Blogging, Personal

Life Update!

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Hi everyone! I’m feeling terrible that I’ve been behind in writing blog posts! I’m excited to get back on track :). Here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to lately.

  • Wedding Planning! Lately it feels like every minute of my free time goes to wedding planning, but I’m loving it! I’ve been playing around with the idea of adding a separate section to my blog focused on the wedding and documenting my planning process every step of the way. I’ve been keeping track of every planning step I’ve done and kept a solid record of the churches, venues, and vendors that we’ve looked at, hoping that my friends and family members that live here will benefit from this information for their future weddings. Maybe this information will help others too!  I’ll keep you all posted! In the meantime, here are some pictures of me popping the question to my bridesmaids! This is about the highest level of craftiness you’ll get from me. Crafts are not my strong suit haha!

  • Monterrey trip! We had a little weekend getaway a couple weeks ago to Monterrey, Ca! My best friend from high school and her family (including my two adorable nephews) drove up from So Cal for a last get together before they officially move out of state(I wish I could enter a heartbroken crying emoji here). My bff/future cousin in law and her boyfriend came with us too, and I was so glad they could all finally meet (it was like my worlds clashing and it was awesome).

Monterrey State Beach. Absolutely beautiful. We even saw a whale in the distance!

Monterrey Bay Aquarium! One of our favorites!

  • Writing. As much as I love writing about makeup, I’ve been thinking more and more about expanding what I write about. I’ve touched on other topics that I feel strongly about in previous blog posts on Beyond the Swatch, such as diversity, inclusion, self-confidence etc…and I’m thinking I’ll be weaving more of types of posts here, or maybe in a separate section, or even a separate blog. We shall see!
  • Quick preview of upcoming posts!

Thank you all for reading!! I hope you’ve all been doing well and being happy! Stay tuned for more!

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Personal

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day with your families!

Between my boyfriend’s family and mine, we have 4 Thanksgiving dinners/lunches to go to! The first one starts in t-minus 45 minutes 🙂

I’m thankful for a lot this year! For my amazing family and friends all over the world, Chris, my puppy, my little turtle, my job.. the list is endless.

I’m also extremely thankful that I finally brought my vision and blog to life this year. Thank you to everyone who has shown their support for Beyond the Swatch! It’s been a great experience so far. I’ve met a lot of incredible new bloggers and fellow makeup enthusiasts and reconnected with friends & family members that I haven’t talked to in a long time by bonding through our love of makeup! This blog has also given me the chance to revisit my love for writing, not just writing about makeup but about everything and anything!

So if you’re reading this right now… THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Have a great Thanksgiving!!

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Personal

Love, Love, Love…..

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“Hi everyone! First off, thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the Veterans out there for your service and sacrifice! We will be forever grateful. Happy Veteran’s day!!! Secondly, I’ll be logging off for the weekend to let the events of this week sink in and give myself some time to process everything. A central theme of my blog is embracing diversity in the makeup industry. But outside of my blog- diversity, inclusion, and showing compassion for everyone regardless of their background is something that I take very seriously and that I’m extremely passionate about every day. I’m taking the weekend off to spend some much needed quality time with people that I love. ?
Be kind, show empathy, spread some love and have a great weekend!”

I wrote this last Friday while my boyfriend and I were on our way to visit my little sister. At that moment, I was feeling a little down and I’ll admit that I let myself drown in my thoughts, sadness, and anger for a couple days.  Sometimes all it takes to ease a burdened mind and a heavy heart is some quality time with your loved ones, fresh beach air, California sunshine, and a break from reading posts on social media. Oh yeah, and wine… can’t forget the wine! All these things don’t solve everything, but it definitely helps to feel and give a little love and light.

Here are some suggestions on how to spread some happiness today!

  • Hold the door open for a stranger
  • Smile at anyone and everyone
  • Leave positive comments on someone’s blog or Instagram
  • Compliment someone!
  • Text/reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while
  • Assume positive intent in people… this one is harder said than done
  • If you see someone who seems sad or having a hard time with something, offer some support
  • Do something to make yourself happy too! Go shopping, treat yourself, relax, write, sing, dance, laugh… whatever makes you feel good!

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Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me

Perfect Purple for Summer and Fall!

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NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipsticks are AMAZING. This line is hands down one of the most pigmented drug store liquid lipsticks that I’ve come across. Check out all 24 shades here! ($6.99).

The shade that I’m sharing with you all today is this gorgeous one below: Amethyst. Described as “deep neon purple” on NYX’s website and noted as a fan favorite on Ulta’s website!

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Swatches!

This product was highly recommended to me by one of my high school friends (and fellow makeup enthusiasts) and since then I’ve been recommending this shade for anyone who is on the hunt for a true purple lip color! One of my friend’s jaw damn near dropped when I swatched this shade for her for the first time. (You’ll see why in a second!)

Swatched under natural light, in the sun: Sparkly/dewy bright purple with a navy blue undertone.

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Swatched in natural light, in the shade:   Dark periwinkle with a blue undertone. (Less bright than how it looks in the sun, but vibrant nonetheless!)

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Swatched indoors, with flash: Deep, vibrant purple with a deep blue undertone. (Deeper and darker compared to the swatches taken in natural light).

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Swatched on 3 different skintones!

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See the differences in the shade when swatched on different skin tones? Me neither! 😉 This shade is so beautifully pigmented that it stays pretty consistent on each skin tone.

Final thoughts:

Overall, if you’re looking for a bright, fun, purple lipstick that stays true to it’s purple-ness, I highly recommend this one. Most purple lipsticks turn into a different shade then expected when mixed with someone’s unique skin tone and natural lip color, but this one stays a true purple like it does in the package. This shade is fun and bright enough for summer and deep enough to carry into fall!

This product comes with a soft bristled triangle shaped brush and applies on easily. I personally feel like this product doesn’t dry your lips out like most liquid lipsticks do. Check out the video below to see this gorgeous shade on @MakeupShayla!

What do you all think? Have you tried this shade before? Send me your swatches!

What are your favorite drugstore lipsticks?

What are you favorite fall shades?

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Favorites, Product Review

Friday Favorite: Sephora Rouge Balm!

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Sephora Rouge Balm in Delicate Pink $12.50

Guys! It’s fall already! FALL. Where did the year go??

I live in California and it hasn’t quite hit me that it’s fall yet. It has been slightly colder these last couple days (and when I say cold, I mean “California cold” so like…70 degrees) but I heard that it’s going to be in the hundreds this weekend!

So before I completely transition into fall mode, I wanted to share one of my favorites from this past summer!!

Sephora Rouge Balm

I saw this baby from the corner of my eye while I was already at the check out counter at Sephora and yes, I was one of those customers who held up the line while I went to go grab one!  #noregrets because I love this product!

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Quick facts about this product:

  • Comes in 8 shades- a mix of pinks, peaches, oranges and reds. The one I purchased was Delicate Pink. Check out the rest of the shades here.
  • SPF 20
  • Hydrating
  • Creamy, slightly thick texture (Sephora’s website describes it as a creamy gel texture)
  • Shiny finish
  • Has a subtle tint of color

Here’s a swatch of how this shade looked on my skin tone. I tested this shade out on different skin tones and did not see a significant difference or changes in the shade. This product is definitely meant to be a very subtle & light tint instead of a solid shade.

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Reasons I personally love this product:

  • Smells amazing- like strawberries! Kind of reminds me of pink Starbursts! I’m not sure how the other shades of this lipstick smell or tastes, but I can definitely vouch for Delicate Pink.
  • SPF 20!! I took this with me on my trip house boating for an entire week and it was nice to have lightly tinted and protected lips.
  • The packaging is adorable! The tube matches the shade of the lipstick.
  • Super creamy and hydrating! Instantly makes your lips feel soft.

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Downside:

  • This product is labeled as a lipstick but I would personally categorize it as a tinted chap stick.  Which means that at $12.50 a tube, this is little on the pricier side. I’m used to spending about $4.00 for 3 Blistex chap sticks and having those last me for a couple months (or until I lose them all).
  • Although the formula is super creamy, the texture and consistency may be too slippery to add another lipstick on top of it. I would not use this chap stick as a base layer for other lip colors or products. I personally feel like it’s a stand alone product if you want a light layer of color on your lips.

 

What other people are saying about this product:

  • Overall, the comment section on the Sephora regarding this product is pretty positive! Here are some of the things people are listing as the positives of this product: hydrating, casual tint, SPF protection, comfortable to wear, smooth texture and easy to apply.
  • I did notice a lot of comments mentioning that this product isn’t long wearing and that their lips ended up drying out after a couple hours. Because this lip balm is so creamy, it tends to wipe off easily. The formula is similar to the texture of Vaseline. If your lips are incredibly dry, cracking or sun burnt, chap sticks such as Blistex, Burt’s Bees or Carmex would be a much better option to help with the pain and heal your lips. This product makes your lips feel soft and hydrated, but the formula does not seem strong enough to heal damaged or cracked lips.

Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried this product? What do you think? Send me pics of your swatches!

What are some of your favorite lip balms or chap sticks?

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Personal, Product Review, Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me

ColourPop Ultra Satin Lip in Alyssa!

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Colour Pop Ultra Satin Lip in shade Alyssa

For this week’s Sunday Swatches, I’m giving you a little combo platter: a product review of a favorite makeup product, plus a personal story, AND a swatch comparison!

This shade is part of Kathleen Light’s most recent collaboration with ColourPop. This is one of my favorite cosmetic brands working with one of my favorite makeup gurus!

The biggest reason I wanted this shade was because we’re name twinsies! Alyssa! 

One of my best friends came to visit me a couple weekends ago with her little family (including my adorable baby nephew!) It only felt right to wait for her to swatch this lip color because her name is Alyssa as well! Yup, we are two best friends both named Alyssa. If we had a dollar for every time a bartender checked both of our ID’s and said “hey both of your names are Alyssa??” we’d have…a lot of dollars. 😉

Product Review:
The product feels like a light and wet formula when you first apply it, with a little bit of shine. After about 2-3 minutes, the formula starts to dry out and becomes a flat matte shade. Like most matte liquid lipsticks, the formula feels a little dry on your lips, but I found that this lipstick wasn’t overly drying and didn’t made your lips feel tight. So that’s a definite plus for me personally. This product is super pigmented, so you only need to apply a thin layer, which makes it feel light on your lips, although a little dry. I have tried using a base layer of chap stick with no tint which makes the formula feel a little more moisturizing but unfortunately, this makes the lip color much easier to smudge and wipe off.  The website recommends using Lippie Primer ($5.00) as a base.

Swatch Comparison: 2 different skin tones!

Here are swatches of the product that my best friend and I took at our favorite Wine Bar in San Francisco on both of our skin tones! This shade is described on ColourPop’s website as a “neutral dusty pink”. I found that this shade was slightly darker in person than the picture on the website.

When swatched on our wrists, the shade looked slightly different on our skin tones. The shade looked like a lighter, neutral pink on the lighter skin tone, and a slightly darker mauve shade on the tanner skin tone.

Alyssa D (my bff) on the left, and Alyssa P on the right (me!)

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Swatch Comparison: Swatched on wrist vs on the lips & indoor lighting vs outdoor lighting!

The shade looked different after applying it on my lips than it did when swatched on my wrist. When I applied this shade on my lips, the shade looks more of a nude with a hint of light pink under indoor lighting, and more of a mauvey, dusty light pink in natural light.

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Overall Impression:

Overall, I love this shade! This does go to show that the true shade of a makeup product can change from how it looks on the website, in the package, swatched on your wrist, applied on your lips, under different light sources, and on different skin tones. I highly recommend ColourPop’s Ultra Satin lipsticks!! Good quality, amazing range of shades, and for only $6!

Check out more Ultra Satin lip colors here.

Check out more from Kathleen Lights Collection here.

Now I want to hear from you!

Have your tried ColourPop’s Ultra Satin Lip Colors? Which one is your favorite?

Send me swatches of you wearing Alyssa! I’d love to see!

Do you wear chap stick as a base when using liquid lipstick?

Bonus story!

Fun fact- my bff featured in this article and I are both named after Alyssa Milano! A few years ago on a magical day in Los Angeles, we both got to meet the one and only Alyssa Milano and tell her that we are a couple of best friends both named Alyssa because of her!! This will always be one of the biggest highlights of my life. 🙂

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Lists, Personal

1 picture,12 Guilty Pleasures

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I spy with my little eye… all of my guilty pleasures!

  • Cute notebooks and notepads – my fave are the ones from the dollar section at Target, I pick up 1-2 during every Target run
  • Pop Figures – my boyfriend and I counted 54 in our collection so far…dunno how that happened!
  • Walking Dead – is it October 23rd yet? Can’t wait for the Season 7 premiere!
  • Mean Girls – my all time favorite movie since ’04
  • Friends – my all time favorite show since… as long as I can remember!
  • Pictures of my family, friends and puppy
  • Fancy lookin books and fancy tea cups
  • Turtles! I have a pet baby tortoise and since then I’ve collected and been gifted anything with turtles on them
  • SF Niners and SF Giants
  • Hello Kitty – I’ll never outgrow this!
  • PINK – is it obvious this is my favorite color? 😉
  • And of course, your favorite and mine – MAKEUP!!

Now I want to hear from you!!

What do you like to collect?

What are some of your guilty pleasures?

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Blogging, Personal

Make time to do what you love…

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Hi everyone!

There are many reasons why I haven’t had time to write articles as often as I want to, some of the main reasons being the following:

1) Working full time

2) Spending a LOT of time with family! (the best reason to be distracted so no shame with this one!)

3)Getting wrapped up in reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (almost finished)!  I feel like I haven’t read a book for pleasure in a very, very long time!

4)Shamelessly binge-watching Orange is the New Black with my boyfriend, Chris. Yes we’re super late to the party and just started this series a few weeks ago! We’re on Season 3 now- woo hoo!

5)Normal adulting and trying to get through my late 20’s crisis.I feel like I haven’t even gotten over my mid-20’s crisis and then BAM, my late 20s snuck up on me!

Ok ok… some of those reasons are definitely more valid than others. But a friend of mine at work told me something that really resonated with me:

If you love and care about something, you’ll find time for it. 

And he is absolutely right. I love this blog, I love writing, I love make up, and I NEED to make the commitment to write more! If I had it my way, I’d be writing and swatching makeup all day. But of course, that dream can’t come true at the moment.

So in order to fix this, I’ve developed a writing plan/calendar for my posts! 🙂

Sunday Swatches– On Sundays I’ll be posting swatches and swatch comparisons! This will include “Swatch with Me” articles where I’ll swatch make up with friends, family members, bloggers, and other makeup enthusiasts. I’ll also continue to post swatch comparisons of make up on different skin tones, under different light sources, etc!

 

 

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Friday Features and Friday Favorites- Friday posts will be focused featuring a brand, makeup artist, blogger, Instagram or Yoube account focused on diversity and also sharing industry news! I’ll also be sharing some of my newest or oldest makeup favorites!

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Wednesdays-  (I have yet to come up with an alliteration for Wednesday, so for now, it’s simply “Wednesdays” 😉

On Wednesdays, I’ll write quick personal posts to help everyone get to know the voice behind the blog and give myself a chance to get to know all of you better as well! This will include fun facts, stories about my makeup/blogging journey, random blurbs, etc!

Any other posts such as product reviews, lists, or any other topics I come up with or any that you suggest or request for  me to write about, will be mixed in throughout the week!

I’m super excited to get started and stick with this blogging calendar! I may tweak the calendar after trying it out for a little bit, but in the meantime, thank you very much for being here and reading my posts! That means the world to me!

Before I end this post, I wanted to take a moment to reflect and remember all of the lives that were tragically lost on September 11th 2001. It’s been 15 years and we will never forget….

 

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Image credit here

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Blogging, Lists

Top 7 things you need to take pictures for your Makeup Blog and Instagram!

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Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend!!

Where will you find me on a typical Saturday or Sunday morning?? Sitting on the sidewalk & grass area outside my apartment in my PJ’s, with a bag full of makeup, ready to spend the next couple hours under the gorgeous California morning sunshine, swatching makeup and taking pictures for my blog and Instagram! 😉

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This post is for anyone who is interested in starting a beauty blog or Instagram account! Keep reading below for a list of the top 7 items I use to take flatlays and pictures of swatches!

1) Simple Background

I’ve researched all the different backgrounds that bloggers use for their pictures & flatlays and they all have one common piece of advice: keep it simple! 

I’ve tried a few different backgrounds and I found that a plain white foamboard works really well when taking pictures in natural light, which is my preferred choice of light to take pictures in! The board I use is Elmer’s White Foamboard from Michael’s.

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Other backgrounds I’ve used for flatlays include bedsheets, rugs or fabric with interesting textures (I use small swatches of fabric from the craft store), scrapbook paper, decorative boxes, or anything in nature such as grass, flowers, trees etc!

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2) Camera of choice

I’m currently using an LG G4 phone for my camera and I LOVE the quality of phots I get.  I tried using a point & shoot camera to take pictures of swatches but I personally found that the camera on my phone most accurately captures the way shade of makeup looks and it makes it easy for me to upload directly on IG or my blog. I suggest trying out different cameras to see what your favorite one to use and what works best for your blog and purpose 🙂

3) Tape!

It’s amazing how good ol’ Scotch tape makes such a big difference when taking pictures of makeup swatches on your arm/hand! There are a lot of times that I spontaneously swatch makeup on my arm and in these cases, I won’t take the time to use tape to frame the swatches. But, I find that using tape when swatching makeup makes the edges much cleaner and helps space the swatches evenly on your arm. See the difference below between swatches done freehand and swatches done using tape.

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(makeup swatches done freehand)

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(using tape to frame the makeup swatches)

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4) Makeup Wipes.

Makeup wipes are a must-have to clean in between swatching different makeup products and can also be used to clean your products so that they’re photo ready. I typically use Target’s Up&Up make up wipes to erase makeup swatches on my arm. These wipes work well, smell great, and are super affordable at 50 wipes for $3.59! I save my Neutrogena makeup remover wipes to use on my face or for harder to remove makeup swatches. Other good items to have around for cleaning your makeup/swatches are paper towels, water, and hand sanitizer!

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5) Notebook

One big piece of advice: take notes to keep track of what pictures you’re taking! It can be really difficult to distinguish the brand and shade of the makeup you took pictures of unless you take note of it.  The notebook also comes in handy to take down your thoughts on how the color looks, consistency, texture, your first impression of the product, and anything else that may be hard to remember after the fact.

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6) Props

I like to keep my pictures very minimal and simple but a few props are always good to have at hand. Some of my favorite props I recommend are: flowers (both real or fake), jewelry, ceramic bowls or plates, anything from the scrapbook section in a craftstore, and any little trinkets you have.

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Be sure to use all the beautiful and natural items you find outside! Flowers, trees, lakes, mountains, beaches, the sky, etc all make amazing backgrounds!

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7) Makeup!

And last but not least, makeup!! Old makeup, new makeup, anything you have! Just grab a handful from your stash and go swatch crazy! 🙂

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Someday I hope to have a beautiful makeup room to take pictures of my makeup and swatches, but for now, I love my little spot on the sidewalk outside my apartment.  🙂

Now I want to hear from you!

What are your favorite items to use when taking pictures for your blog?

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Personal

One of my biggest supporters has no interest in makeup!

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This post is going to be a little different than my previous posts… it’ll give you a peak into my life outside of makeup and swatching!

Did you know that one of the biggest supporters of Beyond the Swatch has absolutely zero interest in makeup??

This person is none other than my wonderful and ever supportive boyfriend, Chris!! In honor of his birthday this past week, I wanted to take a second to recognize and thank him for everything he’s done to support my blog! 🙂

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Some of the many ways Chris has supported Beyond the Swatch!

  • When I first told him I wanted to start a makeup blog, he spent hours listening to my ideas, asking me questions, helping me map out my thoughts, and come up with ways to make my ideas better
  • He helped me research what type of camera and laptop is most recommended for an inspiring blogger
  • He researched how to build a photobox and built one for me to use
  • He is behind the scenes of almost every photo I take, helping me frame the picture, hold up a lamp so I can get the lighting just right, or by taking the pictures himself (here’s his hand, helping organize my makeup products for an instagram post!)

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  • He lets me talk endlessly about makeup and actively shows interest even though I know most of what I’m saying goes right over his handsome head 🙂
  • Anytime I doubt myself and have a million reasons why my ideas won’t work or that my dreams are stupid, he reassures me and counters my fears and encourages me to keep going
  • A blog post doesn’t get published until he’s proofread what I’ve written or listened to me read it outloud. Nothing makes my day more than when I’m reading one of my posts to him and I see him smile out of the corner of my eye or laugh at certain parts of the post
  • He is completely supportive/understanding when I randomly get the urge to swatch makeup i.e. at a baseball game, date night, vacation, literally anywhere
  • He patiently waits for me when I spend “just a couple minutes” in the makeup department 😉

In these ways, and so many more, Chris has been a huge motivation to starting this blog and to keep it going!

Chris and I have a lot of similar hobbies/obsessions (for example: Walking Dead, Pop Figures, Bob’s Burgers, puppies, turtles, and football).

It’s important to share some of the same interests with your partner, but to find someone who takes interest in something you love simply because they know how much it means to you, is pretty amazing. I feel so lucky every day that Chris invests and supports my dreams, no matter how big or small. 

So I challenge all of you today to take some interest in your loved one’s hobbies and passions, whether it’s blogging, makeup, starting their own business, football, knitting, reading, dancing, collecting spoons, art, traveling, music and even Pokemon Go! 

  • Ask them a question to learn about whatever it is that they are passionate about and actively listen to what they say
  • Spend time with them doing their hobby and trying it out for yourself
  • Do a little research on whatever topic they’re interested in, and spark a conversation based on what you’ve learned
  • Compliment something they’ve created or worked on lately
  • Get them a simple gift that shows your support
  • Speak highly of their dreams/ideas/hobbies with other people
  • Just show up! (to their games, performances, etc)
  • Know that you don’t have to fully understand or grasp why they enjoy what they’re doing, but just let them enjoy what they love!

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