- Page 31 of 47

By Amy Zhang September 8, 2017 in Beauty, Lifestyle 10 Comments

Weird Beauty Trick That Works: Brushing Your Lips!

There really is a treatment for everything these days – and because everyone wants soft, moisturized lips along with just a little pout, I want to talk about why brushing your lips is a thing. Because it is!

No one wants dry, cracked lips, and sometimes layering on a ton of chapstick just doesn’t do the trick, especially in winter or dry climates. Insert a spare tooth brush and suddenly a quick trick for soft lips is born!

It might sound silly initially, but your lips are part of your skin, and if we exfoliate our skin, why wouldn’t we do the same for our lips? I mean, we put on lip balm, but we can definitely do more to take care of them! Plus, I’m all about giving new trends a try, so I had to jump on the bandwagon for this one.

How To: Brushing Your Lips

It’s pretty simple to do – dampen your lips and grab an unused toothbrush. Softly brush (don’t push too hard!) in a circular motion. Just like you would when you’re exfoliating your skin, the circular brush motion will peel away any loose or dead skin leaving your lips super smooth and ready for gloss, balm or your favorite shade of lip color. If your lips are still dry, try adding a bit of salt to your toothbrush and that should help to deeply exfoliate – perfect before a red lipstick kinda night.

Fresh Sugar Lip Polish is also ah-mazing, which nixes the toothbrush but lends the same results. Just depends on if you want a home DIY option or a product for purchase. The Henne option has been great while I’m traveling and don’t always have an extra toothbrush or time to put the mixture together.

If you want to take it up a notch and try to get a pouty look, I’ve read you should dab your toothbrush in a little bit of cinnamon oil before brushing on your lips. The oil acts as a natural plumper because cinnamon actually slightly irritates the sensitive skin on your lips. With the irritation, comes a little bit of swelling.

Of course the swelling isn’t permanent, but it, along with brushing, is something you can do consistently if you like how it makes your lips look and feel.

If you’re not into the oil, but you really want those smooth lips, you can slip just the brushing in while brushing your teeth in the morning.

Follow any brushing up by a gentle lip balm and you’re good to go. So quick and easy!

Here are my favorite tools for brushing your lips and keeping them soft and smooth!

Glossier Balm Dot Com

I am the lip balm queen. It’s an unofficial title, but at any point in time you will find no fewer than 3 types of chapstick in my purse. Apparently you can be addicted to using chapstick, but I don’t care. I love Glossier’s Balm Dot Com because it functions as a universal skin salve. At least, that’s how they advertise it. It goes on my lips but it also goes everywhere else – my cuticles, my face, skin, really anywhere. I love it and a tube lasts seemingly forever.

If you’ve never tried Glossier before, be sure to check out my review of the entire Phase 1 and Phase 2 sets here. You also get 10% off here if you’re interested : ).

Fresh Sugar Lip Polish

Yes, exfoliating your lips is a thing. This stuff makes it super easy. You could make your own brown sugar scrub, but the convenience and packaging of this lip polish (seriously, everything from Fresh is so, so good) makes it an easy addition to my beauty vanity.

Sara Happ The Lip Scrub

Believe it or not I have the Fresh lip polish and this version by Sara Happ. Both are wonderful. I like that this one comes in some different flavors. I nabbed a “Red Velvet Cupcake” flavor last year and had to resist eating the scrub it smelled so good.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment

What I love most about Fresh lip balms is that they feel so incredibly luxe and they actually work. Plus they have SPF in them which is so important. The tinted versions are ideal if you want the tiniest hint of color without having to deal with lipstick. Multi-tasking, I say.

Kopari Lip Love

I’m totally obsessed with coconut oil in beauty products, and Kopari gets me. I’ve tried a bunch of their products (happy to do a review if you guys are interested!) and the lip balm is a constant in my purses. I usually just leave a tube of this in every bag so I’m never left without lip balm in case of an emergency (gasp!)

Have you tried brushing your lips?

By Amy Zhang September 5, 2017 in Lifestyle, Style 15 Comments

How to Reset After a Long Weekend

The first day after a long weekend is never fun. As much as we whine about how we wish every week was a 4 day work week, the truth is that extra day of rest (or fun) is more appreciated when it doesn’t happen all the time. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself. Regardless of how you chose to spend your long weekend, it never hurts to reset in the days after so you can get back to feeling normal ASAP.

I know I for one am ready for fall (call me basic) and ready to retire the weekly (ok, daily) glasses rosé and spritzes. I don’t believe in “detoxes,” but I do believe in incorporating extra healthy practices to get your body feeling lean and clean after an indulgent few days (or weeks or months).

How to Reset After a Long Weekend

Here are the keys for a healthier week to reset your body:

Water, water, water.

Basically a no brainer, because – duh. If you had a little too much to eat or drink, even though it seems counterintuitive, drinking water is your best bet. Start your day with a little hot water with lemon to help things get moving, and aim for an ounce of water for every pound you weigh throughout the rest of the day. You may feel more bloated initially, but it’ll help eliminate any extra bloating or puffiness your body is holding onto.

Portion control.

I hate being strict about my diet. Hate, hate, hate. If you tell me I can’t have something, I just end up wanting it more (and eating way too much of it). If you cut things out (gluten, dairy, sugar, meat, nightshades, acidic foods, whatever), chances are your body will see changes quickly. But the thing is, can you maintain that forever? If you just try eliminating foods temporarily, your body will react when you add them back in.

I’m all about consistency, so in the days after a very indulgent weekend, I won’t cut anything out. Rather, I try to just eat a little less. Going out to eat? Only eat half – ask for the other half to be boxed up in advance, or share with a friend. This way you can get your body feeling right again without losing your sanity in the process.

Sweat it out.

The obvious answer is exercise – the more intense and sweatier, the better in my opinion. Don’t feel like going too hard? Fake it with an infrared sauna (or even a hot yoga session, which will help you sweat out the weekend even if you choose to just stay in child’s pose the whole hour).

Get your zzz’s.

Chances are you didn’t get enough sleep over the long weekend. Get back on your normal routine and don’t be afraid to catch up on some sleep over the week. I set my usual alarm back by 30 minutes and wasn’t afraid to hit snooze this morning. Personally, I’d take an extra hour of sleep over anything else.

Be anti-social.

Only half kidding. If you find yourself prone to eating junk and having a few too many drinks when you go out, even during the weekday, learning to say NO can do you wonders. In business and life, a piece of advice I’ve gotten multiple times this year is to learn to say no to anything that does not directly further your goals. It’s not easy to say no to happy hour or catching up over appetizers, but you will feel so much better by taking a break from alcohol. I’m a total introvert, so a night at home watching TV with a face mask on sounds like HEAVEN right now.

As for me… I’m trying to hold onto summer as long as I can. Even though summer is technically almost over, it’s not officially the end of crop top season. As much as I thought this trend would die down, it’s definitely still going hot as we transition into the colder months. This two piece set I’m wearing is from one of my new favorite boho-inspired brands, Nine Lives Bazaar. For fall, I’ll be styling my crop tops with wide-leg denim and a blazer, and choosing knit and sweater versions for casual looks.

How are you dealing with the end of summer? Or are we totally over it and ready for sweater weather?

xx, Amy

top: nine lives bazaar | skirt: nine lives bazaar

sunnies: van de vort | earrings: 8 other reasons | bag: similar

By Amy Zhang August 30, 2017 in Lifestyle, Style 17 Comments

Blogger Tips & Tricks: Determining How Much to Charge For Freelance Services

One question I get asked a lot (and have wondered myself) is how to determine how much to charge for a freelance service. As you might already know, I’m a huge proponent of the side hustle. But outside of your typical corporate career, how do you get paid? And how much? I feel like talking about money, in general, is considered somewhat taboo. But when it comes to anyone with a freelance career, bloggers especially, it became an almost impossible topic to get any real information on or learn much about. I was recently inspired by reading Refinery 29’s popular series of posts, Money Diaries.

I love the mission behind Money Diaries. Refinery 29 started the series of posts to highlight women across the world. Specifically how these women make and spend their money. They say on the website:

“…We’re tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We’re asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.”

Taking a stab at breaking through this topic, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts and experiences on making money through a side hustle or by freelancing.

Here’s how to determine how much to charge for freelance services:

Figure out the scope of work.

How much work are you being asked to do? What is the scope of the project? Whether you have a fixed hourly rate or a variable rate depending on services delivered, make sure you have an idea up front of how much work you will have to do in order to complete a project. For example: for photographers, a one hour shoot for bloggers probably requires a different amount of work than an editorial shoot for a brand’s lookbook or a wedding.

Freelance writers may want to have a better understanding of how many articles they are being asked to complete and how much research and detail needs to go into each. Influencers may be asked to create one single image for a brand. Sometimes it’s an entire video or lookbook. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to clarify the project at hand!

Identify your personal value.

What are you bringing to the table? Years of experience and expertise? A unique skill or talent? A large social audience? You need to be bringing value through the services you are offering! It’s okay to do work for free to build up your network, your experience, and the quality and professionalism of your work. Don’t be afraid to learn and grow through doing work for trade – you never know what doors might open up!

Once you feel comfortable with the value you’re offering, you can set a price for your services. This rate may vary from project to project – after all, freelancing really is the wild, wild west.

Consider everything you bring to the table.

Say you are a freelance photographer. You may charge an hourly rate for your services, but you also need to account for your equipment (camera equipment is EXPENSIVE), your skill and expertise that you’ve built up over time (a photographer with 10 years of experience is very different than a photographer with only 6 months), and the time and energy spent on editing (which is oftentimes the most time consuming part!). If you’re working on larger productions, you may also need to account for assistants and any additional staff on your team. This may explain why there is a huge discrepancy in rates – some photographers may offer their services for free, while others charge thousands per hour or have a fixed day rate.

For influencers, the size of your audience can determine your rate. This can include a combination of your reach (how many people see your posts on different platforms) and influence (ability to convert sales or drive traffic). Unsure waht to charge? A general marketing rate is cost per thousand (CPM), or rate per thousand impressions. A couple years ago, I read on a popular fashion blogger’s site that she charged $10 per every 1,000 followers on Instagram, but this is probably no longer entirely accurate.

Determine the value of this partnership.

Are you receiving anything in return for the services asked? Whether it’s free product or the opportunity to have your brand cross promoted to a large audience. You should also consider the potential non-monetary benefits of taking on a certain project. I totally get that the hustle is real when you rely on income from freelance work. Just keep in mind that not all value comes in the form of money!

At the end of the day, freelancing can be incredibly stressful but also incredibly rewarding. You are your own boss and responsible for seeking out and taking on various projects. You have to hustle, and then hustle some more – there’s no one handing you projects or telling you what to do.

Make friends in your industry.

One thing I’ve found incredibly helpful is making friends in a similar industry and having someone to bounce ideas off of and talk to. I think having a strong support system is essential in order to have open dialogue on topics that may feel taboo or hush hush.

Transparency and authenticity are so important in the freelance industry. It’s disappointing and disheartening to see so many people taking shortcuts and choosing to deceive brands and partners. Which is why taking steps towards open conversations and transparency in the industry is so valuable.

Freelancers and creatives – what are your thoughts on setting rates and finding work?

xx, Amy

dress: grana | denim jacket: blank nyc (similar) | backpack: sticks + stones

By Amy Zhang August 16, 2017 in Beauty 9 Comments

Stop Hoarding and Learn When to Toss Old and Expired Makeup

Confession: I am a makeup hoarder. I buy makeup and I keep it in a drawer, rarely throwing product away unless it’s completely used up. I’m guessing some of you do this too? For the longest time, I didn’t think twice about this habit. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, I told myself!

Why you shouldn’t use old, expired makeup

The reality is, makeup expires. And it’s not pretty when it does.

I mean, you don’t eat expired food, do you? I’m not talking about a couple days… I’m talking about months or even years old expired food. You probably wouldn’t even think of it. Expired food can make you sick, plain and simple. So why do we continue using expired makeup?!

Whether you realize it or not, the process of applying makeup can be less than sanitary, especially if you’re using your fingers to apply product and not washing your brushes properly (<< will do a post on this!). Over time, products can change in color and formula, lose their effectiveness, and become a hotspot for germs and bacteria. Ew!

Expiration dates for some common beauty products

Foundation 6 months+.

Foundation can last up to 2 years, but this is one you want to pay attention to, especially because you’re putting it on all over your face.

Lipstick 2 years.

Totally guilty of keeping lipsticks for longer than this time (I rarely use them up). It’s hard to say goodbye, but for sanitary purposes it’s a good idea to toss shades that are older than a couple years.

Mascara 3-6 months.

This one is usually safe if you consistently use the same tube, they usually won’t last longer than that time anyway. Over time, pumping the brush also pushes air into the tube, which will dry the mascara out.

Eyeliner 3 months (liquid or gel formulas) to 2 years (pencil).

3 months is not a long time at all! Chances are you’ve used expired eyeliner before. You might think oh it’s NBD but considering how close to your eye you’re applying this product, you definitely want to avoid the risk of getting a gnarly eye infection (definitely do not share eyeliner!)

Powder makeup (bronzer, blush, eyeshadow) – 1-2 years.

You get a bit of a pass with powder makeup – because it’s dry, it takes longer to go bad. Still, it’s not a bad idea to keep track of dates and make sure you avoid stockpiling older product.

If you’re not keeping track of your makeup expiration dates, you should! Try keeping a list or writing down when you bought a product on the package itself. When I did an assessment of my makeup, I was shocked to find that more than half of it was expired!

I was keeping around old foundations and shades of lipsticks that I didn’t want to throw away because “you never know when you might want to use them!” But rather than keeping a stash of “just in case” makeup, I’m trying to streamline my makeup drawer so it contains just the essentials.

Do you keep track of your makeup expiration dates? How do you organize your beauty products?

Follow me on Instagram for more updates.

xx, Amy

By Amy Zhang August 9, 2017 in Lifestyle, Wellness 7 Comments

A New Way of Taking Your Vitamins with Care/of

A New Way of Taking Vitamins with Care/of | by The Luxi Look

All too often, we hear about the importance of taking vitamins. But with most things in life, consistency is key. I can’t even begin to tell you how many half full bottles of different vitamins and minerals are laying around my apartment. Many of which are probably way past their expiration date. It’s too easy to read an article about some hot new supplement you need to take, and thanks to one-click shopping and my Prime membership, get a package on my doorstep in two days.

Typically, what ends up happening is this: I get excited, take previously mentioned supplement for a week, and then forget about it. With that sort of behavior, it’s no wonder I never really saw any benefits from most of the vitamins I was taking! However, recently I tried Care/of, a new service designed to help make taking your vitamins fun and easy and couldn’t wait to share with you guys.

My Care/of Experience

[ Full disclosure, this post is not sponsored – Care/of was kind enough to offer and send me a month of vitamins to try, but I really wanted to share my experience with you guys! ]

Why should you take vitamins?

First, let’s talk about supplements. There’s a bit of debate as to whether or not we need to be taking supplements at all. While I agree that it’s probably best to get our vitamins and minerals in their natural form through food, the truth is most of us don’t get the right amount of everything in our daily diets. Vegans and vegetarians especially. Once you start cutting out certain food groups, it becomes easier to be deficient in certain essential nutrients if you’re not careful. Even if you’re eating a balanced diet, you may still benefit from taking supplements.

Although health and wellness is something I’m very passionate about, I am fully aware that I’m not a doctor. SO – be sure to talk to one or get their advice before starting a supplement regime! With that said, if you are interested in trying vitamins, you may want to consider a personalized approach by the way of Care/of.

What makes Care/of different?

Care/of asks you questions about your lifestyle, diet, and personal needs in order to determine what supplements may be beneficial to you. They offer a variety of vitamins, minerals, herbs, probiotics, and more. The personalized approach helps you take only the supplements you need, with a wide range of benefits. A lot of the science behind supplements is debatable. Although, Care/of does the work in assembling the research and traditional uses behind all of the supplements available, so you can have the most accurate assessment of the products and read the evidence first hand for yourself.

In addition, Care/of takes the mess and fuss out of taking your daily vitamins. The whole process of my Care/of experience is fun and easy. You get deliveries of a month’s worth of vitamins at a time that come in pre-portioned daily packages. So you really have no excuse to skip your vitamins.

What was in my pack?

Based on my personal assessment, Care/of created a recommend pack of 5 different vitamins. You can also add or subtract other supplements based on your personal needs and preferences (packs range from 2-14 pills/day). Here’s what came in my recommended daily vitamin pack:

Digestive enzymes

Although I was taking a daily probiotic before anyway, I’m glad I get one in my Care/of package as well. These help keep your gut healthy and happy and help tremendously with digestion and bowel movements. A healthy digestive system is so important for ridding your body of toxins!

Ashwagandha (try saying that 3 times fast!)

This was a new to me and exciting addition to my pack. Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb that is meant to support a healthy stress response. Although I’d like to think that I’m pretty chill, the truth is anxiety and stress can get the best of me at times. Ashwagandha is also known as “Indian Gingseng” and has been used for thousands of years in traditional Indian medicine.

Rhodiola

Another herb used to help combat stress and fatigue. Apparently I said I was feeling burned out?! Anyway, this is a traditional Chinese herb that has been shown to relieve stress and promote feelings of well being.

I grew up taking traditional Eastern medicine, so Ayurvedic herbs don’t phase me. If you’re less sure about these types of supplements, you can totally pass on them!

These two recommended vitamins are much more established in the states.

Vitamin D

Even though I live in Southern California, I don’t always get enough sun. Did you know a majority of Americans aren’t getting enough Vitamin D? Vitamin D is essential for strong and healthy bones!

Vitamin C

Supports your immune system!

All of this comes to $34/month (just a little over $1 a day). The daily packages are pre-portioned and come in these adorable little pouches. The pouches are personalized with your name on them and are so easy to throw in your bag and go. I’ve been keeping a couple in my desk at the office in case I forget to grab a pack on my way out in the morning (depending on whether or not I’ve had coffee, I can be very forgetful!).

Also, V IMPORTANT tip. Always take your vitamins with a meal. I’ve made the mistake of downing 5 pills in the morning before ingesting any food. It leaves me feeling nauseous and queasy.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my experience with Care/of. I love the convenience of having pre-portioned packages that are easy to carry around with you and dispose of afterwards. Also, I love that I can customize the packets easily. I can ensure that I am getting the nutrients I need for my body.

If you’re interested in trying, Care/of kindly offers a discount code for my readers – use LUXILOOK50 at checkout for 50% off your first month of vitamins.

Would love to hear with you guys think!!

xx, Amy

Prev 1 … 29 30 31 32 33 … 47 Next Page 31 of 47