5 Things on a Friday

So I'm going to be doing these Friday posts a little bit differently than in the past. I know I have kind of used them as an outlet for my randomness once a week, but from now on I'm going to start featuring 5 things I'm currently crushing on. Sometimes these will be fashion or beauty related, and sometimes they won't be, but I hope you enjoy! 

So this week is a pretty eccentric mix of things but y'all should know that I'm also mildly obsessed with everything in the picture above! I mean these fabulous little finds made the first cut, right?! Lets jump right in! 

{starting from the far left side of the picture}

1. Volumizing Lash Powder by Essence- Ok so I told y'all I have an obsession with eyelashes right? I wasn't joking. A friend of mine told me about this "volumizing powder" and I'm pretty sure I brushed her off at first and thought to myself, "she's out of her mind." Sorry friend. BUT thankfully she convinced me let me try it! So here's how it works, its basically a little baby jar of white cotton like fibers that comes with a mascara wand. All you do is put on a thin coat of mascara, then use the wand (not the one from your mascara silly!) to apply some of this powder to your lashes while your mascara is still wet. Then give it a sec and apply mascara again. (side note: it's white so you'll look a little weird but trust me.) Then poof! Your lashes will seriously look fake. No joke! It's the weirdest thing. And the best thing is that this little jar of fabulous only costs $3 at Ulta so you have no excuse not to try it! My asthetician told me that other, more premium brands make something similar and they are upwards of $30!! So yay for this $3 find! 

2. Almond Hand and Nail Butter by The Body Shop- I'm from Texas, where winter (real winter!) doesn't exist. So things like cracking hands, etc aren't really an issue if you use lotion with any sort of regularity. Well things changed for me when I moved up North because let me tell you, extreme cold, washing hands, and then constantly living in super dry, heated environments does a number on your skin. It really does! Mine were cracking, bleeding, and just hurting and looking pretty gross. I found this stuff a couple years back at the Denver airport, and it seriously is the only thing that really works and heals my hands when they're dry! It's super smooth, really thick, and seriously buttery, and it doesn't wear off after just one hand washing! It's a bit pricey (about $20 for the smallest jar-- which is the size I have) but the jars last a good while and it really really works y'all. My mom always said that your hand's will betray your age before your face so I always try to take care of mine, and this stuff has been a life saver!

3. Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt- Ok I know this is random but seriously I have almost finished that huge jar you see there in less than a week. I eat it for breakfast, snacks, and even sometimes dessert! It's a bit more tart than traditional vanilla yogurt but it has less fat and sugar, and wayyy more protien! I just add some granola for crunch and yum!! I'm so hooked. Try it! 

4. High Brow Glow by Benefit- Ok so this is fabulous y'all! It's a chubby little pencil, kinda like an eyeliner that is a gorgeous little champagne/ platinum color used for brow highlighting! What is brow highlighting you say? Well basically it's an old makeup artist trick where you apply white or pearl eye shadow under the arches of your brows to make them appear higher. With the pencil, all you do is apply it directly under the arches of your brows (and then smear it a bit with your fingers) for an instant brow lift! It's great in this super cute, super convenient pencil format! I love it for when I'm doing my makeup on the go... oh wait, I'm always on the go since I'm chronically running late. sshhh! I think I paid maybe $16 or $18 for it and it was totes worth it! 

5. Jesus Calling Daily Devotional by Sarah Young- This is probably the best thing on this list because it has helped me get to a whole new level in my walk with the Lord and my alone time with him. Each day has a "message" of sorts from the Lord. All are based in scripture but they are written in a format where it's more like a letter or love note, instead of your more traditional "thou art..." scripture. Each day is about a paragraph or 3 long and has all the scriptures referenced listed at the end. The main focus of the book is for the reader to learn to live or be challenged to choose to live in a constant state of fellowship with the Lord, which I love because I truly believe that our goals should be more about doing this and not so much about how good we can be. This book is at once encouraging and challenging and if you are looking for a little somethin to suppliment your devotional time or are just looking to get started in the morning prayer department, this is your book. I picked up my copy at Target and it has been something I really look forward to each morning. Time with the Lord in the morning is seriously the only thing that gets me through the day. I'm a total wreck without it.

Well y'all, that's my list! Hope you'll try one (or all!) of these little treasures! Do you have any current crushes to share? I'd love to hear them! 

 I also hope you all have a fabulous, and restful weekend! I will be at the counter all weekend so stop by and see me if you can! 

xo
Victoria

Perfect in His eyes

Have you ever seen one of those girls that looks exactly like her mom? Like they're totally twins? I love when I see that. I just think its totally adorable and so cool. Now lets go on a little imaginary journey! So picture a set of  mom and daughter "twins" together in, lets say, a bedroom getting ready to go somewhere together. You know, all the makeup and hair products everywhere, a little music, and of course lots of laughs. Now imagine the daughter looking in the mirror and suddenly going on and on about how ugly she thinks she is. Just naming all the features she can't stand and flaws she wishes she could change. Sounds pretty normal right? I mean I think all of us girls have those moments where we think "woah" and not in a good way. Imagine though, how the mom in the room probably feels. She's of course thinking that her daughter is absolutely wrong and that she's the most beautiful thing in the world. But also, she's probably getting a little bit hurt right? Thinking, "but you're not ugly, you look just like me." ouch.

So I was totally having one of those moments a couple of weeks back. I was putting on some eyeliner I think and just felt like I was looking in a scary carnival mirror because I just kept naming my flaws silently in my head. And the Lord just stopped me. And he showed me the mom and daughter scene I just described along with a verse that I really never related to beauty.

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image and likeness...' " 
Genesis 1:26

Now I don't think this verse is strictly about beauty but I love how the Bible is such a living and breathing document that sometimes things you never considered totally come alive. It's so cool.

Anyways, have you ever actually considered the fact that God's word says you were made in His image? You were. Not His image minus your nose, huge pores, or frizzy hair. It doesn't say that you were made in his image if you have always been skinny. It doesn't say you were made in His image if you are 5'10" and look just like Cindy Crawford. It just says you are made in His image. So there's a couple of things we get from this!

1. God didn't make a mistake with you. Oh you don't like your frizzy hair or your big teeth? Well they weren't a mistake. God thinks you're beautiful (and so do I!). I mean seriously Cindy Crawford is beautiful but wouldn't the world be so boring if we all looked like her? Gah! I mean then we wouldn't have pretty girls like Emma Stone or Beyonce Knowles or YOU! Your unique features are God's creativity at it's best! 

2. When you criticize yourself and pick at your flaws, you are hurting the heart of the heavenly Father. Yes, you read that right. It actually hurts Him. He is the parent creator that says "wait, you think you're ugly? But I made you in my image. I think you're stunning." This is the part that really made me say ouch. Because the last thing I want to do is hurt my savior's heart. He died for us y'all, gives us the air we breathe, and beautiful things like flowers and sunsets and really how could you hurt someone like that?

So I hope the next time you look in the mirror you stop and take a moment to acknowledge the stunning beautiful person that you really are. The Lord made you like this on purpose and you are his precious child. Start acting like you know it! 

Love y'all! 

xo

Victoria

Beautiful

Since it's the holidays, I thought it'd be a fitting time to honor a woman that is truly beautiful. She still teaches me every day what beauty and glamour are, sometimes without even realizing it! Growing up, she was often the encourager and cheerleader of our house. She was, and still is, my example of what a classy, beautiful woman is. 

"Everything is better in black" she'd say to my sister and I while we were on one of our many shopping trips. 

"Always take the time to get ready before going anywhere. And don't do it for anyone else but yourself. It takes no more effort to put on jeans instead of sweatpants." We weren't ever allowed to wear sweat pants in public! :)

"Always invest in classic pieces. They will stand the test of time and never go out of style." This explains my large collection of little black dresses and pencil skirts. 

"Smile! You never know who needs to see one!" She always taught us to constantly be thinking of others.

"You are beautiful." 

My mom is hands down one of the most stylish, classy, and fabulous women I know. She taught me to take pride in my appearance because looking good, helps you feel good! She taught me the tricks of the trade in shopping. If you think I can shop, you really should meet the woman who taught me to! She also taught me the importance of always being considerate of others and how beauty on the inside is what really matters. I even remember her giving the security guards at her office Valentine's day presents because she wanted to make sure they had something! 

More than anything though, my mom encourages me when I feel hopeless, she cheers for me when I need it, and she shows me everyday what it means to be beautiful.

xo

Victoria 

What if?

You know what I'm really bad at? Gracefully accepting a compliment. And I don't just mean a compliment from a stranger, like even compliments from my husband. He pointed it out to me too. So it kinda got me thinking. And I've been thinking about it the last few days. Kind of wrestling with it and trying to see if I was the only one who did this. You know what I figured out? I'm not the only one. And the weird thing is that almost every day, I see a beautiful girl or woman do the same thing! 

And I also noticed that us girls are so good at pointing out our flaws. Frizzy hair and imperfect skin...what? but we are rarely willing to discuss what we love about ourselves. I work with women all day. It's my job to talk about skincare and makeup routines and the latest lip colors with women all day long. And the funny thing about it is, that it seems like there are some beauty topics that some women don't feel comfortable contributing to for one reason or another. But the one topic that it seems like every woman has something to contribute to is a conversation about what we all don't like about ourselves. 

But what if we all stopped talking about what we don't like about ourselves? What if we started to gracefully accept compliments with a smile? What if we complimented each other a little more? And what if we started figuring out and having conversations about what we do like about ourselves? How would things change? 



I think a lot of things would change. No seriously! For one, I think we'd get a few more compliments from our men. No more arguing every time they compliment us would probably feel like a nice break for them. We'd definitely smile a lot more throughout our days. And maybe, just maybe we would all get to a point where we wouldn't even consider our flaws and become fully aware of how beautiful we all really are.

xo

Victoria

Stripped

I've really been struggling with writing about this topic because it's still something I struggle with almost every day. But it's been really heavy on my heart so maybe I'm supposed to share it for a reason.

Did you know that Northern New York is different from upstate New York? I didn't either. It's actually the region above the Catskills (all the way by Canada) and is ever so affectionately called the "North Country." The North Country is now my home. The city town I live in is called Watertown and it's about 30 minutes from the Canadian border. It's very different from San Antonio. That's where I grew up. 

Watertown doesn't have very many stores (a few and thank Jesus its growing!). It definitely doesn't have a Forever 21 or a Nordstrom. Gasp! And you're right if you guessed that having access to the very latest in fashion isn't an easy thing (unless you count Target and Charlotte Rousse... which aren't horrible options, but lets be real). 

Now insert me. The labels lady. The girl who turned her nose up at clothes from last season. Don't even mention 2-3 seasons ago. And what's that you say? The nearest Forever 21 is an hour away and the nearest Nordstrom is 5 hours away? *faints*

Oh the task of making yourself feel beautiful when you are stripped of the labels you love, and cut off from the convenience of a big city with world class shopping.... How does a girl achieve such a thing you ask? It's not easy let me tell you, and it has absolutely nothing to do with clothes.



It's funny how sometimes when the Lord wants to teach us something, He strips things in our lives away. I'll tell you girls, He sure is doing that with me. I mean, here I am in this beautiful place with none of the fashion amenities I'm used to and a closet that's looking less and less like it fell out of the pages of a magazine. And I'm supposed to figure out how to continually look at myself in the mirror (in clothes from 3 years ago) and see beauty. Let me be honest with you and say that I don't always see it. My husband does (God bless him) but if we're being honest, I have to say that I don't. And it's not like I have all these other ways to cover it up or things to focus on instead. I've reached a point where all those things, whatever they may be, are gone too. I'm stripped and the only place I have to turn is to Jesus. 

I know, I know, you're wondering what He has to do with everything. I felt the same way at first too. And it's so crazy because literally Jesus in my life is the only thing that makes me truly feel pretty. 

As discussed last week, His death on the cross to save us is a really awesome start. But it's just a start and it's so fabulous it makes me want to jump around my living room! Because He says He knows we are going to mess up every day so not to worry, because His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). And He says that our beauty doesn't come from anything on the outside, not crazy fab hair, or amazing clothes but from the inside (1 Peter 3:3-4).  Even more encouraging, is that He says we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). I could literally go on until tomorrow with Bible verses because the Bible is such a love letter. There are so many! But the sweetest part, the part that gets me through a rough day, is His whisper in my ear that He loves me. Like, the inconvenient, life sacrificing, overwhelming, all consuming, slap you in face, make you feel great kind of love. And somehow I just know that if He loves me, there's no way I'm not beautiful.

I hope with all of my heart that each one of you fabulous readers finds that love. It is truly life changing.

xo 

Victoria

Grey

I'm a nail polish junkie. No really. Like I can't physically walk by that Essie end cap at Target without stopping to "oooh" and "aahhh." And lets not even talk about walking into Sally's beauty supply! I know some of y'all know what I'm talking about. I have a friend (God bless her) who is the same way and I love that about her. Most of our text messaging history entails pictures of our latest manicures and new nail polish colors we've bought. It's fabulous. She's fabulous. 

Anyways, I mentioned this in my first post and I'm dying to discuss this with some people who are actually interested (unlike my husband)!  So grey nail polish is totally a thing this season. Again. It's been a thing for a while. Let's take a peek:

At this moment, I'm feeling like I love it. But for Fall only. Personally, I think it's too drab for winter. Although it does look totally cute with that cozy sweater in the picture doesn't it?!  It really feels just right for that transition from sunny pinks and oranges to dark vampy winter colors. I have this grey by OPI called "You Don't know Jacques" and it's really the perfect grey. 

See I told you. I love that its dark enough not to wash out my skin (these are not my hands in case you were wondering!) but not too dark for fall either. It's a hard color to find so if you see it at a store, snatch it! :) 

Sidenote: That same fab friend of mine told me that her manicurist told her that Essie nail polishes are made to stay longer on natural nails and OPI are made for artificial nails. Not sure how true this is but it's kind of a cool fact anyways!  

So let's chat! How do you feel about grey nail polish? Is it tired (it's been a thing for like the past bajillion fall seasons) or is it totally fabulous (and worthy of classic status like red)? Leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from ya! :)

xo

Victoria

Who Me?

So I told ya'll we would be talking about other things besides fashion that still relate to beauty. Today is one of those days. Let's start with a little bit of my story (just a little, I promise!).

Growing up, I really struggled with finding my value. Seriously, I was always so insecure and it permeated everything I did. So I tried to compensate for it with extra over the top grades or relationships, or new clothes and shoes, or even drinking too much. I thought that if I just had the best grade, it would make up for the fact that I didn't ever think the girl in the mirror was pretty. Or if that if I fished for enough compliments from a boy, I'd start to believe them. Or if I bought enough of the newest things and wore nothing but new clothes, I'd hide the ugly person I thought I was. Or if I drank enough, then I wouldn't remember all the reasons I didn't feel like I was enough. None of it worked and for so many years I just hurt. 



I wish I could tell you I woke up and turned a magic age and it all went away. I still sometimes struggle with these things. I know I'm not alone either because I'm pretty sure every girl I've ever met can relate to this in some way or another. It's kinda sad isn't it? That's why I wanted to start blogging. Because I wanted to tell my story and tell you all that you're not alone and that you're all so incredibly beautiful. And that each of us is beautiful in a different way just like a Rose and a Daisy are. And how when we start to understand where our beauty and worth truly come from, our lives are forever changed. *steps off soap box*

 When I was a little girl, my mom always told me that Jesus loved me. And I went to Sunday school and they told me that too. Which is never a bad thing. I mean I guess I believed it, but not necessarily. In my mind, Jesus was someone we prayed to and learned about in school. But actually Jesus is God. Like He's the big guy up there in heaven that created everything. He was the one that was there when Noah had his Ark, and He's the one that wrote the 10 commandments. He's pretty important in the whole scheme of things. 

And not only does He love me (you too!) but He took it upon Himself to die for me and you.  Yes, you! I know, I said the same thing. It's actually a little bit crazy that the GOD of the whole entire everything died for us isn't it? I mean I would think He'd have bigger (less painful) fish to fry. But nope. He DIED for us. That's my secret! I realized that the King of the Universe, the God of everything looked at me and considered my life worth giving up His. and it just blew. my. mind.  And let me tell you girls that He also considered your life (even with all the crazy parts) worth dying for. So I mean really, if someone that important can put that much value on your life, you have to as well!! Isn't it fabulous?! 

So maybe for some of you, this is something you've heard your whole lives too but I hope you will take the rest of the day to just mentally chew on it (yeah I just used that phrase). And for those of you who are just learning of this fabulous news, I have even better news for you!! Not only did Jesus die for you, He wants to know you and all you have to do is ask him to forgive you for all the bad things in your life and to come be with you. He will too, I promise! 

I have come quite a long way but I'm still a work in progress but I am so happy to have a way to share my heart with you all because I think you're all fabulous. Seriously, I do! 

xo 

Victoria