#EverybodyYoga Day 2 - Bridge Pose

Day TWO
of the #EveryBodyYoga Challenge

Pose #2 - Bridge Pose

Bridge pose is pretty simple but it offers some amazing benefits that you might not be aware of;

it opens your chest, heart, and shoulders while stretching your spine, the back of your neck, your thighs, and your hips! The best part is that your heart is higher than your head in this pose, which means it is considered a mild inversion (yet tremendously less strenuous than other inversions, such as the headstand) and it holds all the benefits of inversions: relief from stress, fatigue, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, and mild depression! This pose is great preparation for deeper backbends or, if practiced with a block, as a restorative pose as well.



Bridge Pose is easy, start on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the floor. Extend your arms along the floor, keeping your palms flat. Press your feet and arms firmly into the floor, exhale and lift your hips toward the ceiling drawing your tailbone up, reach your hands towards your heels. Hold for around a minute, breathing deeply and steadily. Come out of the pose by slowly rolling your spine back onto the floor, vertebra by vertebra. Always work within your own limits and abilities.

I've loved seeing everyone's photos so far and hearing all about how you feel about each pose!
This is going to be a fun month full of yoga love! 

Do you want to be a part of the Yoga Challenge?

You can find out the exact details on how to participate in the yoga challenge here.

Follow me and all the generous sponsors & be sure to tag us all in your photo submissions:

Lauren Paints | a beautiful life:
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Lush Cosmetics:
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Luna Jai:
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Gaiam:
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Spirit Lockets:
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Check out the poses everyday using the hashtag
#EveryBodyYoga on all platforms!

Mialisia Jewelry: How Will You Wear It? + A Giveaway!

As you probably already know, I'm a Mialisia Jewelry Ambassador and I've shared a couple of posts over the past few months to familiarize you with their unique jewelry line. It's all so gorgeous and I've been so excited to share with my readers every month, but this month's look may be my favorite out of all of the looks I'm reviewing!

Falling in love with Mialisia's collections is an easy thing to do - I went from seriously slacking in the jewelry department to having several options...  Thank goodness for Mialisia! The versatile pieces they include blend together perfectly, I love mixing and matching each month's collections together... But this month I love how every piece in the collection matched with everything. I've always been a big fan of classic styles, hence my attraction to the pin up look, and this month's super classy look didn't disappoint! The Spun Gold Necklace, The Pearl Drop Earrings, The Precious Pearl Necklace, and The Coral Delicate Necklace all embody classic elegance and compliment every single outfit I pair them with. I wore the jewelry with outfits I styled to attend a wedding, my first day of school, interviews, lunch with friends, and more.

It's hard to choose a favorite piece of Mialisia jewelry, but my current favorite piece is the Precious Pearl Necklace. The little filigree details are a huge seller in my book - I'm a total sucker for the little details like this. It's a gorgeous piece worn both long or double wrapped as a shorter necklace, I've also been wearing it as a belt (as you can see with the pink dress above).

Just like the past few months, Mialisia is going to give away the same collection I featured to one of my lucky readers! Who wants to win?

The pieces in this month's collection include:

        Spun Gold       x        Precious Pearl       x       Coral Delicate       x       Pearl Drop Earrings

Enter to win this collection with the giveaway tools form below:

Entry-Form

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above to facilitate my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.This contest will run through September 30th at 11:59 pm EST. Must be 18 years or older to win.  This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other company mentioned above. You understand that you are providing your information to Lauren Paints | a beautiful life and not to Facebook, I will not use your information other than to e-mail you a winning notification if you are the chosen winner. Enter using the Giveaway Tools form above. Void Where Prohibited. Please note that Lauren Paints | a beautiful life is not the party held responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.

My Everyday Pin-Up Girl Make Up Routine & The Spa for Ma - EnvyDerm Eyeliner & Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway #Spa4Ma

Welcome to the 4th annual Spa for Ma Giveaway Hop hosted by Measuring Flower and Homemaking Hacks! I have teamed up with some incredible bloggers to bring you prizes that help mom to get some much awaited R&R after the kids head back to school! If you're unfamiliar with what a giveaway hop is, here's how it works. After you enter my giveaway below, you can "hop" on to the next participating blog to enter their giveaway as well. You can find links to all the blogs towards the bottom of this post. Also, don't forget to enter to win the grand prize!
It is for an incredible $300 gift card to Kohl's! Enter HERE!





Welcome to My Spa For Ma Giveaway!

- EnvyDerm Eyeliner & Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway -
After all the craziness of summer & back to school adventures,
I've decided it's time to spoil my mama friends!

I've teamed up with EnvyDerm Cosmetics to provide one lucky winner with my favorite
EnvyDerm product:

EnvyDerm Eyelash Enhancement
and Conditioning Black Liquid Eyeliner

Over at EnvyDerm they believe that make up should be fun, colorful, and trendy, but at the same time it should enhance our long-term beauty. I love that the company is cruelty-free and they only use 100% recycled packaging - two big wins! They combine the latest technology with natural and organic, high performance botanicals and every single product is formulated without the following ingredients: Parabens, Gluten, Triclosan, Phthalates, Sulfates, Petrolatum, Lanolin, Paba, Paraffin, DEA, Synthetic Fragrance, Nanopeptides, GMO's, Animal derived products, or Mineral oils - Check the labels on what you are currently using, I bet you see one or more of these products listed on it!

EnvyDerm Liquid Eyeliner is one-of-a-kind, offering long lasting color that dries instantly while promoting lash density, lengthening and thickness for luscious lashes with continued use. How can eyeliner help your eyelashes grow? Hydroplat specialized peptide combined with hydrolyzed keratin to stimulate keratin production along the lash line! It helps to repair damaged lashes, add volume and promote lash length and thickness. Plus, the anti-aging properties of moroccan-argan oil condition, fortify, add shine and prevent lash breakage with every use!

Even though I'm an artist and very familiar with how to hold a brush, the application of liquid eyeliner always has me struggling - as you can see in the video above. I feel as though I look goofy every time I apply it but wanted to give EnvyDerm a try anyways. The video is featuring my interpretation of "The Everyday Pin-Up Girl" look, I think over all the application turned out okay; even if it did involve a bit of clean up - there's a learning curve to the liquid eyeliner application think, I'm convinced! I'm still learning to edit videos so bear with me during this experimental period.

I've also decided to award one lucky winner with a $25 gift certificate to Starbucks, if you're a fan of the PSL {Pumpkin Spice Latte} - it's out already and I'm going to treat you to a couple. Maybe you can even spread some of your gift card on some good karma and pay for the person behind you - it's nice to do nice things, let me help you with that!


That's right, one of my readers will be rocking a gorgeous new make up product,
another will be sipping latte's from Starbucks,
and hopefully one of you win the $300 Kohl's GC Grand Prize as well!

Please use the giveaway tools form below to enter to win the EnvyDerm eyeliner

OR The $25 Starbucks GC:

Entry-Form

Don't miss your chance to win some other great prizes:

An InLinkz Link-up

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.This contest will run through September 15th at 11:59 pm EST. Must be 18 years or older to win.  This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other company mentioned above. You understand that you are providing your information to Lauren Paints | a beautiful life and not to Facebook, I will not use your information other than to e-mail you a winning notification if you are the chosen winner. Enter using the Giveaway Tools form above. Void Where Prohibited. Please note that Lauren Paints | a beautiful life and all other bloggers participating are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.

#EveryBodyYoga Day 1 - Savasana - Peace & Relaxation

It's finally here, today is day one of the #EveryBodyYoga Challenge.

September 1st - DAY ONE

Pose #1: Savasana | Corpse Pose | Final Relaxation



Peace and Relaxation in Paradise

Lying on your back with your arms and legs comfortably spread, your eyes closed, and your breathing deep. Relax, unwind, and let go. I recommend an extended amount of time spent in Savasana daily, it is such a relaxing pose and anyone can practice it. If you have the time in your day, spend 15+ minutes in Savasana before and after your yoga practice.

When you first get into this resting pose, you might feel like your mind is still revved up and attached to all of your thoughts and worries, you probably also feel every little muscular movement. No worries, hang in there...As you spend more time in Savasana, your brain waves and your breath will slow and your blood pressure will drop. As your mind and body unwind, the real Savasana can begin. Eventually your awareness of the outside world begins to dim a bit. Everything will start to drift farther and farther away. Allowing Savasana to be a regular part of your yoga routine is important, even if it seems so simple - the rejuvenating and relaxing benefits will change your world.

Do you want to be a part of the Yoga Challenge?

You can find out the exact details on how to participate in the yoga challenge here.

Follow me and all the generous sponsors & be sure to tag us all in your photo submissions:

Lauren Paints | a beautiful life:
Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook 

Lush Cosmetics:
Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook

Luna Jai:
Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook

Gaiam:
Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook

Spirit Lockets:
Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest  |  Facebook

Check out the poses everyday using the hashtag
#EveryBodyYoga on all platforms!

Why Donate Blood?

I've never been afraid of needles or anything medical, I'm not woozy at the site of blood... I don't know why I have never donated blood before this week... but I'm so glad I did! I donated blood on Wednesday after class, partly because the incentive was a $10 Ikea gift card (selfish, much?), partly because I knew it was something on my 101 in 1001 days list and I wanted to check it off, and the last little bit of reasoning was because it's a nice thing to do. I was also pretty excited to find out my blood type, I'm sure this is something every other adult in the world knows about themselves - now I do too! I'm type A+, the second most common type in America.

Why should you donate blood?

Simply put, you can save a life. Blood transfusions are common practice in all hospitals and your blood can help keep others healthy. More than 4.5 million patients need blood transfusions each year in the U.S. and Canada, you can help be a part of saving that many lives - that's pretty amazing! Plus that life that needs saving could easily be yours or a family members, don't wait until that's the case - start donating and encourage others to do the same so that everyone has the chance to live!

Did you know there is a World Blood Donor Day?

 Well, there is... Sadly, it's already passed in 2014 but be sure to mark June 14th, 2015 on your calendars!

What's the blood donation process like?

It's actually pretty quick and simple. They ask you to take a little survey, give you a mini physical, start the donation, and then once it's over they have you hang out and have some refreshments before heading out. Hello cookies and juice, I felt like a happy little kid when they gave me my snacks!


What are the requirements to donate blood?

Surprisingly, there aren't many stipulations on who can donate blood. You must be in good health, over the age of 17 (or 16 with parental consent), and over 110lbs.


What will you feel like after donating blood?

I'm going to be honest, the whole experience afterwards wasn't the best. I felt perfectly fine once it was over with, but a few hours later I had a pretty rough time. Nothing too serious, I would definitely donate again - but I was nauseous and just kind of wanted to hang out on the couch and marathon watch tv on netflix.


Did you know blood types differ between ethnic groups?I had no idea, until researching blood donations more. 57 percent of the Latino population is type O, the blood type that is currently in the greatest demand. 51 percent of African Americans have type O, and only about 45 percent of Caucasians have type O blood. It is critical that more Latino and African American donors, give blood regularly to ensure that all type O patient needs can be met! I'm not trying to hit on a touchy subject by mentioning race, but my Latino and African American readers - please go donate, you may have type O blood, and it is in need! 


Where can you donate?

If you live in Florida, OneBlood is a great option. Red Cross is a nationwide option as well. Just get out there and donate, you won't regret it!