Monthly Archives: February 2017

02.28.17
by

Getting Personal #62: February Goals Recap

setting-goals-is-the-first-step-in-turning-the-invisible-into-the-visible

Image Credit: Quotlr

The end of February snuck up on me! Wow!

Here’s the link to my February Goals post:

—

Ready?

Here we go!

  1. Begin my journal adventure. – Did not accomplish.
  2. Finish my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor. – Did not accomplish.
  3. Donate blood. – Did not accomplish.
  4. Celebrate our 6,000th donated pint at our blood drive on February 4th. – Accomplished!
  5. Finally see Hidden Figures! – Accomplished!
  6. Buy a desk. – Did not accomplish.
  7. Buy a shelving system for my dolls! – Did not accomplish.
  8. Move my huge bookcase, books, and dolls from Mom and Dad’s to our house. – Did not accomplish.
  9. Make at least three new recipes! – Semi-Achieved.
  10. Successfully co-host the PEO meeting on February 13th. – Did not accomplish.

Here’s the breakdown:

Begin my journal adventure. – Did not accomplish.

  • I didn’t write one single post!

Finish my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor. – Did not accomplish.

  • I didn’t write a single new word.

Donate blood. – Did not accomplish.

  • I got close! But, my iron wasn’t quite high enough. Here’s to April!

Celebrate our 6,000th donated pint at our blood drive on February 4th. – Accomplished!

  • Hooray!
  • Mr. Barry Katz was lucky #6,000. He’s been a regular donor for years.

Finally see Hidden Figures! – Accomplished!

  • We went to Cinebistro in Hampton – It’s a great place!
  • If you haven’t seen it, it comes highly recommended!

Buy a desk. – Did not accomplish.

  • I finally started to make space for this desk in the Lady Lounge, but I haven’t 100 percent decided what I want to buy.

Buy a shelving system for my dolls! – Did not accomplish.

  • See above – I’m still not happy with my options at the moment.
  • Any tips for a shelving unit that has at least 20 inches of height?

Move my huge bookcase, books, and dolls from Mom and Dad’s to our house. – Did not accomplish.

  • See the above two!

Make at least three new recipes! – Semi-Achieved.

  • For the Super Bowl, I made Pillsbury’s S’mores Pretzel Cookie Bars!
  • Tonight, we tried Campbell’s Skillet Meals for the first time!

Successfully co-host the PEO meeting on February 13th. – Did not accomplish.

  • Unfortunately, the week before the meeting, I came down with the flu!
  • Although I was feeling better by the day of the meeting, I didn’t want to infect anyone.

Final Thoughts

  • I was able to put Accomplished next to two out of 10 goals. I’ll take it!
  • The one goal that was Semi-Achieved: I want to get back to home cooking! We ate a lot of pre-packaged food this month (frozen pizza, Bertolli meals, etc.), so I want to get back on track again.
  • The seven goals that I didn’t accomplish: This one hurt, a lot. But, I’ve been busier this month for several different reasons (See more in tomorrow’s post!). Plus, being sick for the better part of a whole week was frustrating!

Did you have any goals for February?

Come back tomorrow to see my goals for March!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.26.17
by

Book Review #29: “The Whistler”

the-whistler

Image Credit: Amazon

This was another book that I picked up with the generous Barnes and Noble gift card from my parents. John Grisham has always been one of my favorite authors – I give partial credit to his writing for getting me interested in the legal field!

When I bought this book, this marked one of the first times I bought an author’s newest book within a few months of its release. With Grisham, I’ve typically found copies of his books at libraries and thrift stores. However, as I’m wrapping up my Paralegal Studies degree, I’m finding that I want to read as many new legal-themed books as I can get my hands on, even if it is fiction.

The Whistler is a powerful thriller, full of twists and turns. I liked the setup of the Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC) – Grisham followed a different angle of the legal profession with this one. 

I liked Lacy and Hugo working together. I’m partial to books set in Florida, too.

No spoilers – But there’s a big bombshell almost smack in the middle of the book that made me stop reading for almost a whole week. It was too painful!

To be honest, I almost gave up on the book altogether.

However, once I picked up the pieces from the bombshell and soldiered on, it got better. At the end, I felt it was a very long book. I thought it could have been about 100 pages shorter. There were several characters that weren’t crucial to the overall story, and they muddied the waters quite a bit. It got a bit confusing to keep up with, and that always bothers me with novels.

Despite a few pitfalls, I liked the structure of the book. When I got completely engrossed, it was really hard to put the book down. I found myself flying through 4-6 chapters for several nights in a row!

Grisham disappointed me a bit with this latest work, but The Whistler had enough drama, mystery, and intrigue to keep me interested!

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.25.17
by

Hot Topic #18: What’s Up With Washington?

4.1.1

Image Credit: InspirationSeek.com

Disclaimer: This post contains strong language.

Sigh.

I’ll admit, I’ve put off writing a post like this. I try to be an optimistic, positive, and enthusiastic person. I also try to bring those qualities to my writing, and the blog. There’s so much doom and gloom and bad news!

However, I cannot be silent anymore.

My shock has finally lessened, and I’ve accepted that Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States.

Does “accepted” that mean that I agree with it? Does that mean I’m okay with it?

Absolutely fucking not.

What I mean (or what I’m trying to say) is that I know / understand that Trump is our President now, and we all have to deal with it.

As I’ve attempted to write this post in a coherent manner for a great many days, I’m just stunned at how literally everything has changed since November.

Nearly four months ago, our country was preparing for / bracing itself to find out whether a billionaire businessman, or a powerful woman, would be elected to lead our great nation.

When I woke up on Wednesday, November 9th, my greatest fears were realized. I immediately felt sick. No, scratch that. I felt like shit. I could barely process the barrage of CNN News Alerts on my iPhone. I didn’t want to go to work. I wanted to curl up in a ball, terrified of what just happened and scared as hell for whatever was going to come next.

—

But, through it all, I held my head high.

I’ve had several fascinating, informative, and civil discussions with my husband, my dad, my manager, and a handful of others. I’ve attempted to swim through all the media coverage and social media discourse, and come to my own conclusions.

I want to share what I think.

Bear with me, this may get a bit lengthy.

—

Yeesh, you guys. I can’t even number this list – I just have no clue where to even start.

—

Okay.

Deep breath.

Here we go.

  • Healthcare: It’s maddening to think that they think they can simply “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. It took SIX YEARS – Yes, that long – to enact what’s currently in place. I want evidence of their so-called solution. For more, see Hot Topic #17.
  • Jobs / The Economy: It’s nice that certain companies have said, “Yes, we’ll keep our plants / facilities in the U.S.” Will that actually happen? Who knows.
  • Immigration: His immigration ban already failed once. We shouldn’t be focusing on the countries he’s listed. The U.S. has its own problems! Plus, there are millions of refugees trying to escape terrible wars, famine, and more. Shouldn’t the U.S. government be a bit more compassionate? The FBI and the military have been focusing on terrorism since September 11, 2001 – We shouldn’t be stopping immigration based solely on fear.
  • “The Wall”: I roll my eyes and snicker every time I hear about this. This is not the answer. This is not the solution!
  • LGBTQ Rights: I’m going to borrow a quote I’ve seen on social media in the last couple of days: “It’s not about bathrooms, just like it was never about water fountains.” More to come about this, in a future blog post, or two.
  • The Dakota Access Pipeline: Everything else in Washington seems to be pushing this issue to the back burner, which makes me mad! For more, see Hot Topic #16.
  • Crime: Trump needs to get over himself, attend his daily briefings like all other Presidents in the history of our country have done, and stop using alternative facts and/or fake news. The inflated crime statistics, the 45-year-high murder rate – Nope. Try again. FALSE.
  • Relations with Russia: Once again, John Oliver is fucking brilliant. Check out his most recent episode of Last Week Tonight: Putin.
  • The Media: I lead you to John Oliver again: Trump vs. Truth. Also, the most recent frightening development – Yesterday, when several news organizations (CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, and the BBC) were outright BANNED from the White House press briefing? Yep, that’s absolutely terrifying. In that same article, Trump was quoted as saying that “… much of the press represents ‘the enemy of the people.'”
  • Planned Parenthood: Voting to de-fund Planned Parenthood because they perform abortions? Oh, my God. Give me a break! ZERO federal funds are used for abortions – Not one penny. Here’s the simplest explanation I could find: How Federal Funding Works at Planned Parenthood. For more, see Hot Topic #12.

Well, readers, this is all I can muster to write, for now. Thanks for reading / listening. You all mean the world to me.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.23.17
by

Awesome Authors #2: Lois Lowry

lois-lowry

Image Credit: QuotesGram

This installment of Awesome Authors is all about Lois Lowry. She is a prolific writer. Fun fact: She lived at Fort Jay on Governors Island for a while, which is where I lived for the first two years of my life!

She’s written over 30 books!

A Summer to Die (1977)

a-summer-to-die

Image Credit: Wikipedia

I can’t remember when I first read this one (probably in high school), but it’s always stuck with me. This is one book that I think about often, and I definitely want to get my own copy. Without fail, I always cry when I read this one.

—

Anastasia series (1979-1995)

anastasia-k

Image Credit: Amazon

I loved these books as a kid! They were so funny. There are nine books in all.

Lowry also wrote a four-book series about Anastasia’s brother, Sam (1988-1999).

—

Number The Stars (1989)

number-the-stars

Image Credit: Amazon

I was assigned to read this in either fourth or fifth grade; I can’t remember which one. At the time, I struggled immensely in understanding this book. I remember how frustrated I was with the quizzes and tests on it!

A few years later, I re-read it, and it struck me how she beautifully told the story of a little girl in a tragic time. This is a hard book for me to re-read, but I have read it multiple times. I find that I gain a greater appreciation for it each time I do.

—

The Giver (1993)

the-giver

Image Credit: Amazon

Confession: I’ve never read this book the whole way through. I started and stopped several times while I was in school. The last time I tried, I think I was in high school.

However, I watched the movie adaptation (2014) with Al last year, and seeing that inspired me to finally read it all the way through. It’s on my TBR!

The other thing I learned, in researching for this post, is there’s actually a full quartet of books:

  1. The Giver
  2. Gathering Blue
  3. Messenger
  4. Son

The whole quartet’s going on my list.

—

I’m also a big fan of the Dear America / My Name is America / The Royal Diaries books – I want to own all of them, someday. Because of this post, I just realized that Lowry wrote Dear America: Like The Willow Tree (2011).

Another book of hers that I want to read is Autumn Street (1980).

What about you? Have you read any of Lois Lowry’s books?

Come back in late March for another installment of Awesome Authors!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.22.17
by

Writing Prompt #46: “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” (Week 8)

Week #8: Express Gratitude to Three People.

  1. To Stephanie – Thank you for being amazing! I’m so grateful that you agreed to be a bridesmaid in my wedding. You are a wonderful friend and a great pastor! Thank you for always greeting me at church with a smile and a big hug! You are loved and treasured, friend.
  2. To Kristian – You are an awesome woman. From the minute I saw your blog, I knew we had a connection. Thank you for your support. Thank you for turning me on to this challenge! I’m so excited to meet up with you later this year. No excuses!
  3. To Diana – I’m grateful that you’ve shared your life and world on your blog. Your faith is amazing to me. You are a pillar of strength. Thank you for being so open and honest. I’m grateful to be able to read your words. You’re a beautiful friend!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.19.17
by

Getting Personal #61: My Skin & Makeup Routines (Part 2)

makeup

Image Credit: The Odyssey Online

As promised, here’s Part 2 of my skin and makeup routines!

If you missed Part 1, here’s the link to the post:

Ready?

Here we go!

Makeup

Like I mentioned last week, my makeup routine is pretty simple. I’ve tried both foundation and powder over several years, and I’ve finally decided that I don’t want to use either one!

Here’s my current makeup routine, in four easy steps:

  1. Blush
  2. Eyeshadow
  3. Eyeliner
  4. Mascara

—

I remember getting introduced to Mary Kay products back when I was in middle school. Between my mom using their skin care products (She still does now!), and several friends having free facials and makeovers at sleepovers, I loved their makeup back then.

Think of a early teenage Laura Beth experimenting with shades like Cotton Candy, Lime Green, Icy Blue, and more …

Years ago, a friend started selling Mary Kay to help pay her way through college. I bought several things at that launch party that I’ve loved since:

I still like a lot of what Mary Kay makes, but I don’t have a regular rep that I buy from right now. Most makeup that I’ve bought in the last year or so has actually come from the Dollar Tree, Walmart, Target, or your average drugstore (Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy, etc.)

—

Three Mary Kay items that I currently use actually came from a local Goodwill store:

So, back to my current four-step routine. This is what I do, and use, on an almost daily basis:

  1. Blush – Either Sparkling Cider or Cherry Blossom. With my skin tone, I can be liberal with Sparkling Cider, but cautious with Cherry Blossom. Too much of that, and I turn into a porcelain doll!
  2. Eyeshadow – I use the Eye Definer brush for either Truffle or Chocolate Kiss, on my eyelids. I use the Eye Crease brush for Spun Silk, on the skin between my lids and my brows.
  3. Eyeliner – I normally like/prefer a crayon or twist-up black eyeliner, but recently I’ve been loving my L.A. Colors liquid eyeliner. This came from my local Dollar Tree!
  4. Mascara – I used a few different types of mascara from Mary Kay until it ran out. Then, in 2015, while planning my wedding, I found L’Oreal Paris Telescopic Original Mascara from Walmart.com. I loved the look so much on my wedding day, that I bought a second tube!

This morning – Fresh face, no makeup.

Just ten minutes later, all four steps complete.




—

I definitely love my Mary Kay brushes, don’t get me wrong!

But, I recently found something amazing:

Wizard Wands!!

I ordered these from Storybook Cosmetics a while back, and they are awesome!

Makeup Tips

  • Pay attention to your eye color.
    • I have hazel/green eyes, so I naturally lean toward more brown/beige/suede tones for my eyeshadow.
    • For eyeliner and mascara, I tend to go back and forth between black and dark brown. Both colors work well for me.
  • Always moisturize your face before applying makeup.
    • As mentioned in Part 1, I use Enzymion and Tea Tree Toner from LUSH Handmade Cosmetics. I’ve found that this combination, right now, works the best for my skin. I highly recommend for you to research your skin and test (and re-test) until you find something that works best for you.
    • When I wear makeup (not every day), my skin still feels hydrated and fresh all day.
  • Always take your makeup off before going to bed!
    • I cannot stress this enough – It’s so important. Your face will thank you.
    • This has never happened to me (knock on wood), but one of my friend’s wives got a terrible case of blepharitis (eyelid inflammation) the week of their wedding! It happened mainly because she wasn’t taking off her eye makeup before going to sleep. Lucky for her, she received prompt treatment and everything cleared up for their big day!
    • I currently use oil-free makeup wipes, but you can also make your own.
    • You can also use Coalface or Dark Angels from LUSH. I want to try one of these products next, primarily to cut down on the waste that wipes create.
  • If you’re interested in learning more about makeup, I definitely recommend contacting a Mary Kay representative near you. However, two other good places to learn and explore are Ulta Beauty and Sephora. If you decide to go with either of those, I suggest going into a store. I’ve found that employees at both are not only knowledgeable, but super helpful! Sephora even has the Color IQ test, where you can find out your exact skin tones (red, yellow) and the employees will help you with specific product recommendations for lips, foundation, and concealer.
  • Learn how to wash your brushes/applicators properly, and how often.
  • Make sure to read expiration dates on all of your makeup. Most companies are now required to have a jar symbol with an indicator such as 6M (six months after opening), 12M (twelve months after opening), and so on. There are different recommended dates of use for different types of makeup.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.17.17
by

Tag #17: School Subjects Book Tag

school-subjects

Image Credit: iStock

The ladies over at Thrice Read did it again! Another fantastic book tag!

Here’s the link to their post:

Math- A book that left your head spinning in circles.

Allegiant. It was such a frustrating book!

—

English – A book you think has beautiful written expression.

The Great Gatsby.

—

Physics – Your favorite scientifically minded character from a book or film.

Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

—

Chemistry – Your favorite literary couple?

Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.

—

Biology – Your favorite book/series/film character.

Harry Potter.

—

French – Your favorite foreign book/film/program.

The Millennium Trilogy – Specifically, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

—

Art – Have you ever judged a book by its cover, even if you weren’t meant to?!

Oh, yes. I’ve found that I’ve judged covers more as I’ve gotten older.

—

History – The last historical book you read.

The War That Saved My Life – I highly recommend this one!

—

Geography – A literary destination you would really like to visit (real or fictional).

Definitely Hogwarts!

—

Drama – a book you think has a lot of over-dramatic hype

The Twilight series. I tried to read them, but I didn’t get a lot out of any of them.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.16.17
by

Blog Awards #11: Blogger Recognition Award – Number 3!

blogger-recognition-award

Image Credit: Found on The Green Onion Blog.

Many thanks to The Green Onion Blog for nominating me for The Blogger Recognition Award!

Here’s the link to his post, where I was nominated:

The Rules:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  2. Write a post to show your award.
  3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
  5. Select other bloggers you want to give this award to.
  6. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

How Hot Shot Headlines Started:

Thanks to Dr. Bill Stuart (Dr. B.) at Longwood University, I created my first blog through his Computer-Mediated Communication class. After a few years, different blogs that didn’t go very far, and a couple of platforms (Blogspot, WordPress, etc.), I landed here. I celebrate my blogaversary next month – It’s been three years since Hot Shot Headlines officially kicked off.

As for the name: “Hot Shot” is the nickname that my dad gave me years ago. We have no idea how it started, or exactly when it started, but it’s stuck. Since I was a Communication Studies, Mass Media major in college, I wanted to have a news-like angle to whatever blog I created. Thus, I found “Headlines” to be appropriate.

I ended up not going into the journalism field for my career, so I like to think that my blog is an extension, of sorts, of my university newspaper participation that I absolutely loved for eight semesters.

I’ve really enjoyed the last year or so in particular, where my horizons really started to expand. I’ve loved participating in different challenges and tags, writing about real issues, and exploring other items of interest (Books, different types of media, etc.). Plus, I’ve gained so many amazing followers, and friends!

My Advice to New Bloggers:

  1. Don’t put pressure on yourself to have a set schedule.
  2. Always respond to comments!
  3. Don’t be afraid to take “blogging breaks.”

For me, I agonized for a really long time about setting a schedule for my blog. I wanted to post regularly, but I didn’t know how to do so. I felt awkward with a ton of unfinished drafts.

When WordPress came out with the “Schedule” feature, that was a game-changer for me! Now, I can look at the calendar and figure out any day and time that I want to publish posts. It’s fantastic! If a certain post isn’t ready, I can easily change the date and time for publication.

I’m definitely a routine person. Example – I wanted to publish my “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” posts on the same day every single week. I picked Wednesdays, and it’s worked beautifully. Now, I’m finding that I’m posting more frequently, and enjoying it!

—

I try to respond to every single comment that’s made on my posts (unless it’s spam, of course). It’s a great way to connect with other bloggers and readers alike! I’ve made several blogging friends this way.

In addition, I try to comment on posts that really speak to me. It doesn’t have to be a long comment, but I enjoy reaching out to other bloggers in that way. Plus, if it’s a WordPress blog, the poster can find my blog that way! It’s a great networking tool/resource.

—

Finally, don’t be afraid to take a “blogging break.” Everyone I know who writes, whether it’s a blogger, journalist, novelist, or poet, gets writer’s block. It sucks!

But, if you’ve found that you’ve hit a wall with your blog or your writing, it’s actually a good thing to take a break. Here’s a personal example – I found that I was absolutely burnt out in early 2015 for about a month or so. Outside of the blog, I was planning my wedding, work was crazy, and I was trying to keep up with my paralegal classes. I couldn’t juggle the blog with everything else. I went on complete hiatus for about two weeks. I felt bad, but those two weeks helped my brain catch up with everything else in my life. Plus, I had fresh material and new ideas for the blog. I came back to the blog recharged, and ready to write again!

Now, I find myself taking shorter breaks every so often – Sometimes a few weekdays, sometimes a whole weekend. It depends. When we travel to Al’s parents’ farm, I really try to hard to “unplug” completely when we’re there. It’s a nice break from technology, social media, etc.

Nominations:

  1. R.H. (Rusty) Foerger – Curriculum of the Spiritual Life
  2. jennanicolee – Bookmark Your Life
  3. Animal Planet Lover
  4. Its Naly
  5. martin houghton – DukkeHus
  6. vinnieh
  7. Panic At The Bookstore
  8. Marie’s library
  9. Cheila – Pink For Days
  10. Suyog Chhatre – Positivity Unlimited
  11. The Sporadic Scribbler
  12. Alex Raphael

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone has a terrific Thursday!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.15.17
by

Writing Prompt #45: “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” (Week 7)

Week #7: A Friend 1

The first person I thought of for this post was my best friend in this world, Melissa Beebe.

In the photo below, she’s the lovely lady with the glasses, making the bunny ears 🙂

View More: http://stellarexposures.pass.us/vwedding

The girls!

We’ve been friends since we were in 5th grade – Which means that we have been friends for 17 years now!

Astonishingly, the only photos of us, that I can find via Facebook, are from my bridal luncheon and my wedding day. Yikes! We need to take more photos!

img_2362

Bridal luncheon, August 2015.

View More: http://stellarexposures.pass.us/vwedding

Gorgeous maid of honor and bride, November 2015.

I can hardly put into words how grateful I am for Melissa and her friendship for all these years. Writing this post has a lot of memories flooding back – Fighting over those silly boys at Chittum and Jolliff, voraciously reading, the fort in her backyard, chorus/orchestra trips, going to different schools for high school and college, dating, eating sushi and seeing Lindsey Stirling, calling to ask her to be my maid of honor, late-night Facebook messages, and more.

Thank you for everything, so far. Here’s to many more years!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

02.13.17
by

Getting Personal #60: My Skin & Makeup Routines (Part 1)

lush-harbor-east

Image Credit: Harbor East

Many thanks to Megan over at Freckled Italian for inspiring this post!

Here’s Megan’s original post:

Ready?

Here we go!

Skin

Some of you know that I got into LUSH Handmade Cosmetics products well over a year ago, thanks to a few friends who talked it up. I wasn’t disappointed!

It helps that there’s a store in Norfolk’s MacArthur Mall. It’s an expensive investment, but the benefits have absolutely paid off in spades.

Before I found LUSH, I was using a combination of Clean & Clear products and a few things that my mom and others had recommended. I couldn’t seem to control the oil, and I had absolutely hellacious breakouts during that lovely time of the month. I was massively frustrated. I didn’t want to wear makeup. My skin is relatively sensitive, but I never, ever realized what I was using to wash and moisturize my face could be harming it.

—

In December 2015, I walked into LUSH for the first time. The staff were wonderful! I was immediately entranced by everything that they offered. They update their product lines regularly, and they always seem to have something new when I visit.

The idea is to use just a little bit of the product every day. Some of my LUSH stuff lasts for MONTHS, and it’s awesome. In all of 2016, I only visited the store four times to make purchases.

—

This is what I have used and/or sampled since Day 1:

I liked Angels on Bare Skin and Movis, but I probably won’t buy those again. Some of the smells were super strong!

I may buy Aqua Marina again, because it has calamine lotion in it. Considering I usually get eaten alive by mosquitoes in the warmer months, I’ll probably keep a small “pot” of it at home. I will probably do the same with either Dark Angels or Coalface, since both are good to use for makeup remover.

I definitely want to buy Ocean Salt again, closer to the summer months. It smells like the beach, and I felt like I was in a spa every time I used it!

I love the variety of bath bombs that LUSH offers. The baths I have taken with them – Three since we bought our house – have been calming and soothing.

—

I currently have the following in my bathroom:

The one without a side label is Enzymion. The pots fit perfectly on the shelves in our mirrored cabinet.

Buche de Noel is one of my favorite products. It smells like Christmas, and it does a great job on my face and skin. I use it every day in the shower on my face (unless I just got my eyebrows waxed), and I usually scrub it all over my arms and heels. It’s really helped when the skin on my heels has been very dry and rough. It’s a seasonal item, so I try to make this last as long as possible.

Top: Buche de Noel. Bottom left: Christingle. Bottom right: Enzymion.


Christingle is a new product that I discovered on my last store visit. It smells amazing, and the cool, refreshing tingle I feel after I use it in the shower feels awesome. Like Buche de Noel, I’m trying to make it last, since I won’t be able to buy it again until later in 2017.

Enzymion and Tea Tree Water have been with me since Day 1 – I will always buy these. Enzymion is the perfect moisturizer for my skin. This has helped dramatically reduce breakouts, and my skin feels lighter and far less oily now. The Tea Tree Water is so refreshing. I spritz it on right after I apply Enzymion. In the hotter months, I like to put it in the fridge. It makes the hot and humid days bearable!

I haven’t tried Rose Jam yet. Soon!

—

This is just a short list of what I want to try in the future:

The other bonus – When you bring back five clean labeled “pots” after using the products, LUSH will give you a free face mask. They reuse the pots, and then recycle them later on.

I’m excited to do this for the first time soon – I had enough pots to redeem in December, but they didn’t have any face masks to give me! I’m collecting them in a box. During my next trip, I can’t wait to see what I get.

Makeup

Since Megan’s post focused on makeup, this is was my comment:

“For me, I completely skip foundation and powder – The different stuff I’ve tried over the years seems to just clog my pores and makes me itchy! I do four things on a regular basis. First, I sweep on some blush – I love Mary Kay. I switch between “Sparkling Cider” and “Cherry Rose.” Second, I do eyeshadow – Also Mary Kay. Since I have green/hazel eyes, I prefer brown/suede/beige tones (“Truffle,” “Chocolate Kiss,” and “Spun Silk.” Third, I’m loving liquid eyeliner right now – The stuff I use currently came from the Dollar Tree. Lastly, I put on mascara. I loved the Maybelline Telescoping Lashes mascara that I bought for my wedding so much, that I saved the information and bought a second tube! It probably takes 10 minutes total, but the compliments are totally worth it.”

—

However, since the Skin section took up such a huge chunk of this post, I’m dividing this post into two parts.

Come back this time next week to learn more about my makeup routine!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂