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:
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 Some links are affiliate links. Ole Henriksen gifted me the products from their line. All opinions are my own. 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.
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.
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 *Links in this post are affiliate links. This means I will make a small percentage off of what you purchase using these links. But don't worry, it doesn't change the price for you! This is a small way for me to "keep the lights on" for the blog! 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!
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! This post has been sponsored by JOHNSON’S. All opinions are my own. I get comments on Chloe’s hair all the time. “Those curls!” “She looks like Shirley Temple!” “That natural texture is gorgeous!” “Please don’t straighten her hair!” When I first realized Chloe’s hair was curly, I was a little nervous, and actually in a little bit of denial. My hair has always been pin-straight and I always imagined a little girl with long, shiny straight hair. But once I realized how gorgeous her texture really was, I decided I would fully embrace her curls - however long they may last as her hair starts to grow out. Now those bouncy curls have every inch of my heart. I love to put my finger right into the middle of them because they are so perfectly formed and I can never believe how perfect they really are. Plus, I have come to realize that Chloe’s hair perfectly matches her personality! 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. 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. I love that JOHNSON’S is growing right along with my babies, and helping me to provide them with the best products for their individual needs. You can find these and all of JOHNSON’S® for Kids haircare products in the personal care aisle at your neighborhood Walmart, Target, or on Amazon. xoxo,
Jenise |
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