BEAUTY | Everyday Nude Lipsticks

If you've been here for a while, you know I love talking about lipsticks around here. I've talked about pink lipsticks, I've carried on about red lipsticks. I've even shared some of my favorite liquid lipsticks and urged you to add these five "very necessary" lipsticks to your beauty arsenal. But the overlooked gem I haven't mentioned here in a while is the perfect nude lipstick. And while I don't give them much spotlight on the blog, nude, neutral shades are the lipsticks I spend the most time with. I can wear them all day, every single day, no matter the occasion. A nude lip translates well from day to night, from season to season, and from one occasion to the next. So without further adieu, let's get into what I  like to call my "week's worth" of everyday nude lipsticks.

REVIEW | eb5 Skincare

When is the last time you set skincare goals for yourself? As someone who always seems to be working on getting her skin together, I set them often. I've tried more products than I can count, hoping to keep up a regimen that would give me perfect skin. You know, skin that rarely gets oily. Skin you never see deep pores or rough texture on when you're intimately close. Skin that never experiences breakouts, goes all "hormonal" on you, and leaves those pesky dark spots behind as proof of existence. I've never had that type of skin, y'all. In fact, I've had quite the opposite. I've switched up my diet for great skin. I've bought plenty of miracle in a bottle promising products, to no avail. Through it all, I've learned that I'm just gonna have to work hard in order to have great skin. And by work hard, I mean stick to a skincare regimen with products that cater to my specific needs. Add to the equation the fact that I'm getting older and trying to maintain youthful-looking skin and extra steps get included to the work.

Enter eb5 Skincare. Named for the two vitamins best for skin your skin (Vitamin E and Pro-Vitamin b5), eb5 Skincare offers anti-aging products with healthy plant-based ingredients. Using five products from their skincare line, I have been able to create a new five-step skincare regimen that is simple, yet effective. I've been using this line for about six weeks now and I couldn't wait to share my results with you guys!

3 Keys to Creating an Effective Self-Care Plan

We're two weeks deep into 2017 and I hope everyone has been doing well so far. Along with creating new goals and resolutions for the new year, I also hope you have added self-care to your calendars and planners! And if you haven't, no worries. We're gonna take a moment to discuss creating a self-care plan right now. We're also going to make sure that plan is effective for you and doesn't just take up space in that cute new journal you bought a few weeks ago, too (I know I'm not the only one who's been grabbing up lots of pretty stationery for the new year, am I?).

The easiest thing would be to write down a self-care plan and through that alone, our healing comes right on through. Instantly, we're taking better care of ourselves and those around us. And before we know it, our skin starts glowing out of nowhere, too! But that’s just not the reality. Sometimes it’s all we can do to wake up each morning and look ourselves in the mirrors. We might be dealing with self-doubt, grief, remorse, loss, broken-hearts, you name it. But having a self-care plan in place and being intentional about following through in the best way that we can does help. Because when "life" happens, we often forget to take care of ourselves. Having a plan to refer to will help us take actionable steps on how to get on by.

Below are three major keys to creating an effective self-care plan.

Working in Progress: Improving While Embracing Self

When is the last time you took a moment to embrace all that is authentically YOU? When is the last time you took inventory of all that you are and, instead of making lists of things to improve, simply acknowledged yourself as you are? Maybe it was the day you decided to embrace that thigh gap or that gap between your teeth (raising my hand to both). Or perhaps it was the moment you realized your slow southern drawl wasn't going anywhere no matter how often you tried to polish your dialect (raises hand once again). Sometimes we get so caught up in improving ourselves that we forget to fully embrace the essence of our beings and our presence. In these times we have to get naked for a moment to rediscover ourselves and fall in love again. You know, fall in love with the self we are before the world starts convincing us we may need to alter and modify things.