beauty Archives -

May 18, 2018July 16, 2018

DIY Your Own BirchBox for $35 or Less!!!

I personally love getting beauty products in the mail every month, but my wallet doesn’t allow that to happen. My husband and I have bigger and better things to save up for. I have always known about Birchbox, but my husband last year got me the coolest gift.

Check out my first Birchbox here!

He signed me up for 3 months subscription to Birchbox for I believe $30 dollars. It was a Christmas deal that Birchbox had going on that month. It was so fun still getting gifts even after Christmas was over. If you have the money and know someone who would love this, I highly recommend it!

One down side though was that with each box there was usually only 2-3 items I actually enjoyed. The other things will most likely never get used.

Then I had the idea, what if I created a Birchbox for my friends and family!?! I love being creative and actually picking stuff I know they will use . This makes the box that much more enjoyable.

So here is my idea for creating your own birch box for $35 bucks or less.

-1- First you need some type of container to put everything in.

Options:

-use something you already have

– buy a cute plastic or paper bag to put it all in

– get a box similar to the boxes they package the items in for Birchbox. You can get boxes from Micheal’s. Some boxes are as low as 5 dollars!

-The pricier option is getting a cute travel bag from Target.

-2- Perfume –Almost every box I got had a small sample of perfume.

Options:

-Bath & Body Works! Get a sample size body spray or lotion. Sample sizes range from $3-6 dollars!

-Some of my favorites are Endless Weekend and Japanese Cherry Blossom.

-3 & 4- Skincare- All of my boxes included some form of skin care from moisturizer to skin treatment.

-I would recommend going to Ulta and getting some of their sheet masks, they are only $4!

-Since your doing a mask, you need to follow up with some kind of moisturizer. My sister has made me fall in love with the Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber, and Green Tea by Mario Badescu. Your can find this at Ulta in the smaller size for $7 bucks. I love spraying this whenever I need to freshen up my skin or right after I get out of the shower.

-5- Make up tool -In my boxes, I would get a make up sponge or a facial scrubber to use on my face in the shower. I actually really enjoyed the facial scrubber I got in my last box!

– Another option I would recommend getting is an Elf brush! They are great brushes and great on prices. They range from $1-6 dollars. Every girl can always use a new brush, right! 😉

-6- Lips -I actually received a lip product from the brand Arrow that I fell in love with ! Check out the video here!

-Since this product is a little on the pricey side, I recommend just getting an Ulta brand lipstick. They are $2.17!

-I know, I would be skeptical about them too. But they are actually great and last all day! The professional makeup artist that did my makeup on my wedding day actually bought me an Ulta brand lipstick in the shade plum crazy. It lasted all day with over 100-degree heat!

There are so many different options you could do with this box and it is completely up to you! Maybe the person you are making this for doesn’t even like make up or beauty products. You could easily turn this into a spice box, a candy box, or a dollar store box. Completely up to you!

Best of all, these can work for birthdays, bridesmaid’s gifts, graduation gifts, or even Christmas gifts!

I hope my thoughts have given you some ideas and your able to be creative while saving money!

CHECK OUT MY BIRCHBOX FAVS!

Happy Friday!

-Britt

May 3, 2018July 16, 2018

Some Days You Just Need to Smell like Jimmy Choo

I don’t know about y’all but here lately, I feel like I’m in a constant rush, that I will never catch a break. It’s not that I have one big thing I am working on. But that I feel like I have 50 million other things going on at the same time. My job, family events, church responsibilities, being a wife, trying to keep my house looking nice, all while still trying to have a little fun out of life. It can all feel a little overwhelming at times. Throw kids in the mix and it makes it all seem almost impossible. I don’t know how moms keep sane; seriously I believe y’all have super hero powers or something. 😉

But as I was rushing out the door the other day to go run errands, I threw on a pair of Old Navy sweats. Right when I was rushing out of the room, I took a quick second and sprayed my most expensive perfume I own. Jimmy Choo L’eau. While I was spraying this, I thought what in the world am I doing. Here I look like a bum with my hair all a mess, but I’m wearing my nicest perfume.

Then it dawned on me. It’s okay, and it made me feel special. Just my few sprays of this made me feel more put together.

All of these thoughts came into my mind and a smile spread across my face. If I want to be a nice smelling bum that’s okay, if I want to be stylish and well put together, that’s okay. It’s okay to not be perfect.

Often times as women, we feel pressured to look a certain way when we leave. If we go out in sweat pants we almost feel a since of guilt, like we should have invested more time in our busy schedule to look better.

Why do we feel we should apologize for wearing sweats or looking a certain way? I know I’ve done it. When I arrive somewhere and I’m like “oh sorry, I was just in a rush.” Or when we text our friends to make sure they are going to join our sweat pant trend today.

One thing I am learning in life is that being imperfect is one of the best ways to show your true beauty. The Bible says

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” –Proverbs 31:30

Once again, and almost daily, I am having to remind myself that true beauty comes from the inside and shines out.

So if you want to wear sweatpants and spray your most fancy perfume to feel better, do it! If you want to wear a stylish outfit but don’t feel like wearing makeup, don’t feel that you have to wear makeup.

Lets start a new fashion and beauty trend of loving ourselves and dressing how we feel, not how the magazines or movie stars tell us to dress.

Be you and wear what makes you happy and comfortable.

Spray your Jimmy Choo and enjoy your day 😉

-Brittany

April 19, 2018July 16, 2018

Why I Stopped Wearing SO much Makeup

I have always loved makeup. I remember growing up I’d watch my mother and nana apply their makeup on Sunday mornings. I remember being thrilled when I was allowed to wear blush and lip-gloss.

I always loved looking through magazines and seeing the next great item to use. I still to this day enjoy browsing Ulta or looking for the one-hit-wonder makeup item.

In my teens and collage years, makeup would take me forever to apply. And some of this time was even before eyebrow gel was a thing. 😉 I had to apply a primer, then concealer, and next was foundation. The type of foundation that was complete coverage was the goal.

Then blush and bronzer was next. Bronzer was something I never was good at. Next you had to do your eyes, which involved 3-5 shades of eye shadow. To this day, I still am not good at eye liner, so I always skipped that step. Lastly, was to curl the lashes and add mascara.

Later on, you had to add more steps like coloring in your eyebrows or using a gel on them. Also highlight on the top of your cheeks and setting spray was a must.

While at times, this was fun to explore and play with makeup, I absolutely dreaded having to take it off. I wish they would make a product that took it all off in one swipe. 😉 Also it was getting time consuming.

Since I have been married, I feel like my makeup routine has completely changed. Partly, because my husband would always say, “Why does it take you so long to get ready?” 😉 But also because I feel like I have grown more as a person.

Now I can actually do all of my makeup in about 5 minutes, and I love it. I love being able to just get up and go.

Check out my Fresh in Fifteen video! Get ready with me skincare, hair care, and makeup all in 15 minutes!

My makeup now just includes:

-Sometimes primer, sometimes not – depends on my mood 😉

-Cover FX Mineral Powder Foundation – works well with my skin, super easy to apply – not messy like liquid foundation

-Blush – I enjoy Tarte or Milani

– Maybelline eyebrow gel – I don’t always use it, depends on my mood. Sometimes I feel life was simpler when I didn’t have to fill in my brows. 😉

– Eye shadow – one color sometimes two – also depends on the occasion

-Mascara – I enjoy Tarte Lights Camera Lashes, or Maybelline Rocket

– Chap stick or lipstick – I have been loving Burt’s Bees lip shimmers

That’s it! And I love it! Simple! Sometimes I use setting spray and sometimes I don’t.

One thing that really helped me learn to accept my natural beauty, was to embrace my natural beauty. Changing my diet helped me gain more confidence for that.

Over the past year, I have given up gluten due to allergy issues as well as really limiting my dairy intake. My skin has never been clearer in my life. I now only get the occasional monthly breakout around my chin. But even then, they are not as bad of a breakout as they use to be.

I don’t feel like I have to cover up my skin anymore with foundation or hide my pimples with concealer. I now feel more beautiful when someone tells me I’m pretty, because I know I’m not hiding anything with my mask of makeup.

My point I am trying to get here, is that I hope for everyone, makeup is a fun hobby, not something you feel you have to apply perfectly everyday. There are some days now I go run errands without makeup and feel perfectly fine and pretty. I did not use to be like that.

My hope and prayers is that as women, we learn to take care of ourselves with our diets, habits, and taking time for ourselves. That through that, our true inner beauty shines out and we realize that makeup is just an accessory.

No makeup – just natural

Remember:

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.” -Song of Solomon 4:7

March 6, 2018March 12, 2021

TO TAN OR NOT TO TAN? MY TANNING STRUGGLE

Spring break is approaching. I’m already counting down the days till spring. 15 more days!! I’m ready for 70-degree days and sunshine!

I also know that as spring is approaching, I always thought well now I have to shave on a more regular basis, and oh yeah what about these super pale legs?

All my life I have been described as having porcelain skin, like a doll. While to some people that is a great compliment, to others its something that I know I actually hated about myself.

Click here to watch my video!

When I was a teen, it was something I was often teased about. Teased so much I often wanted to hide my skin. I eventually started going to the tanning bed at around age 15. I wanted to be as dark as all my friends. To have the perfect tan.

While I thought the tanning bed was pretty relaxing, and I loved how it made my skin feel. I gradually started to learn how dangerous it could be, more and more stories started to come out about the rise in skin cancer.

Finally after being told by a doctor the dangers with my skin, I stopped going. Thank the Lord; I stopped before I got any skin problems.

Still I felt insecure about my skin. Spray tans became the next big thing. Let me just tell you, when I first started getting them, they weren’t very pretty. I would end up looking like a pale girl with brown splotches everywhere! Please tell me I’m not the only one who has had an experience like that. 😉

Gradually I got better and better at them, and they ended up looking pretty natural. But I couldn’t afford to keep getting those, and it was always so awkward when they started to fade.

So I switched over to self-tanning lotion like Jergens and Banana Boat. Once again there is a learning curve to these, but eventually I became a pro. I have to say Jergens is probably the best one I have used.

I would apply them every other day or every other two days. While I enjoyed the nice color payoff, still sometimes my feet would not turn out right or I was just tired and didn’t want to have to apply this all the time after the shower.

Eventually and over time, I stopped applying them. I started just to accept my skin color and to embrace it. To see my skin color as gift from God, that makes me who I am. It has a beauty all in its own.

100% natural here – no makeup, no self tanner

Just me!

I’ve embraced more colors that make my skin glow, like blues, pinks, and purple. Now all I try to do is to keep my skin healthy and moisturized. I still occasionally use a self-tanner/spray tan. I used one for a couple weddings last summer. There is actually nothing wrong if you want to use one.

I just hope that you always feel comfortable and beautiful in your own skin. And to know that you don’t always have to have that perfect Hollywood tan.

So my plans for this summer is to try to get outside everyday that it is nice and try to get 15-30 minutes of sunshine. I’ve heard it can actually be good for your skin to get some sunshine with no sunscreen. But always make sure it is not the hottest part of the day and never for more than 20 minutes. But I am not a medical professional, so always check with your doc!

If I’m going to be out for a long time, its time to slather up in some 30 SPF! I have actually used 75 SPF before 😉 Pale girl probs! But now I’ve learned 30 does just as good, as least for me.

So I hope my little rant about being happy with my pale skin has encouraged some of you to embrace your natural skin, no matter what shade you are. Just know you’re most beautiful being yourself.