Botox in a Bottle

{the coveted bottle that travels between my bathroom and my mom's}

I think Emily Maynard said it best when she said she'd be "living under a bridge wrinkle free" when it came to spending money on skincare. You only get one crack at your skin... so I think it justifies spending a little extra moola on the good stuff, and this, my friends, is the good stuff. 

I was first introduced to Nerium AD when my sweet baboosh, EZ E, brought it on our Memorial Day beach trip. She said she'd found this ah.maze.ing. new cream we all had to try. Everyone was skeptical, but me being a junkie for anything beauty-related, I gave it a whirl. I remember saying it smelt like apples. Not bad, eh?

After the trip, I didn't think much of it until I started noticing my forehead wrinkles grow increasingly more visible. I'm one of those lucky gals that has overly expressive eyebrows anyway, and that, paired with arching them every day when I put on my mascara started to take its toll at the age of 23. yikes. 

Then, a funny thing happened. I started noticing Nerium AD pop up everywhere. Molly and Sally swear by it on A Piece of Toast, Catheirne Giudici of the Bachelor even has people wining cars selling it! I was 100% sick of looking like grandma wrinkles in my 20s and decided to give it a try. Baboosh was sweet enough to send me a bottle to try (fo free). I used it, and instantly fell in love. I've recently gotten compliments on my skin, and my mom said she noticed that my forehead wrinkles had nearly disappeared, even when I raise my eyebrows! 

This stuff is that good. I'm even sharing with my mama to see what kind of results she gets.

I agree with Molly when she says this stuff is truly "botox in a bottle," and I'd be willing to guess it's less expensive and more natural-looking than it, too. 

So, maybe I'll living under a bridge since I spend my paycheck on skincare and beauty products, but at least I'll be wrinkle free... and in good company (cough, Emily Maynard).

Design Love Fest

To finish up a previous series (see here or here for a refresher), I was going to write about the winner of Bachelor, Catherine Giudici, since she too has an enviable job as a graphic designer. But, since I already devoted a post to Catherine's fabulous ombre hair, I decided a mere shout out would suffice.

Moving right along, I found another utterly amaze blogger to follow: Bri Emery. She's got not just one, but two, successful blogs that are both equally presh in their own right; so clearly she's enviable. Side note: I also think she could be a stunt double for the oh-so-glamorous Rachel Zoe, amiright?
 

 {Bri Emery, above}

 {Rachel Zoe}

The first, Design Love Fest was created out of sheer boredom and Bri's love of type and images. It has since spawned a complete graphic design and branding studio (similar to Catherine). Click here for her portfolio.

The second, Blogshop, is "where she enjoys sharing her knowledge and cultivating a strong skillset with her eager students" (aka workshops for bloggers). 

Her office makeover (click here for full post of the transition) was also featured on The Glitter Guide, another favorite of mine.

Needless to say, Bri has escaped from the monotonous 9 to 5 with pizazz and sparkle keeping her creativity in tact and becoming a successful entrepreneur in her own right.

Follow her on instagram, twitter, facebook, and pinterest to see more of her fabulicious life.

 

{New} Partners

Getting back to a series you might have thought I'd forgotten about, Bachelor Beauties and Their Real-Life Day Jobs. (Okay, so it's a working title, but you get the point.) Back to a few of my fav Bachelor contestants' enviable jobs. The first was Sarah Herron, who works for the famous ad agency, 72 and Sunny. Today, I'm turning my head toward Capitol Hill, and the campaigning efforts of Lesley Murphy.

The blonde bombshell originating from my neighbor state of Arkansas (woo pig sooie) is a successful political consultant at the D.C. office of {New} Partners communications group (hence the post title--and shout out to my favorite politically-minded comms-lover located in good ole District of Columbia, Jessica Carroll.)

 Not only do I find knowing about politics enviable, Lesley knows enough to consult. I'd say that's pretty darn impressive. She also managed to keep her distinct Southern drawl and congenial hospitality among our Yankee friends above the Mason-Dixion line. For that, she deserves some credit.  

 

{Wore her fab Bachelor dress to the inaugural ball... holla}

And then of course there's her adorable style and the fact that she's also a Bachelor "sister wife" (like Sarah Herron).

 

{"CellfieSunday" with her friends = we would totes be friends}

Whether your red or blue when you head to the polls, we can all agree Lesley is equal parts precious and fierce.

*most photos from Lesley's instagram or google.

72 and Sunny

Despite the title, it is not 72 in M-town today (more like 27), but it is sunny; so, I'll take it. In keeping with the Bachelor theme from the past few posts (here, here or here), I wanted to dig a little deeper into the past of a few of the lovely ladies. I'm particularly interested in their jobs, since most of them actually had interesting ones this go around.

Starting of with Sarah Herron, a fan favorite for sure. Sarah is a Jr. Designer for 72 and Sunny ad agency (named best ad agency by Ad Age in 2013) in the city of angles. I'm particularly intrigued by working for an ad agency since I imagine most of them to be extremely cut-throat, but since Sarah is basically as sweet as pie, there's hope.

She's stylish, sweet, a "sister wife" with some of my other fav. contestants, and a work-related book nerd (much like myself). Easy to see why she was a fan favorite from the beginning.

 {sister wives: L to R, Lindsay, Ashlee, Jackie, Sarah, Lesley, and Des}

 

{Navajo style}

 {advertising books + wine = epic}

 May or may not have a job crush on Sarah.

Ombré Obsessed

As much as I love to hate the Bachelor, I have to admit that I found this past season (season 17 with Sean Lowe) wildly entertaining. First, there was Tierra's eyebrow, her psycho rants, and let's not forget her "sparkle."

 

{image courtesy of another obsession: the Inslee blog}

But one of my most favorite things was watching the style of each lovely ladies vying for Sean's heart. I also have to admit that this season is one of the first (and I've been semi-watching since Trista and Ryan) that nearly all of the ladies seemed super personal and "real," for lack of a better term. I now follow Lindsay Yenter, Selma Alameri, Sarah Herron, Ashlee Frazier, and of course the winner, Catherine Giudici on instagram. 

  
I found Catherine precious from the beginning as I can appreciate the weirdness of an uber-nerd/graphic designer as the type of person I spent hours laughing with in the mac lab at good ole Sammy U. But, that's not the mane (see what I did there?) reason I'm obsessed. Nope, it's her long dark locks that have me captivated, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I have a hair crush on her, and why shouldn't I? She pulls off this look better than most I've seen.

I am envious partially because it'd be super easy to maintain, but also because I think very few people pull it off well. I'm dying to try it, but I don't know how well ombré + curls pair... merrr. Alas, Maybe one day the ever-talented Claire-bear Strate can practice on my hair.

 

Beauty Blogging Bachelorette

Pardon my hiatus, quarter one has been a doozy. That said, no better way to usher in a new season (literally and figuratively) of posts starting with my all time favorite member of the Bachelorette (which wasn't hard to do, minus of course Lesley from the past Bachelor).

You guessed it. Emily Maynard finally has her own website so that freakish fans (like myself) who follow her every beauty recommendation religiously can have 24/7 access to her suggestions (because following her InStyle posts on current style weren't good enough). This might make me happier than when I finally found (and bought) her YSL lip color. 

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 *photos courtesy of google and emilymaynard.com