Skin So Soft: Beauty Secrets For Your Face

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We have learned that you can buy as much concealer, face powder, and blush, but nothing makes your face shine more than healthy skin. Your face is the palette for your makeup; it's important for your palette to be clean and smooth to be ready to apply the paint. Are you with us?! In the past, we have talked about getting chemical peels to aid in keeping your skin looking great. However, let's take it one step further and focus on every day skin care. First and foremost, washing your face at night is super important! Even if you don't wear makeup or you think "I didn't do anything to make my face dirty" you should still wash your face. By not washing your face you are clogging your pores which can create pimples and blemishes as well as speed up aging on your face. When considering a product to wash your face with we have had a lot of luck with the two in one bottle face soaps. Basically, these types of products both remove your makeup and serve as a cleanser. The best one we would recommend is Basis. You can buy it in most stores like Walmart or you can find it online. While Basis does a pretty awesome job removing eye makeup, consider specifically using Mary Kay's Eye Makeup Remover.

Extra Face Washing Tips: It's perfectly fine to wash your face with your hands; just make sure to wash your hands prior to touching your face to get rid of the germs currently on your hand. If you are absolutely too tired to wash your face, consider investing in makeup remover wipes. We have loved using Neutrogena and Clean & Clear carry some great makeup remover wipes which you can easily snag at most drugstores and Target.

Alright, so you've washed your face, now it's time to moisturize it. Moisturizers rejuvenate your skin. Many companies carry moisturizing creams and we haven't tried them all. But, we do have a list of our personal favorites like MAC's Comfort Creme. Keep in mind that it's not the end of the world if you don't moisturize every day; you don't need to overdue it. Consider moisturizing in the morning or at night or every other day.

Do you have any beauty secrets for your face? Share with us below in the comments!

Thanksgiving Dresses Under $100 From Nordstrom

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Can you tell we have a thing for Nordstrom? While we were taking advantage of Nordstrom's awesome sale {which ends TODAY, 11-11-14!} we decided to do some shopping for Thanksgiving attire. It's all about the dresses that can hide the turkey size stomach you're going to have after you eat everything on the table on Thanksgiving! We want to sit fashionably at the table while we experience food coma {haha!}. Check out some of our favorite dresses from Nordstrom above. Keep in mind, online orders have free shipping and be sure to order ahead of time in case you need to make a return or exchange--Nordstrom is pretty generous about returns and exchanges!

10 Free {Tiny Prints} Holiday Cards

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So we pretty much use Tiny Prints to announce just about every special occasion. There is absolutely nothing more personal than fun, personalized cards. Tiny Prints have so many awesome designs to choose from that we are never disappointed. As far as we are concerned, the holidays are already here! We really need to crack down on ordering holiday cards that we stumbled across an awesome Tiny Prints deal going on THIS WEEK that we wanted to share with you! So here's the skinny: Enjoy ten (10) free Holiday cards using the code 10FREECARDS at checkout. This offer expires on 11/12/2014 (11:59 P.M. PT). Simply click here and get to holiday card shopping!

Stuffed Acorn Squash from South Fork & Spoon + Ango

Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here so we wanted to start collecting some recipes to make this Thanksgiving's dinner one for the books. We are at the age where we can no longer hide from the kitchen; it's our turn to contribute with a delicious dish! South Fork & Spoon + Ango shared with us a dish that is sure to make some mouths water: Stuffed Acorn Squash. One of the key ingredients for this meal is grapeseed oil which we have been hearing a lot about as it is apparently better to use than olive oil. Find the Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe below and share with us any of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes in the comments below. 

Stuffed Acorn Squash from South Fork & Spoon + Ango 
Yields: 8 servings
Ingredients
4 Acorn Squash, ideally 1-2 lbs each, halved lengthwise and seeds removed

5 teaspoons or more to taste, Salt

2 teaspoons, Ground Black Pepper

2 cups wild rice

3 oz Grapeseed oil

1 teaspoons fresh ground pepper

1 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (stems removed)

4 cups cleaned and rough chopped kale

2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

2 Tablespoons chiffonade ( cut like ribbons) mint leaves

Equipment

• Medium sized pot
• Fine meshed strainer
• Baking sheet
• Pepper mill
• Sauté pan
• Spatula
• Large Bowl

Directions

1) Pre heat the oven to 475 degrees

2) In the fine meshed strainer, place rice and run under cold water until clean.

3) In medium sized pot, add rice + 2 t of salt + 4 cups of cold water. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil on high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat until rice is simmering. Simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the water and is cooked. (Note: rice can be cooked up to two days in advance)

4) On baking sheet, place squash flesh side up and rub with 1 oz grapeseed oil + 2 t of salt + fresh ground pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until tender. Use a fork to test for tenderness.

5) In a separate sauté pan heat 1 oz grapeseed oil on medium-high heat. Add shiitake mushrooms + garlic + 1/2 t of salt and sauté until mushrooms are cooked but not browned. Remove from heat and place in large bowl.

6) In the same sauté pan used for the mushrooms, heat 1 oz of grapeseed oil on medium-high heat. Add kale + 1/2 t of salt and cook quickly using tongs or a spatula. Keep the kale moving so it doesn’t brown. Once wilted, remove and place in bowl with shiitake mushrooms.

7) In bowl, add cooked wild rice + sesame seeds and mix together.

8) Taste rice mixture and season accordingly

9) Fill the cooked squash halves with the rice mixture. Garnish with mint

Major Nordstrom Sale

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As if Black Friday won't be enough this month, Nordstrom has a pretty awesome sale from now until November 11th that we will be taking advantage of. It's no surprise how much love we have for Nordstrom. Last year we had our one year anniversary party at TOPSHOP! Virtually every category of stuff is on sale including select women's clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories. Select items are up to 40% off right now too--mad steal! A bonus is that this sale is being offered BOTH online and in person! Double bonus: Free shipping online. We cannot wait to get our hands on some Sam Edelman boots. A new Rebecca Minkoff handbag wouldn't hurt either! Co Founder, Sakura, just moved so she will be checking out their bedding on sale--she's seeing some super cute stuff so far. We have included some of our favorite items from the sale above so feel free to shop our favorites.

Most importantly: Shop, shop, shop till you drop!

Why You Should Vote!

It's Election Day! The day that we all make history by impacting how things should run. Our generation is so influential that we really could move mountains. When you think about the idea of voting, I'm sure many of you cringe. There has been this negative connotation surrounding voting and we want to break that. Your vote REALLY DOES count. Every vote leads us toward an outcome that impacts everyone around us. The question is, how can you be an educated voter? It's pretty simple. On a separate piece of paper, write down every single candidate and proposition to be voted on.  Make THREE columns for each that say "What They Say",  "What Others Say", "What I Think".  Go to their specific sites and view other collateral and write down what they are saying about themselves and what they can do for you. Then, write down what the opposition says about them. Finally, make your own conclusions. By doing this, you have carefully considered each candidate and can hopefully make an educated vote.  Be sure to follow all of the instructions on the ballot which include the proper color ink to fill in your choice and bringing your voting card if you're voting in person.

If you're a student, then consult with your government board or your counselor to figure out where you can vote on campus. Or, simply visit Get To the Polls for that info.

Happy Voting!

4 Makeup Artists To Follow On Instagram

Contouring, highlighting, glowing, "giving face". These are all amazing makeup tips we have learned from some of our favorite makeup artists (otherwise referred to as "MUA"). Instagram has always been our go-to when it comes to makeup trends and we often use it as a source to mirror some pretty amazing looks. We're sure all of you have that one Instagram page you check on the daily for beautiful makeup looks and inspiration and we do too. Check out our 4 "must-follow" makeup Instagram pages. Do you have a favorite Makeup Artist that we should check out on Instagram? Share with us in the comments!

1. Patrick Ta (@patrickta) #makeupbypatrickta
2. Angel Merino (@mac_daddyy)
3. Karen Sarahii (@iluvsarahii)
4. Haley Buckner (@haleybuckner)

Bonus: We are absolutely in love with the lip products from Dose of Colors (@doseofcolors). The lip products are vegan and cruelty free which is pretty awesome. The colors are rich, vibrant and super affordable. The colors are such a hot commodity that they get sold out quick, so that's why you've got to snag them quick. We especially love the Dose of Colors Instagram page because they often feature makeup artists and different people wearing their beautiful lip products. It gives us access to other makeup artists to follow while at the same time giving us an idea of how the Dose of Colors lip products look on different women---love, love, LOVE!