“There are never any mistakes in life, only happy accidents” – Bob Ross
Because of Covid-19 I’m working from home and I’m able to film again! Be sure to stay tuned to the very end for some funny bloopers.
Author: Anna
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Ulta Birthday Haul
Ulta offers its customers double purchase points when you buy something during your birthday month. So I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and get some cool items. Below is a list of the items that I got from Ulta. I highly recommend the rituals shower gel. It really makes an every day shower feel way more luxurious.
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Artis Brushes
The Artis Brushes are the most premium brushes on the market currently. their main marketing point is that they work so well that you end up using less makeup and using less product overall and therefore saving money. My personal opinion is that, yes, they do help spread your makeup more evenly and you absolutely end up using less product
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Birthday Present from my Boyfriend
My boyfriend made me this gorgeous @ symbol design for my birthday. I’ve always had a thing for the @ symbol not only because my name begins with the letter ‘a’ but also because I’m a blogger and social media influencer. Also, my full-time job is as a Web Developer and I normally spend most of my day writing code.
Using a template, he carved out the symbol from wood. He then used some glitter acrylic and poured it into the center of the wood. By doing this, he added some glamor to the industrial book of the wood. It created this gorgeous effect that shimmers in the light. I absolutely love my birthday present from my boy friend.
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Staycation in the Hamptons
After being stuck quarantined in my 1 bedroom apartment, I really needed some time away from the city. My parents were kind enough to lend us their house in East Hampton at the tip of Long Island. Its a cozy place that is super close to both the town and the beach. My parents have had the house since I was born, but have added an addition and some other upgrades to the house since. This is honestly one of my favorite places in the world.
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How to feel grounded in a crazy world
I’ve struggled a lot with my mental health over the years. After struggling for a really long time in my late teens and early 20s, I’ve now been on the same prescription cocktail for several years now. My longest lasting relationship is my therapist and I would probably never leave the east coast because of her. I struggled for years trying to find “a magic pill” to make my minor problems (which seemed like huge emotional hurtles) go away. I then found Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and I found a logical way of dealing with my illogical problems without making myself feel invalidated or “crazy.”
In times like these, when things seem so out of control and crazy, I like to fall back on some basic DBT skills to cope with all the insanity. These are very difficult times for everyone right now, but especially hard for people of color and people affected by covid-19. Using these skills may help you feel more grounded. Please read this link for more detailed information, but below is my interpretation of the essential DBT skills.
- Mindfulness
- Mindfulness is essentially living in the moment. Don’t worry about what could happen in the future, just focus on how you can help yourself in the next 5 minuets.
- Distress Tolerance
- DBT has a “Do What Works” policy for distress tolerance (obviously without harming yourself). Let it out, scream, cry, smash something! Your emotions are temporary and you will get past this.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness
- One of my favorite worksheets from this section is called “D.E.A.R. M.A.N.” and it’s about how to ask for things you need in a way that will get you what you want.
- Emotional Regulation
- This is the hardest. This skill focuses on regulating your internal emotions by learning where they come from, validating that they are a real emotion coming from a real place, and then learning to get past it and let that feeling go.
More reading on DBT:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Psychology Today , Mind Well NYC, Overview of DBT on Psych Central
- Mindfulness
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Essential Skincare Tools
Over the years I’ve tried lots of different skincare tools. I wanted to make a list of all the ones I’ve tried and what they did or did not do for my skin.
This tiny little steamer may seem useless at first, but trust me its a powerful device. I love how hot it gets and you can really open up your pores using this. You turn it on and hold a towel over your head to collect the steam around your face. This is an all natural way to open up your pores to cleanse thoroughly.
This isn’t the exact blackhead extractor or pore cleaner that I purchased from Amazon, however I’m sure that all the products of this type are generally the same. I hate these things. They are way too powerful to be using on your skin. My skin was bright red for days and it really doesn’t even get all the junk out of your pores in the first place.
Micro needling can sound super scary, but it’s not. You gage your own pressure and you don’t have to press hard at all. You just roll the needles over your skin after you apply an expensive face serum and you know you are going to get the most out of that product because its going deep into the skin.
I love this face brush from Touch Beauty that I got on Amazon. In my opinion it works just as well as the Clarisionic face brushes but its so much less expensive. Also this one takes batteries and won’t break as easily as a rechargeable face brush. I drop mine in the shower all the time and this one hasn’t broken yet and I got it in 2018.
