Adapting to Weather Changes

A friend of mine once told me..."if you don't like the weather in Nashville, wait 5 minutes".

One day it is 75 degrees, the next it is rainy, and the next it is snowing and 32 out.

AHHH!!

It can not only drive you crazy but also wreck your skin, hair, and makeup regimen.

Here are a few things that I always keep with me either in my purse or car to ensure a "frantic free" look.

Must haves to ensure your gorgeous self through any weather!!!

1.  oil absorbing sheets for your skin - these help to blot away the "greasies" without over-powdering.

2.  water spritzer - this is the SECRET product that I always have with me.  After you blot and then reapply powder to make sure you won't look dry, cakey, and wrinkled - you must spritz on some water.  I learned this many years ago and man does it work!!!  All models do this before they hit the runway.  

3. If your hair is looking flat and it has the "end of the day limps" then you need to use a dry shampoo spray to give it some boost.  It will give you the "just blown out look" you crave!!

4.  No time to brush your pearly whites - put on the Gosmile gloss for fresh breathe and shiny not sticky lips!

Now you are ready for a night out, trip to the mall, or after school meeting.

Bronzer obsession!

I am a bit (ahem) obsessed with bronzer!!

I love the sun-kissed look that I get when I use it...I love looking like I have been in the sun without actually being in the sun.

Bronzer is a "recovering tanning bed fanatic's" best friend!!

I do not get in the sun at all - but I really like the look of having a bit of color on my face.  

Steps to a beautiful bronze look!!

1. Use a large fluffy CLEAN brush.

2. Sweep a small amount of bronzer on the planes of your face - temples, outside areas of your forehead, chin and the outside part of your face by your hairline.

3.  Without reapplying more to your brush and to avoid the "oompa loompa" look - sweep the last of what is left on your brush to your nose.

4.  Apply a bit more to your brush and apply to the inside area of your neck, jawline and down to your chest.   

*I prefer a bronzer with a tiny bit of shimmer NOT glitter*

Your done!!  Enjoy a lovely bronzed look - and expect your friends to ask if you just got back from  a Sunny Vacation!!

SHOP on my blog for my favorites!!

Concealer

I have been using Alison Raffaele concealer for about 6 years and it is the absolute best out there!  

I found her line of cosmetics when they first came out and last summer I had the pleasure of having Alison herself "make me over".  

Her concealer never creases, is not oily, has excellent staying power (even on my very oily skin), and covers oh so well!!

I had the same tube for over 3 years!!  It lasts forever!

I use the #2 or #3 color - both work very well on my skin tone.

I am soo excited to be able to offer Alison Raffeale products on my blog!  

Spring is here....well the First Day at least!!

I have new offers for you.

There is a private SALE with Skin store!!

So click on the Skinstore icon on the right and at checkout type in BEST20 to save 20%.

The sale lasts for 4 days ONLY!!!  So don't miss out on your favorite brands....

Skinstore also has all of their skin care kits on sale.  SO check those out as well!!

Paula's Choice has all of her products at 10% off!!  CLICK on the Paula's Choice icon to Save!!

Conclusion of.. my life in fitness!!

I had entered a 5 mile race in Ky back in 1999.  I thought well this will be easy - I have been "working out" for awhile.  HAHA!  I had NEVER run before!  I had the worst running shoes on - too tight, no padding, a cotton t-shirt, and of course some cool shades.  Let's just say that after an hour my parents started getting worried - finally I came across the finish line (little did everyone know that a golf cart picked me up half way back and dropped me off right before the finish line) PITIFUL!!!!

So when I moved to FL - I thought I am going to become a runner.  I got better shoes, ordered some running clothes from Runner's World...and starting running.  That is from mailbox to mailbox....b/c that was all I could do.  It was soo hard!  I then started going from light pole to light pole.  Then I joined a gym - started using a few free weights and I would run outside on the track around the gym.  After months and months I had gotten up to a mile without stopping.  Let's just say I am not genetically blessed with good cardio genes.  

I decided it was time for my first 5k as a more prepared runner.  It was on the beach - I had never run on sand before.  I had to stop a few times because of a horrible side cramp (at this point I still had not figured out the food part of running).  I finished about 35 minutes later. Hysterical - I won my age group... but there were only 3 of us in my group!!  

I was hooked - I started signing up for race after race.  I started running 3 miles at a time (4 days a week)...I got to be a pretty good runner.  I knocked minutes off of my time while training in FL heat.  I had lost a lot of weight and had gotten pretty thin without adding any muscle at all.  I probably weighted about 115 or so.  I was 27/28.

I then moved to Nashville.  I continued running after work on a treadmill in my apartment complex. Scrapping up enough money I joined a gym (who knew that years later this decision was the best I could have ever made - I met my husband at this gym) - it was 2002.  

I signed up for the Country Music Half-Marathon.  I trained like crazy and finished with a good time.  I then did another one the following year as well as several 10k's and 5k's.  

In 2004, I met Brad.  I was thin .....actually pretty darn skinny.  I remember having a discussion with him about weight training and running.  The comment he made to me changed my way of thinking.  He said "Mindy you can be a runner or you can be fit".  I remember thinking - whatever I can be both!!  

It took awhile for me to understand what he meant by this.  

I was a runner but that was it!!

 I could not bike, do the stairmaster, or lift anything  over 10 pounds.  

In mid 2004 - I started strength training and lifting heavier weights, I kept running but added biking, sprints, doing squats, lunges, abs, chest, and back.......

After about 20 years I feel that I have finally figured it out.  

I have it down to a science now.  

I run a couple of days a week.  Looking at caloric burn instead of mileage.  I do the "beast"  (the large rolling stairmaster) and I spin.  I typically do 4 days a week of cardio now.  Burning from 425-550 calories per workout. Followed with 2 days of challenging weight lifting and strength training. I also have my diet pretty clean as well.  I usually eat about 1200-1600 calories per day - I drink at least 100 ounces of H2o a day.  I have not eaten a bean burrito in almost a decade.  I have not had a drop of alcohol in over 4 years.  I feel strong, confident, not frail and weak like I did when all I did was run.  I have muscles I never knew I could have and I actually think I look better now at 35 then I did when I was 20, 25, or 30!!  I have the body I have always wanted - I just needed the tools to help me get there.  

Thank you Brad Reese for giving me those tools and for your constant motivation!!  You are my biggest fan and I love you!  Here's to many more years of fitness the right way.  

My Life in Fitness....cont.

I was not the girl that gained weight in one area.  I had gained weight all over like a marshmellow.  My face looked like a moon pie, my legs were much bigger, my butt was waaayyy bigger,  my arms, stomach, everywhere!  I was fat!  

So I traded my 4-5 cans of Dr. Pepper for water and chocolate milk.  My bean burrito from Taco Bell for "Lunchables" and dinner was a bowl of cereal. I pretty much just cut calories a bit.  In a few months I had lost about 12 pounds.  Call it youth... because I certainly was still not exercising at all.  And as you can see my diet was not much better.   I was doing my student teaching so I thought I didn't have time to exercise. 

When I got a job as a full-time teachers aide, I decided to join Curves.  It was soo silly!  A bunch of women at different stations for a minute or so....bouncing, kicking, lifting 2 pounds...it just was not for me.  I remember they took my body fat by having me hold onto a machine and input my daily workouts...I believe my fat was around 25-27%.  Then after 2-3 weeks of "working out" at their facility they calculated my fat content again - same machine holding it in front of me...they then calculated that I was "working out" 3-4x a week and low and behold I had lost like 10% body fat!!  YEAH RIGHT!  In 3 weeks, not changing my diet at all, no water intake, and at most burning 100 calories a session.  

So I quit Curves.  

It was 1998.  

When I got my first teaching job I joined Gold's Gym - I still pretty much ate the same horrible diet except by this time the water craze had started so at least I had added the "recommended" 64 ounces a day.  I also added a Mexican snack after I would get out of school.  I would pound chips and queso daily!  I discovered Body Pump and the Elliptical machine.  Little did I know that the Elliptical was waaayyy off for caloric burn so when I was thinking that I had burned 450 calories it was really only 250-300!!  So little caloric burn combined with heavy weight lifting and a horrible diet equals a puffy fat bloated look PLUS.....I also was still drinking a lot of  alcohol on the weekends.  NOT GOOD!!!

By the end of 2000 I was still about 27-28% body fat according to Gold's Gym....fat pincheres/aka calipers.  

I then moved to Florida.  I decided I wanted to take up running....surely this would help get some of this fat off my body and make me look the way I wanted.  Little did I know that running was HARD!!!  AND...the elliptical really had not gotten me into very good cardio shape. 

Conclusion tomorrow.......

My Life in Fitness....

I have been consistently exercising for pretty much my entire life. 

I joined my first gym with my mother back when I was in 8th grade.  She stopped pretty soon after but I continued going to an aerobic style class.  I loved it - it was dancing Jane Fonda style.  I was a skinny dorky kid but I loved wearing my shiny pink and turquoise leotard.

In high school I got my hands on a "real" Jane Fonda aerobic tape and did it faithfully in my living room for years!  It was actually challenging and I would sweat like crazy!  I started high school around 5'3" and grew to 5'8" in a year remaining at 100 pounds.  I was really skinny - I hated it!  I would pray nightly to be like the other cheerleaders - curvy, muscular....well it never happened (at least not in high school).  I ate fast food, candy, soft drinks...whatever I wanted!  Ohhh the good ole days!!

College began and I was still a "stickly" gawky girl.  I began going to an aerobic class with an awesome teacher named Julie....I loved her!  She was so positive with an awesome body!  I longed to look just like her.  I did her class for many many years.  4-5 days a week.  I remember getting my body fat checked by her once every 6 months or so - it was around 18%.  I was probably around 110 pounds.  Still ate whatever I wanted - never really thinking about it at all.

During my last years in college I grew away from exercise....and I put on about 38 pounds!  That's right almost 40 pounds!   Not the Freshman 15 but the Junior 40!!

 I never really noticed that I had gotten so fat until I was in Chicago one day walking by the Sears Tower with all of the large mirrors and I said to myself "WOW look at that fat girl in the tight purple shirt....she thinks she is sooo cute....she really should not be wearing that..."....well that fat chic was me!  I cried all the way home from Chicago and immediately went and bought a scale.  I bought the one that made me weigh the least....it was 1996.

to be continued......

Spring Hurry Up PLEASE!!

I love Spring...the newness to it! 

The purging of old items, the freeing feeling of getting rid of old things, and don't forget Spring cleaning!!  I just love it!!

Fresh flowers, lighter colors, PINK, Easter, new makeup, less lotions, spray tans, sandals, pedicures...ALL OF IT!!

So to celebrate the almost arrival of Spring I am going to add of few of my SPRING favorites!!

So Spring we welcome you!!!  Let the warmth begin!!

Self-Tanning

If you know me at all....you know that I have been absolutely obsessed with tanning my entire life!!

Now that I am older and much much wiser - I don't dare tan in the sun or the tanning bed!!

I only self-tan!!

I use a daily tanning moisturizer (even in the winter) for a nice light/medium color all over.  Lately I have been using Rodial Daily Brazilian Tan.

Then about 1-2x a week I do my weekly lotion or spray tan for a medium to darker color.  I have several that I really love...anything by Fake Bake absolutely ROCKS!!!  They always give a smooth non streaking look....they have a new one that is for the look of cellulite and tanner in one called Sunless and Skinny.  Depending on what you prefer - Fake Bake has formulas in lotions, a light mousse, a spray, and a new darker formula for those of you that have darker complexions.

If you are terrified of self tanning or if you have had problems with it in the past....your very best bet are the Tanning Towels.  You can't go wrong!!  There is no color on them and you basically just smooth the damp towel all over your body until the towel is dry.  EASY!!!

The newest "IT" item

I always love finding the newest "IT" item....and then researching to see if it really does what it says it can.

I had a client email to ask about the newest "mascaras" that claim to make your eyelashes grow.  I was a huge skeptic at first.  But WOW the before and after pics were amazing ...could this really work for people that have little to no eyelashes or shorter thinner lashes??

Let the research begin!!

These mascaras which really are not mascaras at all...yes they are in a wand but you actually apply them to the base of your lashes like you would liquid liner.  Then within several weeks your lashes are suppose to start growing.

Here's the discovery story...

Evidently when patients with glaucoma used specific drops and then they came back for their follow up..they had noticeable longer, thicker eyelashes.

Thus the invention of the mascara!

Then came a few lawsuits....each claiming to have the patent for the ingredient etc.

Now having renamed the ingredient there are several out there that according to the research I have found truly do work making your lashes noticeable longer and thicker.  

They are not cheap...ranging from $125 - $175 a tube but for better lashes I am all in!!

Check them out on the right side of my blog.  

Click to purchase - remember today is the last day for the 15% off using the GLAM15 code at checkout!!

The Best Organic GREEN Products!!

I have not always been  a fan of green/organic/natural products....being that even though a product has "natural" ingredients does not necessarily mean that the product works better or does something different for your skin than a non-organic product.

And I am not really a "natural" girl myself - I have had botox, have highlighted my hair for over 2 decades, love a spray tan, and wear makeup daily......

BUT....

I do recycle and I try to do my part in not leaving a giant size eco footprint.

So if GOING GREEN is important to you...here is my list of favs!! 

I LOVE products by Juice beauty, Korres, Skyn Iceland!

All of these have eco friendly packaging, ingredients that are safe and effective, and no synthetic fragrance.

So GO GREEN and try a new product that is good for you and our beautiful environment!

Laser Hair Removal.....does it work?

Does Laser Hair Removal work....to this I say YES!!

Being that I performed this service for many many years to hundreds of satisfied clients...I am a fan of the laser for getting rid of unwanted hair.

To get the BEST results possible you must do the following...

1.  Have realistic expectations...that is if you want every single hair to be completely gone forever than laser hair removal (lhr) may not be for you.  Depending on the area you are treating you can expect a 75-90% reduction of hair.

2.  You must follow the exact prescription for the area....in other words...different areas need different amounts of treatments and you may be coming in every 4 weeks or possible every 10 weeks....again it all depends on what area you are treating.

3.  If you skip treatments - you will not have as good of results.  Have your treatments as directed by your aesthetician or laser technician.

4.  Do not tan the area prior to treatment, after treatment, or during treatment. That goes for fake tans and spray tans as well.  This can cause all sorts of issues including hyperpigmented skin, scarring, hypopigmented skin...

5.  Make sure the technician has been certified with the laser he/she is using.   You should not be the first person the tech is working on...ask questions!!

6.  Do not wax or tweeze during treatments.  This can cause a disruption in hair growth thus not working as it should.

7.  You may shave before, during, and after....this does not affect treatments as all!!

8.  Do not come to the salon or office with any lotions, tanners, perfumes, powders or anything on the area to be treated.  

9.  My favorite question of all time....does it hurt?  This depends on how motivated you are to get rid of the hair....if you HATE the hair then you most likely won't care if it hurts or not.  Yes, you can feel the laser hitting the hair...it feels like a rubber band snapping on the skin.

10.  The odor....you will be able to smell burning hair....think about it...a laser is targeting hair so yes you will smell it.  Again this to me always meant success!!