{ Beauty } Natural Nails

I posted a little while back about my trick to keep your fingers hangnail free. I thought I would add a few more finger-friendly tips to keep your fingers in picture perfect form!

1. Avoid using acetone based nail polish removers. Acetone will dry out your nail beds and can irritate the skin around your nails. Try to buy a moisture rich nail polish remover like Sally Hansen's Kwik Off.

Image Source / Makeup and Beauty Blog

2. Push it real good. Invest in a cuticle pusher and push your cuticles (gently!!) once a week. This will help keep your cuticles from cracking and from becoming overgrown.

Image Source / Nontoxic Lifestyle

3. Nip it in the bud. Nibbling on your nails is a nasty habit that's hard to break, but keeping your chompers away from your fragile nails will keep hangnails at bay.

 Image Source / Ways to Stop Biting

4. Go Greek. I swear by strengthening my over all nail bed by eating a buttload of Chobani. I also just really love Chobani. It's the best Greek yogurt around and it's packed with nail fortifying protein. Within a week of eating my Chobani each morning for breakfast, I notice my nails growing longer and harder. Believe you me, I can tell when I fall out of my Chobani ritual. It doesn't take long for my nails to start to show signs of missing their protein packed yogurt fix. I guess this is kind of like taking gelatin supplements back in the olden days!

Image Source / Chobani

There you have it! A fee more tips to keep your fingers flawless! Now to start practicing what I preach...

Do you have any tired and true techniques to keep your nails in line?

{ Beauty } Hangnail Hijinx

One detail that might not be on your mind as you get ready for your big day is your cuticles. If you are anything like me, you have hangnails and overgrown cuticles no matter what season or how well you maintain your nail beds.

I have seen so many pretty up close images of hands in wedding photos (ring photos, romantic hang holding photos...) that I really started to think to myself "but... I have boy hands!"

This is where my little secret comes in. My nail beds split, the skin along my nails frays, and my cuticles crack all the time. Nothing ever seemed to help keep them inline. Not a twice-daily lotion ritual, not cuticle cream, not straight up vitamin E oil... Until this.

Honestly, I think it is hilarious that I never thought of this before. What to know my secret weapon?

Image Source / Seventeen Online

Yeah. That's right. Plain ol' vitamin E enriched lip balm. Want to improve your nail beds? Smooth a bit of this into your nail bed and into your cuticles and skin around your nails. I do it twice a day to speed up results, but once before bed is plenty. The best part is that if you don't have time to wait for your nails to heal, smoothing a little of this on will hide any dry skin right away!

Why would you want to pay up to $15 or more to buy a cuticle cream or a nail bed lotion... when a $2 tube of lip balm will do the trick just as well? Just be sure to get one with vitamin E in it and have a go! Your nails will be picture perfect in no time!

Do you have a simple beauty secret weapon?

{ Inspiration } Hair

Without saying too much about my dress (Carl, I'm going to have to start shooing you away when I start posting about that topic!), it has this awesome vintage feel to it while still looking modern. I don't want to do something too crazy or dramatic with my hair, since that's not really me, so I thought I would put together an inspiration board based on what I liked: simple, easy hair. Pretty and soft. Everything I liked had some sort of half back look to it with a braid... So my inspiration became beautiful braided locks.

What do you think? I love the idea of something easy and not too formal. I'm currently growing my hair out after hacking it all off three years ago. I miss my long hair, and long braided looks have always interested me. I think my dress would require something uber formal, or something really easy... and when easy is an option, I'm always happy.

How did you decide on what you wanted your hair to look like? Did you have a plan, or let your stylist have free-range of your tresses?

{ Health } Am I Cut Out...

for workout videos? We'll find out. I've got two big days I'm working on getting my body in shape for... Our cruise and our wedding... so I continue on the quest to find a plan that works for me. Right now, I'm giving an honest go to the 10 Minute Solution series... Thank you, Netflix streaming!

Image Source / Amazon.com

It's easy to say right now that I enjoy it. It's easy to say that it's fun and I feel good after I complete all four workouts. Give me two weeks and then ask me how successful I am. I'll probably grumble at you and make some excuse as to why I'm not doing it anymore.

Right now, I miss running. Even though I can only go for a mile or two at a time, that good hearty sweat felt good. Why can't I motivate myself to go to the YMCA after work for a quick run? Eh, who knows. I'm sure that I'll get back to it one of these days as an in between work out on the days I'm not using a video.

But can we get to the real point of this post? I mean, seriously... Who uses workout videos and doesn't feel like a freak, flopping about and grunting like a troll in their living room? 

In my apartment, it was a different story. I was home alone most nights, so working out felt okay. Right now, we have only one TV in one room in our living space and I live in constant terror that my dad or mom will come downstairs to ask a question while I'm mid squat. I don't want to work out in front of Carl while he is surfing the interwebs for the 40 minutes it takes to complete the circuit. I'm entirely too self conscious for anyone to be watching me while I get my exercise on. 

So my solution? Get home from work as quickly as possible and get as much as I can squeezed into the time before Carl gets home.

Somehow I convinced Carl to do this video with me. The entire time, I made sarcastic comments to the video... Somehow I think I will always be that nerd girl who is trying to come off as the popular kid in high school. Man, working out is so uncool! Only losers workout... 

So... What about you?  

Have you been successful working out at home? Do you have your own workout room or area, or are you out in the open like me?

{ Beauty } Muds and Masks

 I'll admit, among the piles of worries I have for the big day, one of them is my skin. I have combination skin and it's been an issue all my life. As a teen, I had breakouts all the time. My skin and I were not on speaking terms. I begged my mom for foundation to help hide the blemishes and blackheads... and when she finally gave in, it only made it worse. More oil. More breakouts. UGH!

It took a long time and a few years of Proactive use before I finally got it (mostly) under control. I still wrestle with my skin, mostly once a month (damn you, Mother Nature!). I still have oil issues and I hate how big my pores are... So I'm trying out a new regime.

Image Source / Drugstore.Com

Mint Julep smells delicious. Mud smells like... well, mud.

Washing morning and night (shouldn't we anyway?), oil-free make up, and I just started using Queen Helene masks... Never used a mud mask before, but apparently they shrink pores and dry up oil. Worth a shot! If the works, maybe my wedding worries of having to touch up my face every three minutes will be for naught.

I've been trying this routine in preparation for our engagement photos today and so far the results have been nice! At least for a day or two, my skin is less oily and it is silky smooth. My make up goes on smoothly and lasts longer... I think we've struck gold!

Did you try out any new beauty routines in preparation for your wedding or engagement pictures? Do you have any tried and true techniques?