After doing a little research (I googled it), I’ve found some pretty conflicting info about how much you should be washing your hair. Apparently, how much you wash your hair depends on your hair type. If your hair is dry, no more than twice a week. If it’s oily, everyday is fine. If your hair is thick, once a week. If you’re a brunette, no more than twice a week. But what if you have oily, thick, brown hair? Good luck.
The censuses seems to be, less is more. The less you wash, the less you have to style it and the less chance for damage. My hair is naturally very oily or “greasy”, as I fondly, (not fondly), refer to it. Before the beautiful invention of dry shampoo, I used to just put on a headband and wash my hair every other day. Needless to say, I was first-world suffering. Since adding dry shampoo into my life, I’ve been able to wash my hair less and less. I try to go at least 3-ish days and day three was a bun day for sure. Recently, a combo of laziness and honestly just seeing how long I can go, I’ve been going longer and longer between washes. I’ve been doing a wash on Monday and then another towards the end of the week so I can appear to be fresh on the weekends. This past week, I went an entire 7 days without washing it. Here’s my true hollywood story:
Headbands are back and my dirty hair is thriving in the Blair Waldorf of it all. I recently got a bunch of really cute puffy velvet headbands and have been utilizing them to the max. Do they hurt? I’m not gonna lie to you, they give me headaches. So do a lot of other things: people who don’t text back fast enough, when its randomly 40 degrees and you wanted to wear shorts and a light jacket, when the subway doors don’t open for a long pause so you just stand there brimming with anticipation, someone taking a call on speaker in a public place etc. This headache is self-inflicted and I will endure pain for beauty!!
Dry. Sham. Poo. Obviously if this did not exist, I could not not wash my hair. It would drive me nuts. I will say after like day 3, you don’t need as much because it doesn’t, like, evaporate. It sticks around. My favorite is Dove, but it’s all about preference. Gives me the most volume and smells good.
Have good shampoo for when you do actually use it. I’m gonna level with you, my shampoo right now is crappy. It was cheap and I really needed some so I took what I could get. I have a very itchy scalp and dandruff issues, (TMI?) so I really need to switch. Thinking heavily about Function of Beauty again, but tbd.
On that note, probably also get a clarifying shampoo. What the heck is clarifying shampoo, Katie? Well I’ll tell you, dear reader. I discovered it the last time I went to get my hair cut (10 billion years ago) and I told my stylist that my hair looked so gross even though I had washed it that day. Apparently, jus regular ole shampoo doesn’t take all of the stuff out of your hair, so you need to use a clarifying shampoo. Go figure.
If you’re trying this, now is a great time. Hair + cooler weather = gorgeous hair for days. I don’t know what it is about fall/winter weather, probably the fact that you aren’t sweating anymore, but good hair is imminent. On day six of this journey it was about 40 degrees outside and for some reason my hair looked amazing (its also my featured image in the post thank you very much). If you’re even thinking about washing your hair less, this is a fabulous season to start. Also hello hat season!!!
Start slow. Go an extra day every now and then and work up to a full week without washes. Embrace a ponytail, a bun, a cute puffy headband. It’s better for your hair, better for good ole mother earth and saves some money.
Well hey, its been literally over two months since I posted anything on here… Do I have any explanation? Lack of inspiration? Not really knowing what to talk about? Feeling like I’ve been just writing things for the sake of writing things? Haven’t been meditating and my mind is all over the place? Yes, yes, yes, and YES.
Honestly, I kept putting it off and then it got to a point where I was like, okay now it’d be lame if I posted that after THIS long. I do really feel I should update you on my skin situation. Let’s start with the bad news?
I don’t use honey as face wash anymore. I’m not sure why, but once winter came, my jawline was breaking out so bad I was getting super self-conscious about it. I tried to ride it out, but at some point I had to go with my skin and try other things. For now, I’ve moved back to good ole soap. I use this in the morning and this at night. My skin still isn’t perfect, but my jawline cleared up almost immediately. Which was a sign I really needed to switch. I’m thinking about going to oil based cleansers in the near future.
My skin responds really well to two things, coconut oil and lemon juice. I’m not sure why, but I’ve been using coconut oil as a moisturizer as well and its been amazing! My skin is normally super oily, but lately its been dry in patches on my t-zone area. All of that to say, I’ll be using both until my–hopefully–timely death, thanks.
The last thing that has been a real game changer for me: Collagen. I would say this is one thing thats transformed my skin and gotten rid of scarring the best. Some people really like it for hair, nail and eyelash growth! I’m pretty blessed in those departments, so the most apparent change has been in my skin. I recently switched to this kind and I just pop it into my coffee every morning!
That’s a wrap! Starting a new series late this week (probably next week) so stay tuned for that!
I wanted to do this wrap up of the stuff I really loved this year that I didn’t talk about and/or barely talked about. Sort of like a giant Sunday Summary, A.K.A that thing I don’t do anymore (but can still be viewed if you’re into that).
Best Hair Product of 2018:
The Tragic Before
Technically, this isn’t a product. HOWEVER, I discovered this dry shampoo blow drier trick and it is a game changer. Had bun hair all day and then someone wanted to hangout (and i did not want to have bun hair) so I tried this trick. Here’s the post I did and how it ended up going for me, but spoiler alert, it works.
Best Book in 2018:
If you need to know anything about me, it’s that I love to read. I’ve been slacking slightly with how much, but I’ve been picking up major speed with it lately. I’ve read roughly 20-ish books this year, which is kind of a lot. Trying to narrow it down to the best was hard, but some of the books I read just sort of ran together. Really thinking about doing a monthly post about the books I read the month before (mostly just to push myself to read more). OKAY on to my actual pick: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. I know what you’re thinking “Self-help book? That’s for sad weirdos.” Here’s the thing: You’re right! BUT, I’d argue that everyone is kind of a sad weirdo sometimes! I read this when I really needed something to give me things to do after I quit my job and when I needed a distraction from going down the “what if I have to move home because I can’t find a job” hole. I would honestly read it again, that’s how much I liked it. If you’re stuck in place in your life where you have no idea what you’re doing, read this. If you wanna make a crazy change, read this. It’s 2019, the year of making goals and gettin’ bread—as the memes say, so read it!
Best Makeup Product of 2018:
Okay I almost put something else for this that was expensive and to be fair, very good. I feel that I should instead pay homage to a brand who had my back when I was too broke to go to Sephora and get new stuff. That’s right I’m talking about ELF. You wouldn’t think with $1 brow pencils and $3 concealer would be worth putting on your face. I’m here to tell you, your assumptions are wrong. My brows are perfectly filled and my pores CONCEALED! Was actually not a fan of the bronzer cause it was too glittery for my tastes but that doesn’t mean it’s not quality! Okay done with my spiel.
Best Skincare Product of 2018:
Spoiler alert it’s like 2 dollars. Spoiler alert again, it’s lemon juice. I started using it and it felt like a miracle. Then I stopped for a few weeks recently, because I’m skeptical person and sometimes I don’t feel like buying lemons ya know. Started using them again and wow I forgot how good they are. My skin just has so much less redness and blackheads! It’s so great and so cheap.
Best Movie of 2018:
I know you all want me to say A Star is Born, but I’m sorry I can’t. The music is amazing, yes. Bradley Cooper is hot, yes. I absolutely knew what was gonna happen at the end and so I didn’t like it as much. Maybe if there was a world with no spoilers and people wouldn’t have talked about how amazing it was and subsequently ruining it. I also really don’t watch movies in theaters that much. I’ve seen maybe 3 movies this entire year, so I fell like I can’t say what the best movie this year is. I can say what the best movie I saw this year. It’s not new, it’s just new to me. Okay, it’s Steel Magnolias. This is a weird pick for me, since every time anyone would bring this up I’d immediately think “How can that be good? It sounds so corny.” It was on Netflix a few months back and it was a rainy Saturday, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s set in a small town in Louisiana—hence the name. The thing about movies centered around the South is they’re always over exaggerated. Every other word is “crawfish” or “gumbo” or “pea-can pie!” I get it, its a movie, but that why I never really like them. This one doesn’t do that. Overall, its pretty reflective of life in smaller southern town and I loved it. I cried, I laughed and now I know why it wont so many awards. It’s not on Netflix anymore, but find it somewhere because it’s so good.
Best Show of 2018:
Okay this is so hard because I’ve seen so many good shows this year, but there’s only one that filled me with the most joy every time I turned it on: The Great British Baking Show. Am I late to this game? I really don’t know but this show is so good. I really loved watching to the point of watching two seasons in a about a week. I did it in a weird way where I watched seasons 5 & 6 first and in my humble opinion, those are the best seasons. After that, they change the hosts and Prue isn’t one of the judges and I need her color coordination in my life. I love the accents, the stuff they come up with and Paul Hollywood is a cutie, I’m just gonna throw it out there. Really into shows that make me laugh and aren’t super dramatic lately and this one definitely fill that for me. I even watched it twice, so if you haven’t yet, here’s your notification.
Best Clothing Purchase of 2018:
This was the year I bought so many clothes, it’s obnoxious. Trying to “re-vamp” my wardrobe and also buying things for a 9-5 job was tough. I think the best purchase and the thing I got the most use out of were my Lululemon leggings. As you know, I’m more of a quantity over quality gal. Trends come and go a lot for me to be buying something that I may not wear in a few years that costs an arm and a leg. Also let’s keep it real, I’m still washing my clothes in a laundry mat for god’s sake. I’m in no place to be buying anything over 50 bucks. I completely believe in a good splurge for things that may be expensive, but you’ve been lusting after for a while. Hence, my purchase of these leggings. I really wanted to see if they are so different from the $20 Forever 21 leggings and I’m here to say yes they are. They fit like a glove, the length is always perfect (aka no bunching at the bottom) and they stay in place when I’m running. I still only have one pair so far, but 2019 I’ll be getting some more and really coming into my basic white girl form.
Best Workout of 2018:
So, I’m splitting this up by home workout and workout class, okay great:
Best home workout is always Tabata with Raneir Pollard hands down. He’s so fun and at the same time, the workout is always intense. It’s always my Monday go to for a good strong beginning to my week. Also, they just uploaded a new one!
Best workout class I’ve been to in the city is Yoga sculpt at Corepower yoga. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, If I were a richer woman, I’d be doing yoga twice a week at minimum. This particular class is not only yoga, but a little bit of cardio to satisfy my needs. They have them all over, so check them out if they’re near you!
Cheers to 2019! Can’t wait to make many more posts and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see more of on the blog 🙂
You see what I did? ‘Cause I use honey on my face now. Alright, moving on.
As promised, I am finally updating you guys! I feel like using honey as a cleanser makes me sounds so hipster. Next, I’ll be saying “I also switched to only filtered water on my face while the bees come down from the heavens and put the honey directly on my face.” Side note: do bees poop honey or throw up honey? I have questions.
I have officially been using 4 new and different things on my face and I wanted to update you guys on how its been. Keep in mind, it’s only been a month. Who knows what it will be in six months, but fingers crossed it resembles a model when she uses Facetune on her Instagram selfies (too real?).
So, here’s my weird picture of everything I’ve been using:
Honey, Lemon, Coconut Oil & Collagen Pills
Honey: This is part one of two of my cleanser ingredients. For every two-parts honey, I use one-part lemon. I usually do two tablespoons of honey and one of lemon. This has actually been GREAT. Notice, it is bolded, capitalized and italicized. Its real. So I use this both at night and in the morning. I try to let it sit on my face for a few minutes before I take it off. I feel like it seeps in better, but this could really all be in my head. I’ve broken out a little bit in the past month, but it’s super manageable. I don’t get monster zits, they’re really tiny and mostly in like one or two areas. Mostly, around my jaw and I broke out recently right next to my lips (come get you a kiss, boys!). Like I said, so easily covered and barely noticeable.
Lemon: My OG since January? I don’t know how long, but I’ve been using it a hot minute. It has yet to let me down, so it will probably use it till my dying day. I was a little bit hesitant when I mixed it with honey. I wasn’t sure how my skin would react to me not using it by itself. Admittedly, my skin was a little inflamed for a bit. After a couple weeks, it calmed down. Highly recommend!
Coconut Oil: I started using this as a makeup remover and wow-ie wow. My skin eats this shit UP. I only use it if I’ve worn makeup that day, but I swear my skin looks the best when I use this before washing my face. No joke, the next day its baby smooth and my makeup goes on even better. At the very least, if you listen to nothing else in this post, please start using oil as a makeup remover. Wipes are so harsh and this stuff has helped so much with my skin’s texture. (I get the one from Trader Joe’s simply because its cheapest).
Collagen Pills: This may be the thing that has smoothed out my face the most. The jury is still out since I did all four of these things at the same time. This stuff has really smoothed it out and just given it such a glowy look. It’s almost as if I haven’t gone through years of acne trauma! Will 100% be continuing this stuff as well.
So here’s a refresher, skin before:
Skin as of now
What my skin looks like as of now
Skin today:
Okay, just adding these pictures and comparing, I can totally see a difference. Just wanna say, either way, both is me. My skin has never held me back in any way, nor do I think having clearer skin suddenly solves all my problems. I mean, it didn’t make me no money. I did this just to try it! Maybe my skin could be better, but if not, I’m unbothered. I definitely think it starts with what you put in your body first. THAT BEING SAID, my skin has really improved. I’m ecstatic with how this lil’ experiment turned out and I even got an unsolicited compliment on my skin (thanks Kate!). Excited to maybe try some more things and see how everything looks in a few months!
My post about my skincare was basically a lead-in to this because I am going to actually try to have beautiful baby skin for the first time in 10 years! As yo guys know, I’ve been struggling for-EVER with my skin and it’s just NOW getting it’s crap together.
Let me start by saying, just doing my own research for this post, there isn’t a lot to go on. I’ve read couple things from different websites, but they seem pretty sketchy and unreliable. I will say I look at Sarah’s YouTube for some ideas when it comes to skin care. I’m referring to her as Sarah, like I know her (I do not, duh), but I’ve been following her journey for a bit now. She had horrible hormonal acne like I did and she has GORGEOUS skin now, like it looks fake. However, looking at her skin update, I’m not impressed. It is super simple, but the products are expensive. She also uses a cleansing brush everyday, which I do not know how her skin survives, as well as warm water. She also recommended a few essential oils as well. Using essential oils is probably something I should start doing, however I’m not about to but 50 dollar oil products please look at this one and how many ingredients it is:
Like what is all of that?! Is it necessary?! Probably not. Safe bet that the reason it has so many ingredients, is the exact reason this retailer can hike up the price. The beauty industry is one that profits from the idea that you can’t get these “natural products” anywhere else. There’s no such thing as natural beauty, because if there was, they’d be out of business. If you could just cleanse your face with oil, then they can’t charge you $50 for it. They have to add all of this other junk you don’t need, in order to sell it.
As I was inspired by my cousin, who also struggles with her skin, I’m going au natural. I’m going to start slow by using only a few things at a time to really see what works with my skin and I’ll be documenting it all here!
As a refresher, this is what my skin looks like now:
Skin as of now
What my skin looks like as of now
*cringe*
These are the products I’m starting with:
Honey -using this to wash my face daily. May switch to an oil (olive or other) instead of this breaks me out. Will keep ya posted
Coconut Oil -this to take off my makeup/ my first cleanser at night before I use honey (Trader Joe’s kind because it’s cheap)
Lemon -Mixing this and honey for my 2x daily wash.
Collagen pills -I’ve been wanting to try for a while and my cousin recommended this one. I’ll see how different it make my skin after a month!
Products I’ll be trying after my skin gets more acclimated:
Rose Toner -Heard great things and I have oily skin so I feel like I need toner? Who knows I’m just trying things out at this point.
Vitamin E oil -This supposedly helps with scars, but i don’t wanna overload my skin with oils right off the bat. Definitely want to try eventually however.
So far, this feels WEIRD. I do notice my makeup goes on a little smoother, however my skin looks a little red for some reason. Not sure what that’s about, but will keep this updated monthly to see how it goes! Let me know if you guy have any products you love or blogs you love who are doing the same!
I wanted to talk about something I’ve struggled with since puberty: SKIN. Specifically, the skin on my face. This is gonna be a long one since I’ve been struggling for 10+ years (craziness), so strap in! Get some snacks.
First, let’s break down my journey a little bit.
Right before the miracle of braces circa right before 8th grade
I’ve had what I would call “problem” skin since I was about 13. Specifically, I would breakout on my chin. Usually it was one or two, but I always was embarrassed about it and started wearing makeup very early in order to cover it. My aunt, being a Pharmacist, was the first to prescribe something for my skin. After months, my skin stayed the same, despite dosage increases.
Once I was starting 8th grade, I went to a Dermatologist for the first time. He prescribed me a BUNCH of different stuff, but again, nothing really changed.
Right before freshman year of high school
For a couple years, I just used the stuff you could get at Target like Neutrogena, Clean & Clear etc.
I look at these so I never get bangs again. Sophomore year
Around my Sophomore year of high school, I started using Proactive. It worked moderately well and I would say my skin was bearable. After not seeing the dramatic results they show on their TV adds, I decided to try something else. In the rise of Pinterest and blogging, my mother and I read about using oil as a cleanser. I don’t really remember my exact results with this (I was but a wee junior in high school), but I wasn’t satisfied with how my skin was reacting to it.
Summer of my junior year. Probably the best my skin looked for two years
I was recommended acne products by a Sephora worker and switched all skin care to a particular brand (doesn’t exist anymore). This made my skin better, but I still had breakouts regularly. I ended up just going back to regular ‘ole Clean & Clear and my skin was pretty okay the entirety of my junior year. I would still breakout, but it was bearable. Of course, I obsessed over every pimple, but looking back it was really tame. Calm before the storm, as they say.
A blonde me? Senior yearDecided not to wear makeup this day and after seeing these, regretted that decision
Going into my senior year of high school, I got the worst breakouts of my life. It went from being manageable or a few here and there, to full on cystic acne all over my cheeks and chin. I went back to Proactive in hopes that would help and after another failed attempt, went to a Dermatologist. He sent me back with a few things to try, while my skin stayed basically the same. I was going into College, trying to meet new people and make friends so this was not ideal.
First day of college, the worst my skin ever looked
Around the same time, my cousin was also struggling with her skin. Like me, she had trouble skin later in life and was struggling to find anything that worked. She began taking the drug Accutane and was surprised by it’s dramatic results.
While taking Accutane my freshman yearSummer, after 7 months on Accutane. (please ignore the face I’m making, sheesh)
Accutane is controversial for a few reasons and so most people use this as a last resort. It has very strong side effects including: back pain, dry lips, dry skin and even depression. You take this everyday for at least six months. As a female, you have to jump through A LOT of hoops to get the medication. Blood work and pregnancy tests are a monthly thing as well as making sure you have two forms of birth control. Despite all of this, I was determined to find some way to get it. Luckily for me, a doctor at my school’s health center prescribed it to me. Yes, my skin got drier and thankfully, my hair did too. Other than that, I was lucky enough to have no serious side effects.
After about the 3rd or 4th month, I started to see a real difference in my skin. Going through my first year of college and finally having manageable skin was the best feeling. Accutane was really the only thing that ever worked for me, personally. After being on it for 7 months, I was finally down to about two breakouts a month.
Sophomore year of college (I miss my short haiirrrrr)Junior year. (you can sort of see the scars on the side of my face) Let me live, i know this picture is odd
Unfortunately, since getting rid of breakouts, I was left with scars. I’ve struggled so much with just breaking out, that I just basically thought “Okay this I can deal with,” and mostly left my skin alone for the past 4 years. Still trying to hide from anyone seeing me sans makeup, of course. You can’t really see the difference between my skin after Accutane and now since I wasn’t really documenting it. My skin looks similar, but I promise, some of these pictures (sophomore and junior year) I have good makeup and strategic lighting.
Skin as of now
What my skin looks like as of now
I do want to share the, few, subtle things that I have been doing lately that have helped me dramatically. My skin right now is about the best it has ever been, (except my baby skin) and I wanted to share what I’ve been using/doing to help get a more even tone!
Lemon juice
I’ve touched on this before, but just to reiterate, this is the best thing for a brighter tone to your skin! I literally just cut this baby in half and squeeze the juice on my skin every night before I go to sleep. Seriously, do it.
Honey
This stuff has been my saving grace lately and I’m so sorry I neglected (hated on) it for years! I use this for very simple masks, here’s a couple:
Tumeric and honey=spot treatment
Pink Himalayan salt and honey= exfoliation mask
I’ve also been using it in my coffee as a sweetener!
Cut. That. SUGAR
I’m sure ya’ll are thinking, “is this girl about to tell me to stop eating sugar again?” and I AM!!! I just stopped using sugar n my coffee and it has changed my skin so much, and its only been a month. So much of your skin is a reflection of what you put in your body and sugar is the worst thing you can do to your skin. I cut sugar in my normal diet and really only eat sugar (I’m talking like cookies, cake etc. or what I call “obvious sugar”), maybe twice a week. Sometimes, I’m just really craving it, so i definitely let me myself have it. I never wanna go back to that long month of no sugar and making myself miserable (do not recommend).
Wearing less makeup
This is hard to do if you have a full-time job, obviously, but try as much as you can. I definitely recommend not using foundation if you do feel like you need to wear makeup. I only ever use tinted moisturizer and then cover-up for my scaring and dark circles. I recommend this or this, they are very similar in my opinion and I like both!
Don’t use a cleaning brush every night
This discovery stemmed from me just being too lazy to buy a new brush head for my Clairsonic and then not using it because the brush was too gross. I was basically over-exfoliating my skin and it was not thanking me. I would say if you have one of these, use it once a week.
Wash your face TWICE
So since I’m not using the brush to get all of my makeup off, I now have to wash my face twice. Once to remove my makeup and second, to cleanse. Never been a fan of makeup wipes, I feel they can be super harsh. I prefer just washing it twice.
Cold water only
Recently, I followed another blogger with UNBELIEVABLE skin. Like baby smooth and dewy. She used a bunch of different things. I’ll admit, once people suggest products to use, I usually tune out. Having tried so much stuff, I really don’t take advice about skin products that claim to work. HOWEVER, she did say she only washes her face with cool or cold water. It takes some getting used to, but I’ve been doing it ever since. Putting boiling hot water on your skin in general probably isn’t great, but definitely if your face is sensitive. I would recommend at the very least warm/cool water.
For years, I had people tell me what I should be doing for my skin. I hated anyone who would comment on it, as I preferred to pretend it wasn’t an issue. Most of the skin advice I got, was unsolicited. Random people would tell me what I should be doing and honestly, that was probably the worst part. I tried not to think about my skin, as I knew I had more things about myself to offer. No matter what, you are not your skin. We get so wrapped up in how we look, that when we don’t look our best, it can be hard to live normally. If you’re struggling with your skin, you’re not alone. One of the reasons my skin is better could be simply age! Don’t dwell on it, everyone has something they’re embarrassed about. If you know someone struggling with their skin, for the love of god, just leave them alone about it. Whatever you’re about to say, they’ve probably tried it. At the end of the day, you still have to go out and live your life. My skin’s not perfect. I still get embarrassed walking around without makeup, sometimes. Everyone has something about them that they don’t like, but find your way of dealing with it and do what you can.
*Not a professional or expert, only sharing what has worked for me in my own, personal life.
Talking about some realness on this Sunday summary. All about putting lemon juice on my face, what to do when your running day doesn’t workout because the weather is horrible(or maybe you just don’t wanna run because who really likes that shit?) and what book I am loving right now(and how to get a free book)!!
Beauty
Okay I touched on this a little bit in my last post, but I wanted to go a little bit more in-depth about it. I’ve always had “problematic” skin and I will try anything once if it will help in some small way (and doesn’t cost my left arm). I just started putting lemon juice on my face randomly one night and I got say, I love it. My skin is naturally super oily, uneven and I have dark marks from my time with cystic acne. I’m so serious when I say, I’ve never had my skin look so even and bright when I wake up in the morning. And this is just using a lemon. A LEMON. I highly recommend if you have skin like mine. I just squeeze a little on my face where I have the most issues and sleep with it on (kinda sticky, but worth it).
Style
The newest trend among the fashion conscience people is, the mom jean. Basically loose-r fitting jeans that are super high-waisted and usually light-washed. I love anything high-waisted to cover the *ahem* problem areas and suck that crap right in. However, I can’t help but wonder if I would actually think these were cute if half the world wasn’t wearing them? Probs not. All the fancy people are wearing the 501 Levi’s (you know which ones) and ya girl was on the hunt for cheaper ones (NOLA trip coming up and also wanted Steve Madden strappy heels). After going to Levi’s in Brooklyn for a wear test, I set off to find similar fitting ones for cheaper. I found these babies and after trying on several decided they were my closest match. Keep in mind they are crazy tight when you first put them on, but they stretch out after a couple wears and aren’t meant to bounce back(no spandex or stretchy material). I thought about going a size up, but ultimately stuck to my true size and I’m glad I did. if you wanna be trendy, but not spend a cool 100 bucks, these are for you.
Food baby
I was nervous to try this because usually with certain dairy-free ice creams they like have a drier texture and just aren’t as delicious as regular ice cream. I swear, this brand puts out the best dairy free stuff cause this tastes creamy and ah-mazing. I literally come home and eat it immediately after work(don’t @ me). This is the best flavor, 10/10 you won’t regret it.
Fitness
In this endless winter NYC calls “normal” and “not a big deal” and “a livable place,” some days I don’t wanna go outside. I’ve committed to two days of running, but some days, when its 30 degrees or snowing in March, I don’t. I love the feeling I get after I run, (not the actual running cause who actually likes that), so I needed to find a cardio routine I could do in my apartment that gave me a similar feeling. In comes PopSugar Fitness to save the day. This is one of those cardio videos where you are constantly moving the entire time, which are my favorite. I feel pretty much as winded as I do when I run when I finish this video. The best part? Only 10 minutes. Quick and a great workout!
So I read a book…….
I don’t know if I’ve talked about this yet, but I signed up for Book of the Month in January and I am in love with it. For those who don’t know what it is (which I didn’t either) basically they have a list of amazing books and you pick one for them to send you! It arrives in maybe two days, tops, and I haven’t gotten a book I didn’t absolutely love, yet. The book I chose for this month was Other People’s Houses. I’m normally a murder mystery gal, but I decided to branch out for once and see if I liked this book since it wasn’t something I would normally get. I gotta say, I loved it. I binge-read(is this a word????) it in a literal week any time I had a few minutes. It’s mostly just about the lives of these people in this one neighborhood in L.A. Sounds boring, but the characters are so funny and relatable I couldn’t put it down. Here’s my link to get a free book!
So I listen to this podcast
Podcasts are slowly becoming my favorite things to listen to at work and they’re fabulous for long flights (NYC—>NOLA). “Keep it!” is a new podcast from my faves at crooked media which stars Ira Madison III, Kara Brown and Louis Virtel. They talk mostly about celeb news and the occasional politics. The most current episode talks about Cynthia Nixon’s run for governor of New York (Mirandas everywhere rejoice!) and the Donald Trump Jr./ Aubrey O’Day scandal. To be honest, Louis could probably do a dramatic reading of my to-do list and make it funny. 10/10 look forward to these every week.
I did a thing in NYC and you should too™
Okay on Saturday I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for like two weeks. I had an entirely vegan meal at a Mexican restaurant. Yes you read that right. Thrillist did a piece on the owner talking about his amazing new creation. I went, mostly because I really wanted the nachos and didn’t wanna feel bad about eating crap (trying to save my calories for my trip to NOLA next week). I highly recommend the nachos , as they were the best part. I also had the quesadillas, which are my favorite at any Mexican restaurant because of my love of cheese. They were pretty good, considering I absolutely hate vegan cheese of any kind. Also had margs of course, which you can’t go wrong with. Definitely something to try and I’ll probably come back just for the nachos.
Talking about this new dry shampoo hair trick I tried, my new favorite pants (cause I’m all about pants lately), the best Galentine’s ever and the best workout for your abs!
Beauty
As a blogger, I follow a ton of bloggers on Instagram (duh). I recently started following Brighton Keller who lives in Dallas. She super sweet and one of the more genuine bloggers in my opinion. I saw on one of her stories recently about a dry shampoo trick she does with her hair and then mental made a note to try it out one day. Well Friday I was struggling with some day-3-hair-bun-action and this guy was like “let’s have drinks!” My motto is to just say yes to everything so I was like I guess I gotta figure out how to make this work and then I remembered her trick and was immediately over-joyed. I’ll link her video here, but the gist is to take a round brush, hair drier, dry shampoo and basically act like you’re drying your hair with a round brush even when its dried. Sounds very weird but my hair was super flat and gross so I figured I’d give it a shot. I used Not Your Mother’s Texturizing Dry Shampoo, but you can use whatever you have.
And there you have it! Definitely not something I have time or energy for everyday since I barely have time to dry my hair, but definitely something to do on day 3 hair that just the grossest it could possibly be (aka my hair).
Style
I never in my wildest dreams thought I would like pants that look like these, but New York has changed me (kinda). These are some that I got from work that aren’t available yet (coming soon I swear its on the website), but you really can get these anywhere. Super comfortable and have like a denim-feel without looking it straight up jeans. Here I dressed them up with booties and a black turtle-neck:
Then I dressed them down with a t-shirt and sweater with converse:
Fitness
I love me some Tabata because its short bursts of working out, which makes it go by quicker. To me, it’s the best new way to do a HITT workout. My new favorite is this super quick ab workout I just discovered. As I’ve said in my workout routine post, I run every other day and do abs. This is great because its quick and by the time I finish running, I’m over it (cause running kinda sucks lets be real).
So I watched this show………
This honestly should just be titled “I binged this show in a day because it was so good.” I don’t know if you guys remember Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, but me and my mom LOVED that show when I was a kid and we watched it all the time. Well Netflix has done a re-boot with all new people and it is the best reality show I have seen in a while. The guys are ADORABLE and fun, I have a huge crush on Antoni like zamn. It’s just like the old one where each guy is in charge of different aspects of life like food, style, and design. Besides this show being hilarious and fun, it’s also so important and they touch on some really serious issues. They talk about police brutality against black men (Karamo is black), what it means to be gay and religious and the struggle to define yourself as a black and gay man. I laughed, I cried and I cannot wait for next season
So I read this book…….
I subscribed to Book of the Month, which is a great way for me to push myself to read more and I get a gorgeous hardcover book for 16 bucks! I just finished this book and wow, it was insane. It’s all about this woman living with Agoraphobia (fear of the outside) because of a drama she experienced about a year ago. Of course it’s a murder mystery romance-y thing because that’s all I read now.
So I did a fun thing in NYC and you should too
If you’re a human being, you know that Valentines Day was this past week (barf). However, you might not know that the day before Valentines day is Galentine’s Day! Coined by the beautiful and fictional Leslie Knope of Parks and Rec, it is a day of celebrating gals! I decided to take my gals to this beautiful restaurant Café Medi. I’ve been wanting to see it girl because the pictures I’ve seen are unreal.
They were having a Galentine’s event, 3 courses AND a bottle of wine for 50 bucks. Basically a steal for NYC and I love any excuse to drink on a weekday. The place was gorgeous, and the food was unbelievable. I ate way too much and had way too much fun. No complaints from me.
You might be reading this title and saying to yourself “Excuse me, is this……the vibes???” to which I would say “uhhhhmmmmmm no????????? Obviously the title is totally different can’t you read?”
Okay I know I said I was canceling the vibes and you know what
This is my attempt at revamping/classin’ up the vibes okay? “the vibes?” what am I 22??? No I’m 23 so now I have just a summary of my classy life. (honestly the title is TBD cause summary is not my best work with words but its HARD okay?)
Lets get into it.
Beauty
As per usual, I am trying to revamp my skin care. I’ve switched completely to the charcoal life and i gotta say I dig it. I use both of these products, but the exfoliating one I only use every other day. I definitely notice a difference in my skins overall oily-ness. Let me also add that the exfoliating one smells like a beautiful man so extra added bonus in my opinion.
Style
I just got these beautiful babies and I got sooo many compliments at work(and the gram because I had to post about them). Bad news is I cannot for the life of me find them online but I swear they exist somewhere in the abyss that is Forever 21. Happy hunting!! In all seriousness, based on the fact that I went through every pant they had online, they have a TON of striped pants of all colors. Just an FYI ya know.
Foods
I was trying to figure out a way to make my cauliflower taste good but not have to use too many ingredients(cause money). I also wanted to try to use stuff I already had available. Pinterest came through though and I found a recipe! All I did was separate some cauliflower florets and heat some oil in a pan. Then put some minced garlic and the cauliflower in the skillet and let it brown for a bit. Next added soy sauce, juice of a whole lime and some strata sauce and voilà! Unbelievably good and easy.
So I watched this show……
*Spoilers maybe???
I finally got around to watching The Crown! At first, I was like sheesh every episode is like a mini movie how am I gonna finish this? Of course it reeled me in and I finished two seasons in a week hah. Literally my favorite episode was the one where the queen mother is in Scotland and she meets that cute little old man and he’s so nice to her. I cried and also I really wanted them to get together cause that poor woman could use some joy!!!
So I’ve been listening to some music……
This playlist though. It took me on a ride through the angsty early 2000s and I love it. It satisfied all of my phases including but not limited to: Blink 182, Good Charlotte and All Time Low. Very nostalgic and I love it.
So I found a new podcast…..
I stumbled upon this after a suggestion from one of the other podcasts I listen to. It’s all about this missing persons case from 2005 and it literally unfolds as the guy is doing the podcast its crazy. Theres a bunch of episodes and he also has another podcast called Atlanta Monster! Also makes me a little homes sick cause of the people have thick Georgia accents and its the cutest thing.
So I did a fun thing in NYC and you should do it too..
I haven’t done brunch in forever so I decided to try one of the best bottomless brunches in NYC at Agave. I couldn’t make reservations, but after an hour and a half(this place is POPPIN) we managed to get a table. It was definitely worth the wait!
The food was so good and these guys sitting next to us told us to get the prickly pear margarita and man were they good and so pretty! Our waitress was so cool and nice despite being so over-worked with all the people. So could not recommend enough.
Before we begin I gotta talk about this cute as shit little bakery right next my apartment I discovered (actually Kristen did when looking at my location on Find My Friends so shout out to her). It’s super tiny, but cute and there’s cat decorations all over the place. Bonus is that most of their stuff is gluten free and everything is vegan. Sometimes living in Brooklyn annoys me, but this is one of those times where Brooklyn is cool as heck.
Beauty¡
This week I thought I’d give a little tutorial on how I do my eyeshadow. This is how I do it when I’m going out and wanna look fancy!
So I’m using this Kylie Jenner Palette, the Burgundy Palette. I may not like Kylie Jenner very much (like who cares if she’s pregnant barf me), but I gotta admit, her eyeshadow is really good. Super pigmented and I don’t have to use a whole bunch of it to achieve the color I want.
I’m gonna be using the red colors cause they match the scarf I’m wearing tonight (cause I’m matchy matchy af). Most people who do their makeup start with the eyes but I never understood that tbh. I wanna go for a more dramatic look so I’m gonna put tape on the side of my eyes to help get a cat eye without free handing it.
I just kinda eye ball it and hope I get them straight (sometimes works sometimes they’re crooked because I am just a girl not an expert). I make sure to put on eyeshadow primer, I use the Two Faced one.
I usually start with the more glittery part on my eye lid and then the more matte shade in my crease. Next I’m gonna line my eyes with black shadow and smudge it out. I used the Naked two palette and the last black shade.
I sort of do a triangle thing in the corner of my eye. I also highlight my brow bone and the other corner of my eye. This is the finished product!
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I usually don’t go this dramatic but the opera calls for the dramatic right? Right.
Style¿
(Minus the) Leather High Waisted Wrap Front Skirt @ Express $59.90
Double Layer Satin Cami @ Express $39.90
Got this beauty on sale at Express and I am in lurrrrveeeeee. I paired it with this top because I like the contrasting fabrics of satin and leather, but you can do lace as well! It’s super high waisted which I love (honestly if anything goes back to low-rise I will have to just go into hiding). I wore it with stocking and booties a few weekends ago and you can also do OTK boots. Also express has $25 off of $100 right now just FYI you’re welcome.
Fitness¿¡
Had another Saturday where my brain violently did not want to workout. I decided maybe I should start incorporating some yoga in my life sine people rave about it a lot. I’ve tried it before but I usually find it so slow and I get tired of it very easily. This one however was relatively fast paced and I actually was slightly sweaty after. I only burned about 150 cal (which I tried not to stress about) but I felt pretty tight and toned afterwards. Might have to go against my extreme cardio nature and do this more often (maybe).
Entertainment¡
So I finally finished the first season of Riverdale (its been on my Netflix list for agggeeessssss). To sum it up, its kinda like a more fast paced Pretty Little Liars (or should I say better cause it took 40 years to find out who A is). There were a couple weird parts like when Veronica and Cheryl have this like dance off and its very weird and cringe-worthy. I guess it’s more directed toward idk people in actual high school, but some parts make me barfy(like how much they SING). I am patiently waiting for season two to be on Netflix despite my judgment. Here’s hoping I don’t quit it in the middle for season 4 like I did with PLL. Only so much “who done it? Find out in three years” a person can take.
THIS.BOOK. Obviously one of my favorite authors and this book reels you in with the first chapter, its insane. I haven’t technically finished it yet, although I read it till 3 am last night for no other reason than I couldn’t stop. Its all about true crime and thriller stuff but thats all I’ll say cause when I first started reading it I also had no idea what it was about, so you should be blinded and delightfully surprised as well.
Pandora decided it was going to keep crashing my phone, so it had to go. Luckily, I found a playlist I liked on Spotify that I loved just as much. I only have two settings when it comes to Christmas: classic Christmas and jazzy Christmas. Unfortunately, Spotify can only satisfy one at a time.
Katie Does NYC Things
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Kept it a little low-key this weekend and just went to Opera (I think I just contradicted myself?). I felt like an old bitty complaining about today’s uncultured youth anytime I told anyone what I was doing that night. But also a very fancy old bitty. Then my friend proceed to inform me this was probably gonna last about 3 hours and I started to feel a little less fancy and little more worried I would die of boredom. The Opera was Thaïs which is basically about this godly man trying to convert this promiscuous lady to become a nun. It works, but not before he decides he loves her and doesn’t wanna be godly anymore (men are fickle beings). The first act was a little dull and I began to fear that I wouldn’t make it through all three, but to be fair, the first Act was a lot of praying and exclaiming. Also the entire thing was in French (which I only knew because I recognized the word for garden thanks 4 years of french!), so you have to read the words on the little screen in front of you (thankful for the little screen otherwise what a snooze fest). The second and third acts were more entertaining with this famous violin solo in the middle of Act II and III. If you’ve ever watched a cartoon in the 90s I feel like this was in an episode somewhere (or maybe I made that up but I recognize it!!). Then I was like “if I like this am I a weird nerd?” but then when was I ever to a nerd? There were a few funny parts (I don’t think they meant them to be funny) like when a guy threw a bunch of cash in the air to distract them so Thaīs and the guy (whatever his name is) could get away cause that is definitely a sure fire way to distract me too. All in all something I would definitely do again if I ever wanna feel •cultured•
Also please enjoy me failing at trying to see the Rockefeller Tree get lit (I was very annoyed and you’d know if you follow me on snapchat!!!!!!!!!!!!) (Also the other reason I kinda wanna post videos on here cause its pretty funny).
I’m thinking about putting videos on here of me talking about something (story of something funny that happened, my fails of nyc etc.) lemme know what you guys think! (I feel like I’m asking the void but its fine).
I Don't Even Have a "Pla" 