10 tips for looking younger

I was reading allure magazine this morning while drinking my coffee, and ran across an article ( like in many magazines) with some tips on looking younger. I began to think that I agree with most of these tips!

The idea for looking younger is to... Well, look younger. Think when you were young. We all had light blonde/brown golden hair naturally. There for it had lots of sheen and shine. We had a glow to our barely made up skin. We adored smells that were fruity, and punchy. Etc.

In my profession, this topic comes up daily. I tell my clients a few of these things in which I'm about to share with you, on a regular basis. Just some simple things to keep in mind. We're not 60 trying to be 16. But that doesn't mean that we can't add a few things in to our "style" to bring us back a few years!

1. Wear less make up.  Now, I understand that as we age, we have more blemishes, and things we need to hide. I think that you can do this with out "over-doing" the make up. I also think that we need to change  our make up every couple of years. Our skin is changing always, so why not go and get a new color and finish that might work better for you skin. There are beauty consultants EVERYWHERE that will help you for free find what you need. And trust them, they have been trained to know what is "in" and what works for mature skin. Just b/c you liked it 10 years ago, doesn't mean that it looks good now! This includes the colors that you may wear on your lips eyes and cheeks as well. Also, MATTE is not best. If your 20 and you have oily skin and you need powder, that's one thing, but if you are older in age, you want to bring some of the youthful glow back to your skin. As we age, we get drier and cooler in color. Highlighting the cheek bones, and inner eye (tear duct) with a light bronze warm shimmer color will help bounce light in all the right places tremendously. I definitely think that too much make up can make you look years older than you are!
2. Whiten you teeth. This is something that I don't think we even think about. But whitening your teeth a few shades will not only give you a more confident smile, but really will take some years off! I recommend crest white strips which range anywhere from $15-$30 give or take. They can be found at wal-mart. You can do the ones that are short or longer depending on the sensitivity of you teeth.
3. Spritz on grapefruit fragrance.  Lets admit, if we smell someone who smells fruity, or like coconut, or even a hint of floral, we immediately think young. I think that this can be something that can be age appropriate. We all know that fruity is young. Musky is old. So even if you get something to splash on from Wal-Mart, or a new hand lotion, get something that has more of a citrus/fresh scent to it, and see how your response is!
4. Add higlights. This doesn't mean go blonde. Or that your highlights need to be PLATINUM. But adding some demintion even to lighter hair, can make a huge difference in your complexion. And while we're talking about this..... WARMTH. I'm not saying you have to have all over gold hair... What  I am saying is " ashy " is well, not younger. How many young girls do you see walking around with "ashy" hair? No, it's all shiny, and warm and fresh. Ash tone colors are associated with gray hair. If you tend to like your hair very neutral with NO gold ( or as some people call it "RED") in your hair, then maybe add a few very subtle warm highlights to soften your skin. ESPECIALLY if you have cooler tone skin. Some who has warmer tone skin, can actually wear the more neutral colors easier. But as we age, the luster begins to disappear from our hair leaving it dull and lifeless. There is no better way to make it even worse, than to put ash colors in our hair. So ask your hairdresser what she can do to "brighten" you up.
5. Polish your nails. Researchers have found  that woman's hands look younger when wearing a brighter, or bolder nail polish.
6. Curl your lashes.
7. Cut bangs. When I say cut bangs I don't mean 80's (dated) looking bangs. Look around at all the women from 20-40. It's all about the side swept bangs.You don't see anyone in that age range, or celebrities walking around with "teased" bangs up to heaven. I understand that this was the best look in the 80's.... that was almost 30 years ago. Time for a change! Volume goes in the crown, not around the face. Ever. Especially if you worried about adding volume to your face. So a heavy side swept bang and be used for hiding any wrinkles that you may want to hide, and update you look. 
8. Smile.
9. Switch from lipsticks to soft rosy GLOSSY colors. Again with the "shine and sheen" talk....... Glossy lips are much more attractive than the matte wrong shade of lip stick. Anything that looks like it has moisture, will look full of life, instead of dry and lifeless.
10. Eat well.  Of course we live in a "right now" society. So it's all about the fast food! But what goes in your body will show on the outside. Really. Sure, have a hamburger every once in a while. But your main source of nutrition should be colorful and healthy! Just think about what your eating, and think if you'd want it to show on the outside. So rule of thumb, if everything on your plate is white. That's bad. Put as MUCH color on your plate and in your belly as possible! Stay away from fried food!!! And cut pack on the soft drinks. All of these things are just fat waiting to happen. Besides the fact that you will FEEL much better when you're putting the right kind of fuel in your body, you will look better! And might I add a little exercise. Anything to get your heart rate up. Get out for a walk in your neighborhood. Not only are you sending endorphins to your brain, which make us happy, but you are getting the best source of vitamin D! Quit making excuses and get out there!

So I hope that there may have been something for someone in one of these. There were a TON of ways too look younger, and there always will be. But I kinda liked these. They are simple, and cheap. I just wanted to share.

My Shark Steam cleaner!

I hear the doorbell ring, and so I go to check it out. There is a small package, with my husband's name on it, which is a very recognizable package. I knew instantly it was yet ANOTHER remote for our TV!

As I turn around to go back in the house, I notice a large box sitting a little further away on the porch, so I walk over to it, and immediately assume that it's some kind of satelitte dish box, or something of that nature. I grab it, walk in and set it on the couch.

Later I walk by the mystery box, and notice that it says " for house hold use only" on the box. I am now intrigued..... So I proceed to investigate. I open the first part of the box, and I was overwhelmed instantly!

I knew the second I saw a funny looking spongy thing what it was. It's a shark steam cleaner.
I know, you thinking this is corny and something so lame to be excited about! -- But if you know anything about me, you know I'm a little, eh, paticular about the order and cleanliness of my house. Especially since having Anisten. She is on the floor all the time, and I can't stand when she gets dirty due to the fact that the dogs track in dirt from the yard. I just can't sweep and mop everyday! I do try to sweep and swiffer the hardwoods one to 2 times a week, but that gets to be a huge process! Now, I can do it with MUCH ease!

The steam cleaner comes with a couple of different attatchments.  It has a triangle looking head, a small rectangle, and a large rectangle. The triangle will be for cleaning around the toilets and funny shaped places like that. And the smaller rectangle has this foamy, fuzzy cloth thing that goes on it. It takes the place of sweeping. I love it. I do feel like I may have to spot sweep as well like in the corners, and the base boards, but for quickness, and spot cleaning the cloth sweeper will work perfect! Especially if I'm holding a child in the other.


I tried out my steamer for the 1st time today. And here is my little review.

I like how compact and light the product is.
Easy to use, only add water.
Dries super fast! I was able to do it while the baby was up, and she would crawl where I just mopped and it wasn't wet.
The mop is nice and large, and can cover big areas. ( My living room is 3/4 of my house! LOL)

I do feel like it's a little harder to "push" I guess more like a real mop. I'm so used to using the swiffer and doing it one handed. It's ok, I'll have buff arms!
I also feel like it could release a little more moisture/steam to help it glide a little better.




All in all I know that I will LOVE my new steamer. Instead of waiting as long as possible to mop, I will be able to do it comfortably 2 times a week. The money I will be saving just in swiffer solution will pay off the shark in no time.

This come highly recommended from an uptight house wife with hardwood floors! :-)

Faves and Craves of K

I have a few friends who have done this, and it has helped me out so much! I love seeing real people's favorite items. Not just celebrity favs.

So most of them will probably be beauty related, since I am (very much) a girl, and it's also my profession.

My first and foremost favorite beauty product is my lash blast mascara made by cover girl. I used to be a big time MAC girl, but since discovering some of cover girl's products, I have be come fan! This is the only mascara I will use! I have tried several of the lash blast ones, and they are ok, but the luxe is what works best for me!

I love to smell pretty. I have a great collection of perfumes, and splashes but I have 2 favorites right now. ( These definitely change with time for me)

My favorite perfume is Chanel Chance. I don't know if it's an age thing or what, but I find the older I get the more I am wanting quality fragrances.

I also love for just a lighter smell, regular basis my Victoria's Secret PINK body splash.

 

I think that every girl should keep her smelly goods in her hand bag! 

Now, lets move on to the hair portion. Being a hairdresser I have different views on what I like to use in the salon, and what I like to use on my hair. I am some how allergic to a lot of the shampoo out there, so I have mixed reviews on shampoo! But I will say that what I'm using on my back bar, is what seems to be the best for me so far. It's call S FACTOR. it's made by TIGI who also makes Bed Head, Cat Walk, Rock o holic.... some of the more well known products.

 

I personally love the smoothing shampoo and conditioner, and the diamond dreams shampoo and conditioner. I use the "root pump", and the "smoothing lusterizer" I couldn't live with out either of these products! Less is more with the lusterizer, but it's my favorite smoothing lotion I've ever used!! I'm still experimenting with other products from this line. 

My favorite coffee to get me up and going in the morning ( thanks to a friend!) 

is Dunkin Doughnuts coffee!!! I had a hard time buying it since it's $7 a bag, but I am the only one who drinks coffee in the morning here, so a bag will last me a month or so. So I figure, it's worth it since i'm only drinking a little a day.

My new favorite IPHONE app is call Intuition

it's a wonderful organizer, with check lists,  grocery lists, reminders, and so much more. I haven't sat down to get in to depth on what all it can REALLY do, but what I've used so far is cool. The grocery list is the coolest. It will keep your previous one if you want, and that way if you (like me) buy the same things you can just re open it and add on or take off things you need. I'm beginning to use it more and more each day. It's color coded as well, which is something I love. In my day planner I always highlight things in different colors. Most of all... ITS FREE!!!




I don't have any certain favorite book. But I love series of books. I'm always asking around to see what people are reading. The most recent recommended series what the Stephanie Plum novels Written by Janet Evanovich.

There are like 14 or 15 books, and a few in between-ers. So I am stuck on these for now. They are a mixture of comedy, and drama. She's a divorced 35 year old girl from Jersey who is broker than broke, and needs a job. So she takes one on at her cousins bail bond agency as a bounty hunter. I love the character b/c even though she is older than me, I feel like I can relate. And I feel like, since she is older she can capture the attention of some older readers as well. They are really just pleasure reads, nothing that will make you think, or inspiring or anything like that. But that's why I read. Is to turn off my brain. So I recommend these! I would like to get another series to get in to, something lighter. I have read the Emily Giffin books, which are great. I've read the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charmaine Harris. So I'm thinking that I'd like something a little lighter. Ive heard alot about the shopoholic books. so maybe I will look in to those. As for now, Stephanie has stolen my heart!

 

One of my new favorite websites that I love is Artfire ... IT's a little like ETSY but it's more well.. ART inspired. It's alot of hand made things and personalized things. I'm getting a bunch of things from there for Anisten's birthday party.

So I'm gonna "mommy-out" for a minute and tell some of my favorite mommy Favs!

 Love the Happy Baby Food. It's an organic line, I've only seen it at Target, but I order from Diapers.com for my diapers, and they offer it there too. We love the oatmeat, and the puff snacks. They are getting more and more products to this line and I'm excited to continue trying lots of them!

Let's talk SIPPY cups. I have tried SEVERAL since she was 5 months old, and started to use them. Someone  gave me some of these cheap, to go sippy cups, and they are my favorite!! I am not sure what the actual brand is, but they have them every where, wal mart, target and even the dollar store. Let me tell you why I like them. We no longer do bottles and haven't for a while. SO I am wanting to get her more acquainted with "drinking like a big girl" So this means we sometimes practice (in the bath tub) drinking out of cups with out a suction on it. Now this sippy does have the suction on it, but it doesn't have the handles. She can hold this one handed and very rarely leaks. So it's not completely spill proof, but it's not bad either. They are super cheap and they also have the ones with the lids that have a straw in them, which we love. I bring those to restaurants and she has a cup like we all do. It's just more spill proof.

Mams binkies are still our favorite!!!

Last, but definitely not LEAST! My favorite website for baby STUFF is DIAPERS.COM!

I  can buy diapers there in bigger bulk, and they will be delivered to my door with in 48 hours(usually sooner). If you order is over $50 shipping is free. Our diapers are $42 and there for I get $8 worth of product essentially for free! This is not only a diapers source, there are clothes, toys, books, baby food, nursing items and SOOOO much more!!!!

I found when my friends posted some of their favorites, I found some things that I really liked, and I hope that there might be something that you weren't familiar with before that can help you out! 

I'm the sort of person that finds something and feels the need to share it with everyone, and I will continue to do so on a regular basis now rather than wait and do it all in one huge post! :-)