So I have a new dating book that I will not shut up about. It has such a cheesy title, but tons of excellent advice and it’s called “You Lost Him at Hello”
The book talks about many things that are in every dating/self-help book (for a reason)- knowing and loving yourself, being confident, looking your best in order to feel confident, becoming a more interesting person (be the person your ideal person would want to date), etc. It also made some good points I had never thought about: Continue reading “My New Favorite Dating Book”
I started Blushing in Hollywood because I wanted to make a YouTube channel, but didn’t have a proper camera. The blog seemed like a good way to dip my toe into the online beauty community and to talk about my other favorite topic- dating. One thing I love about the blog is although it hasn’t created its own “beauty community” it still connects me to people constantly. I love when friends I haven’t talked to in years send me Facebook messages or texts asking for beauty advice!
One thing I didn’t realize about blogging before I started was the endless learning process it becomes. From HTML to SEO, graphic design, wordpress.com vs. .org, image optimization, Google analytics, legal terms and conditions, lighting, camera specs, etc. I’ve learned a TON this past year. I figured you just started a free blog and wrote some good content and then people would read it and send you cool free stuff and you’d make money, but nope it’s not quite that simple. I definitely need to thank all of my friends and family for their support with the blog! It wouldn’t be what it is today without their encouragement, ideas, support, help, etc. Thank you all!! If you’re thinking about starting a blog just go for it! You don’t have to be the best at anything or be an expert to share what you love and what you’re passionate about.
I thought it might be fun for the first birthday/anniversary of BIH to post the
With all of the advertising and marketing in the beauty industry it’s very hard to tell what is going to work and what will not. This is so important because who wants to waste $$$ on a product that does not live up to it’s claims? So how do you research a products claims and find out if it contains ingredients that will actually make your skin better? This is where one of my favorite websites Beautypedia comes in. Beautypedia was started by Paula Begoun who is known as the cosmetics cop. For decades now she has been breaking down ingredient lists vs. manufacturer claims to de-mistify the (sometimes) fuzzy beauty science and to educate the masses. Whenever you sign on to Instagram, Youtube, open a magazine, see a commercial, etc. you’re constantly being bombarded with “This is the one! The product that will make you flawless and fix all of your skin’s problems! BUY NOW!!” and Paula helps you separate the BS from the truly beneficial products.
The other thing I like about her site is that you can choose how deeply you want to plunge into the scientific knowledge behind ingredients. You can find out if a product contains sodium hyaluronate acid and what the hell that means, or you can just find out if the MAC Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation lives up to it’s claims or not (PS it does according to beautypedia and now I really want to try it!).
Growing up in Florida and now living in Los Angeles I see a whole lot of sunshine. When I was younger I loved to lay out and bake. I wanted to be as tan as my fair skin would let me so I’d slather myself with oil and stay by the pool all day or go to the tanning beds occasionally. I knew it would all catch up with me eventually, but I didn’t think eventually would be at age 27.
There I was in stirrups at my annual gynecological exam (as if that day couldn’t get any worse) when my doctor. points to a mole over my heart and says “You need to see a Dermatologist about that. If I could take it off right this minute I would.” “Great” I thought, “yet another doctor’s appointment to schedule.” Luckily I was motivated by the fact that it was the end of the year and I had already met my high deductible so I went to see my dermatologist (who I was already getting annual skin cancer checks from) to get the mole biopsied.
When the biopsy came back unfortunately the results showed that it was Melanoma. This meant I had to go back and get it removed along with some of the healthy skin around it to ensure the entire thing was gone and would not spread.
This is right after my melanoma (skin cancer) mole was removed in January 2014
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!! I wanted to share some love today by showing you my favorite Valentine’s Day tutorials. These definitely can be worn any day of the year, but I wanted to show you them to share some inspo:
I LOVED this look by LoveMelisaMichelle because it’s sexy and super GLAM for those girls looking for a very full face look it’s kind of similar to my Jade Smokey Eye look:
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”
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”
So now that I’ve had a chance to use my purchases from the 2014 Sephora VIB sale I wanted to give a quick review on them and let you know what I think. I especially wanted to get this up because Sephora sent out another perk for VIB members which is $20 off your purchase of $50 or more and the holidays are coming up so I’m sure you want to know what gifts are worth it.
1. Smashbox Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Foundation Primer ($39) – So far I’m happy with this little guy. The product is a little thick so you have to warm it up on your finger tips before you apply it. You then want to kind of push and roll your fingers into your skin to best cover your pores. When I’ve applied it and look in the mirror there’s no huge “WOW where have my pores gone!?” reaction, but it feels silicon-ey and smooth and blurs your face a tiny bit. The main thing I like about it is that I think it controls my oily skin without making my face too dry which is a delicate balance. My foundation maybe looks slightly better on top of this vs. without it, but it’s not anything that a slower more intentional application of the foundation couldn’t replicate or beat. It maybe keeps my makeup on a tiny bit longer as well, but again no huge day and night transformation. It’s supposed to last for up to eight hours, but I usually have my makeup on for about 12-14 hours per day. Overall I’d recommend this if you’re oily, if you’ve liked Smashbox primers in the past, and if you aren’t counting on it to change your life. It would also be good if you’re sweating or somewhere that’s humid because it’s supposed to be resistant to those things.
2. Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 07 Dark Berry ($13) – I got this because I want to be Samantha aka ssssamanthaa on Instagram from Batalash (see video below), but instead I look like I’m failing miserably at trying to look like Lorde. I’ve only worn this around the house to try it because it is BOLD as hale. It smells really nice like the Stila Stay All Day Lip Colors a nice cake scent. It stayed pretty well and I don’t remember my lips feeling too dry and crispy. I hope I’m brave enough to wear it out into the world one day, but we’ll see. The color is really cool and I’d recommend it if you want to try something new and fun I just don’t know if I’m cool enough to rock it yet.
3. L’Occitane Voyage En Provence Set ($39) – Ugh I haven’t used all of the products in this set so far, but so far I’m super disappointed. I had very high expectations for this especially for the famous She Butter Ultra Rich Body Lotion and it was nothing special. The scent was whatever and it’s not super thick or long lasting or curative to very dry skin or anything like I was expecting. I would not recommend this and I’m wary of buying more products from L’Occitane now even though so many people are obsessed! I’d recommend this to no one because I hate it and I’m pissed. The more I think about it and write about it the more I think wow why am I not returning this to Sephora I don’t need products to travel with so desperately that I need to keep this $39 set!
4. Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup in color 2.0 ($39) – I knew this guy was not going to be the perfect fit because it’s a luminous light weight virtually invisible foundation and deep down I’m a full coverage kind of girl. It’s very thin and fluid-like and reminds me of the bareMinerals bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation in that it’s luminous and nice for a day that you want to look natural and take a break from full cake face mode. This would probably work better for me at night because when I wear these luminous foundations during the day I get oily and then they’re a mess, but the problem is that I want full coverage when I go out at night. This does have build able coverage though which is good. I need to experiment with it a bit more to figure out how it can work best for me. I wish it had sunscreen in it. I’d recommend this to someone that wants to look younger (a more sheer, luminous foundation will make you look younger than a matte full coverage one), someone that already has pretty good skin and doesn’t need a ton of coverage, and someone with dry, normal, or combo skin.
5. Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush ($25) – This is a vegan brush that was developed to work with the Naked Skin foundation and overall I like it a lot. It blends out the makeup quickly and evenly. I have used it with both the super thin Naked Skin foundation and the super thick BECCA foundation. I’m back to using my tried and true Beauty Blender, but when I mix it up I love using this guy. I’d recommend it to someone looking for a good foundation brush to use with liquid foundation. I think the price point on this is great and very reasonable for the quality.
6. BECCA Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme in Buff ($44) – YASSSSSSS hunny. I am absolutely loving this foundation and I’m using it everyday and at night for going out as well. It is super full coverage and gives you a very flawless finish. I normally use a generous amount of foundation so when I accidentally put two whole pumps on my beauty blender and then went to blend it out and I was wearing a serious mask (which was fine for that day, but meant I don’t need to use as much in the future  because it’s so pigmented). This foundation is easy to blend but the only thing you have to look out for is once it dries (relatively quickly in 1-3 minutes) it is DRY and SET so don’t try to blend it out again because you will just mess it up. This foundation lasts me all day and/or night long and keeps me relatively matte without drying me out too much. Once it’s on it doesn’t feel super heavy or cakey which is nice for how full coverage and pigmented it is. I spent at least an hour trying to figure out online which color to get in this and while I like to think I picked the best match I do definitely have to blend it very well down my neck and blend very very well if I’m wearing my hair up. This foundation color is also super yellow which I like because I think it balances out my redness, but I know not everyone likes super yellow foundation. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a full coverage foundation with great coverage and staying power who has normal to oily skin. This is my favorite thing I bought. This price tag is a little high, but I’m hoping that since it’s so pigmented that I will use less and it will last me longer (fingers crossed!) Here’s a pic of me wearing it:
Pic I posted on Insty of me wearing BECCA Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme www.blushinginhollywood.com
As a person that has been socialized since birth to people-please (aka a woman) I understand how difficult it is to say no when someone asks you on a date. Today I’m going to talk about turning someone down via text message/Facebook messenger/email/etc. because turning someone down in person is a much different. When you’re in person and you’re a girl being asked out by a guy you have to worry (unfortunately) about your safety so that will be a different post.
This all stems from a man asking me out via text recently who I needed to maintain a positive relationship with for professional reasons. I think this comes up a lot when you’re asked out by a work colleague or a Starbucks barista or friend of a friend that you’re going to run into a lot and it gets tricky. If you give a creepy stranger your phone number so he will leave you alone you have my permission to never respond to him ever and block him if he harasses you. Same goes for a guy on a dating website who you have barely chatted with- no response necessary. Another twist comes when you’re not sure if someone is asking you on a date and you don’t want to presume they are and be incorrect because that’s awkward. For example, a single work colleague of your preferred sex texting you “Hey want to grab drinks?” Here’s how to handle it if the answer is “No.”: Continue reading “How To Say No To a Date”
