The first challenge is up for Allure’s Beauty Blogger Awards and I need YOUR help!
Finally it has arrived!
You can click here to find the challenge, take a look, watch the video and vote vote vote! You can vote once a day Monday until Friday for Challenge 1. Then each Monday, a new challenge goes up.
Would appreciate it so much! Here is the video for the post as well on my must have products under $50.
What did you think of the post? I really love my beauty blender!
I am soooooo excited to announce that I am one of 10 finalists for Allure’s Beauty Blogger Awards.
They just announced the 10 amazing finalists to be named the 2014 Beauty Blogger of the Year.
On the site you can check out an interview with me and a little bit about my background.
Click here to check out Allure’s site and see the other finalists.
You can also watch my about me video!
I created a Pinterest board where you can find all of my upcoming challenges as well.
Starting on Monday, you can VOTE FOR ME!
If you are heading to Coachella for the first time, here are some tips.
If it is your first time, let me share with you some tips on what to wear (and not wear) to this fun filled weekend. I’ll help you with outfit inspiration and what to make sure to pack.
Now that you know what to wear and pack, here are some things you can buy just in time for the next two weekends.
You’ll need a book bag or messenger bag to carry around all day. Either to put phone charger, camera, jacket etc. in. This one is from Forever21 for $27.80
A jacket is a must so get this one because it will go with most outfits from Nasty Gal.
I would have never posted this photo a year ago, but I faced my fears and posted a “no makeup selfie” to Instagram.
A few weeks ago I watched Jordin Sparks on the Today Show go bare and embrace natural beauty. She said it made her feel more confident and posted photos and went in public without makeup as part of their Love Your Selfie series. This inspired me and I have LONG been a beauty junkie, tanning, piling on the makeup, wearing fake lashes and extensions and I’m not really sure what happened but now I am just over it.
I really feel great when wearing a lot of makeup, but the heavy foundation ruined my skin. Lashes ruined my eye lashes. So to fix these, I had to get facials and now am using Latisse to fix my lashes.
Bottom line is, was it really worth it? To ruin my face just to look more pretty? Not really. So I am now trying to embrace a new kind of beautiful and to me, I now think less is more.
So after getting monthly facials with the AMAZING Shani Darden since October, she has really made me feel confident to go without makeup. She also does Jessica Alba and Rosie Huntington Whitely. If you are in the LA area I would HIGHLY recommend visiting her.
If it wasn’t for her, there is 100% no way I would feel OK to go without makeup. Having a great skincare routine and a clear complexion, makes it bearable to go out of the house without a cake face. This my key to feeling confident without makeup.
I’ll share my products in another post, but for each person this is different. Meeting with an esthetician to get a customized routine for you is really the best route. It is an investment, but totally worth it. I never knew I was using all the wrong products!
Anyway back to the point of this post, I did this because after only posting photos with a full face of makeup, I wanted to share that I’m a real person too, that doesn’t need to be glammed all the time. I have dark spots, acne scars and dark circles too. But despite that, and without all the glam, to be confident to show off how you look in your natural skin. I don’t want girls to feel like you need to really be this perfect person with a bunch of makeup to look and feel great about yourself and it isn’t really reality.
As I have worn less makeup, my skin texture and appearance has improved. Guys compliment me more on wearing no makeup and honestly it is much less time consuming!
I got tons of great support and feedback and wanted to share them, because that was really the whole point of the photo, to inspire others to embrace their own beauty and be happy in their skin.
@vanessajoylehman Real women love this. And real women would never disrespect this kind of natural beauty.
@ldavis423 Love you for posting this. Inspiring self confidence!
@swatts887 @marianna_hewitt u go girl! Beautiful!! Some ppl are such haters but good for u for posting this bcuz we all are our true selves under the makeup 
I also got this touching message from a girl on Instagram. This meant so much to me that a post like this could have this much of an affect on someone. That really is what this post was about, so if you felt this way too I am truly so grateful and happy I could help you feel more confident!
And this is what I was hoping would come from the photo. To inspire others to feel confident in their skin. Am I perfect? No. Will I ever be? No. I will age, I will get wrinkles, I will get another pimple, I will be glam again and wear tons of makeup at some point – but at the end of the day I really do feel more beautiful without all the stuff on my face. It took time, but I felt confident enough to post this photo and not be ashamed to be bare faced.
I hope you guys take this and decide to post a makeup free selfie too or to feel OK walking out the door in the morning with just a bit of mascara. Embrace who you are, take care of your skin and know no matter how you look you are beautiful.
I am maybe the pickiest person ever, so if I’m personally recommending you somewhere to go, chances are you will love it.
I have tried every hair, nail, tanning anything beauty related place in Los Angeles.
When friends come in from out of town or twitter followers ask, I love to share my favorite places to go for any of my beauty treatments. I’ve never been one to not share who cuts my hair, because I want everyone to experience it too!
Here is a list of where I get my beauty treatments done in Los Angeles, so if you are visiting or a local definitely try out these places.
First lets talk about hair! This is one of my most commonly asked questions. Often girls want to know what color my hair is and I honestly have ZERO clue as I don’t color my hair myself. But I do trust two colorists to really get my color where I want it to be.
For my light color, Chrystal Hewitt (no relation) at Rossano Ferretti was doing my color. You can find her at the Beverly Hills location on Canon Dr. 310.598.6780 – she works with an amazing team there under Lorri Goddard who is famous for coloring celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson. If you can’t get to the salon, you can buy her book on tips for coloring your hair at home.
Since then, I have gone darker and Alen M at Byron Williams did my color. I also frequent him for blow drys and styling. (310) 276-4470
** UPDATE **
I’ve gone light again and Alen brought be back after a few months of being dark.
He did this by bleaching my hair, then toning it and we kept my base the same. I will be going back again, this is just the first phase of going back to how light I want to be. I got asked by a bunch of girls who wanted to know how I go from light to dark without ruining my hair. By going in phases as well as getting the ends trimmed, this has helped. Alen also is having me do masks combined with oil twice a week.
Ok so I’ve upated this POST AGAIN! Because I went lighter one more time.
For this blonde, I went to Tauni at Nine Zero One in West Hollywood. She spent a few hours to get the color and tone just right and I love it. She takes a few months to get an opening for an appointment, but she is 100% worth it. She also trimmed my hair and gave me an amazing blowout. This is the best blonde I’ve gotten on my hair and wish I had found her sooner.
Now if you walk down the street a little bit from Byron Williams, you will find yourself at Jonathan and George salon where I get my cuts. 310.275.2808 If you go here, you will see Jonathan Antin who is co-owner of the salon. But for my cuts, I go to Gaetano he is AMAZING and is the ONLY person who has EVER cut my hair right. LET ME STRESS TO YOU HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO SPEND MONEY ON A GOOD HAIR CUT. This is not something you want to try and get a bargain for or do at home. I go maybe 1 or 2 times a year, so it is worth the investment for me. Guy also works with Rita Ora and Kendall Jenner.
Now if you don’t need a cut or color, but just down for a style you will want to book an appointment at The Drybar. If you live in a major city, chances are there is one close to you. I am an OG dry bar-er and on my old blog about 4 years ago I used to go weekly when they only had 1 location. They have now expanded and I go to the Sunset and 3rd St locations. If you don’t know what a blow bar is, it is a one stop shop for styling where they wash and blowdry your hair for a flat fee. I am here maybe 2x a week – if you want the style I go for, ask for a voluminous blowout using round brushes only with the bend at the ends going away from your face.
Finally, the last hair location to go to is for extensions. I’ll be honest, I hate hate wearing extensions and as well as clip ins. But if I do get them done, I don’t want to spend a lot of money. Instead I go to Just Extensions which is an extension bar similar to the Drybar concept where they just do extensions only.
I prefer the tape style of hair because it lays flat on my head, only downer is you can’t wear your hair up.
So there you have it, everywhere I get my hair cut, colored, styled and extensions. If I forgot something, leave a comment!
Keep checking back for more posts where I share where else I go in Los Angeles for my other beauty treatments including, hair, skincare and fitness.