Inspiration for life

So, it's no secret that I'm obsessed with all things summer. Not to mention boho/hippie chic, bright colors, Native American prints, sheer fabrics, florals, chunky jewelry. . .the list goes on and on. These are some of the photos that have been my fashion inspiration lately as well as life inspiration. I love the easy, carefree attitude of most of these photos and the beautiful natural settings.

Billabong
Free People

Billabong

Free People

Alberta Ferretti

MinkPink

Burberry

Free People

Jeffrey Campbell

Free People

April showers bring. . .Favorites!

These are the items I have been using over and over throughout the month of April. The weather got considerably warmer here in April and it was my first month of being tan so I was loving the golds and brights to bring that out!

HAIR: Because of the humidity and rain I used quite a bit of my Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves frizz control hair cream. It works pretty well and smells like coconuts so that's pretty much all I can ask for! I also found and fell in love with the Aussie Hair Insurance leave in conditioner. This also smells very tropical and sprays in a fine mist so I never used too much product, which I am definitely guilty of.

BATH and BODY: In the middle of March I started shopping at Bath and Body Works again after a few years of not being too impressed with their products. I definitely fell in love with the company again and mostly because of their new fragrance Country Chic. It's floral and a little bit citrus and so light and fresh, I'm absolutely obsessed! This is the lotion just because it had the prettiest label, but I have pretty much the entire Country Chic collection and use it daily! The other product is the Bali Mango shower gel. I'm actually not too big on lotion, so I usually choose shower gels and body splashes at BaBW and this one makes me feel like I'm transported to a tropical getaway.

MAKEUP:

Cream blush is my favorite and MAC Joie de Vivre is the perfect coral-pink. This cremeblend blush came out with the MAC in Lillyland collection.

The eyeshadow next to it is Tempting (Lustre) from the Style Warriors collection, but the color is permanent. This is one of my favorite golds that I use in the crease.

Evening Aura (Veluxe Pearl) eyeshadow is next from the Neo Sci-Fi collection and this is my favorite highlight color. The orangey gold color complements a tan really well and I find that using this instead of a white highlight makes me look so much more awake.

The lipstick is also from Style Warriors and it's called Sunsational (Glaze). It really doesn't do much but give my lips a bit of a golden sheen which is perfect for work and daytime.

My Urban Decay Summer of Love Palette from last summer is one of my favorites year round. My favorite color is the middle neutral Chopper. The lightest neutral Maui Wowie is also really pretty, but I reserve that one for night because there is a ton of glitter!

I've had this gold eyeliner in my drawer for a while but never opened it. I finally did in April and have been using it on the inner corners and to line underneath my eyes. This is definitely going to be a new staple for me and it's ULTA brand, so it's cheap too!

The rest of the items are: Benefit Erase Paste in shade No. 2, Benefit Hoola bronzer, Maybelline One by One mascara, Sinful Colors nail polish in Timbleberry, and Buxom lip gloss in Lacey. . .Buxom glosses are my most favorite lip product!

What are your favorite beauty products of April?

Let down your hair

Rapunzel, Rapunzel by LaurenL0vesL0ve on Polyvore.com





I have thicker hair than anyone I know. It's also really long right now. Fun to take care of right? These are a few of my saving graces and tools that I love no matter what the occasion or time of year.

I used to do my hair everyday without fail no matter what. To me this means blow dry and straighten or curl. Somewhere around junior year of college I got lazy or bored or both and for the first time in my life let it do its natural thing. Don't get me wrong, I still love to do my hair for an event or night out, but there is just too much of it to go through this every single day and it doesn't hurt that I'm really into the bohemian/hippie thing right now. Perfect.

I really try not to blow dry my hair more than once a week. Even if I straighten or curl it I try to let it air dry before I do. This also helps because I have the kind of hair that will not curl no matter how much coaxing or hairspray I use, so when I already have some texture to my hair it curls much better. Enter the Conair You Curl wand, my solution to curl heaven. I don't know what it is about this iron, but it's the only one I've ever used that makes my hair stay curled. Even the next morning the curls have hardly fallen. I am in love.

I've talked about sea salt spray before and I will talk about it again. It is hands down my favorite hair product. My only issue is how few drugstore brands make one and the few that do tend to leave my hair really crunchy. My favorite is the Garnier Fructis Surf Hair spray which I fell in love with when I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. I came home to find that they either don't sell it in the US or you can only get it in some sort of store I haven't found yet. We do have the surf hair paste though, which I like but it's not the spray. I'm going to try to make my own spray this summer, or maybe take a bottle full from the source when I go to the beach.

Since my hair is so thick I also use a leave in conditioner daily. I've tried countless different kinds and I usually find these are pretty standard and they all seem to do their job. I do prefer a spray over a cream however so as to not weigh my hair down. Some of my favorites are Aussie Hair Insurance and Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner.

One trick I have learned is my use of dry shampoo. When I air dry my hair the roots end up really flat because my hair is so heavy. Once it's completely dry I lift sections on the sides and back and spray the dry shampoo to give a little body without teasing.

95% of the time I have to put my hair up at work because I work in a confectionary and the other 5 I'm either working outside or running around all day. So it's pretty much top knots and lots of braids for me. This easy, no fuss hair routine I've developed is perfect for my lifestyle and I really love the controlled mess, undone look. What are your must have hair products?