*This post has been sponsored by Palmer’s. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.*
Do you remember when I cut my hair for the first time just a few months ago? It was the shortest it’s ever been back in December, and now it’s back to shoulder length! I’ve received a lot of compliments about how quickly it grew and how healthy it looks, so I wanted to share with you how I keep my hair healthy. This is my quick and easy hair care routine.
First, let me tell you about the state it was in before. It’s been over-processed since perms were a thing! It was dry, damaged, dyed, and mistreated. Even if your hair is the complete opposite of mine, though, and you have locks of an angel, you’ll benefit from each of these products because it’s all about moisturizing, repairing, and strengthening—in the most natural way.
For years now, I’ve used many of the Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Hair Care products. As you’ve seen in my most recent Self Care Sunday video, I love using the Deep Conditioning Protein Pack! I honestly have 3-5 of these packs in my shower at any given time. It’s easy to stock up on all the products in this line because the price points are so great. At around an average of $5, you can buy everything I’m using here at your local Target and Walmart.
I like to use the Protein Pack in two ways: 1) a hair mask in the shower and 2) as an overnight deep conditioning treatment. A way for me to multi-task is, after washing my hair with the Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Conditioning Shampoo, I’ll let the Protein Pack sit in my hair while I complete the rest of my routine. My “set it and forget it” method is to leave the Protein Pack in my hair while I sleep, and then rinse it out in the morning. My locks love both of these methods!
Like with all routines, to maintain the health of your hair, it’s all about consistency. So, I like to alternate between the Protein Pack and the Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula 2 Step Mask. A product that I’ve loved integrating into my routine is the Strong Roots Spray. I’ll spritz it straight onto my scalp wherever I have extra dryness or breakage (hello top knots!), rub it in, give it a minute, and then style per the usual.
Finally, I’ll seal my style in with the Hair Polisher Serum, which adds shine and that ultra silky softness. And there you have it! That’s my quick and easy five-step hair care routine.
I’ve raved about this brand for years because I genuinely love that I can always count on Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Hair Care product to be ethically sourced and made with fair trade certified organic extra virgin coconut oil. Major bonus: all of their products are also free of sulfates, parabens and mineral oil. All the things you want and nothing that you don’t!
So babes, the summer months are upon us and with the drier conditions, I’ll take all the moisture I can get!
The past few weeks have been hectic, exciting, overwhelming, powerful, scary… all of it! I share daily over on Instagram (my IG Stories in particular) what my life is like during this time of growth. My brain is literally growin y’all…and my muscles too ha… so much to learn and celebrate!
So this week I wanted to show you what I’ve been wearing because it’s interesting to me to see how I take outfits from the studio and work mode, into my life and hustle/still work mode. A lot of my outfits are just layers on layers, switching up my outerwear or shoes and adding in some accessories. Lets shimmy into the weekend shall we!
Monday: work from home, coffee in hand, cozy robe all day
Friday: Extra special day, styled by Jo, it’s fancy Friday! Got the workout in early am, study, edit, celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary with Joe for the rest of today <3 PS this sexy athleisure badass superhero cat woman look is mah thanggg
We’ve all been there…flopping into bed so tired and too lazy to take off our makeup…that’s bad, so so bad HAHA
I decided to have you hold me accountable for good habits by walking you through my ‘lazy lady nighttime makeup routine’ using my holy grail skincare products. I say ‘holy grail’ because these are the products I continue to reach for again and again, tried and true.
Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser • I love this cleanser! It allows me to not have to use my Clarasonic religiously because you know what, I get lazy and honestly the battery on that thing dies a lot and I forget to charge it so. But this is an enzymatic cleanser, it smells like strawberries, and it’s full of antioxidants. Those are the things that fight those free radical things that try to stick to your skin and damage it when you’re out living your best life. BONUS: this cleanser doubles as an exfoliating mask which will help smooth your skin texture and minimize large pores. Thank you for just getting it Indie Lee <3
Pixi Glow Tonic • On nights that I’m feeling lazy to head over to the sink to properly wash my face, I reach for this glow tonic which exfoliates and purifies your skin. Perfect for when it’s that time of the month for me and my skin is being especially problematic. It has glycolic acid and ginseng which improves circulation, and aloe vera which soothes. Love love this toner!
Thayer’s Natural Toner • After I cleanse my skin with the Indie Lee (or if I’m feeling super lazy and don’t want to walk over to my vanity for the Pixi) I’ll saturate a cotton round with this toner (which smells so good btw, lavender!) and gently go around my face with it until the cotton round comes up clean. It usually takes me 3-4 passes depending on how much makeup I wore that day. TIP: this toner comes in a travel size so I keep it in my gym bag and after a nice sweat sesh I wipe my face down quickly to keep breakouts at bay!
Shiseido Benefiance Eye Cream • Eye cream eye cream eye cream! I can’t stress enough how important an eye care routine is. The skin around our eyes is the thinnest of all our face, hence we show signs of aging there the quickest. So hydrate….and try to sleep like a geisha haha. And sleep on a silk pillow like this one! What I like about this eye cream is that it’s nice and hydrating which is why it’s my nighttime eye cream. I try to apply it at least 30 minutes before bed so I’m not just sleeping it off. My go-to daytime eye cream is from Kiehl’s as you can also apply it to your eye lids and it’s not heavy, perfect for wearing under makeup. This Benefiance has
Kiehl’s Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate • Love love love this serum which I purchased for flight preparation when we went to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. What does that mean? Your skincare truly matters before a flight, not during. This serum plumps dry, dull skin… haaallllo long flight sucking the life out of my face….not today! It intensively hydrates the skin to combat dryness and rough texture. Layer this on top of your serum and under your moisturizer. Top with a face oil.
Kiehl’s Daily Reviving Concentrate • And here’s that face oil! I’ve been talking about this face oil a lot. A little goes a long way and if you’re going to splurge on one item, I suggest this one. It’s so nourishing and luxurious, infused with botanical oils and all that antioxidant protection from those free radicals again. It doesn’t irritate my skin, it’s a beautiful primer under makeup for that dewy glow, and it calms my skin after I scrub the hell out of it with an exfoliant. I drop 3-4 drops onto my finger tips, warm it up, and then pat it into my skin. I also like to whisper to my skin while I’m doing that, “stay in youthfulness mkay love you”. Try it, it works.
Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream • I keep this lil baby in the refrigerator, it’s a water cream that delivers all the needed moisture with two forms of hyaluronic acid and tamarind extract. Perfect for hyper-pigmentation and fun fact: “Tidal increases hydration by up to 68 percent in as little as 15 minutes for up to 24 hours of continuous moisture.” Say wuuuuut! <3
Rose Quartz Facial Roller • All the rage today has been facial rollers. Ice rollers, derma rollers, and crystal rollers. Haiii I’m one of the skincare addicts that bought em all just to share with you which ones actually worked for me and which ones are worth the spend. I love the crystal rollers (I linked you to a mini one here for all my travel babes so you don’t have to purchase two) because they’re not crazy expensive and they do the job. They’re naturally cooling because of the stone stone roller which will also depuff facial tissue and tighten your skin. This feels so so good under your eyes after a long day and just feels luxurious on your face.
Micro-Roller • Derma rolling, micro needling at home, love it, gotta have it, addicted to it. Derma-rolling may sound intimidating, it’s taking a beauty tool with tiny little needles all over it and rolling it over your entire face. Okay I get why that’d be intimating. But I promise it’s not as scary (or as painful) as it sounds. Doing this to your skin created these micro-injuries on your skin’s surface which stimulates collagen and elastin production for plumper, glowy, more radiant skin. Not to mention it also allows for your skincare products to penetrate deeper into your skin’s layers. I did a lil video about how I derma-roll here for you. Do some research on it, see what you think, and please don’t go buying a derma-roller that has huge needles… no blood should be drawn…..now that sounds intimidating. PS I derma-roll 2-3 times per week but that’s my preference
Nurse Jamie Uplift Massaging Beauty Roller • A bit more on the price point but so worth it in my opinion. I keep this pretty by my bed, it’s the last thing I do before going to sleep after applying all my skincare products. It helps maintain healthy blood circulation, stimulates collagen, tightens pores, and promotes lymphatic drainage… have you seen the videos on this….I binge watched a ton of them before impulsively purchasing this roller. Really happy it worked out.
And there they are! I love sharing with you the things I do in real life and the things that actually work. High end or drugstore brand, if it works, it works. If you purchase any of these please let me know how you like them. Do you already have some of these in your beauty arsenal?
Let me know if there’s something that you do and love that I should try too <3 Have a beautiful rest of your week!
Just a few of my favorite things! I have two makeup bags, anyone else? And the smaller of the two gets toted around with me everywhere, tossed into whatever bag I’m using for the day. Here’s the bare essentials, things I MUST have at all times, ya know, just in case!
Since there are so many brands and ‘favorites’ that I love, and in the interest of not calling everything I own my favorite-because they are, I’ll just share my HAVE TO HAVE ITs:
Chanel Vitalumiere in 40- Beige: my all time favorite foundation, it’s light, dewy, has buildable coverage, and is natural looking. There is also an Aqua option for lighter coverage
You know, the thing I loved most about camping as a child was that my siblings and I had no curfew. We were allowed to stay up as late as we wanted to, we didn’t have to take showers before bed, and we were allowed to indulge in as many smores as we wanted! Of course, when you’re camping, 8pm feels like 3am, so going to sleep when the sun went down was easy … well played parentals. Well played.
I recently took a work trip to Palm Springs and we stayed at the Ace Hotel, a hotel I’d only visited once before, for breakfast. You instantly get these vibes of chic vintage meets boho camping. There were these sort of vinyl curtains that you tie together at night and a wall of this huge mosquito netting that separated my room from the sitting area. But think chic mosquito netting, not like regular weird mosquito netting. Can you imagine it yet or are you just picturing weird netting?
So with staple midcentury modern pieces sprinkled throughout, and a very specific decor unique to the desert, I wanted to share what my suite looked like and some things that made the stay memorable for me.
When I walked into the suite there was music coming from the record player (a record player, hello cutie!) and a welcoming treat was left by the entrance. I loved most the personal touches of this camping theme (it may not even be a camping theme they were going for but that’s what it felt like to me) like a walking stick and a survival guide should you decide to explore around using your walking stick. Even the doors leading to my outdoor patio were being cute with a sign that read, “keep your heart unlocked, but know these doors lock automatically”.
I’d assumed there would be a full length mirror for selfies in my room when I packed for the trip … ps anyone else think of these things when packing? No? Just me? Mkay thanks. However, no full length mirror could be found so I got thrifty and created my own tripod so that I could get my OOTD’s for the week, in this rustic setting. See below for the kind of images my shoe box situation took of me.
If I’m being honest, the pool is nothing to write home about but the fact that you can make smores on your patio, stay up past your bedtime, and shower at your leisure are totally worth writing about.
So when’s the last time you went camping? Have you been to Palm Springs before? Are there other properties I should check out? Joe and I have our anniversary coming up and we’re really trying to plan a trip again this year!
Memorial Day isn’t just about a long weekend or an extra day off of school or work. For my family and I Memorial Day is a special day to remember, and pay respect to all the men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country while serving in the Armed Forces.
I am the daughter of a Drill Sergeant, my father was an officer in the Air Force, my sister a Sergeant in the Army, and my brother a Sergeant in the Marine Corps. Many other of my family members have, and still do, actively serve a branch of the military.
We grew up on Army bases my whole life and I was so proud to have my dad walk me around in his dress greens. Every Memorial Day we take time to pay homage to the service women and men who proudly served this country and lost their lives so that we can all freely live ours. This Memorial Day we’ll light a candle, lay some flowers, give some thanks, and spend time together as a family <3
Family picnic style, we’ll pack a basket with goodies and pretend that we’re in some era in time where there’s nothing better than enjoying the stillness of nature, real conversation, and gigglefests.
I’m so grateful for the lives we live and for our freedoms.
What are your plans this Memorial Day and do you or any of your family members serve in our Armed Forces?
When Joe and Corrine asked me what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day I told them I wanted to just chill at home and do whatever they wanted to do. I don’t know why I do this thing, but whenever it’s supposed to be a day about me (i.e. birthdays and holidays) I freeze up and want to do whatever everyone else wants to do. I love attention, don’t get me wrong … it’s the decision making part that I don’t love!
So instead of staying home and working for the day like I’d suggested *eye roll, umm haalllooo we do this every day*, they whisked me away on a lil road trip to Ventura where we hit the beach, had some yummy brunch, walked around town, and made new memories together <3
Corrine will forever be my baby. We hold hands, she sits on my lap, and she lets me snuggle her in public. Joe loves our bond and gives us our space and then joins in on the love fest for family hugs <3
I hope all mamas feel loved and celebrated. Those like me who get to hold their babies, those with angel babies, those who have strained relationships, those who long to be mamas, those who’ve lost their mama, pet mamas … you’re all so special.
How did you spend your day yesterday? Happy Mother’s Day from me to you
