Cleaning your face…

I don’t recommend using shampoo to clean your face, I mean, unless you HAVE to. Like, if there’s a zombie apocalypse and their drink of choice is facial cleanser… I guess then you’d have to use shampoo.

I never HAD to use shampoo. I just didn’t know I was supposed to be using a separate cleanser for my face. I think I figured why waste the money? The shampoo does a pretty darn good job washing me hair (or so I thought), it’ll be fine to wash my face when it runs down from my head in the shower. Right?

It’s important to recognize that properly cleansing the skin prepares your skin to absorb products you may put on after, like a serum or moisturizer. Clearing out your pores allows the moisturizer to penetrate into your skin for maximum effectiveness. What’s the point of applying moisturizers and treatments if your skin isn’t able to absorb them fully? (1) We’ll talk about moisturizers in another post. 😉

Arbonne has lots of different cleansers to choose from for all types of skin, so you’re in luck and you’re definitely in the right place. ☺

 

A. Calm Gentle Daily Cleanser for ULTRA SENSITIVE SKIN: This extra-gentle, sulfate-free cleanser, formulated with only the most essential ingredients, gently washes away makeup, excess oil and dirt without irritating or over-drying the skin. Leaves skin feeling clean and refreshed, and can be used day or night. ( 5 fl. oz. ) – See more HERE.

B. FC5 Hydrating Cleanser + Freshener for DRY to NORMAL SKIN: For normal/dry skin. Moisture-enriched facial cleanser freshens skin to help keep it looking more youthful and revitalized. ( 4 fl. oz. ) – See more HERE.

 C. FC5 Purifying Cleanser + Toner for OILY/COMBINATION SKIN: For oily/combination skin. Cleanse and tone skin with this cooling, refreshing formula that visibly reduces oiliness and helps keep skin looking young, fresh and clean. With fresh strawberry cell extracts and Matte Fresh™ Complex. ( 4 fl. oz ) – See more HERE.

D. RE9 Advanced for Men Exfoliating Wash for MENS AGING SKIN: Invigorating wash exfoliates and helps prevent ingrown hairs, prepping skin for a clean, close shave. ( 4 fl.oz. ) See more HERE.

E. RE9 Advanced Smoothing Facial Cleanser for AGING SKIN: Provides effective smoothing and renewing of the skin surface for soft, supple skin. ( 3 fl.oz. ) – See more HERE.

There’s also cleanser for those with ACNE PRONE SKIN called Clear Advantage Clarifying Wash Acne Medication. Great for pre-teens and teens. Although, I have to tell you, before you go buying a bunch of acne products, look at your diet (or your teens diet). If they’re eating a lot of junk or “food-like” products, then try switching their diet some more natural foods – “God foods”. 80% of what is happening on our skin is a result of what we’re eating, usually. So that’s the best place to start!

So, don’t be like the old Heather by using shampoo to wash your face. Use cleanser. Enjoy. ☺

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Mulling over Mascara

We’ve Moved!

This post has been moved on over to Seventh Heather, my other blog site!

Check out the post here.

 

Surviving Winter (skin)…

Anyone else get dry, scaly, flaking and just plain gross skin during the dry winter months?

Or, how about the awesome cracking heels of your feet, or the ends of your fingers.

Ouch.

I bet you’re thinking, why are you asking, Heather? Do you have a solution? Why, indeed I do, dear reader! Lucky you.

For HANDS use the Awaken Sea Salt Scrub & FC5 Ultra Hydrating Hand Creme (the first Arbonne product I ever used and therefore fell in love with.)

What to do:

1. Wet your hands and exfoliate with Sea Salt Scrub for a few minutes. You don’t have to scrub hard. The essential oils will condition the skin while you do this.

2. Wash the salt off with warm water while continuing to gently scrub.

3. Dry your hands off with a soft towel and apply Hand Creme.

Ahhhh….. ☺

For FEET, check out my blog post about how to do a detox foot soak. You will likely only have to do this once or twice all winter. Or once a week. Or, ya know, every day – depends on how badly your feet are cracking.

For FACE use FC5 Hydration Mask + RE9 Extra Moisture Day Creme with SPF 20 in the morning + FC5 Moisturizing Night Creme before bed (after your cleanser of course). If you’re like me and have ultra dry skin this combo seems to keep my skin from even knowing it’s dry than (as my Grandpa would say) horse manure. Apparently that’s really dry. I can’t attest to that, but thanks for the reference Grandpa!

What to do:

1. Use your cleanser as usual. Apply the hydration mask as needed. I use it twice a week when it’s VERY dry out, otherwise once a week. Leave it on for 10 -15 minutes then wash it off. Set an alarm or timer because you may forget you have it on. (don’t ask! 😉 )

2. Apply the extra moisture day creme EVERYDAY. No, really. Every. Day.

3. Apply the Night creme before bed. Every. Night.

 

Be inspired by others success, not defeated

Last night I went to a meeting in Syracuse (about an hour and twenty mins from where I live) because I needed some connection with my tribe. My people. My Arbonne family.

And I got it. Along with inspiration, which I knew I’d walk away with, but it wasn’t in the form I was thinking. As usual, God has his own plans and they are far greater than mine.

I often think how nice it would be to be a National Vice President, or a Regional VP – and be driving around Canandaigua in a white Benz with a big beautiful Arbonne sticker on the back window (that’s TOTALLY HAPPENING, btw) beep beep! – or even an Area Manager. Oh how I’d LOVE to be an Area Manager. But I didn’t want to grow to Area so badly until last night at our meeting when 8 women stood in front of the room as Area Managers and told why they were there. It was INCREDIBLY inspiring.

A year ago, this would not have been the case.

A year ago, attending one of these meetings I wanted to be inspired. I wanted not to feel envious, or defeated. I desired to be happy for these amazing people who did the work necessary to get where they are. I desired so badly to be where they were. So much so that my own desire clouded my happiness for them.

I think this is a natural human feeling. I think everyone feels envious, some more than others. I think everyone can say they’ve looked at someone that’s in a position they desire to be in and thought, ‘man, I’ll never get there,’ or ‘I’ll never have that or be that.’

Don’t beat yourself up about having these feelings. But work to move past them. You have the strength right there in your heart to choose to be truly happy for them. And here’s the hot stock tip: Fake it ’til ya make it. If you’re finding yourself being “happy” for someone else’s ‘success’, but it’s clouded by envy, or a feeling of defeat, just smile and say “Congratulations! I’m SOO happy for you.” If you do this enough, one day, you’ll really, REALLY mean it. And you’ll find yourself being inspired. Not defeated. In fact, what does that even feel like? I don’t remember!

Thank God.

I’m reading this book called ‘The Tools: 5 tools to help you find courage, creativity, and willpower – and inspire you to live life in forward motion.’ The first ‘tool’ is to face your fear. Is a “fear” you have to pray success upon others because then you’ll be helping THEM push forward past you? This is a legit “fear” for some people. I used to have this fear. It seems odd, but it’s the truth. You’re SO afraid to want success for your peers SIMPLY because you think that means you’re giving ALL the success in the world to them and they’ll be none left over for you.

The ‘tool’ is facing your fears. Leaning into them- no, that’s not right. Don’t lean… RUN. Run full sprint right toward your fear. Eventually, you’ll be able to FEEL the fear, and then go do what you need to anyway. But you have to keep running at it. And one day, that fear will be gone.

And, by the way, there’s PLENTY of success to go around. ESPECIALLY in Arbonne. I know with all my heart and all my soul and all that I am that I CAN be an Executive National Vice President right along side those 8 amazing women and the other 500+ NVP’s in this company.

So, don’t think for a single second that wishing or praying success and being happy for someone is going to steal that away from you. It will PROPEL it! Keep praying for your dreams to come true, but, while you’re at it why not just put in a little plug for someone else? Remember Karma? She’s not ALWAYS a b***h. Sometimes, she’s the sweetest most gracious thing ever. What you wish upon others is coming from YOUR HEART and it will come back to you; ten fold. Wish SUCCESS upon others, not defeat. You will obtain success instead of defeat if you do this.

All I could think this morning is how flippin’ excited I am about attending 8 Mercedes Benz car presentations in the very near future! EEEKKK!! That means dressing up, getting my hair and nails done, maybe even getting some new shoes!! 😉 Of course, this also means that 8 people have changed hundreds of lives with the gift that is Arbonne. Can’t help but feel inspired about that. ☺

Protein Bar recipe

I’ve had a few people ask me about my delicious protein bars. I, unfortunately, cannot take credit for these. That credit goes to Arbonne International. Smarty pants.

But, I did throw on some raspberries and holy wow! They’re delish! I’m sure you can add strawberries, pomegranate seeds (arils) or blueberries and it would be just as good… I’ll let you know 😉

Here’s the recipe:

Basic Protein Bars
Ingredients
2 cups Arbonne Chocolate or Vanilla Powder (or 1 cup of each)
1 cup Agave nectar or honey or brown rice syrup (DO NOT USE HONEY ON DETOX PLAN, BROWN RICE SYRUP IS LOWEST GLYCEMIC CHOICE)
2 – 3 cups Gluten-­Free oatmeal or brown rice crispy cereal
1 16 oz jar Natural almond butter or peanut butter (check label to make sure there is no added sugar)  ONLY ALMOND BUTTER ON DETOX PLAN

Mix protein and oatmeal together in a bowl then stir in the peanut butter and agave. Press in a pan and then cover the pan with foil and put in the fridge. Cut into bars after 1 – 2 hours. Another option is to roll the mixture into balls the put in a plastic bag or plastic container and store in the fridge.

You could also add cranberries, raisins, pumpkin seeds, nuts and flax seed to make super yummy trail mix bars. BONUS: Add 3 scoops of Fiber Boost to the mix. It’ll help you stay fuller longer, and… ya know, fiber.

Enjoy!

Want to print cute recipe cards? Click here.

How to make a smoothie

I just love this quick newscast. This Dr. describes what you should be putting into your smoothie… (HINT: it’s not sugar, milk or yogurt).

Watch this: What to put into your smoothies

Fruits, healthy fats, water and/or ice, protein, fiber, greens. Mix. Grind. Pour. Enjoy. Pretty simple. I think we can handle that.

Hubs and I are on DAY 3 of our DETOX and so far so good. He’s actually kind of a ‘rule junkie’ – he follows each recipe to a ‘T’ and makes sure he records each meal. I am not so strict about this. I pretty much follow the recipe as far as ingredients ( I know what I can and cannot use) and I was ‘scolded’ this morning for not recording my meals on my tracker sheet. I smiled and said ‘yes dear’. 🙂 Ugh, he’s so freakin’ adorable…

So, whether you’re rule follower like my husband, or a rebel like me just make sure you make your smoothies right so you can get the right amount of nutrients and good stuff. Otherwise you’ll be starving. And that’s not good for anyone. 😉

ARBONNE PRODUCTS SHOWN IN VIDEO:

– Arbonne Protein Shake, vanilla and chocolate

– Arbonne Fiber Boost

– Arbonne Greens Balance

New Year New You…

Go ahead, make your New years resolutions… it’s okay, go ahead… I’ll wait….

Okay, now start an EVOLUTION! Did you see what I did there? 😉  yep…

Seriously, though, you can be a new you in the new year. It’s super cliche to start a detox but WHO CARES?!! As long as it works, you’re healthy and happy – be the cliche and be proud, girl. 😉 (even if you’re a guy reading this, me calling you ‘girl’ is a term of endearment. Watch an episode of Chelsea Lately for reference.)

Arbonne has a plethora of nutrition products that can help you GET HEALTHY! Now, getting healthy doesn’t have to be such a darn chore. You can do it easily and without guilt or pain. And after the 28 day clean eating challenge you’ll just feel good and you won’t even realize that you did anything different. It’s a mindset… it really is.

Look, do you want to keep feeling sluggish all day or do you want some energy? Do you want to clear your skin up or keep having acne? Do you want to be able to fit into THOSE jeans (yes, those ones… we both know the ones I’m talking about. The ones in the back of your closet that you keep WISHING you’d fit into… well, wishing won’t make them fit… getting healthy will!) PS… When you get healthy, you’ll lose weight.. it’s not the other way around.

I’m not here to make you feel guilty or crappy about those jeans or about your weight. I’m here to simply help you. Help me help you! Arbonne did ALL the ground work. They’ve given us all the tools we need to use to really have true health and feel FLIPPIN’ AMAZING!!! All we have to do is follow it. For 28 days. That’s it. You can do anything for 28 days. See → → → → → →

Our next Clean Eating Challenge (or detox, if you will) starts January 5th. There’s really very little you need to do to prepare. You need to buy groceries anyway, right? So I’ll teach you what to buy instead of what you’re already buying – a full shopping list, you’ll get recipes and tips and tricks and the whole shabang.

What in what is this all about anyway? Listen to this informational call. Feel free to take notes. 🙂 (See dial in number below.) UPDATE: Or watch this video! 

To the right is a picture of a gal I know. Her name is Jennie. Arbonne has transformed her wholey. She’s a different person inside and out. It’s given her financial freedom, it gave her her health back, and gave her pure joy. Talk about a pure transformation!!! Sooo exciting!!

So STOP THINKING about doing this and just jump in already! Give yourself the gift of health in 2015 and transform yourself. It really is simple. And oh so worth it.

 

If you’d like to find out more or if you’d like to be contacted via email then fill out the form below.

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Arbonne is an investment

I just read a blog about a mom who used the Arbonne ABC baby care line on her little nuggets. Smart lady. She was simply reviewing it. You can read it here.

She noted the expense of the baby care set- $84 for all 4 products. This is the suggested retail price (SRP). I wanted to break this number down because even though the prices sometimes can give people sticker shock they are worth every single penny for WHAT they are. And by the way… the first time I ever opened an Arbonne catalog and saw the price of the Anti-Aging line (which I was NOT in the market for being that I washed my face with shampoo at the time! HA!) I said – out loud – “holy s***!! That’s NOT happening! hahaha…” I had no intention, no desire to spend that kind of money on something I didn’t know I wanted or needed.

So, I totally understand where this blogger is coming from. Especially since she’s a bargain shopper (like me!!)

Okay, lets break it down. The set is $84 for 4 products: baby wash, lotion, sunscreen and diaper rash creme. At minimum one should have these products for approx 4 months. That’s if you’re using too much product each time. It’s okay, I get it. People are used to having to use 1/8th of the bottle to get any result. But that’s not so with Arbonne. That’s across the board. Even with the baby stuff… “A lil dab’ll do ya.”

….So, 4 months and you’ve used all the products. They’re gone. You’re scraping the bottle to get as much out of them as you can (cuz you paid $84, right?). There are 4 products in the set – that’s $21 per product. Divide that by 4 months = $5.25/month for EACH product.

I DOUBLE-TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU (that means you have to do it 😉 ) to go to Walmart, or even a natural food store, and find a comparable product with the same or better ingredients than what Arbonne has so carefully chosen to use for the ABC baby care products for CHEAPER.

It’s not going to happen. Jus’ sayin’.

And this is the RETAIL price. Preferred Clients save 20% off that and Consultants save 35%. So now, you’re looking at J&J prices with Royalty-level ingredients. EEKK!! It makes me SO EXCITED (can ya tell?!)

I am SO thrilled that this blogging momma loves the products. I hope she continues using them on her precious little ones and then updates her post in a few months when she still has half a bottle left. 🙂

A bad Arbonne day…

I’m not going to lie- that’s not really my thing, lying- I have bad Arbonne days and I question why I’m doing this.

What makes a ‘bad’ Arbonne day, you may ask? Well, a number of things: someone cancelling their party when you were actually EXCITED about the party, showing up for the party and the hostess says “Nobody is coming”, the hostess calling two hours before her party to cancel, FINALLY having the courage to call to ask people to host for you and either nobody answers or they say no after no after no, your significant other commenting on how you said you’d be an RVP by now but you’re not even close, your parents telling you to “get a real job”, someone on your team who you just KNEW would be an NVP quits (they stop doing parties and stop selling and even stop buying products), and something very common that makes a bad Arbonne day is when you haven’t had ANY activity in two weeks- you haven’t seen anyone, or talked to anyone on your team– you feel alone in your Arbonne bubble. Those are the days that make me cry.

If you’re reading this and thinking “why the hell is she doing this if it’s so bad?!” (Trust me, I hear you, and I know! Right?) Well, I will tell you why: because of my why– my children and my grandchildren. Also, because I LOVE all of it. Even the bad days. I will take a bad Arbonne day over a GREAT corporate/retail day 100% of the time! Oh, yeah, and God is moving me to do it- it’s the ONLY job I’ve ever had that I feel RIGHT doing. Even on days I don’t really FEEL like doing a party, I feel RIGHT about it. So, I know I’m on right track, here.

In the two years I’ve been with this outstanding company I’ve been trained, and I’ve been encouraged and I’ve been pushed to be BETTER. I never knew what hard work was until I started my own jewelry business, Handcrafted by Heather, and even then I struggled. It’s easy to let someone pick up slack for me. It’s one of those habits I developed at a very early age and I’m still working on it at the ripe ‘ol age of 29.

You see, the BAD DAYS are what makes me a better Arbonne consultant… not just that, even, but also a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter, friend, aunt and a better Christian. I’ve never been so close to God as I am now. It’s the no’s and the crying and the ‘get a real job’s that keep pushing me. I’ve never wanted to be good at anything as much as I want to be good at Arbonne and being a mother. And here’s the catch: I’ll never be perfect at either. I’m totally okay with it.

I am ALWAYS going to do this, just like I’m ALWAYS going to be a mother and I’m ALWAYS going to be a child of God. If you’re a parent you know that’s not easy! EVER! lol… And knowing that God is our only true judge, watching, waiting, teaching, loving and laughing at our stupid mistakes isn’t a piece of cake, but it’s all worth it in the end, right? When our children smile and say ‘I love you, mommy’, when we see a miracle happen right in front of us, and when a new consultant on your team cries and hugs you and says thank you for giving me Arbonne. Makes the bad days just sort of dissipate.

Group effort

I am sitting here at my computer, as my little guy plays with his lego’s, and thinking about this trip my husband and I are about to take.

We’re going to Las Vegas, NV, for 4 days, and the kiddo’s are staying with my mother, and my dad & step-mom while we’re gone. My mom will get my daughter up to get ready for school, make her lunch and breakfast, and get her on and off the bus for 3 days. Then she’ll drive the kiddo’s to my dad and step moms so the kids can stay with them. 

My aunt and uncle are coming in from California and we will be getting in when they are a couple of days away from flying back out. We will only get to see them because my family is moving around dinner so that we can visit with them, too. We’ll be exhausted and jet lagged, but it’ll be worth it. I only get to see them every so often. Once a year at most. But it’ll all work out for the best. 

So, reflecting on this, all that my family is willing to do for me so that I can go to Las Vegas to fill my Arbonne “cup”, do some training by the pool, love on my Arbonne family, and ‘get away’ for a minute, I’m ever grateful. I realize that not everyone has family so willing to help in this way. I realize that without the efforts, love and support of my family I wouldn’t be where I am today. 

It truly does take a group effort to make this Arbonne thing work, and I think that’s really pretty wonderful. It’s brought me closer to some, and let me know who’s REALLY a supportive friend or family member. It’s opened my eyes, my heart and my mind. There are bigger possibilities now. And one day, I’ll get to SHOW a thank you to these loving people BECAUSE of my Arbonne business. It’ll all circle back around. I have faith in that. 

Until then, I will continue to rely on the GIANT hearts of my supportive family members and keep working this Arbonne thing, because I certainly cannot do it without them. ❤