Hey you, every year, a magazine I like comes out with a list of “Best Beauty Buys.” This year, I read it with some astonishment:

$75.00 for a powdered bronzer? $70.00 for a stick concealer? Yikes.

Just who do they think can spend that much on a small single make-up item, I mean celebrities, yes, and their highly paid make-up artists who get most of this stuff for free from the companies to tout it.

I did find one new item in the list that I like, but overall, my list has way better buys, girl.

Here’s what I use on my face for Summer and all year round glow (I have sensitive skin, so all of these products are non-irritating to me.)

1.) Night Face Cream: I just started using CeraVe facial moisturizing lotion PM. It’s light, it feels good on my face and leaves my skin with a very nice, improved texture in the mornings. About $12.99.

If you just want a basic rich night cream that’s very moisturizing, I like Olay Age Defying Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream. I also use this under my eyes as an eye cream at night. About $13.99.

It’s one of the less expensive ones in the Olay line and it’s really lovely. I alternate these on different nights.

2.) For day, I always wear Olay complete sensitive skin SPF 30. About $12-14. I love it, it’s light reflective, flattering and perfect under make-up. I use it on my neck and chest, too. No one wants wrinkly cleavage.

When all my stores were out of this recently, I tried another brand:

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 30. This has a slight fragrance, if you’re sensitive to that, the Olay is unscented. $14.99.

I have to say though, while the Aveeno made me a little more shiny, it’s very pretty on my skin. I might switch.

3.) Next, I apply a large pea sized amount of my favorite, Laura Mercier Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer, SPF 20 in Natural Radiance. A light, glowy tan…

To die for, this has changed my life. It’s worth $40 and lasts me 2-3 months.

If you like more coverage, Aveeno Positively Ageless correcting tinted moisturizer, SPF 30 in light to medium provides a pretty flawless look. It’s a little too heavy for my face, but quite nice. $17.99.

4.) Under my eyes, I use elf under eye concealer and highlighter in Fair/Glow. Only $3! It’s as good as much more expensive brands.

I tried the $40 under eye brightener the magazine suggested at Sephora and it wasn’t better.

Almay Bright Eyes is also very good. Blend with a sponge, natch. And for my next trick…

5.) After the Laura M, I very lightly dust my face with a big brush, using only the gold side of the N.Y.C. Sun 2 Sun Bronzing powder. This is what I use instead of powder. About 5 dollars at Target! A bargain.

You can also use the big brush to lightly dust your neck and chest with it, so it matches your face and blends at the jawline.

6.) This is my other make-up crush: Bare Minerals Pure Radiance all over loose face color. It’s in a tiny container, but a little goes a long way. I dust this over my cheeks, forehead and nose and it is the bomb.

I get so many compliments and I think this product is a key reason. It’s about $19.00 and worth it.

 7.) Lastly, blush on the apples of your cheeks: I like pink and an amazing, super flattering and pretty bargain is NYC Color Wheel Mosaic Face Powder in Pink Cheek Glow. $5

For a lot of coverage from a concealer, like for zits or spots, the BEST one is Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage. I hardly use any, but it saves my life. Expensive at $30, but I only buy it once every 2-3 years.

If you get a sun spot, I like Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector. This is also something I only buy once every 2 years and pricey at $40- $50, but it’s a lot less than lasers would be.

If all the glow makes you a little too shiny for your taste, use a translucent powder and just lightly powder those spots. I use a little CoverGirl pressed powder for that.

These are my secret skin beauty weapons and now they can be yours. Shine on!

Love ya,

~ Heidi

P.S. This post was not sponsored by any of these companies, prices will vary, you can get these items at Target, Drugstore.com, Sephora, Bare Minerals and your local drugstore. Have fun. XOXO

Hey loves, I used to avoid avocado when I was trying to lose weight, because I so wrongly then thought it was fattening. Boy, was I way off, it’s a perfect, luscious diet food.

Here are some fascinating facts about what is now one of my favorite things in life, sooo good for your glowy Summer skin, and low carb to boot!

1.) An avocado is actually a fruit, an oily berry.

2.) Avocados are high in BOTH omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, the two most important ones, from what I hear. As you know, our bodies and brains need some damn healthy fats to function properly.

Omega 3 fatty acids are often missing in the average American/western diet, which can lead to crap health, in my scientific opinion, ha.

3.) There’s no cholesterol in avocados. Suck it, hatas.

4.) They’re full of fiber as well as low carb.

5.) Avocados are a complete protein.

They have “predigested protein.” That sounds gross, but it’s cool, man: The sun breaks the protein into easily digested amino acids while the avocados ripen in their happy fruity trees.

Avocado provides all 18 essential amino acids needed by the body to create a complete protein. Vegetarians and vegans, this is bliss.

6.) Avocados are full of the mineral magnesium, which is involved in over 300 metabolic functions of the body. A lot of people don’t get enough magnesium. Have you ever had leg cramps in bed? I read they can be caused by this. TMI?

7.) Some yummy real guacamole also helps give your body glutathione, the top anti-oxidant that helps the liver replenish all the other anti-oxidants. Sounds pretty important, because I’ve challenged my liver, dude.

8.) My plump green friends also have Vitamins A, B complex, K, E and Vitamin C, yo.

9.) Like olive oil, avocados boost levels of HDL (the “good” cholesterol). HDL cholesterol can help protect against the damage caused by free radicals. The shizz that causes cancer, no?

10.) This type of friendly cholesterol also helps regulate triglyceride levels, possibly preventing diabetes.

The combo of nutrients is also anti-inflammatory, which does everything from help prevent premature aging (wrinkles), prevent heart disease, etc., etc…

I’ll stop there, but basically, it’s a freakin’ wonder food.

A whole medium sized avocado has about 300 calories. I use about a third at a time, so maybe 100 calories or so, but sometimes I go crazy and eat a half or a whole one as a mini meal.

I add some low fat ranch dressing in the cup where the seed was, sometimes I sprinkle on Bac-Os on top of that and eat it straight out of the skin with a spoon!

Or I add just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh lemon juice.

Little known fact: Once the avos are just perfectly ripe, firm, but where you can indent your thumb easily into the skin, put them in the fridge. They last longer.

Another easy recipe: Avocado and your favorite salsa mixed together for no-work guacamole. I prefer a fresh salsa from the refrigerated section, but any kind is pretty awesome.

Or just avo, chopped onion, garlic and salt. Simple.

Your skin, heart, and mind will thank you for being so dang smart.

XOXO-

~ Heidi

You really can’t run faster than your shadow, it’s true. And in a double meaning, I believe we all have a “shadow side,” or a darker side, sadness and anger and negativity, sometimes- it’s only human. Rage, even. Sorrow.

If we try to shove it down and pretend it doesn’t exist, it can lead to depression or worse, I think. There’s an interesting new song from a singer named Alexander called “Truth.”

(The video is kind of intense on YouTube, he dresses sort of Jesus-y and there is blood involved, fair warning, but it’s a good song.)

Some of the lyrics go like this:

“The truth is that I never shook my shadow
Every day it’s trying to trick me into doing battle
Calling out “faker” only get me rattled…”

“Since this
I’ve grown up some
Different kind of fighter
And when the darkness come let it inside you
Your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining
Have faith in myself
Truth.”

I cry. I cry it out. Sob, even. Punch the air when I work out. There are a lot of reasons to be angry in this world. But so many more reasons to be grateful. So much beauty. Everywhere. In us.

You can’t outrun your shadow, but if you dance, your shadow dances with you. It has to, it has no choice.

Your darkness is shining. My darkness is shining.

Truth.

Love,

~ Heidi

My kiddo Bexon, age 5 (almost 6) was very seriously working on Legos this weekend and about 30 minutes later, he presented this creation to me. Wow.

This was not from a Mario Bros. set or a kit, he made this from just regular Legos, all on his own. Impressed, I asked him, “How did you know how to do that?”

And my lil’ guy replied, “Because I’m smart.”

Touché, little man, touché.

xo- h

Hey! I’m doing the low carb diet right now and here’s another fun idea for a Skinny Mama high protein snack or a light mini meal: Low calorie Buffalo chicken!

I love the spicy flavor kick. I feed eat at least every three hours, so for me, this is one of my easy, NO work snacks of the day.

All I did was use:

1.) A pre-cooked skinless chicken breast, 150 calories.

(Heated in the microwave for 50 seconds and sliced. You can obviously cook one from scratch, too, from the grill would be yummy.)

2.)  Two tablespoons low fat ranch dressing- 50 calories.

3.) One ounce crumbled blue cheese, 100 calories.

4.) Two tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot Wings Buffalo sauce- 23 calories. (The best one.)

That’s pretty much it, I added a few grape tomatoes this time, but you can add celery for dipping and crunch and or/even a bunch of lettuce to make it a big salad.

What’s pictured above was about 350 calories, add a large amount of lettuce or celery for 50 more calories and it would only be 400 calories for the whole meal.

(Both leafy greens and celery are thermogenic foods, meaning they burn the calories in themselves just for you to digest them- so, they’re basically free.)

This hearty snack is super satisfying. The only caution is to check your ranch or blue cheese dressing bottle for the carbs, some brands add a lot of sugar. Surprisingly enough, you may be better off with the full fat one, depending on the brand.

If you don’t like blue cheese, you can just use ranch, it’s delicious that way, too.

Enjoy!

XO-

~h

This has been an eventful week. Take, for instance, the simple errand I ran on Wednesday.

I needed to get some sensitive skin baby wipes (even though my son isn’t a baby, we still use them for wiping his face and hands sometimes and yes, even his heiny after the toilet paper, to make sure everything is extra clean).

Plus, did you know baby wipes are great if you ever need to freshen up under your arms during the day on the go? Ok, so I use them, too. And they also make my tush extra clean, I’m not ashamed. I’m pretty sure Dr. Oz recommends “wiping wet” even for adults.

But I digress from the fact that I WAS ALMOST IN A BOMBING.

So I’m driving down a major street in L.A and I come to a big intersection that’s all blocked off with police cars. This is not so unusual, it could just be a car accident or road work.

It’s an inconvenience, though, because I needed to pass through that way to get to my shopping destination. I had to veer over three lanes to make a right and lot of other cars were in the same boat, so traffic was messy.

I wasn’t planning on stopping at a grocery store that’s part of a large outdoor mini mall, but since I had to make the right, I decided to cut my losses and stop at a store where the wipes and Splenda might be a little more expensive. It’s not my normal haunt.

As I pulled into the grocery store parking lot, I noticed two weird things:

1.) The lot was almost empty of cars and…

2.) On the other side of the large mini mall, there were tall cranes set up and yellow caution tape surrounding it.

Huh, I thought, maybe they’re shooting a movie. It’s pretty common around here and they do block off areas for things like productions.

I had a strange feeling, but I went into the grocery store anyway and asked the first employee I saw, “Do you know what’s going on over there?” She shrugged her shoulders and said she just got to work, she didn’t know, either.

I figured if it were a big deal, they would’ve sent the grocery store employees home and closed up, right? Nope.

I picked up my two items and went to the register, asking the cashier if she knew what the ruckus was. “They found four pipe bombs across the street,” she replied.

What the eff? Why did I stop for two little items in the range of potential bombs, why didn’t I just turn around and go home? Because I didn’t know it was so serious, jeez. So soon after the Boston bombing tragedy, who would suspect it could happen near me?

Come to find out, a traffic stop had caused police to discover a suspicious liquid in a man’s car. They found 17 explosives in his apartment and evacuated the homes around it. No one was hurt and he’s in police custody.

I don’t live anywhere near his apartment, but I do drive down that major road right past it on my way to other destinations.

I went home safe, but a little bit rattled, next time I see something strange I won’t be stopping to shop so close by, right on the other side of the street. My kiddo needs his Mom!

Also this week, there was  a bomb scare at my local warehouse superstore. Listen to your instincts, even when they’re a whisper, and be careful out there.

Love,

~ Heidi

A little moment at the petting zoo that touched my heart, not even a fence could keep these kids apart.

A baby goat is called a kid, right? I did learn something in school.

xo- h