How I wash my makeup brushes

There comes a point where your makeup brushes just feel gross and they need a good bath. I wash my brushes several ways; both great and effective but it just depends what I have on hand and the circumstance. 

When brushes are dry & dirty: 

- 2 part Dawn Dish Detergent 

- 1 part Olice Oil

When brushes are close to nasty:  

- 2 part Dawn Dish Detergent 

- 1 part Elf Brush Shampoo 

I typically wet my brush with water (always holding the brush down, in the same direction of water flow), then swirl in my cleaning solution, and then go back under the faucet and swirl the brush on the palm of my hand until the water runs clear. Some brushes are thicker or more absorbent and I use a paper towel to squeeze out the water I feel like won't dry on its own. I leave them to dry for 12-24 hours and they're almost as good as new! How do you wash your makeup brushes?

Sincerely, Erin

Songs that are actually worth listening to

I'm very picky when it comes to my music. And everytime I see a blogger's favorite songs playlist I think I'm gonna find something new that I haven't been introduced to before, and I'm always wrong. It's always like the Top 20 that they play on the radio and I'm a bit disappointed. And most of the time I skip the song after the first minute even if I really like it. But here's some songs that I just really, really love and absolutely recommend! 

1. I Don't Wanna Break by Christina Perri

2. Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean 

3. Blinding Life by Luke Sital-Singh

4. One Grain of Sand by Ron Pope

5. Brother by NEEDTOBREATHE ft. Gavin Degraw 

6. Explosions by Ellie Goulding 

7. From Eden by Hozier 

8. Paper Doll by John Mayer 

9. Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran 

Sincerely, Erin

Taking college courses in high school

I don't know how many high schools offer college courses for college credits, but if your school does and you can afford it, I highly suggest it. 

PROS: 

1. Typically the classes they offer are A LOT cheaper than if you went to a university to take that same class.

2. The classes I've taken have all been taught on campus at my high school, and 2/3 of the teachers either were high school teachers or still are; which definitely made it a lot easier on me. They were used to the way high school students operated and they weren't as hard on us as they'd be on a college campus. 

3. At my school, it's possible to graduate with 24+ college credit hours. That's a whole 2 semesters that you've already got under your belt. 

TIPS: 

- Don't procrastinate - 

This is pretty obvious but it helps a lot. Just getting things done the day they're assigned makes it so much easier on yourself instead of waiting till the last minute. 

- Buy a planner - 

Writing your assignments down and when they're due gives you an idea of what you have to get done and which projects take priority over the others. You can establish which things will take longer and have more depth and compare them to their due dates. Plus buying stationary is just really fun. 

- Become friends with your professor - 

I'm not saying text them all the time and meet for lunch, but keep contact with them over email about upcoming papers and assignments. Try and make yourself comfortable with them so that if you have a problem, you already kinda know them on a one on one level. 

- Learn to take notes - 

Note taking is an art and I'm obsessed with it. Lists, bullet points, post-it notes, highlighters, and summaries make the world go round. The biggest tip for taking notes is to only write the important stuff; the names, dates and events. 

- Be aware of what's expected of you -

Professors aren't like teachers. They have their own code for their class and each professor is different. Usually on the first day you get a syllabus, in high school they really didn't matter. But in college, your syllabus is your Bible. It holds all the odds and ends you need to know, if you have a question, resort to the syllabus first. 

This may have been a bit self-explanatory, and if I had read this somewhere that's exactly what I would have said. But this is really all it takes to be successful in a college course, or even a high school class. Hopefully this helped someone out a bit! Thanks for reading!

P.S. Here are some Ryan Gosling memes to help you stay motivated while studying and such. You're welcome. 

Sincerely, Erin 

March madness

Although I may not be a busy Betty with an extra stressful life; anytime I have anything even semi big coming up, I become an anxious mess. I'm the first to say that I don't do well under pressure and I never bite off more than I can chew if I don't have to. But with that being said, I do have a semi busy Betty month and a half ahead of me. Which means planning the heck out of the next 45 days (which won't actually happen bc I'm a procrastinator but it makes me feel better  to think I've tried). 

So a few weeks ago, my parents sprung on my sister and I that we're going to Disney for spring break! Not only Disney (if that weren't enough) but Universal Studios, thus (yeah I'm getting there) HARRY POTTER WORLD; excuse my fangirling but I'm more or less obsessed with the books and movies.

But Orlando is kind of in Florida which kind of means we're also going to the beach, which kind of means I'm absolutely not bikini ready. Weight has always been something I've struggled with and once again, less than a month out from vacay and I've yet to even come close to an ideal weight. 

The main staple, and less exciting event of this month, will be trying to lose as much weight as possible before I step foot on FL soil. Eating healthy will be the death of me. But I can't disappoint myself again. OH. And not only am I working toward an ideal bod for the  beach but on April 11, I'll be attending prom in the most breathtaking dress I've ever seen (in person at least). My dress fits and that's all fine but I'd love to really feel comfortable in my own skin on prom night. For the amount of pounds I wanna shed, I'm really gonna need to hit it hard; which is something I've obviously never accomplished or I wouldn't be here right now. 

Along with what I've said above, my junior year of high school has proved to be the hardest year yet. From school work to relationships and friendships, 11th grade has really taken a toll on me. I'm hoping that maybe planning everything out will give me at least a little control of all of the craziness. 

I realize this post has been very about myself, and possibly very boring to some people who live far more extravagant lives than I do. But I'm really laid back and I get squirly over the smallest thing, so I couldn't help but share. 

Thank you so much for reading! 

Sincerely, Erin 

Bubble Bath Ritual

For the past week Ashland, KY has been snowed in; leaving all schools in our area closed. Giving me loads of free time while being cooped up in the house. So for the last week I've lived a no makeup, natural hair, all day PJ's, Netflix enthusiast kind of lifestyle. But after sitting in one place, and doing a whole bunch of nothing gets boring, I take on something actually productive: a bubble bath. 

First off, I run about half a bath full of steaming-hot, hot tub type of water. After I get in the tub, I'll pop in a bath bomb, this time I used Butter Bear by LUSH. And once the fizz has completely dissolved into creamy heaven, I'll add a few dollops of The Body Shop's Honey Bubble Melt. When I get in the bath, my makeups normally off so I just go ahead with an Aveeno Positively Radiant Cleansing Pad. These pads are great for the bath because they're easy but effective to help you feel clean. To channel my inner tween I used one of those generic face mask packets from Walmart; the one I just used was a coconut moisturizing mask. After letting my mask harden and rinsing it off I'm done with my bath. As soon as I get out of the tub I'll moisturizer with some sort of lotion, I'm currently using Forever Midnight Lotion by Bath and Body Works. I'm not one of those people who wash their hair in the bath tub, it's just gross to me. So I'll just put my head over the edge of the tub and wash it under the faucet. After shampooing & conditioning I'll put in some sort of leave-in spray; I'm running out of my That's a 10 spray so I used Tresemme Keratin Smooth Serum. Honestly I've found that it can be super heavy on the ends of my hair but with a light hand it's not too bad. 

But that's it! Pretty simple and straight forward but it's a system that seems to work well for me. Comment with your bath time favorites! 

Sincerely, Erin 

Story time & belated resolutions

  2014 was almost a predictable, average year. Until about October-November when my life started turning upside down. The constants of my world weren't so constant anymore. I had lost one of the most precious people in my life. A complete culture-shock awaited me, with no signs of going back. 

  My boyfriend and I of almost 3 years had yuckily broken up. I was always one of those girls who thought it was really pathetic when other people acted so dramatic and desperate over a relationship; but now that was me. I was the girl who was heart broken and miserable like never before. 

  But without my boyfriend, I turned to some of my friends that I may have neglected during the time I was in my relationship. We became so incredibly close. Even though I was in terrible pain, they were right there to see me through it. 

  A few months later, my ex and I patched things up and we began talking again, which turned into hanging out again, which turned into dating once again. Things still aren't the same and may never really be in the sense that we once knew. But there's a chance we could grow to become better than ever before. 

  After the obvious problems the breakup first caused me, I realized all the beautiful things that had blossomed from such an awful situation. My friends and I were closer than I'd ever thought possible, even new friendships had grown.             

  I learned more in the past few months than I had maybe in my whole life. One of them being: when people say "something good will come out of this", they're telling the truth. It's a completely true statement that I realize now.  

  Last new year, I couldn't imagine the person I am today; and doing the things I've done thoughtout the year, with the people I have, and all that's happened to me. Then I wouldn't believe the fact that I've gotten through it all, that I've overcome the obstacles. So, I'm inspired to truly make resolutions and stick to them, because there's no telling what all can happen in one year. 

Forgive and forget 

Just because you've "moved on" from the original problem, doesn't mean you've completely forgotten the things people have done to you. But carrying that baggage doesn't hurt anyone but yourself, and this year I'll be trying to let it all go. 

Live for today

Be courageous, and daring in your decisions as well as your attitude. Focus on making the moment instead of looking forward. 

Be healthy in all forms of the word

I've never been a fit type of person, ever. It's in my blood to eat the whole pizza, or all of the cupcakes on the table. And I've always hated my weight and the way I feel after constantly over-indulging. As well as being healthy looking, I wanna be a healthy person all around. I wanna live a long and happy life, and I don't want my habits to get in the way. Andddd, I wanna have a healthy outlook on life; a positive person with goals and aspirations that I'm willing to work for.

Come back to Jesus

My relationship with God has slowly been slipping away and I'm so ready for it to return. I'm going to start doing devotions and praying not only with my problems but with my praise towards Him. 

Have a happy YEAR! 

Sincerely, Erin 

For a girl who doesn't cry

Today we're getting a bit more personal. But don't worry this won't be a rant post I promise. Two weeks ago was the first time I had actually cried in school, and that's the weirdest thing in the world for me. I'm not emotional about a lot of things, especially in front of people that I don't exactly bond with to say the least. Some things were happening in my relationship that threw me into a T-TOTAL wreck. And I thought, well I'm never gonna let that happen again. I felt completely exposed.

Today in first period, that rule about no more crying at school went out the window. For about the same reason as before, I was a bawling mess before 8:45 AM. And it wasn't soft tears, it was like a I can feel my stomach jiggling waterfall. I stayed emotionally unstable the whole entire day long. 

Like I literally turned on Say Yes to the Dress and it was the worst mistake. I had to turn it off. 

Regardless of how on display and vulnerable I felt, after the fact I realized that it was okay. Sometimes you just have to cry. I think I've never cried all that much because it felt more safe to hold it in until you explode. Now I'm not going to that that anymore, of course I'm not gonna tear up everytime I hear wedding bells but I gonna let myself let it go. And you should do the same, I'm sure you've been strong way too long too.

Xoxo

Sincerely, Erin