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I Actually Do Blog About Beauty...
March 31, 2017
I'm sure by now y'all are TIREDT (yes with a "t") of hearing about my life lol. I actually made this blog to talk about my life AND beauty, the latter which has yet to be mentioned. As much as I am a no makeup-makeup kinda girl, mixing luxury, mid-range and drugstore brands to achieve a flawless face is a passion of mine!
So let's talk about skin! You literally HAVE TO start with good skincare/good skin health to take your makeup to the next level. What the hell am I currently using?! Pretty much a host of things:
Cleanser: I usually use Shiseido Pureness cream or liquid or even Clarins, but when I ran out and needed something ASAP (last week), I stumbled upon and decided to try Shea Moisture African Black Soap cleanser. I love most of their hair products and it is 100% natural, paraben free AND black owned. WINNING! So far, so good. My face seems to be less oily, brighter and softer. It is pictured below. You can get it at Walmart, Target, drugstores and from their website directly. I got it for around $7.80.
Toner: I'm really bad and don't currently use one but I LOVED a mini size I got from Clarins not too long ago as a gift with purchase. It was balancing for Oily/Combo skin. It retails for around $26, but really is worth the buy.
Moisturizer: Now here we get complicated lol. Working in retail cosmetics and part time at the Medspa has perks baby! For day time I use Z.O. Glycogent (retail $70) which is a gentle exfoliator with 10% glycolic and lactic acids (HALLELUJAH!). Best of all it's not harsh and it's not a mechanical exfoliation. I use this daily and then put my Shiseido Ibuki Protective moisturizer with SPF 18 (retail $45). These have been my go-tos for the past 3 weeks and my skin is GLOWING!
#MelaninOnFleek
Night time moisturizer is a Strivectin cream called Advanced Retinol Intensive Night Moisturizer (retail $79) . Smooths my face and makes my face and neck super soft and supple come the morning time.
Eye cream: Ah! MY favorite. I use YSL's Youth Liberator eye cream (retail $100) during the day and sometimes the Dark Circle Corrector (always put this after the eye cream). At night I use YSL's Temps Majeur eye cream (retail $140) which is the bomb.com. It has been my favorite for almost 2 years now.
There's my round up y'all! Any products you use from this list? Any suggestions? What are some of your beauty faves?!
Until again,
Bougie Beauty Babe
Safety in the Harbor
March 29, 2017
I first heard this quote when I was a senior in high school. It was a year after I made the choice to go to college 650 miles away from my family for the first time ever. I would live on my own, work a full time job, navigate public higher education, love, be heartbroken, give birth to my amazing boy, meet great people and graduate with both a degree in life and English.
Much to the chagrin of my parents I was (and still am) stubborn as a bull. When I set my mind to something, I did it. I was tenacious, fiery and determined. I like to think I am still some of those things now, but I don't feel it. I don't feel like the fire in my bones has been ignited in a long time. So it is quite possible I am still that girl who was on the cusp of womanhood and discovery and had the world at her hands, but I need to take time and rediscover her and get back to her.
I think one important trait most of us carry in our youth is fearlessness. When channeled into the right avenues, you can accomplish great things from letting fear go! I fell in love with New York City when I was 16. I went to stay with my friend Erika in Washington Heights and KNEW that I had to be in this place! August 2006, with $1200 saved up, school supplies and some stuff for my bedroom, my parents and I made the 12 hour drive and I moved into a 3 bedroom apartment with an awesome family of strangers near Central Park West. When I look back on that, it's amazing how that chapter of my life began. By the end of August I was a Freshman at City College of New York in Harlem.
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| what a few years in NYC did to me lol; Photo credit: Leon Photo Werks (RIP) |
I don't necessarily think that it was my absence of fear, but it was my drive to be different, do different and follow my heart that pushed me to move away from Kentucky. Much like I knew back then, Kentucky has nothing for me other than my family. I feel no real ties to this place and have always felt like I don't belong here. It's not home to me, it is just a place I have spent the majority of my life. A holding pen if you well.
I talked to a coworker about this yesterday. I miss early to mid 2000s Cicely. I want to get her back. I want to be her again. I'm 29 and don't want to be a shell of a woman, I want to live on my own terms and by my rules. I want to go against the grain like I'm used to doing and learn and love my way. Although having a child with special needs complicates things, I don't want that to be my crutch. Before you get all judgmental, I know that my child comes first. Any place I move or anything I decide to do HAS to be an excellent fit for him. If I got the opportunity of a lifetime, but L wasn't able to get the help he needs, then it's not the right fit for me or us.
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| I had sauce y'all lol. this was 2008 |
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| 2008 my first collaboration with Samantha Lennon MUA and Earl Leon -photog |
I said all of that to say this...Life is entirely too short to be scared to take the chance, quit the job, write the book, marry the girl or guy, leave behind everything you've ever known or simple do whatever it is that makes you happy or be your real, true self. 2017 and the rest of MY life is not meant to be lived in fear. It's not to say that you won't be scared or that you're not allowed to be, but don't succumb to the fear and don't live in regret.
Crossroads
March 28, 2017
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| Photo: Staci Marie MUA: Makeup by Kristin Gray |
So I know, I know it has been a long time (25 days if you want to be exact), but it has been with good reason! I have really had a lot going on...I feel like this month has truly been a blur. In my usual journalistic style, I will give you a recap:
Tax season!
That tax return hit so I did what everyone usually does...I spent most of my money like a responsible adult paying up and getting caught up on bills :/...yeah, wonderful! lol
Began to Tap/Practice EFT
So I have dabbled in EFT and tapping before, but this month I really decided to step things up. I try to do it if not every day then every other day and if nothing else I feel better because of doing it. If you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about...go on YouTube and search for Brad Yates and then try anything listed under his "Quickie" videos....you're welcome
Started the hCG Diet
It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done! lol Luckily, I have been steady losing weight and I'm at exactly 11 lb down today! I needed to do it! When I started I was like 40 lb heavier than my original HIGHEST WEIGHT EVER. It was scary and shocking. I knew that the time was now to make the change!
School now or career now?
I'm facing the decision now to continue my life in beauty or return to Nursing school?! Staying in Kentucky my options are extremely limited as to what I can do and become. We only have really 4 major beauty retailers with a 5th on the way. Because Lexington is so small, just about everyone knows each other and has worked together or for the same companies in some capacity...I'm tired of that. I feel in my bones that I need to move out of the state to advance in beauty, but to where? When? How? I've been praying and putting things into action to help me make my decision. I do know that God and the Universe is looking out for me, so now I just await the sign or the right opportunity. I feel stifled and I need, no actually I demand freedom.
Being a better Mom
I feel like as a working Mom it is super easy to get caught up in work and not focus on your kid. That's unacceptable for me in my life right now. I have been making a conscious effort to work on Liam's homework every night after work and have pep talks with him in the morning, Every day for the past week I've told him to have the BEST day. He took it a step further and told me that he's going to have a "rad" day or an "amazing" day. Either one will suffice! :) He's an amazing little boy and I'm trying to nurture and let him grow into an awesome human being.
So that's the 411 on me! Hope all has been well out there in blogger world!
Until again,
Bougie Beauty Babe
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Living Your Best Life
March 3, 2017
I jokingly use this phrase, but I really mean it. When I see my friends and family out here succeeding and doing great things, I tell them they are "living their best life". I mean living a life so good that you can see the happiness radiating and the joy of life spilling from their pores. True happiness, purposeful living and creating an amazing life,
I realized also that I have been not doing enough of that! I talk to God very casually instead of doing what I call traditional prayer. I talk to God and ask him to show me what he wants me to do, ask him what he has for me and to grant me the patience to wait on it. In 29 years, I can say that His timing has always been right. I truly believe that God can speak to and through us. It is up to us to read and see the signs.
I am way more spiritual than religious. The life lessons and things I believe I have discovered in my spirituality far surpass anything I have experienced in life. I am still trying to decipher sometimes what God wants for me and how I can get to live the life I want and feel I deserve, but I feel confident that I will get there.
But now cha'girl is on some new-new! I'm going to be one of those people I accuse of living their best life. I am literally ALWAYS telling people that they can do things and have the power within them, but I'm not practicing what I preach. So on March 3, 2017, here's to living your best muthafucking life! May you stumble, may you learn, may you fail, may you succeed, but most importantly may you do it on YOUR own terms.
Until again,
Bougie Beauty Babe
I realized also that I have been not doing enough of that! I talk to God very casually instead of doing what I call traditional prayer. I talk to God and ask him to show me what he wants me to do, ask him what he has for me and to grant me the patience to wait on it. In 29 years, I can say that His timing has always been right. I truly believe that God can speak to and through us. It is up to us to read and see the signs.
I am way more spiritual than religious. The life lessons and things I believe I have discovered in my spirituality far surpass anything I have experienced in life. I am still trying to decipher sometimes what God wants for me and how I can get to live the life I want and feel I deserve, but I feel confident that I will get there.
But now cha'girl is on some new-new! I'm going to be one of those people I accuse of living their best life. I am literally ALWAYS telling people that they can do things and have the power within them, but I'm not practicing what I preach. So on March 3, 2017, here's to living your best muthafucking life! May you stumble, may you learn, may you fail, may you succeed, but most importantly may you do it on YOUR own terms.
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| The face you make when you out here comin' for what's yours to get! |
Until again,
Bougie Beauty Babe
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