March Beauty and Lifestyle Favorites

For beauty products March was all about healthy looking skin and light makeup. Since It's finally warming up it was time to pull out my favorite self tanner of all time! The St. Tropez tanning mousse is fool proof and looks natural every time. 

          

For lips I mostly reached for pinky/mauve shades. I love Stila Liquid Lipstick in Patina over the Fresh Sugar lip balm in tulip. I find that the liquid lipstick isn't as drying as the formulas from other brands, but I still find it more comfortable once I layer it over the Sugar balm.

Shaving my legs has never been the same since I ditched the shaving cream and started using the Tree Hut shave oil. Unlike shaving cream the shave oil adds moisture which is perfect for people like me with dry skin. I get a nice close shave all while caring for my skin. Score!

The Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield is a game changer! While it is $65 for an ounce it is worth every penny. I find myself using such a small amount that the bottle also lasts me a very long time. Essentially the Perfecting Shield is an SPF 30 sunscreen with anti aging benefits that also serves as a blurring primer. It is so lightweight and perfect as a primer under your makeup, but also looks beautiful on its own for those makeup free days. 

My skin has been looking really good lately so I find myself using foundation less often and instead reaching for a lightweight BB or CC cream and pairing it with a good concealer. Lately I've been using the Dr. Jart Beauty Balm and have been loving it! It has SPF 45 and brightens your skin while evening out your skin tone. This BB cream is also beautiful under your foundation if you like a little more coverage, but during the warmer months I prefer a more simple makeup routine.

My last favorite I want to share is the Marc Jacobs Gel Eyeliner. I was sent two different colors to try from Influenster and ended up loving them! These glide on so smoothly and have so much pigmentation. They allow you a few seconds to smudge the liner before it dries and then won't budge. It looks so beautiful! The claims are that it is waterproof which I can say is not entirely true. While they are very long lasting, they don't always stand up to my watery eyes from allergies so I try to only use them when my allergies aren't acting up or only on my top lid if they are.

Spring Style Instagram Roundup

I've been a busy bee around here, but it's so hard to stay away from those outdoor walks with all this gorgeous weather we've been having out here in California! I've been taking full advantage and busting out all my cute off the shoulder dresses and tops. There are so many cute styles available this season and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been having a hard time holding back! We actually did get a bit a rain though, but those are my favorite so I don't mind throwing on a nice comfy sweater to cuddle on the couch with Kitty with. Shop these looks below!

Instagram Outfit Roundup

This was such an exciting week! Beauty and the Beast came out and it is MAGICAL! Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite Disney movie by far. It was only recently that I realized why. Belle taught me so much at an early age that really shaped me as the woman I am today. It was because of her fearlessness to want more even though it made her an outcast. She wasn't afraid to be herself regardless of the cost. I often talk to my hunny about how growing up I never fit in. I was teased for loving to learn and couldn't relate to all the people around me who were perfectly fine to just always settle. Yet through that I didn't care. Nothing stopped me from being myself or even spending a second contemplating it and I never understood why until now. It was because of Belle! She made me feel like that was ok. Being different was ok.

And that stayed with me into my young adult years. While everybody around me was getting married and having kids in their early 20s, all I wanted to do was go to college and have a great career. I've always been able to hold true to who I am and what I want out of life and I have Beauty and the Beast to thank for that. For so many years I didn't quite understand just how much that movie meant to my 6 year old, 13 year old, 23, and now 28 year old self, but now that I do I can't help but love it even more. It's the type of movie all little girls should learn from. Where the girl isn't rescued by the prince and is sure of who she is without the help of anyone.

If you haven't gone to the movies yet to watch the new Beauty and the Beast adaption then I really suggest that you do. I cannot recommend the movie enough. It is the perfect blend of the charming Beauty and the Beast we know and love and the beauty and elegance of Marie Antoinette. I'm ready to go watch it again!

What I wore this week:

From above:

              Off Shoulder Top, Rebecca Minkoff Bag, Steve Madden Wedges, Similar Jeans

Spring Gingham

Spring is already in full swing here in California! The almond blossoms have bloomed and started falling to the ground resulting in the perfect photo op, so I took advantage.

Read on for details

Powering through a major lifestyle change

It's been a long road and many, MANY years of struggles to get to this point, but I finally have some answers and I'm finally feeling GREAT!

For as long as I can remember I have struggled with a weak immune system and fatigue, but as I got older the list of symptoms I was experiencing was getting bigger and bigger. I dealt with joint issues, depression, colds, migraines, the list goes on and on. I've always been a healthy eater, exercised regularly and had no medical reasons that would explain away all my seemingly unrelated ailments. It wasn't until a couple of months ago, after a lot of research and an extensive elimination diet that I finally found out that my issues were related to gluten. Yep, I am now one of those people.