Category Archives: Beauty

Pampering Party!

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Pampering Party!

Helloooo my loves and happy Tuesday! I had a lovely weekend of head to toe pampering starting with dying my hair with my beloved Vidal Sassoon Runway Red dye from their London Luxe collection. My brother is getting married this weekend so best believe that my hair has to be nice and fresh. I’ve been coloring my hair with Runway Red for close to a year now and it has saved me a buttload of money because the color perfectly mimics what I was paying a lot of cash to get done at the salon. While I was waiting for the dye to set I had a half hour of TV time so I figured a selfie was definitely in order! Take a look:

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^^^ Lol, I always joke that I feel like Heatmiser from the Christmas cartoons when I dye my hair so it was absolutely necessary to do a side by side PicStitch! My color turned out beautiful as usual and on Sunday I got my angular haircut shaped up for the wedding so it looks sharp and sleek. I plan on curling my hair and pinning it for the big day so if any of you have some hair styling tips, please let me know!

To keep my red at its brightest at all times, I only wash my hair about two times a month. I’ve been blessed with locks that don’t get greasy or oily so all I need is a dash of dry shampoo to keep it feeling clean. I usually use Batiste or Dove dry shampoo but my mom brought home a can of Herbal Essence’s “Color Me Happy” dry shampoo and I just had to try it. Let me tell you, I’m so glad I did because I absolutely LOVE it! For one, it smells awesome. For two, it makes my hair feel infinitely cleaner than Batiste or Dove. With just a quick spritz of this new product my hair goes from a weeks worth of not washing it to freshly scrubbed in a matter of seconds. If you’re a dry shampoo girl like myself then I can’t recommend this product enough! So fabulous.

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If you recall from an earlier post “Lil Red Shopping Tips: Freebie Edition” then you’ll remember my recent steals from Bath & Body Works. At least once a month I get a free lotion coupon from them in the mail and every time I redeem it I go with my favorite scent called “Beautiful Day”. My go to fragrance is anything apple-y and “Beautiful Day” is the perfect combination of both floral and fruity. Not only does it don my must have scent of apples but the name of the lotion is also the name of my all time favorite song “Be,autiful Day” by U2. You can’t beat that! Every night before bed I lather myself up with my freebie lotion and it’s such a fun treat. The sweet smelling moisturizer goes in so smoothly – you can’t even feel that you have lotion on. That’s a big plus for me because I hate when I wear lotion and it feels greasy. If you’re looking for a new perfume spray or lotion to try, definitely consider “Beautiful Day” from Bath & Body Works!!

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If there’s one thing that Lil Red can never recommend enough, it’s TREATING YOSELF! Nothing makes me feel better than taking some extra time to pamper and love myself. Whether that be a deep conditioning hair treatment or a spritz of a new perfume, I think it’s so important to take the time to make yourself feel good. With small pick me ups throughout the week like a rub down with a new lotion or a stylish new hair cut you’re in for a better mood and an even more fabulous appearance. So to all of my lovely readers: Take ten minutes out of your day and TREAT YOSELF!!!

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So there you have it, my Pampering Party post! I hope all of you are having a great day so far! Does anyone have any tips for curling hair? What’s your favorite Bath & Body Works scent? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Princess Manicure Day!

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Princess Manicure Day!

Helloooo everyone and TGIF! I had a fabulous afternoon yesterday with my beloved nail tech, Vinny!! He crafted my talons to perfection, we ate food, drank Patron, and had a gay old time! Before I went to the salon I went to Starbucks and got Vinny’s usual 4/4 White Lightening for him – it’s the least I can do considering all he does for me. I then headed over to Empress Nails for some princess style pampering! My sweet Vinny spent close to two hours filling, sharpening, and shaping my claws and here’s the end result:

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^^^ So in love!!! As usual we did all black with a blue accent nail on each hand. The blue was Vinny’s idea because the last time we hung out “Blue On Black” was playing on the radio and Vinny was amazed that I knew the song and was able to sing along with him! My new thing when I get my nails done is getting a cross airbrushed on both of my middle fingers, which I’m sure is not everyone’s cup of tea – but hey, I like it!

While Vinny was working his magic on my acrylics I asked him if he wanted to go visit my sister, Kristen, with me at the restaurant she works at once he was done at the salon. To my surprise, he said that we can go after he finished my nails! So after my talons were nice and dry we piled into the Vinny Mobile and spent the entire afternoon playing hooky from our responsibilities! We spent the next few hours at Kristen’s restaurant where we hung out with her and the other employees, ate lunch, ate ice cream, drank some Patron, and enjoyed each others company. While we were talking with Kristen, she mentioned how badly she wanted Subway – so once we got back into the Vinny Mobile, Vinny decided that we should get her some Subway and bring it back to her. He’s seriously the sweetest guy with the biggest heart in the whole wide world. We found the nearest Subway and I ordered for Kristen since we both pretty much get the exact same veggie sub from there and then we backtracked to the restaurant to bring it back to her. Kristen was so gracious and so was I because we both have the best friend in the history of EVER!

After we brought Kristen her food, we headed back to the salon so I could collect the Little Red Love Machine and Vinny could work for a bit more. It was a beautiful afternoon and I’m so happy that I got to spend it with my best friend! ❤

^^^ Vinny told me that “Blue On Black” is his favorite song so this goes out to you! I LOVE YOU!!! #teamvinny

I hope all of you are having a great Friday so far! What is everyone up to this weekend? Do any of you have a special friendship with one of your hair stylists or nail techs? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Isn’t She A Model Or Something?

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Isn’t She A Model Or Something?

Heyy everyone and happy Sunday/Father’s Day to all of the dads in the world! So during a recent hang out with one of my friends he told me that him and his coworker had a conversation about me. Initially I was like “Oh Jesus” because that made it sound like the conversation was a bad thing, but thankfully I could breathe a sigh of relief because their little chat was actually very flattering! Apparently I’m Facebook friends with the guy who my comrade was talking to and when my name was mentioned he said “Oh, I think I know her – isn’t she a model or something?” I thought it was so sweet and then it reminded me of the countless messages that I get on Facebook weekly asking me if I’m a model or telling me that I should model. Usually I just laugh these compliments off, but secretly (not so secretly now since it’s on my blog!) I really would like to try my hand at some modeling. I suppose I would be pretty good at it and apparently a lot of other people think so too! But to set the record straight, as of now I am no model “or something” – merely just an average gal blogging an average blog! This is also just a round about way of saying how totally thankful and flattered I am for everyone’s lovely comments and compliments…it’s always much appreciated! That being said I think I really should get some photographs taken of yours truly – something that looks professional and not so obviously taken from my iPod by my beloved mother! Lol if anything it will be fun to post on here to show you guys. I’ve actually had quite a few people offer to photograph me, but their body of work is all very risque and that’s definitely not my thing. I’m all about the quirky, sassy, and clothed!! It’s definitely frustrating when my inbox is filled with people wanting to take my picture with my ass hanging out, but what can you do? …Politely decline – that’s what! And believe me, I’m sure that none of ya’ll want to see me in my skivvies! But for the time being I’ll just throw some oldie but goodie pics of me up on lifewithlilred and see what happens. You never know, Tyra Banks might call me for her millionth season of America’s Next Top Model or something! 😉 HOLLA!

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^^^ Ayyyyy! I hope all of you have a beautiful time celebrating Father’s Day or doing whatever it is that you do! How are you going to spend the rest of your weekend? Any special Father’s Day plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: Share or follow my blog and I’ll love you forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #desperate #dontcare

Date Night! <3

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Date Night! <3

Hey everyone and happy Saturday! So I had the most fabulous date night on Thursday with my sister, Kristen, and my beloved nail tech, Vinny, that I want to tell you guys all about! This little outing was in honor of my 21st birthday, compliments of Vinny and it was seriously one of the best nights of my life! Let’s discuss!

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Our night on the town began with dinner and wine at Bricco, a super delicious restaurant that Kristen and I live down the street from. The menu there is terrific because it’s predominantly vegetarian, so both my sister and I had a lot of options to pick from. All of our meals were great and we each picked out a bottle of wine as our beverage, haha AYYY! We drank and ate until we couldn’t move and then we headed off to the Hard Rock Rocksino for some more birthday tom foolery. If you are a fan of hitting the casinos, you might want to consider checking out Casino Martini which offers up to a 400% deposit bonus. Talk about winning big!

The Rocksino was so cool and was much nicer than the Horseshoe Casino, which I went to last week. It was bright and upbeat and had the best decorations ever – the instruments and outfits used and worn by different musicians. All of this amazing memorabilia is compliments of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Every area of the casino had different costumes on display from everyone like Nicki Minaj to Elvis Presley…so, so cool! We headed to the bar for drinks once we got to the Rocksino and after we all got what we wanted Vinny and I went to explore the premises and play some games while Kristen met up with a few of her friends at the bar. There was so much to look at as Vinny and I strolled around and I would have been happy just wandering aimlessly throughout the casino, but we happened to see a game that we just had to play. Want to know why? Take a wild guess. Okay, here we go….The name of the game was LIL RED!!!!!!!! So yes, taking a chance on the Lil Red game was absolutely necessary! Haha, take a look:

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^^^ Lol AHHHHH!!!! Unfortunately, we didn’t have too much luck on Lil Red but I had a moral obligation to play it so I’m the farthest thing from mad about it! After Vinny and I roamed the casino for a little while longer we rejoined Kristen and her friends for more booze and to watch the band that was playing in the restaurant area of the Rocksino. Whomever was playing was a cover band who played renditions of current radio hits and old tried and true favorites…They sounded pretty good to me, but then again, I was very drunk. All of us continued to drink and enjoy the band and thanks to the bar at the Rocksino, I was able to try my very first mojito, pina colada, and apple martini and they were all delightful! All alcohol usually is! 😉 #whitegirlwasted

We finished up our time at the Rocksino with one more shot at the bar and then went on our merry way. My birthday date night was a huge success and I had an insanely good time! I didn’t think that I would end up at a casino again after my trip to the Horseshoe last week but I had a much better experience at the Rocksino. It was such a fun environment to be in and the best part about it was that the music that was playing in the casino wasn’t overwhelmingly loud! That was my major complaint about the Horseshoe, along with their dingy lighting and the Rocksino had both of these issues on lock with a perfect music volume and lighting scheme. I would definitely go there again, not necessarily to gamble, but to get drinks and to watch whatever entertainment that they have scheduled for the night. So if you’re ever in the Northfield, Ohio area, definitely check out the Hard Rock Rocksino…maybe you’ll see me there!

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^^^ I didn’t take many pictures of the costumes that they had on display at the Rocksino but here’s a PicStitch of what I did snap!

  • Left: Johnny and June Carter Cash
  • Top: The Black Eyed Peas
  • Bottom: (From right to left) Nicki Minaj, Shakira, Lady Gaga

Words can’t express how grateful I am to Kristen and my sweet Vinny for an awesome post birthday celebration. I seriously have the best friends in the entire world and I have no idea what I would do without them! Saying that I love my Vinny and Kristen is a severe understatement, but it’s the best that I’ve got to describe how I feel about them! #bestfriends #teamvinny

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I hope that all of you are having a great weekend so far! I know I am! What is everyone up to tonight? Any fun plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Monday Update: Alright, Alright, Alright Edition

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Monday Update: Alright, Alright, Alright Edition

Whatupppppp everyone and happy Monday! It’s currently one thirty in the AM and I’m not very tired and I promised my sister that I would stop watching the new season of Orange Is The New Black without her, so I figured I would get the Monday Update out of the way now. I hope all of you had a great weekend! I know I did, thanks for asking! As you guys know, I spent my Friday night at the Horseshoe Casino (See article “Casino Adventures”) which was tons of fun – and the good times continued throughout Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a day of sleeping in, shopping, and date night. Sunday was a day of wonderful company, hair dye, family, and #OITNB. Best. Weekend. Ever!

On Saturday afternoon my mom and I were shopping around in the Fairlawn area and we happened to stumble into Bath & Body Works in the midst of their semi-annual sale. I’ve never been a huge B&BW fan, but holy moley their sale prices were incredible! I got six FULL SIZE (8 oz.) perfumes for the price of one original priced bottle – talk about a deal! As I’ve mentioned before, the only perfume that I wear is Victoria’s Secret’s “Enchanted Apple”, but unfortunately they don’t carry the fragrance year round. The only times they break that scent out is during their semi-annual sales, which is when I stock up on my perfume for the year. About a month ago, I finished my last of five bottles that I purchased during the last VS sale, so I’ve been using the random odds and ends fragrances that my sister and I have…Believe me, I’m not thrilled about it! I feel incomplete without my signature scent. BUT fear not, because I found a very similar apple-y fragrance from B&BW that I’m super obsessed with. B&BW’s “Country Apple” has the exact same sweet/tart fragrance that I love so much in “Enchanted Apple”, so best believe I bought five bottles to keep me going as well as one of their aquatic fragrances “Cool Amazon Rain”. I also stocked up on some dirt cheap lotions which make perfect add ons to birthday and holiday gifts. #BALLIN After shopping with my mama, it was time for date night with my darling, handsome prince Kyle. We went hard on appetizers and yummy drinks at Applebee’s and spent beautiful quality time with each other which was much much needed! Love him! ❤

Yesterday was a pretty chill day which was so nice after being out and about most nights last week. I met up with one of my dear friends, Scott, for some terrific conversation and coffee – which was an absolute joy. He’s definitely on my list of “Lil Red’s Favorite People in The World”! Once I got home in the mid afternoon, my sister and I binge watched #OITNB for a bit and then I got to work on dying my hair. I dye my locks once a month to keep my red fresh and vibrant and let me tell you, it’s a trip washing the dye out of my hair and watching all of the color come out. It straight up looks like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre happened in my shower every time. The rest of my evening was spent plucking my eyebrows to perfection (ayy!), annihilating at Scrabble, watching #OITNB once again, and here I am now getting my blog on!

So now that you guys know what my weekend was looking like, let me tell you all about how freaking excited I am for tonight! I’m going to see Glass Animals at the House Of Blues in Cleveland with one of my comrades and I’m seriously so pumped I could cry!!! I really lucked out when I found out that Glass Animals was playing in Cleveland last Thursday because if it wasn’t for Facebook I would have had no idea. While scrolling through my news feed on FB I happened to see a status from HOB advertising for the chance to win tickets to the show on Monday night. It was weird that it showed up on my news feed because I have yet to “like” HOB or Glass Animals on there, so there was no reason for it to show up – but I’m so beyond glad that it did! As soon as I saw that they were playing I bought tickets ASAP because there’s no way in hell that I would pass up seeing these guys live. I’ve been in love with Glass Animals since last September and I’ve told literally everyone who I’ve introduced their music to how much I would love to see them live. I can’t believe that in less than twenty-four hours I’ll be hanging out at the House Of Blues watching one of my favorite bands perform! AHHHH! June will definitely be a good month for concerts, because I’ll be back at HOB on the 30th to see one of my other favorites, AWOLNATION, compliments of my brother for my birthday. What a guy! I’m also pretty hyped because Family Of The Year is opening for them and I happen to really like them too! Exciting stuff!!

^^^ SO GOOD! Also, if you’re interested in shopping the semi-annual sale at Bath & Body Works, their offers are available online as well at: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/home/index.jsp! Happy shopping!

So there you have it, my Monday Update: Alright, Alright, Alright Edition! #MCCONAUGHEY!!!! Make sure you check back in with me at some point during the week to hear all about my Glass Animals concert experience! Is anyone going to any concerts coming up? What about any of the festivals like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, or the Hangout Fest? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a lovely day! -Sarah

Monday Update: Birthday Blues Edition -__-

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Monday Update: Birthday Blues Edition -__-

Heyyy everyone and happy Monday! So it was my 21st birthday yesterday and unfortunately I spent most of the day in bed crying. Despite having the worst birthday ever, there were still some really fun parts of my birthday week that deserve some recognition. On Thursday my beloved nail tech Vinny treated me to a beautiful new set of talons and a beyond generous Starbucks gift card. He also plans on taking me out for dinner and drinks sometime this week which is so sweet of him. My trip to the Toledo Zoo on Friday with my precious Lea was also a really wonderful way to celebrate – I just love her! We’re going out this evening for a night on the town too, so that should definitely help shake away the birthday blues of the major disappointment that was Saturday night and Sunday. The entire situation was just stupid as fuck and I’m not about to go into major details about it, but my night out left me feeling like I got a million birthday slaps in the face so it’s no wonder I spent most of my actual birthday bawling my eyes out. Whatever. Lots of my friends have texted and called me so they can take me out to dinner or drinks this week, so I guess that’s nice. Nothing is going to make my birthday night out any better but at least I’ll have a bunch of other plans to somewhat make up for it. And even though the night out and actual birthday was complete shit, I did get some totally gorgeous birthday gifts from my family and friends which was so sweet! Take a look at some of my fabulous new goodies:

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^^^ So sweet!!! There’s actually a really adorable story behind my Lil Red birdhouse decorated by my darling Lea: So one night during a crafting extravaganza, we thought that it would be super fun to paint some birdhouses as a switch up from our usual canvas art. We were both SO excited about this idea but as the night of painting continued we both became more and more disappointed with how our birdhouses were turning out. Lea’s looked really cute – mine looked like complete ASS, so I didn’t even bother taking it home. I told her the only way that my birdhouse would be acceptable was if it was black, red, and covered in glitter…and lo and behold, that was exactly how Lea decorated it as part of my gift. Not only did she craft me a birdhouse that’s perfect for Lil Red, but she also gave me a plethora of other thoughtful presents as well – a new Starbucks mug, a 21 drinking goblet, a minion shot glass, wine, and much more! Our entire day at the zoo was seriously a gift in itself, but my sweet girl went above and beyond in the gift giving department and It really did warm my heart! Do I have an amazing best friend or what?! My sister also got me a real winner of a gift as well – Carlos Santana lace up, knee high, wedged gladiator sandals. I’ve legitimately wanted a pair for over a year now and the pair Kristen picked out for me are simply perfect. I can’t wait to wear these bad boys all summer long with everything from dresses and maxi skirts to sassy little short shorts! So fierce. My one older brother Andrew gave me some cash money, which is great because I need to go renew my license which I know for a fact isn’t free! And then my other brother, Peter got me two tickets to see AWOLNATION on June 30th when they play at the House Of Blues in Cleveland! I CAN’T WAIT!!! It was exactly what I wanted, so mad props to him! I got a cornucopia of goodies from my parents – my Betsey Johnson telephone purse, a new dress from Urban Outfitters, moolah, and they restocked all of my makeup and skin care products that I use from The Body Shop. Everyone was so generous and I’m beyond thankful for all of the wonderful and thoughtful gifts – all of them are perfect!

When I think about all of the lovely individual hang outs I’ve had with my friends and family and all of the gorgeous 21st birthday gifts that I received it kind of makes up for the completely awful weekend I had – but only kind of. All of the gifts in the world doesn’t make my hurt feelings feel better and it definitely doesn’t take away any of the disappointment that I’m still feeling, but what can you do? I’m looking forward to all of the dinners and drinks this week with some of my favorite people, so hopefully after all of that merriment I’ll start getting over the literal worst birthday outing I’ve ever had in my life. #overdramatic #dontcare

I hope all of you are having a fabulous Monday so far! I regrettably must be off to go get some school work done and possibly take a nap! I’m so tired! But until then, how was everyone’s weekend? What are your plans for the week? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nail Tech Love Is The Best Love!

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Nail Tech Love Is The Best Love!

Hi hi hi everyone! So my summer classes started today and everything is good so far, but I decided to take a quick break to tell you guys a super sweet story about my beloved nail tech Vinny! I was having a not so hot day yesterday, which I mentioned while Vinny and I were texting. After flourishing me with compliments, Vinny sent me a link to his favorite classical song to help me relax:

The song was absolutely gorgeous and as you guys know I fucking love U2, so I texted Vinny to thank him for sharing his favorite song with me. He then texted me back telling me to check the comments on the video, so I got back on YouTube and found the video again. As I looked through the comment section, this is what I found:

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^^^ SO sweet. Once I saw this comment I immediately started ugly crying, but it was a happy ugly cry if that makes sense – Haha I was seriously so touched by my dear friend’s gesture that I just couldn’t help it! I texted Vinny to let him know my current crying situation and then he told me that the song he sent me should be played at my wedding. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and laugh mid cry at such a classic Vinny statement. I then sent him a correction to his previous text, telling him that the song can be playing at *OUR* wedding! Vinny and I have a very special friendship and we both love each other very much, but there was something so special to me about our exchange last night that I just had to share it. It was just so damn sweet and it was exactly what I needed after a not so great day. So here’s to you Vinny – you’re more than just my nail tech, you’re seriously one of my best friends. Thank you for being you and thank you for always treating me like your princess. I LOVE YOU! #teamvinny

I hope everyone is having an absolutely fabulous day so far! Does anyone else have a special relationship with their hair dresser, nail tech, ect? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Lil Red’s Fresh Face Facial

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Lil Red’s Fresh Face Facial

Hello, hello everyone! So as you can see by my featured image photo, I’m going nude, au natural, bare faced – in other words makeup free to discuss my without fail facial! I worked as the assistant manager at The Body Shop for over half a year, and it taught me a lot about skin care and products. Now that my older sister is working there as my prodigy, it’s so fun to instill in her some Body Shop knowledge – and still get some awesome discounts on their products! Holla! Thanks to my vast knowledge on skin care, skin types, and everything in between, I’ve been known to give a mean facial at home to my sister and my mom. This past weekend I decided to treat myself (and my sissy!) to one of my fabulous facials to freshen up my skin and go bare faced for the world. If there’s one thing that I get complimented on a lot, it’s my creamy complexion. It’s very important to me to maintain my healthy pale glow, so constant skin care is a must. Here’s another pic of me going au natural, and then we’ll discuss some facial fun with a plethora of Body Shop products!

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^^^ My face is bare and I don’t care….too much anyways 😉 So I lined up all of my Body Shop products in the order that I use them for a Lil Red’s Fresh Face Facial, take a look and then I’ll discuss each item! Please don’t mind my dirty bath tub!

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Step 1) Dampen skin with warm water and apply the Warming Mineral Clay Mask and let it sit for five minutes. I absolutely adore this product. The mask is made with ginger and a bunch of other good stuff and begins to warm as soon as it touches the skin. The warming sensation from the clay literally attacks your pores for a deep cleanse. After five minutes of having the mask on, almost all of the blackheads that live around my nostril piercings disappeared. Needless to say, I was a very happy camper about that! After your mask is done sitting, wet a cloth with warm water and gently wipe off your skin.

Step 2) It’s time to wash your face! You can use whatever cleanser you please, but I recommend that it’s a cream base rather than a gel to avoid drying out your skin. I used the Pomegranate Softening Facial Wash to give my skin a nice, gentle cleansing after my pores were stripped from the mask. Wash your face well so you remove any remaining clay and grime, and don’t pat yourself dry quite yet!

Step 3) This step will be different for everyone depending on their skin type. If you have “normal” skin, like myself you should be fine with using a facial scrub like the Tea Tree Squeaky Clean Scrub straight from the container. However, scrubs can be a bit harsh on acne prone skin, so if you do have acne I recommend mixing up the scrub with the Vitamin E Hydrating Toner just like how you would mix it with water before using on the skin. Using a moisturizing toner mixed with a somewhat harsh scrub should eliminate any unpleasant burning or stinging. If you have normal skin, apply the toner after you’re done with your scrub. Tea Tree products are specifically used for acne, but even if you don’t suffer from it, the scrub will leave your skin feeling exhilarated and your pores will be squeaky clean just as the name of the product says!

Step 4)  Apply a treatment. Now is a good time to apply topical acne cream if you use it. If not, I like to put on an eye cream as my treatment, like the Nutriganics Smoothing Eye Cream. The skin around the eyes is so sensitive and can dry out very easily, so it’s so important to keep the windows to your soul hydrated! There’s plenty of great eye creams at The Body Shop to choose from – I’m also particularly fond of the eye cream in the Vitamin E line as well!

Step 5) Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!!! Like the eye creams, The Body Shop has an abundance of excellent moisturizers to choose from. During my most recent facial I used their new Vitamin C Glow Boosting Moisturizer but any kind will do! Each line from Aloe to Vitamin E to Pomegranate has their own moisturizer – so it’s up to you to pick the best one for your skin type. I’m all about my skin having a radiant glow to it, so I’m simply thrilled that the Vitamin C line finally has a moisturizer!

Step 6) This step is optional, but I’m including it because it’s part of my skin care regime. To end a facial or my daily skin care routine I always apply the Vitamin C Skin Boost to tie everything together. This fantastic product gives an instant glow to your skin and leaves a lovely matte finish, which is the perfect way to complete a fresh face facial. Having smooth, matte skin is also a bonus if you plan on applying makeup afterwards, but I don’t recommend it – let your skin breathe!!

Next time you or your girlfriends need a night of pampering, make sure to follow my guide for the Lil Red’s Fresh Face Facial! All of the products that I mentioned above can be purchased in stores or online at http://www.thebodyshop.com. Have a fabulous night and please make sure to check out my most recent article “Monday Update: Online Shopping, Lil Red Style” for some amazing pieces up for grabs! What’s your favorite product from The Body Shop? Do you have any questions about the products or steps? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nail Tech Love!

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Nail Tech Love!

Helloooo everyone and happy Hump Day! So as you guys know, I have a deep love for my acrylic nails which are really more like talons than nails. And as you guys also know, I have a deep love for my beloved nail tech – the man who makes it all possible, my boo thang: VINNY!!! Last time I got my nails filled he sharpened the talons to perfection and gave me my usual black nails with two white accent ones. They turned out flawless! Take a look:

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^^^ OBSESSED. #pronails #teamvinny

I usually get my nails filled every three weeks at 1:30 on Thursday like clockwork. But last Thursday I stayed at school in Cleveland later than usual to get some tutoring, so I called up Vinny as I left campus to make sure that he could still see me by the time I got there. Of course he told me that he would make all the time in the world for me! He also asked me to get him his usual 5/5 White Lightening from the Starbucks down the street from the salon, which I was more than happy to do! While stopped at a red light, I checked my phone and he texted me saying that I didn’t have to pay for my nails today since I was buying him his coffee. SO SWEET. Vinny already won’t let me tip him, so he was spoiling me completely rotten. Once I got to the salon, he was outside waiting for me and smoking a cigarette because he says I make him nervous, haha! My favorite thing about going to Vinny to get my nails done (other than the fact that he’s a dear friend and our conversations are fabulous), is that he really takes his time fixing up my talons so that they always end up perfect. He always spends an hour or more filling, sharpening, and painting them and it’s so nice to take that time out of my day to get pampered. And let me tell you, he did a bang up job on the sharpening this last time…the following day I accidentally scratched my cheek while I was putting a shirt on and my nails were so sharp that they left an unsightly red streak on my cheek for the entire day, I swear, they’re like the more fashionable version of carrying around pepper spray! No one should mess with Lil Red! This morning I woke up to a text from my sweet Vinny, which read:

“If I have to scale mountains, endure torture, and defeat ninjas with my kung fu – nothing can prevent me from texting you :)”

Well let me tell you, Vinny…the feeling is one hundred percent mutual! I love you!

I hope all of you guys are having a wonderful day so far! Do any of you have a hair stylist or nail tech that goes above and beyond for you? What shape do you get your acrylics in? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Kristen’s Birthday Celebration!

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Kristen’s Birthday Celebration!

Hello one and all and happy Thursday! Yesterday was my sister, Kristen’s 23rd birthday and it was a very fun time celebrating! We went to Hibachi Japan for dinner with a group of her friends and then to the bar after. Dinner was really good, I’ve never been to Hibachi before so that was a treat. The chefs make your food right in front of you which was really cool to watch…a bit scary when the flames on the grill thingie got really high though! It startled me every time! I got the vegetable sushi rolls, which unfortunately weren’t filling in the slightest – honestly, I just really wanted some Taco Bell! Ha. I planned on going home after dinner because I’m not twenty-one yet so I was afraid I’d get carded at the bar and yada, yada, yada. I also had to be up in the morning for school today. But after a little coaxing from everyone at dinner that I should just stay for one drink, I reluctantly agreed to go – so it was off to the bar. We went to some place in Highland Square in Akron and homegirl didn’t get carded! HOLLA. If I knew that getting into bars underage was so easy, I would have been going years ago! ANYWHO, we started off with a shot of Fireball, which is a cinnamon flavored whiskey…totally nasty, but it gets the job done. So I took my shot which qualified as my “one drink” but of course the last thing I wanted to do was turn around and go home. What kind of a sister would I be if I didn’t stay to celebrate with Kristen? And I was really excited to have my first bar experience! Besides, right when I was thinking about leaving these two guys offered to buy us another round of shots for the birthday girl and you’re not going to not say no to that! As the night progressed, it was safe to say that I was white girl wasted. The culprit was Fireball shots and Vodka Cranberry. I always tell everyone that if I were an alcoholic beverage I would be a Vodka Cranberry because they’re sweet and girly so I was pretty pumped to be drinking it in an actual bar and not on the couch of some lame house party. Here’s another pic of the wasteypants festivities, which surprisingly turned out really cute:

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^^^I LOVE US!!! So yeah, where was I? Oh yes, white girl wasted. So by the end of the night I was white girl wasted, and had to be up in the morning to get ready for school. I fell asleep as soon as I got home, but it felt like I had just zonked out when my alarm started ringing. After about ten minutes of laying in bed and contemplating my life after my alarm went off, I hauled my sorry hungover ass out of bed. It was a hardcore struggle. So I stumbled down the hall to the bathroom and started brushing my teeth to cure my dragon breath, when I started feeling really queasy. I ended up throwing up in the trash can mid brush. Of course I couldn’t have hurled BEFORE I started brushing my teeth – nope, that would make the shit show that is my life too easy. BUT that didn’t stop me from brushing my teeth again and making it through a shower. After I got cleaned up it seriously wore me out, and I ended up sitting on the bathroom floor in my towel taking Dixie cup shots of water for a solid fifteen minutes. At this point I was already going to be late for class, so I decided to just say “fuck it” and got back into bed. I ended up throwing up two more times until I started feeling a smidgen better. Needless to say, I was a hot ass wreck. After managing to pull myself out of my hangover abyss to make some food (which I scarfed down in record timing), I started feeling like a normal human being. Thank gawd.

^^^I humbly apologize for party rocking. 😦 😦 😦

I was planning on getting my talon nails filled after class today (if I went), so after I ate I slipped on a pair of harem pants and a t-shirt and went to my beloved nail tech Vinny to be pampered. I’ve decided that the hangover cure is harem pants and a manicure. It’s scientifically proven, because it worked on me! 😉 Vinny did a beautiful job as usual, my nails are now black and Barbie pink and I’m pretty in love! Usually I’m not a fan of pinks, but having it as an accent nail among my rocker black makes it the perfect combination of edgy and girly. Take a look:

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^^^Love, love, love. #pronails #teamvinny

In conclusion: The hangover cure is harem pants and pampering. It works like a charm! I hope all of you are having a terrific week! Do you have any fun weekend plans? What’s your favorite nail polish color combination? I want to hear all from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah