Dilemma: Beat the Winter Blues

Call it early, but I’m preparing myself for cooler weather woes such as flaky skin, lackluster hair, and seasonal depression. We could all benefit I’m sure from some prevention methods as well as a few techniques to stay looking - and feeling - fabulous throughout the cold weather season.

Supplements

We often make the mistake of primping only our outside, when beauty really comes from the inside out. That’s where a sensible diet and beauty supplements come into play.

Fish oil capsules, taken daily, will keep your skin, hair, and nails moisturized and glowing radiantly as well as improve your mood. The essential fatty acids in these pills also aid in accelerating weight loss. Perfect, I’d say, when our bodies are taking a weather beating and we’re prone to holiday binging.

B-complex vitamins are universally known to alleviate depression, provide energy, and enhance energy metabolism (and weight loss).

Water intake is often neglected when all we’re craving is hot cocoa or those Starbucks Pumpkin Spice cappuccinos. However, h2o remains crucial to flushing our bodies of dulling impurities and keeping us well-hydrated.

Moisturizers and Conditioners

When we’re set on supplement intake, the next step is to coat our outside with lavish moisturizers and conditioners for hair and skin.

Everyone has their staple facial and body creams (and there are so many to choose from), so I’ll share mine:

Simply put, Origins A Perfect World Body Cream, $30 with white tea is my favorite body cream. It is immensely moisturizing and smells wonderful.

Dry skin will benefit from a richer, creamy facial moisturizer. These are normally found in jars (Cetaphil, $13) but I like the convenience of a pump (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion with pump, $23). Clinique’s version works with your skin’s chemisty to deliver the perfect amount of moisture, and Cetaphil is a long time cult favorite.

Oily skin benefits most from a serum or gel moisturizer which will not feel too heavy on the skin. Chanel makes an amazing serum (Chanel Precision Hydramax+ Serum, $72) that smells like a cocktail and moisturizes luxuriously, then there is Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel with pump, $23, which is suitable as well.

All hair types should reap the benefits of an olive-oil based shampoo and conditioner. This will leave your hair beautifully shiny and supple without weighing it down. Plus, if you planned on using your same hair care products year round, now would be a good time to give your hair a refreshment.

My favorite olive oil shampoo and conditioner are of a Dominican line: Nacidit Olive Oil Shampoo and Nacidit Olive Oil Conditioner. Upon using this, I fell in love. Fair-skinned gals will love the absence of dry hair and flyaways, and ethnic ladies like myself will adore their new bouncy, well-moisturized tresses.

Spa Services

For me, summer is the time of year to sport DIY manicures and pedis. Body fuzz also grows faster, making impromptu shaving sessions a must. However, it’s easier to lose yourself during the winter when the last thing you want to do is paint your nails or lose warm down comforter time shaving your legs late at night and early in the morning.

Spa treatments are not only relaxing, but when you want to stay looking your best during this lazy time of year, they’re a must. Lower leg waxing, mani/pedi’s, and full-body massages will be on my agenda on a monthly basis.

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Vitamin Energy…Gives You Wings!

This weekend has been ultra relaxing with sleeping in, taking walks, and baking muffins. My apartment has smelled quite fragrant for the past couple days, with Deep Chocolate and Banana Vitalicious muffin aromas stagnant in the air. My friend Shanna has me hooked on Vitalicious treats, as we can indulge in yummy goodness that is low in fat and sugars and high in vitamins. What more could you ask for? I buy the multipack muffin mix and get creative with the recipes.

As soon as Glaceau Vitamin Energy drink hit the shelves locally this weekend, I had to try it. Tropical Citrus tastes amazing and is chock full of B vitamins plus vitamin C, caffeine, and taurine. This is definitely my new favorite energy drink. It deserves a photo op.

Haiiiiiiiii <333 (Shanna would totally get that.)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Personal Digest #4 (Victoria’s Secret Catalog Temptation)

I felt so…Mary-Kate today in my super-long black kimono dress and sky high patent black pumps. Though Mary Kate & I are polar opposites when it comes to height and everything, wearing a drape-y dress with heels so tall/big that my feet didn’t quite fill them made me feel akin to the petite, oversized-clothes-wearing vixen. I haven’t quite broken those heels in yet either, so they were quite a challenge to hobble manuever around in to the office printer & back. Minus one.

My quarterly Victoria’s Secret catalog came in the mail yesterday. I should have known better than to open it due to the fact that my Angel card has seen its days already, and as of late I have been doing way too much shopping. Unfortunately, temptation reared its ugly head and I had a peek. And let me tell you, I’m kind of regretting it. This season’s VS clothes are amazing! Overpriced, yes, but amazing nonetheless.

I couldn’t find all the ones that I adored on the website, so those are a couple of my favorite tops. Especially the drape top, except in a grey color.

Oh! The dress. My perfect autumn dress:

Gdsgsdhgahh! Absolutely loves it. It’s leggy, off-the-shoulder, unconventional, and adorable. That’s my coffee date dress, right there. *drooling*

As tagged by J: Four Fears + Four Random Things About Me

Fears

High preservative/artificial foods
Losing sight of my blessings/taking things for granted
Freak accidents
Psychosis

Randoms

I’ve never been west of Ohio, so I don’t know what non-humidity feels like
I analyze EVERYTHING
Believing in God completely changed my life and I would never go back
I taught myself HTML when I was 11…haha remember gURL.com, anyone?? I am a computer NERD.

Fall Beauty: Dramatic Smoky Eyes

Smoky eyes are a huge comeback for fall 2007, and are more dramatic than ever. Layers of black and mega full or false lashes were seen on the runway. Street-wise, the look is refreshingly unconventional with deep, dark blues and purples replacing or adding to traditional smoky black.

This is all so reminiscent of my heavy-eye-makeup headbanger phase back in high school, however the current, ‘grown up’ look is very vamp & sexy, with a balance. Eyes are heavy, but the face is otherwise muted.

Matte foundation, contoured cheeks, and non-competing lips complete this look. A matte, lavendar lip color gives the face a striking, ethereal appearance. Otherwise, finger-painted lip gloss or lipstick in a neutral color lets dramatic eyes take the spotlight.

Gorgeous!

Entertainment Review: How to Walk in High Heels (book) by Camilla Morton

Among great their great clothing, accessories, and housewares selection, Urban Outfitters also showcases an ecclectic mix of books and other knick knacks. A flip through a few pages of this book, How to Walk in High Heels by Camilla Morton, and I was hooked. Sure, it doesn’t have any ‘real’ substance or content but what all-frills girl doesn’t enjoy a dose of all-frills wisdom and how-to’s such as How to cope With a chipped nail, How to shape your eyebrows, and even How to surf the web unnoticed in the office? Well maybe it’s not completely all-frills, but every girl should know these sorts of things.

This is similar to another book on my shelf by Jane Buckingham: The Modern Girl’s Guide To Life. They’re both high-maintenance essentials, the latter being more for the mature diva, also with more content. I recommend both books.

This is my adaptation of the smoky eye from the video below. Alternatively, I used a coppery orange on the inner eyes. This look as a day look would be pushing the envelope, however if you’re daring you could transition this from day to night by adding false lashes for extra oomph. Thanks for the inspiration, Precious! (The last picture is for good measure, as J insists that I never smile).

Toodles!

What A Fabulous Smoky Eyes Look For Fall!

I love it! How lush, sultry, sexy, & edgy for fall. They’re calling it, ‘The Chocolate-y’ smoky eye.

I love how the smoke in this video is created with brick orange and reddish brown/black eyeshadow. Unconventional + creative = my new adaptation of this look. Mmm, loves it.

Note how the inner rim of the model’s bottom lid is lined with a white pencil. This brightens the eyes - crucial for this look - and is one of those Quick Beauty Fixes as well.

Video courtesy of Smashbox Cosmetics.