Perfect Personal Products

Over the past 6 years I have been trying to find the perfect products for me. It's been a tough journey, but I think I'm nearly there!

I should note that, for me, it's been very difficult to find good products because my skin is very sensitive.

First of all, I take scorching hot showers, which can leave my skin very dry and irritated.

Secondly, I suffer from acne breakouts. Lame, I know.

When I was young, it was terrible. I just couldn't get my skin to look right no matter how many products or medications I took. You name it, I've tried it. Pro-Active only worked for a little while, but eventually it started to irritated my skin rather than help it,so I just learned to live with it the acne assuming it was hopeless.

As I got older, the acne cleared up (some-what, thankfully) but has never fully gone away. I started using Saint Ives products for blemish and black head control, which works pretty well, but just wasn't doing the cleaning I needed. Then I found this:

Man, this product really is a great cleanser. I'm also happy to say that since it's a 2 in 1, I rarely ever need to use anything else to wash my face! And it really does prevent my skin from breaking-out! I always have to be careful with the kinds of products I use on my skin, because if I use the wrong kind of product, my skin goes crazy! So needless to say, when this worked, I was beyond ecstatic! 

You can find this product at Target, here, for only $5.49

I love all things Aveeno. It is a godsend for my skin! I had no idea they had a shampoo and conditioner product until just last week and I am hooked! My hair has never felt richer, or finer! I honestly wish I could have taken a picture of the ends of my hair before using these products. My hair looks and feels amazing and so much silkier than it ever has. I would recommend this product to anyone with frizzy or dry hair.

Again, I'm the kind of person that takes scolding hot showers, so my skin dries out fast. I have super sensitive legs so when I get out of the shower, I use Aveeno's skin relief moisturize repair cream on my legs. It works wonders!

You can find these products here, here, and here or at any Target, Vons, Walmart, or Walgreens

Another product line I can never go wrong with is eos. Everything they make is amazing. I have been using eos evolution shaving cream for about three months and I don't think I'll ever use anything else (well, maybe Aveeno's!) I also always have eos lip balm on me. It's super cute and makes my lips feel so perfectly smooth.

You can find these products here, and here. They're also available at any Walgreens or Target.

These are samplers I got from Mothers a few months back. I pretty much use them before I put makeup on in the morning. They're really nice, but they make my skin break out (unfortunately). I love organic anything, so I do want to go back to mothers and try out some other products. I really want to find a lotion for my skin that will last and last.

I use these two products before I go to bed. The little tube is an organic "coffee bean caffeine eye cream" it brightens dark circles, lessens lines & wrinkles while nourishing with anti-aging nutrients. It also smells delicious and makes the bags under my eyes disappear!

You can find this product here

The organic body nourishing oil is probably my favorite products. It really feels amazing and a little goes a long way. I've used a lot of this, as you can see, but I've had it for 2 years!

See similar, here. You can also find this product at Target.

And lastly, my primer and concealer. I don't like using a whole lot of make-up since I have very sensitive skin. I also love the natural look, so these products are perfect for me, personally.

These are probably the most expensive products of the bunch, as they were purchased from Sephora. I'm all about cheap skate items, but sometimes a ladies needs to indulge!

Hourglass is the primer I've been using, and girls, it's no joke! A small bit will cover the majority of my face and it feels like it's coated with a silky substance. It's a perfect match for my Josie Maran foundation.

Josie Maran is a really interesting line. The concealer is made with chameleon pigments that when applied, go on white and adjust to match your perfect skin tone. It's not a "full coverage" so my skin is able to breathe. It also nourishes your skin using Organic Argon Oil. Pretty much, it's my perfect match.

You can find both products here, and here.



So, these are the products I love! What are some of yours?

xox, a modern dame

p.s. I may do a make-up post at some point, or even a "what's in your purse" post. What do you think?

Belated Valentine's Day Post

Aaron and I were both quite sick yesterday, so my VDay post is a bit late! Anyways, here are a few pictures  of my Valentine's day outfit. I wanted to wear something fun and flirty without being overly "red" or "pink" ~ I thought my new pink pump and pink purse would bring out the rose colors of my lacy collared top. I added  my thrifted black leather skirt and cropped jean jacket to tie the look together. I felt very cute! 

These earrings are so cool, I got them at H&M for less than $7.00! 

 

And, of course, I couldn't wait to wear my new owl necklace from Forever21! So cute!

How was everyone else's Valentine's day?

xox, a modern dame

A Fallen Meteorite

I guess I should start by apologizing for my lack of blogging this past week, there are several reasons, but the main one was Aaron was gone for a trip to Canada with his mother for a couple of days. Nevertheless he's home now and I shall be back at it ;}

When Aaron got home, neither of us could contain ourselves, we gave each other our valentine's day gifts right away! His gift to me was a gorgeous, dainty, meteorite necklace. It's absolutely stunning, I am simply in love with it and couldn't wait to blog about it! 

While Aaron was in Canada, I thrifted this fun knitted poncho that I thought would be great for the shoot! I paired it with a cute leather skirt, a sheer long sleeved top, some black leggings, and long black heels Aaron bought me some years back. I also thought it would be neat to style it with this amazing tablet purse Aaron's dad bought me this past Christmas. I rarely, if ever, see business cases/purses styled and thought it would be a nice touch to this stormy look.

I really wanted to go with something darker for the look of this poncho, as well as for the meteorite, since it's iron. I had a fun time playing with the different textures for all of my mixed blacks, it created a nice layering effect that I'm really pleased with. 

Here is a close up f the meteorite necklace. I really don't want to take it off, it's so darn pretty and I am in love with the length. There's always something nice about intimate jewelry that I find much more appealing than huge statement necklaces, not to say that I don't love those, it's just smaller, more meaningful necklaces tend to make me feel more "special."

Here is the shirt I had under the poncho. It is extremely comfortable! I bought this at Buffalo Exchange for $5.99 what a steal! It is so soft and glittery, I can't wait to wear it with some plain jeans!

I love this Tumi tablet purse. I usually use it for my computer (samsung slate 700 series), when I'm out on freelance meetings, etc. It's really very classy looking, I think. I also really love all the extra pocket space it gives as well. 

poncho & leather skirt{thrifted}, boots {gifted}, sheer long sleeved top {ginger g apparel at Buffalo Exchange}, tablet purse Tumi , photos by Aaron Jones

Again, I couldn't help myself. Aaron looked so cute in the gloomy sky light I had to take a few shots of his new jean jacket and his lovely profile. <3

Aaron got his jean jacket from Zanrobe

xox, a modern dame

A 60's vibe

I put together this modern 60's looking outfit today and kinda loved it, the whole look made me think of Sher and how lovely the 60's must've been.

The outfit is kind of all over the place, but seems to fit together quite nicely! I thrifted this cute top last week and couldn't wait to find an outfit to wear with it, I also loved the way it goes with my faux fur vest from H&M.

 

These awesome boots were a gift from my sister, luckily we both wear a 5/6 in shoes! I love the detailing on them and how they sort of mirror my top in pattern! These boots definitely have a *ren fair/larping* quality about them that I simply adore.

I'll never grow tired of this purse, it's just too darn classy.

 I really wasn't sure what kind of necklace to wear with this outfit since I don't really have "statement" necklaces yet, so I decided to layer my more intimate necklaces and I really love the look of them all together!

For the big bangle bracelet, I took old fabric and wrapped it around an old bracelet that never fit me, with the added material, it fits great and looks super fun and chic!

shoes {gifted}, top {thrifted}, skirt, faux fur vest, & tights H&M, purse ModCloth, necklaces Silpada & hand made.


 xox, modern dame

p.s., in case anyone's interested:

Busy Birdies

As the title of this post implies, we have been some busy little birdies! The past few weeks have been non-stop go, go, go! It's been really hard to keepup with weekly posts, so I made a point to do this one ;} 

In this post I decided to bring along our bird, Marley. She's a sunconure and nearly 2 years old. Marley and Aaron are best friends. Marley likes me, but loves him. She's a pretty smart birdie, although very loud. If she's not saying "He-llo" she's squawking for Aaron's attention, which can be tiring some days, so we like to bring her on small walks to keep her calm and happy :}

It was pretty cool that her feather colors were the same as my shirt! Aaron loves to say, "look at how nice Marley's dressed today, what with her amazing coat and clown pants." Some days she simply outdresses me. 

When I saw this pencil skirt at the thriftstore, I nearly died. It's just too cute and super fun! I really love how it looks with the black tights and heels, it made me feel very tall and professional, with a casual twist. 

dress, shoes, purse, and pencil skirt {thrifted}, tights, owl necklace, & earrings forever21, faux fur vest H&M

xox, a modern dame

Steps To Maintaining A Healthy Body & Mind

I had a long conversation with Aaron's mother over Christmas about a seminar she went to which talked about toxic people in the work place. This topic didn't really apply to me, personally, but the solutions presented were amazing in terms of bettering one's health and wellness.

~

Here are the three different goals one must meet in order to truly start to have a balanced emotional and physical healthiness within themselves.

1. Exercise.

30 minutes of exercise a day can:

Relieve stress
Improve sleep
Increase interest in intimacy
Increase endurance, stamina, and energy
Increase happiness & healthiness
Reduces fatigue
Maintains a healthy weight
Reduces cholesterol 
Improves cardiovascular fitness
Increases self love
Increases motivation

Aaron and I started out by jogging two times a week for an hour, to going to the gym 4 times a week for 2-3 hours. You start to feel empowered and healthy. Your body starts to crave the healthy foods and long walks, which are so relaxing!

2. Meditation, Religion, or Yoga.

This part is to create a sense of balance in your life. All three of these are designed to relax and nourish you.

Meditation & Yoga are similar in that they help your mind be at peace, to cleanse you.

Religion helps you put your worries into the hands of something higher than yourself, which can relieve a large amount of stress and increase a healthy mental state.

I, personally, do Yoga every day. Every morning I wake myself up with a light yoga session that helps me get up and out of bed without feeling "pushed" out. I've recently been trying more meditation, which I have a harder time with. I love Tera Styles's yoga tutorials on YouTube, they definitely help get you motivated!

3. Spending time with friends.

This one, at first, I had a hard time believing would benefit my mental state, but the truth is it will and it does. I have, for the past month, been spending way more time with my friends than I typically would as the majority of my days are spent with my fiance.

When I started hanging out with my friends more, I started to feel a sense balance when I came home to my fiance. I felt like all the things I needed to get off my chest that he may not have necessarily understood, were heard and resolved, just by spending those few hours with my girlfriends/friends.

~

After utilizing these steps, I've found that I sleep better, I feel more energized, find that small issues that I would normally be upset by do not phase me in the least. I have recently started to feel really, really great about myself and my life. I'm accomplishing more of my goals and finding more peace with myself.

Not everyday is bliss, but most are and that is what keeps me going ;}

xox, a modern dame

Liebster Awards

Cassidy from Things Like Skeleton Keys & Me nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thanks Cassidy!

This award is like a chain mail style letter given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers to help promote them.

The Rules

• Each person must post 11 things about themselves
• Answer the questions that the nominator set for you, then create 11 questions for your nominees
• Choose 11 people with less than 200 followers and link them in your post
• Go to their page and tell them
• No tag backs 

11 "About Me"'s:

1. I am a freelance artist. I absolutely love to draw and paint!

2. I'm an Aries, which pretty much means nothing to you unless you care, in which case; you now know I am hard headed, vain (obviously), passionate, and daring.

3. Number 3 is my favorite number. It reminds me of deep violets and Wednesday afternoons.

4. I grew up reading Harry Potter and will always have an amazing connection to those books. I went through some severe depression and those stories were my safe haven.
 
5. I am writing/illustration a children's book as well as working on a novel. Both are trying, but amazing goals to be met!

6. My family is pretty big. I have 3 sisters and 1 eldest brother. My two older sisters are married with two children, one with twins, the other with a small son and daughter. My brother was married last year in April and is planning for his first child! My youngest sister is a free spirit with more wit and sass than most adults I know. I love my siblings dearly and miss them all the time.

7. My boyfriend, Aaron, has a 5 year old daughter. She has my heart, this one!

8. I have three addictions, chocolate, tea, and thrifting.

9. We have over 5 pets on our home. A cat (miss toffie), a sunconure (miss marly), a snake/sandboa ( miss pumpkin), a mexican redknee tarantula (eeek!), and several aquatic pets that Aaron cares for. We've had jellyfish, puffer fish, octopus....

10. My front tooth broke in half during some immature shenanigans in LA last year, half of that tooth is ceramic.

11. I have two tattoos, one of a small fairy on my right  hip line, the other under my right collar bone, that reads, "passion rules reason" - its a wizards rule.

Cassidy's Random Questions List

1. How many shoes do you own?

That is a loaded question. I have an unhealthy obsession with heels now that I'm older. As a teen I owned one pair of shoes: Vans.

Now? Well...

2. If you only had one beauty product on a deserted island, what would it be?

This adorable owl lip balm my friend bought me:

3. If you could choose to have anyone's closet, whose would it be?

I want every article of clothing that Sarah from Classy Girls Wear Pearls owns. 

  
Just look at how classy that dame is!

 4. Favorite Disney Film?

Yeah...

 

5. What's your maternal grandmothers name?

Betty. 

Always makes me think of Betty Rubble, or Betty Boop.

6. What is the best thing you've ever eaten?

Shawarma!

It's an Arabic meal with a variety of different meats and seasonings wrapped in a pita bread, similar to that of a gyros. AMAZING. My mom would make it for me on special days when we lived in Holland, I haven't eaten the meal in over 8 years.

7. If you could win a shopping spree to any store, which would it be?

Ugh. Probably Zara. I love me some vintage, but Zara is absolutely fabulous in every way!

8. What is your favorite perfume?

Falling in Love by Philosophy. Aaron bought me a bottle some years back and I simply adored the aroma. Silky sweet!

9. What blogger/bloggers inspire you the most?

In no particular order:

BleuBird Vintage

M loves M

A Clothes Horse

Delightfully Tacky

Gala Darling

A Beautiful Mess

Kendi Everyday

Things Like Skeleton Keys & Me

Classy Girls Wear Pears

Color Me Nana

The Shades of Monet Chronicles

The Mad Twins 

Fashion Freaks

hearted girl

and many, many more....

9. If you had to watch a 90s sitcom for the rest if your life, which would it be?

Buffy, duh!

10. What color is your kitchen?

"Not appealing" in sickly off-white.

My 11 questions:

1. What is your fondest memory?

2. What advice would you give your younger self, if you could?

3. If you could choose a film to describe your life, which would it be?

4. Name 2 guilty pleasures.

5. What was the nicest compliment you've ever received?
6. Planet Earth is crumbling, you need to move to Mars, what do you bring with?

7. You rub a magic lamp! Boom! Genie asks, "What are your three wishes?"

8. What is your most treasured article of clothing/accessory?

9. What is your favorite YouTube channel?

10. If you could own any pet, what would it be?

11. If you could be fluent in any language, which would it be? 

My 11 Nominees

(will update)

xox, a modern dame