Home Pedicure

Hey chicas! Finally I have my wireless internet working on my new laptop. Apparently my modem was outdated and needed an upgrade. Now I'm having another major issue...trying to transfer my files/work from my old laptop onto a jump drive, the jump drive got locked somehow and requires some password to unlock...which I DON'T HAVE! So I'm praying I find a way to unlock this thing or I'm gonna lose a lot of my work :-( Major bummer!

Oh well, enough sulking. So springtime isn't far off and soon we'll be pulling out our peep toe shoes and strappy sandals, but let's do a feet-check first! I know a lot of us neglect our feet in the winter because no one sees them...but this is really the time to take care of your feet because the cold air sucks the moisture right out of your skin. So today I'm going to tell you how to give yourself a pedicure at home, and save those $30!! I don't know about you but I can think of a lot of things I could do with $30! So let's get to it.

First things first, remove any nail polish and soak your feet for about 10 minutes in very warm water (as warm as you can stand it). Add some type of foot soak crystal or even Epsom salt. This will help to cleanse and detoxify, and soften up any dead skin so it can be easily removed.

Moisturize the cuticles witha foot cream or oil and gently push the cuticles back. CAREFULLY trim to dead cuticle skin away. Clip the nails to your desired length and file evenly. You may prefer a squaqre shaped nail or a round shaped nail. My suggestion is to go with the square shaped--it looks better on the toes. Make sure you clean any diret from under the nails either before or after filing.

The next thing to do (and one of the most important) is to take a pumice stone and scrub the dead skin off the heels and any other rough areas. I absolutely hate seeing women wearing sandals when their heels are dry and cracked--gross chicas! If your heels are in this condition, you'll want to do the saking process for a little longer; maybe about 15-20 minutes. This will soften up your feet even more.

After you done all your cleaning, scrubbing and filing, moisturize the feet well. Double moisturize if you have to or even add a little olive oil. Now all that's left to do is paint them with a clear coat and the color of your choice! But don't be messy. If you get polish on the skin around the nail, put some nail polish remover on a Q-tip and clean it up. Do this is every 2-3 weeks to keep your feet nice and soft, and keep your wallet in your purse! :-)

And as I always say...until next time, take care & take charge! Later chicas!

**picture credit to spapartyevent on Photobucket.com**

Morning chicas! Sorry for no blog post since Sunday! My wireless internet card decided to NOT be compatible with my new laptop so I have to get another one I guess. I'll def have a post for you tonight though!

I am actually considering doing video blog posts...at least once a week. Of course I will be adding video makeup tutorials, but I'm thinking of adding regular blog entries by video as well! I'll be sure to give updates via twitter & facebook to keep you up to speed. 

I think I'll film my first tutorial tonight! Maybe a Valentine's Day inspired look! :-) It'll be fun to play around with pink! Anyway, I'll be back with a "real" post later. I'm actually posting this entry from my phone, so I can't upload pics or anything. Until then chicas, take care & take charge. Muah!

P.S...don't forget to become a follower & leave comments!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Change Culture Clothing Photoshoot

Hola Chicas! I'm sooo glad it's Friday...ready to get my weekend started! I have to work tomorrow but it's a short day so I can get over it.

I was going to post this blog on Wednesday, but I got the impromptu idea to talk about premature aging instead. But I am excited to share the raw pics from the shoot I did last weekend. It was for a designer of a Christian clothing company called Change Culture Clothing. This was actually my first time applying makeup on male models but I wasn't nervous surprisingly. I had been doing a lot of studying on the technique. It's different with men because you don't want them to actually look like they're wearing makeup. Aaaand I think I set a record on my time of application--I did 2 girls and 3 guys in about 3 hours! Go me!! LOL! Here are some of the pics from the shoot (these aren't the professional ones from the photographer--just with our personal cameras):

This is the designer, Markeius Coley (also known as Marc Coley, lol)

working the face of one of the models; I was starving around this time...lol.

more preliminary pics...

Those are just a few I jacked from the designer's FB page! I'm still waiting to get my DVD with the real pics. I'll have the professional ones up hopefully in the next few days! I'll let you know when they're posted. I pray you all have a great weekend, be back with another post probably on Sunday. Until then chicas, take care & take charge! :-)

**Don't forget to follow and leave comments**

Aging Gracefully

Hey chicas! Happy Humpday! Today is Monday for me though, since I was off work Monday and yesterday…back to the daily grind however.

Today’s blog topic was a last minute idea; let me tell you why. I met someone the other day and we were just chatting; she asked how I was. I told her I was 28 and she was shocked—she thought I was a lot younger than that. So naturally, I asked her age also. I was super shocked when she said her age, which was much younger than mine! She looked a lot older; if I had to guess, I would have said maybe 30! It made me start thinking about the different things that cause use to age faster than normal.

The first factor that came to mind was STRESS! Sometimes as women we get so consumed with trying to juggle all of our many jobs (work, school, kids, husband, friends, budgeting the finances, cleaning house, cooking, washing, etc.), that we take no time for ourselves. It’s important to wind down and relax at the end of every day (I am guilty of not doing this so I won’t point the finger). It’s actually been proven that stress causes premature aging. When you’re stressed out all the time, the edges of your cells actually begin to wither up, which means your body is aging faster. This shows up especially in the face (premature lines and wrinkles on the forehead, around the mouth, and around the eyes).

So what’s up with the wrinkles? Well, as your cells began to wither and shrivel, your skin loses elasticity and firmness, which means wrinkles ladies (and gents, lol)!! Yes, it’s important to moisturize everyday, but that’s only good for a while and doesn’t get to the root of the problem.

Here are some ways to help fight premature aging:

1. Decrease stress – relax with a bubble bath at the end of day, have a cup of hot tea (green tea is great) to wind down, do a puzzle…whatever eases your mind and gives you peace.
2. Get more exercise – just doing 20 minutes a day can help; make it fun to do by dancing to your favorite song!
3. Drink plenty of water – we’ve all heard this before. Need I say more?
4. Eat healthier foods – there are several anti-aging foods that you can add to your diet including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, spinach, kale, broccoli, salmon, nuts, and DARK CHOCOLATE (yum)! These foods are high in anti-oxidants, which form a protective barrier around your cells to help fight that withering process.

So, how do you know where you are on the age meter? There’s actually a test you can do to check the elasticity of your skin: grab the skin on the back of your hand and gently pull it up. Let it go and see how quickly it bounces back into place. If it goes back slowly, you’re def losing elasticity. You’ll need to get a move on combating the aging process asap.

To sum it all up, we’re all going to age one way or another. But we can age gracefully by doing some simple things. Of course I could add to that list, but I won’t overwhelm you with information. Hopefully what I’ve given you so far has been insightful. Until next time chicas, take care and take charge! :-)

**Don’t forget to become a follower & leave comments!!**

Giveaway For A Lucky Follower!!!!

OMG! I have been locked out of my blog account since earlier this week so that's why you haven't seen a post since Tuesday! And I had a very exciting weekend in Atlanta so I wasn't able to try to figure out my password. I went to the Battle of the Bands at the Georgia Dome and it was really good! They had a lot of great bands but I think Southern University had the hottest band; their performance along with great formations really made them stand out to me. I had dinner at Maggiano's later that night and it was the most romantic setting, not to mention the food was fabulous. I love that place (wish Columbus had one). To end the night, we went to Cafe 290 with my brother to check out some live jazz music; that was a great atmosphere too! Of course I couldn't go to Atlanta without hitting up the MAC store a Perimeter Mall. I grabbed about 8 new matte eyeshadows and an empty palette, and THEY BROUGHT BACK THE BEIGE-ING SHADESTICK!!! I almost got two of those! I was so mad when they discontinued it, but I'm happy again! :-) Okay enough of the babbling about my great weekend; I'm sure you want to know the details of the giveway. I need more followers of my blog so this contest is the promo for more followers!

This is my first GIVEAWAY CONTEST!!!! It's so easy and simple for you to win! First, let me tell you the prizes:

• MAC cosmetics kit including 2 eyeshadows, blush, and lip gloss
• Travel brush kit from Essence of Beauty
• Free 30 minute beauty consultation with yours truly

So, how do you win??? You only have to do two things: 1) become a follower of this blog, and 2) leave a comment on this post telling me why you'd like to win. It's that easy!!! I'll randomly pick a winner on February 15 but I need at least 50 followers to do that...so make sure you tell your friends to follow & leave a comment too! I'll extend the contest until the end of the month if I don't have 50 followers by the deadline. I'm looking forward to announcing the winner of my first giveaway!! There will be many more to come so if you're not the lucky winner, stay tuned to be informed of other opportunities to win great prizes. Good luck chicas! Take care & take charge! :-)

Next post: Change Culture Clothing photo shoot w/ designer Markeius Coley.