​Can you believe that the last time I went to a nail salon was in February? I wasn't a regular at the nail salon, and I have spent most of my life doing my nails myself. I did enjoy visiting the salon from time to time as a little treat, but the truth is that I have been doing my own nails since I was in middle School, and over the years, I've gotten pretty good at it if I do say so myself.

I started out doing my own nails in middle school because attending a Catholic school, part of our uniform rules were that we weren't allowed to wear nail polish. But as a pre-teen, I of course wanted my nails done on the weekends. My parents wouldn't pay for me to get my nails done, especially since I would do them Friday afternoon and had to take the nail polish off again on Sunday night. The compromise was that I figured out how to do them myself.

Since then, I just continued doing them myself because it seemed easier than having a standing appointment each week or having to figure out when it was convenient to get to the salon. As a recovering nail biter (I was chronically bad about this when I was in elementary school, to the point where my dad would pay me for every day I didn't bite my nails!), I have also found that if my nails are done, I am much less likely to pick at them and bite them. I still succumb when under a lot of stress or anxiety, but it's a huge help to have them looking nice. 

​Over the years, I have learned a lot about doing my own nails, and even how to make them last longer. My nails typically make it to day 6 or 7 before starting to chip. Recently, Olive & June sent me a kit and I am kind of obsessed with their polishes, which are 7-free, and the whole kit. If your problem is keeping your hands steady while you paint, their Poppy tool is really helpful! They have a really great series on Instagram, called the Mani Bootcamp, and they share how you can get the perfect manicure at home. 

Here are 5 things I do to make my manicure last: 

1. Buff my nails. Buffing helps get rid of the ridges, and helps the nail polish "stick" better. I also buff the pieces of cuticles that stay stuck to my nails, and the rough edges that remain around the nail bed. 
2. Cut for length and general shape first, then file to get rid of sharp edges. When you file too much, you weaken the nail. By doing as little filing as possible, you help to avoid extra damage to the nails. 
3. Paint polish in thin layers. This really allows the polish to dry and not to bubble up. 2-3 thin layers of polish is always better than one thick coat. And a good topcoat really makes a huge difference. 
4. Clean nail polish off cuticles and edges. I used to paint my nails really messy and then just clean off the extra paint haphazardly, but I discovered that it caused my nails to chip more quickly when I did that. So now I paint cleanly, and make sure to remove any additional paint from my cuticles and around the nails.
5. Make sure your nails are SUPER clean before you start painting them. No lotion, no oil, no soap. I usually clean my nails off with one quick swipe of nail polish remover right before I paint. I have found that this makes an enormous difference in how long my manicure lasts! 

And there you have it! 

Also - nail polish can go bad. You can use a polish thinner to help the consistency, but if a bottle is too old, the paint is less likely to last on your manicure. ​

xoxo, 

​Jenise

​I've mentioned before how spending all this time at home during the pandemic, while frustrating, has given me a few things to be grateful for. One of them is a skincare routine! I have been really intentional about my skincare, and my skin has never been more grateful. I still get occasional breakouts, but they are mostly hormonal and no longer stress-induced. 

I have a set morning routine and an evening routine, which I'll share int he coming days as well. I usually do my morning routine as soon as I get up from bed and let it absorb into my skin while we go about our morning routine. Once I get dressed, then I will apply my sunscreen and makeup - if I'm wearing any that day. 

1. Wash my face - If I wore makeup the previous day, I will wash my face with Selah Skin Studio's Milk & Honey Gentle Facial Cleanser. If I had a clean face the day prior, I will likely just splash my face with cool water.
2. Toner - I use a cotton pad with Ole Henriksen Glow 2OH Dark Spot Toner. It has glycolic and lactic acids which can help reduce the look of dark spots over time. I hadn't used a toner in years and I was recently sent this one to try out. I really like it and how it leaves my skin.
3. Undereye Cream - I apply DoTerra Anti Aging Eye Cream around my eyes. I love this because I don't need to get my hands dirty. This eye cream contains essential oils of Frankincense, Ylang Ylang, and Blue Tansy to target the signs of aging around the delicate eye area, helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles over time. It also contains Bakuchiol, which is a plant-based alternative to retinol. It's pricey, but it has lasted me for a good 4 months of using it morning and night. (If you want to set up a DoTerra account, shoot me an email and I will connect you with a rep for the company.)
4. Vitamin C Serum - Next, I apply Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Vitamin C Serum. I was also sent this as a gift from Ole Henriksen, and I have been happy with it. It contains vitamin C (obviously) and hyaluronic acid which help to brighten, firm, and plump skin. A little bit goes a long way!
5. Moisturizer - Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream. I have tried a few others, but I keep coming back to this moisturizer. It's good for all skin types (I have combination skin), and my skin felt better almost from the first application.
6. Serum - I have an unhealthy obsession with everything from Selah but their Selah Skin Studio Radiance Serum has made an enormous difference in my skin. Serums help lock in your moisturizer and really allow your skin to absorb them. One bottle lasts me 4-5 months or so. I always thought I couldn't use anything with oil because I had really oily skin, but the older I get, the more I have found myself with spots that are more dry than others. Surprisingly, my skin is not more oily since I started using this, and the oils have had a great effect on my skin. This serum contains carrot seed oil, almond oil, lavender, rose, and a few others that are so good for your skin. Selah is also a local woman and mother owned company, so I love to support them even more. Their goodies make AMAZING gifts and I have gifted their products to my mom and Eddie's mom on multiple occasions!

Once all of that is absorbed into my skin, I'll apply my sunscreen and makeup. Depending on the day, I may just apply sunscreen (I use Drunk Elephant Umbra Sheer Physical Daily Defense) or a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen (I use this one from Rodan & Fields).

I know it seems like a lot, but I have been building up to this routine for a while now. If you're looking to start out, make sure you have a good face wash, under eye cream, and moisturizer. Based on your needs, add on to that! And for specific skin needs, always talk to your dermatologist or aesthetician.

xoxo,

​Jenise

​I've talked before about how I have had to learn how to manage curly hair because mine has always been pin straight. I LOVE Chloe's hair, and I have always said that her hair embodies her personality. The crazier her mood, the crazier her hair. I wouldn't change a thing about her, but I've definitely done some reading about taking care of her curly hair because I want to teach her to love and embrace her curls. 

So here is what I do to take care of her hair. 

1. I don't wash her hair every day. I stretch as long as I can between washes. If they go in the pool and her hair was washed in the last two days, I just rinse the pool water out of her hair, but I don't shampoo it. I try to shampoo no more than two or three times a week (this is also because I have spent my entire life washing my hair every single day and I want to help her break that cycle if I can). 
2. Use products made for curly hair. We use JOHNSON's Curl Defining line, both the shampoo and the leave-in conditioner. I shampoo with this whenever I do wash her hair, and anytime her hair gets wet, I apply the leave-in conditioner. 
3. If the curls need to be re-shaped after she sleeps on them, I spray a little bit of detangler in them and carefully brush, starting at the ends and working my way upwards. I only brush where the curls have separated and help to re-form them. I use this brush. 
4. I don't use heat on them. I have blow-dried Chloe's hair fewer times than I can count on one hand. The last time was last week, because I wanted to see how long her hair really was. She looked like such a big girl, but I know that heat causes damage to her hair, so I'm definitely limiting how much I apply her to her hair. 

And that's it! It's easier than I thought! I just had to take the time to learn. I hope this helps some of you out there who have little ones with curly hair! 

xoxo, 

​Jenise

1. Cover Up: I bought this cover up pack before things got bad with the pandemic. Eddie and I were supposed to go on a trip to a gorgeous resort in St. Lucia for our ten year wedding anniversary. I bought this cover up for that trip and sadly didm't get to use it for the trip - but I have gotten plenty of use out of it!
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2. Sunglasses (these & these): I love designer sunglasses. I always feel like it's one of those things that just elevates an outfit. But after a spate of bad luck with sunglasses, I decided to go with some inexpensive sunnies for the summer, and these have been great!

3. Bando Notebook: I love office supplies, and I love to have a notebook to jot notes, do mind maps, and organize my thoughts. Last year I bought one from ban.do and I loved the paper in it. So when I ran out of pages, I knew I would just get another from the same brand. They have a few cute prints.

4. Caleb Water Shoes: I like to have water shoes for the kids to wear on the beach because the sand gets HOT. I loved these that he can put his foot into completely or wear as a slip on shoe.

5. A Boy Like You: There are so many books out there to encourage girls to be whatever they want to be, but it's a little more difficult to find this in books for boys. This book has beautiful illustrations and a beautiful message. Bonus points for having boys of all skin colors, ethnicities, and physical descriptors on the cover. 

6. External hard Drive: My desktop crashed about a month back - a lack of hard drive space and an operating system update gave me a super scary black screen. Thankfully I was able to get it back up and running, but my last backup was in November and I lost some documents and photos. Most of it was not a big deal, but I did lose some of our photos from our trip to Europe this winter. I still have a lot on my phone, but it lit a fire under my you-know-what and made me realize I needed to do two things: one - back up my computer more regularly, and two - clear up some of the photos taking up space on my hard drive. So I got myself this external hard drive (I have two others already) and have been loading my photos to that to save hard drive space on my desktop. It's incredible how tiny these things have gotten! (Don't be like me - back up your computer right now.)

7. Multicultural Markers from Crayola: Because I was always frustrated that I couldn't color people's skin tones properly with markers and Caleb had already expressed that sentiment more than once, I got this pack for him. 

8. Astronaut Costume for Caleb: He's been on a space kick for a few months, and before school abruptly ended, the astronaut costume was his favorite in class. He begged us for one, and we finally gave in. 

9. Badger Bug Spray: It's mosquito season and those suckers love me. I've been using this and the smell is nice. It works pretty well, too! 

10. Caleb's Hair Gel: This is the hair gel we've been using on Caleb since he was about a year old. It's made with aloe, and it has a decent hold but doesn't leave hair sticky or hard. The hold wear off after a few hours, but it does the job!

When JOHNSON’S® announced their new haircare line for kids would include a formula for curly hair, I was so excited. I was already noticing that Chloe’s hair had outgrown the “baby” products offered and that she needed something much more specific for her changing hair. Their latest launch includes specialty haircare designed for a range of different kid’s hair types. They are gentle enough for developing hair and strong enough for the performance you and your kids need.
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JOHNSON’S® Curl Defining formula has been such a wonderful product to use on Chloe’s hair. We use the shampoo every time we wash her hair, and I’ve noticed a difference in her curl pattern. And since it’s created by JOHNSON’S®, it’s still 100% gentle - free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and dyes. And it still has that No More Tears benefit that we all love from JOHNSON’S®. We have also been using the Leave-In conditioner, formulated with shea butter, to help keep her curls moisturized and defined. It leaves her curls soft, not crunchy and hard, and it helps them keep their form all day long.

xoxo, 

​Jenise