My Self-Tanning Tips Plus Jergens Review!

Hello everyone!

Today is officially the beginning of June! Yay summer!! Also, today as I measured my hair growth it has reached a little over a ½ an inch this month! So that’s not bad! I also just started taking Saw Palmetto and MSM so if this month’s hair growth is more I’ll know if those are working.

Today I would like to give you my top 10 tips for self tanning! As well as a review for the Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer! If you are just interested in seeing the review you can scroll down to the Jergens picture, it’s ok I’m not offended haha!

So to begin here are my personal top 10 tips for self-tanning which is just what I’ve learned on my journey of being a pale girl. Because I’m very passionate about health and skin I avoid the sun’s harmful rays as much as I can. I always wear sunscreen with SPF 50 and I try to always wear sunglasses. So because I’m nearly see-through I discovered self-tanning!

#1 if you are very pale, it’s best to choose a self-tanner that will not darken you too much. I like Sun Labs in medium for this case because you can achieve results but it’s not too dramatic which could cause people to notice you’re self-tanning! It’s also best to get a formula with a green-tint because it will not turn you orange.

#2 If you’re using a regular self-tanner with a guide color (if it goes on kind of bronzey) it’s best to apply it at night and shower off in the morning. Sure, you lose a little color by doing this but I learned that the guide color looks pretty terrible if you happen to get caught in the rain. Then you look like a bronze zebra haha. Plus, doing this will get rid of the self-tanner smell.

#3 Always exfoliate before putting on your self-tanner. Like always. This will make sure that you get an even tan result and it lasts longer. I like to use exfoliating gloves while I’m in the shower and I use my own exfoliating mixture on my knees and elbows.

#4 Use a moisturizer on your knees, elbows, hairline, and eyebrows before using your self-tanner and let it soak in. Also, I only use the leftover tanner on my knees and elbows, just whatever I have left on my hands from doing my leg or arm.

#5 Chances are you will sweat it off, I know, bummer :( I’ve learned that I sweat it off in certain areas faster. Like where my bra line is around my chest or on the inside of my legs. If you are sweating and these areas turn pale, use your self-tanner at night like normal and add a second coat to the lighter areas.

#6 Every self-tanner claims it lasts a week or so and I’ve learned mine just never do. My skin gets rid of self-tanner so fast! I have learned however, that I can do the self-tanner every three days and it stays the color I want it to. If I let it go the whole week I lighten quite a bit but I still have a glow so it’s not bad.

#7 How should you apply self-tanner? Well, I have tiny hands so if I use gloves I have to order the small ones online because the ones in the stores are always too big. If the gloves are well fitted then you should have minimal streaking. You may also use your bare hands but I almost always mess this up and end up having orange colors underneath my nails. The best thing to use is a tanning mitt! These are awesome and they get an even tan! After you wash the mitt you can wash it with soap and lukewarm water and I hang mine to dry ASAP so the glue will not come apart.

#8 For self-tanning your face I have used the regular self-tanner for body by Sun Labs and never had a problem but if you have easily irritated skin you should get the one specially formulated for faces. I use it very sparingly under the eyes, eyebrows, under the nose and around the mouth so I’m kind of contouring with the tanner. Also I use a cotton pad to apply it to the back of my hands as well.

#9 If you have a self-tanner that makes you a little darker than what you wanted, I like to mix a regular moisturizing lotion with the tanner as I apply it. So for example I’ll use one pump of the Daily Moisture by Jergens and two pumps of the Sun Labs and then mix it with my hands and apply it.

#10 For best results work from the legs up and only swipe sparingly over feet. I usually do my whole body then I’ll let sit for like 5-10 minutes and I’ll put on a loose nightshirt and go to bed. I’ve never had any problems where it stains my sheets or anything for the Sun Labs, Banana Boat, Jergens, or the Fake Bake. (Jergens and Sun Labs are my favorite btw)

So there you have it! These are my fool-proof tips for getting a flawless, natural-looking tan! Hopefully they work for you too!

Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer

Pros	Cons
No orange color	About 3 applications before you can see color
Even, no streaks	Can feel kind of damp when you are sweating
Can be applied with hands	Takes about 7-10 min to dry
Not too dark
Moisturizes great with Vitamin E
No smell at all

So I got the Jergen’s Natural Glow DailyMoisturizer for only $8-9 a bottle I have to say I’m impressed! You don’t have to use very much to cover an area so that’s great! After the first two applications I started to notice a subtle glow which was nice! Now it’s after my third application and I love the color! It’s a nice brown color with no orange and I don’t notice any smell at all! I love it! For me, the third application has a good color and I probably won’t try to go much darker. I used the Fair-Medium formula which is lighter and I like it a lot! I used to use the Sun Labs self-tanner and because it’s a little more expensive than what I wanted I decided to try this. The Sun Labs in Medium is a great alternative if you’re willing to spend the extra money and want faster results. I like the Jergens because I’m not necessarily trying to get “tan” just look a more natural color rather than purple, see-thru haha. SO it’s definitely worth a try and it’s cheap! I also use the one for faces and it’s great because it even has an SPF in it! It’s awesome!

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or comments please comment below! I value your input!

Huge hugs and sun-kissed skin,

KMB

The best way to get rid of post-acne scars!!

Hello everyone!

Today I will be giving you my own little tips and tricks to get rid of acne scars and post-acne marks! If you want a post entirely on getting rid of acne itself please comment below! :)

I had my own little bout with acne near the end of my highschool career and that was definitely not how I wanted to be remembered. By the time I got it all under control I was left with these dark purple marks and red spots in the worst places! I had a nice little acne mark mustache there for a little while. So, I did a ton of research of how to get rid of them.

What I found out is that when acne leaves behind a scar it’s deep down unto the layers of your skin and because our skin repairs itself it would slowly get rid of all the damaged skin cells over time. I don’t know about you but I’m not gonna wait years for these scars to go away.

 

The first thing you should do is exfoliate! (as if I don’t say this enough) I have really sensitive skin so I exfoliate gently with a baking soda and water mix every other day. Then, every single night I take regular old lemon juice and I will soak it into a Q-tip. When its soaked all the way I will hold it over the spot and sort of massage it in with the Q-tip. After I’ve done that to each spot, I let it dry. Now, this part may be a little itchy but resist and let it dry into your skin. You can rinse it off afterwards but I just left it on since I wasn’t going to be putting on makeup or sweating or anything. I then used the Ambi fade cream which I LOVE because it has

hydroquinone (which is said to fade dark spots) and vitamin e! (Which repairs skin) I leave that on overnight as well. With anything that has hydroquinone you have to be careful and not use it when you’ll be subject to the sun because it increases sun damage. I was so careful but I used it once when I was sleeping somewhere else and the sunlight came in through the window and I had a red patch on my skin for a few days :( not good. But, if you do it right you should have much better results within a few months!

This is me at the beginning of October 2012 when I first started this regimen, no makeup.

 

I unfortunately lost the pictures of three months later :(

But this is me now with no makeup and a few newer scars later but you can see the old ones are pretty much completely gone!! :)

I hope this helps someone, somehow and I do promise that these tricks work and you don’t need to buy any expensive creams like Proactiv or anything. I’ve tried other things like the Garnier Dark Spot corrector and I’ve tried face masks weekly with citric acid but nothing works as well as this!

Also, you can check out Kandee Johnson’s video using lemon as a scrub! (even better!!) Enjoy!

I hope this works for you too! Or maybe someone you know! Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments please comment below or find me on twitter! :)

 

Hugs and clear skin,

KMB

Favorite Beauty Product Right Now!!

Hey there! So today I’m going to tell you all about my new favorite product of all time!

 So if you read any of my past posts I talked about how I had a bad reaction to a generic birth control pill. Now, I’m on a brand name pill that delivers the same amount of hormones throughout the whole month so there are no ups and downs. If you suffer from acne because of birth control, that might clear it up J talk to your doctor!

Now, if you do have acne keep reading and I’ll help you J if you are blessed with clear or semi-clear skin, first thank your lucky stars or parents for having good genes! Or maybe you just take awesome care of your skin, in which case, rock on you!  If you do have nice skin, scroll down to the L’Oreal BB cream picture! If you suffer from acne however, you can read my post on the Clean Start brand! But the first rule is to figure out what is causing your acne. Remember, whatever you put into your body is reflected the most by your skin. If you are on a journey to clear skin but you just need some great makeup for now, here is my #1 favorite makeup line! Makeup Forever HD Foundation and Concealer! It is literally the best makeup I’ve ever used to cover my acne and acne scars. I set it with the BenNye setting spray and BAM I’m set all day long! It works best if you always always always exfoliate!!Oh, and don’t waste your money on the powder just click here and it’s much cheaper!!

If your skin doesn’t have any huge major blemishes or any kind of major skin discolorations, the L’Oreal BB Cream is my new favorite skin product!! I use the Fair on my normal skin and then the Light when I’m self-tanning. My skin magically looks even and smooth and it even gets rid of my dark circles a little! I like to mix my Hard Candy Glamouflage concealer with my BB cream for any blemishes or a little oomph for my dark circles. I love to use that and some mascara and I can just go! It’s so fast and my skin feels plump and even! Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an SPF so I wear my sunscreen underneath. Maybe L’Oreal will come out with one that has SPF soon J *fingers crossed* I have tried the Rimmel and Maybelline BB creams but the L’Oreal seems to be my favorite because it doesn’t even look like I’m wearing makeup! I love it! Here is my before and after, I know I look kinds silly but hey, focus on my skin lol here I’ve used my Sun Labs Self tanner the night before and it’s been washed off and then the second picture I have my BB Cream on Yay! I hope this helps!

 

 

So that’s my little review and skin tip for the day, sorry I kinda ramble ha ha! If you have any skin questions or product suggestions please comment below because I’d love to help and I’m open to whatever your opinions are!! Oh yeah, and all the pictures are clickable so click them if you wanna see other reviews and where to buy! J

Thank you so much!

Hugs and even skin,

KMB  

Coconut Oil Hair Mask: Repair hair, add shine, stay healthy!

Hey!

So because it's been awhile since I've blogged I decided to write a short post giving my number 1 best hair growth/hair health tip of all time. I promise it transformed my very damaged hair and I do think it has aided in my hair growth which is now just over 3 inches in 4 months!

I do two hair masks. The first is solely for the scalp so it's not as large. I scoop about 1 1/2 spoonfuls of coconut oil (because it's solid at room temp) and warm it until it's liquid. I then add about 5 drops of rosemary essential oil, 3 drops of lavender, and 3 drops of cedarwood. If you have thyme oil as well add a few drops of that. If you don't have any essential oils don't panic! You can for now just make some rosemary tea and add that to your coconut oil but here's a link to get some high quality oils for cheap prices: Rosemary oil, Lavender oil, castor oil, coconut oil  I then will add about 2 spoonfuls of castor oil which has been proven to reduce hair loss. You may use coconut milk from the can as well or instead of coconut oil. Apply to your scalp and massage for five minutes in circular motions.

For the second mask, I used about 3 spoonfuls of coconut oil and warm it in the microwave. You may use more if you have thicker or coarser hair and less if you have thin hair. Then I add 2 drops each of lavender and cedarwood. Sometimes I will add honey  (for moisture), egg (for protein), or my favorite deep conditioner such as Redken, John Freida, or the cheap Aussie deep conditioner. Whichever you have you may use or you can just stick to the coconut oil. Then add some olive oil and saturate the rest of your hair thoroughly. I like to comb through my hair with a wide tooth comb just to make sure. You can use a shower cap to cover your head or do like I do and just use a regular plastic grocery bag and tie it in the back. I like to put my TurbieTwist overtop to soak up any excess oils that might escape as well.

You may use this anywhere from 20 minutes to overnight! I like to use this overnight but make sure to put a towel (or two) over your pillow because coconut oil gets stuck in the fibers of pillowcases. When you shampoo it out, take your time to ensure you get all the oil and if you have fine hair shampoo twice so you don't end up all greasy! Ha ha! I like to use a sulfate free shampoo so some of the oil is left over. When I'm all finished I like to take a pea sized (or smaller) amount of coconut oil in my palm and warm it up between my hands and spread onto the ends of my hair when it's still damp to seal in the moisture. I like to use this at least once a week :)

Please comment below with suggestions or questions! I would greatly appreciate feedback! And, if you like my posts, become a follower or subscribe and we'll be internet pals!! Haha!

Good luck and I hope you end up with super shiny, fast growing hair! :)

Stay beautiful and spread the love!

KMB

Click here to see what vitamins I take for hair growth and to catch up on my daily life :)

 

Update: Hair growth, college, & makeup oh my!

 

Hello there!

(To see my post about the best hair mask ever you can click that!

Scroll down to see the vitamins I take that have achieved 3 inches of growth in 4 months!)

It has been forever since I've posted a blog post! Let me tell ya, college is definitely a full time thing! I've finally finished my freshman year and I'm on summer vacay so that is super exciting!

I've learned that college is very stressful and it is much more time consuming than high school. I'm so glad to finally be on vacation because I need it!

Lately, I've gotten the pleasure of getting to do prom makeup on some of the girls in my hometown. It was so much fun and I really felt like I was getting my name out there finally. Getting paid to what I love is the best feeling ever! I love teaching everyone about makeup and showing them how little tips and tricks can make such a difference for their everyday makeup! I just felt so blessed that so many girls wanted me to be a part of their prom memory :) Of course, I had nightmares the night before about being late, messing up a makeup look, disappointing a client ha ha! I was terrified! But from the feedback I got I really felt like they all loved their makeup so it was really wonderful :)

Also, since about January I have been on a hair growth journey to repair my hair from all the damage bleaching and heat tools have done. I don't regret bleaching my hair, because being blonde was fun :) ha ha but unfortunately I have a tad bit of an obsession with my hair being healthy. So, I dyed my hair back to brown in January and stopped using heat on my hair completely! No blow-drying, no curling, no straightening, nothing. I take a list of vitamins and I'm trying to track my hair growth. As of April it was 3 inches! My hair is a little past breast-length in the front and around mid-back length in the back which is since I've cut about 3 inches off to get rid of the irreversible damage. My goal is to get it to hip-length! So, the future of this blog will include a lot of reviews, hair growth tips and my own personal journey so I hope that it helps someone else trying to grow their hair :) The vitamins I take are:

· biotin

· hair, skin, and nails

· prenatal

· omega 3,6,9

· cod liver oil

· vitamin e oil

· hydrolyzed collagen

· silica from red algae (on a trial basis)

· mineral silica (on a trial basis)

 

I swear by using coconut oil and coconut milk to help repair some of my damaged hair. That stuff is totally awesome! I can post some hair mask recipes maybe soon too :)

 

So that is my latest update and hopefully I will be able to keep up with this blog now that I'm on break :)

 

 I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Hugs and pretty hair,

KMB

 



Hello everyone!

So, I know it's been forever since I've blogged because I'm a new college student! I am officially a freshman in college and am recently totally engaged in my homework (ish) lol

 

But, I wanted to bring to you all the lovely new product that I have tried!

This is Clean Start by Dermalogica.

It is like a miracle for people like me! I have recently had my own battle with acne after just recently turning 19. I've been acne-free my whole life and all of a sudden I have this terrible issue with acne and acne scarring. I splurged and bought this product and it has made a drastic difference in my face. I have noticed definitely less zits than before and I'm sooo happy with this product! I wanted to put a link for Kandee Johnson on here because she is the reason I bought this product. She really explains how awesome it really is.

 

 

Although, if you have suffered from acne for years throughout your teenage life I definitely recommend seeing your doctor for an antibiotic cream because my sister has benefitted greatly from that! It's not too awfully expensive either.

 

So, if you suffer from acne Clean Start may be the way to go :)

Just remember though, that everyone is different and acne doesn't last forever :)

 

Love and happiness,

 

-KMB

I'm a blonde!!!

Hey beautiful,

Yeah, I'm talking to you. It's been way too long since I've updated this blog but how about I tell you what I've been doing?

Well, all last week I was in Bar Harbor, Maine enjoying the wonderful weather, low humidity, and fantastic smell of the ocean! I climbed some rock, went on a bike ride, ran around a bit, shopped. It was awesome!

But guess what? Then I came home and decided, "Forget these blonde highlights, why not just go blonde?" So today I write to you as a new blonde! :)

My beauty tip for you all today is all about learning from my mistakes lol

So,

Lesson 1: Bleaching you're whole hair out by yourself is hard.

Lesson 2: Always, always, always apply bleach to your roots last or they will turn out white.

Lesson 3: Moisture is hard to get back so don't be afraid of argan and cocout oil, they will save your dry, dry hair.

Lesson 4: Makeup that you use when you're a brunette may not suit you as a blonde but a smokey brown eye and a dewy face go with any hair color.

Lesson 5: After you have bleached out your hair and come to realize that your roots are white and your hair is yellow/orange John Frieda will save your day. (Oh, and anything that takes out brassiness really helps)

Lesson 6: If you've always dreamed about dying your hair a drastic color, don't be afraid to do it. Hair grows about an inch a month so it always can grow back. And, if it really looks terrible when its done sometimes a splurge at a salon is ok.

So I know this won't apply to probably even half of the people that read this but it is helpful and some food for thought. Many people are afraid to dye their hair for fear of it looking terrible or fear of change but let me tell you, it's exhilirating!

Sometimes doing something creative (and not permanent) is just what you need when you and your self confidence are in a slump.

As an update, the Sally Hansen Simply Smooth did not last 6 days. But, it did last 3. Which is 3 times the amount my shaving lasts. I take vitamins to help my hair grow and to make up for lack of meat in my diet so my hair grows fast, especially on my legs. So if three days is worth it to you, give it a shot!

Also, if you have any makeup or hair or skin questions please comment! I love to help people and I love helping people feel more beautiful in their own skin.

Thank you guys so much for reading!

I hope you all have your dream hair (and if not, that's why I'm here :))

-KMB