opinions

Book of The Month x L’art de la Simplicite by Dominique Loreau x Lifestyle Changes

For this month I’m picking something that’ll teach me about a new lifestyle attitude. This new lifestyle change is guided by L’Art De La Simplicite: How to Live More with Less by Dominique Loreau.

I found this book while searching the aisles of the public library and once I noticed the title, I wanted to take it home right away. I didn’t believe books about minimalist living were even written so I got really excited once I saw the book. Lately, I’ve been in the mood to change my beliefs and attitudes about my current lifestyle. I understand that its not going to happen overnight but I just want to know more about what it would feel like to become a person who desires less compared to excess. Plus, I loved the cover and how cute yet simple the font and overall look was.

From reading this book, I want to learn how to stop wanting more things that aren’t going to make a huge impact in my future and embrace living with less. Its hard to manage not wanting to have the most latest thing or having something for a sake of convenience simply because you can afford it. Since becoming a mom, I’ve had to let go of my full time job and find something part time which drastically cut what I was used to spending. Now that I have to adjust for bill payments, eating healthy, saving and the needs of a growing baby takes a toll financially. I know that this time and these moments will pass and eventually my small family will be in a different position in the future because we have a lot of faith in the actions were taking now, but I’ve got to stay in check, daily, so all the bills are paid for on time. So I want to understand the tricks or attitudes that would place one to desire less and place that energy towards things will matter in the long run! Do you know what I mean?

New GNC & Walgreens Products Shopping Haul x Youtube video

hey everyone!

happy hump day and hows it going?

I went shopping for a few items that I’ve been in desperate need of during the weekend. From body lotions for myself and my husband to a vegan protein shake, I talk all about it in my video.

I’d love and appreciate it if you would check it out. Also, let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions on other types of videos or topics that I should make!

Thanks for watching.

Authenticity & it’s four Attributes

During the first day of my internship training, there was a girl in my group who made it her mission to point out to me how “fake” she thought I was. She didn’t say it to me privately, instead, she timed it so everyone else in the group would hear her opinion of me by saying it out loud during one of our quick 10 minute breaks. The girl was not a stranger to me because we had started the same internship program from the very beginning. Her sudden hostility towards me was strange, super random and I was left confused for the remainder of that training day. I had no idea what I could have done to cause her to say that and I couldn’t recall ever being out of line or disrespectful towards her. In order to hide my embarrassment and try to be polite, I let out a nervous laugh because I was trying to brushed it off as if she were telling me an insider joke.

Thinking back to that moment, I was so naive to social cues and didn’t realize when someone was being out of line towards me. I let her continually name call me, although it really upset me yet I didn’t comment back or bother to ask her why she was doing it. Honestly, I thought that I was being the “bigger person” and tried to not let it show that it was affecting me! Needless to say, I kept a fair distance from her and would try to avoid situations where I had to have a conversation other then work. Part of me couldn’t tell the difference between a joke or if it was a direct personal attack and not knowing the difference made me feel insecure, especially when I was around her.

So before I get to my point, I want to share another more recent story of a male coworker who consistently had a snarky comeback whenever I would attempt a causal work conversation. His attitude and mannerisms towards me would feel boorish, meanwhile other coworkers would have nothing but praise for his helpfulness and goodness. I took his animosity personally because it felt like it was gradually getting more indifferent and hostile. Being around him was like walking on eggshells and I would purposely stay clear of his path (although it was really difficult because we all had to work in a tiny office). I wouldn’t ask him for anything or bother with advice and I dreaded being left alone with him whenever the other coworkers left the office during lunch breaks or for any other reason.

One work day I had decided that I had had enough of his toxic attitude and dished it right back to him, exactly how he would towards me. When I looked at his face, his eyes were a little wide and he had a bit of a smirk. He then said, “finally, she speaks for herself.” In that moment, I didn’t know what exactly he meant but after that one comeback, he started being friendlier. Shooting for conversations rather then building negative tension. It seemed like suddenly, this male co worker wanted to have a decent working relationship… go fucken figure.

What I failed to realize was that, ultimately, it didn’t matter what these people said or even how they behaved towards me. What was important was how I responded and handled those different personalities and how much I would let them affect me or influence me personally. If I would have been self-aware, I would have been able to pick up on those subtle shady cues a lot quicker rather then letting my personal feelings decipher what every interaction meant. Here are a list of a few traits I wish I would have learned earlier in life, a set of traits that wouldn’t have allowed for these scenarios to play out the way that they did.

1. self awareness

to have self-awareness is an advantage over those who do not have it or don’t even know what it means in the long term (ei. me). I believe that self awareness is a skill because it means that you understand and trust yourself without a doubt and can’t be easily swayed or influenced. Its a skill build on balancing confidence and vulnerability together although each trait can cancel each other out. It may sound easy, but this is a mindset that is difficult to master because your exposing yourself to the world around you and therefore potentially having others judge you harshly.

2. boldness

boldness is having the ability to be forward and intentional with whomever it may be about whatever you personally believe in. Sharing with them your specific interest without fearing that you won’t be accepted somehow because others might not agree with you. I feel like deep down we all want to get some kind of approval from those around us and maybe even more from people who may not even know us directly.

3. honesty

honesty, the key ingredient for authenticity because it flourishes when you stop lying about who you are and about who your pretending to become. There is nothing wrong about having aspirations of a future better you. But by humbling yourself to see where you are at that moment, where you are mentally and physically, starts the process of self reflection. A quick google search defines self reflection as meditation or serious thought about ones character, actions and motives. From my personal experiences, self reflection is one of the greatest gifts you can give your future self by taking a little bit of time to think about you. I know it sounds selfish but if your rebuilding, the first thing every good home needs is a solid foundation.

4. trust

by learning to trust your actions, your choices become more deliberate and thats helpful because there is no way for sure to know what the opportunity costs are of every option available since time and resources are always limited. Trust can go hand in hand with intuition or that “gut feeling” that we all experience from time to time. Figuring out a way to let go of the expectations from others around us jumpstarts the ways in which we learn to depend on ourself and ultimately trust oneself.

I feel like in our society, being talented isn’t enough anymore but whats important and valuable is being authentic because it allows others to connect with you on a personal level other than the work you produce. By connecting with you, it means they might like you and want to continue supporting you by watching your instagram stories or sharing your tweets. It all kind of comes full circle and with all the different options of connecting with people, your personality will be the dividing force between your work and everybody else.

Looking back, I would have responded differently…

Brooks Brothers Puffer Coat OOTD x FBF

I wish I could say that everyday in New York city feels gloriously warm, truly, but that is simply not the reality and I’d be completely lying to you. This is me, almost everyday, wrapped up in a heavy duty puffer coat that bundles me up like a sleeping bag. This one in particular is from Brooks Brothers, its a knee length dark navy blue puffer coat with a cute black feather trim to keep my face warm lol.

Lets raise a glass to effortless, simple and functional outfits cause life is stressful enough!

Cheers to not being famous enough to draw out paparazzi who want to snap pictures of your every step, unapologetically and ruthlessly, whether you look cute or not!

Thank goodness sake for this amazing lightweight Mountain Buggy stroller and for museums that house ruins and classic paintings from ancient times!

Here is a little recap of my outfit and a vlog of the days events!

This post is a bit of a throwback because it was on January 16th of 2018! This day was extra special because it was my daughters official first birthday. We decided to celebrate it by taking her to the museum and have a little mini photoshoot but she was not having it because she was asleep the whole time! Thank God #amen lol regardless my husband and I really enjoyed it because there was a lot of things, a lot of history to experience once we were inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Its so big and beautiful, every corner is instagram worthy and it really takes your breath away once you step inside. I really don’t think there is another museum like it (or maybe one that I’ve yet to visit). So this is a throwback Thursday kind of post, I had completely forgotten about this day, which was buried under all the other pictures of random life shenanigans on my iPhone.

I hope you enjoy and maybe even brings a little smile to your face, like if you like and follow for more content. Let me know what you think of the video or the outfit below in the comments, until next time!

Darphin Revitalizing Oil x Honest Review

The dreaded day finally came when my new favorite Darphin Revitalizing Oil for Face, Hair and Body officially ran out…. #boohoo

I’ve been using the Darphin Revitalizing Oil throughout the year, more so during the fall and winter season because thats when my skin is prone to get extremely dry rather than the summer. I would wear this alone, as a replacement for a face moisturizer in the mornings since the texture of the oil wasn’t so thick and sticky.

The bottle is so cute because it is a small bottle with a gold-ish color tone which made my bathroom shelves look so luxurious and majestic as I lined it up with my other cute fragrance bottles. But the bottle alone wasn’t what attracted me, the oil itself felt lavish on the surface of skin as I would apply it after my morning routine, during the evening and on those occasions where I slept until the afternoon. It added a little bit of a shinny glow dew on the high points of my cheeks but not in a sweaty, out of the gym, kind of way. It smelled amazingly good, not fruity but neither did it have a powerful obnoxious fragrance scent and that made it much more pleasant to apply it frequently. It didn’t absorb into my skin too quickly which I’m not complaining about because from time to time when I would catch my reflection in the mirror, I noticed that beautiful highlight as the daylight caught the oil. I honestly could go on forever talking about the Darphin Revitalizing oil because it really made me feel guilt free about spoiling myself by taking extra care of my skin in one of the best ways available!

Since it is labeled as a multipurpose oil, when I looked up some of the benefits of this particular one, one recommendation was to apply it “generously” across stretch marks. Instantly, I became excited for the healing possibilities and all the ways the oil could aid in fading my tiger stripes. But once I gave it a go, quickly I realized that it wouldn’t be sustainable because the bottle only holds 50ml and it won’t be enough to cover a large area covered with stretch marks. Even if I did try, I’d probably run out before I started to notice any improvements. I would gladly go around smelling like the oil’s rich and beautiful aroma but for the price of 80$ for only 1.7 fluid ounces (50mL), its definitely a little luxury and splurge. The oils main purpose is to protect the skin against future moisture loss while leaving the skin silky and nourished. It also helps to prevent hair breakage and restoring brilliance by adding a luxurious healthy shine if its applied to the hair.

Thanks for checking out my post and please let me know if you’ve personally tried this product before. Until next time!

Maybelline Browprecise Mirco Pencil Deep Brown x Product Review

Lately, I feel like my eyebrows have been disappearing. Like… Where are they going? Who do they think they are and why am I not invited? lmfao

Anyways, all jokes aside (as if those two sentences even qualified as jokes) my eyebrow game has been a struggle ever since my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz retractable pencil ran out. I’ve been wanting to purchase a new one but being that I’m on a tight budget, splurging on a 21$ item is out of the picture… for now.

When I saw a Maybelline commercial (who says that anymore?) about the ‘new’ Maybelline Browprecise Mirco Pencil, I was curious to try it. Influenced enough to get up and get out of my apartment with my baby girl in tow, to my local Walgreens. Then there it was, hidden under a bunch of other similar looking Maybelline products packaged practically exactly the same from one another and I was completely… unimpressed.

The packaging was confusing because at first glance amongst the layers of cosmetic shelves in the drugstore, one would assume it was a simple brown eyeliner pencil. It really didn’t stand out very much from the other assortment of Maybelline products and sadly, I didn’t find another color other than Deep Brown or Brun Fonce (if you want to get fancy lol). The Browprecise Mirco Pencil is offered in other shades like Blonde, Soft Brown, and Auburn to compliment other complexions for 7.99$ but I was not finding it in my store. At the end of the day, what was leftover of the packaging and labels were thrown into the trash.

The pencil is a retractable, which is such a life and money saver because no one has time to sharpen makeup pencils these days after they become dull. Then if you apply even the slightest pressure, the tip might just go falling off because of the waxiness. The pencil tip features a 1.5mm micro ultra point that made it easy to create hair like strokes for natural looking brows! The formula didn’t feel too waxy because when I tried rubbing off a mistake with my finger, it took a few rubs to get it completely off. With a heavy hand, it can easily start looking more like a sharpie than a lovely brow pencil.

As soon as I finished applying light strokes through my eyebrows, I immediately noticed a difference in the fullness of my brows. This one step that was greatly missing before (referencing the picture below) really completed my overall makeup look of the day. I know, I sound like such a newbie, but for years I really didn’t know better. Although I heard it, I never applied it in real life during my makeup routines as often as I probably should have. What can I say, I’ve become a “woke” millennial lmfao.

I really loved using the new Maybelline Browprecise Mirco Pencil because it reminded me so much of the high end Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz retractable pencil but for much less! If your ever curious to try out something new or different, perhaps a natural brow for a casual day out or to do some grocery shopping, the Browprecise Micro Pencil might finish the job perfectly without spending precious minutes in front of your mirror.

my face after realizing I have ghostly brows! lol

Thank you so much for reading my post! Please let me know what your opinions are of the product in the comments below or if you have a personal go to favorite brow pencil! Until next time ❤️

ASOS Shopping Haul Video x Stress Management

Ugh.

I can’t even begin to express to you what I had to sacrifice in order to get this video edited and finished. Lots of dirty dishes pilled up, clutter pilled up like Mount Everest, a grumpy husband who had to be attentive to our baby girl and certain level of stress that equals that of a college term paper due the following morning that hasn’t even been started yet lmfao. yea, you know what feeling I’m talking about…

When I was officially done with the video below, I started the process of exporting it to the Youtube 1080p setting. I decided to stop exporting it because I felt like something was wrong since the time frame displayed on the progress window read “14 hours until file complete”. I kept thinking, “14 hours”, practically a whole day? that doesn’t make a lot of sense so I canceled the progress and as soon as I did, all my hard work had randomly disappeared…

I was shook, pissed, scared and annoyed!

How could my MacBook betray me like this (I kept on thinking to myself) and how is it possible that this amazingly expensive video editing tool program thing deleted my work without having any trace of the completed file stashed away somewhere in my files? could this be the work of the illuminati? whom everyone knows keeps an eye on everyone especially on minorities? anyways, I digress and yes, I’m completely exaggerating (and joking! nothing but jokes here, I’m a real comedian lmfao)

In all honesty, I’m proud of myself for magically scouting out all of the missing files that made up the video and finally getting it exported to upload! I still had to spend some more time re-editing some scenes, but it wasn’t as bad as having to re do the whole darn thing! I’ve been trying to get better at creating content more frequently for my Youtube channel. I’m really trying to build my video editing skills so I can confidently update my LinkedIn profile. Its just a little difficult managing motherhood whilst learning something from scratch.

Which leads me to say that learning to manage your stress and/or intense emotions is also a life skill that many sadly never pay enough attention to. Finding out what works, when suddenly your emotions get so out of hand that it causes you to simply react instead of stopping and thinking is so valuable. Blessed are you if you are one to recognize that as useful and admirable skill to possess. Here are some tips, if you find yourself getting out of control with yourself:

tell yourself its ok and that the moment will pass
step away, step away, step away… you dont want to say or do something that you will regret in the long run
vent to someone, tell someone what just happened and ,perhaps, they might help you sort through it with you.

I’ve listed just a few but by no means are these the only ones. Sometime in the near future, I’ll dive more into this topic in a full blog post. But for now, heres a video on my ASOS haul of knee high black boot shoes and ugly wedding dress options that didn’t look nice on me. Thanks for watching and let me know what you think of my editing skills below!

Morihata Binchotan Charcoal Facial Cleansing Mask x Skincare Product Review

If I’m being completely honest with you…

I’m a complete sucker for skincare: I L O V E IT | N E E D IT | I W A N T .. everything that’ll help my skin stay healthy and fresh!

I’m very careful with the amount of makeup I put on my face because I’m deathly afraid of damaging my skin. Since I’m still getting the hang of what products look good and work with my skin type compared to others, I’ve been very selective on what I purchase. I don’t know if its only me that feels this way but sometimes wearing too much makeup changes the biology of the surface of my skin. Then I feel like I need to try on other products to restore what was then lost… is it just me that feels this way? what do you think?

Recently (but not so recently) I rediscovered the Morihata Binchotan Activated Charcoal Cleansing Mask because it was stored away somewhere in my bathroom. I started to wonder where had I purchased this item from cause I don’t recall buying it. Neither do I want you to believe that this post is sponsored or an ad, nope, just a simple central American Latina Spanish mami blogger living in the big city who wants to share her opinions on this cleansing mask… so here we go!

As I squeezed some product onto my fingers, I was surprised to feel how watery and light-weight the texture felt between my fingers. The texture was not like my Soap & Glory Vitamin C Facial Wash which is thick and sticky. The charcoal cleansing mask has no fragrance or odd odor, no hints of natural or herbal ascents, which is great because sometimes fragrances in skincare can get very irritating to sniff. As I applied it throughout my face, it applied unevenly because of the watery texture. I kept on pumping more and more of the product out to get an evenly distributed layer to cover my entire face. It did get a little messy, which goes to show you how watery the product truly is and let me just warn you that it will definitely stain light colored sinks if it is not rinsed away.

As I was waiting the recommended 10-15 minutes until it was time to rinse off the product, at first it felt very cool on the surface of my skin. I did get a mild, tingly sensation as the product was hardening. It felt nice because once the mask become stiff, it was warm. As soon as I rinsed my face with lukewarm water, my face felt completely rejuvenated and there is possibly no words to describe that feeling unless you’ve personally experienced it. My face felt tightened and even a little brighter while my pores looked smaller. Since I had to rinse off the excess, I didn’t get a chance to analyze if there were any blackheads or white heads removed which would have been nice to see (yet completely gross yet sort of satisfying… you feel me? lol) I really enjoyed the experience and I’m planning to continue using it at least once a week to get the full benefits! Some of the benefits of activate charcoal are;

drawing out bacteria, poisons, chemicals, dirt and other micro-particles from the surface of the skin
helping to achieve flawless complexion
fighting acne
known to absorb thousands of times it own mass in harmful substance

Charcoal is seemingly everywhere, especially in products for your skin. If you scan the shelves of any drugstore, you might find a few products with charcoal printed boldly on the packaging as its main ingredient. Although the packaging for the Morihata Binchotan Activated Charcoal Cleansing Mask is very unimpressive with its plain cardboard like packaging and white labels, the product is well worth the splurge because of the novelty in the ‘activate charcoal’ ingredient. Binchotan charcoal is regarded as the purest and most effective type of activated charcoal deriving from the ancient kilns of Japan. And if your wondering ‘what the heck are ancient kilns of Japan?’ I’m right there with you friend because, essentially, they are ovens made from big rocks that were used during ancient times in Japan.

Thanks for reading along and let me know in the comments below if you’ve personally tried this product or something similar. Be sure to check out my previous blog post!

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Rent The Runway x Wedding Dress Shopping Experience

Now I know what your thinking, rent the runway? what is that? how is that possible and where can i get the hook up ? lol for those that don’t know what the website is about, think of it like the netflix of fashion, you get to rent out clothing for a fraction of the cost that it would have cost you to purchase it at full retail price. They have a bunch of different categories to choose from, like: street style, wedding, black tie, etc. From the moment I heard of them, i was very intrigued yet very skeptical since it kind of makes you wonder if they just keep reusing the same size of the same style over and over, customer by customer… but thats a story for another day.

I had forgot about them completely, until one day I had noticed a few cute and eye catching ads convienetly placed over the lights in a subway cart as I was riding back to my apartment. The ad spanned the whole train cart, end to end and each one had beautiful fashion illustrations (which i’m a complete sucker for since fashion school) and I promised myself that the next special occasion I had in my calendar, rent the runway would be my number one source for some beautiful designer fashion looks…

Hopes were running high as I ventured into the website in search for an inexpensive and glamorous, yet informal wedding dress. I loved the appearance of the website, albeit the promotions and pricing models were a bit confusing, from a new customers perspective. The website offered a section for “Occasions” and a subsection for ‘Wedding’ looks and styles already picked out helped a lot since the website hosts a lot of different looks. Generally, I enjoyed what I saw but all of my personal selections just fell a little short and I kept thinking that if this dress had a little more or maybe if it looked like this etc, I would be happy with it. It’s not that they didn’t have a good selection, it’s just that I wanted instagram glam, do you know what i mean?

Instagram glam consists of sparkles, shimmer and with a bit of sophistication with a touch of sexiness. I wanted something show stopping and memorable, although my budget wasn’t going to allow for much of either. I kept on justifying my irrational ness by telling myself that it’s for my special occasion, that I deserve something memorable cause it is my wedding! Yep, a bridezilla was being hatched and I’m not even having a grand elaborate ceremony.

Anyways, I was quiet surprised that they still carried Marchesa Note clothing and how sad that out of all the options, I was so quickly drawn to them because they were the most glamorous and feminine ones. Marchesa is the fashion brand owned by Harvey Weinsteins now ex-wife and well, need I explain the horrid details of this major Hollywood executive that fell from grace after multiple sexual misconduct accusations from hundreds of female movie stars.

Another disappointing factor was that not all of the clothing that you see “available” is truly available to be shipped to your address zone area code. At the very last minute, I realized that I might need to buy a nice outerwear coat to compliment my beautiful dress since its still freezing in NYC. I found myself with a lot less to choose from as soon as I typed my address area code simply because they didn’t offer certain styles to be shipped to these area codes… which is odd and instantly took out the fun of shopping for my wedding day. Now I couldn’t get the sophisticated white coat that I so had my eyes on.. well, what was a girl to do? (the picture below shows the one I wanted)

One really helpful factor was seeing the reviews of the dresses because some of the customers who ordered that dress posted up pictures of themselves in the dress. It was extremely helpful to see how the dress looked like on different body types and how the details of the design translated in real life.

All in all, I can justify shopping through rent the runway and could see myself trying out their new feature of Unlimited renting for a monthly fee to keep my closet option refreshed on a monthly basis. The main thing I was expecting, though, was more recognizable higher end designer brands like the Versaces, the Balencia or even streetwear favorites like Fear of God by Jerry Lorenzo. If that were the case, I’ll truly have a closet in the clouds like the ad campaigns slogan.

PS. thank you so much for checking out this post and viewing my blog site. For more daily updates, follow me on my instagram or my twitter

First Week of 2018 Thoughts & Resolutions

New Year’s Eve was small, cute and cheery. Our family stayed home since New York city has been experiencing some of the coldest temperatures in the city’s history and it didn’t help that we all had a bit of the whooping cough. So we stayed up until the ball dropped and even woke up our babygirl so she can feel the excitement of the new year since it is officially her first one.

For most of the New Year’s Eve day, I spend it planning, planning and more planning. I feel so much more confident overall and secure knowing that I’m not wasting my time because I have a better sense of what to anticipate next. I’ve grown to dislike spending time just pondering on what needs to be done next or wondering if I’m missing something. It such a annoying mental road block when your just sitting there confused about what to do with yourself or, on the other hand, when you have too many plans that it feels overwhelming. Unlike 2017, I’m planning on taking more control in all areas of my life throughout 2018. Here are some of my personal resolutions for 2018:

Don’t overwhelm yourself. To much too fast, halts creativity & that’s no bueno if your trying to create content.
Stop over eating! Portion control will be a waist saver or waist killer.
Go to the gym more! Cause you know your booty is not going to build itself and like Elle Woods said, “endorphins make you happy” lol
Patience will be your greatest gift to yourself and others. Embrace that shit! Lol
Learn to simplify things. Not everything needs more than a day to complete.
Grow a YouTube channel & learn what it means to add value to others.

I purposefully left my list short because each one can be broken down into smaller and more manageable tasks. I believe that resolutions should be goals that turn into habits. A skillful habit that will help guide you into your greater self.

I hope this post sparked some idea or thought that you’d like to further explore. Thanks for reading along and I hope you enjoy the pictures.