6 Personal Beauty Goals (and a request for advice!)

I don't wear very much makeup. And truthfully, I don't care all that much about how I look. I care much more about how I feel. Personally, I definitely feel prettier, cleaner, and happier with a little mascara and eyeliner at least. I do like to look my best for Dalin, but he loves to tell me that I don't even need makeup (which every girl probably loves to hear from their boyfriend or spouse, but rarely believes;). As much as I appreciate him saying that, I just feel better with some eye makeup. That said, I am usually okay with ditching the blush and eyeshadow unless we're doing something special or going somewhere where pictures will likely be taken.

If you know me, you probably know or have noticed that I like to have my makeup look natural. I just want it to enhance my appearance, not make me look like a completely different person. Ideally, it would look like I'm not wearing any makeup (it would just look like I have long dark eyelashes and my skin has a permanent healthy glow;). There is of course, the occasional exception to this--once in a blue moon I like to do something fun or crazy with my eye shadow, but in general I definitely stick with neutral skin-toned makeup.

Despite my anti-makeup-sounding attitude, I like makeup and think it's fun to put on (unless I'm having a bad day or I'm in a hurry--then I just feel crappy). I also have personal beauty goals that I'd ultimately like to "achieve" for myself. And now I'm going to share them with you because you just might find that we have similar beauty goals or that you would like to make some of your own.

Mary Kay Satin Lips lip balm, Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara in brown/black, Covergirl espresso eye pencil, Clinique Mocha Pink blush, and neutral-gold tones eye shadow from Forever 21

1. Get my teeth completely sorted out. This means getting my wisdom teeth out asap (only because I foresee future problems from keeping them even though I technically have room for them). I then need to get my bottom front incisor to go back in place (my other teeth have crowded it a bit, making my bottom retainer miserable to wear). Eventually have my root canal tooth whitened (from the inside). Get the rest of my teeth whitened and maintain them (I eat tons of foods that are infamous for staining teeth, including blueberries, pomegranates, tomato sauce, etc.).

2. Get back to the point where I only need to wash my hair every 3-4 days. This pregnancy has been great overall, but my hair has gotten very oily the last few weeks. At first I thought my shampoo was to blame, but I've realized it has to be the pregnancy. I never used to shower every day but now I have gotten into the habit of doing so because my hair looks so gross if I don't shower. I would like to gradually help my hair adjust to longer periods in between without looking crazy oily but I might just have to wait until this baby is born!

3. Find an amazing (and affordable) pore/blackhead cleanser. I think overall, my pores are fine with one exception: my nose. I hate how oily/spotty my nose looks up close (thankfully this is pretty much only noticeable when I stand three centimeters from the mirror or use one of those horrible magnifying mirrors that makes everyone's face look terrible). I haven't tried very many products but I feel like I'm constantly trying to clean out those pores and I hate doing it. If someone has suggestions for me, please by all means offer them!

4. Keep my skin even-toned, hydrated, and glowing. How my skin looks is really important to me. In fact, I told the ladies who came to my bridal shower that the best compliment they could give me on my wedding day was that my skin and hair look good (I was mainly concerned about the photos that would be taken and kept forever). Thankfully, I lucked out in both respects. But more recently I have absolutely found that the more water I drink and the better I eat, the better my skin looks. I think my skin has actually been great lately but I have to give this pregnancy the credit. It was not so pretty with Tenley (at least, from what I remember) but now I finally understand what it means to have a glow! I'm very happy about it and even more happy that I have been able to almost completely eliminate my use of foundation (other than the few spots I like to touch up, mainly when I'm going all out with my makeup).

Ultimately I won't have to use foundation at all (other than emergency touch-ups). Oh, and in case you were wondering, I use Covergirl Clean Liquid Foundation in Creamy Natural 120 (I believe). It matches my skin really well without making it look orangey or smudged on, which as far as I'm concerned, are the biggest mistakes you can make with makeup! If you aren't sure if your makeup does this, I would definitely ask someone close to you to tell you honestly--my mom always let me know if my makeup looked off when I was in high school for which I was grateful.

5. Keep my skin looking young as long as possible. This means drinking water, eating well, ditching soda and other sugary drinks (which I rarely drink now anyway), moisturizing (at least while we live in the west--the dryness out here is not my friend), exercising to keep my arms and legs toned, and keeping that muffin-top at bay (once I'm no longer pregnant that is). Apart from that, I am not too worried about how my body looks. The stretch marks will only get worse while I'm still having babies but ultimately they will fade (they did with Tenley) and there is no point in stressing over them especially since they don't bother Dalin at all.

6. Take better care of my nails and nail beds. This has never been my strongpoint. I rarely paint my nails or get them done because they are short and round (not pretty sadly) to begin with. They're also thin (at least according to the Chinese lady at the salon I went to one time...for the second time in my life:P) and my cuticles are a nightmare. Most of the time I don't care too much about my nails, but especially in the winter, the dryness makes my hands miserable so I really would like to be able to stay on top of that. I think it would help both my nails and my hair if I were better at taking my prenatals regularly, ahhh!

What are your favorite, fairly inexpensive beauty products? I love Olay skin products (which are somewhat expensive though not compared to other brands) but I try pretty much anything if it's affordable! I especially am requesting good pore cleansers that produce a noticeable difference.

I also want to know what your personal health or beauty goals are. Don't you just feel better about yourself when your skin and hair look good? I know I do.

I hope you are having a happy week! Only one week until Christmas Eve! (which, in my mind, is pretty much as exciting as Christmas Day:)