Texting Etiquette for Dating

To text or not to text? There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there when it comes to texting etiquette and after thinking about it and discussing it with some friends I have come to the conclusion that if you want to text someone, just go ahead and do it. Don’t over think it, don’t try to cleverly craft a the “perfect text” that takes an hour, several revisions, and at least 3 friend’s approvals. Just send the text you were thinking of and be done with it. Now let’s address some fears: Continue reading “Texting Etiquette for Dating”

My Awkward OkCupid Date Immortalized in Cartoon

I was bored and browsing Twitter the other day (btw let’s be Twitter friends! I’m @blushinginhwood) when I saw OKCupid had posted this:

www.blushinginhollywood.com

I thought “I’m a dating blogger, I’ve got this” and sure enough they picked mine!: Continue reading “My Awkward OkCupid Date Immortalized in Cartoon”

Valentine’s Day Ideas and Events for Singles in LA

Pre-Vday event: Will you be my Haut Valentine? By Living Wholly has the chocolate specialists at Vosges coming to talk about the story behind every chocolate as well as a Love Coach coming to speak on ways to attract more love into your life. Oh and a chocolate tasting and gift bag. It’s before Valentines Day on Thursday 2/12/15 from 7pm-9pm in Beverly Hills. Hey, maybe the Love Coach will be so good you’ll find a date before Saturday? Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Ideas and Events for Singles in LA”

Creative Valentine’s Day Ideas

Ok we’re getting down to the wire here gentlemen it’s very important that you plan and make a reservation/buy tickets to whatever you have decided will be your Valentines Day 2015 activity du jour. I think it’s great that Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday this year because that means we have an entire day to primp (and smell sexy), and can also go out on Friday or Sunday if necessary to avoid crowds. This list includes unique and creative ideas at a variety of price points with most events in Los Angeles, but you can (try) to find something similar wherever you are this Valentine’s day. Here’s some ideas if the thought of a $200 prix fixe menu at a stuffy place with white tablecloths is not your thing:

1. Movie – Ok while not the most creative idea in the world, a movie is always nice. You can of course see 50 Shades of Grey which premiers Valentine’s Day weekend or go for something more innocent like seeing Lady and the Tramp at El Capitan (Tickets $9+). Or stay in and borrow some Oscar screeners from a friend in SAG. Get lots of chocolate/popcorn/snacks and have a snuggly little slumber party. Be sure to light some candles and have flowers (check out my Make Your Home Sexy post) around and don’t just go bare faced in sweats- you want to keep some of the romance alive! Continue reading “Creative Valentine’s Day Ideas”

Get Ready with Me for a First Date Video

Today I have another new video for you! I filmed this a couple weeks ago while I was getting ready for a first date. It shows me going from my work clothes to first date ready. I thought it would be fun to combine the beauty + dating info. I hope you like it! Please don’t forget to subscribe, like, comment, share etc. so I can reach more people 🙂

Some of my first date essentials:

Continue reading “Get Ready with Me for a First Date Video”

How to Take off Makeup in Front of a Boy

Lauren Curtis, a makeup artist and YouTube beauty guru, recently posted a video this week about how to remove makeup in front of boys that turned out to be a bit controversial:

 

 

To summarize the tips are:

1. Take off foundation using a makeup wipe leaving your brows intact. Continue reading “How to Take off Makeup in Front of a Boy”

Use Science to Trick Someone into Falling in Love with You

The NY Times article “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This” has been making the rounds on social media with the “Do This” referring to asking each other increasingly deeper more personal questions and then staring into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes. It’s based on a psychology study where researchers were trying to come up with a closeness-generating paradigm. Here’s a list of the questions (from here):

Set I

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you? Continue reading “Use Science to Trick Someone into Falling in Love with You”

The Worst Gifts To Give a Girl

I asked my girlfriends to tell me the worst gift a guy has ever gotten them and the answers were hilarious. Here I separate them by category for you so you know what not to buy the ladies in your life this holiday season:

1. No gift at all– This was the #1 response, no bueno! Don’t do that thing where you act like the holidays don’t exist either that shit’s not cute.

2. Gifts that are a little TOO creative– One girl was given a painting of herself worth several thousand; a shoddily homemade Starbucks drink sleeve; M&Ms custom made with the couples’ face on them

3. Self help she didn’t ask for– Dietary supplements for working out/protein powder; your mom’s cookbook; a 3 month membership to Equinox that implied a) she needed to workout b) he was cheap and c) they would be together for 3 months Continue reading “The Worst Gifts To Give a Girl”

Not Every Girl Wants a Tiffany Box

I was rushing to get ready for my date and throwing a few things in my clutch. “Shit” I thought in a panic, where had I put my ID? There’s no way I can go on this dinner date without having at least 2 glasses of wine. The first date was bad enough, but I wanted to give this guy a second chance in case he was just nervous… I find my ID and he calls to let me know that he is downstairs to pick me up.

I get in the car and put on a smile and say hello. I’m greeted with a blue Tiffany & Co. box pushed in my face. “Open it! Open it!” he insists “I couldn’t wait to give it to you!” The panic strikes again. “Umm you didn’t have to do this it’s WAY too much. I can’t accept this” I plead, but he makes me open it.

I slowly take the box and the analytical lady in me notices that a) there’s no white ribbon and b) it’s not in a gift bag. I open the box and it’s a sterling silver charm bracelet. It’s the kind that was very popular 15 years ago that was THE item to have in middle and high school. “Thank you, but this is way too much I can’t accept this” I say as I try to hand it back to him. He takes it and puts it on my wrist and I know that this fight is futile so I say thank you and smile for real this time because this is so crazy that I find it amusing.

tiffany-bracelet-in-box
The gifted…or re-gifted Tiffany & Co. Charm Bracelet

I met this guy while walking to my car on a day that I was feeling particularly optimistic and open to something new. I was coming off of my break from dating online and I knew I needed some practice being friendly and open to dating someone.

When I met him he said to me in a sing-song-ey way “My head’s in New York, but my heart’s in LA. The weather is good and the traffic is bad.” and other canned sayings he had obviously said a million times. We all have those so it was no big deal. Then he came to pick me up and he repeated that saying again almost immediately and verbatium “My head’s in NY, but my heart’s in LA. The weather is good and the traffic is bad.” He had a million of these it was like he was speaking in bumper stickers. He was talking the entire time, but never actually SAID anything.

He barely asked me anything more than shallow questions about myself and didn’t ask any follow-up questions. For example when I told him I had a DATING and beauty blog he didn’t ask what it was called or if I was going to write about him. He probably wasn’t even listening.

Here’s some more interesting parts of these dates: Continue reading “Not Every Girl Wants a Tiffany Box”

How To Smell Sexy

Welcome to another installment of the Sexy Series today I’m going to talk about something very important- how to smell sexy. Now for some this may seem like common sense, but even I have had to search a bit to find perfumes, lotions, etc. that smell sexy.

Make Your Skin and Hair Smell Sexy

You want to start at the same place we started when making our homes sexy– cleaning. Guys you should be showering before a date because it takes you about 3 seconds. Ladies you don’t have to wash your hair before every date (who has time for that??), but if your date does fall on a day that you will be lathering up some sexy smelling drugstore shampoo I recommend is John Frieda Full Repair (this also has great reviews BTW). Victoria Secret used to have a line of hair care products called So Sexy that did in fact smell incredibly sexy and elicited many compliments, but unfortunately it’s not available anymore (except for on Amazon and Ebay).

An unexpected place to find sexy scents- Bath and Body Works. Ok don’t laugh I swear this is some of the best stuff for smelling sexy! You may not have stepped into Bath and Body Works since middle school, but they really have some great products that you need to rediscover. One that my BFF introduced me to was the scent Twilight Woods. One the website they describe the scent as “The warmth and mystery of enchanted woods with an enticing blend of apricot nectar, mimosa petals & Tuscan cypress” and I would agree and say it smells warm, sweet, and sultry. I have most of the products available in this scent (body wash, body scrub, body spray, candle), but I especially make sure to use the lotion before a date because it’s super moisturizing, the scent is strong enough that you can actually smell it, and it pairs well with most of my perfumes.

Bath and Body Works also has excellent candles and if you love cologne-type smells or if you’re a man and want your home to smell nice and masculine check out “Mahogany Teakwood“. Even that name makes me think of a lumberjack with a beard. I love this scent so much I have it in my room and car as well. Continue reading “How To Smell Sexy”