Where Have I Been?

Hey y'all! In case y'all haven't noticed I've become quite the ghost on my blog for the past week or so! I promise I have a great reason which I'm so excited to share with you guys! This past weekend I got ENGAGED! The honey (well now Fiancé) and I took a weekend trip to D.C. and had a wonderful time being tourists! Needless to say the past few days have been a world wind affair between telling family and close friends and lets not forget telling the proposal story 1000 times! Either way I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm back in action and regular blog posts will be arriving soon :) Oh and for those who are wondering how I wore my hair....I rocked a mean caruso rollerset of course!









 
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Washday | Keeping It Simple

This washday I kept it really simple. Honestly I didn't feel like washing my hair at all so I just stuck to the basics and moved on with my week. Here's what I did:

• Prepooed with coconut oil
• Detangled with Mane N Tail detangler
• Deep conditioned with Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner under Gold N Hot conditioning cap for about 25 minutes
• Rinsed and shampooed with Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo
• Rinsed and applied a dollop of the generic version of the Matrix Biolage detangling solution
• Rinsed and t-shirt dried my hair for about 20 minutes
• Applied leave ins using the LOC method (Chi Keratin Mist, GVP Smoothing Serum, Giovanni Direct Leave In).
• Sat under my hooded dryer for about 20 minutes
• Moisturized with Giovanni Direct Leave in and sealed with coconut oil

Style: A plain ol bun! My new growth is starting to kick in which means that my hair doesn't like to be manipulated too much. My hair was super soft and fluffy so I just rocked a low bun. How was your wash day?

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Makeup Monday | Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette for $14!!!

Is it just me or are these weeks just flying by?! It's Monday again therefore it's time for another Makeup Monday! I trust every one had a great weekend. Mine was even better than great because I was able to pick up a product that I've been wanting for about 6 months now. For those who don't know the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette is a beautiful neutral palette that features a collection of both matte and shimmer eyeshadows mainly in various hues of browns. Oh and did I mention that it actually smells like chocolate *SCORE*! I'm a big neutral girl when it comes to eyeshadows. I've never actually invested in a high end eyeshadow palette, but I couldn't pass on this deal. This palette normally retails for $49 (YIKES!) and can be found at stores like Sephora, Ulta, and HSN. On HSN.com you can purchase the palette and a full size tube of the Too Faced Eyeshadow primer (which retails for $20 by itself) and free shipping for $49. So basically you can get $79 worth of Too Faced items for $49. If this is your first time ordering from HSN you can use a coupon code and save $20 on your purchase. Click here for more information and the coupon code! In addition to that I've recently been taking surveys in my free time on a website called Opinion Outpost to make a little extra spending money. Basically this website pays you to take surveys. Plain and simple! I paired my survey earnings with Ebates to receive 3% cash back on my order. For those who've never heard of ebates it is basically rebates for online retailers (i.e. JC Penney online, Walgreens online, etc). You'd be surprised how many stores have ebates going on. For example today Sephora and Ulta have 8% cash back ebates! For those who may be interested in joining or checking out the website click here. So what was my final total for this $49 eye shadow palette and $20 eyeshadow primer? $13.82!!! I love a good deal and I definitely got one! Is there a beauty item that you've been wanting to try lately?     

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The Wonderful World of Meal Prepping!

It's been a while since I've participated in Fitness Fridays, but honestly it's because for a while there I was lacking inspiration! I had a few weeks where my eating sucked and my fitness was minimal, but I'm happy to report that I'm back and better than ever!

The solution to me ending my funk is meal prepping! I'm sure many of you have heard of it, but for those who have not I'm here to tell you how this has really stepped up my healthy eating game and helps keep me on track. On Sunday afternoons I cook my food for the week, which normally consists of Sunday-Friday. Saturday is my I eat what I want within reason day. Meal prepping takes all of the guess work out of eating for me during the week. If many of you are like me (busy between work, gym, and home life) then this may be the perfect thing for you to do!



Meal prepping is basically preparing your meals for multiple days of the week. For some this may be only lunch where as for others they prepare everything from breakfast down to every snack. It's an easy and effective way to exercise portion control. Here's an example of what my meal prep for the week looks like.

Breakfast:
1/3 cup of dry oats
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 dash of apple pie spice
4 crushed almonds

Mid-Morning snack:
14 cheddar tiny twists pretzels

Lunch:
4 oz grilled chicken
4 oz sauteed okra
2 oz oven roasted red potatoes

Afternoon snack #1
24 Blue Diamond roasted almonds

Afternoon snack #2 (Smoothie)
1 cup frozen fruit
2 tablespoons low fat greek yogurt
1 cup almond milk

Dinner
4 oz Turkey burger patty
3 oz okra

As you can see I eat mini meals throughout the day! By prepping all of my meals on Sunday my week flows more smoothly and it makes it so much easier to stick to cleaner eating. Have you tried meal prepping yet?

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Makeup Mondays | My Summer Must Haves!

I think it's safe to say that Summer is officially here on the East Coast! As a Louisiana girl this is right up my alley! As much as I love Summer the warmer months change up my entire makeup routine. When it's hot out I like to keep my makeup routine as light as possible. As an oily skinned girl this means a powder only routine. Here are some of my favorite products:

• Rimmel Stay Matte Primer - This little gem has been God sent for my skin! It really helps to mattify my skin and can be worn under makeup or alone! Be careful to blend this out thoroughly if you are wearing it alone because if you don't it will leave a white cast. You can find it at your local Walgreens for $6.99.
• Sephora 8 Hour Mattifying Powder - This is a bit of a high end purchase as it retails for about $22. However this powder is long lasting and gets the job done.
• E.L.F Shine Eraser Oil Blotting Sheets - Let's face it. No matter how many mattifying products I use I still get a bit oily in my T-zone. Especially on my nose. These sheets help to take the shine away immediately and at $1 (at Target) per pack they're wonderful! 
• Fergie Centerstage Collection Shimmer Palette - Some of y'all have commented on some of my blog posts about the 'glow' that I have going on on my cheeks. Well the secret's out. I have a few of these shimmer palettes, but my favorite is 'Carnival In Rio'. It just screams sunkissed skin and is super Brown Girl friendly! Best part is these palettes retail for $5.99 at Walgreens, BUT Walgreens has frequent sales on Wet N Wild Products. I got my shimmer palette for a mere $3!    

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Why I'm Enjoying A Simplified Regimen

Throughout my entire hair journey I've heard these 3 words 'Simplicity is key'. Well between all of the new yummy products and bandwagon regimen jumping I was doing at one time I never really got to experience that. However, recently I've been enjoying my most simplified regimen to date. In fact my regimen is so simple now that it's almost scary! The best part is that while I'm thoroughly enjoying my new found 'no muss no fuss' regimen my hair is thriving. It's so nice to not be all over the place with products and my regimen. What more could a girl ask for right?! Here's my updated regimen:










Monthly

• Hard Protein Treatment (Nexxus Emergencee)
• 1 visit to the salon (a girl needs a break!)

Weekly

• Deep Condition (Keracare Humecto Conditioner) Click Here to read my review
• Shampoo (Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo) Click Here to read my review
• Rinse Out Conditioner (Generic version of Matrix Biolage Detangling conditioner)
• Bun 5 days a week (protective style of choice)
• Enjoy my hair on the weekends

Daily

• Moisturize (Giovanni Direct Leave In) Click Here to watch my review
• Seal (Coconut Oil for length & JBCO for ends)
• Scalp massage with JBCO (normally every other day)

Relax (Professionally)

• Every 8 weeks (Mizani Sensitive Scalp) Click here for my latest relaxer update

Trim (Professionally)

• Every 4 months

Flat Iron (Professionally)

• Every 4 months

After typing out my regimen I almost feel like there should be more, but I've got all of my bases covered. Of course there are a few things that I am still tweaking like prepoos and the occasional cowash. I hope my dimmed inner product junkie stays supressed for a while because right now I'm seriously enjoying this. Be on the look out because I am planning to do a video soon detailing my updated regimen which may explain everything even further!


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