Wednesday, December 25, 2013

My One Year Anniversary! (DIY Gift Idea, New Hair, Exciting News, etc!)

On Monday, December 23, 2013 me and my boyfriend Christopher celebrated our first anniversary together :) So I thought it would be fun to share with you how we spent the day and give you some gift ideas in case you have an anniversary coming up!

We both had busy days with our families with it being the holidays. So we spent the night in and it was really nice.

This is Chris frosting the cookies we made. We were making cookies for my parents and his parents. This is what we spent the majority of the night doing. The cookies actually turned out pretty good and they tasted great! Like my Breaking Bad Cookie? BLUE METH CANDY CANE ;) I know. I'm way too obsessed.

Of course I had to make a minion cookie. We all know I love my minions!!! He is just too cute, I couldn't eat him!

We made reindeer cookies with Nilla Wafers, Red Hots, and Pretzels. This little guy is so cute.

Of course, I had to make an anniversary cookie. My family and nieces call me KiKi so Chris does too.

Before you start to think that I have a cute boyfriend who bakes with me.... take a look at his other creations.

My dad said "Don't you know it is Christmas?!"

My Grandma (not knowing what it was) said "It's cute!!"

He never fails to make me laugh.

I had a hard time finding something to get him for our anniversary! It was not easy thinking of something unique and thoughtful when I had already bought his Christmas presents. I decided to make him something to remind him of me while he is away at school (:

This is me working on the picture frame! I made him a frame that has song lyrics that remind me of him. It took me a few hours because I wanted to make sure I picked lyrics that were meaningful and songs that we both like and listen to together.

I used our favorite colors to write the lyrics on the border of the frame! :)

This is how it turned out! Some of the lyrics include

"Home is wherever I'm with you,"

"Love don't know what distance is."

"You are the other half, you're like a missing piece."

and may more!

I also got him a really cute Breaking Bad shirt with all of the characters because we watched the entire series together.

It was the last one left and it was in his size! I got it at Hot Topic but they are all sold out online now, so I couldn't leave you guys a link :(

I also got him a Breaking Bad car air freshener that says "Have an A1 day!"

I think the card shows that he knows me all too well.

But in case that wasn't enough he also made a minion out of

Legos. I love him.

He also got me this Rose Gold and Silver Promise Ring. It is an infinity sign or knot just like my tattoo :) It matches the bracelet he got me for our six month. I love it and I love him for getting it for me :) Thank you Christopher!

If you want to get to know us and see how we started dating you can click here and watch (one of our most popular videos) our new Boyfriend Tag video.

RANDOM

A lot of you know that this year we lost our Grandpa. With it being Christmas and it being our first without him we just wanted to share with you something we made to remember him. Our Grandpa loved birds so we got an ornament with one on it and wrote "Grandpa, Always in our Hearts."

We miss you Grandpa and we hope you had a wonderful first Christmas in Heaven. We love you<3

I finally masted the halo braid! Let us know if you would like a tutorial for this on our YouTube channel!

I got my hair done! It is now a dark brown color that initially looks black. No more ombre hair! I like it but I think I might do something different with it next time. Let me know what you guys think!

Our mom is an event planner and her ad is now in Bride magazine! Make sure you guys pick it up and take a look. She does beautiful weddings and other events! So all you Michiganders check it out!

OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL IS NOW AT 567 SUBSCRIBERS! We are a new channel that has only been up for two months but we have had so much amazing support. We would love to hit 600 subscribers by the end of the year. We will be doing our 500 subscriber giveaway once we reach 600 because you guys deserve another giveaway and we are so close we figured we will just wait a bit. We also have some really exciting news about a partnership we have been offered and we will let you know more about that once it is official! Thanks again for all of your support and we hope you and your family had a happy holiday season and a very Merry Christmas. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog on "What We Got For Christmas 2013!"

NEW VIDEO ALERT!

Check out our newest video! Just uploaded!

Some of the products Jessica used up in 2013. Click here!

Our most popular video of the moment!

Check it out here!

Check out our holiday inspired makeup look! Click here!

Holiday Haul!

Check it out here!

You guys asked and we answered! We vlogged our whole lives for a week.

Check out our video! Vlogmas! Week One!

Want to see what is on our Christmas lists?! Check out our new video! Click here!

Our November Favorites and Giveaway Winners! Also some pretty hilarious bloopers :)

Check it out here!

Black Friday Haul! Watch it on our channel!

Jessica's Palette Collection is up on our channel!

Watch me do my boyfriend's makeup in "I Do My Boyfriend's Makeup Tag!" To watch it on our channel click here!

Watch Jessica's shopping haul. She went to Ulta, Target, Charming Charlie and more.

To watch it on our channel click here

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

My Acne Story and Skincare Routine.

^ That is an attractive face :/ haha! Click the video for the blog into to hear a little about my acne story and see my face without ANY makeup.

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Did you watch it? Okay, then you are up to speed. So lets get started!

So I started getting acne in Middle School. I was about 14 years old. Usually, acne starts with puberty but it happened to me several years before that. Lucky me, right? My three sisters have really clear skin and I have never really seen them with pimples or acne but for some reason I have it! It is frustrating but it is easy for me to control now and it doesn't bother me for the most part. I have tried pretty much everything to clear my skin so I will share with you what worked and what didn't!

I have tired pretty much every drugstore cleanser from Biore to Clearasil. But I thought I would share the more expensive brands I have used with you so you don't waste your money on these products! The first acne clearing system I tried was by the brand AcneFree. I bought this kit at Walmart for about $28. At the time I thought, $28 to clear my acne? Sold!

Sadly, this product did not work for me. It comes with three different cleansers and it was just too much for me to keep up with. I used the entire system until it was gone and just did not see a significant change in my skin. So then I decided it was time to try something new. So I chose to spend a little bit more money thinking it would have a bigger pay off. I bought the Boscia Clear Complexion kit at Sephora. This was around $40-$50. The cashier swore by this stuff and told me I could even return it if I didn't like it. This one came with five different products but they were all very small. I found that I had used most of it up within weeks. I hated the smell of it and it was just not a great fit for my skin. Remembering what the cashier had told me, I returned it weeks later and got my money back. Now, everyone has heard about Proactiv from all of their celebrity endorsements. I don't think any of them even used this product by the way. I bought this at a local mall for $79.99. This is a four part system and the bottles were a good size. I did enjoy the toner and the refining mask but other than that Proactiv fell short for me. I returned this after a month (I had a 60 day money back guarantee). Now I am not at all saying that these products 100% absolutely won't work for you but they did not work for my skin. One thing to take away from my failed products is to always get a guarantee and know your return policy. I saved over $100 that way!

I decided to go get a facial when I was about 17 because I thought it would help clear up my skin. I spent about $50 on this facial. It was relaxing and made my skin soft, but it did nothing in the way of clearing my skin. Actually, the woman who gave me my facial suggested Proactiv (what good that did). So finally I asked my mom to take me back to the Dermatologist. I had been there once before when I was fifteen. This time I went by myself and was prescribed a medication to clear up my skin.

Now this might of actually worked had I kept taking it daily. I hated how dry this particular medicine made my skin feel. It become so dry and flaky I couldn't even wear makeup. I just didn't even want to go in public. So I refused to take it. Finally, everything changed when I had heard that taking birth control could clear up your skin. So I went to the Gynecologist and told her I wanted to start taking it for the sole purpose of clearing my skin. She recommended it and said it could really help my skin. It did! It started to clear up my skin within a month and really kept it clear for the last two years. The dosage of estrogen was a bit too much for my stomach so I was just prescribed a lower estrogen dose. So that is why my skin is going crazy right now! Once I start taking it again and let it get into my system my skin should clear right up!

These are the products I use to clean my face and body in the morning and at night! I love these cleansers by Neutrogena. The first is my Oil-Free Acne Wash that was recommended by my dermatologist. I love this because it smells good and leaves my skin feeling fresh. The next is the Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub. I still have blackheads on my nose because my birth control hasn't seemed to help that. This scrub is exfoliating and has reduced the amount of blackheads I do have. I use their Body Clear Body Spray when I leave the gym. I still have some acne on my back and chest that can be really annoying! But this and my Body Clear Body Wash have significantly cleared this up! I just want to say this is all my opinion and I was not paid to advertise for this brand. Although, clearly I should be. Call me Neutrogena ;)

I also like some other brands though. I have used Clearasil Daily Pore cleansing pads for years and I always repurchase them They have several different formulas and kinds. I always like trying the new ones. These are great for getting the makeup that you missed with your remover off your face and BONUS they help clear your skin. Now my favorite face product is the Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer. This is a lotion that is safe to put on your face, chest, and back. I love this because I can put this on my face and see a drastic difference in my skin when I wake up. My sister uses this as well. It is so gentle yet works so well! I mentioned this in our October Favorites video.

It took me while to find the right products for my skin because I did not know my skin type.

Now I know that I have combination skin. These are from WebMD. Check them out and get to know your skin! This will help you greatly when finding the right acne treatment.