Exciting Events and Calming Yoga

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There are a few personal events that I am super excited abut in the near future, but have also been taking a bit of my time. The soonest and longest in the making would have to be getting new wood flooring in my office, for which the install starts tomorrow. It has now been 6-months since our last flooring endeavor and I have forgotten all the mess and dust and pains of new flooring. Example, today was meant to be a great post all about those legs with workout pics and everything. But, I kept have to push back the shoot and finally worked out that Thursday would be perfect... Until I realized that all the office furniture is spread across our living room, i.e. the photo-shoot area.

So, next week there will be a great leg workout and *hopefully* some fun pictures of the new flooring in my office. The goal is to have it looking like the photos above and below sometime soon... Except mine will be an office instead of two living rooms...

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Next up on our big events list is one the I am super personally invested in and so, so very excited about. It is not something I talk about often, but I am a member of the All Children's Guild here in West Florida. We will be putting on a pretty incredible event in about 2.5 weeks that is coming up way quicker than you may think. It will be wonderful and it will raise a ton of money for those kiddos. My friend and I are heading-up the decorations committee together and we are using my previous wedding planner for decor and flowers and all around awesomeness. Yea, the event will look epic and I will be sure to take plenty of pics from that as well... Lookout November, there are plenty of lifestyle posts heading your way.

Side note:  My dress for the event is the opposite of long, so that leg workout I was excited about posting today was created for completely selfish reasons. These legs are on full exercise duty from now till mid November.

After that we have a big trip, jury duty (Worst. Timing. Ever.), weddings, birthdays, new babies being born (not mine) and the holidays. Yea, things have officially kicked off in the busy category. Since most of you beautiful lot are probably starting to feel that holiday pressure, I decided to put up a super relaxing yoga video to help take some of that stress away. It is quite short and will- fingers crossed, help take off some of those holiday/busy life jitters. Happy weekend! 

3 Anti-Aging Products to Use Before 30

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In the days of our parents, very few women used anti-aging products and even fewer used them before the age of 40. Now, dermatologists, research scientists, and nutritionists are recommending we start much, much earlier. Our skin will start to show signs of aging during or mid to late 20's. These may not be the sagging skin and deep wrinkles that we see on so many before and afters, but it will include sun spots, skin discoloration, and wrinkles starting around the eyes and mouth. Thank goodness we are only in our 20's and all of these can be corrected while staving off those other nasty bits of aging as we, well, age.

Retinol

Retinol is one of the best products for our face. Period. Retinol helps speed up the cellular turnover rate- something that continues to slow past our teens. It will also increase collagen levels; something else that diminishes as we age and is needed for healthy, young skin.

Over the counter retinal products are enough for our young, under 40 skin. Too much retinol can dry our skin out and even cause long-term damage. Good, over the counter, retinol products will have lower levels of retinal that will not harm our skin, but will instead, rejuvenate skin cells, increase the skin's collagen-matrix, and even reduce acne by decreasing pore size and removing layers of dead skin.

Tip 1: Look for a OTC retinol product that uses soy compounds. This will reduce redness associated with retinol by reducing the activation of the protein which causes skin sensitivity.

Tip 2: Only use retinol at night. The sun breaks retinol down, using retinol during the day will diminish the effects and waste that precious product.

Vitamin C

We have established that collagen is needed for healthy skin cells, but did you know that vitamin C is needed for collagen? Yes, vitamin C is your superhero when it comes to keeping your skin's collagen-matrix strong. For a long time we thought that vitamin C was only necessary to help fend off free radicals from our skin. Now, it looks like that handy vitamin C does a lot more. This wonder vitamin is also needed for the synthesis of pre-collagen, the precursor to that amazing protein that keeps our connective tissue strong.

Vitamin C can be gotten in multiple ways, but they two that are most beneficial for our bodies and our skin is through supplements and topical creams. Like any product for our bodies, natural is better. Synthesized vitamin C does not have the phytonutrients that our bodies need. Phytonutrients have been deemed important all the way back to the time of Hippocrates because of the anti-innflamatories and antioxidants they posses.

The best places to use a topical cream would be around the eyes, on the parentheses around the mouth, and the forehead.  

Tip 1 : Organic is best. If you choose to take your vitamin C through supplements, find one that is organic and non-synthesized.

Tip 2: Buy new cream. When mixed with liquid, vitamin C has a 30-day shelf life. You you do not know when the cream was made, do not buy it. I opt for a vitamin C product that is mixed upon purchase. That way, I know I have 30-days to use it all up.

Sunscreen

And you thought that kids using anti-aging products was too young... Turns out that one of the greatest anti-aging product for our skin has been slathered on us since baby-hood. A study published in the Archives of Dermatology found that sun damage ages our skin more than smoking or alcohol. Signs of sun damage can include sun spots, fine lines around the eyes and mouth, and growths upon the skin. All of these can begin to appear as early as our young 20's.

It is much harder to reverse the signs of sun damage than it is to reduce the sun's damaging effects on our skin. Driving, walking in and out of stores, and being near windows during the day are all possible ways to increase the sun's effects on our skin- it is not just time spent on the beach or hours outside.  

Using sunscreen daily can drastically reduce the effects of aging on our skin. When it comes to our face, the sunscreen we use on our body does not fit the bill. This sunscreen usually has plenty of oils and harsh chemicals that can harm sensitive skin and cause clogged pores. No thanks.  Instead, use a product that is specifically meant for the face and has an UVA and UVB SPF of 50+ . What is in our make-up is great, but more is better.

Tip 1:  Use a facial sunscreen. Facial sunscreens do not have all the oils and chemicals that harm our skin. The right one will not even burn those with sensitive skin (cough cough, me). If your skin burns or feels warm at all when you put sunscreen on, you have skin sensitive to the chemicals in it. Facial sunscreens are less harmful and can be used all over the body for those with super sensitive skin.

Tip 2: Apply before make-up. There are a lot of facial sunscreens on the market that can act like a primer. Apply them before applying your make-up and let it dry for a few minutes. If needed, apply to your entire body before using any other lotion.

6 Great Nail Art Tutorials

Nail art is one of my favorite new girlie trends. I absolutely love the geometric patterns and fun glitter designs that are so popular to don on our nails! There are a few nail art trends that are my absolute favorite right now. Yes, you can take any of these pictures to your local nail tech extraordinaire and they can do it for you. But, if weekly nail art appointments just won't cut it, take a lesson from the pro's and get super savvy at doing your own!

All of these nail art tutorials are pretty simple and can be done by, pretty much, anyone. The best part about these seven is how great they look when they are complete! If the idea of having super cute nails that get chipped within 20-minutes of getting them finished is worthy of crying over, use my nail tip: once your nails are dry, put a top coat of shellac over them. This will give an extra shine and keep them way longer than polish alone. 

Glitter Fade

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As far as nail art goes, this look is one of the most classic and one of the easiest to complete... All your really need is a base color and some glitter polish.  

Bleeding Blue

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I love this one. It could be done with any color and almost looks like a city scape. I may choose to do this with different Metallica colors like a deep gun metal, gold, and pewter.

Herringbone Design

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This is probably one of the most, if not the most, intricate nail art design out of the seven. Although this design is pretty intense and will take a fair share of time, it is just too cute to pass up!

Skulls

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What better time to have skulls on your fingers than at Halloween. Out of all the dozens of skull nail art tutorials, this is my favorite. It is spooky enough but still stylish and not creepy.

Matte Finish

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This one is not a tutorial as much as a guide on which matte polish to buy. Remember way back when there were tutorials on how to matte your own nails? Oh how far we have come!

Geometric Nails

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This has to be my favorite design yet. Love the colors, love the patters, and super love the exact edges!

Love Stories to Fall For

This past week I have been a bit under the weather and have been stuck in bed whenever I am not darting around. To help keep my mind off all the things I should be doing, I picked-up to light, love stories that could handle the very difficult task of keeping my mind off my work. These books did there jobs incredibly well since I was able to read/love/never want to put down both these books since Tuesday. 

The first was one of the most recent Sophie Kinsella books, I've Got Your Number.  Sophie Kinsella is the author of the super popular, Confessions of a Shopaholic series along with a ton of other witty novels all about love. Saying that she is a modern day Jane Austen is not too high a praise, she completely is. Her books are witty, strong, engaging, and all around wonderful. I've Got Your Number is no different.

Actually, this book definitely round off my top three favorite Sohpie Kinsella books. The other two areConfessions of a Shopaholic(of course) and Twenties Girl. If you are a fan of sweet, lighthearted stories with some cute life lessons, strong female protagonists, quirky characters, and adorable love stories, I would completely recommend picking up any one of these!

Next up on my reading list for this week is another love story. This is pretty rare considering that I usually stagger different genres and fiction vs. non-fiction so there is no worry of boredom or overlapping story lines. This week was just a rom-com kind of week and this next rom-com was just as good as the last.  

Although Edenbrooke is set on the English country side of a by-gone era, it was written last year by a mother of four who lives in Salt Lake City. Thankfully, Julianne Donaldson takes the task of bringing 19th century England to the modern age with a great attention to the actual period. This book is adorable. Within the first few pages you are in love with Marianne Daventry and completely unable to set the book down after chapter 2. Seriously, it kicks off with a bang.

Edenbrooke and a great combination of the Jane Austen regency era so many of us love, and the awkward but loving protagonist that is so easy to cheer for. This book was made for those of us who love those period pieces with a touch of the modern romance. Love.