Happy first day of December!

Can you believe we have reached the final month of the year 2021? It feels as if this year has flown by in the blink of an eye and I'm not sure how to feel about it, haha.

This week I'm sharing a YouTube video of how I decorated my home for the holidays. I hope you enjoy it!

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Thank you so much for visiting my blog and watching my video, I appreciate you so much!

Until next time friends, take care.

xo, Your Girl Jess

Hi friends! Earlier this week I did some home decor shopping for the upcoming Christmas holiday and I'm sharing everything I purchased here with you today!

Watch the video below to see what I bought.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and watching my video, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know.

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving! Until next time friends, take care.

xo, Your Girl Jess

Months ago, I wrote in my planner that I wanted to write a post sharing my most-worn jewelry pieces and today is the day I finally get around to it.

Well, sort of.

Instead of sharing all of my most-worn jewelry pieces (which I will share soon) I want to share my collection of pieces from one of my favorite jewelry brands who I wear all the time, Awe Inspired.

Awe Inspired creates beautiful and meaningful high-quality jewelry pieces that are designed to inspire and last a lifetime. This brand is mission-driven, female-founded, and gives back to the community by donating 20% of all proceeds to several charities.

Here is a quote directly from the Awe Inspired website that describes who they are as a company: "We strive to raise inner strength, celebrate diversity, spread feminism, and advocate for social justice every day. And bring a little more beauty into the world with storied jewelry that will inspire awe for generations."

I resonate with that statement so much which is why I'm such a fan of this brand, and the fact that they create and design such beautiful jewelry is even more reason for me to adore them. 

Now that you know why I love this brand and why you should check them out. Here are the jewelry pieces that I own from Awe Inspired.

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Mini Ruth Bader Ginsburg Necklace - The Notorious RBG is a legend. She was the court's second female justice and with her fierce attitude she pushed to break barriers allowing her to become an icon. Throughout her career she fought and advocated for women's rights, minorities' rights, gender equality, rights of workers, and other civil liberties. I admire the positive impact she's made in the world which is why I love this piece. // Available in gold and silver, and in several chain lengths and chain styles.

Frida Kahlo Necklace - I admire Frida Kahlo because she was a Mexican artist, visionary, and feminist who defied society's beauty standards, symbolized resilience, and dared to express her genuine personality regardless of judgements. Her artwork was and still is very inspiring as it acted as a tool of powerful expression. For all of these reasons I'm proud to wear this necklace and honor her. // Available in gold and silver, and in several chain lengths and chain styles.

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Athena Signet Ring - I wear this ring all the time because I love the style of it and because it has the goddess Athena on it. The war goddess Athena represents wisdom, courage, strength, strategy, and intellect among many other things. A lot of her qualities I admire and so I try to channel them when wearing this piece. // Available in gold and silver.

That rounds up all of the pieces from my Awe Inspired jewelry collection.

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I would love to know, which of these pieces is your personal favorite? Let me know your answer by leaving it in the comments section of this post down below.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post, I hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time friends, take care!

xo, Your Girl Jess

I'm well aware we are now in November now, but how was your Halloween weekend? Did you dress up this year? Go trick or treating? Let me know down in the comments section of this blog post.

This past Halloween weekend was a lot of fun for the most part so today I thought I'd share a recap of how it went.

On Friday night my husband and I had plans to meet up with a group of our friends at a local bar that was hosting a Halloween costume contest. I dressed up as a dark angel and my husband dressed up as the devil in an attempt to match my costume.

Before we headed out to the bar, my sister, her boyfriend, and I pregamed at home like smart adults. Because who likes paying an absurd amount of money on booze at the bar? Not I!

With a handful of double shots in me, that I didn't realize I'd regret so much later, we go on about our mary way. At the bar, I socialized with strangers (as one does when alcohol is in complete control and social anxiety has taken a back seat), played some games (badly) that the bar had set up, and kind-of-sort-of-watched the Astros baseball game.

There were so many amazing costumes on this night but because of my level of drunkenness, it's all kind of a blur. Nonetheless, it was such a fun night!

What wasn't so fun was waking up on Saturday with a hangover that made me feel like crap the entire day. I refused to take painkillers for the pounding headache and chose to ride out the painful train to recovery. Most of this day was spent sleeping, drinking water, and eating nutritious foods. I'd say it helped because later that evening after showering I started feeling a lot better.

Now I know everyone says this the morning after going a little too hard the night before, but I'm not drinking that much again for a very long time, if ever again. My body just can't handle it like it used to lol.

On Sunday I was cured and woke up feeling great and excited about enjoying the day in full. I was feeling so good in fact that I decided to vlog on this day. Click the video below to watch what I did on Halloween Day.

As shown in the video, on this day we were out on the town with our dog and spent most of the day outside and out of the house. Later in the evening, I finished watching the latest season of You on Netflix while snuggled up on my couch.

Overall it was a great memorable weekend spent with amazing people, beautiful weather, and lessons learned.

If you love a good and affordable designer dupe then this blog post is for you!

Today I'm introducing you to Dossier, a fragrance company that creates clean, non-toxic, and ethical fragrances inspired by designer favorites, all starting at only $29. 

I've been using Dossier perfumes for about a year now and can honestly attest to the high quality of both their fragrances and packaging which is why I'm confident that you'll love this brand too. 

Halloween weekend is in just a few days so here's an easy beginner-friendly last-minute Halloween costume idea that requires no costume at all, just makeup!

Watch my step-by-step tutorial to see how to recreate this eye look from start to finish.

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As I was looking back on past beauty posts I've written here on the blog, I realized that I've never done a skincare routine- which I found shocking! So today I'm sharing my current skincare routine.

Before I begin I'd like to give you a bit of background on my skin type and skin concerns just for reference. I have sensitive, oily, and acne-prone skin with hyperpigmentation from acne scars.

When it comes to skincare I like using gentle and simple products that use quality ingredients on my skin. So the products featured in this post are just that and ones I've tried, tested, and gotten my skin's approval.

After using the Universal Cleansing balm, I'll cleanse my skin with this Derma E Ultra Hydrating Alkaline Cloud Cleanser, and if I'm not wearing makeup I'll skip the previous step and start here. This foaming cleanser is deeply hydrating and gently removes makeup, impurities, and excess oil without stripping the skin of its healthy moisture. 

I take about two pumps of this and massage it all over my face then rinse it off with lukewarm water. I love this cleanser because it leaves my skin feeling clean, supple, and hydrated. It doesn't leave a film on the skin nor does it make the skin feel tight.

I use this Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub once a week right after cleansing to exfoliate. This scrub has a fine-textured crystal blend to buff away dullness and smooth the look of fine lines, wrinkles, roughness, and acne scars.

I'm always really nervous when using scrubs because most tend to irritate my skin but this one does not. The texture is so fine and non-abrasive that it's suitable for sensitive skin. After using this I experience zero irritation and my skin feels so soft and smooth. It also smells so lovely, like citrus, from the citrus oil in the formula.

After cleansing or exfoliating I moisturize with this First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration. This moisturizer is formulated with colloidal oatmeal, shea butter, and allantoin to hydrate, calm, and soothe skin.

I actually bought this for my husband because he has very dry skin, and he didn't use much of it because he could care less about skincare, so I tried it and fell in love with it. This tube is actually almost completely empty which explains all of the indentations on it from trying to squeeze the last bit of product out, haha. But what I like about this moisturizer is that it doesn't feel greasy, it absorbs onto my skin quickly, it wears well under makeup, and it's nice and hydrating.

For eye cream, I use a pea-sized amount of this CeraVe Eye Repair Cream which helps to reduce the appearance of dark circles and puffiness while the ceramides in the formula help to restore the skin's barrier.

I like how this feels under the eyes as it's non-irritating, hydrating, and a bit on the thicker side but it's still lightweight. This sits well under my makeup so long as I use a small amount.

Once a week I'll use this Flower Beauty Petal Pout Lip Scrub to exfoliate my lips. This lip scrub is formulated with ultra-fine sugar crystals, coconut oil, castor seed oil, and cocoa butter for a smooth kissable pout. I like this scrub because it gently exfoliates and nourishes my lips, and tastes and smells so yummy.

The final step in my skincare routine is to go in with a lip balm, my favorite is this Dr. Bronner's Pppermint Organic Lip Balm because it's ultra-hydrating and smells so good, it's almost therapeutic.

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These are all the skincare products that I use to care for my sensitive, oily, and acne-prone skin and all of which get my skin's stamp of approval. 

I would love to know, have you tried any of these skincare products? If you have, let me know by leaving a comment down in the comments section of this blog post.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know. Until next time friends, take care!

xo, Your Girl Jess