• FAITH,  LIFESTYLE

    WHAT LOVE REALLY IS (AND IS NOT!)

    Today marks one week before I become a wife. Needless to say, I’m anxious, excited, and doing a lot of thinking about love as I prepare vows and choose songs that make me catch the feels. Nicholas Sparks, Hallmark, and Cosmo all have extremely different portrayals and ideas of what love is. But what is it, really? And what is it not? LOVE IS NOT A FEELING Okay, okay. Let’s start out basic. I know this is one we’ve all heard before, but do we actually accept it? Truthfully, most of us don’t. If we did, divorce rates wouldn’t be so alarmingly high. That’s not to say couples don’t divorce for other…

  • SKINCARE

    THE NOT-SO-NEW FACIAL WE’RE ALL JUST NOW GOING CRAZY OVER

    Beauty bloggers are raving about it, clients are hooked on it, and estheticians are choosing it as their favorite treatment to perform. So what is it? It’s the not-so-new, but newly hyped up facial treatment we call dermaplaning.   Everyone is talking about this new and amazing facial treatment, dermaplaning. Except it’s not so new, at all. I personally learned how to do the treatment over 10 years ago. It’s always been one of my very favorite facial treatments because the results are so wonderfully consistent and amazing. However, I did shy away from it for a while because clients were scared of it. Today we are braver than ever…

  • HEALTHY LIVING,  SKINCARE

    THE ANTI-AGING POWER OF FOOD

    I just turned 34 about a month ago. I’ve been cognizant for over 10 years of the importance of starting young when it comes to preventing aging. However, being aware that I am rapidly approaching my mid-thirties and working in an industry, as well as living in a city, that overemphasizes the value of looking young at all stages of life, I can’t help but feel the pressure to know more and do more. With this being on my mind often, I can’t help but continue to go back to what I find so intriguing… the power of food. I have written and preached for years about the healing powers…

  • FAITH

    GOD CAN

    I’m a feeler. Like, a hardcore feeler. For those of you who are familiar with The Enneagram, I’m a Four. So basically, I don’t only experience a lot of emotions, but every emotion is felt DEEPLY. If I’m excited about something, it’s oozing out of me. If I’m sad about something, I feel a physical ache in my chest and palms of my hands. And many times when I’m in prayer or acknowledging God, I feel tingles like sand running down my body.   I believe God created me this way on purpose. For one, to be able to be empathetic to the people in my life. Understanding what others…

  • SKINCARE

    HOW TO CREATE A FULL SKINCARE ROUTINE

    So, you know you have skin. You know you’re supposed to clean it. You know you’re supposed to wear sunscreen. Duh. But is that it…? What about the acne, how do you get rid of that? How do you prevent wrinkles or make your skin look younger? What about those brown spots, what’s up with those? What products or steps should actually be included in your skincare routine so that you can keep your skin in its best condition and make visible steps toward fixing anything about it that you don’t like?   This simple formula works for every single skin type. All you have to do is pick products formulated for your skin…

  • FAITH

    YOUR PATH WAS PAVED WITH INTENTION

    We often derail ourselves from the course set before us.   Sometimes we do it daily. Even multiple times a day. It’s scary to really think of that. There is a path that has been paved specifically for our lives. A path that was paved with love and intention. Some of us go so far off the path, we lose ourselves and we lose the truth of our identity. Some of us never come back. Others will spend their lives draining their own resources, swerving on and off the path over and over again. And then there are those that see their path, see the truth, and it clicks for…

  • SKINCARE

    SUMMER SKIN CARE MYTH BUSTED

    Hey, Babes! We’re mid-summer now, and we are enjoying every moment of living in California, right near the beach. Maybe you’re reading this from Nevada, from Washington, from Ohio, (I don’t know?), but chances are, it’s summer where you are, too! That’s why we’re coming to you with a big summer skin care myth BUSTED. Drinking plenty of water will not significantly hydrate your skin. Okay, okay, before you roll your eyes in skepticism, I am not saying that water isn’t of crucial importance to skin health, because water is of crucial importance to total body health. There’s no arguing that one. But the idea that your dry, tight skin will be relieved by drinking a…

  • FAITH

    MY GOAL IS GOD HIMSELF

      Last week, while my husband and I were reading our devotional before bed together, I had one of those “aha!” Christian moments. It was a moment I am familiar with because it’s happened to me before. The moment where I quickly go from thinking I know something, to realizing I am absolutely clueless. “My goal is God himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, MY GOD.” (My Utmost for His Highest)  As I read these words out loud, they could have just gone in one ear and out the other. And for a moment, they did pass through my gaze, ready to be forgotten. As I…

  • SKINCARE

    TOP 5 SKINCARE STAPLES

    One of the reasons I find being an esthetician to be so much fun is because no two clients are the same. Every client will have completely different needs, goals, and reactions to treatments. From one appointment to another, I basically get to play scientist with deliciously aromatic ingredients, forming one reaction after another in the skin to get it to be happier, healthier, and more radiant. But one thing I have noticed in the diversity of these clients’ needs, is that there are a few staple rules and guidelines that apply to everyone’s face, and the number of clients I have interacted with who were unaware of these essentials…

  • FAITH,  LIFESTYLE

    DO NOT BE ANXIOUS

    \\DO NOT BE ANXIOUS// highlighted in red, underlined and starred. That means when I read those words in my bible, that it meant serious business.     “And which of you, by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Wow, why can’t I think of those words every time I feel afraid or worried!? I’ll be honest, these last few months have been an incredibly exciting and TOUGH whirlwind. So many dreams came true, while one very big dream fell apart. In the midst of all the life changes that were rapidly happening, I found myself beginning to operate out of a place of fear. Little…