It's the Little Things

Every year my parents clean out their wallets and my mom's purse after every week to get rid of all that heavy change. And then by the end of the year they have saved up close to $500! Thinking that this has nothing to do with beauty? Wrong! The little things add up, and whether you apply that concept to money or beauty, the choice is yours. So the list below shows tons of ways for you to cut back on the little things to help you with a big change. Not to say that regular diet and exrosize aren't important, but these are ways that help with that too.

1. Drink lots of water!
This is probably the easiest one to do. When you wander into the kitchen looking for something to eat when you're bored grab a cup of ice water to sip instead of that ice cream you have stored in the freezer. Not only are you not consuming any calories, you are actually burning some! Not a whole lot, but it takes energy to warm up the ice water to body temperature! Before meals drink some ice water, too! This will help fill you up so that you won't eat as much.

2. Shower with cold water.
First of all, you're saving money on your water bill. I find it very hard to take an hour long shower when you are in freezing cold water. Secondly the body has to work harder to keep itself at the right temperature, and working hard means more calories are burned! An added bonus? Hair will become shinier, and cold water closes the pores!

3. Go easy on the heater/air conditioner.
Again, the body has to work to keep its temperature. Sweat also 'melts' away calories, just make sure to stay hydrated, which shouldn't be hard if you are following the first one. So not only will you be saving money, but it can be good for you, too!

4. Splurge responsibly.
So its your birthday and your little brother made you his amazing chocolate cake, so its okay to have a little. But do you really need to put all that whipped cream on top?

5. Buy the healthy stuff.
DON'T go shopping while hungry. You end up buying too much of the wrong stuff. Instead go when you are full or in between meals. Then its easy to pick out the right amount of food, and easier to pick the healthy choices as well. You can't eat what you don't have, so don't buy any of the things you would normally splurge on.

6. Use smaller plates. Each time you go back to the serving bowl for more food you have to think about whether you are hungry enough. Putting to much on your plate can sometimes mean eating after you're full to avoid wasting anything. Going back for 5th's also tends to discourage further eating.

7. Take the long way
Whether its parking on the far side of the parking lot, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator you are burning calories that you wouldn't otherwise.

8. Change up your workout
When you do work out make sure it counts. Change it up a lot so as to keep your muscles confused so you don't plateau. Do lots of cardio as that will boost your metabolism and keep you burning calories even after you stop working out.

Sleeping Beauty

No, not that sleeping beauty. I mean beauty tips for when you sleep!

 1. Before you sleep.

Whenever you are going to go to bed its always a good idea to get into good habits. Always brush your teeth, good dental care is always a good idea. Second is to go to the bathroom right before you get into bed. When you don't have to get up in the middle of night you have a longer time spent in REM sleep which is when your system reboots and all that good sleep stuff happens. Then make sure to wash and treat your face an all that good stuff. Get ALL makeup off! Also avoid eating a few hours before you sleep because sleeping doesn't burn many calories and all tht food will go straight to fat. Exrosizes 1/2 hour before you sleep to gain son muscle and to help you sleep better!

 2. While you sleep

Avoid waking up in the middle of the night, like said above. Also change your sheets often, especially your pillowcase. Oils from your skin get on the pillowcase and after you sleep on it night after night it can cause acne! Also sleep with your hair up! The oils in your hair can also give you acne if you keep sleeping on it, bu don't put it in a tight hairdo as to avoid putting stress on the hair follicles.

 3. Wake up and continue with your morning routine. Don't forget to have a nice day!

Skin Care

So everyone is bound to have acne at some point. If you don't then its like a miracle or something. But what we can do is make it so that those terrifying moments when you get a major zit happen less often.

1. Cleansing
No matter how amazing your routine is, it won't work if you don't do it twice daily! I cannot stress enough how important this is! Trust me I know how hard it is to get into the habit of something (positive at least), but its a must! Leaving your make-up on for even just one night can cause a few zits to appear the next morning. So when going to a friends and staying for the night always bring your skin care with you! If they are real friends they aren't going to mind if you take a few seconds to wash your face after you brush your teeth and change into your pj's. All skin is different and I haven't really found something that I swear by, so I can't tell you what products to use. But what I can tell you is that make sure you know your skin, and exfoliate! Either get a cleanser that has exfoliating beads in it or grab a separate product, I haven't found that either is better than the other. I use a generic exfoliating scrub with apricot in it separate from my normal cleanser, the more natural the better.

2. Treatments
I have tried it all! SkinID, Proactive, Clearasil, AcneFree, and Neutragenia. Again with the need to do it TWICE DAILY. I haven't found anything I'm in love with sad to say, but products vary for individuals so even if I did there is no guarantee that it will work for you.

3.Face Masks
DIY face masks are always so fun! I love them and they make my skin feel so soft and smooth afterwards! But whats even better? You can make them at home! There are tons of recipes out there and I want to try them all, but here are a few sites that I'm going to try first. Depending on your skin and the time you have you can do this however often you want or not at all (I recommend at least once a week, but I'm a little addicted!)
                  http://beauty.about.com/od/skinflaws/a/facemasks.htm
                  http://www.rd.com/home/9-soothing-facial-masks-from-the-kitchen/

4.Make-up
Your skin wont get any better if you clog the pores with make-up as soon as you unclog them of dirt. Obviously no one wants to go out in public without some coverage, but when possible go without. If its just a lazy day at home, skip the make-up! Trips to the beach? Skip the make-up, its just going to wash off anyway! And lastly, when you do use make-up try to use all natural or mineral powders. The more make-up you use the more acne you will get or find harder to lose. Use less make-up to have less acne so you don't need as much make-up. Its an ongoing cycle and you have to break it. Yes, I know it will be scary as all get out, but trust me on this one.

Overall I hope this was helpful, and I'm working on posting about my favorite products soon!

Hair Care!

Hey!

So this is my first post about beauty, and I've decided to do it on Hair Care. I absolutely love my hair! And I hope that with these tips you can learn to love your hair, or love it even more so share what you think in the comments!

1. The Shower
I shower once every other day. This way you are still clean but the natural oils your hair produces aren't being stripped from you hair. The first thing I do when I get into the shower is to shampoo my hair. I make sure to get enough that my hair is really foamy. I work it into the roots really well (the head massage feels good too!) and then down to the ends. Then go on with the rest of my shower. I normally take like 10-15 minutes for my shower so by the time I'm done most of the shampoo has been rinsed out, but I run my fingers through it well to make sure. Then as following the 'lather, rinse, repeat' instructions I shampoo my hair again real quick. After that I turn the shower on to freezing. This really does make your hair shiner (and because your body is working to keep your body warm you burn extra calories, too!!), and I go through my hair with a conditioner. I try not to use a ton because it can weigh your hair down but I have a little longer than shoulder length hair so I do need to get enough to stop it from tangling. Even though the water is freezing, its really important to make sure everything is out of your hair so that it doesn't look greasy or anything.

2. While Wet
After I get out of the shower I rap my hair in a towel and dry the rest of my body and get dressed. By then my hair is dried enough so that it has stopped dripping as much. Then I like to go over it with a wide tooth comb. Always start from the bottom working up so that you are getting rid of the tangles instead of making them worse and causing breakage. If needed then you can apply some frizz controller. Also if you want curly hair, instead of using a curling iron and causing heat damage to your hair you can put your hair in rollers or braids.


3.Drying
I always prefer to air dry my hair, but obviously because I have longer hair that does require some time (like an hour!), so this is the time where I put on make-up and go eat breakfast and do that last minute homework. By now the ends are normally dried and the rest of my hair is just damp. After this if you feel like its necessary then you can blow dry what's left, but DON'T FORGET to use something to protect your hair from the heat!!


4. Styling
Try to avoid heat! I know with curling and straightening that this can be hard. Just remember that heat, even with protection can cause breakage and frizz. If you have natural waves then try to let them show every once and a while. Also there are tons of styles you can do without heat, like braids, ponytails, and buns. Also try to avoid really tight hair styles the stress on the hair follicles might hurt and its just not good for your hair!

Well that's all I know about hair care, and I hope it was helpful! Please comment below to tell me what you think or if you have any questions!