From Studio to Street

I'm not an early bird and treasure what little sleep I get - they're like golden bits of deliciousness. But, when winter hits and night falls at 4 pm it's time for me to start making sacrifices in the name of stress-relief, and first on the block is the snooze button.

Although I'll miss that extra hour of snoozing through an alarm, I know I'll feel better in the long run.

When it comes to me and my winter habits it's important to play to your body's strengths, not weaknesses: I'm more energetic in the morning, running in the dark gives me the heebie-jeebies, and after a long work day I'd rather eat than sweat (must be the hibernation tings).

All signs point to rise and grind morning Classpass classes - the early sweat sessions also put me in better spirits too.

A few recos on AM class faves: Y7, Mile High Club, & Peleton.

I do have a few gripes - finding studios with showers, and lugging toiletries & clothes for the rest of your day. But, with a few months of classpassing behind me here are a few tips and tricks I've learned along the way to make the whole process easy peasy.

1. Wear sneakers/shoes that are great for working out and presentable for the office. These all white Theas from Nike (size up!) are so crisp and so perfect for the athleisure trend and my life. Another great option, go for classes that are sans shoes: yoga, pilates, and cycling classes (rent them there). That way you'll only have to worry about one pair.

2. Wear clothing that can take you from studio to street. This is essential if you're trying to minimize the bag-lady look. Lucy Activewear does such a great job of designing clothes for this exact reason. Their team always has us in mind and constantly creates versatile and high-performance pieces. Their winter collection fits seamlessly into my life and the luxe layers are perfect for the busiest time of the year.

For this look, I couldn't head into the office with leggings but Lucy does have some amazing pants sans prints. Or, you can follow my lead and pack a midi skirt. The quilted long sleeve from Lucy is super soft, warm, and appropriate for my office - which I love.

3. Beauty products that can multi-task and come in travel size are a godsend. I've shared my beauty travel bag before here, but my everyday beauty bag carries the true heavy hitters. This might be a post for another day, but my top three products that currently make getting ready a breeze are: Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, Benefit's Gimme Brow (obsessed!), and PUR's Chateau Cheek Stain. I also spray on Avène Thermal Spring Water pre-glam sesh to rid my face of any exercise-induced redness.

4. When it comes to hair, I just un-bun it and go. If it's one those super sweaty sessions then I'll make sure to spray on this dry shampoo from Carol's Daughter. Honestly, though, my curls and I lucked out - the heat & sweat just gives me a better hair day.

Eyeglasses: Warby Parker  Long Sleeve Top: Lucy  Top: Lucy  Leggings: Lucy  Skirt: Ann Taylor  Sneakers: Nike  Necklace: Marc Jacobs (similar style)  Bracelet: Vintage  Purse: Marc Jacobs  Lipgloss: Grace via Buxom

As we enter the mad rush of the holidays, remember to treat your body right - it's the only one we got.

P.s. I created a "Current Sales" tab at the top of my blog. It'll be updated daily with new sales to help you (and me) as we navigate the stores & web during the holidays. I'm almost positive Lucy Activewear will have one so check back on Black Friday!

Photos by Lydia Hudgens.

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The Power of Face Mists

The one component of my overall skincare regimen that I absolutely love to use are face mists. You can even call it my favorite topic to gush about and with five years of face misting under my belt I’ve become a bit of a pro.

If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, you should! Misting is so amazing for your skin and leaves you looking fresh and glowy. They also serve a multitude of purposes, such as:

· Extra Hydration: In the AM mist your face before applying moisturizer/essence
· To Soothe: After a workout (/Classpass) session, mist to soothe your flushed skin
· Seasonal Prevention: Mist throughout the day, when your skin starts to feel a little too dry (i.e. winters) or too hot (i.e. summers)
· Makeup Extender: Mist after applying makeup to set or extend

Don’t confuse face mists with toners, the latter is meant to be used right after cleansing. If you were to use a toner after applying makeup, all of your hard work would be whisked away in one swipe (tear).

Besides stocking my shelves with face mists, I tend to carry them on my person too. If you’re ready to take the plunge (come on in the water’s great!!) here’s a list of my top favorites:

1. Avene Thermal Spring Water
After years of paying high shipping costs to get this into my hands, we can finally purchase this stateside and for really cheap too! It’s so hydrating and reduces visible redness. It’s incredibly gentle and soothing as well. I’d call this my A1 mister. Personally, I love using this in the AM before applying essence/moisturizer and after an intense workout.

via lauraneuzeth.com

2. Derma e Purifying Toner Mist
I’m a huge fan of the brand’s all-natural approach to skin care and am always testing out new things from them. Recently I tried their Purifying Toner Mist and absolutely loved the mineral and antioxidant-rich toner. Also, this is awesome for those of us living in big cities since it helps rebalance and fortify skin against pollutants. Because of the packaging, this is a must for your purse.

via samanthamariaofficial.com

3. Botanics Organic Rosewater Toning Spritz
Love the scent of this and the price point is amazing. This is another great AM & PM mister. Since this does come in a bigger bottle, I’d recommend using after cleansing. Once you mist use a cotton pad to sweep away any remaining traces of makeup. But, however, you do use it, your skin will be left feeling fresh and dewy.

4. Glossier Soothing Face Mist
Saved the best for last! Glossier has been killing it in the skincare game and their Soothing Face Mist is so bomb. It’s made with rosewater, aloe, and glycerin, which leaves your skin extra, hydrated and feels so great (read: refreshing). I use this all day long or whenever I need a makeup refresher. (P.s. all of Glossier’s goods are uh-mazing, click this link for 20% off your purchase).

Easy Fall Eyes with Maybelline

Today's shop has been sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible! 
#FalsiesPushUpDrama #CollectiveBias

You guys! I walked into Walmart in search of one thing (the new Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara) and ended up with so much more. With that being said what better time than now to share my super easy fall look. Great for those "I'm already late" mornings.

So yes, this is my signature fall look.

If you're looking for the New Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara - look for this sign! But before you head there make sure you make a list of the products I used so you can also recreate my fall look (they should all be in that aisle too).

And here's the loot I came home with! Now you're not going to use everything here but just wanted to share, you know, beauty junkie to beauty junkie.

Alright, now let's get started! I've already completed my base including blush and highlighter but left everything in my eye's vicinity bare. That means no mascara, eyeshadow, or eyebrow pencil. Pretty scary right? I don't want to scare you guys any further so let's get started!

Step 1: FYI, all these shades can be found in Maybelline's Blush Palette. SO GOOD and SO AFFORDABLE. Shade your lid with the lightest color. This will give you a base to build off of. If you notice I went pretty light and made sure it was even throughout the lid. For this color I blend out and up towards my brow bone.

Step 2: Blend the next color into your crease (shown in photo below). I also blended a little bit of the dark brown shade at the end of my eyelash line.

Step 3: Take the shimmery gold color and sweep it over your entire lid but stay underneath the crease. From there I blend out and soften up the brown in the crease. Blending is your friend here.

Step 4: Line your lids. I used the Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black and gave a tiny swoop up at the end of my lash line.

Step 5: Frame your face. For this I used the Brow Define + Fill duo pencil. First you lightly pencil in your brow and then us the other end to fill in with brow powder. Super easy to use which is why I highly recommend it!

Step 6: Apply Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara. This is the world's first ever push up brush with cup-shaped bristles that scoop, coat, and lift lashes. So with that said let every bristle glide smoothly onto your lashes dramatic lift of 45 degrees. Use two coats for more intensity.

Step 7: Once your lashes are charged up and volumized, apply a berry hue (I'm wearing Maybelline's Color Sensational in Blissful Berry), shake out your hair and head out to conquer the world.

You can't even tell that I took less than 10 minutes creating this look right?

I'm kind of a walking disaster when it comes to applying false lashes so I'm really excited that Maybelline was able to recreate the same effect in their new Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara I think they did an amazing job with the formula. I mean look at my lashes when I first started and look at how dramatic they look now. This is a definite keeper in my makeup bag!

When in a time crunch I can never leave without having my brows filled in or mascara. What about you?