Superstar Skin!

Hello all! Most of you know I am very passionate about empowering women to be their best everyday. If you have not figured out already I do this blog to share my beauty secrets because I love it! I really love sharing and blessing women. I think it is important to lift each other up! I posted recently I was doing some "research" on some new beauty products and I am going to share that with you today.

You know that no matter what makeup or how expensive the makeup is if your skin is not up to par: it does not really matter. You really need to have a good "canvas" aka your skin, to work with so you get the best out of whatever makeup you choose to wear! Not to mention you have ONE face! It is so important to take care of it when you are in your 20s, 30s and beyond so that you maintain your youthful appearance.

I came across a skin care system that I decided to try for 7 days. I am a picky person so I was actually prepared to not like it! I thought nothing can be as good what I am using! I accepted the fact that my skin was always going to have redness and have an uneven tone. Little did I know I was settling. I am a girl that does not settle! Neither should you! The system I am sharing with you today and actually I consider it to be BLESSING you with is Arbonnes' RE9 Advanced Skin Care System. You may or may not have heard of it. It is a premium skin care line that consists of a smoothing facial cleanser, regenerating toner, intensive renewal serum, corrective eye cream, restorative day lotion, a neck cream and an advanced night repair cream. In the RE9 line there is also a body care system for streck marks that includes lotions and body washes. Arbonne is pure, natural and botanical. Which I love! Take a look at the results!











Let me just tell you after I started using Arbonne within 24 hours I noticed my skin tone was more even and my redness almost gone! My eyes were not as puffy and my dark circles were not there. It was like beauty magic! I thought wow. After all of this time I was really settling with my skin care. I also had this weird wrinkle beside my nose which is kind of funny. I got it because of the way I sleep! After using Arbonne for 7 days it was gone! Not only that but after the 7 days of using the product my skin was just glowing and it was not oily or dry it was balanced! I can't explain it except by saying that I had never thought my skin had looked this good without makeup. I loved it so much I decided to buy the whole system. I knew I could not go back to using what I had because it did not even compare! The only concern I had was using like 5 prouducts twice a day. But actually it turned into a time I LOVED! I look forward to taking the time to do my skin some good and relax. It is like I give myself a mini facial every night! I would be doing my face an injustice if I did not! I had always depended on my makeup to make my skin look beautiful. Now I can depend on Arbonne to make my skin look beautiful and my makeup to enhance it. Another cool little fact is that a variety of RE9 products were given to celebrities in the EMMY & Oscar gift bags! That is why I titled this blog "Super Star Skin!"

You are probably wondering now OK how do I try this for myself!? I will tell you! Once I had this beauty revelation I thought to myself about what I am passionate about. Which is what I said, blessing women with the knowledge to be their best everyday and to lead a healthy lifestyle. So I decided to sign up to be a consultant for Arbonne so I could bless women with this product and the others that I have tried. You can contact me by email at tabitha.arbonne@gmail.com or on my facebook page to try a 7 day sample of the whole system for free or to order the system. Also, if you want to host an Arbonne party contact me as well you can receive discounts on the products for being a host and I will also give you a free makeup lesson! Stay glamours and keep it fancy Xoxo!

Summer Essential: Toned Arms

One thing I think that enhances my happiness is living a healthy lifestyle. A big component of being healthy is working out! Not just working out but eating healthy. By maintaining a healthy diet you get the maximum results from all of your hard work!

A summertime essential is definetely toned arms! We know it is hot hot hot here in Texas and that means sleeveless everything! Toned arms to me equals being a powerful woman! Like I could take someone down! HAHA JK! But seriously, whether you are picking up kids or carrying groceries, your arm strength is involved. It is so important to train your arms so you can do these activites, and it doesn't hurt to look good while doing them! A workout that I have found to be so effective for toning my arms is from a DVD from Tracy Anderson. Tracy Anderson is a personal trainer to celebs like Gwenth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna! Andersons'
DVD that I love is, Tracy Anderson Mat Workout DVD. You can purchase it on Amazon that is where I got mine and it is $29.95. It trains every area of your body! The whole DVD is about 55 minutes long. BUT, the arm section is 18 minutes! Wowza! Yeah you will feel this workout! The proof is not in the pudding this time it is in the BODY! Here is a picture of your new trainer :)



Also I found some of her expert advice in a PEOPLE Magazine article so you can read her tips for toning your body!



This is the whole article! Enjoy!

"20s
"Hips and thighs start to change," Anderson says; shape them with:

SECOND-POSITION PLIÉS
Stand with feet just wider than shoulders, toes facing out, hands on hips. Squat to knee level, then straighten; do 80 to 100 reps.

BUTT PULSE
Holding the back of a chair for balance, extend one leg straight behind you. Point your toe and pulse the leg up, 80 to 100 times. Repeat with other leg.

FLEX & POINT
Holding the chair for balance, extend one leg to the side, foot flexed. Then point your toe and lift your leg as high as you can; flex your foot on the way down. Do 80 to 100 times; switch.

30s
At this age, "the abs naturally start to separate"; to fight that, try:

DOUBLE-ATTITUDE LIFT
Lie on your back with your legs out in front of you, crossed at the ankles. Do a crunch—but at the same time lift one of your legs (it can be slightly bent) to 90 degrees; holding this position, lift the other leg to 90 degrees. Slowly release the crunch while lowering legs; do 80 to 100 reps.

ADVANCED PIKING
Lie on your back, legs flat and arms overhead, hands holding a dumbbell. As you lift your upper body, raise your legs to 90 degrees, touching the weight to your shins. Lower slowly; repeat 80 to 100 times.

40s
As muscles start to weaken, Anderson says to target arms:

ARM CIRCLES
Stand with feet at shoulder width and extend arms to the sides at shoulder height. Keeping shoulders down, do 40 small arm circles going backwards, then 40 circling forward.

ARM LIFTS
Lie facedown on a mat with arms straight out to the side like a "T" and palms up. Spread fingers and lift arms up as high as you can, then lower; repeat 80 to 100 times.

HIGH "V" SHOULDER TOUCH
Stand with feet at shoulder width, a weight in each hand. Take straight arms up to a high "V," then lower to shoulder level; repeat 80 to 100 times.

50s
The key now? Cardio, for a healthy heart and a healthy weight:

WHOLE BODY BLAST
Do a variety of exercises from each age group at left.

CARDIO SHUFFLE
Create a 30-minute playlist (or try Anderson's workout mix, below). Using the music as a guide, do the following for one full song each: skip, walk at a fast pace, gallop, step-hop-step and then, finally, step with a knee lift and a small jump forward. "



Now back to focusing on your gun show! What I do when I want to work on my just my arms is fast forward to the arm portion and do it. Think about it. For 18 minutes you are doing nothing but ARMS! It is killer. You start by doing 9 minutes of various arm motions. Andersons' method is to make you as long and lean as possible like a ballerina. You do not need equipment for this section. The next 9 minutes you need a set of 3 pound weights. You may think 3 pounds sounds wimpy. At first I did and I was so wrong. I challenge you to finish the whole 18 minutes without dropping your arms! Get the DVD and you will see what I mean! Also for more information on all of Tracy Andersons' methods go to www.tracyandersonmethod.com!
Xoxo

"Bronza!"

I am so excited because in this blog I put in pictures! Yay! I am getting better at this whole thing! Anyway, Spring and summertime are knocking on our door and you might be thinking you want a pretty tan to show off during these warm sunny months! PLUS, fashion FYI CORAL is the "it" color for spring and the best accessory for coral is a nice pretty tan! But, if you do not go to the tanning bead or lay out that is ok! Let me tell you about the BEST "bronza" I have ever used! No oompa loompa orange here! It is called St. Tropez and literally you will look like you have been in St. Tropez! Haha. The line has a variety of products but I use the bronzing mousse and the spray on bronzer. The bronzing mousse you put on at night. The pigment in this bronzer is blue/green so it is BROWN not orange! It is amazing. You will look like you have been tanning all winter long! The spray bronzer is good for spraying your legs or something if you are wearing a skirt and maybe have not used the bronzer in a while! Or to even out tan lines from you swim suit.





Now let's talk about bronzing your face. There is a fine line between beautifully bronzed and rusty..orange? Orange should NOT be the color of your face! I think sometimes girls think tanner=prettier. That is not always the case. Bronzer is pretty if you are a girl in "know" not a girl who committed a bronzer "oh honey no no!" Aka-Snooki.

For a nightime bronze I use Moonglow from Jane Iredale. For the daytime I use a matte bronzer (it looks more natural) called So-Bronze also from Jane Iredale. I blogged about these products already but I am going to go more in depth on how to apply with this blog. With bronzer for the face you want to apply it like the sun would naturally tan you. On top and under your cheekbones, up to your temple, across your hairline, down the bridge of your nose, and the center of your chin. You can also highlight these areas by taking the pink or gold color in the quad and apply. It just depends on what look you want! Here is a chart to help you visualize!


So now that your face is bronzed and beautiful don't forget you have a neck! You want your face and neck to be the same color! So applying bronzer on the neck to match your face if you need to is a YES! Don't put too much on the jaw line but make sure it all blends well together, face, jaw, neck :).

Thou shall know thy color!

You really do not have to spend a lot of money on clothes to have great style you just need to know what your personal style is and what looks best on you! This all starts with color. You can have on the most expensive piece of clothing and if it's not your color what is the point? On the other hand you can have on an inexpensive blouse from Forever 21 and look like a million bucks! For example: the blouse in my engagement pictures was a fuchsia one shoulder ruffled top from Forever 21 and I belted it with a belt from Charolette Russe. The top was like $21 and the belt maybe $10. But, it looked awesome in the pictures and just as great as any expensive top! The reason why is because the COLOR! It totally popped and brought out the best in my eyes, skin and hair color! Weather it be makeup or clothes color plays an important role in making us shine! Color can bring out the most beautiful you! First you need to understand warm tones versus cool tones. Warm colors are like red, yellow and orange. Cool colors are blue, green violet. Most people fall on one side of the spectrum or the other depending on your hair, eye and skin color.

Now it is time to find out what your color temperature is! Metallics are the fastest and easiest way to figure this out. Take a piece of gold and silver foil wrap (or just find a piece of clothing thats silver or gold shimmery) and put it up to your skin. Which one of these colors makes you glow? If you are a "warm" skin type than you glow in gold! "Cool" skin types shine in silver! If you are really not responding to either one than you are a neutral! "Neutral" tone skin people can wear pretty much any color but I would choose colors that bring out your eye color the most.

The tone in colors is also important to understand. For example red is "cooler" if it is closer to violet and "warmer" if it is closer to to orange. So within color groups you can find cooler and warmer shades that will work for you. For example in the pink group coral is a warm pink; mauve is a cool pink. Just keep that in mind before you rule out colors to wear!

So, if you respond to cool colors you are going to look best in blues, greens, black, gray/silver and gem tones! Silver jewelry is also going to look best on you along with gem toned jewelry like emerald and magenta.

If you respond to warm colors you are going to look best in yellow/gold, orange, red and brown colors. You should stay away from pastels if you are a warm skin tone because those colors tend to wash you out. Warm skin tones look best in gold jewelry!

Now, neutral tone skin falls between the extremes of blue and yellow undertones so it is very versatile. I am a neutral skin tone but I respond to warmer colors like golds when it comes to eyeshadow and clothes. You just have to know what brings out the most beautiful you! If you apply these rules when you are getting dressed and putting on your makeup you can make sure you are putting your best foot forward everyday.

"Va Va Voom Eyes"

OK, so you are going out or going on a date with your someone special and you want to look extra glam! This is my "go to" neutral smokey eye! It looks great on everyone and every eye color. All of the eye shadows I am going to write about are from MAC makeup.

Eyeshadows needed from MAC: Carbon, Tempting, Woodwinked, Bronze and Nylon. Eyeliner: Smolder from MAC.

Step 1: Take Smolder eye liner and line upper lid make sure to get it as close to your lash line as possible. Then take your finger tip and "smudge" the liner on the lid. You are just rubbing that black liner onto your lid so you do not have a harsh line of liner. It looks kind of crazy but it gives you a great base for your smokey eye. Make sure you really smoke it out on your outer corner.

Step 2: Take Tempting eyeshadow by MAC and your eyeshadow brush of choice and put that shadow all over your lid up to your crease. It is a really gorgeous antique gold color.

Step 3: Use Carbon eyeshadow (matte black shadow) on your outer corner. I use a flat brush with stiff bristles to deposit a lot of color. Anyway, you want to keep the dark color just in your outer corner making an inverted V. Put the shadow about halfway onto your lid and halfway in your crease and blend! Blending is the most important thing when applying any eyeshadow! Take a brush with "dome" shaped bristles and blend (using tiny circular motions) towards the inside of your lid and crease. You want to keep the inside of your lids light.

Step 4: Use Woodwinked (a brighter antique gold shadow) on your lid from the inner corner to where the black is. This just brightens the Tempting shadow.

Step 5: (optional) : Use Bronze for your crease. I just take a tiny bit and use windshield wiper motions in my crease with Bronze. It just warms up the whole look. If you have darker eyes I wouldn't do this step. People with lighter eyes it really makes green and blue stand out.

Step 6: Take Nylon (shimmer off white color) and highlight under the brow bone and inner corner of the eye.

Step 7: Line your inner rims and upper rims with Smolder liner from mac. Take Tempting shadow and an eyeliner brush line lower lashes with it to finish off your smokey eye look.

Then just put on Mascara and you are good to go! I like Covergirl Professional Lash in blackest black. Of course if you really want to go all out you can put on some false eyelashes! The key to this look is blend blend blend! It should look like differnet colors on your lid but you shouldn't be able to tell where one color ends and another begins! Good luck go get glam!

A Few Products I Cannot Live Without!

Ok so let me start off this blog with 3 makeup products I absolutely love and could not live without! I am not an expert but I would say trial and error have taught me a lot about makeup! I have worn every makeup line under the sun. I have tried every foundation there is and finally a year and a half ago I found Jane Iredale! Let me share with you the 3 products that have changed my skin for the better! They are 1: Jane Iredale Dream Tint 2: Jane Iredale Pressed Mineral Powder and 3: Jane Iredale Moon Glow. The line is all natural, free of cancer causing chemicals, water proof, highly pigmented..I could go on and on. I think it is very important to know what you are putting on your face or your body period. Whatever you put on your skin is absorbed into your blood stream. Personally, I do not want any crazy chemicals from MAKEUP to jeopardize my health! The other great thing about using this line of makeup for foundation is that it highly pigmented so you are not going to look washed out in pictures. It photographs true to color. Also it lasts forever! I used to wear MAC Studio Fix (which is not exactly good for your skin it has a lot of chemicals) and was buying it all of the time. One bottle of dream tint lasts about 6 months using it everyday. You just have to use a tiny amount to get great coverage!

Anyway, I use these 3 products everyday! I will tell you how to apply them to get flawless skin! First I apply dream tint in "medium" all over my face it is like a foundation/primer but it really is just a tinted moisturizer so it is good for your skin! Dream tint is anti aging, it hydrates your skin, has SPF, calms inflammation, and actually lets your skin breathe! So if your going to wear makeup it might as well be good makeup right?

Next I use the pressed mineral powder in "golden glow" all over (this is what gives you super good natural looking coverage). The pressed powder gives you semi-matte coverage but it also has SPF, it's water proof, crease resistant, minimizes fine lines and pores, and you could also wear it without Dream Tint as your powder and foundation! Plus, it conceals too.

After that I spray my face to "set" the minerals with Jane Iredale's Pom Mist (this is optional) but I love it! Next I apply the Moon Glow! Moon Glow is a bronzer/highlighter/eyeshadow in one! It gives you the most amazing bronze and most importantly no oompa loompa orange face! That is not cute! You can also use moonglow as eyeshadow and a highlighter I take the golden color in the quad and use it down the center of my nose and on the top of my cheek bones then blend for a beautiful highlight! There are so many things you can do with moonglow I could go on and on. In the summer you can just wear pressed powder and moonglow and be set. It is a really versatile product and because it is waterproof you can put it on your chest, arms, and legs! You can look at all of the Jane Iredale products on http://www.janeiredale.com/. Also a friend of mine who is a makeup artist in Midland, Ashlee Rice, sells it at her makeup studio here in Midland called Let's Face It! http://www.letsfaceitstudio.com/ Ashlee used all of these products in the photos for my engagement pictures she is an awesome and talented lady! You can set up an appointment with her if you are in the Midland area and she can match you and tell you everything you need! That is how I got started using it! I hope everyone finds this helpful! Much Love!