Winter Beauty Secrets

Hey Preps!

I hate being cold.  Hate it.  I love snow, and skiing, but I hate ice, freezing temperatures, and everything associated with temperatures below 50 degrees.  So, lucky for Pittsburgh, we got lots of snow...the day after Christmas (weather stinks at timing)...and hear I sit next to my space heater.  Avoiding the lingering task of cleaning off my car from the ice that has covered it.

Another thing I struggle with is the dryness in the air thanks to the cold weather.  Sure, I love the west, and hope to be in California by next fall...but at the same time, dry weather means dry skin...so what's a girl to do when the weather isn't doing her beauty routine any favors?  I have found a few tricks that really make all the difference:

Winter Beauty by pittsburghprep featuring a metal nail polish

1. Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream is a life-saver.  It is a moisturizer, evens skin-tone, covers blemishes (without clogging pores), and is a sunscreen.  Although I use a different BB Cream during the summer months, I really like this particular one during the winter.  It is a little bit thicker, and I feel like it is a great alternative to foundation.  As a personal trainer, I am constantly on the go.  I don't have time to always wash my face between classes or clients, and if I were to wear a powder, it would wear off and clog my pores.  This is a much better make-up routine for me that keeps me looking natural and has lots of skin benefits (like preventing dryness). 
2. Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm is great for winter months.  I am one of those people who always seems to be suffering from chapped lips.  Wearing lip stick always dries out my lips, so for the longest time, I felt as if I was limited to just plain lip balms and glosses.  Finally, there is a great tinted lip balm that gives me the extra hint of natural color I need, combined with the moisturizing (and great feeling/smelling) balm that keeps my lips soft.
3. Every girl wants an easy make-up routine that doesn't take all the time in the world to accomplish.  It's easy to accomplish in the summer when we are at the beach with our dewy bronzed suntans and humid weather.  Leave it to winter to destroy our tan and our dewy skin.  Get that natural, summer feel with a light shimmery powder like Stila All Over Shimmer Powder.  I love this duo.  It doesn't drastically change the color of your skin, but is a great way to illuminate your cheeks, and T-zone to give you a natural, glowy, look.
4. Another issue with losing the sun-kissed tan, is the qualities we hate tend to show a little bit more...under-eye circles are no fun.  People think you are sick, tired, etc.  thanks to them and as we get paler, our under-eye circles become more predominant.  Stop that with Almay Under-eye Concealer.  I love it.  I have used it for years.  It doesn't crease or create fine lines after you put it on, and it really brightens up your face.  
5. Another issue with dry weather means, frizzy, knotty, static hair.  I naturally have fine hair, so in the winter, my hair gets tangled easily, and I feel as if I am fighting an uphill battle.  I started using Moroccan Oil a year ago, and have seen a world of difference in my hair.  I just put about a dime size in my hair when it's wet combined with a little leave-in conditioner.  No more split-ends, no more tangles, and my hair feels so soft and healthy.  Moroccan Oil helps protect you hair, and gives back some of the natural oils your hair is stripped of during a shower, and during the winter months.
6. Back to the whole chapped lips thing, I have found my miracle kit in Fabulips Treatment Kit.  It comes with a lip wash, scrub, balm, and plumper.  I use it when my lips get really chapped.  It even tastes good.  The balm is thick and really helps give moisture back to your lips...and what girl doesn't love a lip plumper.
7. Essie is my go-to nail polish brand.  They come out with seasonal colors that are unique, and fun to use.  I am a huge glitter fanatic.  Especially during the winter months, so above I picked one of the colors I have been rocking quit a bit lately, combined with a top-coat of clear glitter.  Perfecto!

Stay warm, and chapped lips free!

God bless y'all!

The Terrible Twos, and the Art of Decision-Making

Hey Preps!

Flying is a win-lose game.

Today I lost...the result?

Taking a selfie for y'alls enjoyment on the plane. 

Decisions.  Every day we make thousands of them whether they are food choices, creating our schedule, or determining what we love/hate in life.  Sometimes we really stink at making them.  We look back at times in our lives and think, "What a doofus! Why did I do that!? What was I thinking!?".

Most of the time, those decisions we thought were such a big deal at that given point in our life, are not as big as they seemed when looking back.  Sometimes those decisions result in a humorous story (even if it wasn't so humorous at the time).

Then there are the decisions we look back and wish we could change them.  I wish I had majored in...(you fill in the blank).  I wish I had moved to...I wish I hadn't quit....
Some decisions are more life altering than we wish they had been.  For example, I often joke about how as an 18-year-old going to college; with all of these ideals of what college would be like in my head, I made a decision to attend a school based off of things that are no longer important to me.

How was I to know that as a young, whimsical, 18-year-old girl?  I couldn't.

We can spend our whole lives regretting decisions we made.  I would be successful if I had done...If I had gone to this school, I would have the ability to do....

What good does that do?

For example, I am currently on a flight back to Pittsburgh, after having an interview at Stanford this past week.  So, if I were to land the job that I interviewed for...I would have a huge life decision of whether to pack up my bags and move cross country away from everything I know or not.  Sure, it's something I am sweating a little bit about...but I know that at age 50 I will look back on the decision and smile either way.

Then I made the decision of climbing on to my plane...and sitting right in front of a terrible two year old.  She has cried, kicked my seat, and pulled my hair for the past three hours.  My decision for an appealing window seat with no one sitting on either seat next to me was too much for my fast decision making nerves in my brain to resist, and without rationalizing the miserable feats of the terrible twos, I slung my bag down and happily plopped into my spacious spot.

A decision I deemed so desirable and pleasant initially has resulted in no sleep, and one heck of an uncomfortable and loud plane ride (also has clarified that I am so far from ready to have any children in my life anytime soon).

Isn't it funny how one teeny decision can result in a festering of ideas, events, and interactions in your life?

I wish I could tell you the magic formula on how to make 'the right' decision, however, I am far from figuring that one out yet myself.  I guess for me, and my random plane ponderings, I have decided that every decision that you make, helps you to grow into a better, smarter, and stronger person.  Who can maybe make better decisions based off of what they have discovered in their past.  Sometimes it's good to reflect on our past and to see how far we have come since then...yet at least for me, I am going to continue to keep striving for an even better future, living in the moment, yet hopefully getting better at planning and making decisions in my life.  I hope you will do the same.

I mean...no one wants to repeat their terrible twos...or high school for that matter....

Keep striving to be the best you can be!

God bless y'all!