April Favorites!

I can't believe another month is coming to an end! This year is flying by so quickly! I decided I am going to do a post at the end of the month and talk about some of my favorite products. Sometimes it will be makeup/beauty/hair related, other times, totally random stuff. You never know though, sometimes it will be a random mix of both! So here are my faves that I loved this April...

Suave Keratin Infusion Shampoo and Conditioner

These are $4.49 each on drugstore.com. I first started using the Dry Shampoo from this line and LOVED it so I figured why not try the regular shampoo and conditioner? I buy the Color Care to keep my color from fading. I have noticed that my hair is smoother and silkier. A great buy for under $5!

Thymes Ambersweet Orange Lotion

Available to purchase here

This stuff smells so darn good! It is hard to describe, but for some reason it kinda reminds me of a sweet sunscreen. I know that sounds gross, but this scent just screams "Spring" to me. My Mother-In-Law got me a bottle last year for Mothers Day and I used it up and decided that I wanted another bottle for this Spring. Love the smell! $25 on www.thymes.com.

OPI Nail Polish in "Fly" from the Nicki Minaj Collection

Buy here on Amazon

I bought the 4 mini bottles of polish from this collection and this one turned out to be my favorite. It is a dark turquoise and looks awesome on! If you are looking for something a little bit funky to mix up from basic pinks and nudes, you should try this shade. Perfect for warmer weather!

Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pads

Buy here $36

My skin has been pulling some crazy moves on me lately and I just wanted to try something new. I had heard really good things about this product so I decided to buy some. I love that the pads are already wet so you just wipe it all over your face and toss the pad. No need to have cotton pads on hand like if you were using a bottle of toner. I have noticed my skin is clearer and these seem to really pick up any dirt and makeup that is left behind after my washing routine. There is also a gentle formula available.

Champion C9 Sports Bra 

Available from Target.com here

I originally purchased two of these years ago and really like them. I was in Target the other day and  noticed that there are some new fun colors. I bought the hot pink and this color pictured. They are $16.99 each and are super comfy. I wore mine today for a run (I am a 34D) and felt supported enough. 

Well, that is all for this months faves! Let me know if you have tried any of these products and what your thoughts are!

 

Sweat to Street Sundays

It's that time of the week again! Sweat to Street! I really enjoy doing this post as it makes me try to wear something nice at least one day per week, lol! If you haven't heard about this yet, here are all the details:

Meet Your Hosts:
Family and Life in Las Vegas (Emily)
Wild Things RUN Free (Charlotte)
Running and Cupcakes (Samantha)
MCM Mama (Erika)
Boobs, Barbells, and Broccoli (Tenecia)

***IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW SWEAT TO STREET ON TWITTER OR PLAN ON TWEETING YOUR POST, PLEASE USE THE HASHTAG #SweatToStreet***

"Sweat to Street has been created as a place to link up your favorite outfits of the week as a new Sunday blog feature. The idea is to have some fun and change it up! Each week we encourage you to post one workout outfit and one outfit you wore that isn’t fitness related."

This weeks featured blogger is:

Every week we spotlight one awesome blogger who links up with us in the previous week! Our way of thanking you for sharing your fabulous/fun/fitness style!

This week’s featured blogger: Toni from Running, Loving, Living

Glad to have more ladies joining in!

Here are my outfits...

Sweat:

Power Y Tank by Lululemon
Headband by Lululemon
(I love these tanks, they have a built in bra)

Front view of Power Y

Details of my new shorts.
I hardly ever buy running shorts and
was very impressed with these. Very comfy and stayed
in place during my 2.5 mi run.

Front of shorts, very flattering on. Usually I like a tad
longer length but once I started running, I forgot that I felt that way.

Side of shorts, it is loose right there and doesn't feel constricting at all.
Love these and will be getting another pair in the future.

Now on to the street style...

Dress from a local boutique

Full view of dress. Sandals by Steve Madden. They are a goldish snakeskin print and
somehow go with almost everything. Love when that happens!

Earrings were gift/stolen from my Mom, ha ha. I wear these
quite a bit as they go with tons of things.

This was the night we all went out to celebrate my Husband and my Mom's birthdays. I usually don't wear dresses but I am going to make an effort this Spring and Summer to do so. 

Well that's it for me! Hope you will join in with all of us for next weeks Sweat to Street Sundays! :)

Happy Saturday!

Yay! It's the weekend! I just had to share some pictures of Ava and Bear with you. I was taking some photos for an upcoming post and they wanted to get in on the action.

Ava modeling her new Mickey Mouse Rash Guard,
the girl loves her Mickey and Minnie!

A loving hug between Brother and Sister...

Turns into a headlock!

Bear in his new Mickey t-shirt

My loves <3

My Favorite Makeup Brushes

Makeup brushes are a very important part of any makeup routine and so I thought I would share with you my personal favorites!

Easy Manicure Tutorial

I was never one to do a manicure on myself at home, I usually just had acrylic nails put on at the salon. When I became a mom the first time, I realized that trying to keep up with something that required that much maintenance was not gonna happen! So now I do my nails at home, usually in the evenings after I have gotten at least one kiddo to bed and it works just fine! Here are my favorite products to do a easy mani at home...

*Remove any old polish from your nails. I don't have a specific brand that I always buy, usually what ever is on sale and cheap. This is what I currently use:

Purchase here

*Next file the tips of your nails with a nail file or you can do what I do and clip your nails with baby nail clippers. They work perfectly! I have to tell you that regular nail files give me the creeps and I hate to use them. 

These are the pair I use. Purchase here

*Once the length and shape are to your liking, use a four sided buffer. This thing doesn't bother me so much for some odd reason. Use each of the four sides on each nail, it makes the biggest difference and your nails will shine and be so smooth. I like this one:

Purchase here

I found mine at Target, but I am sure you can find one at any drugstore.

*Make sure all of the dust is off of your nails and now push your cuticles down with a wooden nail stick. You can trim your cuticles if you like but that also falls into the creeps me out category, so I skip it.

*Now it is time to paint! I usually do not use a base coat. I feel like after you use the 4 sided buffer, the surface of your nails is so even and smooth that it is not necessary. If you still wanted to, I would suggest:

Available here

I really like all of Essie's products. They do make a base coat for weak nails and a base coat for dry nails as well. Choose which ever applies to you!

*Color! Choose which ever color floats your boat! I have an addiction to buying nail polish so I am always looking for a new, fun color. My favorite brands are Essie and OPI. They seem to last awhile and chip minimally. Sally Hansen also has a good range of shades and also last awhile. Right now I am loving Kiss Me On My Tulips by OPI and Tart Deco by Essie. Very fun shades for Spring. 

Kiss Me On My Tulips

Tart Deco

 

*Apply one coat to each nail on both hands and right away go back and apply your second coat. I don't give any extra drying time. If your shade needs 3 coats, put on the 3rd one now. Now you will apply the magic ingredient:

Buy here

****Put this on while your nails are still WET!!! This is very important!! This top coat will dry nails in about ten minutes and leaves them looking shiny and pretty!****

*Sit back and relax for a few while your lovely DIY mani dries and that's it! Simple as can be and should not take you more than 15-20 minutes once you get a little routine down. 

Fresh, easy mani using Kiss Me On My Tulips and Tart Deco

The Yoga Body Diet - Week 2

I have a confession...I fell off the Yoga Body Diet Wagon big time last week. Like really badly. But it really wasn't all my fault, I promise! The beginning of last week was fine, I ate my three super healthy meals a day and went to the gym and two yoga classes. Awesome, right?! Well then Wednesday came and it was my Dad's birthday. We had  my parents over for dinner and ate steaks and drank a ton of wine. More wine was then followed by cake. Delicious chocolate mousse cake. And then maybe some more wine. Whoops! I did go to an awesome yoga class the next night so that helped undo a little bit of the damage but then the weekend came and there were more birthdays (my husband and my mom) and more wine and more cake. Ugh, I feel like a slug today. I am officially back on Yoga Body Diet and am looking at last weeks cake/wine bender as a good time with my family. No stressing out about over indulging. Just movin on!

I took my daughter to her mommy and me gymnastics class this morning and as we were walking through the mall to get to the gym, we passed GNC. I decided that maybe doing a healthy cleanse would be a good way to jump start my diet again. I wanted something that would be good for my body, not just "clean me out". The sales associate suggested I buy this:

It was on sale for $36 so I grabbed it. I will report back on my results in 7 days. I am not really looking to lose any weight from it, just to feel like my system is getting a "fresh start", lol.

Has anyone tried this product? What about any other body cleanses? Let me know!

My Favorite Makeup (Non Drugstore Brands)

This is a post I have been wanting to do for awhile and I finally got a chance to sit down and make a video. I figured a video would be the best way for this because I have so much to say about my favorite stuff, ha ha! Enjoy and have a great Monday!

Sweat to Street Sundays

Happy Sunday Everyone! Time for Sweat to Street Sundays! I just saw that I am the featured blogger for
this weeks edition! Thanks so much ladies!! Join in and link up with us everyone!

Meet Your Hosts:
Family and Life in Las Vegas (Emily)
Wild Things RUN Free (Charlotte)
Running and Cupcakes (Samantha)
MCM Mama (Erika)
Boobs, Barbells, and Broccoli (Tenecia)

***IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW SWEAT TO STREET ON TWITTER OR PLAN ON TWEETING YOUR POST, PLEASE USE THE HASHTAG #SweatToStreet***

"Sweat to Street has been created as a place to link up your favorite outfits of the week as a new Sunday blog feature. The idea is to have some fun and change it up! Each week we encourage you to post one workout outfit and one outfit you wore that isn’t fitness related."

Here is my Sweat Outfit:

Tank from Gap's Athletic line
It's blue with brown stripes and very comfy

Gap Tank, Nike Running Crops, Asics Running Shoes

That day I was going to the gym to run and do legs. I ended up doing squats, dead-lifts, calves, standing lunges while holding 40 lb weights and then finished off my poor legs with a few different Kettlebell exercises. I was pretty sore the next two or three days. After I did some abs, I was done!

Street Outfit:

Tanks: Local Boutique
Jeans: Gap Always Skinny (I cuffed them)
Wedges: Target
Necklace: Old Navy

I love this necklace so much for some reason. I wear
it all the time. Best part was that I paid like $12 for it!

My kids both got a yucky cold that they are still having a hard time shaking and this day I was taking them to the doctor to make sure it wasn't something more serious. I think they got the cold when Ava licked, yes licked, the dinosaur toy at the park! It was one of those things where you sit on it and make it rock back and forth cause it's on a big spring. I looked over just in time to see her licking it all over. I about died, so gross!

Have a great day! Thanks so much for reading :)

What's On My Grocery List

Here is a short video of the healthy foods that are on my grocery shopping list. Enjoy!

Super Easy Bronzey Makeup

Now that Spring is starting to (hopefully) stick around and the weather is starting to warm up, it's time to freshen up your makeup! The easiest, and my favorite way to is to do an all-over goldey-bronzey (yes, I just made that up) look. Here is how to create this look I did on myself:

Apply your normal moisturizer/primer/foundation/concealer/powder as usual. You may want to get a slightly darker shade as your skin may be a bit darker due to being outside more. Also, you may want a lighter formulation of foundation, something not as heavy as you might normally use in the winter.

Choose your bronzer:

These are my two favorites, top one is The High Dive by Bare Minerals. This has no shimmer or sparkle. Perfect for all over the face and neck or to use a contour shade. I use the brush pictured and apply all over my face. Concentrating on my cheeks and down the center of my nose.

This next bronzer is from MAC and is a Mineralize Skinfinish Powder. This has a tiny bit of shimmer to it so I tend to use it on days when I am going to apply it mostly to my cheeks. It is a wonderful product though. Great pigmentation.

Lastly, after bronzer has been applied, I put a tiny bit of pink blush on my cheeks. This one is the Amazonian Clay blush by Tarte. Lasts for 12 hours, not on me so much due to my oily skin, but it is pretty long wearing, none the less. The shade here is dollface.

Now it's time to apply eye makeup. The shade I am wearing is Amber Lights by MAC. This is an awesome gold shade and really makes eyes pop. I also recommend the Physicians formula palette in Sunset Strip/Bronzer. I would use the middle shade to recreate this look.

Physicians Formula Palette

After applying your shadow, line eyes with a black eyeliner pencil. A thin line will give your eyes just enough definition. I also line my water line and it's up to you if you want to do that. I usually only line just a bit on my lower eyelids as well, mostly the outer corners. Add your favorite mascara and eyes are done!

Now onto lips! I always have some clear chapstick on underneath any other lip products to moisturize. Then I put Revlon Lip Butter in the shade Creme Brulee on top.

It looks a bit orange here, I promise it's not
(photo from google images)

Lastly, you can top that with some clear gloss in the center of your bottom lip, or you can do what I did, which was put a gloss from Victorias Secret's Beauty Rush line in the shade Pink Lemonade on top. And that's it! Super easy and fresh looking!

Yoga Body Diet - Week One

As I said in my Yoga Saturday post from last week, I started on The Yoga Body Diet program. This is what the book looks like:

Purchase here

I am really finding this book to be very helpful. I am not thinking of this so much as a "diet", but more as a way to live and eat healthily for life. I made a video and in it discuss my thoughts and feelings about my first week of doing this. Hope you enjoy!

Time for a BIG Change!

If you followed my old blog or have seen any of my YouTube videos, you may recall that my hair has been super blonde the past few months. Well, I decided that my poor hair had been abused long enough. It was breaking off in the front and just was not healthy!  I do go back and forth between brunette and blonde quite often, but this time I am pretty sure the brunette is stickin around for awhile. What do you think??

Before....

....After!

I also cut some bangs and loved how they were in this picture, but I am having a hard time getting them to behave on a daily basis! Any tips or products you guys can recommend?

Sweat to Street Sundays

I came across this fun post from the blog A Life To Bragg About and thought it would be fun to participate in! Here is the info:

Meet Your Hosts:
Family and Life in Las Vegas (Emily)
Wild Things RUN Free (Charlotte)
Running and Cupcakes (Samantha)
MCM Mama (Erika)
Boobs, Barbells, and Broccoli (Tenecia)

***IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW SWEAT TO STREET ON TWITTER OR PLAN ON TWEETING YOUR POST, PLEASE USE THE HASHTAG #SweatToStreet***

"Sweat to Street has been created as a place to link up your favorite outfits of the week as a new Sunday blog feature. The idea is to have some fun and change it up! Each week we encourage you to post one workout outfit and one outfit you wore that isn’t fitness related."

Sounds like fun, right?! I thought so too!!

Here are my outfits:


Working Out (Taking Ava and Bear for a walk/jog):

Hat: Lululemon
Tank: Nike (purchased at Macy's)
Pants: Costco (knock off of Lululemon)
Shoes: New Balance

Here is a close up of the waist. These are super comfy and were only $20!!

Street Outfit:

Sweater: Hard Tail
Tank: Mossimo from Target
Leggings: Lululemon Wonder Unders
Boots: Frye

This top is perfect for those days when you are feeling "bloaty", lol

My favorite pair of Frye's EVER! They came super distressed and
make me feel a little bit bad-ass/motorcycle mama when I wear them :)

So there it is! My first Sweat to Street post! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!