Monday, November 28, 2011

Bright and shiny.

Hello, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Today I have a super simple yet incredibly effective skincare tip to share with you guys!

About a month ago I discovered a few websites that were talking about how good baking soda is when it comes to  exfoliating your skin.  Sounds odd, right? I thought so too! The only thing I usually use it for is for cooking. So, despite the fact that I thought it was pretty weird, I decided to try it out. Let me tell you, it is AMAZING. I'm a big supporter of using natural things on your skin, and you can't get much more natural than plain old baking soda. I really hate using those exfoliating products that feel like they are scratching your skin. This gets all the dead skin off without the abrasive scrubs .

Here is what you need:
 -Teaspoon
- Baking Soda
 - Water
All you have to do is mix about 2 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 teaspoon of water. You want to make a thick paste, but make sure it is thin enough to easily spread over your face. After you wash your face with cleanser, apply the mixture to your skin, and rub it gently in circles for 2-3 minutes. Then just rinse your face off thoroughly, and you're done! 

You're skin will look bright, fresh, and feel insanely soft. I've been doing this about once a week for a month or so, and it's been great. The baking soda does sting a little bit when you apply it to your face, but it's not bad at all. This is probably most likely because of my very sensitive skin.


So if you like using natural products on your skin that are cheap and effective, I'd give this a shot. 

I hope you enjoyed this super short post. Please let me know if you guys try this out!
Happy Monday!
xoxoKelsey.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Thankful

Happy day after Thanksgiving!
Here are a few pictures from yesterday, and a few things that I am thankful for.



1. My niece (Annie) wouldn't take a serious picture, so this will do :).
2.My brother-in-law and I love to take cheesy pictures. It's an art, really.
3. Little Miss Cali is the cutest baby around. 
4. Insanely delicious food.
5.  Hey there, cute husband!

I'm thankful for the following:
-My husband, who is always so patient with me and loves me unconditionally.
-My relationship with Jesus. His love is the only love worth living for.
- My job. I love getting to make people look beautiful all day long!
- My husband's family.
-My own family.
-My awesome brothers and sister. 
-My health.
-Friends. They always make life hilarious.

Honorable mentions:
 -Clothes. (That's on everyone's list, right?)
-Books.
-Christmas trees
-Coffee
-Sunshine
-Vampire Diaries (Obsessed)
-Crafts
-Red hair
-Breakfast at Tiffany's
-Christmas music. ALL. DAY. LONG.


I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. Remember, calories don't count on Thanksgiving, or when you eat leftovers :).

Happy Friday!
xoxoKelsey.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Umbrella




Jacket-Target/Sweater, Belt, and Pants-H&M/Flats-Steve Madden

I have an exciting story to tell you guys. This evening I decided to make a few desserts for tomorrow. I almost blew up my kitchen. OK, that's a bit dramatic, but it was a disaster. First of all, I had no idea that melting white chocolate was such a delicate process. I had to do two different batches. Second of all, I forgot to turn off the stove when I was done melting it. And lastly, I left a plastic spatula in the saucepan while the heat was still on. I'll let you guys imagine what happened next. But after cleaning up the melted spatula, and airing out my apartment, I managed to make some awesome peppermint bark and fudge. 
I read today that Julia Child didn't start cooking until she was 35. Maybe there's a chance that I can at least stop burning spatulas by then.
What are you guys making for Thanksgiving? Much adoration to those who are making a meal all on their own!

Talk to you guys soon! Remember, don't melt your spatulas :).
xoxoKelsey.



Sunday, November 20, 2011

Lately vol.3

Good morning, everyone!
Here's a little update via my phone on what's been going on in the past few weeks.


  1 and 2: I don't know if you knew this, but I'm a professional singer. Just kidding, this was my first time ever in a studio. I got to sing with my sister-in-law and hubby for one of his recording projects for school. I won't lie, I felt pretty cool. :)
 3: My dad came to visit me  last week, and we went to see They Might Be Giants. Do you guys know who they are? If not, they sing this song. I listened to them all the time growing up. It was probably the funniest concert I've ever been to.

4 and 5: My dad is a bit of a tea snob, which I love. We went to a few different tea places while he visited, and now I can't stop drinking tea! Especially with milk and sugar, because my dad informed me it is the "proper" way to drink it.
6 and 7: More tea, and some coffee. I tend to drink hot beverages like it's going out of style.
                                                                     
 8: Breakfast date with Ian. Isn't he cute?? 9: OK, this stuff is addicting. I like that it's a lot more rich than ice cream. I tend to not eat as much, haha.
10: Lots and lots of bracelets. I've been wearing these almost everyday, whether it matches or not. 11: My mom got me an amazing leopard print coat a few years ago, and I've recently fallen back in love with it. It's so warm and cozy.    
     12: You guys, I've been reading the BEST series this week. It's the Matched trilogy by Allyson Condie. The books are about a girl who lives in a dystopian society where everyone is matched with their spouse when they are seventeen, and she is accidentally matched with two different boys. The books are beautifully written. I read the first two in like 3 days. Check them out, you'll love them. I promise :).                                                                     


How has your week been? I'm hoping it was absolutely wonderful! I am so excited for the holiday this week. Hooray for lots of food and family!

Happy Sunday!
xoxoKelsey.


                                            Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.The sea is his, for he made it,and his hands formed the dry land.

 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Psalm 95: 1-6


















Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A little liner.

Today is my first ever makeup tutorial! Well, I suppose it's my first tutorial in general. Anyways, as most of you know, I do hair/makeup for a living, and love getting to play around and create new looks. And what better reason is there to play around with makeup than to share one of my favorite looks with my friends? 
This tutorial is a little bit of a twist on a classic black liner look. I recently saw a picture of Lauren Conrad in a magazine wearing her signature black winged liner, but was also wearing a small amount of white liner with it. It was love at first sight. I was totally inspired to come up with my own version of her eye look, and I've been wearing the look almost everyday since. Now, I know what you're thinking. " White eyeliner, Kelsey? As in what I wore when I was 12 along with my roll-on glitter eye shadow?" Don't worry, friends. This a classy and modern way to wear white on your eyes.
Are you ready? Here we go!
Here's what I used:
-MAC's paint pot in Soft Ochre.
-MAC's eye shadow in Blanc Type.
-Rimmel's kohl eyeliner in white.
-Maybelline's Ultra Liner in black. (Used with a Sonia Kashuk eyeliner brush)
-Prestige's My Blackest Lashes mascara in black.
-Shu Uemera eyelash curler.

Note: You can use whatever products you like, these are just what I had around. You can even spice it up with a pretty plum or bronze liner!

 Step One:
Apply an eye shadow base all over your lid. This helps even out the skin tone on your eyelids and also helps your eye shadow stay put.
Step two: From the lash line to the brow bone, apply a matte neutral eye shadow all over your eyelid. This creates a lovely blank canvas and really helps the eyeliner stand out.
Step three: Line your lash line with a white eyeliner. Make the liner a bit on the thicker side, so that you have plenty of it to work with. Also, don't worry too much about it being neat. You can always go back with a q-tip to clean it up later.

Step Four: Now here is where you get to be a bit creative. By choosing the shape and thickness of your black liner, you can control the amount of the white liner that you want to see. I like the white to be visible from the inner corner of my eye to about the middle of my eye, so I gradually made my liner thicker on the corners to cover that bit of white. I choose a bit of a dramatic winged shape, but this look is beautiful even with a thin and simple black line.
Step Five: Line your water line with a small amount of the same white eyeliner. Don't make it too opaque, but add just enough to brighten your eyes. This is one of my favorite ways to make eyes look really awake and open. Then, curl your lashes and apply a few coats of your favorite mascara. This is a good time to make sure any white that got on your lashes is covered up with your mascara.
Throw on a bit of blush and lip gloss, and you're finished. Wasn't that easy? Your eyes will look big and bright, and all around amazing. I really have been wearing this look a lot. I'm pretty boring with my eye makeup, (winged liner + mascara) and love this slight little update on my daily routine. The white is very subtle, and really acts more like a highlight than anything. But it really makes a difference when compared to black liner on it's own. Also, since this look is so neutral, it looks great with any lip color. Some of my current favorites are bright reds and berries. 
Hope you guys liked this little tutorial of mine. If you decide to try it, let me know how you like it! I'd love to share a few more tips in the future. 

Happy Wednesday! 

xoxoKelsey.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Storm




Blouse-H&M/Sweater-Old Navy/Jeans-H&M/Boots-BCBGeneration

Hello, lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and I'm sorry to have been away for awhile. I'm also 
sorry for the bad quality outfit pictures. I hate to make excuses, but the combination of using someone else's camera, the temperature being like -50 degrees, and the crazy wind storm, made the picture taking a bit difficult. But hey, I have some awesome wind blown hair  and you can still kind of see my clothing, right? If you can't, just know I looked awesome. :)

Is everyone as excited for Thanksgiving as I am? And are you as equally confused as I am that it is next week already?! I'm trying to figure out what dessert I should make, and I think I'll have to start experimenting. What are you guys making/doing for Thanksgiving? I'd love to hear about your plans :).

Happy Monday!
xoxoKelsey

P.s. I have some fun beauty posts this week, stay tuned!



Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Four




In just a few weeks, I will have been living in Washington for almost exactly four years. As cliche as it sounds, it seems like the years have flown by. So much has happened over the past four years, and they truly have been the best. Here is a little list of some of my favorite highlights:
1. I traveled to Australia.
2.I got engaged to a boy.
3. Then I got married to that same boy.
4. I moved about a million times.
5. I visited/got visits from some of my favorite people in the world.
6. I became an aunt to some pretty cute gals.
7.I became a youth leader to some awesome high school kids.
8. I became my own boss.
9. I took trips to Mexico, Canada, Las Vegas, and Disneyland.
10. I started this blog!


















God has blessed me SO much over these past years. I'm really still in shock over how much my life has changed for the better. In all honestly, the past couple of years have been some of the hardest ones yet. I have learned more about myself than ever before, and more importantly, I've learned more about how God has everything under control, and that he has me right where he wants me to be.


Happy Wednesday!
xoxoKelsey.











Monday, November 7, 2011

Memories.



Coat-Forever 21/Shirt-H&M/Jeans-H&M/Boots-BCBGeneration

This coat makes me feel a bit sentimental every time I wear it. It's one of the first things I purchased when I moved to Washington four years ago. I moved up here about a week before Thanksgiving, and I had absolutely no warm jackets or sweaters. Being from California, my idea of a jacket was a zip up hoodie. And my idea of "warm" shoes were ballet flats. Let's just say I was freezing for a good three or four days. So I went shopping and decided to by myself a bright yellow coat.  Even after four years, I still totally love it. It's a bit beat up, and probably will fall apart sooner than later, but I'll wear it until that actually happens. I love how articles of clothing can hold so many memories. Thank goodness, I finally have a reason for never getting rid of anything in my closet. 

P.s. My hubby and I took these pictures while it was raining. I'd say I'm pretty awesome for risking frizzy hair for an outfit post, wouldn't you? (Just kidding)

Happy Monday! 
xoxoKelsey.