Ok, so you landed the job of your dreams! You finally got into aesthetics. WHOOP! The glitz and glam are right around the corner. Everything you’re learning it fascinating and you get to make your future clients feel beautiful inside…
Long Luscious Lashes: the 5 Must-Have Products You Need
**This post contains affiliate links that I may make a small commission from if you choose to purchase from them. As always, I appreciate your support!
Ok, if you’re anything like me, then mascara is in the top 2 most important steps of your makeup routine. I have spent a good majority of my adulthood trialing this product and that product, looking for whatever the heck it was that was going to give me the most long luscious lashes possible.
Can you imagine putting on any kind of makeup and then…forgetting your lashes?
Yikes.
Like, even if I only have 2 minutes to get ready…I will somehow find a way to groom my brows and sexify my lashes.
Even if it has to be in the car.
While driving.
(Don’t tell my husband).
Now if you’re a lash extension girl, this post is not for you. Nothing against lash extensions but there are many reasons why they don’t work for me:
- It’s insanely expensive
- I don’t have the time for all those long appointments
- I wear a lot of makeup
- I can’t stand not being able to touch my face
I got them once for my wedding and regretting it heavily after two days. So, never again for me.
Lucky for you, I have found my holy grail products that not only give the illusion of beautiful long luscious lashes; but also a product that grows your lashes.
And it actually works.
I’m not even kidding.
This is a post about the 5 must-have products you need to get long luscious lashes.
The Serum
Ok let’s start with the growth serum.
Now hear me out. I do not sell this stuff. I am not a rep. I just happened to use it and holy crap. I had to stop using it because my lashes were getting too long.
It’s the Rodan+Fields Lash Boost Lash Serum. You can buy it from a rep. Trust me, one of your friends is one. Or you can just buy it straight from their website, here. It’s $155 retail, which sounds expensive but is much cheaper than 2 lash extension appointments.
It comes in a thin silver mascara looking tube. One tube lasts me about 3-4 months if I use it religiously, which I don’t. I’ve found that once I achieved the length I wanted I only had to use it a couple times per week to maintain my lash length.
You apply a thin line of the serum with the brush applicator along the base of your lashes, right before bed. That’s it.
The company boasts that it makes your lashes longer, stronger, and darker.
PRO TIP: you can also apply it to your brows.
I’d say I noticed a difference within a month. Since then I’ve recommended it to a bunch of friends that were always asking me who my lash girl was because my ‘extensions looked so natural’. Seriously.
The Primer
Next up is a product I discovered as a brand new beauty consultant working at the Lancome counter in Macy’s: Cils Booster XL. It’s a lash conditioner and primer you put on your lashes before mascara. Seems excessive, I know. But it honestly wears a bunch of hats.
It conditions you lashes, like you do your hair, helping them to grow longer and thicker overtime. It has microfibers that lengthen the surface of your lashes. And it gives your mascara the perfect product to stick to.
If you’ve ever had issues with your mascara flaking or running under your eyes, that literally disappears when you use this. It’s a definite must-have product to achieve long luscious lashes.
It’s in a pretty white tube and it applies white onto your lashes. You can grab it here for $27 at any Macy’s, Nordstrom, Ulta or Sephora that carries Lancome products or you can find it a little cheaper on Amazon here.
The Mascaras
The next three products are all mascaras that I believe give a different end result. So the perfect one for you will depend on what your dream lashes look like.
Fresh faced, sultry, or kinda slutty, whatever you’re into, I have the perfect mascara for it.
Let’s start with the fresh faced girls. That wide-eyed ‘I just slept ten hours’ kinda look. Luckily for you, this mascara is dirt cheap. It gives you the longest lashes you’ve ever seen on your face. Especially if you apply it over the Cils Booster XL primer. It’s from a brand called Essence Cosmetics on Amazon, and it’s always around $4.
Yes. Four dollars.
It’s called Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara. You can snag it here. If you aren’t sure where to start on your perfect mascara journey, start here. It stays wet forever, it glides on easily, and it’s mega black. Simple and to the point.
Also, pro tip: if you’re like me and frequently can’t be bothered to remove your eye makeup at night. Death to my youth, I know. This mascara looks just as fab when you wake up in the morning. Super plus for me for an early gym run.
This next mascara is another Lancome product. Now Lancome is owned by L’Oreal, and I’ve almost always been able to find a drugstore dupe for every luxury mascara they made, but not this one. And it’s seriously fabulous. It’s called Monsieur Big Volumizing Mascara.
They say it amplifies the volume of your lashes x12 and wears for 24 hours. Who knows if that’s actually true but I can vouch for mega volume. I’m not sure how but it’s like your eye sprouts new lashes while you’re applying it. You can grab it here for $26, or anywhere Lancome is sold, sometimes it’s cheaper on Amazon as well.
I’d say this is 8/10 on the volume scale. Which is a scale I’m making up now, just FYI.
Ok, last but definitely not least is a mascara I’m sure you’ve heard of. Better Than Sex by Too Faced Cosmetics. Maybe you’ve tried it, maybe you haven’t. But if you like super thick and super slutty looking lashes, this is your mascara.
It’s the #1 selling prestige mascara in the US for a reason.
The tube is cute af. Pink and heavy. The brush mimics the dimensions of Marilyn Monroe’s body. Or at least that’s what they told us when I used to work in cosmetics when the mascara first launched, lol. And you can built it up…forever.
That’s what I love in a mascara. I need to know that I can keep applying, over and over, and it will keep looking better and not start to look worse. You know what I’m saying?
When your lashes are perfect and you go in for one more swipe and ruin everything. GAH!
Well that doesn’t happen with this mascara. It’s $27 here or anywhere that Too Faced is sold. Also can be found on Amazon like everything else on the planet. For reference this would be 11/10 on the volume scale.
So there’s my round up of all the products you would ever need to get perfect long luscious lashes. If any of these products come in travel size that is a great way to trial them and I will link them here:
I tend to prefer travel sizes anyway. Less product means they are less likely to dry out and you won’t waste any product.
This was a post about the 5 must-have products you need to achieve long luscious lashes.
Tangle Teezer Thick and Curly Review
**This post contains affiliate links that I may make a small commission from if you choose to purchase from them. As always, I appreciate your support!
Not even kidding, I can think of maybe three things I dread more than washing and detangling my five year old daughter’s hair. She has more hair than you, me and all of your friends combined. When I say that I have tried every single brush on the market that claims to make detangling easier I am not exaggerating. Read on for my Tangle Teezer Thick and Curly review.
This blog post is a Tangle Teezer Thick and Curly Review.
What else have we tried?
After much trial and error, including: wide toothed combs, the Felicia Leatherwood detangler (ouch!), finger detangling (what a joke), my initial holy grail was the Wet Brush. I thought I had landed on a goldmine. They are fairly cheap, they can be found at pretty much any store, and they really do cut down on the pain of detangling.
There were still cons but I overlooked them because this was the only product making this daily routine even slightly tolerable. The teeth were spaced pretty far out which cut down on the pain but still left a lot of tangles in my girl’s hair that I would discover when trying to separate her hair into sections. The teeth are also pretty flimsy, they bend easily, and I end up tossing and replacing the brushes pretty frequently.
Sometimes, during moments of weakness, I’ll spend the afternoon at nana’s house on the dreaded ‘hair wash day’, knowing full well she’ll volunteer to take over the job for me. Bless her. Little did I know that she had a magical tool sent from the heavens that she happened to pick up from Marshalls that week.
How did the Tangle Teezer work?
In comes the Tangle Teezer Thick and Curly. There is also a Fine and Fragile variation but I am only reviewing the Thick and Curly in this case. Never in five years has my daughter gone through a hair wash and detangle without a peep/cry/whine/complaint until we found this brush.
It’s lightweight, compact, easy to clean, superbly inexpensive, and works like. a. Dream. Not only did it untangle her hair faster than it had ever happened before, but it also pulled out substantially less hair than any other brush we’ve used.
Would I recommend the Tangle Teezer?
Since finding the Tangle Teezer Thick and Curly, I have purchased multiple, and use them on all of the heads in my house. One thousand times YES I would recommend this brush and whole heartedly believe it will make your and your kiddos’ lives better.
This blog post was a Tangle Teezer Thick and Curly Review.
5 Common Reasons Why Your Curly Hair is Frizzy & How To Combat It
If you’re a curly girl, then you know the struggle. There’s a very fine line between shiny bouncy curls and looking like you’ve just been electrocuted.
You can spend all your time researching on YouTube University and honestly get nowhere. If frizz is your problem, then these tips are super easy fixes you can implement right now to get the shiny curls you’re looking for.
This post is all about the 5 reasons why your curly hair is frizzy.
**This post may contain affiliate links which may earn me a small commission if you choose to shop through them. I appreciate your support! [:
1. You’re drying with a towel
Oh your poor sweet hair strands. Not only do the products you put on your hair matter…but everything that touches your hair matters. Regular towels will cause your hair (curly or not) to frizz.
Post shower, this is the first mistake many curly girls make when going to style their hair. They flip their pretty hairs upside down, throw on a towel, and twist it up into a strand strangling turban on the top of their head.
It isn’t the turban that’s the problem, it’s the material it’s made out of. If you feel the need to do this to your hair when you’re out of the shower (which, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend), please use a microfiber towel. Or even a t-shirt if you’re in a pinch. They even make super easy-to-use hair turbans out of microfiber. You can find one here.
The only time during my hair routine that I use a microfiber towel is after all my product is applied. I place the (microfiber) towel in my hands and scrunch the excess water out before diffusing or air drying.
2. You’re sleeping wrong
Lol, I know this sounds silly, but it’s true.
There are a few different things you can do while you sleep to avoid looking like a lion in the morning.
1. You can sleep with your hair in a pineapple. A pineapple is when you bring all of your hair to the top of your head like you’re going to make a ponytail. And I mean, the top top. As close to your forehead that you can get. And you loosely secure your hair with a scrunchie (preferably silk or satin). This is my favorite brand.
The important part is that the pony is loose, so when you take it out in the morning you don’t have a kink or demarcation where your scrunchie was holding.
2. The second thing you can do during bedtime is use a silk pillowcase. Maybe you don’t like to sleep with your hair up, maybe it’s too short to put up, or maybe you’re an overachiever and you want to do BOTH sleeping hacks. I’ll put the best silk pillowcases I’ve ever found here. I got 2 of them on sale during the Nordstrom anniversary sale. If they’re out of your budget find a nice satin or sateen. It wont be the same but it’ll be better than the cotton or linen you have now.
PS** silk pillowcases also aid in antiaging for your skin. Hollerrrrr.
3. You’re not using enough water
The leading cause of frizzy hair is dryness. Simple. Straight forward. But how do you combat dryness?
With water.
The best way to explain this is with an analogy (metaphor? Can never get this straight) I learned from my hair dresser:
When your plant is dry, thirsty, or limp. Do you cover it in oil and butter? No. You water it.
We have been brainwashed people! The so heavily marketed butter and oils, no matter how fancy or exotic sounding (…jojoba, acai, shea, oh lala) DO NOT COMBAT DRYNESS. They do, however, coat your hair with a layer of shine, making it look healthier. But it’s just an illusion. The only way to quench your hair’s thirst…is with water.
In the shower, use more water. Shampooing? Use more water. Conditioning? Use more water. Applying product? Use more water. All of these steps should be forcing water and hydration into your hair strands.
4. You’re handling your hair before it’s TOTALLY dry
I am the biggest offender of this horrible habit you guys. I can’t help myself. I apply my products in the shower. Do a bit of finger coiling and styling while my hair is still soaked. And, while waiting for it to dry. I start picking, fluffing, messing, curling, separating. This is a BIG no no.
You need to allow your hair to set before touching it at all. If you can help it, don’t even walk out of your bathroom until your hair is completely dry. Maybe you have a diffuser or a hooded dryer. USE THEM. This is the diffuser I use.
But sometimes we just have to air dry. Which is fine. If this is the case for you, just keep your hands off. I know it’s hard.
Pro tip: a good way to know if a strand is actually dry, is if it has a crunchy cast on it. This means your product is set and it’s safe to handle that piece of hair.
5. You’re washing your hair with water that is TOO hot
Ok this one is a simple explanation. Now, I’m not a hair stylist or a cosmetologist. But, when you have curly hair you do a ton of research and become sort of a hair nerd.
Apparently, when the hair is heated, the cuticle is opened. So, if your shower is hot, you’re leavin the cuticle open. Whereas, if you use cold water, even just at the end of you shower, you close the cuticle.
Picture the difference between a fresh cut piece of string and a frayed end of a piece of string. (So, just blast your hair with cold water right before you get out of the shower…easy peasy.)
This post was all about the 5 reasons why your curly hair is frizzy and how to combat it.
9 IRRESISTIBLE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD ELOPE IN MAUI AND DITCH TRADITION
First of all, congratu-freakin-lations on your engagement. You have conquered the greatest obstacle of your lifetime and found a man worth marrying. Lol. Now, what do you do…?
People are already asking you if you’ve picked a date, what kind of wedding dress you want, and what your colors will be. And you have absolutely no. Damn. Clue.
I know there are a ton of girls out there who have dreamed about their wedding their whole life, have an entire mood board constructed, and their bridesmaids pre-picked. But if you’re anything like me, you are not that girl.
This blog post is all about why you should elope in Maui!
What did I do?
The first time I was engaged (yes, you read that right) I let an entire year pass and didn’t give the wedding a single thought. Honestly, thinking about dragging tons of people to one place to stare at me for hours…and then to pay thousands of dollars to fill them up with food and booze, gave me a headache.
Now my second engagement was a little different. My best friend (now my husband) wanted to marry me! Can you hear the disbelief? I was totally obsessed with him, and wanted to do the deed as quickly as possible. I mean, what if he changed his mind?! Lol, I’m only sorta kidding.
Now, this was at the end of 2020…arguably the worst year of the century. Large parties weren’t allowed anywhere, almost all venues were closed…a wedding was out of the question. Not to mention how FREAKING expensive it would be anyway.
I toggled with the idea of a small wedding, going to city hall, or maybe even eloping. I initially wanted to go to Mexico, I had seen the dreamiest photos from these elopement planners based in Tulum. I was SET. I WOULD HAVE THOSE PICTURES LORD HELP ME. But. Alas. My fiance didn’t have a passport. And good luck getting one when every government agency was working from home.
So, where could we go, that would feel like a getaway, that didn’t require a passport? *insert Jeopardy music* “What is Hawaii?!”
Neither of us had ever been (which is rare amongst Californians), and holy moly guess what?! There is a thing called an elopement planner! And many based in Maui. And they do everything, and I mean everything, for you. I wouldn’t have to pick flowers or a makeup artist or book a venue.
Honestly at the moment it was a no brainer; and in hindsight, I am even more grateful that we went this route. It was like nothing I could have ever imagined. And let me tell you why.
These are my 9 reasons why you should elope in Maui:
1 YOU VALUE INTIMACY
Having a day for just you and your fiance means you can truly honor who you are as a couple. You get to be you and do you. And you can be open and honest and there is nothing to pull your attention from your big day and your new life partner.
The most memorable part of the day for me was exchanging our vows. If we had been in front of a group of people I wouldn’t have been able to be as vulnerable and truthful as I was on that day. Honestly I don’t know if we would have written personal vows at all! We even asked our officiant to step away. It was literally just me, him, and crashing waves.
After our ceremony, we had a luxurious picnic waiting for us on a nearby beach. We had the next hour or so to spend together, take in the view, reflect on the day, eat some yummy food. Then we took sunset photos while splashing around in the waves. It was a long day but it was so much fun.
On our way back to our hotel we stopped at some food trucks on the side of the road, in a suit and a wedding dress nonetheless. Everyone congratulated us and it truly was so unreal. It was so, us. So, fun. So, stress free. And it was just him and I together the entire time.
2 YOU LOVE THE OUTDOORS
Maui is packed full of outdoor adventure. It is seriously a mecca for the young wild and free. From the awe inspiring stops on the Road to Hana, the waterfalls, the hiking, the bamboo forests, the extreme biking, and the INSANE surfing. Really there is every outdoor activity that you can imagine. And, it’s in paradise. Win, win!
3 YOU HAVE A BUDGET
I’m sure this is no surprise to you but…weddings are EXPENSIVE. Regular ol’ people are spending tens of thousands of dollars for a single day event. And THEN have to pay for a honeymoon after. The average wedding cost in my state of California is $39,000! HOLY MOLY.
Not only will you save a TON not having 50-200 people attend your party, almost all other expenses are slashes as well. Venue, florals, rehearsal dinners, gifts and trinkets for your parents, in laws, and bridesmaids. Every single dollar you spend on an elopement is for you and your future spouse.
4 YOU’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF A DESTINATION WEDDING
If you’re one of those gals that day dreams about a beach wedding in the tropics with your friends and family in pretty white chairs while you walk down the aisle in your boho dress with no shoes on…..eloping might be for you. It’s extremely difficult to plan a large event from afar and it’s not only costly for you but for your guests! Really you’re doing everyone a favor just running off on your own (;
5 YOU DON’T HAVE THE TIME OR DESIRE TO PLAN A TRADITIONAL WEDDING
Ok, my elopement planner was invaluable. She was the all in one wedding planner extraodinaire! I’ll link to her website here. She offered multiple different packages to choose from. But once I booked her she had me make a mood board on Pinterest and that was pretty much it! She gave us very clear directions on what paperwork we needed to fill out, when to book a hotel, etc etc. She was our photographer, our chauffeur on the day of, she booked my makeup artist, she chose the officiant. It was so hands off which was perfect for me. I wanted to just show up and get married, and thats exactly what I got. Not to mention the best day of my life.
6 WEDDING + HONEYMOON = EFFICIENT
Maybe you have a busy schedule, kids, a full time job. Imagine trying to get two lengthy leaves away from your everyday life to accommodate both wedding festivities and a honeymoon. Taking one trip to a magical paradise to get married and vacation together is the most efficient route you can go. Half the time + half the money = double the fun [:
7 THERE’S SOMETHING IN MAUI FOR EVERY TYPE OF COUPLE
Whether you’re looking to be active and adventurous or relaxed and serene, Maui is the place for you. You can travel the entire island fairly quickly. Lahaina is for those who want a little more buzz and bustle, Wailea is perfect if you want to unplug and feel removed from any sort of stressors.
We personally preferred Wailea. The weather was more mild, even a tad gloomy, which I love. We stayed at the Andaz, Maui (10/10 recommend). We felt Lahaina had a much younger crowd, which was most likely due to it being spring break, but just really wasn’t our vibe. Felt like we could have found that environment anywhere in the country.
8 YOU WANT DREAMY PHOTOS AND EVERLASTING MEMORIES
Can we agree that photos tell more than words can here? This magical fairy looking forest had wild chickens roaming around, it literally looked like it was taken out of a dream. When your setting is this gorgeous you don’t need any extras. In my head I can hear money being saved…*ca-ching*.
9 and most importantly…THE MAUI MAI TAIS
Holy shit y’all. I know this sounds like a joke but it isn’t. If you end up in Maui, for whatever occasion, you must go to Monkeypod Kitchen and order one or…four, mai tais. They say if you get past four they can wheel you out in a wheel barrel, because; trust me, you wont be able to walk. There is no better drink on earth. The mai tai alone is reason enough to head to Maui, I swear it.
I hope this list was helpful to you! The island is now so near and dear to our hearts. I urge you to consider something different and to elope in Maui…it’ll be the best decision you ever make.
xoxo, Nadia <3
This post was all about why you should elope in Maui.