(upbeat music)
- Hey everyone.
It's your girl, Jenn.
And I cannot believe we are already
at the end of the first month of 2020.
I don't know about you guys,
but January has been just splendid, unbelievable.
It's been a really great month for me.
And I think it's because I have been
putting a lot of new habits into practice.
And it's just been deeply satisfying.
So, for today's video,
I wanted to shout out some of the things
that have attributed to my happiness.
So let's get started.
So let's start cracking on with some beauty tools.
This is a makeup sponge by Bitti.
My friend, Pony, gave me two of these
while she was here in L.A.
For years I have been using the Beauty Blender.
And I never thought to go, dip my toes anywhere else.
But this was the month where I was like,
let's try and blend with some new tools.
And this sponge from Bitti is so unbelievably soft.
And, because of its texture,
it's able to seamlessly blend all the foundation,
and the concealer, on my face.
I also use this to bake,
if I am going to do a big shoot
and I need my face to be completely snatched and mat,
this is just a great tool that I've been loving.
So I have, yet again, another blending tool.
I've been busy.
I've been finding different techniques to blend out my face.
This is the Blendiful by Tati Beauty.
I swear, every time Tati gives me something,
I just still so starstruck that she knows that I exist.
It also creates a beautiful, natural finish.
I didn't think a finish like that was possible
with something that's made out of cloth,
but it really does it.
I like that it's very flexible.
I'll use one end for my foundation.
If I need to blend out my concealer, I'll fold it,
and then I'll tuck it into that little crevice.
And you can also use this to powder too.
I just really appreciate things that multitask.
I used it in my last get ready with me video
where I talk about friendships and toxic relationships.
So, if you guys haven't seen that video,
I'll leave it in the cards.
So, prior to this month,
I didn't really understand the use of bronzer.
I just went directly to contour because it's shaped
and made you look like you had some dimension.
But, this month I was introduced
to Il Makiage's Paparazzi Bronzer.
And I finally understand why people use this.
I have only been contouring my nose
and ditching doing the cheekbones.
I've been skipping it.
And I'm just going straight to bronzer.
I put it on my cheeks, my temples, and the tip of the nose.
And it just creates this really sun-kissed, glowy look,
like you've been out in the sun all day
but without the UV rays.
And it just makes you look very, very, healthy,
which I am obsessed with.
I know it's January and we're in the middle of winter,
but there's nothing wrong
with just having a sun-kissed face.
That will never go out of season.
For my skincare favorite,
I have found my favorite daycream to use.
It is this one by Darphin,
is their Hydraskin Lightgel Cream.
I've been using this daycream for a couple of months now.
And, as you can see, it's well loved.
I have used it in different environments.
It was with me in the winter of London.
And it has been with me in L.A.
It kept my skin hydrated.
It works with all the other skincare items that I use.
And I love the way it sits under makeup.
It definitely has that gel, sorbet, texture.
And it just absorbs really quickly.
With some other day creams,
sometimes it just be sitting on there for 20 minutes.
I need my creams to absorb as fast as possible
because I am ready to get out the door.
Now, let's move onto some books.
I wanna talk about "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sobriety,"
by Catherine Gray.
Now, I picked this up because I did Dry January.
That meant that I did not have a single drop of alcohol
in my body for 31 days.
Now, (laughs) if I'm truthful, this is the longest time
I've ever been without alcohol since turning 21.
I don't know, it was a big feat for me.
And I wanted to read material to keep me motivated
and also keep me informed, as well.
This book really breaks down the damage
and the effects that alcohol does on our bodies
and our minds,
and how society pressures us into drinking.
It reminded me that alcohol is a drug.
It's a psychoactive drug.
It is a legalized, glorified, drug
that is applied in so many cultures.
The author pointed out that alcohol is the only drug
where you have to explain why you don't do it.
Because, with any other drug, when you say, "I'm good,"
no one's like, "why, what's going on?"
This book, in combination with this month,
just made me reevaluate how often I want to ingest alcohol.
Because I felt like, in the past,
I felt that I truly needed alcohol to help me socialize,
to drink to celebrate, to drink to relax.
And now that I've proven to myself
that I don't need to drink to do all these things,
it's really been empowering.
I'm not gonna quit alcohol forever.
I'm definitely gonna have a couple of cocktails,
now and again.
But definitely not the frequency
that I've been doing in the past.
I kinda wanna do a video explaining how I feel
after being sober for this long.
Because I truly have never felt this focused,
this creative, this alert, in my entire life.
And it is so, so refreshing.
You guys already know how much I love Brene Brown.
I am on a soft mission to read all of her books.
And I'm on track, I must say.
This is my third book that I've read by her.
This is called "Rising Strong."
The first one was "Gifts of Imperfection."
Second one was "Daring Greatly,"
which was on my Top Books of 2019.
And yeah, I finished "Rising Strong" this month.
And it couldn't have come at a better time.
It kind of hops on the research that she has
about vulnerability and shame,
and just kind of zooms in that moment
of what actually happens when you're on the floor,
at the lowest point of your life.
It breaks down that part where you're starting to rise up.
Because, I feel like a lot of those stories
that involve rags to riches or the underdog rising up,
it's kind of rushed during that part.
But this book really examines that part
and what it's like to sit in that discomfort.
And it really came at a perfect time for me.
I made sure to read this book at the end of this month
because, by the time you're watching this,
I will be at a "Rising Strong" workshop.
I wanna call it a conference.
But it's not a conference because it's not about work.
But workshop has the word work in it.
But I'm gonna be at this "Rising Strong" retreat, I guess,
where we're gonna be implementing the tools
that we learned in this book,
and trying to apply it in our real life.
And I'm just so excited to see who will be there,
what I'll learn.
It will be really exciting.
So I wanted to make sure I did my recommended reading
before heading to the retreat.
Yeah, I'll let you guys know how that is too.
I'm planning on vlogging it
because it will be a solo trip.
This year, one of my focuses
was to be more mindful and aware of my own thoughts.
And meditation is obviously the best for that.
But it's really hard to keep up with the meditation train.
However, I have been using this app called Calm,
that has made meditating so exciting for me.
I actually look forward to my meditation practices.
And Calm is really great because,
I mean, first of all, I absolutely love Tamara's voice.
There's something so calming about it.
I don't think I could get sick of her voice.
Not gonna lie, Headspace was great,
but I just got tired of that guy's voice after a while.
I was like, (groans), there needs to be an option
to change this.
So, each session is only 10 minutes long.
I believe you can go longer.
I think that's an option.
But I like to keep it 10 minutes
because everybody has 10 minutes to spare,
no matter how busy you are.
There are 10 minutes
that you can just lock yourself in a room
and just meditate.
And I think because it's that period of time,
it allows me to not have any excuses to not meditate.
And I also love the fact that each session has a lesson.
So it will really just kind of set you up for the day
and make you feel inspired and a little bit lighter.
What has helped me with my meditation streak
is I always like to roughly meditate at the same time.
I like to do it after I shower, after my workout.
And I'll just literally be on this bed, and I'll meditate.
And Cheeky will be by my feet.
It's just a nice time that really feels so wholesome
and fulfilling, and something that I look forward to.
You can also use the app at night, as well.
There's a bunch of guided sessions
where she'll lull you to sleep.
Matthew McConaughey has sleepy time stories too.
I try to listen to that one,
but I can't listen to Matthew McConaughey's voice.
I keep on laughing because it sounds
like he's in the room with you.
But if you're into that, that option is there.
So the last favorite I have are binoculars.
I got this on a La Mer trip.
It's a very bougie binocular set.
It's a Swarovski La Mer binocular set.
But I got this as a gift.
And when I got it was like, oh, these are really nice,
but what use would I have them for?
I just always thought you needed binoculars for,
I don't know, for bird watching or, I don't know,
spying or something.
But I recently took these to a concert.
I went to see Rex Orange County.
And since I was doing Dry January,
I was like how can I make my concert experience more fun.
And I was like, binoculars!
Oh, it completely enhanced my concert experience.
I was able to see everything on stage,
from the shoes to them playing their instruments,
to the set design.
I felt like I was on stage.
I'm gonna bring these binoculars to every show
that I go to, especially Coachella.
Because you go to Coachella and it's fun and all,
but you can't really see anything.
I'm 5'1", so god forbid, a tall person sits in front of me.
I'm just screwed.
So I always have to be in the back
and listen to the music that way.
But I'm always straining my eyes.
Not anymore.
These binoculars have completely changed the game for me.
I'm just saying, if you're a shorty and you love concerts
but you always struggle to see,
buy yourself some binoculars.
All right, that is a wrap on my January favorites.
I have also made a January playlist in my description box,
so please click that open.
It is, essentially a playlist that reminds me
that I am constantly evolving, that I'm growing,
and leveling up.
Hopefully it inspires you guys too.
I want this playlist, this monthly playlist thing,
to happen every month.
We'll see if I can keep this habit up.
But it's really fun,
because February will be all love songs.
March will be, I feel like it'll be like fitness music,
music that makes me wanna get up and jump.
And then April is sad, rainy songs.
I have stuff that's in the mix.
I would love to know how your January was.
Was it good for you?
Was it bad?
Was it just meh?
Let me know in the comments down below.
I really love connecting with you guys that way.
Call me old fashioned, but there's nothing better
than typing out on keyboard.
The phone keyboard, I'm like (groans),
it's such a first world problem.
But there's something about typing on those keys.
But, anywho, I wanna thank you guys so much for watching
and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Bye! Muah!
(smooth groove music)