The Feast of Saint Valentine falls on a Friday this year so the pressure is on for date night – – and gifts!  I’m more of an experience girl, but if you insist on buying a present (as well), shop a few of my favorite selections while they’re still in stock!

As I’ve gotten older, the ability to get a good night’s sleep has become nearly impossible.  Waking up at 3 A.M. to watch episodes of The Golden Girls has become a regular part of my sleep routine.  Fun?  I guess…  Healthy?  Not so much.

“Sleep when you’re dead” they’ll say – which, sure – however, sleep is pretty important.  In addition to feeling rejuvenated the next morning: a solid night’s sleep can keep your heart healthy, help reduce stress, ward off depression, and under-eye circles.

Many sleep specialists recommend a noise machine for those of us insomniacs out there.  According to them, soothing sounds are relaxing and help induce sleep.  These machines are designed to provide a ‘sound cocoon,’ which assists in a more peaceful slumber.

I found this sound machine on Amazon which has rave reviews and offers six sleep sounds: rain, brook, ocean, thunder, white noise and summer night.  I love a good storm, so I opted for the thunder.  Not only did I sleep entirely through the night, but I woke up feeling insanely refreshed – and truth be told, I think my cat did too!

Shop the Sound Machine:

After two whole years of having them re-filled every three weeks, I recently decided to ditch my lash extensions.  Not only are they beyond expensive and time consuming, but my real lashes have seen better days.  

If you’ve ever experienced this before & after effect, you know how drastic it feels going from a full set of lashes to short, brittle ones – plus, it’s a huge hit to the ego.  Sadly, its takes 2-3 months for lashes to grow back, so I needed a quick fix, which required a bit of research.

I’ve been religiously using Revitalash before bed each night as well as Vaseline to get the visibility of thicker, fuller lashes while mine grow back in, but having not used mascara in literally two years, I needed to do some digging when it came to purchasing something that would not only provide quick and immediate volume, but intense length, and soft, full lashes.

According to TZR, L’Oreal Paris’ Lash Paradise is the best out there right now and a tube sells every five seconds.  Not to mention, it is the same mascara that held up during Beyoncé’s two hour, 26-song long 2018 Coachella performance.

Sign. Me. Up.

While it’s been an adjustment sans my extensions, and sucks to have to wake up an extra few minutes each morning to apply it, this mascara really gets the job done.  A co-worker still thought I had my extensions on (no joke!) while wearing this clump-free, full fringe formula.  The best part is my bank account is much happier..  L’Oreal Paris’ Lash Paradise sells for under $10!

Pro Tip: As a general rule, it is best to replace mascara every 3 months. And truthfully, a mascara will dry out within this time so it’s more likely to flake off onto the face (or worse, into the eye) and not deliver the desired result.

Shop L’Oreal Paris’ Lash Paradise: