Sightseeing...ain't nothing but a thing!

Hey guys I just wanted to give a little update on where I've been. Soooo I'm in New Jersey...for an internship and I am so excited because I was able to make a quick trip to NEW YORK CITY!!! Excuse my excitement I haven't been in NY since my cousin's wedding and I'm pretty sure I was only 3 so therefore I don't remember anything . So when I got the opportunity to visit I jumped on it! By the time I got back to my apartment I had immense pain in my back, legs, and feet! But don't fret it all became but a memory once I took that Advil PM! So with that being said I'm going to be MIA for a little while but I'm going to try my hardest to get a new The Essentials post up for y'all!!! Talk to y'all soon and thanks for reading!

Updated Haircare Pics...with GF hair protector spray!

Hey guys! I promised about a week ago that I would put up some pictures of my hair, before and after using last week's HAIR TIP product! So this will be a short blog post but I have some great ideas for some upcoming ones so keep your eyes open for that and of course feel free to email me with anything you want me to touch on again or talk about!

Fresh wet hair...with no makeup on...don't judge me!haha

Yello! Here I have blow dried hair and just sprayed the GF protector.

Annndd the final result with my hair flat ironed!:)

Ok thanks for reading and talk to you guys soon!

HAIR TIP: Protect your hair!

So we all know that flat irons, curling irons and blow dryers can be damaging to our hair. I mean think about it you're putting crazy levels of heat on your hair and probably more than once a week. My flat iron alone can go up to 450 degrees. Pretty scary huh?
So how do we fix this you may ask? I've got it...thermal heat protecting spray but not just any heat protecting spray...Garnier Fructis's Sleek and Shine Flat Iron Perfector is personally one of my favorites if not the best I've tried.

I love flat ironing and curling my hair! I'm actually a little addicted to it because I find myself doing my hair when I'm going absolutely no where but enough with my personal problems! I spray my hair with this before blow drying andddd flat ironing my hair. It's when I use this product then flat iron my hair is when I see the most effect. It really is amazing.

 My hair will look brittle, dry, all things you don't want your hair to look like...

But once I use this spray and begin to flat iron my hair it immediately turns into this flowy shiny vibrant healthy thing! Garnier Fructis's Sleek and Shine Flat Iron Perfector brings out everything great and fabulous in your hair, one strand at a time!

Now I know I'm backtracking a little but like I mentioned earlier I also use this product before I blow dry my hair I spray it on when it's 50% dry and 50% wet. So that when I blow dry it I get a soft feel to my hair! I probably will do an updated post on this just containing my before and after pics of before blow drying after blow drying and the final product! So look forward to that!
Even if you don't flat iron and curl your hair as much as I do you're still going to want to protect it when you do use heating products...I'm pretty sure it will help you in the long run.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and thank you for reading!

Skin Care: Products of the Week

Soooo I didn't make a post last week on the skin care product of the week...to make up for that I'm doing two products this week.

The first product is Neutrogena's Acne Stress Control Triple Action Toner. Over the years I've learned that Neutrogena's products work pretty well with my skin, leaving it fresh looking and 100% dirt free (that's always a plus haha). Also I've mentioned before in my blog that I'm trying to lighten my dark spots on my face caused by acne...this product helps to correct this as well. I only use this product at night simply because I know it's correcting a lot on my face with that being said there is no reason to bring the sun in the picture. It's not the best combination to have a ton of product on your face or a strong one like Neutrogena's Acne Stress Control Triple- Action Toner and wear it outside. Your skin may not have the best reaction. Trust me I know from experience. Finally, this product is reasonably priced and you get a lot for your buck!

Speaking of the sun and Neutrogena. I have the perfect product that protects your face from the sun and is a Neutrogena product as well. It is called Neutrogena's Healthy Defense daily moisturizer. I found out about this product from my dermatologist. She suggested I try this product because I needed a moisturizing face lotion that contains a lot of SPF and is slightly a little thick on your face so that it will protect your face all day long! And boy was I surprised this product did everything my dermatologist said it would and then some! I absolutely loved how even looking my skin looked when I was in the sun all day, whether it was me gardening...laying out on the beach...jogging I felt good knowing my face wouldn't break out from being in the sun because my skin is so sensitive. This product is a little pricey for such a little bottle of moisturizer but it's definitely worth it! So if your the outdoorsy type this product is just right for you!

Remember Summertime is just around the corner so get your skin care products in check and enjoy the weather!!!
I hope you guys liked this weeks products and thank you for reading!!!

HOW TO: Funky Nail Art

Hey everyone I figured I haven't done a post on anything dealing with nail designs yet so here it is!

Summertime is almost here!!!...with that being said I wanted to try something different on my nails. I love nail art and trying new things so I looked up crazy designs on youtube and found a lot of people doing marble nail art. It's this cool way to create designs on your nails without using nail art polish with those tiny brushes, gel nails, or any other precise technique...all requiring you to hold your hand incredibly steady. This technique I found relatively easy and fun! So let me tell you step by step what I did! I narrowed it down to 10 easy steps!

1. Here are all the materials you will need to successfully do the marble nail art. Gather them all up in the beginning so you won't be looking for everything during the process.

2. Buff your nails to ensure you have a smooth base.

3. Apply tape on the skin around your nails because this process can get a little messy otherwise.

4. Now its time to base your nails with a color (white is preferred but I chose to use a shimmery white).

5. In your choice of cup (container) pour ROOM TEMPERATURE water into it.

6. Take as many nails polishes you want (I chose three) and simply drop a little of each color. Do two cycles of this or as many as you want but two is recommended.

7. Then take a toothpick and use it to move around the nail polishes in the water to make a design. When you've finished making your design place your finger on top of the design and submerge it into the water. Blow on the water for 10 seconds then use another toothpick to collect the excess nail polish in the water.

8. Take your finger out of the water after the 10 seconds and look at your creation.

9. Wait for your nail to dry and remove the tape (I found it easier to remove the tape with the little scissors pictured above).

*Optional step-Determining how messy your nail is use q-tips and cotton balls with nail polish remover on them and clean around the nail.

10. Then put your clear nail polish on and your ready to show them nails OFF girlfriend!!!

Thanks for reading you guys and I will be making another post soon!