Popping In

3:00 pm - I'm at work bored out of my fucking mind and a little irritated that I'm stuck in an office when its beautiful outside. Two more hours until my freedom. I've been obsessively checking my email every five min waiting for a notification from FedEx that my package has arrived at the store in Crescent Springs. The package that contains MY NEW BAG that I cannot contain my excitement over. I'll probably write a post tonight or sometime tomorrow revealing what it is! maybe I'll do a "what's in my bag" sort of post.. I love watching those on youtube, although I'm not sure how interesting that would be as a blog post. Maybe with lots of pictures.. we'll see, we'll see

Currently I'm trying to put down this enormous cookie I got at lunch.. Can we discuss my lack of self control? Lately I've been trying to be more healthy and lose weight pre bikini season, yet without fail every time I leave the gym I end up eating so much bullshit food it completely undoes all the time I spend working out.

I've been attempting to piece together an outfit for Easter in my head.. I don't necessarily feel like going shopping for anything new and I'm going through this phase where dresses sound like the most ridiculous piece of clothing for me to wear. I think to wear a dress and feel confident you definitely need to feel pretty damn secure about your body and be in relatively good shape.. I'm thinking dress shorts, some sort of light loose button-down shirt, either heels or wedges. If I'm feeling extra fancy I'll curl my fucking hair. I'll be honest though the part of Easter that excites me the most is mimosas all day long without judgement. 

One more thought I want to express.. how PUMPED I am that next weekend the yacht club opens for the spring/summer. If you're not from NKY or Cincinnati you'll think I'm talking about a high-class exclusive club where there are legitimate YACHTS.. this is not that place. It's in Ludlow/Bromley KY, an actual floating bar on the Ohio river.. a little trashy.. but probably the number one place to drink around here in the warmer months. 

So enough rambling I'm going to wrap this up.. chat later!

Dove Beauty Patches

10:25 pm - I'm just having a lazy Saturday night, came across this video and wanted to share it with you all..

Ladies - you are BEAUTIFUL, never forget it :)

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

xo

Lessons Learned...

As you've probably noticed, my blog so far has been a pretty even mixture of beauty/fashion/girly shit and my thoughts/journal entry type posts. When I started this blog I really thought I would devote it solely to beauty and fashion, but I've realized over time that there is so much more that I want to write about and I don't want to limit myself.. I'm never going to make this blog something that's uniform and strict to one certain topic (BORING).. this blog is for girls like me, that's it.. I just want it to be relatable.. I want to be able to write what I think and feel and just be as open as possible.

So with that said, today's post is something that's a little hard to write about. I want to talk about LOVE and relationships and (hopefully) give some helpful advice.. it's a hard conversation to have because obviously I've had to experience a lot to come to these conclusions.. this is what I've learned in the past six months.. and I know this won't be for everybody, but hopefully someone will take something away from this.

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You can't change someone's behavior or how they treat you - do you really want to have to TELL a man how to treat you right? I'm your girlfriend, not your coach.

If someone acts like they don't care about you - BELIEVE THEM - THEY REALLY DON'T

Look for a man who keeps their word.. someone who is constantly letting you down, saying they will do things and not doing them, or saying they WON'T do things and are doing them.. that person is NOT the one. The man you will end up with will make it a priority to keep his word.

Don't tolerate someone who is selfish.. someone who only thinks about THEIR needs and THEIR wants and THEIR feelings.. You deserve attention, kindness and compassion, understanding, patience, honesty, loyalty, open communication.. Someone who loves you will give those things to you. A selfish person will not put you first. Your prince charming will.

Someone who truly loves you will make you feel MORE like YOURSELF, not less.. Love will come NATURAL.. if you find yourself doing things or accepting things that they're doing - that you are not comfortable with - it's not love.

Look for someone who is interested in and cares about nurturing YOUR dreams.. someone who truly loves you will encourage you and want you to be the best woman you can be. Your perfect man will be ON YOUR TEAM, rooting for you all the way.. not fighting and working against you.

Changing yourself and compromising in a relationship are completely different. 

Go with your gut ALWAYS - if you feel deep down like something is wrong, 99% chance it probably is.

If he has a fear of commitment or refuses to make you his girlfriend/fiance/wife (granted you've been together a reasonable amount of time) WALK AWAY. I guarantee there are dozens of other amazing men out there that would KILL to be with you. A CONFIDENT woman with high standards should never beg a man to be with her. If he keeps you waiting around, he's not the one.

People say you need to be comfortable with yourself and being alone before you can be in a relationship... this is ABSOLUTELY TRUE. You will never be happy with someone else if you don't love yourself first. Really look inside yourself - your strengths, flaws, interests/passions, goals and dreams and ambitions, what you stand for, those quirks that make you DIFFERENT.. you are SO special and beautiful and amazing! Don't discount that and give it to someone who won't appreciate it. 

The more time you spend on Mr. Wrong.. the more time you are wasting that you could be finding Mr. Right

Love is simple. If it gets complicated, it's probably time to walk away. When someone REALLY loves you there will be no IFs ANDs or BUTs.. no excuses, just LOVE.


if you haven't found your prince charming yet, be patient.. he's coming, I promise.

xo

Melanin ℞

As a lot of females do, I love being tan. I think everyone looks so much better with a little glow (obviously I'm not talking dorito tan) - I know there's so much negative media and hype surrounding the topic of tanning, and I've been told by countless people that tanning is unattractive, or it's bad for you and I should stop, etc..

But I'm here to tell you... I DONT CARE. I love tanning, I've been tanning at a salon since around age 13 and I worked at a salon for about two years. Aside from the physical change in color of skintone, I'm a big fan of vitamin D and endorphins (the reason tanning can literally be addictive). Yes I'm fully aware of the health risks such as skin cancer, sun spots, and premature aging of the skin, etc. I'm an adult, I'm still going to do what I want.

So.. today I'm going to get into some tips/tricks/product recommendations for tanning. If you're not interested in tanning or feel like hating on this topic, please feel free to click away at this point in time :)

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Tips/Tricks for the Perfect Tan

- Exfoliate! Use a loofa or scrubbie in the shower before you go tan, sloughing away all those dead skin cells will help you get a nice even tan and will help your moisturizer absorb better and more quickly.

- Use a good quality lotion that is meant for indoor tanning. Scroll down to the recommendations to see what lotions I love to use! You can buy them where you tan, but most salons mark up their prices by 100% or more which is crazy as HELL. They'll tell you it's unsafe and unreliable to buy online, but I've been buying from an online seller for years and never had a problem. I buy from a seller called "GEOCORB" on eBay, click HERE to see their selection.

- Use good quality equipment. Obviously this will depend pretty much entirely on what salons are near you and what they have. Personally I tan at Palm Beach Tan, they have lots of locations all over the country. I use a variety of different beds, but here's an example of the kinds of beds I'm using. 

- Rotate your beds and lotions. Don't tan in the same kind of bed every single time you go, and don't use the same bottle of lotion every time. Your skin will assimilate to the ratio of UVA/UVB that a certain piece of equipment provides. Also, your skin will get used to lotion and it won't be as effective - think of how amazing your hair feels when you use a new shampoo/conditioner. It's the same concept here.

- Use a separate lotion for your face than you use for your body. The skin on our faces are completely different, a lot more thin and sensitive, than the skin on our bodies. I recommend a great face lotion down below!

- Don't tan every single day. Your skin needs time to react to UV light and too much exposure will hinder progress, rather than speed it up. I usually tan about twice a week, but if you want to be aggressive with it and build a nice tan quickly, go every other day.

- Try to wait a few hours, if possible, between tanning and showering. You want that lotion to really sink into your skin and do its job!

P.S. don't ever use a tanning salon if it's attached to a laundromat. DISGUSTING and totally unsanitary… just throwin' that out there!

Product Recommendations

Here are some great lotions that I love.. I recommend having at least one "bronzer" and one "intensifier" lotion in your arsenal!

Designer Skin - Bronze Camouflage

JWOWW - Natural Black Bronzer

Australian Gold - Jeweled

Designer Skin - Phoenician

Here's a great face lotion that I love:

Designer Skin - Luminary for Faces

To protect your eyes you NEED to wear goggles, I prefer to have my own set because you never know just how well the salon cleans them…

PODZ - these are so cute and fun, and you can put them on your keys so you won't forget or lose them!

You need a great moisturizer to use after you tan and after you shower - locking in that moisture in your skin will just help you get darker and stay dark longer!!

California Tan - Bare Science SMOOTH Moisturizer



Last but not least…
If you get acrylic nails, these will be a lifesaver for you! You just slip them on over your nails and it prevents them from yellowing.

"Nail Savers"



I hope you found this information helpful! I realize tanning might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for us girls (and boys!) who love to be tan…just remember, listen to your body, pay attention to how you feel and how your skin looks. Tanning is fun, but make sure to see a doctor if something looks or feels out of the ordinary. BEING HEALTHY and happy is the main priority. Have a good night y'all, XO

Sunday RECOVERY

8:16 pm - Just got back from dinner with the fam for my sister-in-law's birthday celebration. We had Carrabba's and now I'm in a carb coma. Today was mostly spent relaxing and recovering from last nights festivities. I went out with some girlfriends to watch the Kentucky game and subsequently found myself over the toilet at 5 am.. I can't handle that shit like I used to...

Yesterday afternoon I went on a Target spree/lunch outing with my momma and we went a little cray.. She just redid the basement and wanted to pick out some new towels for the bathroom.. this is what actually ended up happening..

Why is it so easy to spiral out of control at Target? Like I need that.. as if I don't have a shopping problem as it is.

Currently, Cali and I are enjoying a chewy and catching up on emails from over the weekend.. maybe a little online shopping/browsing..

Anywho- i'm going to go get a hot shower, put on a face mask, and watch Eric & Jessie on E! Hope ya'll had a great weekend!

xo

Leah