A Day in LA

As you probably know if you've read my older posts, I live in the sunny and beautiful Southern California. I love my home and the communities around it. It's so incredible to me how much of a variety of things and people there are around me. Today for fun, my family and I decided to go on a little day trip to Melrose Ave and The Grove. Here's a little sneak peak of my day.

Melrose Ave

I took this right by my car park and this little boutique is literally the cutest thing in the world.

For lunch we had some delicious rice balls from kawaba rice ball. Incase you were wondering, I ordered a Takana Rice Ball (gluten free and vegan).

As a fan of Justin Bieber, I couldn't resist adding this pic:)

 The Grove

The view from above of Nordstroms at the Grove.

Here's two pictures of me and my lovely sister enjoying our day!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and don't forget to follow me on instagram @eliselemans and my twitter @lemanadee. Comment below if you'd like and let me know what places I should visit in LA. Btw I'm going to try and post every week at least once.

XoXo,

Elise

*disclamer* all photos are taken by me and my mom with a Canon rebel T3.

A Day at the Beach

Summer is almost coming to an end and its bittersweet. I'm so excited to get to see all my friends at school again and to get set on a routine but definitely not to lose all my free time and this glorious socal weather. As summer vacation is coming to an end, I thought what better way to enjoy the last few days than going to the beach and even better, taking you along.

So me and my family love going to the beach especially in the mornings before it gets super busy and harder to enjoy. We got to Salt Creek beach in Laguna at about 8:30 in the morning (super early, I know)

Here's a couple things I brought with me:

A big ole flannel. This one I bought at a thrift shop (the tag says liffty released by cliffty). I love it because of the colors and how soft it is. It is quite long so I often find myself walking at beach downtowns wearing just this flannel with my bikini underneath.

My S'well bottle. I have two that I absolutely love. The one pictured is gray with a matte finish and it holds 25oz. My other one that my sister uses is the 17oz dark hearted bottle. They keep water ice cold for 24 hrs or hot for 12hrs and it makes drinking enjoyable. It is quite pricey ranging from $25 to $45 but hands down this is the best purchase I have made in a while.

A rose incense cone. I absolutely LOVE these. They help me relax so easily. These particular cones are quite strong though so the beach is the perfect place to light them. I bought mine at an indian grocery store but this link is the exact brand I use. To use, you light the tip and let burn until burning evenly. Then, blow it out and let it smoke.

A hand salve. My hands are always dry. To the point that "always" is an understatement. To fix this problem I apply hand lotion to my hands every night and for the most part that leaves me good for the day. As a little extra boost, whenever I wash my hands or get them wet, I use a burt's bees hand salve to moisturize. 

A chapstick. I was at Tilly's one day and I needed to spend $3 more to be eligible for some coupon so I randomly added this to my purchase. You have no idea how happy I am that I got this. It has spf 30 which makes me very happy and the flavor is incredible.

A pair of sunglasses. As you know, if you've read any of my other blog posts, my skin is terrible. I'm always trying to protect it from anything that could hurt it including the sun. So, I obviously wear some shades as added protection over sunscreen and a hat. These sunglasses are a pair that I happened to find at a kiosk in the mall (Irvine Spectrum to be exact). 

Here's a couple pics of our day. 

My sister's camp

I hope you enjoyed my post. This is the hardest i've ever worked on one and I'm definetly planning to do this more often. Please comment below and follow me on my instagram @eliselemans and twitter @lemanadee and my pinterest @emlemans

Summer Morning Routine and Sun Protection Tips

I'm freaking out. I was speaking with my mom about how bad my skin was looking after getting a little too much sun the other day and my mom started telling me about how one of my best friend's mom had melanoma at one point. This wasn't something I had never heard before but it definitely felt like a punch in the gut.
Living in southern California, it's basically impossible to not get any sun and I'm not planning to give up playing in the sun anytime soon. However, I have vowed to start taking care of my skin. Since that day I have developed a new routine to protect my skin.

This was a pic from the first day of summer 2015 where I spent a couple hours at the beach of course getting sun burnt:/

Every morning when I wake up I drink a large glass of water or iced green tea to keep my skin and the rest of my body hydrated. Then, I brush my teeth and wash my face. If you're new to my blog, I use the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser or The Body Shop Skin Clearing Facial Wash with a facial cleaning brush. Then, I use the Neutrogena oil free SPF 30 under my moisturizer to protext me from the sun. After that, I apply my face, pick an outfit, and grab a bite to eat of something dairy free (new blog post about that soon) and I'm ready to go about my day.

5 Tips to Protect You From the Sun

1. Apply sunscreen with at least spf every two hours and make sure to let it soak in to your skin before swimming.
2. Wear hats to protect your face and maybe shoulders and neck as well and wear sunglasses with UV protection to protect your eyes.
3. Wear light cover ups to add an extra layer between the sun and your skin.
4. Accept your skin tone and don't try to change it with the sun. The healthy glow you try to aim won't seem as healthy anymore when you suffer from permanent or serious damage.
5. Try to stay out of the sun during the sunniest hours of the day. 

I hope these tips helped you and inspired you to start wearing more sunscreen and taking extra steps to protect your skin. Follow me on instagram @eliselemans and on twitter @lemanadee and comment down below it would mean a lot.

XoXo, 

Lemanade<3

Coming Clean

At school. In my neighborhood. In front of my friends. With my parents.
These are all places that I am fake. I've lied about many things, experiences I never had even if I say I have. All these lies and cover ups are something that I feel I will live to regret.

It takes a lot of courage for me to write something like this because me, being as stubborn as I am don't like to expose or admit to my faults. It all has become too much now though and I feel like this is something I really need to take action on because I'm losing myself.

I feel like I'm becoming a world-class bitch. I used to be that girl in class who tried to brighten people's day. I used to be that girl that people would nominate as "kindest", "most likely to put a smile on your face", "sweetest". Back then it wasn't fake.

I've always had a trust issue. Not one thing significant or recognizable event caused me to lose faith in people but overtime watching how mean people can be or how easily people can turn against you made me lose it. I'm the kind of person that lets what people say about me really personally. I can't change that. I think that people find me open but in reality that's my aim. I say a lot about myself that isn't deep and personal. Incase you guys are reading this, Hey. Thank You. I love you and thank you for not judging me. These are the initials of everyone that I have been completely honest to. VS, TV, ...that's it.
Two. Two freaking people that I have been basically completely honest to. I'm so ashamed to say that I have only been completely honest to two people in my life.

Here's what I want from myself.
I want to be purely kind.
I want to be the person that anyone can go to to talk without being afraid of being judged.
I want to stop gossiping.
I want people to look up to me.
I want to stop telling lies.
I want to succeed.
I want to be loved by someone (either as a best friend or a lover) for being me.
I want to stop taking things for granted.
I want to stop being greedy and asking for things that I don't need.
I want to make someone proud.
I want to be loved by my family.
I want to work hard for something.

This post was inspired by Gabriella Lindley's youtube video called Honesty. I felt like I could relate. I Because of that I cried. Actually that's an under statement. I sobbed because it felt so real to me and it was clear that I needed to somehow start over and this is my first step.
XoXo,
lemanade<3

My Favorite Names

Okay so I'm a single teenager who is DEFINITELY not pregnant but I saw Jaime King's post about her newborn son Leo Thames and I ended up thinking about beautiful, cute names that I like. I also thought this would be super fun to look back at.

So without further ado,

Boy Names:

Louis

Lucas

Marcus

Brysen

Timothy

Grayson

Axel

Everret

Girl Names:

Daisy Mae

Coralin

Darcy

Rayne

Scarlett

Charlotte

Brinley

Emerson

Harlyn

Comment below and baby names that you like and follow me on instagram @eliselemans.
XoXo,
lemanade<3

Review: Maybelline Color Ink Eyeshadow

I just tried the Maybelline New York Color Ink eyeshadow and I'm impressed. I love cream eyeshadows for an everyday look. I particularly like neutral colors that I chose. Them being BE-1, a champagne vanilla-y color, and PK-1, a shimmery pastel pink color. These eyeshadows were purchased in japan while I was on vacation so the packaging may be different in other countries. I know that in america for example, it is called the Maybelline color tattoo 24 hr metal.

I like to apply the eyeshadows first with my finger and then I blend it out with a domed shadow brush. The BE-1 color looks great all over with a gold or copper color in the crease/outer corner, a thin stripe of black eyeliner, and a good coat of mascara.
When I run out of this, I will definitely repurchase this to keep in my collection.

I hope you like this short little review and follow me on instagram @eliselemans and comment below if you have any suggestions for me to review or anything else you want to talk to me about!
XoXo,
Lemanade<3

Review! Mask of Magnaminty

A Little Background Info

     So I have been struggling with my skin since 5th grade. I used to and continue to be very self-contious about my situation. Although I am no expert, I have tried a fair share of skin care products ranging from drug store to higher end products.
     One particular product/ range of products is the lush fresh face masks. In particular, the love lettuce and catastrophe cosmetic ones do the best for my skin. Since I love these two products so much, I try to get them as often as I can, usually about once a month. This month in particular, I went to go buy a pack only to find that they were sold out completely of any fresh face masks. To say I freaked out would be an understatement. The lady working on the floor informed me of the self preserving mask of magnaminty. She said that it was similar to the fresh face masks so I decided to try it.

Image from google images/polyvore

Get to Know my Skin

     I have skin that breaks out very easily. My t-zone is quite oily, especially my nose, and the rest of my face can get rather dry. My break outs are usually targeted around my nose but not on it and at my temples. I cleanse daily with the Kiehl's ultra facial cleanser and about once a week I use The Body Shop tea tree skin clearing face wash. To moisturize I use the Kiehl's blue herbal moisturizer.

Images from google images/mens journal and google images/the body shop

What I Thought

     When I first applied it all over my face, I liked the creaminess of the mask as well as how soft the beans felt. I'm not a big fan of the smell though. It was a bit too herbal for my liking. I left it on for about 7 minutes and I loved the icy fresh feeling it left on my face, similar to the effect of a mouthwash in you mouth. It came off quite easily and it left my face feeling smoothed and refreshed. 

Better Than the Fresh Face Masks?

     In my opinion, no BUT when there isn't a refrigerator around and my skin is having a bad day then I definitely will repurchase it. Lush has never disappointed me and I hope to continue to be impressed with more products as time goes on. 

     Make sure to follow me on instagram @eliselemans and tell me what brought you there. It would mean so much to me if you comment below and tell me about your favorite skin care products! 

XoXo,

Lemanade<3