Mask Review

Hello, hello.

Today, I am reviewing a mask I received in my June ipsy bag. Getting these glam bags each month is so much fun for me! I am constantly trying out new products so I can review them and make sure what I am using is indeed my favorite. How else would I know the products in my bathroom are my favorite if I haven't tried other things on the market?

When I get a new glam bag I research the products before I use them. I am constantly looking for products that are paraben free and mostly natural. Now, I'm no saint. Not everything in my cabinet fits into these categories but that is because I haven't found a product to make me want to give up the one I currently use.

Befine makes this cucumber mask so of course I hopped on the internet and read all about the company and they're products. I also looked at some of the reviews on Amazon. All of Befine's products are paraben free and made with nutritious super-foods. Many customers had nothing but good things to say about the mask, so I had to get a piece of this.

I first washed my face, which you are to do before applying a facial mask. Then I applied a thing layer to my face. The directions say to leave on for five minutes however, I leave it for about ten. A few things I instantly realized is the mask was very gentle. It did not irritate my skin as many masks tend to do. You can see me rockin it on my Instagram page with my pup.

After ten minutes I rinsed off my face and applied moisturizer. My skin felt rejuvenated and tighter. I've had this product a little over a month now and I can honestly say it is the best I have tried thus
 far. It is fragrance and allergen free so those with sensitivities don't have to worry.

Has any else used this or any other of Befine's products? What did you think of them?

You can purchase the mask here.

Do you want to become an ipsy subscriber? You can sign up here.

For more on skincare check out my blogs on natural products and skincare tips.

Have you used befine? Are you an ipsy lover too?

Kisses, Shavon.

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How to Keep Your House Looking Immaculate

So obviously I am a list person. I have lists of future lists to make. But, one of my favorite lists is my cleaning list. I clean my house everyday because I love to have it looking like we have room service that comes and cleans. I also love for it to smell nice; I used to be a PartyLite consultant so I have a love of fragrances.

When I come home from work I have a list of things I do on a daily basis. I do one load of laundry, wipe down counter tops and do the dishes, pick up the house, take out the trash (if needed), and sweep and vacuum. I have a fur baby so I have to do the floors everyday. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to make her shed less. This takes thirty minutes tops,  but I get to go to bed and wake up with a clean home. I tend to feel really stressed when my house is a mess so this helps a lot.

Every Saturday, I clean a little bit deeper and this is my weekly cleaning. In addition to the daily cleaning tasks, once a week I clean the mirrors, mop the floors, scrub the toilet and shower, change our bedding, dust furniture, and wipe down the appliances. This kind of resets my week for me. I spend about an hour cleaning my home and then I have Sunday to relax with my husband.

My list isn't perfect and I'm constantly adding and taking things away. But taking these steps each day makes it easier on me to keep my house looking great. I don't believe in not cleaning something until it's dirty. We simply pick up after ourselves and spend the time to make sure it looks hotel worthy.

By saying "I" clean I mean we. I am so lucky and so blessed to have a husband that helps around the house. He also has a love for fragrances, so our warmers and candles are always keeping our house smelling wonderful.

When it comes to cleaning, my number one rule is but your feet up and relax when you're done. I always sit down with tea and a good book or catch up on Netflix.

Photo cred: The amazing Kate.

Kisses, Shavon

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Top 5 Tips to Purging Your Closet

So today's post hits close to home. When I got married I went from a large room with a walk-in closet to a one bedroom apartment. I don't in any way regret this move but it was a major adjustment. I never realized how much time it took to downsize everything and my closet was a major one.


My closet as I stated before was a walk-in and was packed from bottom to top with clothes, purses, jewelry and so on. It was so stuffed my shoes were out in the garage because there was no room. Let's just say when I started working at Macy's when I was nineteen I created a major addiction. What's really sad is when I was purging before the wedding I had tons of articles that had been purchased years ago and they still had the tag on them.


So, I know a lot of women are like me and need to purge their closets but don't know where to start. Did I mention I share a closet now? Thank goodness its spacious for an apartment or I would be lost. Here are five tips that will help you to purge your closet. Out with the old, in with the new.


1. Get inspired

Turn on some fun music. Make something nice and cold to drink like a flavored ice tea; or my favorite, a fruit and vegetable smoothie. Even recruit someone to be on your panel to help you decide what to keep.


2. Be realistic

You can't keep everything no matter how much you don't want to let go of your lavishing closet. That is not a bad thing at all, we are making room for the better things in life. The simplest way to do this is to have two bins: trash and donate. As you go through your closet take one thing out at a time. If your keeping it, hang it back up. If not put it on one of the two bins.


3. Ask the tough questions

If you were shopping today, would you buy it? Does it fit? It is damaged/stained? Can it be repaired? If any of your answers are no, it's probably time to part ways. No point in keeping the jeans you wore on your first day of high school. They probably don't fit and aren't in style anymore. The sweatpants that you've had for 10 years are just collecting dust. You have to be brutal right now but it will pay off. You will have a gorgeous closet that is organized and only has the clothing items you love.


4. Organize your newly purged closet.

This part depends on how you function best. You can color-coordinate it or organize it by clothing type. Figure out how your closet will work for you and get to organizing. Find a home for everything in your closet and make it look pretty! This will both make you love your closet AND help you to put everything back in its place when you're done.


5. Buy one, throw one.

This is the best way to make sure your closet stays looking gorgeous. If you buy a new article of clothing you have to throw one you already have; whether that means tossing, donating, or selling it. Not only does this keep your closet from being overloaded again but it ensures that you have nothing but pieces you love in your closet.


Now, I'm not going to lie and say this was easy because it definitely was not. It took me a lot of time and I had to part with a lot of clothes. But it was so worth it! It even makes getting ready faster because I have less to choose from and I love everything I own. Now the only hard part is getting my husband to purge ;)


I want to see the amazing work you accomplish! Tag me in your before and after pictures; tag your friends too! Get them to do this with you.


Kisses, Shavon.


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How to take care of your skin

                                       

Taking care of our skin is so important! We are given one body and it is our job to take care of that body. Proper skincare can be a little high maintenance but it is important to take the time in making sure it is properly cared for. Healthy skins looks radiant and young. And I think its very important as women to be proud of our natural beauty. When we treat ourselves and love our skin it makes that easier.

Since, I am such an advocate for proper skincare I am breaking this up into two posts. So today I will talk about taking care of our faces. I wanted to talk about this first because the skin on our faces is a lot more delicate and requires extra care. 

I have one major rule that I try to never break and that is NEVER EVER sleep in your makeup. Now I'm not perfect but I have had a few nights that I got home to late and was too tired to wash my face, but it is so bad for your skin! Sleeping in your makeup breaks down collagen and produces more wrinkles. Foundation stretches your pores and sleeping in eye makeup can cause styes. Then, there's the obvious acne from bacteria.

Washing your face in the morning may seem daunting but it is extremely important. Unless you change your pillow cases every night you still collect bacteria and toxin on your face. With that being said, my morning routine is a little bit different than my evening routine. 

Morning Routine

First thing in the morning I cleanse my face with a gentle cleanser.This is a Neutrogena cream cleanser. 

Twice a week I exfoliate to scrub away the dead skin cells. I am loving this apricot scrub but I'm on the hunt for an all natural product that I really like. 

I take a toner and clean away the dirt that was left behind from cleansing and I finish up with a light-weight day moisturizer. This is Neutrogena toner and I have literally used it off and on since I was in middle school.

 The moisturizer is target brand. I like how light-weight it is.

Evening Routine

At night I use these Mary Kay makeup remover cloths before I begin to wash my face. I'm not sure if they're still available but I bought them in bulk a long time ago. 

I've noticed taking this step gets a lot more makeup off than when I skip it. Right now I am using the same cleanser day and night. Sometimes when I am trying out other products I will use a stronger one during the night. Again I follow up with the toner to remove access dirt. Even if I skip this step in the morning I make sure to use toner at the night because I want no trace of makeup on my face. 

Then, I use a thicker moisturizer to be sure my skin is hydrated and stays young looking. I started using the Burts Bee's night cream and I LOVE it! Its natural and very moisturizing, 

I finish off with a retinol gel from Ulta  around my eyes to reverse the process of wrinkles. Now, I know I am only in my twenties but I think it is never too early to start fighting against wrinkles. 

When I really want to spoil myself I use my eye mask from Ulta. It has gel beads on the front so I put it in the refrigerator an hour before bed, The cooling feeling feels amazing on my eyes and is so relaxing.

So, to wrap this up my two BIGGEST points are never sleep in makeup and moisturize, Moisturize, MOISTURIZE.

The cleansers, toner, and moisturizers I use can be found at your local drug store.

Get the retinol gel here.

Get the eye mask here.

Check out my other blogs about skincare and makeup!

Kisses, Shavon.

Want to stay connected and up to date with me? Don't forget to follow me  on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest.

Planner Obsession

Hi guys!!

The list of my obsessions could literally go on and on so today I thought we would talk about another one. Office supplies and more specifically PLANNERS! I love planners and have for as long as I can remember. I loved being in school and they would give us the planners to write our assignments and events in. I was probably one of the only kids who color coordinated it and took it everywhere with me lol.

So forwarding a couple of years later and I love them even more, but I have moved on to bigger and better things. So here is my baby. I am using the Lily Pulitzer medium size and can I say it's amazing! I love this agenda for many reasons. Her agendas come in a few different sizes and designs. I believe this design is discontinued but is similar to pink lemonade. Another great thing about her agendas is they are not your typical 12 month agenda. It goes from August of 2014 to December 2015, which was perfect because I wanted to use it as soon as it came in the mail.

In the front of the agenda is a double sided pocket. On the front I keep extra paper clips and post its. I also keep important things that I use frequently, my insurance card, and anything I may need to take with me for the day.

There are two sets of month views. The first is in the front of the agenda and it is only month views. Lately, I have been trying to better myself and be a little bit healthier so I use a different coding system to keep track of my progress. Blue is for 8 glasses of water, green is for exercise, and red is for my daily devos. I simply draw a line through the day in that color if I finished my task for the day. I use the first set of month on two pages for this.

The second is with the weekly views and separates them by month. Here is a dummy mock-up of what my week and month would look like. Once I have completed a task I simply cross and out and I'm done.

As you can see I color-code my agenda I do this because it helps me to organize and I can tell what I have going on with just a quick glance. Plus adding a little bit of color makes it pretty and makes me actually want to use the agenda. Here is a breakdown of how I use the different colors:

Purple - Social
Green - Wedding
Dark Blue - Matt
Orange - Work
Red - Personal/To-Do

Each Sunday I decorate the upcoming week and fill in my schedule. Doing this every week probably excites me a little more than it should. Poor Matt has come home to my planner supplies all over the living room in pure confusion haha. I have a box that I keep all my supplies in so when I decorate I just bring it into the living room and decorate away. I use washi tape, sticker, post its and page flags. There is also a sheet of stickers that comes with all Lily agendas. I have taken mine out because I put it with the rest of my stickers because I have quite a few.

So there it is! I should probably start looking into planner anonymous meetings, but in talking with many of you I know that I am not alone. Do you use planners? What are your tips and tricks? Comment below and let me know.


You can find Lilly planners here. And for more on organization check out my post on purse organization here.

Kisses, Shavon

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Summer Makeup

Hey guys!

How is everyone's summer going so far? It has been an amazing summer so far and its just starting! So, I have a huge obsession with makeup. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much makeup I own to be quite honest. I am always trying out new looks and different products.

I apologize in advance for the picture overload but I wanted to show you all the step by step. Secondly, I apologize for my hair in these pictures. I have some serious bed head in the mornings.  So back to the makeup, my look changes a lot but for the summer I like to keep it pretty simple. I am by no means a makeup artist, but I know what I like and what works for me in the warmer months.


Before we get to the makeup we need to talk about skincare. Taking proper care of your skin will do heaps more than makeup can ever do. If your canvas isn't prepared, makeup wont do what you intend for it to.

Now to the routine! I always start with a daily cleanser. Currently I am using Neutrogena oil free wash. Twice a week I use a gentle facial exfoliate. Next I use a toner to clean anything left behind and I finish off with a day moisturizer.

Before I get to the makeup I use a face primer on my T-zone (nose and forehead).

First I start with my MAC Studio Fix foundation to even out my skin tone.

I let that sit and go to my eyes. Lately, I have been using the Maybelline Nudes pallet

so I take the gold shadow and apply it to my lids up to my creases,

and I use the black for the outer corner.

Taking this taupe color and a fluffy shadow brush I apply above my creases up to my brow bone (this step also blends the shadow I applied to my lids so there are no harsh lines).

For filling in my eyebrows I use this pencil from Clinique and I finish up with this cream color on my brow bones. I'm growing out my eyebrows and those that know me know how hard it is for me to not get them done.

Then I apply a decent amount of liner to both my bottom and top lid.

Then I move back to my face and allow my liner to fully dry. I always like to add a little bit of depth to my face so I will switch it up between blush or bronzer. If I'm feeling glamorous I will do both. I apply bronzer in the hollow of my cheeks

and blush to the apples of my cheeks.

There are a lot of articles out there about the proper way to apply blush and bronzer for your face shape. I have just found that I like this look on me.

To set everything in place I take a large face blush and apply MAC mineralization all over.

 I am not a fan of reapplying my makeup throughout the day so I take these extra steps to be sure it lasts. I finish up the setting with mist and set spray by ELF.

I do this before my mascara because sometimes it makes my mascara run if it hasn't fully dried. Lashes are probably my favorite thing to play up. If I am doing something really special I will apply falsies but today I am just going to use mascara. I always apply two different types, two to four coats of each depending on how bold I want them. And ALWAYS curl lashes before applying mascara.

Voila!

That is my summer makeup routine. It may seem a bit much for everyday but I like I said, I have a minor makeup obsession. Comment below and tell me what you think. What brands/products are you in love with right now?

Kisses, Shavon

Independence Day Weekend

Happy Tuesday lovies!!

If you're reading this it means you made it through the weekend without blowing yourself up so I think that means congratulations are in order. 

No, but on a serious note this weekend was a blast. It was our first holiday as a family so we decided to go to the ocean with our fur baby.

Matt and I love road trips so we of course had a blast! Music playing and nothing but the road :) My puppy hasn't had a lot of experience but she surprisingly did a really good job. (And no he can't take a serious picture).

Once we got the ocean we ate our lunch that wa packed and then fell asleep on the beach, go figure lol. But the fireworks were beautiful! And the Olson's have officially celebrated a holiday together.

What did you guys do for the holiday? Any Fourth of July traditions? I'd love to hear them!



Kisses, Shavon

4th of July Outfit

Hello July,



Can you believe it's July already? I don't know about you guys but the 4th is one of my favorite holidays. Food, family, relaxation, fireworks and the weather is usually nice. But it seems like every year I have two daunting decisions to make;

what to wear and what to do.

While I can't help you with the what to do (where to go, who to invite) part I did want to give some insight on some fun things to wear. 

Now you can't go wrong with the American Flag themed attire, or the classic red, white and blue coordinated outfit. Just don't overdue it - My advice, stick to one "flag" article if you're taking that route. And with the latter make either red or blue your main color, that way it's not clashing or overload.  

Personally, I like to nix the Independence Day themes. I want something cute and simple. Something I can move around in and still look super cute and classy. If you're going to be with kids or getting active I don't recommend a dress. It gets bothersome after a couple hours of being limited mobility-wise. 

A great alternative is a romper or a skort. They still give off that cute girly chic look but you have the comfort of being in shorts.

Now you only need one statement piece. So if your bottoms are giving the wow factor you'll want to keep it simple up top with a solid color flowy top or a cute t-shirt that can be dressed up.

I'm going with this sheer black top which will contrast the color of my bottoms.

Then pair it with black wedges and some simple jewelry and you've got a perfect Fourth of July outfit. 

Happy Independence Day!! Make sure to take pics of your outfits and tag me in your post.

Kisses, Shavon

The BIG day

Hi Lovies!

I am officially Mrs. Olson! I am very happy to say everything went smoothly. From the rehearsal dinner to our extended family's meetings, to pictures and finally the ceremony. 

You hear horror stories all the time about disasters happening; people bailing last minute and what have you so I definitely stressed when things got down to the wire. 

The bridesmaids went out for breakfast first thing in the morning before the craziness of the day started and the boys went golfing. 

Then the bridal party headed to the church for hair and makeup. I did my own and my hair actually cooperated!!! I was so lucky and (due to the entire can of hair spray I used) it held up all day with no touch-ups. 

I must say my favorite part of the day were the first looks. Matt looked so handsome and I was so excited for him to finally see my dress. Our pictures came out beautifully and even though it was extremely hot out, it was well worth the sweating. 

The ceremony was beautiful! We were both able to get through our vows without getting too choked up. The unity candle and communion added great final touches to represent our union and relationship. 

THEN CAME THE PARTAY! I think everyone's favorite part of the wedding is always the dancing. We even had a couple of adorable kids stealing the show!!

All and all everything was a blast and it went through smoothly. There were a few hiccups but we just rolled with the punches :) 

Now we are off to enjoy our honeymoon and our first days as husband and wife. 

Kisses, Shavon