Beauty comes from within. Engage your heart and open your eyes to see the real you!
So I prayed for PRAI and guess what? I got it! PRAI Beauty Skincare is the most luxurious skincare I have ever used and I got a beautiful box of it over the weekend. Their products are made with PRAI Root Essence which is a historical botanical ingredient, native to the jungles of Thailand and used by Thai Royalty! When I use it I do feel royal! I love the Golden Caviar Age Defying Concentrate. It contains hibiscus seed and Fibroblast Growth Factors that regenerate skin turnover and peptides to promote collagen regrowth. It has 24 karat gold flecks that gives the skin a beautiful glow as well. I also love the Silk Creme Restorative Moisturizer because it gives my skin the feel of butter, that's shea butter I mean. It also contains peptides and Hyaluronic Acid to ease my dehydrated parched skin. The packaging is gorgeous as well. With all of this royal treatment, my days at the spa are surely numbered!! Try PRAI Beauty for all of your skin care needs. You can feel like a Thai princess too!
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One of my secret tools in my bag of makeup tricks is pointy Q-tips. I use them everyday on every job. They can change or manipulate eye liner to the desired thickness or shape and they are totally excellent for cleaning up dark or red lips. Both the looks shown here couldn't have been achieved without the help of these crafty little things and they can be purchased at any drugstore or Target. Simply take the pointy end of the q-tip and dip it into liquid makeup remover. Then dab off any excess liquid and run the q-tip along any line or shape you want to change. Thats it! Some of the q-tips have a flat end as well which works great for shadow fall off. Who knew you could achieve so much with something so little?
I talk a lot about anti-aging products but I always feel that it's more important what is going on on the inside. No duh, right? But seriously, getting into the grove of better lifestyle choices is far more important and has longer term advantages than any skin cream you can use. The best way to feel better about things is getting into nature. Start by taking a walk a day. Even if its a short one. Around the block. Feel the air on your face and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and imagine the stress and anxiety rolling off your skin like water off a ducks back. For those more adventurous, taking 5 minutes every morning and sitting on the floor or somewhere comfortable, and closing your eyes and meditating or deep breathing even will start to allow the stressful moments in your life not to feel as stressful. I love listening to Pandora and putting on the Deepak Chopra channel as I'm preparing breakfast in the morning for my family. He has wonderful affirmations for one to set an intention for the day. Remember thoughts play an important part of who we are. And how we look. Relaxing your mind will relax your appearance. Simply and beautifully.
So many women I know and work with have issue with their under eye area. Whether it be dark circles, puffiness or fine lines and wrinkles, this area is a touchy one. Because the skin is so thin around your eyes it is more sensitive to irregularities in our diet and our lifestyle. Just the mere fact of going to bed at the same time every night can change the amount of puffiness you have. And the amount of discoloration too. Obviously that is not the most realistic notion-going to bed at the same time nightly, but it sure is something to strive for! When that possibility just isn't a possibility and you just had to have that last piece of sushi dipped in soy sauce, you need some additional support. I love the idea of taking 20 minutes or even 10 minutes out of the day and placing cool cucumber slices on my eyes. It is meditative and relaxing and it truly does diminish the puffiness. Another choice is black tea bags steeped then cooled. The caffeine will constrict blood vessels and reduce swelling. If 20 minutes truly is a luxury you just can't afford try splashing cold water over your face several times. It will help swelling and wake you up! For dark circles liver detoxification needs to happen. Take the juice of one lemon and mix it with 8 oz glass of water and drink daily to detox. In two weeks you'll see dramatic changes in the under eye area. For everyday maintenance I love Jurlique's Herbal Recovery Eye Cream. It has arnica, eyebright and cucumber to help reduce puffiness and brighten dark circles. Safflower Oleosomes technology delivers long-term hydration to soften fine lines and wrinkles. Chamomile helps soothe and reduce redness around the delicate eye area. All that in one little tube! Between that and the home remedies your undereye will never look so good!
All over the internet the other day were images of the other nights Met Gala. As I glanced, well who am I kidding, studied each image, I was surprised by how many women chose to wear dark lips. I know it's really in for fall but what if it doesn't suit your face or it's to harsh for your features? Well NARS has created a lipstick and gloss called 413 Blkr which has just the right amount of the pigmentation, warm rose brown, that is so popular for fall but it is light enough for just about everyone to wear. The lipstick is great because it's matte which can be easily blotted away for a more natural finish and the gloss is great over a nude pencil for more pop. Remember, fads in makeup are like fads in clothing, you need to consider what works well for you and make accommodation's for that. By taking your own style and needs into consideration you create beauty simply!
In my constant quest for simple products I certainly have found it in Guerlain. I love, love, love concealer/foundation duos. They totally embody my philosophy on creating beauty simply. Guerlain's is so moisturizng it's like a tall drink of water! The two colors fuse together so well and it covers so fantastically yet you don't even feel as if you're wearing makeup at all. It's soft coverage also provides a spf of 20 so you can be sure that your protected as well as looking beautiful. Use the lighter color under your eyes and around your nose and blend into the darker shade as needed. Simple truly has never looked so beautiful.
Thinking about the name of my blog "Simple Beaute" and really defining what that means to me, I'm reminded of exactly why I love that concept. I love things that are simple and pure, and I believe the most beautiful things are simple and uncomplicated. Like nature for example. Even the most intricate of flowers like an orchid is simple and elegant and just "is," without apology, beautiful and pure. I am constantly striving for beauty in my life. I like to surround myself with beautiful things. Most especially beautiful things that are simple as well. Like makeup that's pretty but easy to do. Or products that make you feel beautiful but are so basic in their ingredients. Calling on nature to nurture. I found a great line of skincare products at my local farmers market called "Squid Balm" that embodies this philosophy. Started by a mom trying to create a balm for her daughter, nicknamed "Squid" who had bad eczema and allergies, she developed products that contain little but powerful ingredients that promote healing of the skin. I bought her cleansing oil which not only removes makeup but doesn't strip the skin of it's natural oils. It leaves my skin clean, soft and hydrated and there are literally 5 ingredients in it! After using it I thought, "this is exactly what I need, nothing more." Then I thought "this is truly a metaphor for life. Things that are the most meaningful and that we find the most pleasure in usual are the simplest."
I always love it when I find a product that is a reasonable price AND really works! I really have found that in Magic Lumi by L'oreal Paris. Modeled after the more expensive version, Touche Eclat by YSL, Magic Lumi is a great highlighter and concealer. Brightens, erases and contours all in one easy clicking pen. And the price is right at about $11 as compared to $40 for the YSL.
Recently I saw the most gorgeous picture of Kate Hudson with her mom 
