Romance – Blushing in Hollywood

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”

Sexy Series – Making Your Home Sexy

Welcome to a new mini-series here on Blushing in Hollywood all about how to make and keep things sexy in your relationship. If you are single and dating these tips are also going to be very helpful. I think people can get in a rut where your partner starts to feel just like a buddy, but it’s important to keep the romance alive.

First of all, a clean home is a sexy home so this is going to take some work on your part. The good news is that it’s your home so you’ll reap the benefits even when the date is over!

Should You Delete Pictures of Exes on Facebook?

A friend recently posed a question to me and I want to know what you think: should you keep pictures of exes up on Facebook? What if they are making a new partner feel insecure? See what I said and let me know what you think in the comments.

A friend came to me this week with a question. He has been dating a great girl for 2 months and recently she confessed to him that she had to de-friend him on Facebook because he had so many pictures of his (recent) ex-girlfriend and the ex-girlfriend was so beautiful it was making her feel insecure. He assured her that the ex is in the past, he’s with her because he wants to be with her and she has nothing to worry about.

My 2 cents: I told him that while it’s not an ideal scenario at least she told him how she was honestly feeling instead of keeping it inside and acting weird in other situations where he would have no clue what was wrong (which the majority of girls would do in my opinion). I told him if it’s in the past and he doesn’t care, just delete the pictures! Save them in a hidden folder if you want the memories down the road, but for now take them off Facebook. If this relationship doesn’t work out because of this or for any other reason it’s not going to help him in future relationships to have tons of pictures of his ex on Facebook anyway. This is a time when they are trying to build trust and if he really doesn’t care he should be more flexible and more sensitive to her feelings.

I’ve been informally polling my friends on their thoughts on this and another said that this is a red flag and that you should be cautious dating someone this insecure and jealous. They said that they have pictures up of their exes and it’s just memories of the past and they are friends with their exes now so it would be weird if they took all the pictures down. I kind of think it’s a minor flaw in the grand scheme of things if the person is great in many other ways. Most of my girl friends say they do snoop Facebook to look at exes out of curiosity and while sometimes they feel insecure if they’re particularly beautiful, overall it just satisfies that curiosity and allows you a glimpse into your partners past without interrogating them or seeming too interested. Some even go as far as looking at exgirlfriend’s friends to see more pictures of said ex-girlfriend.

While scrolling through my own pictures I realized that I have pictures with a few exes, but they are buried within tons of selfies and pictures with friends and it’s hard to tell whether I’m standing next to a male friend or an ex. When I scrolled through the pictures my guy friend who had this issue in the first place’s pictures I realized that he had 70+ of this ex (they had dated for a few years) with him, with groups of friends, just by herself, etc. in his “Photos” aka no digging through old albums because he was tagged in all of these. Thinking back though, this guy showed me lots of photos in real albums of him as a kid and growing up the very first time I met him so maybe he is just a very sentimental person who likes to hold onto visual memories in the form of pictures?

Most importantly, he and I want to know what you think!! After a break-up do you delete pictures of exes? Untag? If you’re dating someone new and they made a comment would you delete the pictures of your ex? Would you think they were insane or it was a red flag that they were asking? Does it depend on if you really like the person a whole bunch vs. you’re not too sure about them? Please comment and let us know!!!

Continue reading “Should You Delete Pictures of Exes on Facebook?”

Fall Date Ideas in Los Angeles

Ok so this week I wanted to mix it up a little bit and since I’ve already given you suggestions on how to go from chatting to going on a real date on Tinder I figured I’d give you some suggestions on what to do on said date. These ideas aren’t just for first dates they work for any couple or they’re great activities to do with your friends too. They can also be generalized to other cities outside of LA. I have a lot of ideas for October/Halloween so these are pretty September-specific.

1. Go to a baseball game. Did you know that couples who attend baseball games are more likely to stay together over the long haul than those who don’t? Baseball games are nice because unlike the movie theater you can talk until your heart’s content and the game gives you a few hours to get to know each other. If you or your girl are not super into sports you can have fun trying all the fattening stadium food (see my Carne Asada Fries from the Anaheim Angels stadium below), have a beer, and enjoy each other’s company. You can also get close at the night games when it gets a little chilly. September is the last month of regular season baseball. Here’s the Dodger’s September 2014 schedule and Los Angeles (Anaheim) Angels September 2014 schedule.

Picture I took at an Anaheim Angels game on 8/31/14. Doesn't this look like a nice place to relax and get to know someone? — Picture I took at an Anaheim Angels game on 8/31/14. Doesn’t this look like a nice place to relax and get to know someone?

Carne Asada Fries at the Anaheim Angels Stadium

2. The Hollywood Bowl – Ok so this one is pretty LA specific, but it can be generalized to “check out an outdoors concert”. The Hollywood Bowl is a summer thing so there’s only a few shows left this month. I love going and bringing a bottle of wine, a blanket, some cheeses, a baguette, Trader Joe’s Red Pepper spread, and some chocolates and just relaxing. If that’s too complicated pick up a picnic basket at The Oaks Gourmet. One show this month that both of you might enjoy is Fireworks Finale: The Simpsons Take the Bowl because who doesn’t like fireworks and The Simpsons?? Here’s the Hollywood Bowl September 2014 schedule. There’s also only two Santa Monica Pier Twilight Concerts left (Thursday 9/4 and 9/11 at 7pm) and two more weekends of Grand Performances in Downtown LA if you’re looking to hear a free concert with more of a range of genres.

Continue reading “Fall Date Ideas in Los Angeles”

My First Grouper Experience

When I first heard about the concept of Grouper I was intrigued, but instantly was turned off by it. Grouper is a social club that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends: 3 guys and 3 girls. I immediately thought, but what if the guy I like likes one of my friends? That always sucks when that happens! You also get no choice as to who you are set up with so it’s a totally blind group date (except you know what your 2 friends look like because you invite them). You also have to pay for Grouper and I have never used a dating site I had to pay for. Grouper costs $20 per person plus a 10% tip for your server which covers their introduction and concierge service and a free first round of drinks at the bar they select for you (the concierge part).

Grouper is actually not claiming to be setting you up on a date and people who sign up don’t have to be single (but God would I be annoyed to go out with a group of guys who were all in relationships wtf). They are planning a night for you with the perfect girl to guy ratio and giving you ideas on how to make it fun. These ideas include preparing “two truths and a lie” before the date for a fun discussion or playing the iPhone game “Phrase Party”. I will say that going on a Grouper definitely takes a lot of the pressure off of the conversations you’re having and you feel less like you’re on a job interview and more like you’re hanging out with friends which is nice. Going out with friends also forces you to be a more authentic version of yourself because your friends might call your ass out or tell the embarrassing stories you might have tried to avoid which does help you get to know each other much faster. It also forces you to actually make a plan instead of getting stuck in chatting or messaging back and forth purgatory.

Continue reading “My First Grouper Experience”

No, I Don’t Want to Grab a Drink

Ah one of my least favorite date invitations right behind “When are we gonna hang out?” And “Let’s go (insert sporty or outdoor activity that involves me sweating) as one of our first dates!” Now this invitation may seem innocuous enough especially if you’ve been out of the dating scene for a while, but let me explain why I don’t like it: Continue reading “No, I Don’t Want to Grab a Drink”

Tinder Tips Tuesday #2

The Profile

What to write in that little blurb? Here’s some things to consider not writing:

1. “The baby in the picture is NOT MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M A PROUD UNCLE OK STOP ASKING!!!!” – Woah calm down.

2. “I guess everyone is putting their heights? That’s like a thing? So here’s mine 5’5” – The reason why you need to put your height is because when you’re crouching down to pet a tiger or taking a shirtless bathroom selfie I can’t really get a gauge as to how tall you are/how much I’ll potentially be towering over you. As much fun as it is to try to figure out how many Axe body sprays tall you might be from the bathroom pic and convert that, I’d rather you take the detective work out of it and just tell me.

3. Ok those are all the tips you get because if you’re inspired to go on and on about how great you are or how much money you have or how much you hate sluts PLEASE do so we all know which way to swipe.