Holiday hair + twist back sweater

We are officially two weeks away from Christmas. Eeeek! I need to get my crap together! We are doing Christmas with his family early this Friday because his brother and his fiancé will be in town for the weekend. That moves up the deadline for gifts a bit! Outside of that, we had our department holiday get together last week and our party for the Pilates studio is on the 21st! Needless to say, I'm fully in holiday mode whether I'm ready for it or not!

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Matching hairstyles to earrings

Over the weekend, I was wanting to put together a post full of my different hairstyles and earring combinations. It's not rocket science, but there is definitely intention behind what hairstyle I choose for the outfit and then what earrings I choose to complement my do! I thought it would be helpful to explain the method behind my madness! So, no, you're not seeing things! I'm actually posting on a Tuesday, just because I felt like it! 

If you missed my hair series last year, I shared a handful of tutorials for my basic day-to-day hairstyles. The dirtiness of my hair is definitely the first factor in deciding how I want to style my hair for the day. The next factor, naturally, is my outfit. I'll talk through these points with each of the outfits below.

Original post here

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The Beachwaver: How it works

The Beachwaver

Other products referenced: Teasing Brush (mine came from my salon, this is similar) | Dry Shampoo: Herbal Essences | Alligator clips: Sephora | Hairspray: TRESemme

I first mentioned the Beachwaver in my post about the Maplewood Beauty Bar. Amanda used it on my hair for my blow out and I was convinced I needed one of my own! Can anyone really have too many curling irons? This one is special though. 

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Maplewood Beauty Bar

Maplewood Beauty Bar Salon Website | Instagram

My local insta-blogger friend Jennie has a bestie who owns a salon. (Did you follow all that?) I've gotten a chance to meet Jennie in real life a couple of times, and she is the cutest! And sweetest! Her friend Amanda just opened her own salon on June 1st! She invited me to come visit for a complimentary blow out! Let's see... it was my birthday week, I had a 4 day weekend, and I've never had a blow out before, so yes, yes, and more yes!

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Easy top knot + Beach/Pool Day Survival

So I am ending a series and starting a new series all in the same post! That may or may not be bad planning on my part, if I'm being honest. For some reason I was thinking I had 5 Tuesdays in July to work with, but since there were only four, that leaves this last post on the first Tuesday of August! It all kind of works out though because the last hair style of my series is the top knot, which subsequently is always the best for a beach/pool day! Let's get started with the tutorial first.

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Hair series: Braid to waves

I'm back for week four of my hair series where I have been sharing my most worn hairstyles for real life, everyday stuff. Today you'll be seeing how I can cheat the system a bit by only spot curling my hair in the morning while still having an overall wavy look.

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Hair series: the half up poof

I'm back for week three of my hair series where I'll be sharing my most worn hairstyles for real life, everyday stuff. Today you'll be seeing what you can consider my "day 3 hair" or more simply, "the half up poof."

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Hair series: My day 2 hair

I'm back for week two of my hair series where I'll be sharing my most worn hairstyles for real life, everyday stuff. If you missed week one, you can get yourself caught up here. 

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Hair series: My day 1 hair

I always get comments about how readers appreciate the fact that I change up my hairstyles on a daily basis. It becomes very apparent especially when I share weekly roundup photos. I've been wanting to put together tutorial videos so you all can see how quick and easy it is for me to style my hair, and I'm happy to say that I've *finally* took the plunge to start this hair series. Every Tuesday for the next 5 weeks, I will be sharing hair videos of my most frequently worn hairstyles. Changing up my hair isn't just for the purposes of completing an outfit, it's mainly my way of pushing my hair to last up to 5 days between washings. Today, I shall start with day 1!

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Manic Monday: Curling Wand Tutorial

I really don't know why I'm even bothering with an outfit today, I feel like you all are going to skip to the end anyway! But you know I can't NOT post what I'm wearing :) Plus I figure I still need to entertain those of you who have already mastered the curling wand, or just have no interest in it one way or the other! Regardless of why you are still reading this - thank you, and happy Manic Monday!

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Moto sequins and side-swept do

Earrings: (old) | Jacket: Express | Necklace: Express | Dress: Express (similar) | Tights: Target (option) | Boots: Vince Camuto (similar but limited sizes here)

My week off is so close I can smell it! Just one more work day to endure, but for the most part, all my big deadlines have been met for the year, so it's just a little bit of blocking and tackling until the new year! I managed to pull out another sequined piece today! What's really, really sad is that one of the very first posts I wrote about was my obsession with Express' striped dresses - see here. At the very end of the post, I mention this exact sequin dress and that it had not been worn yet. That was almost a year ago, and admittedly, today was the first time I've worn it. Yes, I know. I'm a new clothes hoarder. And I guess this is the week where I'm removing those price tags since I took my other dress out on its maiden voyage yesterday. To be honest, the reason why I hadn't worn this one is because I remembered it being a little more snug than the regular dresses fit me. I know I've gained weight over the year, so I truly expected to look like a sausage in this today, especially wearing tights. But much to my relief delight, it fit just fine. So maybe I was crazy back then, or extra bloated when I originally tried it on? I dunno. But this dress is just as awesome as all the others. After wearing heels all week, I was looking forward to cozy-ing up in flat riding boots today.

OK, so now my hair! If you saw my Instagram photo, you saw that I was experimenting with this side-swept do. I've always loved this look and have tried to re-create it on my own, but it's always fallen apart. Well, Katie over at Style Diary recently styled her hair like this and included a link to this video. So easy!

I need to work on concealing the bobby pins a little bit better - looking at the back of my head in the mirror, I could not see them at all, but I can see them in this pic. I suspect it will get even easier over time, but even just as it is today, I just love it! I also tried dry shampoo for the first time EVER today. This one here to be exact. It felt great, but the true test will be when I leave my hair down for second day hair. We shall see! Do you have a favorite dry shampoo?

Hope today is your last day, too, before a few days off!

Linking up with Vicki, Christina, Lauren, Sherry, Allison

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What's your number?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

My number is 41. 

This is the exact number of beauty products and tools that I touch every morning when I get ready. Which is kind of amazing (or excessive) if you think about it, because looking at my head shots, it's not even that I wear tons of makeup. (You can get details of my makeup regime here.) I thought it would be interesting (for me, I don't know about you!) to go through this exercise. So, shall we? This is in sequential order.

1. Toothbrush. Does this count? Since I brush my teeth in the shower (yeah, I know that's weird), I will list it.

2. Toothpaste. Can't have 1 without 2! I always always use Aqua Fresh. I just feel like it gets the foamiest.

3. Shampoo. I've tried so many fancy brands, I always end up coming back to Pantene. 

4. Conditioner. The big pump bottles are the best.

5. Body Wash. Philosophy Amazing Grace. Love the way it smells. Reminds me of a good friend. :)

6. Body sponge. I usually just use my hands for the body wash, but when I decide to exfoliate, I use the sponge. Natural ones like these are the best.

7. Razor. I love that this thing comes with the trimmer. Best. Invention. Ever. 

8. Facewash. Such a basic cleanser, which goes perfect with…

9. Clarisonic Mia. I can't live without this thing.

10. Hair towel. Regular towels never stay put.

11. Terry cover up - similar to this, but not really a wrap. I love that this has straps. Some of the true wraps still don't stay up for me even with a velcro or button closure. The straps help me move around carefree.

12. Contact solution. I've worn glasses since 4th grade and didn't switch to contacts until I was a senior in high school!

13. Lotion. I get ridiculously scaly in the winter. It's gross. I've tried medicated lotions. St. Ives is cheap, non medicated, non greasy, but super effective.

14. Leave in conditioner. I've just started using this. I never used to put product in my hair before styling. But my stylist does. And my hair always looks great. So I figured, perhaps I should start doing this regularly.

15. Oil. Helps with split ends. I also find that it helps with frizz.

16. Beauty blender. I literally just converted to this over the weekend. I was using sponges before, but some girls on my style and beauty forum were making me self conscious that I was wasting product.

17. Moisturizer with SPF. I've been using this for a few years now. It's perfect.

18. Eye cream. I only use this in the winter. My eyelids get strangely dry if I do not.

19. Liquid foundation. Goes on smooth like butta, and the color is a great match to my skin.

20. Eye primer. If I forget to put this on, I can pretty much just count on my makeup instantly disappearing.

21. Eye Makeup brushes. I will count this as one since it came as a set.

22. Eye shadow. Right now I'm alternating between a MAC palette and Urban Decay Naked Basics.

23. Eyebrow brush. Love these short, hard, bristles.

24. Brow powder. This is really just black eye shadow, but it does the job.

25. Liquid liner. This liner in combo with my primer makes my eyes look freshly lined all day. Seriously. ALL day.

26. Eyelash curler. Doesn't pull any hair. I bought a backup one in case this one dies.

27. Mascara. I prefer the smaller brushes to define every single lash better. 

28. Blush (in peachtwist). If I had zero time to get ready, I could live with just liner, mascara, and blush only.

29. Pressed powder. Just a little on my nose and forehead for shine.

30. Blowdryer. Nothing fancy.

31. Comb. Just a basic one to detangle after blowdrying.

32. Teasing brush. This has changed my life. I got it at my salon. I don't use it everyday, but I do use it for all updos, or even when my hair is just pinned to the side. Oh, and if you want to learn how I do my bun, you can find that here.

33a. Curling iron. My hair is naturally straight. You can see a quick way I curl my hair here.

33b. Flat iron. I love the slim profile of this one.

34. Hairspray #1. Even the strongest Tresemme hold is soft. I really just use this as more of a styling spray and to help with flyaways. Plus I love the way it smells.

35. Hairspray #2. This is my finishing spray.

36a. Smoothing cream. I use this on flat ironed hair.

36b. Sea salt spray. I use this for updos.

37. Deodorant. Keeps me dry!

38. Body splash. Actual perfumes give me migraines. This is the only scent that I can't actually "smell" when it's on me.

39. Lip"glass" in Russian Red. A little goes a long way! I dab a couple of dots on my lips and blend.

40. Lip gloss. I use this as a top layer. I only use the red first thing in the morning. When I have to reapply throughout the day, I only end up reapplying this.

41. Carmex cherry lip balm! I can't go anywhere without this. I have lip balm in my purse, on my desk at work. On my side table as I right this. I start panicking if I don't have close access to this somewhere!

That seems like a ridiculous amount of products, and I didn't even count Q-tips, hair ties, or bobby pins. To be honest, I'm probably on the lower end compared to most people. It takes me a solid hour to get ready. If I have my outfit pre-planned, I could possibly do it in 45. 30 minutes if I am not showering and only throwing my hair up into a bun. Have you ever taken inventory of everything you touch to get ready in the morning? Start counting next time and come back to tell me what your number is!

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