the way up my nose bone. Then I apply to the top of my forehead where the sun would hit and the top of my cheek bones. TIP: A little goes a long way. You don't want to look like a sparkling Christmas Ornament... Or maybe you do! I blend this in with the bdellium tools brush #968 to make sure I don't leave anything looking unnatural. Using a bronzer brush, I use my Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Bronzing Veil in color Tropical Days. I like to apply this to wherever the sun would naturally hit my face, cheekbones all the way up and around my eyes almost on my hair line. I like to go a little stronger on the top center of my forehead for a nice tan look and then I shade the sides of my nose. I then go around my jaw line and follow down to my neck just a little to give my neck color since the sun hardly ever gets to my neck. I don't like having my face have color and my neck be pale. ( I apologize if this is confusing.... without a video this is hard to explain in text) I am hoping to have a video at some point for you so I can show you different fun ways to apply makeup that I have learned while filming and from different photo shoots I have done. I'm always taking notes as I watch the artists work their magic.

Last I like to dust a little of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Champagne Pop on all the spots I originally highlighted with the Becca cream Perfector for a more dramatic look. I use a fan brush and go easy with this because again this is shimmer and can be intense if you overuse it.

Hopefully you were able to find some new fun products or mix one or two of these highlighters in with your current routine! I'd love to hear from you. Email me if you try these products and love them!!

Nigel Beauty has everything on my list but if you can't find something, Sephora is my next favorite! The Nigel link will take you to my favorite brush!

Night Magic

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, it was like my skin decided to dry up and break out.... everywhere. My sweet little man is sucking the life out of me, literally. I'm a big skin researcher and I'm always on the hunt for something "better". I recently learned that woman put an average of 168 chemicals on their face from soaps to lotions to makeup every day. I haven't gone totally chemical free because I am struggling giving up a few things but I have gotten that number a lot lower.

My acne and redness has been out of control since baby so let me start with my new miracle oil, Frankincense oil. I know it may freak you out, as it did me, to put oil on my face especially when I was broken out, but I was desperate and heard great things about this so I tried it. Keep in mind it is really important you are using a grade A oil so you have the purest oil possible. I'm using Young Living oils because they are some of the purest oils around and come from the Young Living farm. I add 1-2 drops to my evening moisturizer (I use Embryolisse Lait-Creme for my moisturizer) and I'm telling you with in 4 days I noticed my skin had looked less red, less inflamed, and most my acne has calmed down and is not visible anymore. Frankincense oil is used for many ailments some including reducing pain, inflammation, boosting immunity, and even potentially helping to fight cancer. I'm not a doctor by any means but I do a ton of research and I'm in love with this oil. I have occasionally mixed a drop of the Frankincense with the Baobab oil for my face if I'm extremely dry but when I use the Baobab oil on my face too much I get a little congested. Less is more right now for me so I'm trying to use just a few things to calm & soothe my face.

My belly is growing fast and itching, so that means stretch marks are in my future. I'm trying to combat this and have found two incredible yummy products. I'm in love with my friend Dani Kenney's line. Dani is a chef and a mama. Dani started this amazing all natural line while she was pregnant and finding different healthier options. She created this amazing "Beautiful Belly" body butter packed with wonderful oils like Shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa, mango butter, avocado oil, and a bunch of other yummy oils that make my tummy so soft and almost instantly stop the itch. I love adding a drop or two of the Young Living Lavender oil to the mix for a calming and relaxing aroma! 

I'm also loving the Baobab oil by Powbab. I have been switching off between the belly butter and this one just for fun and sometimes I will even mix them for more hydration. They are both wonderful. I add the Lavender oil to this as well. I love rubbing both these oils and the butter all over my arms, neck, boobies (they need love too) and my neck. Everything is growing and stretching so it's important to hydrate everything and not do favorites to some parts and not others. I neglect my neck so often and forget how important the neck is... it gives away your age!! So do your hands!

Lips! Oh the lips! The ones on your face. I forgot that everything you put on your lips, you end up eating off throughout the day. I switched my night lip balm to the Henne Organics Luxury Lip Balm. It is magical. Like butter. Probably because it's main ingredient is Shea butter! I love it and it kinda tastes good too. I don't think I need to be eating it but at least I feel safe knowing it's not poison for my baby if I do.

All these products are products I am using by choice not for promotion. They are products I have found through trial and error. I have been using all of these products for months now and have had no allergic reactions but everyone's skin is different so ease your way into anything new. The Young LIving oils can be very powerful at first, especially if you have a lot of toxins in your system. They tend to pull things out so if you break out a little give it a chance it should clear up. Mine didn't break out though and I have extremely sensitive skin. The Beautiful Belly butter is newer on my regimen but I have been using it a few weeks now and I'm totally in love. I will be using this product for life!

Hope this was helpful if you are on the search for something new and natural.