The best hair mask ever!

   I recently went from red to blonde, and let me tell you, it was a long (and expensive) road! The first stage was a brassy blonde that drove me nuts. No matter how much purple shampoo I used it still had an ugly orange tint to it. But the slower you transition to a lighter color the less damage it does to your hair. So I was willing to suffer through an ugly color for a couple of weeks. After about two sets of highlights I finally reached my desired blonde.

 . Even though my stylist took it really slow, there was still some damage done to my hair. When I brushed and styled it pieces broke off, and a lot of my ends began to split. Not fun. So I resorted to coconut oil and things of that nature. I used to it tame flyaways and rubbed in into my scalp to encourage hair growth. It worked "ok", but I needed to pull out the big guns. On a trip to Nordstrom Rack I came across a hair mask I had tried in the past and remembered it was pretty good. Well pretty good doesn't even begin to describe the miracles this stuff did for my hair! Its called "It's a 10" and yes, yes it is a 10!

   I have short hair and used about a tablespoon in my hair for about 5 minutes and my hair felt like SILK. I didn't have as much fallout when I blow dried it, and it was so smooth I hardly needed to flat iron it. This stuff SAVED my hair. If you have damaged or dry hair I highly recommend this mask! I think I've seen it at Target too. It's the best $30 you'll ever spend on your hair! Trust me! You'll love it! :)

*Oh, and the coconut oil on my roots did speed up the growth a little. Now I already have to get my roots touched up...... but my long locks are on their way back! :)

Healthy snack idea

   I am a HUGE hummus lover. One of my favorite snacks is hummus and pita chips. The only problem with that combo is the pita chips are full of salt and carbohydrates. So instead of pita chips I used sliced cucumber, and it was deliciously refreshing! It still had that crunch, and the cucumber added a fresh and clean feeling (which is nice since hummus breath can be pretty garlicy). I also added chopped mozzarella cheese for a little extra protein. So if you're looking for a yummy snack and you don't want to feel guilty about it after, try it! (*If you don't like hummus, I've also tried this with cream cheese. The one I used was a greek yogurt cream cheese blend available at WalMart)

Happy Crunching!

Healthy breakfast idea

     Breakfast can be a difficult meal for a lot of people. Many of us don't have enough time to whip up scrambled eggs and toast. The goal in the morning is to get enough protein to keep you full for a few hours, and to have some sort of fruit or vegetable. One of my favorite breakfast go to's is Fage Greek Yogurt with fruit and nuts. Today I went with something that reminded me of the fall and winter months.



On top of the yogurt I added halved peaches, slivered almonds, and chopped walnuts sprinkled with cinnamon. It was just as yummy as it sounds and had almost 20g of protein. Sure the jarred peaches had a little sugar, but hey in the morning a little sugars ok. At least I'm not eating a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, right? This meal took less than 2 minutes to prepare, and it kept me full and gave me energy for the entire morning. Give it a go and see what you think!

Perfecting the red lip

   I get asked a lot which to apply first, the liner or the lipstick. The answer is... it doesn't really matter. Just try both and see which works best for you. Below is personally my favorite way to apply a red lip. I've tried many different ways and this is what works best for me!

    I think the most important thing to do when wearing a red lip (or any bold lip color) is to really work the pigment into the skin. If you just slap on a lipstick and go, it probably won't hold up too well.. I find that starting with hydrated and EXFOLIATED lips makes a huge difference. Nothing is less attractive than dead skin hanging off your lips... so use a lip scrub or use a hand towel or Q-tip to gently exfoliate your lips. I like to use my Clarisonic brush for this, or the Sarah Happ lip scrubs (they are delicious!).
   Once your lips are exfoliated dab on a little lip balm. Not so much that your lips are dripping with it, just enough to moisten them up a bit. Give the balm a minute to sink in, then begin applying the lipstick (you may need to blot first if you put on too much lip balm).

Step 1) Work the lipstick into the lips using a brush. I like Chanels Rouge Allure lipsticks (like Passion or Pirate), and quite a few MAC lipsticks (Ruby Woo or Russian Red) as well.

Step 2) Blot with a tissue once or twice.

Step 3) Line the lips with a matching lipliner and fill them in a bit with the liner.  I really like the Chanel lip pencils because they have a lip brush on the end that you can use to blend the liner and really work the lipstick into the lips.

Step 4) Then apply a second coat of lipstick with a lip brush. Really work it in and get it perfect.

That's it! It should stay on for a few hours then you'll have to touch up.

If you want to add a gloss you can, just keep in mind that it will make the lipstick bleed and come off a lot faster. The more you layer on the lipstick, blot, layer on lipstick, blot... the longer it will last. When you blot you are removing the moisture but the pigment stays in the skin. How many times you want to do that is up to you though. Once is enough for me :)

  Here is video from one of my favorite makeup artists on how to do the perfect red lip.

Still need more help? Here is the ultimate guide to red lipstick.




MUAH! xoxo!