Moving Up!

I moved to downtown Tampa last weekend...and I LOVE it!!  There is so much to do here it is unbelievable.  Unfortunately both last weekend and probably this weekend are to be filled with running errands in order to get everything we need for our new place so I haven't gotten to explore too much.  City living definitely has its pros and cons.  Pros are:  covered parking (not getting soaked in Florida storms), sidewalks everywhere so lots of space to walk my dog, waterfront just outside my door (with boats), and I'm within walking distance of the best Tampa has to offer.  Cons are:  squeezing into tiny parking garage spaces everyday, lots of live music, having to take my dog downstairs in an elevator to go out, and loud people coming home at closing time from the bars downtown on the weekends (if you can't beat them, join 'em).  On the whole though I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Bogart loves it here with all the sidewalks and new smells.  He's finally beginning to notice the other dogs so that's becoming fun.  He gets so excited to go out here but it's great!  The gym is a little small but it will suffice nonetheless.  The hard wood and real tile floors are to die for (where have you been all my life?) and I have not heard a neighbor in the week I've been here (we used to live below a tap dancing elephant)!  There's a courtyard, pool, or fountain tucked into every corner and the whole location begs for drinks outside on a mid summer night.  I've died and gone to heaven.  Oh, and I haven't gotten lost...yet.  We're just beginning to discover this city that we've lived in for four years and it's great to be, not only out of Clearwater (thank God!), but back in our city.  Here's to Tampa, may it be better than I remember.

Life

This blog is meant to be mostly about fashion, makeup, hair, etc., but it's also about changing and a lot of that is happening for me right now.  The good news is that Bogart is improving greatly every day.  He hardly limps anymore and he has the vet's permission to return to normal activity in two weeks!  She was quite impressed with his progress when she saw him two weeks post-op.  She shortened a three month recovery to two months.

While Bogart is getting better our lives are getting busier.  We move this Friday (finally!) from Clearwater to downtown Tampa and we cannot wait!  The new apartment is in an awesome location with lots of sidewalks to walk Bogart, a parking garage for the cars (which is nice with the pollen turning my red car green), and within walking distance of so many bars, pubs, parks, theaters, museums, the river, and the best of Tampa in general.

We've been in Clearwater for two years and while the beach is close, the spring breakers, snowbirds, and Phillies fans are getting to be a bit much.  It's been like someone took Philadelphia and put it in Ontario for the past week.  The congestion is out of this world and the city spent hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to put up an electronic sign on the Courtney Campbell Causeway as you enter the mainland that, after months, has finally been turned on today to project, "Expect Delays.  Spring break congestion."  I sat in traffic for 45 minutes coming from Tampa, tell me something I don't know.  Clearwater is a nice suburb but it is not for me.  Hopefully the heart of a city is.

As previously mentioned, I'll do my best to post some things over the next week or two but don't expect too much as Ill be moving all weekend and it might take me a few days to find my laptop after the move.  Things here are good and getting more exciting everyday.  I'm ready for my new apartment!!  

Nightly Facial Routine

As previously stated, basic facial care is critical - you can't paint a masterpiece on a dirty canvas.  I've already written a post about doing a morning facial routine, but as the experts will tell you, it is just as important to have a nightly routine as well.  Again the most important part of the nightly routine is to wash your face.  There are, however, other aspects of it as well.  Begin by removing any makeup, washing your face, then apply any other creams or masks that you might wish to, and finally finish by applying a good moisturizer (no SPF).

The most important of the aforementioned steps is makeup removal.  It is crucial to remove as much makeup as possible prior to washing your face to ensure that your pores are cleaned instead of clogged when you wash your face.  There are dozens of different face wipes and makeup removers.  I like to keep it simple because, from my experience, the more natural and simple you keep this step the better the results.  The first thing that you will need is a quality eye makeup remover.  Yes, they make makeup remover specifically for your eyes and I highly recommend investing in a good one; they're pretty cheap.  I've tired a few different ones but my favorite is by far, Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover.  Target makes a great version that is pretty much the exact same product but cheaper.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover

*Be sure to shake well before applying.

For a makeup remover to use for the rest of the face I like to use baby oil.  You read that right, baby oil.  I used to use wipes but they always smelled like rubbing alcohol and they burned my face and did a bad job of removing the makeup, plus they were pretty pricey.  So I started looking for an alternative and I was pretty floored when I saw several recommendations for baby oil.  I'll admit, it was very odd the first time I used it to rub oil on my face and I expected clogged pores and a serious breakout to follow, but, after at least six months of use I haven't had an issue.  My face actually feels better afterwards than if I use a wipe.  Just be sure to wash your face thoroughly immediately after using it to remove your makeup. I swear it works, it's super cheap, and it's unscented.  As always, Target sells their Up&Up brand which is what I use and love.  Another great thing, one big bottle lasts months!

 Baby oil - the miracle makeup remover!

Now the question is how to go about applying oil to one's face.  Target (I live across the street from one) makes awesome cotton rounds (a cotton ball would suffice).  I prefer the cotton rounds because they don't leave behind the fuzz like cotton balls do.  I just apply the eye makeup remover first to two cotton rounds, one for each eye.  I set them on each eye, much like cucumbers at a spa though not as appealing I'm sure, and I let them stay on my lids for about fifteen seconds to penetrate and break up the makeup before I remove them.  I wipe away all of my eyeshadow with the same rounds and as much of my eyeliner as I can.  Next I dip a clean Q-Tip into the eye makeup remover and start working on the mascara by rubbing the Q-Tip over the lashes near the waterline.  About four Q-Tips later the last of the eye makeup is gone.  I then apply baby oil to two fresh cotton rounds and wipe them over my face.  I use two in order to ensure that I get everything.  Finally it's time to wash!

A cotton round like the ones at Target.  They get the job done!


As always, there is a large selection of facial washes to use.  It is perfectly fine to use your morning face wash for your evening routine as well.  I've always used the same face wash for both until recently when I started using a prescription strength Retin-A cream that would leave my face dry and peeling at night.  I needed a little extra moisture so I switched from using my morning Cetaphil face wash to their Antibacterial Cleansing Bar.  Sometimes I use it in conjunction with the face wash that I use in the morning by using that one first and then following up with the bar.  It just depends on my mood and how dirty I feel like my face is.  The bar will get all the oil off your face and will moisturize wonderfully on its own.  I also personally love the smell - so fresh and clean!  I'm acne prone in certain areas and both of the face washes mentioned have yielded great results so they both come highly recommended.

Cetaphil Antibacterial Cleansing Bar

Once your makeup has been removed and your face washed you will need to apply any creams or masks that you'd like to use.  Personally, I put on a prescription strength Retin-A cream (derivative of Vitamin A) that I have to help exfoliate my skin to keep the acne in check (it works!).  I also have a cream that I use for under eye circles that, unfortunately, are inherited.  I put on the Retin-A cream, let it dry, and then apply the puffiness cream.  Once that has dried I apply the final step, a moisturizer.  You don't want to use the same type of moisturizer that you use in the morning.  Your morning moisturizer should have an SPF in it, your night one should not.  I also like to use a slightly more intense moisturizer at night just because I have dry skin and want something that will get me through the night so I don't wake up with tight skin.  I recently started using Cetpahil Restoraderm Skin Restoring Moisturizing Lotion.  It works okay but I'm planning on switching to CeraVe PM which is what my dermatologist has recommended.  I've used samples and it makes your skin so smooth and it's a wonderful consistency for easy application.  I have already switched my morning moisturizer to CeraVe AM which has an SPF of 30 in it.  I highly recommend both.

Cetaphil Restoraderm Restoring Skin Moisturizing Lotion

CeraVe PM

CeraVe AM - The morning moisturizer that I now use.

After you apply your moisturizer you're ready to go.  The biggest thing to maintaining clear skin is to be sure and wash your face immediately following any physical activity whether it's going to the gym, the beach, working outside, etc.  Hopefully between this post and the one on the morning facial routine you've gotten a good foundation for skin maintenance.  Now, on to bigger things!

Absence

I just wanted to apologize for my complete lack of posting recently.  A lot has been happening; short version, my dog tore his ACL and had reconstructive surgery on the first and I'm moving in mid March.  I will do my best to post something useful on here in the coming week or two as the dog improves, but towards the end of the month I'll probably drop off again as moving preparation gets going full swing.  Good news though, I've already started packing and the dog isn't flipping out like he did the last time I moved.  So that's where I've been and we're I'll be again in a few weeks.  I'll try to get something posted this week.  This blog is meant to help others and it's pretty useless if it's sitting here blank.  :(  My sincere apologies again.  See you soon!

The Best Book Club

I've always wanted to join a book club.  I've always thought that it would force me to read outside of my typical genre.  As much as I've always wanted to join a book club  it's always been one of those things that I've just never made time for.  And then I received an email from my amazing sister and everything changed.  She had read my post about reading Falling for Me and trying to read books outside of my comfort zone.  It turns out that she had been contemplating doing the same thing.  So she pitched a great idea - start our own book club with just the two of us.  Here's how it will help us get out of our comfort zones.  We'll read one book each month and every month we each take a turn choosing the book.  She suggested Sex and the Single Girl for February.  It's a book that she's been wanting to read as well and that will give us each time to finish our current books.  We have a week to go before we jump into our new undertaking, but I can't wait!  I still need to track down a copy of S&SG but that shouldn't be too difficult.  I even made a trip to the bookstore this week just to peruse different sections and get some ideas for what I will be selecting.  I have a few things in mind.  So that's my latest improvement undertaking at the excellent advice of my sister.  I'm lucky; I get to do something I've always wanted to, improve myself at the same time, and I get to do it all with my best friend.  Is there anything better?  I'll post what we're reading as we go.  Now for February to arrive.  Let's get the party started!

New Music, New Books

I decided last night in my car on my way to get take out Mexican that I need to broaden my comfort zone.  I have a rather small comfort zone, that I've pushed once or twice in my life, but I've never made a consistent effort to make it bigger.  This blog is one of  my sad attempts.  For me, music and books have always been two of the things that I have used most to define myself.

So on the way to get Mexican last night I decided that I needed to begin listening to music that I never have before, pop, for example.  I hate pop; I'm an oldies and classics kind of girl.  I've always rocked out to Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Dylan, Harry Chapin, Cheap Trick, and anything else that 107.3 in Tampa plays, not Katy Perry, Lady Gage, or Gym Class Heroes.  But there is a time and place for everything and as I'm not getting any younger I decided to listen to what the young crowd is listening to these days before I no longer belong to it, and so I discovered 100.7 which plays an accumulation of pop songs by the above listed artists and several others.  I began listening to it last night in the car and then I turned it on at the gym this morning and had a solid hour and a half of Rihanna,  LMFAO, and David Guetta.  Mostly artists that I hadn't heard of and all artists that I was certain I didn't like...and then I surprised myself.

 I still can't put my finger on what it is that I like about The One that Got Away by Katy Perry, but damn it's catchy and I can't get it out of my head.  The same thing goes for Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes even though I don't like rap and don't really care for the middle bit, the chorus is addictive! After trying to get these songs out of my head all afternoon, I finally surrendered my opinion that pop and new music are so terrible that they should not be classified as "music."  I flew the white flag when I logged into ITunes and spent the last remaining dollars of the gift card that I got last Christmas on The One that Got Away and Stereo Hearts.  I'm still pinching myself as I write this while listening to Katy Perry, but you know, this blog is about changing and where better to start than with the things that I've always defined myself most by.

As for books, I've resigned to reading something other than my usual English major, non-fiction, and sailing genres.  I'm currently reading two delightful books - A Guide to Elegance by Madame Dariaux and Falling for Me: How I Hung Curtains, Learned to Cook, Traveled to Seville, and Fell in Love by Anna David.  Elegance has taught me so much about what to wear and when as well as good manners, behaviors, and an extensive list of gestures that an elegant woman would never make like scratching one's head (I need to work on that one).  I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and I'm sad to say that I've almost finished it.


Falling For Me is Anna David's memoir about living by the principals laid down in Helen Gurley Brown's 1960's sensation, Sex and the Single Girl.  I have yet to read S&SG, but it's next on my list.  David went through a similar phase to the one that I'm in now during which she deeply questioned who she was and whether she was happy as that person, only she did it in her early thirties rather than her late twenties.  I had to order it on Barnes and Noble's website as no one seems to carry it in store, but it came on Friday and I've had my head in it ever since.  I'm trying to make it last longer than the usual day or two that a book this size would.  I'm only on page 72, but so far I've found much understanding, appreciation, and celebration in David's memoir as it reflects so much of my experience in its pages.

These books don't cover sailing hardware, tacking, or a Hemingway skeletal writing style but I love them as though they included all of these things.  Madame Dariaux and Anna David have reminded me both of where I'm coming from and where I'm going.  I'm fortunate to have stumbled upon both of these books as they're pushing me out of my comfort zone and into a challenging place where I'm not only learning to be what I've always wanted to be, but where I'm also learning how to trust myself again.  My only regret is that I didn't discover these books, especially Falling for Me, sooner but you know, these are not books that you discover, they are books that discover you and help you find yourself.

So that's my progress for the week - I bought a book that let's me see a little further down my current path than I've traveled myself, and I've completely changed my opinion of what good music is.  My mind feels so open right now that I think I feel a breeze between my ears and it's nice, really nice.  I never realized how much of a sheltered life I've lived (I've done it to myself) and going through all of this changing is more like an awakening than just trying to improve myself.  I have some tough moments but on the whole I'm already so much happier than I've ever been!  Taking a risk on being happy has been so much better than being certain that I'm miserable.  My boyfriend and I actually had a big conversation tonight about getting outside of our comfort zones and doing things that are more exciting like renting jet skis when summer arrives again or maybe even taking a trip to New York or Key West or even just visiting some of our old stomping grounds around here like Tampa Bay Brewing Company, Bar Louie, or Mad Dogs and Englishmen.  It looks like comfort zones will be expanding in the near future, and I can't wait!

This post ended up being much longer than anticipated.  I guess Katy and I just got a little carried away.  It's been fun.  The post about a nightly facial routine will be coming shortly.  Oh, and if anyone has anything specific that you'd like to learn about just leave it in the comments and I'll see what I can do to accommodate.  One of the purposes of this blog is to help others, after all.  I hope you guys had a great weekend.  I did!  See you next time.  (Still rocking out to Katy.)  :)

Morning Facial Routine

Your morning facial routine is probably the most simple grooming routine that you will have, but it is also one of the most important.  The most important thing about doing makeup successfully is to always begin with a clean, unblemished face.  Begin every morning by washing your face with a gentle, moisturizing facial cleanser.  There are different types of cleansers for oily, dry, and combination skin.  Be sure to keep your skin type in mind when choosing a cleanser.  If you're skin seems to always be shiny then you most likely have oily skin.  If your skin always feels tight or is a little flaky then you probably have dry skin.  If most of your skin is one type but you have areas of either dryness or shiny, oily skin then you have combination skin.  Personally, I have predominantly dry skin with a few oily patches around my nose so I use a moisturizing cleanser for dry skin.

There are several brands of cleansers and facial products that come highly recommended.  Some of the most well known brands include, Cetaphil, CeraVe, Aveeno, and O'Lay.  My two favorites are Cetaphil and CeraVe followed by O'Lay.  I highly recommend using the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser for all Skin Types.  It is made for sensitive skin which I have and it has a lot of moisturizing capabilities which is always a plus.

I've never used cleansers made by CeraVe or O'Lay but I'm sure they would be excellent options in case Cetaphil doesn't quite do it for you.  Also, all of the aforementioned brands can be found at Target, Publix, CVS, or Walgreens.

Once you have selected your cleanser of choice you will need to choose a quality facial moisturizer that has an SPF from at least 15 up to 30 included.  I was never a big daily user of sunscreen until I moved to Florida four years ago and began getting sun damage just from normal sun exposure.  After enduring two chemical peels though to have the damage removed I have become quite the advocate so unless you live at the North or South Pole and never plan on going outside, make sure  your moisturizer has sunscreen.

My morning moisturizer of choice is O'Lay Complete All Day Moisture Lotion UV Defense with an SPF of 15.  This moisturizer has won several awards and has been my go to for relief from dry skin for four years.  My boyfriend has even been known to use it occasionally.  It's light but effective and it will provide relief for tightness and dryness for most of the day.  I swear by it.

My dermatologist has suggested CeraVe Day Time Facial Moisturizing Lotion, SPF 30 due to the higher SPF, but I have yet to try it.  I have also been unable to find it at Target.  I have used the CeraVe PM Moisturizing Lotion though, and I love it.  No moisturizer goes on as smoothly as that one.

Once you have cleansed and moisturized you will be ready apply any other additives that you may desire.  I have puffy bags under my eyes that are caused by genetics and although I cannot eliminate them completely I do have a couple of products that I use to reduce the puffiness.  I apply Origins No Puffery cooling mask for puffy eyes once I have cleansed and moisturized.  A tiny amount of the No Puffery goes an exceptionally long ways so the small bottle will last several months.

Once you have applied any additional products you will be ready to begin applying your makeup.  Be sure to let the moisturizer and any products completely dry before beginning to apply makeup.  Oh, and be sure to apply a little moisturizer to your eyelids - it will help your eyeshadow stay on longer.  Consistency is the most important aspect of any beauty regiment.  None of the products above will improve or maintain the quality of your skin if you use them sporadically, only if they are used daily.  It's a bit of a commitment but it's also one of the best investments you will make as it is an investment in yourself.  I hope the above was useful.  I'll be following it up with a post on night time facial routines.  Until then, I hope everyone had a good Christmas and a happy New Year's.  Here's to 2012.  Let's make it the best year we've had!

Change of Plans

I know that I said in my last post that the next post would be on foundation but I am going to rescind that idea.  I was just in the middle of writing it and decided that we can't begin with foundation.  We will need to begin with basic facial maintenance.  It doesn't matter what type of foundation or makeup you use if the skin is not in a good condition it will not yield the proper results.  As such, the next post will be on  general facial routines; one for morning and one for night.  My apologies for the abrupt change of course.  Until the next.