Beauty Q&A (Edition One)

Who's excited?! It's time for.....

So lets just get right down to it, shall we? You have questions. I, have answers! Yes, I am actually qualified to give advice, and I am thrilled that you all have been filling my inbox with TONS of beauty questions!

This week, I thought we'd start with Four Questions I got the most of! I feel like these ones will get us started, and then the next weeks I will delve DEEPER into more!

Ok..I haven't really gotten right down to it, have I? :)

For real now....here we go!
(AND YES, THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION, BUT I PROMISE IT IS WORTH IT :)

Unfortunately, if you want the real truth, you CAN'T just get rid of your large pores...but you CAN shrink the size of them significantly, with a little C.E.T.!

C is for CLEANSE--Wash your face, people! With an oil-free cleanser. Preferably with one that has salicylic or glycolic acid. Clean skin = healthy skin = smaller pores.
My Faves: Bobbi Brown Lathering Tube Soap & Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser

E is for EXFOLIATE--I cannot stress this enough! If you don't exfoliate at least ONCE a week, you should start. It will remove all of the dead skin cells, making your face look much more healthy! Your pores will thank you! **If you want to delve deeper into more extreme "pore-reducing", I love micro-dermabrasion facials. Those will slough the top layer of your skin off, and really really make help to make your pores look smaller! 

My Fave: Exfolikate by Kate Somerville 

T is for TONE--Use a clarifying toner to remove any muck (technical term :) left from your exfoliator or cleanser. The toner will purify your pores, making them look smaller AND reduce redness in your skin.
My Faves: Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner & Mario Badescu Seaweed Cleansing Lotion

You also want to MOISTURIZE it up, girlies! Your skin will look healthier, plumper and overall glow-y! Make sure you know what TYPE of skin you have (oily, acne-prone, dry, etc..). I would suggest that if you DON'T know, you go to someone who is qualified and let them test your skin out for you. I have a few tricks you can do at home, but I'll save that for next week (I could spend a week talking about skincare)!
My Faves: (NOTE-My skin is super dry/sensitive/acne-prone) Bobbi Brown Extra Moisturizing Balm SPF 25 and Eucerin Q-10 Anti-Wrinkle Creme

Number 1: KNOW your skin type. Like I said before, this is KEY! So many times, women would say to me, "Oh I have really oily skin, so don't use a moisturizing foundation on me." Then when I would test their skin, they would be super dry. Just make sure you KNOW before your buy.

Number 2: THAT is why I cannot stress enough (again this is just my opinion) to GO TO A DEPARTMENT STORE and get skin tested/foundation matched. It is SO WORTH IT!!!!!! You can TEST it before you BUY it! And unless you buy from somewhere that has a very liberal return policy (like RiteAid), you end up wasting more money on all the un-used bottles that don't match your skin. 

Number 3: If you're......
OILY: Words like "oil-free" or "mattifying" are your friends!
DRY: Words like "moisturizing" and "moisture-rich" are key.
COMBINATION (Dry/Oily..like dry everywhere BUT your T-Zone): I've found that cream-to-powder foundations work best. Or mineral foundations (good for Acne prone/sensitive skin too).

• Number 4: If you make the choice to go to a dept. store and get matched (GO YOU!) here are my tips:
• Try and go during the week (you will get more undivided attention).
• Look for YELLOW-based foundations (those match the best to any skin color). 
• Contrary to popular belief, your wrist/hand IS NOT IS NOT IS NOT the same color as your neck/face. Make sure you are getting matched for color on your cheek and/or neck to ensure the BEST MATCH possible. 
• Try to walk to natural light to make sure it looks good there too. Department stores (or drugstores for that matter) do not have the most real-looking lights. 
• You can mostly always return your foundation if you say, get home, try it, and end up not loving it. Which is SUCH A PLUS!

Foundation is KEY to making your skin look flawless (and who doesn't want that?).
**If you want me to make a specific foundation recommendation for your skin, send me an email and I will try to tell you the best foundations I have found for your type (it might be a little hard over email, but I'll do my best)! :) 


My Favorite Foundation Brands: Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, Bare Minerals (you will either love it or hate it :), and Revlon.

Lipstick is supposed to be FUN! I get GIDDY like a little school girl when I find a fun new shade of lipstick! There is no "right way" to find a shade of lipstick. A lot of it is trial and error, people.

However, the most flattering color will be a shade that is ONE to TWO TIMES darker than your natural lip color. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. (example: if you have brown lips, don't try to wear nude pink -- it just doesn't work!)

If you want to get a bit more "technical" about what color looks best on you:


FAIR SKIN--Nudes, Light Corals (my fave), or Blush Pinks.
MEDIUM SKIN TONE--Berry, Rose, and Deep Mauve.
DARK SKIN TONE--Red, Chocolates and Plums (so pretty!)

Just a few more lip tricks: 

• Lip Liner -- If you want your lip liner to look more natural (ie so no one can see a huge LINE around your lips), apply it AFTER you put on your lipstick/gloss. You can also FILL IN your lips before you apply lipstick--helping your lipstick to stay on LONGER!
• If you are at the drugstore, the best way to test a lipstick color is to hold it up next to your lips and see if the shade is one to two times darker in tone. If you get it home, and don't like it as much, you can always just mix "not so perfect" lipstick colors together to GET the right shade!

My Favorite Lipstick Brands: Nars (Glosses), Chanel (The Perfect Lipstick), Bobbi Brown, Revlon (LipButter, baby!) & Loreal.

I think I might have an unhealthy obsession with trying/finding new hair products. I feel like my hair can never be healthy enough, shiny enough, or big enough (ha).

Although the list is ever-changing, here are my current favorites:

Shampoo: Lush BIG Shampoo (the smell! & the volume)
Conditioner: Bumble & Bumble Super Rich 
Leave-In-Cond: Living Proof Leave-In-Conditioner 
Hairspray: Kenra Classic Spray & Aussie Aussome Volume
Root Lifter: Aveda Pure Abundance Hair Potion
Dry Shampoo: Suave Dry Shampoo (I'm obsessed!)
Shine/Frizz Serum: John Frieda Glossing Mist
Hair Vitamins: Phyto Hair & Nails (these will change your hair for life. No joke)




Ok people, that is the end of Edition One! I hope you learned something (right?)! If you have more questions, email them to me (jennathewife@gmail.com) or leave them in the comments below!

Have a Beauty-ful day (I couldn't resist)!
Jenna, The Wife

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Random Monday

It feels like a random day today. I have lots of miscellaneous things I need to get done today.

So, in honor of that, I officially dub today "Random Monday" for your reading enjoyment. So do it. Enjoy it. Sheesh. :)

1. JOIN THE GREAT DEBATE: I'm in a hair funk lately. And seeing as you guys are SO nice (please be nice :), I need your opinion. I am thinking of cutting my BANGS again. I've done it before, and loved it. However, being the indecisive girl I am, once I CUT them, I remember what a pain they are. Sometimes, you just need a change though! So HELP ME PLEASE!...and let me know if you think bangs are the right choice or not (this is ALMOST as intense as a Presidential debate). See pics below. Please vote in the comments, if you wish, BANGS or NO BANGS.

Do you ever look at a word for too long and think that it all of a sudden looks
funny the way it's spelled? That happened to me with the word bangs. Again, RANDOM.

2. BEAUTY Q&A: I am actually pretty excited about this!! It's gonna be so much fun! I get a lot of emails asking me what products I use, or what my favorite makeup tips are. So I thought I would turn it into a weekly (hopefully) post! I know you're asking, ok who does this chick think she is? What does SHE know? The answer? Well, not a lot, my friends. Ha, actually, I do know my stuff pretty well. If you want my resume, email me :)

So SEND YOUR BEAUTY Q&A's to me: JennaTheWife@gmail.com OR leave a question below in the comments! 
***I will be answering them (as best I can) on Wednesday this week!***


3. FEATURED: The lovely and beautiful Tanya, from one of my favorite blogs: Mr. Taylor & His Lady, is featuring little old MOI today over on her blog! Go check it out! And be sure to stop and stay awhile! She writes some very witty, funny, and lovely posts! I know you will love her like I do!

4. 8 MONTHS! Somebody is 8 months. And I love him a LOT. Oh ya, it's my little boy. He is seriously amazing. Life-changing in fact! How did he get so big (I know I'm going to be saying that for the rest of his life)?

Happy 8 Months Monkey!

Have a beautifully random Monday!
Jenna, The Wife Pin It

Spread The Shine...

Write today down in your journals people, because TODAY is going to be an AMAZING day!! I am absolutely, positively, beyond HONORED to be part of a small group of girls who have been asked to share something super exciting with you all!

I first came across Ashley's blog about six months ago. I fell in love with her immediately (most people do--her excitement is contagious)! Ashley is committed to making a difference in people's lives. I so admire what she does on a daily basis, she truly inspires me to BE better and DO better! 

Let's just say that when she does something, she always does it BIG! 

Today, she is launching another something BIG! 

It's called....

 Pass It Forward!

www.spreadtheshine.com

Direct from Miss Ashley...

"Pass It Forward was designed to get people to do little things, everyday, that makes an impact on the community around them. Pass it Forward is designed around a card (read card that I've attached now so you understand). Each card is given a unique ID number. Lets say we're at McDonalds, and I decide to pay for the person behind me in the drive through. I'd give the cashier the card, and tell them to pass it along to the next car when the give them the food that has been paid for. I then go home and log into the website that was on the card, and find my unique ID number. I log into it, and add my information... My first name, city, and a description of what I did....Let's say the person behind me was you, you would pass it forward to someone else, and then would go home and do the same thing. 

From the very beginning, you will be able to track where your card goes, and how many people you affect just by doing one simple act of kindness.

This project had the potential of working small miracles in the lives of those we pass, and we will then be able to see how far one simple act can go. I want to spread the shine community into something that is in every city, so that we can get more projects done and change more lives... I have strongly felt like this is a big way that will get accomplished."

Are you as excited as I AM? How amazing is this going to be?! 

Make sure you head over to Ashley's Blog to read more about it!

Spread the Shine everyone!!

Jenna, The Wife

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The Last 13 Things (LINK-UP)!!

It's HERE! The day you have ALL been waiting for is here! Yes siree...AUNIESAUCE & THE LIFE OF THE WIFE have teamed up for this AWESOME LINK-UP PARTY!

Today is the FIRST ONE...and YOU are invited! Happy Dance! 

Here we go...................!!!

The Last Thing I......

ATE:

A Jamba Juice Smoothie....Did you know you could MAKE THEM AT HOME NOW!? And for WAY cheaper? And they taste the same!! WIN-WIN!

BOUGHT:

A bunch of groceries...AND more of my current obsession: REVLON Lip Butter in Peach Parfait. Have you TRIED this stuff yet? Seriously..GO GET SOME! I have 7 colors. Don't judge :)

READ:

I've had this book for a while, and I read it every time I need a little INSPIRATION. It's such a simple, but powerful book! 

LAUGHED AT:

Watching an "Ellen Show" rerun montage of her scaring people. Seriously, I could watch people getting scared ALL DAY!!

COOKED:

Some Cheese Tortellini for the hubby last night. Gotta love quick-throw-it-together meals. 

BAKED:

Cake-Batter Rice Krispie Treats (recipe here). I could eat the whole thing by myself (and if my Hubby didn't help me, I probably would).

CRAFTED:

Working on some bracelets I have been quietly selling. 

Whaddya think?

DROOLED OVER:

This bench from Target..ain't she purrrty? Gotta love Target!

COVETED:

These embroidered necklaces from this Etsy Shop. Aren't they just so dang cute?!

THOUGHT:

That I REALLY REALLY, like REALLY need to work out. But I won't :) 

WORE:

My big CHUNKY RED SCARF from Ann Taylor, Blue Striped Shirt, Jeans and some Toms. 

CRAVED:

A Cadbury Egg! And then my hubby walked in the door last night, and brought me FIVE!! He knows the way to my heart!

WAS THANKFUL FOR:

My little baby. I looked at him this morning, and thought..WOW...I am seriously fulled with love (Sorry, I had to get my cheesy-self in there somewhere)

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!! 

Make sure to head over to AUNIESAUCE to check out her Last 13 Things Post too!!

LINK UP BELOW to the SPECIFIC POST of YOUR LAST 13 THINGS! 

REMEMBER it's a PARTY..go VISIT and say HELLO and make some new BLOGGY FRIENDS!

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Playing Catch-Up!

GO GO GO! LOTS TO DO! GET IT DONE..GET IT ALL DONE! GO GO!

That is my brain talking to me today. 

I kind of want to tell it to GO AWAY!! :) 

This last weekend, we went down south and had ourselves a short little VACAY! It was a blast to be with my amazing family and just hang out. Alas, it had to come to an end. 

Today, I find myself facing a huge TO-DO LIST (thats the downside of being on vacation, eh?)! I would love to just take another day off, sit on the couch, watch Bravo & eat Oreos all day, but alas, I can't (my crazy brain won't let me). 

This is the ACTUAL list I made for today:

Yes, I put shower on there twice :)

It's actually TWO pages long, but I'll only show you ONE page (for fear you might judge my OCD-ness :)

So while I sit and SULK about all of the things I need to do, here are some pictures from this weekend with my awesome little family! AAAND I forgot my camera (GRR), so these are all from my phone! :)

Some highlights from our SUNNY VACAY: We ate lots of yummy food, went on a hike, went to an Arts Festival, played tennis, hung out, watched "My Idiot Brother" (SO FUNNY), and celebrated my Dad's 53rd Birthday!! Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

ROAD TRIP!

The Fam Hiking 

Love D's sunglasses!!

Our Little Fam

This just makes me laugh :)

Breakfast at The Bear Paw (OHHH YUMMY!) 

Clark & Taryn being good babysitters

GLASS...I wish this water was warm enough to go boating!

Twinsies!

Ok.....now for the WINNER OF THE SEVENTH STUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!!

It's none other than CUTE MEG from HENNING LOVE!! CONGRATS MEG!! 

***Email me and I'll get you hooked up with your prize!!

Meg {henninglove}Feb 13, 2012 10:33 AM

and i liked 7th studio on facebook

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:3Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! 

Jenna, The Wife

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The Day of Love

Love is in the air today...do-dee-do-dee-do! Alas, this year, my hubby is away today, so I am alone on this Valentines Day (don't cry for me, I'll be ok).

Well, I won't be completely alone..I have a date all lined up for tonight! Me and Baby D are gonna hang out, read some books, have a yummy dinner of pureed sweet potatoes and blueberries (just him, not me :) and cuddle on the couch. I'm pretty excited about it!!

I do miss my Valentine though (I think this is the first V-day in 7 years that we have been apart), but I'm so glad I have my little guy to keep me company!

Us throughout our EIGHT years together!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful day with your Valentine (whether it be your kids, significant other, or a box of chocolates. Ha)!!


One more thing...The AMAZING, TALENTED & SUPER CUTE Annelise (AunieSauce) and I are teaming up NEXT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 for a FANASTIC new LINK-UP PARTY!!!!!!

We are combining her "Thursday 13" and my "The Last Thing I" posts and introducing......

Tell us the LAST 13 THINGS YOU _____ (FILL IN THE BLANK)! It can be ANYTHING!

The Last Thing I ATE
The Last Thing I BOUGHT
The Last BOOK I READ
The Last Thing I ATE
Etc....Etc....

For another example of what we're talking about, check out this POST or this POST!
Who's EXCITED?! Can I get a Wahoooo??!

Get those posts ready, and be sure to LINK-UP next THURSDAY!! 


XOXO (I never say that, but today I thought it was appropriate :)
Jenna, The Wife Pin It

I Choose Happiness (and a GIVEAWAY)!!

I just wanted to take a quick minute and talk a little bit about choices (it's about to get serious, people).

Recently, it has come to my attention, that some of my "friends" have been talking negatively about me behind my back (gasp!). I used to be one of those girls...but that was A LONG TIME AGO. I grew up, I grew out of that phase of talking badly about people...just to make myself feel better. The reality of it now is, that I just don't HAVE TIME to waste talking horribly about someone. I have no time to waste CRITICIZING people. The truth is, no one should.

However, I have made an effort in my life to choose to be happy...to choose to be happy for others.

Yes, there may be times when I think for a minute about how I might be jealous of someone else, or what someone else is doing, or how they seem to "have it all," but I don't let myself dwell on it. I have made a conscious CHOICE to be happy with what I have. What good does it do me to whine about what I don't have? Because, when you look at what you DO HAVE, life is pretty dang amazing. My Mom always says, "It could always be worse." And she is absolutely right.

So here is to all of you who make a CHOICE to be happy, to CHOOSE joy, and to be truly HAPPY for other people. My friends that are my TRUE FRIENDS are always genuinely happy for me and what I have and vice versa. I always want to look at life HALF FULL!!!

I have a saying on my mirror that reads...
"HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE, AND I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY"

I hope you decide to CHOOSE HAPPINESS, my friends!! It's soooo much better :)

Ok, I'm getting down from my soapbox now :)


___________________________________________________________________________________________
So...to show my gratitude to all of you AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL, HONEST, HAPPY PEOPLE...I am paying it forward (in a really small way :)!

My gorgeous (and very long-time) friend Kami, has graciously decided to give away one item (you can pick ANYTHING) from her Etsy shop, SEVENTH STUDIO!!!
***except the two bouquets***


Some of my favorite things from her shop:

These colors of this brooch pin are so gorgeous together!

Love this rosette headband!

How cute is this!?

To Enter (The Fine Print):
**REQUIRED
1. You MUST be a follower of my blog (you can join over there if you aren't ---------->)
2. Visit Kami's Seventh Studio Shop here and leave a comment telling me the one thing you would like to win from her shop!

(for additional entries...LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH!)
1. Follow me on Twitter here
2. Follow me on BlogLovin' here
3. Tell me one nice thing you did today
4. "Like" Seventh Studio on Facebook here

The Giveaway is open until Monday, February 20 at Noon (MST)!



PS..I am linking up today with cute Heather over at Finding Beauty in the Ordinary (love her oodles) for her "CUP 1/2 FULL" link-up party! Come join in! Share something amazing, inspiring, or beautiful!! How do YOU look at life?

Oh, and of course, I hope you have a...
BEAUTIFUL, LOVELY, and SWEET VALENTINES DAY TOMORROW! 


Jenna, The Wife Pin It

The Hawaii Vacay!

I know, I know..you have ALL been on the edge of your seats just WAITING for me to post about my trip (teehee). Calm down everyone..here it is!

I must say, this trip was SO HARD for me. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to go..I just knew I would have to leave Davis for the first time, and I had a really hard time letting go of my "mommy control" for a week (ANY OTHER MOMS FEEL LIKE THAT THE FIRST TIME YOU LEFT YOUR LITTLE ONE?).

However, when we got there..I kind of "forgot" I had a baby (but just for a minute :) It was SUCH an amazing vacation, my friends! The Hubby and I almost decided to stay and never come back. We thought about shipping the baby and all our belongings to the islands, finding some shack to live in, start working as a waitress and surf instructor (respectively), and live a MUCH simpler life.


A girl can dream, right? But seriously, later down the road...I think it might happen! :)

So here is a little taste of our vacation...enjoy!!

This is the LIFE!

Ty LOVES the TV show Lost. So being the good sport I am, I indulged his obsession with a Lost Hike (Hawaii is where it was filmed and there were TONS of spots he wanted to check out). He had done research and found where parts of it were filmed and everything. Gotta love this guy :)

The Banyon Tree...where apparently "super important scenes happened"

I love this guy! 

Cause I'm a little crazy too :)

And some phone pics.....

 Krissy & I

 The Tophat Guy!!!

 Awwww how I've missed these!

Well there you have it!!

OH AND A BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Ashley, Nicole & Kerrie for guest posting while I was gone! Love you all!!!

Happy Weekend Everyone!
Jenna, The Wife Pin It