Ice Beauty Secrets...

Who would of ever thought that ice could be your new beauty best friend?! Believe it or not, ice has many beauty benefits for your skin. It also helps to improve circulation and ward off wrinkles. Here are four beauty tricks to try the next time you go to fill up your glass with ice:

Prime Skin
We spend loads of money of facial primers to put on before our foundation to help reduce pores. Once morning, try running an ice cube over your face, focusing on areas with enlarged pores. The ice will cause pores to reduce in size and minimize their appearance under makeup. Icing these areas before your application of a primer can yield extra-smooth results!

De-Puff Eyes
Do you wake up with puffy eyes? Take an ice cube and wrap it in a washcloth. Placing it on puffy eyes can reduce early morning puffiness, and make you look and feel more alert. If you want a stronger affect, freeze cubes of caffeinated black tea, or store sliced cucumbers on ice to keep you feeling fresh. Awesome trick!

Shrink A Zit
If you have a red pimple or zit, hold a piece of ice on it to get rid of the redness. Ice decreases inflammation, and can even relieve the pain associated with acne. Put the ice cube in a Ziploc bag and hold it against the zit for about 5-10 minutes.

Scrub Away
Try out a DIY icy scrub by blending fruits or veggies with water and freezing in ice cube trays. Once frozen, gently rub a fruity cube over your face as part of your weekly facial. The chunky texture will exfoliate as the ice melts into a juicy slush.

DIY Lash Conditioners...

Happy Monday all! Do you know what I love more besides Mondays? Full lashes :)) We all want fuller, thicker lashes, especially before any makeup! Although we can't change out genetics, we can use different treatments and conditioners to help grow healthier and longer lashes <33 Here are three different treatments you can create on your own:

Castor Oil Eyelash Conditioner

• Castor or almond oil
• Vanilla extract
• Disposable mascara wands
• Small container

Pour the oil (castor or almond) and vanilla extract in your small container, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 tsp oil.  Stir or shake up the mixture (depending if your container has a lid!!) Dip your mascara wand into conditioner and apply it from root to tip to your top and bottom lashes, twice a day. Be sure to use conditioner on clean, bare lashes.

Vitamin E Eyelash Conditioner

• Vitamin E oil or capsules
• Small container or plate
• Cotton Swabs

Squeeze a few drops of vitamin E oil into your container (make sure not to touch the oil with your fingertips). Dab the cotton swab in the oil and sweep the swab across clean eyelashes from root to tip on both sides of lashes, twice a day (typically in the morning before makeup application and before you go to bed).

Coconut Oil Eyelash Conditioner

• Coconut Oil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Vitamin E oil or capsules
• Small container
• Disposable mascara wand or cotton swabs

Pour equal parts of the three oils into a clean container. Dip your mascara wand or cotton swab into conditioner and apply it on the base of your lashes, twice a day. Be sure to use conditioner on clean, bare eyelashes.

Remember, your results will not happen overnight but over a period of time :) Be prepared for a slow process! Every once in a while, take a break from mascara and curling your lashes. Give these natural eyelash conditioners recipes a try to achieve longer, thicker, and fuller lashes <33

Blessed Sunday...

Happy Sunday everyone. Today's Bible verse seems a bit confusing, but try and read through it a couple times.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
– Romans 11:33-34

There are things about God that we will never understand. Our stance is to search the Scripture, for God has revealed Himself to us there, but what we find, we don't understand. This challenges us to learn more and stay humble at the same time.

5 Superfoods...

In order to maintain beauty on the outside, you have to keep your body beautiful on the inside <3 There are certain foods we should all try to incorporate in our diets. These foods are considered 'super foods' or the 'it' foods. Whatever you want to call them, they keep us healthy and our bodies happy. Here are five types of foods you should look for:

Berries: Berries contain antioxidants which help fight free radicals, leaving you with major anti-aging benefits. Blackberries in particular have enzymes that act as an anti-inflammatory for your skin, keeping it youthful and radiant. Besides giving your skin a gorgeous glow, they’re good for your brain too. The consumption of berries has been linked to the prevention of memory loss and other forms of mental decline.

Low-fat foods: Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are all low in fat, and consuming them can help prevent a many health problems related to cholesterol, heart disease, and other side effects of a high fat diet.

Omega-3 fatty acids: These are found in foods with “good fats” like fish and flaxseed. They also have health benefits such as reducing inflammation and reducing the risk of diseases like diabetes and arthritis. Omega-3’s pack a serious beauty punch by contributing to better-looking skin, hair and nails. Who doesn't like that!

Low-sugar foods: Many of our naturally sweet fruits contain sugar. And the more sugar you eat, the more likely you are to have skin that is dull and wrinkly. If you have the option, go for fresh fruit instead of packaged fruit. For example, real cranberries would be a much healthier choice than “low-sugar” cranberry juice. We need some sugars in our diet in order to stabilize blood glucose levels, but unless you’re using the ingredient as a facial scrub, less is more.

Low-sodium foods: Avoiding salt and salty foods helps keep bloating away. Currently Americans eat five or more teaspoons of the stuff every day, which is about 20 times as much as we need. Try to  consume about one-quarter of a teaspoon daily!

Choosing a mascara...

One of my favorite products to wear is MASCARA! I feel if I don't have it on, my face just looks naked, like something is missing. I am a natural blonde as well, so my eyelashes tend to be a little lighter in color anyway. So how do you choose the right mascara for you? Believe it or not, you want to take into consideration the brush applicator each wand has. They all have different techniques, depending on which one your eyes will benefit from the most. Here are 7 different types of wands to consider:

For Short Lashes: Short lashes require short brushes. Smashbox Lash DNA Mascara is a good example that has a short, stubby wand with thick bristles that can get close to your eyes and grab a hold of each and every little lash, This brush also provides good control for touching up your corners.

For Lengthening and Definition: Evenly spaced bristles that are long and comb-like (like Lancôme Définicils) are the best choice to separate, define, and lengthen lashes. They’re a great choice for those whose lashes are already full, but beware, they don't add much volume.

For Thickening Sparse Lashes: For extreme volume, you'll need a large, round wand with tightly packed bristles. A great example is DiorShow Iconic Mascara, which has a wand with long bristles that grab and coat each lash. A trick for extra thickness is to lightly brush the wand horizontally across the base of the lash line.

For Precise Application: These brushes look unique because they are just round, pointy balls! Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes has bristles of different lengths to apply mascara to each lash individually. This includes your large outer lashes to tiny inner ones. Although the application is time consuming because you are basically combing each lash, the brush can really get to everywhere, making the application extremely worth it.

For Natural Looking Lashes: Look for rubber wands with moderately spaced bristles. These brushes don’t hold as much product as thicker brushes,which means they can apply just enough mascara to shade and define eyelashes (this means not as much volume or length). A good example would be the Maybelline Define-A-Lash which allows for more precision and is kindly gentle on lashes.

To Curl Lashes: A wand with a curved brush lifts and curls the lashes in a way that a straight brush cannot. You apply using this wand by sweeping it over the lashes from the top side, cupping it against the natural curve of your eyelid, to get the full curling effect (perfect example is Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara).

Don't Forget About Those Bottom Lashes: Because most mascara wands are designed to optimize the top lashes, they tend to be too bulky to apply mascara properly to tiny bottom lashes. A good example, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, has one of the tiniest wands in the makeup world, and is specially designed to precisely tint even the smallest lash without clumping or smearing.

If your not sure which wand you will need, try each different one out and figure it out with trial and error :)