So there I was, fashionably dressed in my pale blue hospital gown and matching surgical cap, being wheeled into the operating room. Lets just say I looked good, real good. I was just seconds away from being put to sleep for a  N O S E job. H O L L E R! Totally kidding...sorta. Almost a month ago I had surgery for a deviated septum repair. For the last 25 years I was often mistaken for Darth Vader's long lost sister (or Darth himself on my bad days) and I was tired of mistaken identity. So a nose job it was! With having surgery on my nose I knew that washing my face and taking care of my skin like I normally would was out of the question. However I was determined to make sure my skin stayed zit free and fresh through out my recovery and I had come up with a plan of action to do just that! The night before my surgery I got my scrub on with my Clarisonic (LIFE SAVER- if you guys are on the fence about investing in one, let me tell you, you wont be sorry! More on that later...) and followed up with Biore pore strips. You better believe I slapped those puppies on every part of my face a blackhead might have tried to appear! After surgery I couldn't even touch my face for a good couple of days. Biore pore strips are the equivalent of gold in my opinion. After most of the swelling had gone down I used Kirkland brand facial wipes to gently swipe over my face. If you haven't tried these wipes I highly recommend you do so. I have sensitive skin and they weren't irritating at all! They also made my face feel clean and fresh. The power of one little wipe right?!  Now that it has been almost a month since my surgery I am able to be a little more rough with my face. I started using Lush's Mask of Magnaminty! This stuff feels as awesome as the name sounds and bonus, its organic! Its chalk full of peppermint for a deep clean, aduki beans to combat dry flakes, and vanilla to reduce redness. I mean, what more could you want? This mask can be used all over the face, on the back or even on the chest. If you only have a few spots that concern you its great for a spot treatment.

And just to show you how well these products worked for me, here I am in all my  post surgery glory. Not a zit in site, and I haven't had one since! #nofilter #knockonwood

SPF 30 + SPF 25 = SPF 55?

It's going to hit the mid 80's this week and I couldn't be more excited! I wasn't made for the clouds. I was made for sunshine and those little umbrellas that come in all the poolside drinks. Growing up at my house 80 degrees meant one thing.  SWIMMING! I just got excited just thinking about it. My mom always said, " As soon as it's 80 degrees outside, you can go swimming." So naturally we got to know our local meteorologist real well. Now don't go running for your arm floaties yet. Make sure you've got your sunscreen on first. Oh, what's that you say? You're wearing a mixture of SPF 45 and SPF 15, so really you're wearing SPF 60?  WRONG! All through our lives we have been taught that if we add things together we get a greater number. Which is true, but oh so wrong when it comes to sunscreen. Whenever you use SPF, which stands for sun protection factor, the highest number you use will always be the SPF at work. So if you slather on SPF 30, SPF 50, and then an SPF 15 you wont have on SPF 95 but SPF 50. SPF is never going to be an equation. Ya with me so far? Lets go back to what SPF means. Sun protection factor means the amount of time you can stay in the sun without getting a sun burn. Of course this depends on your skin type. Here's an example. If I am in Hawaii (I wish) and I use SPF 25, I can hang out at the beach and drink pinacoladas 25 times longer than I could had I not used any sunscreen. So make sure not to skip the SPF. You're less likely to get skin damage, and you're extending your play time in the sun! Lets be honest, those are two things we can both celebrate.

Ink + Ice

This week was a HUGE week for me! I was lucky enough to be featured on two different wedding inspiration websites with a great group of girls, AND I got a nose job! I'm kidding about the nose job, sorta. I had a deviated septum repaired so I will stop breathing like Darth Vader (I'm 1000% serious about the Darth Vader thing). Here are some of my favorite shots captured by the insanely talented  Mary Claire Photography. The rest of the shoot can be found here on The Perfect Palette. Go ahead and feast your eyes!

Photography: Mary Claire Photography 

Wardrobe Styling: Golden Swank 

Event Styling & Florals: Amber Reverie

Hair: Katy Dix

Makeup: Hailee Day

Jewelry: Katie Waltman

Lovely Models: Jess, Kat, Ariel, and Jessi