Beach Sand Beauty Uses For FREE!

 Ahhhh----who DOESN'T love the beach?!?!


Well as we now live here- I find that due to being in the sun more- YES, believe it or not, I AM in the sun A LOT...I just SWEAR & worship sunscreen.....my skin does get more dry sometimes. :-/ I do LOVE what the sun does to my skin as it clears it up & just makes me feel better in general. 


But...after buying quite a few "spa" exfoliating products for quite a nice chunk of money- I thought...why not try beach sand?


Beach sand is natural- so you have NO chemicals or unknown ingredients, which I love! I ***try*** and do it 2 times a week, but usually get once a week at home & once a week on the actual beach. Did you know exfoliating can actually HELP FIGHT the signs of aging? Not that I'm worried about that.....;) It also lets your pores be open & breathe easier- which in my case results in a hundred times less breakouts & blemishes. :D


AT THE BEACH: I scrub everywhere that's publicly appropriate with beach sand. Not to where I am red & stinging, but just to where I feel like it's getting a LOT of the dead skin off. I concentrate on my legs,hands & feet! Then I get into the water & allow the salt water to rinse it all off & make me feel soft & smooth. Here is the MUST though- after you do this you NEED to put on a sunscreen/lotion/moisturizer. Otherwise your newly scrubbed skin can burn easier or dry out quickly in the strong sunlight! If you know me- you know I am screaming SUNSCREEN right now as I realllllly don't like the idea of people tanning themselves to a "snookie" like color. ;);)


AT HOME: I just bring a cup/jar/Tupperware container with a lid to the beach with me & scoop up some sand(the stuff that is clean & down by the water, not the stuff people walk on- YUCK if you have seen some of the things I have) and I bring it home with me. Now I just keep it in my shower and add it once or two times a week to my body wash.....you can put it IN the body wash if you want to be neater, but whatever, it all works the same :)Voila- an at home, REAL exfoliating wash & much cheaper than going to a spa or buying super expensive products with a bunch of stuff you can't name in them! :D


DIY FOOT/HAND SCRUB
Things you need:

• Some clean, dry beach sand
• Waterproof container( I got little containers with lids from the dollar store :)
• 6-8 tbsp. sweet almond oil
• 2-3 vitamin E capsules
• 10 drops rosemary oil 
• 2 drops of tea tree oil

You can get all of these things at a health store, or even publix. And they are NOT expensive, especially compared to a lot of nice scrubs that you can buy from "name brand" companies. I have tried A LOT, even those from MAC, Mary Kay, Clinique, etc etc...and this is easy & fun to make, especially for a gift & with a cute bow! :)

Mix all of these together, poke a hole into the VIT E Capsules & voila- you have a ready made at home scrub! Now- I add a little more tea tree to mine, like 3-4 drops because I LOVE the feeling of it & I also like to make sure there is a bit of extra oil as that is what realllllly soaks into your hands & feet and leaves them super soft. But play around until you find the perfect mix! You can even add lavender for a calming smell! 

Enjoy- and don't forget- this makes for a PERFECT birthday gift! Every girl loves to be pampered at home :) If you feel frisky- ask your guy to do a back rub with it in the tub- it's absolutely heavenly & one of those areas that NEEDS to be exfoliated, but doesn't always get the special treatment it needs :)

**Coconut Oil**

So I'm totally in love with this new hair treatment!
I LOVE getting my hair highlighted/lowlighted.....just done, period. But it IS tough on it, especially since I have it lightened often, I wear it up, I swim a lot & I have an ALL NATURAL honest to goodness lions mane...so I straight iron it A LOT. 

Coconut oil. It's a LOT less expensive than the usual high end hair treatments you can get from a salon, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home! I got mine for $6 from a health food store. I am pretty sure you can find it at Publix, but it's probably pricier. Mine is in a jar just like this & mostly in a solid form. But just shake it for a few minutes, or do what I did....and SET IT OUTSIDE for all of 2 minutes. It becomes a liquid VERY quickly! Thanks FL! :D

Now comes the fun part. I usually put it in about 25 minutes before I am going to shower. I do is put on a dress or old shirt that can get dirty/stained & then I take the coconut oil and (I) concentrate mainly on my ends. But I DO put it all over...I just do a lighter "coat" on my roots & hair, and then I gently massage it into my ends because they are my PROBLEM area. It's messy- I'm not going to lie. And my coconut oil didn't smell like the beach & a pina colada like I wanted it to so I dropped 1-2 drops of tea tree oil(also found at a natural health food store) into the coconut mixture to make it smell YUM & tingle big time. A LITTLE bit goes a LONG way with that stuff though. So be careful :). Anyhoo- I let it sit on my hair & then I shampoo & rinse it out in the shower and it literally makes my hair feel AHHHH-mazing. I do it once a week!

Now-  You can also use coconut oil for cooking. But I am just now getting into that- so I don't have too many tips to share about it. But I do know it's a lot better for you & a lot tastier from what we HAVE tried. Google it & try it out. I'm working with it more & will post more when I know about it.

House of Mia

 Say hello to my new obsession!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE these clips! I wear them in my hair. On my dresses or shirts. On a headband. On a ponytail. I even hooked one on a pearl necklace once! They add a fun pop of color & people ALWAYS stop me to ask me about them :)
These little beauties are from the fabulous House of Mia! Rachel is the wonderful creator and does an amazing job! Check out her website at: House of Mia.
 She can do custom orders (HELLO bridesmaid gifts), and even did one for me in the best colors ever- ORANGE & BLUE!!! :):):):)
She ships them super quick too- always a plus for those gals who lack patience like myself! :D
***and I can't even BEGIN TO IMAGINE...how cute these are on a itty bitty baby or toddler!!!! You had better believe my girls...one day...WILL be styling with these super cute & kid friendly clips!***

Coming SOON!

• Coconut Oil & it's beauty uses. 
• The MAGIC uses of beach sand. Plus...it's FREE. 
• Glitter tip DIY super fun manicure
• House of Mia <3 <3 <3
• What's in MY makeup bag.
• Free phone/computer quick and easy photo editors.
• Amanda Hopcraft Makeup Artist
• Formally Invited 
• My favorite little shops in St. Augustine
• Wedding questions/ideas
• Some fun things to try in your relationship :)

Newspaper Nails

This is a super easy, cheap(or do you like the word inexpensive better?), and fun manicure idea that you can do yourself!

• Paint nails with a base coat, it REALLY does help the color stay on longer & make it look overall more neat in my opinion (I recommend NailTek Ridge Filler).
• Then apply 1-2 coats of a light color, I love a white, pale pink or even grey color- but it HAS to be light enough for the print to show up. :)
• Grab some rubbing alcohol (it's super cheap at CVS).....I have read that liquor works too, but believe it or not, I haven't tried that....but pour some in the cap, just enough to dunk your nail in. Stick finger in the rubbing alcohol for about 5 seconds.
• Take a small square of newspaper, I cut all of mine out beforehand as I am pretty clumsy as it is, let alone with painting nails, and press it firmly against your ENTIRE nail for 10-15 seconds.
  
• DO NOT MOVE THE NEWSPAPER. DO NOT BREATHE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LOOK AT THE TV. It's a really easy manicure to do.....until you try and do something else for those 10-15 seconds. The ink will smudge INSTANTLY. Just a friendly warning. :)
• Remove newspaper VERY carefully. Grab a q-tip, dip in nail polish remover & clean up the edges from anywhere else the newspaper ink got onto.
  
• Apply a topcoat- I SWEAR by Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Natural Tint. It seriously works. Voila! Newspaper Nails! :)
  

Welcome!

I will be using a LOT of :), comma's, parentheses, & sign's and overall pretty crazy grammar. Yes, I DID graduate from the best college in the world (GO GATORS), but when I'm writing for fun....I'd prefer to not be perfectly proper. So I'll go ahead and apologize to all you grammar junkies! :D


So. What I plan on doing with this blog is really, really, reallllllly simple. Just look to the quote on the right hand side over there. --------------------------->

I'm doing more of what makes ME happy. This blog will be a place where it'll be all about the beautiful things in life. :)

{Makeup, pictures, editing, wedding, my favorite vendors, tricks, books, beauty tips, skincare, reallllllly simple arts & crafts projects, quotes, relationships, friendship and pretty much anything else I can think of or feel like!}