Favorite Beauty Products

1. Dry Shampoo
This stuff is awesome for those rush around days where you just don't have time to wash your hair. I have a Pilates class in the middle of my day, and dry shampoo is perfect to touch up hair after a workout. No one wants to show up to biology class looking like greasy pete after a workout. Dry shampoo is most commonly used in an aerosol spray can and sprayed on the hair like hairspray. It works by soaking up any excess grease and freshening up your hair in between washes. My favorite brand is Batiste - available in plenty of scents at Ulta, but Walmart also carries a couple of the flavors for the same price. My personal favorite flavor is Blush. :) The only con is that sometimes if you spray the product too close to your scalp it can leave white powered residue. If you are blonde this isn't a problem, but if you have dark hair I would suggest getting the colored dry shampoo (also available through Batiste at Ulta) with an Ulta coupon you can get a full size can for around $6.

2. Turbie Twist
I had seen these before and thought they looked pretty cool, but it wasn't until I got one for Christmas did I realize how seriously great these are. A Turbie Twist is like a mini head towel shaped to wrap your hair in while you wait for it to dry after a shower, or to pull your hair back to do makeup in. The little elastic on the back makes it easy to tie your hair up in the towel and pin it back. It's super lightweight and doesn't give you headaches like a bulky towel does. The microfibers dry your hair faster than a regular towel does as well! Click the link to see some fun Turbie Twist colors and variations. They are available at Walgreens, Walmart, Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sally's Beauty, and most drug stores. The only complaint I have is that if you have really thick hair that tangles easily you might not want to leave your hair thrown up in the Turbie for very long, or your hair could become very tangled. And not the pretty Rapunzel kind of tangled! The price varies depending on if you get a package, but they are usually around $5-$10.

3. Aromatherapy Lotion/Pillow Spray/Shower Gel
I got the Aromatherapy Stress Relief hand lotion and shower gel for Christmas from Bath and Body Works. At first I just thought it was a good smelling lotion, but it works so well! I'm not completely sure if it's just a mind game, but either way it seems to relieve stress. Bath and Body works sells a bunch of different scents each infused with essential oils tailored to a specific purpose. For example there is Stress Relief, Sleep, and even an Energy scent. I have the Eucalyptus Spearmint Stress Relief lotion and pillow spray. I love being able to spray the pillow spray on my pillow and blanket before going to sleep! My friend went out of state to college and she says the Lavender Sleep pillow spray helps her fall asleep each night and reminds her of home. Definitely a must for a good bedtime routine, and the lotion is also great for yoga practice.

4. Aquaphor Lip Repair
I have very sensitive skin complete with endless dermatology allergies. Aquaphor Lip Repair balm is the only chapstick or lip gloss that I can use without getting an allergic reaction. I love it! It's scentless and colorless so it leaves a clean sheer when used while hydrating as well. Living in Logan means cold dry weather and cracked lips, but I have never had that problem with Aquaphor. You can get it at Walmart or most drug stores for

5. Pureology Shampoo/Conditioner
This stuff comes at a pretty penny, but it literally saved my hair. Before using these products my hair was a disaster! It was dry, had product damage, color damage, and was only barley shoulder length without any growth. My hairstylist recommended using Pureology and it has made so much differences! My hair is thicker, and seven inches longer in one year with all damaged erased! Pureology has different strains like hydrating, color, etc. but I personally use the hydrating kind. You can buy it at any beauty store, but I personally like getting it at Ulta with a coupon.

6. Shimmer Lights
This shampoo works wonders for blonde hair. It is a purple shampoo that sits on your hair for 5-10 minutes and reduces the amount of yellow brassiness that builds up from heat and discoloration. It can be used to strip the hair of color, however, so keep track of how long you keep it on your hair. I have white blonde hair and use Shimmer Lights every two weeks for 15 minutes. It is especially effective after getting your hair colored if you don't like the bright yellow tone and want to go more pale blonde. I get it for under ten dollars at Sally's Beauty Supply.

7. Real Technique Makeup Brushes
If I were ordering these by favorite products, this would be number one. Real Technique Makeup Brushes are amazing!! I could go on and on about how much I love them, but i'll try to control my raving about them. You can buy a set of four brushes for as much as one Mac or Clinique makeup brush costs. They come in a whole bunch of different varieties depending on the coverage and style of brush and makeup you are looking for. I love the Core Collection and the Starter Kit. I then added on the Blush Brush and the Expert Face Brush. These brushes have lasted me longer than a year and they are still in perfect condition, not one bristle has fallen out. Again.... I love getting these at Ulta with a coupon, they often have buy one get one 50% off, combined with a coupon can often get you nine makeup brushes for $30!

8. Gel Nail Kit 
I got this as a Santa gift for Christmas one year and I love it! I use the Red Carpet Manicure Pro 45 Started Kit available at Ulta. For the amount of nail care you get it is actually a pretty fair price. The color gets cured onto your fingernails under an LED light. The color lasts for three weeks without chipping and peeling. Which means you can go forever in between painting your nails and still having them look great!!:) When you are majoring in ASL having your nails looking decent is recommended.

9. Cuticle Oil
This comes in the Gel Nail Kit, but you can also buy it separately for a couple of bucks. It goes right on your nail beds and around your fingernail to keep dry skin to a minimum and reduce hang nails. Daily use is great, and is available at any beauty store.

10. Clinique Three Step Skin Care
For sensitive skin this stuff is great. It comes in a three step of soap, clarifier, and moisturizer lotion. It keeps the skin clean and free of dirt and grime that tends to build up. It does build up in price, but there are deals you can use at Clinique and it is definitely worth the price.

I Have A Confession....

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!! I love spending the holidays with my family. It's so nice to be down from college, have time off work, and just sit by the Christmas tree and relax!

But I have a confession.

This will be my last Christmas with my family for the next two years!

I've decided to serve an LDS mission!!:) 

If you would have asked me three or four months ago if I wanted to serve a mission I would have said no way, that's not for me. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life; I had a plan and I was determined to follow it. It seemed simple at first - go to USU on a scholarship, maybe transfer somewhere else when my scholarship was up, major in speech sciences and Deaf education, work hard, get a job, and meet new people. It was the perfect plan! Or so I thought.

If i've learned anything over my eighteen years of living it's that the second you think you have life figured out... it changes. Life has a habit of doing that. Sometimes that change can be hard, but - more often than not - that change brings aspects into your life that you didn't even know you needed. After moving to Utah State my life was great! I had a scholarship, I was doing well in my classes, I loved my apartment and my roommates, and I had a pretty great job for a college student. So why was I feeling like something was missing?

My roommate had been talking about serving a mission, and it became something we talked about often. I think those conversations are what planted the seed in my mind. My life was on a good course, but maybe there was more in store than I thought. Maybe there was more planned for me than I had planned for myself. Maybe I was just too stubborn and set in my ways to see it. 

So after a lot of prayer and council from family members, my bishop, and friends I will be putting my papers in in April of 2015!:) Here is to a new year!:)

Happy New Year!

Thankful for Traffic, Taxes, and Tough People

It's been awhile since my last post, but with finals right around the corner i'm playing the "busy college student" card. I know, I play that card a lot, but it should be a privilege..... right?:)

Happy Turkey day!!!! In honor of Thanksgiving I wanted to write a short blog post on gratitude. Instead of taking the traditional route and listing things I am most grateful for, I decided to try a new perspective. I wrote a list of my top six pet peeves, then sat for a long time until I could come up for at least one reason why I was thankful for each particular item. Here is my final list:

I'm thankful for:

1. Stubborn people - because they show me what it's like to fight fiercely for something I believe in.

2. Taxes - because it's proof that I still have a paycheck. And look at all that Ramen I can buy!:)

3. Traffic - because maybe we're all moving a little too fast in life anyways. We could use some slowing down, even if it's staring at miles of red brake lights.

4. Dead cell phone batteries - it's moments like these when I realize who I can't go very long without talking to, and who I miss most when I can't connect with them.

5. Icy roads - they bring back memories of my dad first teaching me to drive in a snowy church parking lot, purposefully locking the breaks for practice in driving through bad weather. They also remind me that I have a loving family who put new tires on my little car, and people who care enough to call me just to see if I got home safely.

6. College finals week - Just kidding. I'm not thankful for that particular week.

We all have so much to be thankful for apart from the obvious. We're all thankful for our family and friends, our jobs, our houses, and food on the table. But what about showing gratitude for the little things that we take for granted every day? Things such as the sun shining in the morning, the fact that your car windows didn't ice over on a day you're running late, or that the newspaper boy takes his time to deliver the paper all the way to the front porch (which is a rare occurrence, we definitely need to award medals to paper boys such as these). After eating yourself silly, taking a nap, and watching some football, take a minute to enjoy the small things in life. There is so much more beauty offered in this world if you keep your eyes open!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

All In Favor Of A Modest Halloween?

I went to my first college party last night, and it was a ton of fun. As soon as I walked in I noticed a popular trend. Most of the girls were wearing (or should I say NOT wearing) half clothed bunny outfits or other revealing costumes. Most of them seemed store bought, but some went to the effort of cutting old clothes simply to be more revealing. The entire night the trend for costumes seemed to be to show as much skin as possible. Why is that? When did Halloween become a competition for who looks the best in bikini tops and tutus? And when did we decide that this is ok?

Throughout the night I noticed that the girls wearing the revealing costumes were getting a lot of attention. They were always in the center of the dance floor surrounded by other people, they were on the front row for the concerts and they seemed to be having the most fun. For a moment I thought that maybe that dressing immodestly was required to make more friends and be more popular. But as the night wore on I realized that the type of attention these girls were getting was from the wrong crowd. The crowd of boys surrounding these girls looked like they couldn't walk in a straight line if they wanted to. The language they were using was less than respectful, and the general way they were treating these girls was uncomfortable to watch.

We've heard it plenty of times, that to be respected we need to respect ourselves first. It's hard to be a girl and still maintain high standards in this day and age.  It's hard to go shopping and have to buy two shirts just to make the first shirt modest. It's tough to search to find fabric to add sleeves to that gorgeous prom dress you've been dreaming of. It's impossible to find knee length shorts without just cutting an old pair of jeans yourself. But it's worth it! Dressing modestly for YOU is worth it. Dressing modestly because you respect yourself more than that is worth it. The girls that choose to cover up are still as beautiful as those that choose to show more skin. In my opinion modesty is even more beautiful because you will stand out in ways that others can't. Instead of screaming for attention you will silently and boldly demand respect and attention from the type of guy who will see that the way you present yourself is important to you and it should be important to him for the right reasons. 

So here is to my girls who Pinterest endlessly for modest wedding dresses with sleeves. Who spend a week finding a modest Halloween costume or making one themselves. Who spend a little extra money to make that cute top modest. Who search every store on the Wasatch Front for a modest swim suit. THANK YOU! Thank you for being an example of how beautiful modesty can be and for standing up for respect. The world needs a little bit more of your standards.

Me and one of my cute roommates getting ready for the USU Howl!:) 

S.T.R.E.S.S.

We all get a little stressed out sometimes. And by sometimes I mean most of the time. We spend our days rushing around to get things accomplished so that we will have time to rush around again tomorrow to accomplish more things. Some days it feels like we are barely getting by just so we can continue to barely get by.

Being a full time college student, working two part-time jobs, getting involved in campus and church activities and SOMEHOW trying to get at least six hours of sleep a night is enough to stress out even the toughest of the tough. We've all been there, and if you are a college student you can add on the fact that you might be an overworked athlete, president of the chess club, designated apartment dishwasher, or loaded down with tons of physics homework that doesn't make sense (because lets be honest, when does physics ever make sense?). Stress is bound to happen sometime or another, and with mid-terms and the holiday season just around the corner I thought i'd share some of my stress reducing tips. These are things that work for me and some ideas to help take the stress away a little bit at a time!

1. Do something for you once a day!
I know you might be thinking that adding one more thing to your already crazy schedule sounds like the worst possible solution to cure high stress. And hey, some days I'm lucky if I have time to cook a three minute meal in the microwave. Trust me on this one though, taking even just ten minutes out of your day to do something for you gives you a break from your stress levels. Choose something you love to do, whether it's listening to music, going on a quick run (lets be honest and call it a brisk walk), or sketching. I love to light a candle and write in my journal or read my scriptures for a little bit. Also take some time to remember the people in your life who really matter to you. They know you are busy, but giving your attention and time to those who mean the world to you might just ensure that they stay in your world.

2. Talk it out.
Roommates are amazing. Partly because they pay part of the rent and partly because they are a built in family support group. It's hard to keep stress built up inside. I came home the other day after taking an impossible mid-term exam and vented to my roommate about it for at least five minutes straight. I threw a small pity party and complained about the number of questions, the format of the test, even the font that the test was written in just so that I could continue to find something to nit pick over. After all of my complaining my roommate heard me out and let me just talk through it. I felt so much better! Give it a try and talk about the reasons you are stressed. A good friend will always hear you out no matter what - even if all you are venting about is how distracting the single spaced point eight cursive test font is.:)

3. Write it down, plan it out, divide and conquer.
Ok now it's time to put on your Superman cape and save the world one task at a time. You've got a lot to do and procrastinating won't make that To-Do list disappear. Write down a list of five things you need to get done today. The top three are necessary to complete that day. Focus on each individual thing until the top three items get crossed off the list. If you have time, continue on to the last two items of the list. If you're tired of being Superman for the day move the last two items on the list to the first two items to do for tomorrow. Even Clark Kent needs a break now and then.

4. You are enough!
You are smart enough. You are tough enough. You are strong enough. Don't get so overwhelmed with your To-Do list that you lose sight of the amazing things that you are capable of. I know i've been in a stress induced haze before where I can't see the reasons behind the actions or the goals at the end of the processes. You'll ace your midterms, pay day will come, and the dishes will be clean eventually. The important thing is that you are happy with where you are and where you are headed!

So superhero, go ahead and be happy while flying around all day getting things done. You deserve an award for all you do.;)

These four things are strategies that i've found help relieve stress for me. You know what works best for you! If you have any more ideas feel free to leave a comment and let me know!

My roommate and I took a break from studying to check out the campus bookstore and get these great Utah State shirts. Clearance items are also a great way to relieve a little bit of stress too.;) 

Fire Alarms, Ramen, and Navigating Life:)

I spent my senior year of high school dreaming of how to decorate my future apartment in college. My roommates and I went shopping every spare second to pick out salt and pepper shakers and new silverware while they were on clearance. My little brother even gave me a toilet plunger for Christmas complete with a toilet cleaning brush and fancy gold bow to top things off. We spent the summer painting, sanding, going to garage sales, and rifling through the questionably sanitary items at the D.I. I thought I was completely prepared for the college experience.

I have never been more wrong in my life.

Don't get me wrong, college is amazing! I've had so many great experiences being on my own and I have been able to grow with the new responsibilities. I'm talking about the handle-breaking-off-the-toilet-and-nobody-knows-how-to-fix-it type of prepared. You never know your true maturity level until your fire alarm needs new batteries in the middle of the night. Then add in the fact that you weren't even aware that you had a fire alarm in the first place. 

After three months of adjusting to this new life where finding double A batteries at four in the morning is practically impossible, I decided to come up with a game plan. I invested in two different planners, learned to manage my time, and even cooked a few meals that didn't include discount ramen packets.

So I started this blog in hopes of being able to share different ways to stay on your A-game while going through college life. I'll post about ways to stay  creative and do fun crafts while on a budget, how to brighten a hard day, ways to find great discounts on clothes and fashion products, and also personal posts as well! Feel free to follow and read up from time to time!:)