We made it to Friday, Mes Amies!

Today I'm going to share with you my experience with getting a not yet FDA approved covid vaccine. I'm going to share how I got involved, why I did this and mu thoughts now that I'm vaccinated.

On December 21, 2020 I received AstracaZeneca's vaccine for Covid-19. I'm part of the 3rd round of the FDA's clinical trials for this vaccine. This trial is a "non placebo" trial. 

The first question that I get asked is:

How did you get involved in an FDA trial?

My neighbor and very close friend is a scientist who works in the field of medications. Over the summer she and I were eating lunch together. I told her that I'd test a vaccine. She told me to go on to the FDA's website and put in my info. That's what I did. Mind you, this was back in July. I didn't hear from them until November.

The second question I get is:

WHY WOULD YOU TAKE AN EXPEREMENTAL VACCINE???!!!

This one is easy. Because someone HAS too. Never in my life did I think I'd see a pandemic that would kill so many people.

This truly is  matter of life and death. We need more vaccines available and ready to preserve human life.

Also, I often am asked:

What did it feel like? How did it feel after? :

Truthfully, it did burn when it went in and my arm was hella sore after the fact. As I type this, I'm 4 days removed from getting the booster. The arm that I got it in is still very tender.

The day after I got the initial vaccine, I started to feel as if I were at the tail end of a head cold. I went to bed early and woke up the next day feeling great. I knew all along that feeling those symptoms was a GOOD thing. It was proof positive that my immune was saying " Virus, we see you. We are here to utterly destroy you. You are NOT attacking this body."

Do you think I should get vaccinated? :

First things first. This question is for your DOCTOR. Not your friends, not people on social media, etc.

But, YES. YES you should get vaccinated. Do not listen to the opinion of every Tom, Dick and Harry. Science is Science. Science is real. Covid is deadly. Covid has taken so many lives. Give yourself and those around you protection from this plague. 

I think I'll do my own research. :

How? By googling? My polling your friends or reading "articles" on Facebook?

Unless you have been trained in things such as peer reviewed data and clinical trails, you cannot "do your own research". Truthfully, saying/thinking that comes off as very ego driven. Its as if you are saying you think you know better than the people who have spent 30 years developing tool to fight infectious diseases.  I completely understand having fears and reservations. That is normal. If that is how you are feeling, its time to call your family doctor. They know you, they know your history and they care deeply about your health.  

So, there you go. That was my experience.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

XO,

SheShe

Happy Mid-Week, babes!

Oh boy, do I have the perfect mid-week meal for you. It checks all of the boxes for what makes for a perfect week night meal. It's delicious, its nutritious and its 30 minutes start to finish.  I made this just last week. My hubby is already asking when we're having it again.

So, without and long, drawn out story .....here we go!

Ingredients: 

• One large head of cauliflower, broken into small florets
• 2C of Kettle Cooked PLAIN potato chips
• 1/2 C olive oil.
• 4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 TBS Honey Mustard
• 1 Large slice of hearty white bread
• Salt & Pepper
• Dash of dried tarragon

Happy Monday, Mes Amies!

The last Monday in January, bring on June, July & August.

Okay, I won't go into how much I love summer....TODAY.

Today, we have much better things to do. Today, my besties are sharing heir favorite products with YOU.

I send a text out to a few of my absolute best friends.  This what I said :

"Hey! Question for you. What is a favorite affordable beauty product of yours and what is a splurge product that you think is absolutely worth it?"

Well, as you can see, my friends are beautiful. Who wouldn't want them to spill their beauty secrets?

Some of them had a product in both categories, some in just one.

Diane:  " I love Olaplex conditioner. It is expensive, but it REALLY works. Plus, a little goes a long way. I can use much less of this conditioner than any other ones that I've tried."

Taylor (Diane's daughter) : My favorite inexpensive product is L'Oreal's Voluminous Mascara. My splurge product is Lancôme's Mousse Radiance Cleanser.

"This is the most amazing mask that I've ever used , and I've used LOTS. This one gives me the best glow and makes my skin as smooth as a baby's behind."

Lisa is my bestie. She was my maid of honor in my wedding. She's a natural beauty. She tolds me that she swears by CeraVe's facial moisturizer after her dermatologist introduced her to it.

Like we started, we'll finish with another Mother & Daughter. This time, its Glenda & Caroline.

Both mom & daughter agree that Laneige lip treatments are amazing.

Like Lisa, Caroline loves CereVe moisturizer.

Glenda tells me that she cannot live without Living Proof dry shampoo or Dove body wash.

There you have it!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

XO,

SheShe

 

Hip, Hip Hooray, its Friday!

 Its Friday, AND tomorrow is hair day for me...Woo Hoo!

Today's post was a reader suggestion. A suggestion that I LOVE.  Around these parts, we are obsessed with Sephora. Sure, its easy to go there and drop a few hundred dollars at a time. What about though when you don't want want to go separate ways with that kind of money? Well, there are PLENTY of fantastic things at Sephora that you can take home for $25.00 or less. I spent a lot of time deciding which items I'd pick for this. If there is something I left off that you think should be on here, PLEASE tell me.

The Original Beauty Blender     Find It Here

Urban Decay's Lash Perversion     Find It Here

I wasn't in the market for a new mascara. However, this one has me hooked.

My sister-in-law, Stacey got this for me this Christmas. This makes my lashes look like I'm wearing falsies. Its without a doubt, my new fav.

Fenty Contour Stick     Find It Here

Defined cheek bones with two simple swipes? Yup.  This does exactly that. Contouring has never been easier or more fool proof.

Sephora's Best Ever Foundation     Find It Here

I really wouldn't of thought that I'd ever of found a truly awesome foundation for a mere $20.00 .  If I had been doing this post a year ago, I wouldn't of been able to. This just blows me away though. Had I had to guess the brand, I'd of assumed it was Dior or Chanel.

Natasha Denona Mini Glam Palette           Find It Here

Natasha Denona is one of those high end brands that is actually worth their prices. Now, some of their best selling palettes are available in a "mini size". Although the "mini" is a normal size.

Makeup Forever Artist Sculpt Blush     Find It Here

This is a product that deserves to be FAR more hyped up than it is. This blush is SO good. Seeing how awesome their foundation is, I'm not surprised.

Supergoop Sunscreen          Find It Here

EVERYDAY. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. This is the only item in my beauty arsenal that I can say I use that often. While it absolutely is about beauty, its also about health. Skin cancer is nothing to toy with. 

With that, we'll wrap it up for today. Like I said, tell me what would be on your best under $25 list.

Have a lovely weekend!

XO,

SheShe

Happy Wednesday, loves! It is already January 20th. To me, January typically DRAGS on. This year though, its flying by. If January- March could go by really quickly and then if June-August could just linger...that would be A-Okay by me. 

For now though, we still have a LOT of winter in front of us.  So, lets get us some season appropriate footwear. Lets be on trend and styling, and lets save some money as we do it!

Its been a minute since we did a "look for less" post. Shame on me! I know that these are some of my most read posts...aka, what YOU want to see!

In today's post, all of the more expensive items are on the left side and their lower priced counterparts are on the right. 

Do you have a pair of leopard ankle boots? If not, GIRL  what are you waiting for? I'm wearing my pair right now. These look great with black pants, they look great with jeans. Really, leopard is a natural. It looks great with EVERYTHING.

I love that sneakers are having a moment. Funny story, I didn't own an actual pair of sneakers until I was 13. As a child I ONLY wanted to be in dresses and dress shoes (still my first choice). 

Again, we are seeing leopard here. You will not hear a single complain from me!

I literally searched for the perfect cognac ankle book from 2011-2020. Really, I was like Goldie Locks. "This pair is too brown this pair is too tan..."

Welp, I'm hoping to save you from that. Here are two pairs that are TRUE cognac.

There you have it, the latest "look for less" post.

What do you think? Which of each category do you prefer?

XO,

SheShe

Happy Monday, Mes Amies! I hope you all had a restful and rejuvenating weekend.

Today is when we do the monthly round up of what I'm loving from this particular month. I try to keep these items al things  that are in the beauty/fashion sphere. 

This month, I'm really, really loving ALL of these things! Like always, I list these items as they are showed in the blog graphic. Top row left to right, then bottom row, left to right.

With no further ado......

1) What I call " Better than Lululemon Leggings"   FIND THEM HERE

These leggings are just as nice, if not nicer than the super expensive ones. They are butter soft. They are high waisted and stay up. They even have pockets! The pockets are deep. If you put your key or earbuds in them, they are not going to fall out.

2) Adorable Slip On Sneakers FIND THEM HERE

Super cushioned, super comfortable and super cute. Who could ask for more? I love, love these for walking. Yet, I can wear them as part of an outfit without looking like I'm wearing an athletic shoe.

3) The Perfect Work Pant  Find Them Here

Its no secret that I have a "pancake butt". Sure, I do glute bridges and deadlifts. Yes, they help, but nobody will ever mistake my behind for J-Lo's. 

When I first discovered Wit & Wisdom jeans, I fell in love. They actually help to sculp your booty. When I saw that the brand had branched out into non-jean options, I knew I had to get a pair of work pants. I LOVE them. For reference, I'm 5'3-ish (I lied on my license and said that I was 5.4... rounding up) . These are sold as "ankle pants". However, on me they fit like "regular pants."

Bottom Row

4) Golden Goose Super Star          FIND THEM HERE  

I LOVE Golden Goose sneakers. If you are unsure as to if you'd want a pair for yourself, you can read my thoughts HERE .

I do LOVE these. The leopard/hot pink combo is such a winner in my book.

5) Natasha Denona Glam Eyeshadow Palette

Okay, technically I got this in December. My sis-in- law , Stacey got this for me for Christmas.

However, the week after Christmas, I was off from work. The best I did was change into new lounge wear daily. Makeup wasn't applied a single time.

However, in January when I went back to work, I resumed my normal routine. It was then I saw how fantastic this palette is. The colors are perfect and the formula blends so perfectly. If I had to describe this palette in one word, it would be "dreamy."

That is our January round up. What have you been loving this month?

Let me know!

XO,

SheShe

Happy Friday, my loves!  How are you today?

If you know me, you know that I am a vehemently a NOT Wal-Mart shopper.

No, not because I believe myself to be "too good" or anything like that. ( I excitedly shop at plenty of discount retailers.) There are a plethora of ethical reasons that motivate me to not shop at Wal-Mart. I'm not going to get into those here. This is a bloggette about beauty and fashion, not me getting on a soap box and lecturing you .

Another key reason as to why I do not shop at Wal Mart is that in my opinion, they have such a blatant lack of care for their customer's time. At least at the Wal Mart in my town, they will gladly allow their customers to wallow in lines 20 people deep without even considering opening up an additional register or two.

Anyhow... a couple of weeks back I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine. She is aware that the majority of my shopping is from places like Nordstrom. She asked if I would even be able to find anything at Wal Mart that I would wear. I said "Hell if I know, but let's see!" I set a budget of $75.00 and went onto their website.

First things first, the website takes its cues from the store its self. I found it to be SO inefficient and not customer oriented. 

Regardless, I purchased the 4 items in the blog graphic. Here are my honest thoughts on each of them.

When I saw these sneakers, I got excited. They are an exact dupe for a pair of Adidas sneakers that I wanted but were sold out in my size. I ordered these in a women's 7. When they arrived, I pulled the box out of the shipping box, just what I ordered...YAY!

 

An ounce of common sense would tell you that shipping a hat in a bag will result in it being crushed during the transit process. That is precisely what happened.

I did my best to attempt to push it back into shape. It was to no avail. The hat is permanently damaged.

  I learned from the sneakers that attempting to call customer service is a lost cause. Purchasing this hat was tantamount to lighting a ten dollar bill on fire. It was that wasteful.

Final verdict, will I give Wal-Mart another chance in the future?

No, not on your life. There is a drastic difference between a bargain and cheap.

I'm all for getting a bargain.  I have no desire to acquire cheap articles of clothing, or anything else for that matter.

My hubby is a finance guy. In the past he calculated out our household spending at Target. On average, our savings at Wal-mart would be between 20-46 cents weekly. That is hardly worth the extra time that it takes just to checkout at Wal-Mart. That along with the utter lack of basic customer services, generates a hard NO from me.

With that said, if you do shop there and have had better experiences, that is great. Again, this post is not shaming or condemning anyone who does shop there. This is simply a recap of my experiences and an explanation as to why this store is not and will not be a place that I spend my money at.

Okay, that is that. Have a great weekend, babes!

XO,

SheShe

Happy mid-week, Mes Amies!  How is this 2nd week of January treating you?

Today's post is one that I'm VERY excited to bring to you. Today we are talking about skin care. Specifically, we are talking about two skin care lines that are both highly effective and very low cost.

The Ordinary was created in 2017, The Inkey List came along in 2018. Both are relatively new, but both already have a huge following. 

For the most part, all off the products in both of these lines come un under $10.00.

Also, both lines can be found at Sephora. The Ordinary is also available at Ulta.

I have bought several products from each line and have been truly impressed by both.

Both of these lines have both quality and value in common. So, you might be asking "What are the differences?"

From what I have found as the biggest difference is that The Ordinary tends to focus on single ingredient treatments while The Inkey List's focus is on more all inclusive products.

What does this mean? The Ordinary is perfect for if you have a skin care regiment in place and know you want to add in a specific ingredient.  Let's say you have a skin care protocol in place, but know that you want to add in Niacinamide. The Ordinary's Niacinamide serum is the perfect addition to your routine. 

Conversely, let's say that you are now deciding that you would like to get your skin on an anti-aging routine (Or anti-acne, hydrating, etc, etc) . This would be the ideal situation to bring in The Inkey List. 

Skin care guru , Hyram has done a much more in-depth analysis. I highly recommend giving it a watch right here 👇

Happy Monday, Mes Amies!

So, I have to ask, do you own a pair of combat boots yet? They are the top trending shoe for winter of 2021. If you don't believe me, just take a scroll through any of the feeds of any of the big Instagram fashion influencers. Combat boots are EVERYWHERE.

Personally, I always thought that these boots were NOT for me. My style is preppy. You know what though? I decided to take a chance. I bought a pair and I LOVE them. I pair them with my normal clothes. They give my outfits a current, edgy vibe.

Before I bought mine, but after I was intrigued by them, I kept thinking "But, I don't have anything to wear them with!"

The thing is though, you shouldn't be trying to recreate a grunge kid circa 1993. Once I realized this, I went out and bought this pair.

I bought these and wore them with ankle jeans, a JCrew button down shirt with ac pink cashmere sweater on top. A very preppy outfit. Yet, these boots were the show stopper. 

Boots like this also pair very well with leggings and oversized coat.