New YOU resolutions

As this year comes to an end, it naturally forces us to take a look back on the events that occurred, people we encountered, loved ones we lost, and the  victories we celebrated. 

Each new year usually starts off with all of us setting goals to achieve over the next 365 days! The most popular being weight loss! 

As I am almost 8 months pregnant weight loss isn't really on my radar at the moment. I'm more concerned with having an easy labor and bringing a happy, healthy little girl into the world!

Even though most of my mind is set on entering parenthood and becoming a mom, I know I still need to set time aside to do things for myself! 

I compiled a list of little things us woman can all do to give back to our selfs! Most take little to no time & have a huge feel good impact after completed! 

1. Meditate

If this is something you aren't familiar with, you are missing out.

No it's not just for hippies! It's one of the best ways to start & end each day! I usually do it at the end, as I lay down for bed. I take a few moments to reflect on my day and then I let my mind slip away and let go of everything. 

If you are a beginner there are guided meditations that you can just google or look up on YouTube. Put your headphones in & let them do all the work! Once you get the hang of it you can easily do it yourself. 

My husband and I have been doing this occasionally as we lay down to sleep!  It's been a great bonding experience and allowes us both to let go of life's everyday frustrations & stress. 

2. Moistuirze. 

I'm sure most of you already do this! But I am surely slacking. I'm horrible at taking care of my skin! You're lucky if I even take my makeup off at night! (I know,gross!) 

But within the last 6 months I have been trying to add this to my daily routine! Some days are hit or miss. 

But the days I remember to moisturize before I apply my make up, not only does  my makeup last longer, I feel better. 

My skin feels softer & I feel good giving back to myself. Life is always on "GO" for me! So it's nice to take a moment and do something for yourself. This easy daily step can have a great long term effect  on your skin, preventative wise!

3. Deep conditioners & hair repair. 

Rather you get a deep conditioner every time you are in the salon, or take matters into your own hands and do it yourself at home... Make sure you are taking care of your hair!

These Schwarzkopf "shots" are a new service we are offering in my salon for $20 & they are a big hit! 

There are three different types! 

1. Shine

2. Moisture 

3. Repair

So no mater what your hair is lacking there is a solution! They only have to sit in the hair for like 10 minutes & you get s great scalp massage while its processing!

This is a great at home one that you can do every few shampoos. It smells delicious. I know the holidays are over, but it totally smells like Christmas! Who doesn't want to smell like Christmas !

I actually have this in my shower currently and use it often. It leaves my hair soft and shiny! It's full of nutrients that replinish what my hair is lacking from all the coloring, heat & teasing I put it through! I recommend shampooing twice and then applying this before you do anything else! That way while you wash, shave and everything else is has time to sit the 3-5 minutes the bottle suggest! You can even sleep in this one over night if you wrap your hair up in a shower cap!

Some other easy hair tips to help keep your hair healthy in the new year are: 

- use less heat : air dry as much as possible!! And only flat iron it curl if need be!

- only color your roots (don't have color pulled through) : just coloring your roots doesn't damage anything! Your roots are all virgin hair so 9 times out of 10 they will still feel healthy after a chemical service. 

- use the product, its a 10! (This needs its own blog & that might just have to be the first one of the new year!) : it's a great leave in conditioner that does 10 different things for your hair!

4. Monthly Manicures.  

If you don't have it in your budget to get your nails professionally done, do them yourself or have a girls night where you all do each other's!

There is nothing better than a fresh manicure. I always feel so much better afterwards. Fancy polish isn't a must- but it sure does make it fun! I get all my ideas from Pinterest or the girls who do nails in my salon! 

The photo above are my NYE nails! So of course they called for some bling!

I know life gets busy & maybe it's hard to make time for things like this... But there are so many quick drying, or at home gel polish lines now that there is no excuse!

5. Lip Treatments. 

Either of these make great lip treatments. I personally like to combine them to make a 2 step lip treatment I try to do weekly.

The first one is like $3 from E.L.F. 

I purchase all my E.L.F. Products from target! It is applied like a lipstick but has a built in exfoliant to help rub off all that excess dead skin that just builds up on your lips. 

Then the second one is just some good old fashioned Vaseline! After I exfoliate I use a q-tip to apply this all over to help moisturize and soften. Especially if my lips are chapped, which happens often this time of year!

Soft subtle lips are a must if you are a lip stick lover ! There is nothing worse than a girl rocking red lips with cracks, and build up! 

6. Downsize on sugar intake! 

This usually goes hand and hand with weight loss tips, and it will definitely make a difference in your diet, but since being pregnant and having to follow a million rules as to what goes in my mouth, I have monitored my sugar intake more and noticed over time that the less sugar I eat the more clear my skin looks! Who doesn't want flawless skin? This is an easy way to make that happen without using products full of chemicals! 

So as you kick off 2015, try a few if not all of these steps to achieve a new YOU for the new YEAR! 

Xoxo,

Molly

How To Plan The Perfect Dinner Party

Those of you that know me well, know I have a huge passion for planning and designing events.

I am always looking for an excuse to host a get together. My husband is always less than thrilled when I inform him of a new one on the calender. He knows how much work I put into them, and that means he will be doing some major cleaning and additions to the house the whole week leading up to the event!

None the less, they are always a success and we have such a great time with our loved ones.

The latest event I planned was 

a "Friends giving" this past Sunday.

Since the week of the holiday is always crazy, and the day of we spend most of our time in the car traveling from family to family, I thought it would be nice to have some of our friends over so we could relax and enjoy this time of year with them.

It was so nice, as we are 6 months pregnant,  two friends are newly engaged, one couple has an 8 month old beautiful little girl, and the other girls got to bring their new boyfriends around to meet us all for the first time! So we obviously all had lots of catching up to do.

With all of that being said, here is my take on how to plan the perfect dinner party.

1. Invitations.
I am a big believer in formal/informal invitations for any event. It makes it more special, and gets guest more excited. It also gives all the information of your event some place to live so that your guest aren't asking your 21 questions, a million times a day leading up to the main event! 

Here are the invites I sent out via email for this occasion. I used an app that is FREE called "Paperless Post". I have a feeling this will be my go to for many events in the future. I cropped the bottoms portion our to conceal our address, but I ended the invitation with "rsvp with a dish"

The app is amazing. It allows you to design your own invitation, add the guest list with their email address (or you even have the option of adding mailing address and it will send them out for you snail mail style, for a small fee). 

The best part about the app is once guest open their invite , they can click RSVP and send a message, so as I told you, at the bottom of this invitation I requested they RSVP with a dish..

So once everyone had done so, I could just click on that app and could pull up my menu and guest list at any time to refer back to! Genius right?

2. Menu.
This is probably a given with Thanksgiving.. but I informed them all I would make the turkey, stuffing, gravy & bread and requested they all bring a side dish or desert. 

Our menu ended up being delicious when it was completed. It consisted of all the fixings of my dishes, as well as green bean casserole, broccoli cheese & rice casserole, sweet potato casserole, a veggie tray,  mashed potatoes, macaroni salad, cranberry salad, pumpkin pie, apple pie, cheery pie, and a pinterest inspired dish I created called "apple nachos"! 

We were all in a food coma afterwards to say the least.

Don't forget to include drinks in your menu! My husband and I are not big drinkers anyways, and especially since I am pregnant I requested if they wanted something alcoholic, they should BYOB. However I supplied sweet tea, water, and apple cider. I even had an old bottle of wine that was a house warming gift I pulled out to go with our drinking station, since neither of us would be drinking it anytime soon. 

3. Seating.
We are no longer cramming people into a small apartment space, since we are now homeowners, however we did have to come up with a solution for seating since our current dining room table only seats 4 people, and we had invited 8. 

I used social media for this quick fix. I put up a status asking if anyone had a card table and chairs that I could borrow for the time being. Right away a few people graciously responding and I was able to snag one with 4 extra chairs!

Don't spend money where you don't have to! I always resort to borrowing first, mostly from my mother :) I mean hey, what else are they for!

 I was still in need of 2 extra chairs, luckily we had a couple laying around from an older dinning set we had before, so I used some of those.

4. Decor.
I am such a "theme" girl. I like to pick a theme and stick with it so everything has a cohesive look when its finished. 

Obviously it being for Thanksgiving I wanted to stick with the traditional corn, pine cones, and pumpkins. Now thanks to Halloween being over it was almost impossible to find pumpkins anywhere in the city, so I just used some fake pumpkins that I had for decoration around my house as accent pieces in the kitchen.

 My mother had found this old box of gold utensils that my grandmother left me, and I knew they would be perfect for this event. I used them as my inspiration and I went with a "gold" theme. I bought gold and white stripped straws for our drink station, and some gold and white ribbon to wrap the utensils in! I even got crafty and spray painted some pine cones gold!

5. Place Settings.
Most of my parties are more casual and don't require an actual place setting, but with it being a sit down dinner- this is a must! I kept it casual with an informal setting. I used my white dishes, and a white napkin as the backdrop to my silverware. 

I then used my gold spray painted pine cones to hold the name tags for the guest, so they knew where their seat was. This was the first time I actually did assigned seating, but with so many new couples, I wanted to make sure everyone was comfortable and not wandering where they were going to sit.

I then placed mason jars at the corner of every ones place settings, for drinks. (I have an excessive amount of these, that I use for parties and daily drinking glasses, thanks to my parents I basically grew up drinking out of them.)

The table itself was my kitchen table, and the borrowed card table pushed together covered with my Grandmothers orange linen tablecloth that she left my mom after she passed. I then used two burlap runners that I collected after a friends wedding I was in!

I used left over pine cones to fill a big glass bowl that I put in the center of the table, I then laid out some fake leaves I bought from the Dollar Store, and two corn husk's that my mother had given me to add to my fall decor.

It turned out pretty well, and I was very pleased. I had every intention of spray painting the leaves gold to go with my theme, but time and energy got away from me, so I left them as I bought them.

6. Serving Table.
I lined one of my counters with two more burlap runners, and a smaller chevron burlap runner I had and place a sequined pumpkin in the corner, and a flower arrangement I had been using all fall as the center piece on my normal dinning room table. I also added some big jars of candles for mood lighting.

When planning a dinner party you also want to take in to consideration your serving dishes. Luckily between by mom and I had everything I needed. I had a big white platter that I believe was my grandmothers as well, to serve the turkey on once it was cut. My mother lending me some casserole dishes for my stuffing and sweet potato casserole, and I used a white milk glass cake stand to serve my beer battered bread on.

You want to make sure this part looks presentable as well, and is easy to self serve. You would never want to place the turkey out, in the roasting pan it was cooked in and expect people to just tear away at it. 

I actually had my husband cut it down about an hour or two before everyone got here, and placed it back in the oven on low, to keep it warm until everyone was ready to eat.

Also on my serving table was a mason jar full of clean forks and spoons for desert. No one wants to have to do the dishes just to eat the 2nd course. Be prepared!

7. Favors.
What is a party, without party favors? These items can very. But I NEVER have an event without them. It shows your guest appreciation and thanks them for coming, and in this case cooking something as well! 

 I choose to bake something this time. I made mini loves of bread in all flavors, (pumpkin, banana nut, cranberry, and cinnamon swirl) and wrapped them in clear cellophane wrap (Like what you use for Easter baskets) and placed these cute little cards I found on Pinterest and was able to print for free & tied it with a little ribbon.

I am all about resorting to Pinterest when planning parties. Not only for inspiration, but they have HUNDREDS of free printables for just about any occasion imaginable.

8. Prep.
Do as much as you can the night leading up to your event. My mom came over to help me the night before. We set up the table completely.  I made all my mini loves, & main loaf of bread, and I prepped the turkey so that all I had to do they day of was put it in the oven, and make my side dishes. 

I set up my drinking station with everything, except for the drinks of course as I wanted them to chill all night in the fridge.

I even did some cleaning the night before so in the morning I only had the main big things left (sweeping the floors, cleaning & stocking the bathroom).

 One place you don't want to neglect is the bathroom. Make sure you have enough toilet paper, and that it is visible and guest don't have to go hunting for it. I keep about 3-4 extra rolls in a basket on the back of the toilet. I also keep a  basket of mints in there for them. It is always so nice to have a few around for them, especially with all the different foods.

9. Clean as you go.
I am very lucky that I have friends who are helpful. They did the dishes twice while they were here for Friends giving without me even asking. They said it was the least they could do to help. 

However most guest wont be a generous. Be sure to clean as you go. Serve everyone else desert and before you enjoy yours, do up some dishes really quick, collect trash, refill anything needed for the drink station. 

Then relax with your guest. I will often be cleaning and pick up while chit-chatting with everyone. They don't call it multi-tasking for nothing! It will make your night easier, when they have all come and gone and your left with the mess.



10. ENJOY!
At this point you have worked so hard, now try to enjoy it before it's gone!


Xoxo
Molly

THE must have scarf!

Here in Ohio, snowflakes are falling ...

Storefronts have changed everything over to show their Christmas cheer! 

& Although we have been drinking our pumpkin spice latte's since August we finally are deep into the fall lifestyle...and slowly busting out our winter gear. 

Last night my mom and I went to a shop hop in my little town & I had to dig out the mittens, winter coat, and hat to comfortably go from store to store! 

But to complete my outfit was a new purchase that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine! 

A BLANKET SCARF! 

Yes I said blanket, & no 

I do not mean a snuggle!

They are large scarf's that come in all sorts of patterns, my favorite are the plaid patterned ones! Specially the red and green ones! They are so festive. 

I got mine at the old navy outlet for like $12! But they go all the way to designer prices, as Zara has been featuring a lot in their fall collection this year! 

There are many ways you can wear them! If you just type in "blanket scarf"  on Pinterest, millions of styles and ways to wear them will come up! 

Here are a few of my favorites:

I just looped it around like a normal scarf but I love how large and chunky it is, it just hangs and is so oversized, warm and cozy!

You can also wear it as a cape! Which I love and can't wait to do!

My ultimate fav, is another cape style, but belted! How stinking cute is this!!!! 

So I'm telling you, if you don't have a blanket scarf already, your wardrobe is missing a staple piece this winter!

So go get'cha one !

Xoxo,

Molly

Fall Style 2014

I'm alive! 

I want to start off by apologizing for being absent on the beauty front. Pregnancy is life changing to say the least. 

But now that I'm at the half way point and the second trimester has given me an extra boost of energy I am going to take advantage of it while it last! 

I have had many clients & friends asking me about fall style, so this post is my take on what is trending this fall, at least here in Ohio. 

So let's not waste anymore time & start talking all things fashion, hair & makeup. 

Clothes:

Fall/Winter clothing is my fav! 

I love to layer, and my boot obsession is out of this world! I love all things cozy and warm! This year I'm really into the color pallet that is on trend! 

Be on the hunt for all things in the red family! Key pieces in this tone are a must! Cranberry is my favorite. I recently purchased a cream & cranberry chevron dress for $12 from Charoltte Russe that I debuted at a friends Engagement party this past weekend & it was a huge hit! I got so many compliments on it & felt really good in it

(21 weeks pregnant and all)

Notice the boots in the photo, do not - I repeat DO NOT go this season without a staple pair of camel colored boots! 

They are a must! 

Don't worry about mixing and matching them with all color pallets either!

 My mother always told me the following are neutrals:

White

Black

Nudes

Navy

Browns

Meaning they can all be worn together and mingled to make the perfect outfit! Don't be scared to wear brown with black, and trust me you don't look like a "bruise" when you pair blue with black. 

Back to the layering! 

Tights or leggings, with dresses and jackets or cardigans are my favorite. 

I also love layering my tank tops under button downs & throwing a cute v-neck sweater over them! 

Don't forget about belts!! I have been playing with them more since I'm pregnant! 

( like the way they accent my bump!)

 A friend of mine always compliments them and ask for tips! I told her that I just throw them on over anything even If I have a jacket on, I just toss one on under it! I even tie them in a bow sometimes if they are too big or long!

Here are more colors and patterns

that are trending this fall

I think a new "season" is always a great time to reinvent ourselves! So don't by shy!

Hair: 

My one true love. 

& this year the trend is in my favor. 

All things braided and short! 

Yea I said it - SHORT! 

Long hair, we do care! 

Normally ladies keep warm with their luscious locks all winter long & chop it all off come summer! This year the tables have turned! And I couldn't be happier!

As a stylist I see the same styles client after client and most consultations go a little something like this ... 

" I want to keep my length, but I need a change, but I don't like layers & I hate bangs" 

So that translated to me pretty much means you want me to work my magic to keep your hair exactly the same but you feeling like you look like a super model when you leave my salon!

Majority of the time this is impossible! So I love the opportunity to guide someone on their journey to going shorter by giving my professional opinion on what is going to look best for face shape! 

Below are two of my amazing clients that both took the leap this year and joined the bob trend that Lauren Conrad recently did herself! 

This is Kelli, a client of mine who has been with me since beauty school and is a new mommy! She has been short before but pregnancy and those prenatal's did wonders and gave her mermaid hair! It was just becoming too much to her and she wanted a sleeker style that was easier to maintain in her new lifestyle. 

Kelli is always some shade of red. We play around and tweak the formulation each time, but she always has fabulous red hair when she leaves my chair, and this time was no exception. 

What a transformation! 

Tell me you don't love it? 

Kelli was actually able to donate her hair to Locks of Love to help make wigs for cancer patients! What a gift!

A newer client of mine, but someone ice known for years was also struggling with how to style her long hair. She was staring some new journeys in her life and was ready for a change to go along with them! 

She showed me a picture of Kristin Cavallari from Laguna Beach, when she had her shorter, piecy bob. 

So that's exactly what we did! We started out a little longer this summer, but recently did this the last time she was in! Doesn't it look stunning? It just frames her face so nicely! 

As far as hair color trends go for this season, reds, auburn, melted ombre's, and more a natural thin highlight- not super chunky are popular. 

Red and auburn are so perfect this one of year. They compliment the trending colors of the season as well as giving some clients the chance to go darker for fall, which most clients enjoy. 

Melted ombre's are becoming a favorite of mine & I see this trend lasting for years! My salon recently hosted a class taught by a stylist from California who does hair to the celebs... 

Such as, the cast of vampire diaries, the hunger games, the Mindy project & more!  She taught us this fantastic ombre technique that I can't get enough of! It the most blended way I have ever seen an ombre turn out! No more lines, or marks indicating where one color stops and another starts. It simply allows the colors to flow into one another giving it that "melting" effect. 

Chunky, Kelly Clarkson hair do days are done! For most anyways. Some still love it and can pull it off quite well. Many are switching to a softer, more fine, thin highlighted pieces or balyage. 

Balyage is when the color is applied on the hair in a "painted technique" not in foils or papers like a usual highlighting services. It's made to give a more natural sun kissed effect. 

Lastly, braids! 

I don't know who we have to thank more for this growing trend;

Lauren Conrad

Katniss Everden 

Or Elsa from Frozen. 

But I'll take it! Braids are my favorite! I love adding them to updos for texture or to a style that's mostly down for a more dresses up look! 

Braids are also a 

great way to hide dirty 

hair on your off shampooing days!! 

I go to Pinterest for all of my inspiration to create new braided looks! In fact I have a "Beauty and the Beehive" board on my Pinterest, to follow it click here!

I am always pinning new styles, make up and hair tricks, as well as some DIY home remedies that I have recently been trying myself! (Hoping to do a blog on that for you soon once I have some solid evidence to back it up- but so far I'm loving it!)

Make-up:

I feel like fall is all about lips and nails for me! I don't wear much lipstick or gloss in the summer time! I usually just keep my lips smothered in Chapstick to keep them from getting sunburned. 

But I love when fall rolls around because I bust out my favorite, red lipstick & go to town. 

Makeup.com did a great post recently on fall lip trends, here is a sneak peak at it to see what's is popular this year for fall lips:

I will say with lip colors, keep in mind the base tone! Taking you back to your elementary school days when you learned your color wheel, I use it daily in my line of work but for those of you that haven't thought about it in years, try revisiting it to remind yourself that purple cancels out yellow tones! 

When it comes to teeth, YELLOW is the last thing we want to see! So try to pick lip colors that compliment your skin time, while still having a plum, violet, or blue base to them. These color will be on the cooler side and not so warm. 

Even corals and orange colored lip sticks have a violet base options.  

There are always hundreds of "red" lip tones to choose from, so the next time you are at the store, browsing the make up department check out the lip shades! 

As far as nail polish goes, you can't go wrong with that very trendy cranberry color I was telling you about earlier. But here are a few more choices:

Personally I was so excited to see white on this list. It is by far my favorite nail color, but as a hair stylist and dealing with hair color all day it is very hard for me to have and maintain a pretty white manicure. By the end of the week it looks dingy, and gross. Nudes are always a great go to this time of year! Especially with all the festive holiday attire we rock, it goes perfectly with whatever we decide to wear!

Last tip for you is about bronzer! 

Just because the sun isn't out doesn't mean you need to put your bronzer away! Keep it out! Maybe even by a shade lighter as your tan fades away this winter, but every girl should have a healthy glow to her! My favorite bronzer is actually from elf. I got it for $3 at target and it's the "contouring bronzer/blush duo" that is similar to the NARS brand one you can get at Sephora. 

__________________________________________

Before I go, I wanted to let you know I am offering FREE consultations via email (or if you live locally, in my salon). From now until the end of the year! So if there is anything you have ever wanted to ask me, DON'T HESITATE! Shoot me an email at beautyandthebeehiveblog@gmail.com and we can talk hair, make-up, or what to wear to upcoming holiday events! If you live locally and are ready for a hair change, just call this number (614-834-7111) to set up your FREE consultation at Irelands Spa & Salon II. We can look at color swatches, and I can really go in depth on what style would be perfect for you this fall! 

I hope you enjoyed these tips, 

feel free to email me for your 

FREE HOLIDAY CONSULTATION!

Happy fall y'all ! 

Xoxo 

Molly. 

I'm going to be a MOM

Incase you haven't heard the fabulous news...

My husband and I are expecting our first child in March 2015!
We could not be more excited...but this is why I have been so absent on the beauty front.
Morning sickness is no joke! But below are some photos from our announcement shoot I wanted to share with all of you! Our dear friend Justine From Justine Linn Photography did them and if you are local you should check her out!


Also while you're at it, head on over to my NEW blog that I have been working on to help document this journey I take into motherhood. It's called "Beauty & the Babyy" and you can click here for the link.

We are already so overwhemled by all the love and support from our friends and family!

I am looking forward to doing lots of beauty DIY for "mommies" now <3

xoxo, 

Molly.

French braid up-do

First things first! 

So sorry I have not posted in weeks! 

Life has been a littler crazier than usual! I am in the process of making a second blog that I will be releasing in a few months and I have been working on getting it ready! I am very excited to share it with all of you! 

So stay tunned for it!

I promise to get back to posting regularly and actually would love some ideas for blogs from all of you! So message, text or email me things you would like to learn about! All my social media contact information are located on the contact page!

Now, why your really here...tutorial time!

It's summer.

It's hot. 

Well if you live anywhere but Ohio, it's hot. Today it's in the low 70's here. But this October baby isn't complaining. I would love fall year round! However, most of you are experiencing extreme heat! 

My favorite way to keep my hair off my neck is a quick up-do! 

This one is currently my favorite. 

I created it about a month ago for our house warming party. I had all intentions of curling my hair, teasing it & looking fabulous, but that day it was hotter than hot! 

My husband and I were running around like mad men an hour before to put finishing touches on everything and I just ran out of time to primp myself. So I started braiding and threw my hair up! 

I ended up loving it & got so many compliments on it that day! 

I've worn it like this once a week since! It's also great for the last few days of dirty girl hair in between shampoos, that's when it actually holds best!

It only takes 3 simples steps, and you can customize it depending on the length and thickness of your hair! It looks so cute if your hair is pre curled as well!

Step 1. 

Tease at your base towards the top of your forehead. Brush all the hair back out of your face prepping it to braid. By teasing your base it helps to lift the braid off your head making it full and not just lay flat to your scalp. The more you tease, the more volume you will get! So be creative and make it fit whatever style you are trying to achieve. 

Step 2.

BRAID! Start at the center of your forehead and section the hair into 3 pieces, to start your French braid! I think the bigger the pieces the better it looks! Braid all the way down to the bottom of your occipital bone, about an inch up from the nape of your neck!

Step 3. 

To secure the bottom you have a couple options. If you have short hair like me all you will need are a few bobby pins! 

I just twist the remaining hair into a c shape and start pinning like crazy. The more messy it looks, the better! 

Perfect hair is for your wedding day! 

I even love how some of my layers fall out and look loose and messy. 

If you have longer hair or thicker hair than I do, which I promise most of you do :)

Be sure to secure it in pony tail or rubberband then get creative and pin a messy bun or tuck it all up so it just looks like the braid stops in mid air. 

Then spray with your favorite setting spray to secure. You all know my go to is kenra 25! 

Braid on ! 

Xoxo, 

Molly