5 Favorite Things (that actually add value!)

Happy Thursday, y’all! Today is your day… I just know it. I am cheering you on. I know the last few days… months… year for all of us has been incredibly heavy. I hope you find hope in reminding yourself today that this world IS NOT OUR HOME. We have temporary angst here and will replace it with eternal life in a home that is free of … all the mess. Keep the faith. Keep loving others. Keep praying for peace in such unsettling times. You can’t control what’s happening in the world, but you can control what happens in your home, your heart, and your sphere of influence.

I am sharing 5 things I am loving right now that have brought something of significance to my life or routine lately. It’s fun to share my favorite new pair of shoes or jeans or whatever, but today I want to give you things that have truly helped a sista out lately hehe.

  1. Eat to Evolve Meals: WHOA, lunch just got easier. I gave them a shot and really love having some healthy lunches and breakfast in my fridge. Right now, Cadence is doing 21 days of fasting. Every year we kick off the new year with 21 days of prayer and fasting. We pray for vision, direction, and revelation. Paul is doing a Daniel Fast, which means no meats or sweets or … well, a lot of things. I am doing a fast from social media until 10 am everyday *for reference, I am usually up working around 6:30 AM every day and my job IS social media* and no alcohol/clean eating. These meals are categorized as Paleo/Keto/Whole30, and I just pop in the microwave for 90 seconds.
    **Join us in the fast! You can at any time. It can be a food fast or a soul fast. We really believe that in our weakness, God is made strong. When we step aside and remove distractions or vices, we are more in tune with the Lord. Fasting is key to prioritizing and hearing from God.**
  2. Make Life Beautiful: You guys, if you have an entrepreneur bone in your body… read this. I got the book hoping it’d be a design book for our home/I just like them so I figured maybe I would enjoy their book… Oh my gosh. I had to actually stop reading it before bed, because it fired up my creativity too much to sleep. I was waking up in the night with new ideas. I now enjoy reading it in the morning after my devotional to spark my creative juices for the day.
  3. Pumping Bra: Okay, listen, we all know I had a word or two to say about Elvie. I was thoroughly disappointed in my product and even more so by the customer service. BUT, before it broke on me… it was really nice to work hands free while pumping. This bra has helped significantly. I can work again while pumping (which is every 3-5 hours depending on let down still) as I exclusively pump.
  4. Vital Proteins Collagen: I shared about this on my stories last week and I am definitely including it on this list today. I use it every morning and my hair literally went from falling out by the clumps to … not. Literally within 24 hours I went from coming to terms wiht the fact I might need to wear a wig for a bit to hopeful my hair would grow back since it quit falling out.
  5. The Ordinary: This stuff is the real deal and only $10. I wash my face and apply a small dollop to my face for the day. I have also learned to SERIOUSLY stay far away from your eyes… haha. I think I accidentally got it on my lids by not washing my hands before applying moisturizer? Anyways, regardless of how it got there… it did. And my lids swelled up. But that’s on me lol. This stuff has brightened my skin and even my skin tone out significantly. And did I mention it’s ONLY $10!!! Do not spend $100 on a Vitamin C Serum. This one is fantastic.

Hair Q & A with My Stylist (and bestie!)

You know, it really is the best of both worlds when your bestie also happens to be your out of this world hair stylist. Bethany is my full service hair color and cut gal, which makes appointments really just 5 hours of laughing, drinking coffee, and hanging out while she happens to be doing my hair. What I didn’t know when Bethany started doing my hair was that I would be stopped by total strangers in public asking who does my hair or the dozens of DMs a month I get asking about my cut and color! Bethany has nailed the bright ash blonde/blunt cut of my dreams, and we are telling ALL today. Whether you’re a stylist yourself or a customer looking to show this to her stylist, Bethany is giving you every little detail for how to achieve my cut and color! I naturally have a warm hue to my hair, so it’s always important to take that into account when looking to get a certain color for your own head of hair!

Follow Bethany here

Q&A With Bethany

Hair Color Formula:

For Hannah’s ice blonde look, I use Redken lightener Flashlift with Bonder Inside. I love this lightener for 2 reasons…it gets a great amount of lift (especially when in foils!) in each hair session, but also has a protective bonder built in! Essentially it has Redken’s form of Olaplex built into the lightener. Win-win! After I am done lifting Hannah’s hair and rinsing her product out, I ALWAYS  tone to achieve the icy look. I usually do the same formulation every time too! The only exception is when Hannah is pregnant in which case I need to add more violet into her toner formula to counteract any remaining gold tones. I always use Redken Shades Eq and we usually use equal amounts of 09p, 09t, 09v, and then a little splash of 09b. Then an equal amount of developer and VOILA, there is Hannah’s formulation! Remember this will not work for everyone! Hannah is natural level  7-8. Find a good stylist who is comfortable and rocks with blondes!

Hannah’s Foil Placement:

I always do a full babylight on Hannah’s hair! When Hannah is done, she has a full head of tiny foils everywhere! And I always do extra fine back-to-back babylights around the face to achieve an extra bright look for all her photos!

Up-Keep for Icy Blonde:

I recommend Hannah alternate purple shampoo with normal shampoo, and once a week use a silver depositing conditioner. We LOVE Celeb Luxury Viral Silver Color Care Conditioner to keep up with that icy tone.

Hannah’s Cut: 

For the past year, I have done a blunt cut “lob” on Hannah. It adds great fullness to her hair! Sometimes I pick the top crown layer up vertically and point cut a few texturizing layers into it to add some variety when she curls her hair, but they’re always light textured layers!

Inspiration:

Always bring in at least 3-5 photos for inspiration for your stylist for color! Allow your stylist to talk you through the process and expectations! Make sure you find the tones and colors you love in each photo and vocalize that to your stylist! Your stylist can then figure out if you want ashy, neutral, platinum or warm tones to your blonde OR if you are needing some lowlights to add further dimension!  Then I suggest 2-3 photos of what kind of cut you are wanting. Your stylist can see if you are eyeing a blunt cut look or light textured layers or heavy layers! Inspo photos are ESSENTIAL for us! Also, make sure you have a stylist who can keep it real with you! Don’t find a stylist who will promise to take you icy blonde on your first appointment. Even with Hannah being a natural blonde, it took me 3 sessions to get her icy! I always under-promise and over-deliver. Find a stylist who will do the blonding process SLOWLY to keep the integrity of your hair.

Over Processed Hair:

Find a stylist who sells Olaplex products and use Olaplex #3 treatment weekly to help repair the broken bonds in your hair. The hard truth is fried hair cannot truly be repaired fully. My advice is to get a good cut or, if you want to gradually get the unhealthy ends off, go every 6-8 weeks and get a good trim. Finding the right stylist to care for your hair is KEY! A good stylist won’t compromise the integrity of your hair! This goes back to a stylist who can “keep it real”!

Toning Frequency:

Every person is different! I sometimes will refresh Hannah with a toner before we touch up her roots with lightener. Usually with icy blonde you need to re-tone every 4 weeks. If you’re starting to see yellow and gold tones, even with using purple shampoo and silver depositing conditioner, reach out to your stylist to get a refresh with a toner. Especially in the summer when its warmer and you’re swimming. Swimming in pools and intense heat will sometimes strip out toner a lot faster than normal.

Beth’s Favorite Hair Products:

I have 2 front runners! My 2 favorite hair products are Moroccan Oil and Amika Undone Volume and Matte Texture Spray! Moroccan Oil is good for all different types of hair! It adds moisture and heat protectant. And it smells amazing! Amika Undone is my favorite texture spray because it isn’t heavy but adds enough dry grit to hair to help with that lived-in, messy but not too messy look. I love to flat iron wave or curl hair and then spray a good amount of Undone all over the hair and brush through or finger-comb it through. Plus, it smells like heaven too! 

Breakage:

Turn down the heat, baby! Turn down the heat on your blow dryer, flat iron and curling iron. Even better, skip the blow dryer and let your hair dry naturally. If you’re dealing with major breakage, Olaplex #3 is amazing! And if you can go a few extra days between washes, DO IT. Dry hair and heat is a recipe for damage.

Fav Dry Shampoo:

I have 2! My absolute FAVORITE is Living Proof. It actually cleans your hair! It’s amazing! But it does come with a hefty price tag. If you want a good budget one, Batiste is the way to go! And Batiste has a light formula and even colored ones for darker hair.

Post-partum Hair Loss:

Oh baby, do I understand this! Post-partum hair loss stems from hormones. Because of this, you cannot truly prevent it. However, you can arm yourself with good nutrition and great vitamins to help your body through this transition. I suggest collagen, biotin and a great prenatal vitamin! Always make sure to check with your doctor first on what supplements they suggest. And, of course, if you get that gut feeling that something is “off”, make an appointment and talk things over with your doctor.

Our Family Christmas Photos

They’re here, they’re here! I wasn’t sure when I wanted to share these, but as you all are navigating your own Christmas sessions, I wanted to go ahead and share our family shoot this year as aid for poses/outfits/inspo! Of all the years of Christmas photos we have done with Hannah H. from Cottonwood Road Photography… these are without a doubt our favorite to date. I shared a bit more about our outfits on this post and want to give another shoutout to Sydney Grace Beauty who made me feel like an absolute rockstar. I don’t do makeup at all, and it was so fun to get my face done for these, because Lord knows I could never do my eye shadow like this… hehe.

2020 has without a doubt been such a wild year for everybody. And it’s arguably been the hardest year by circumstance we’ve ever faced in our family. And yet… the most full, life-giving, joyful one. I mean it. I am not just saying that because it’s the Christian thing to say. I mean it with every ounce of my being. We have experienced heartache and slander and hurt we never thought we’d have to journey through. We’ve experienced a pandemic, being pregnant and having to go to appointments alone. A hospitalization at 22 weeks, a perfect newborn baby in the NICU… we’ve experienced lost dreams and squashed expectations.

But there is always hope.

Today, as I share these photos, I truly hope you see a family who has been through hell this year. And yet, we smile. We are genuinely smiling in these. We are genuinely the happiest we’ve ever been, and it’s all on the other side of a treacherous season I would wish for nobody. The key to our smiles… HOPE. We know there is a hope far beyond this Earth for us. We’ve held to the promises of God through every high and low- not only the ones we feel God has promised us personally for our future. BUT, the promise that He is GOOD, FOR US, and NEVER LEAVES US. The promise that He fights for us. The promise that He makes all things work together for our good. The God who promised a Savior to His people centuries before they ever saw it come to fruition, He is the God who always comes through with His word at the perfect time.

So, we enter into the Christmas season *err… maybe a hair earlier than usual this year* with the greatest reminder of hope the world has ever known. Jesus was the fulfillment of all the promises God told His people would come at the exact right time. He is for you. He is the epitome of good. He is the best gift ever. He IS hope. That even when we can’t see it, He is working. He is fixing. He is healing. He is your defender.

This family you see in these photos, we walk with a new understanding by the grace of God what it means to cling to hope. In a way that truly can only be grasped by a season of NEEDING it, hope is alive in this family. And it can be inside of yours, too. I hope our smiles, at the very least, can encourage you today if you find yourself aching for hope.

If you’re in the north Texas area and have’t heard the news, my family is launching Cadence Church in the fall of 2021. This hope we have that got us through this year is available to everybody, and we want the city of Frisco to know it. It’s a year long process to plant and we are currently building our launch team. We’d love to meet with you, answer any questions, and ultimately pray that if you feel called to it, you’d join us!

xoxo,

The Morrisons

I seriously had to reel it in and not share 60+ photos… You can see more on my Pinterest! But the key to a great family shoot: happy kids and just “playing” with them while the photographer snaps away. Get to their level, laugh, talk, make jokes, tell them secrets in their ear. We seriously had so much fun with this shoot, and you can see it!

My Favorite Recent Amazon Purchases

Hey gal pals! Today Carleigh is sharing her favorite Amazon purchases as of late, and I am not gonna lie… I have added quite a few to my own cart now. Shop with us and see what Careligh has found (that can save you a ton of money $$$)!

xoxo, Han

Beauty/Fashion

Tinkle Eyebrow Razors– If you’re not shaving your face, you should be! It gets all the peach fuzz and dead skin off and helps your makeup go on smoother. I use these for my whole face in addition to cleaning up my eyebrows.

Face Wash– I have sensitive skin and really enjoy this exfoliating face wash! I use it in rotation with my Tula face wash and I like the balance between the two.

Beauty Blender Dupes– You’ve probably seen these everywhere, and for good reason. I’ll never buy a real Beauty Blender again.

Vitamin C Serum– I’ve used this Vitamin C serum in the past and really liked it, plus it’s way cheaper than most others out there!

Gold Hoop Earrings– These are my everyday, go-to gold hoops! They’ve held up really well and haven’t tarnished at all.

Hair Clips– These hair clips are STRONG! I have long, thick hair and these are the first clips I’ve found that can keep my hair up. Plus, they’re super cute!

Leggings– You’ve probably seen these everywhere too, and also for good reason. SO worth the hype. They sell out fast because they’re so good so you may have to keep your eye on them to snag a pair, but it’s worth the wait. They’re high-waisted, so soft and comfy, and perfect for lounging or exercising. Fit TTS, I ordered my normal size and they’re snug but in a good way, I wouldn’t want them to fit any looser.

 

 

Home Items

Popcorn Maker– I found out about this from Dede Raad (@dressupbuttercup) and it’s changed my life. I love the taste of real popcorn kernels way more than the kind in the bag, and this pops them SO much easier than anything else I’ve ever used.

Amber Spray Bottles– The perfect glass spray bottles for my Thieves cleaner!

Wireless Phone Charger– I especially like this charger because of the stand, so I can still use my phone and even watch something on it while it’s charging!

Smart Plugs– You can control these outlets from your phone, and they sync up with Alexa! I like being able to turn a light on in my house when I’m not home and being able to turn a light on without stumbling through a dark room to get to it ha!

Folex Cleaner– Again you’ve probably seen this everywhere too, and it’s worth the hype. I’m ashamed to admit that I had a 5 year old stain in my car, but I’ll tell you because this stuff got it out. Seriously. I was shocked! It’s so so good and I don’t even worry when I spill something now because I know this stuff will get it out.

 

Easy Sun-Kissed Look

Hey girl, hey! First thing’s first… raise your hand if you have made it into a nail salon since last Friday’s re-openings….
*raises hand* I got my toes done last Saturday and am going again this Friday for a manicure, and I am just so dang ready. The real question is what do I do for my first manicure in 2.5 months?! 😉

Obviously, there are so many other things worth our time and attention right now. But, it’s also a small glimpse of hope and a simple joy that feels like life is going back to “normal” – even if it requires a face mask for the time being. I hope you’re finding little joys in this season of life and transition. I wanted to share with y’all my most up to date every day make-up and skincare! Quarantine has required intentionality of me to feel put together, and that’s meant many days of this very simple make-up look!

Make-Up Routine

  1. Clinique Even Better Foundation: This is for real the best foundation I have ever used. It’s light and dewy feeling, but the coverage is great. I feel like I found my BEST skin match to date with this as well.
  2. Two Faced Chocolate Gold Bronzer: I love this stuff! I use a big brush for this and just sweep across my cheek bones and up the side of my hair line. I also put it on the very tip of my nose for a button-nose look. I took this trick from Cara Loren and love it!
  3. Watts Up Cream to Powder Highlighter: I dab the tip of my nose and then line the top of my eye brows with this!
  4. Anastasia Eye Brow Definer: This has legit been a game changer for me in regards to feeling “put together.” There are many days I don’t even touch my mascara, but if this + the previous 3 things are done… I feel 100%!
  5. Mascara: I have used Big Ego for about 6 months and like it a lot! I also have used Tarteist, and I just ordered their new Sea Surfer Curl!
  6. Translucent Powder: I love this stuff. It sets my foundation and provides a good runway for bronzer without my skin feeling greasy or wet. It doesn’t, however, take away the dewy glow of my foundation. It’s so light and does its job well!

Morning Skin Care Routine

  1. Face Wash: I use good ole Neutrogena lately and have actually been extremely pleased. My “splurge” face washes are Drunk Elephant and Tula’s, though.
  2. Tula Eye Cream: I love this stuff! I use it every night no matter which evening skincare routine I follow, and I always use on my fine creases I have around my mouth and T-zone.
  3. C.E.O. Cream: I love this to start the day! Pair it with any Vitamin C serum – do serum then the moisturizer. But, Sephora has a new line of $20 serums (vs. $80+ for most!!) and I am trying it out. I will keep ya posted. $20 Vitamin C Serum, here.
  4. Tula Blurring Primer: This is one of my favorite products I have ever used! Put it on after you wash and moisturize and before applying make-up. Give some time between moisture and primer to let everything really settle in.

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