Chasing Cozy

by Leslie Claire

BEAUTY

HOW TO AVOID HAIR BREAKAGE WITH CLEAR ELASTICS AND THE TRICK TO REMOVING THEM

 
Braid with hair velvet hair scarf

Boho messy braids are trending right now and they are by far mt favorite way to wear my hair. You can find my Pinterest board with tons of gorgeous inspo here. They can spice up the plainest outfits. The common tool with all of those braids- clear hair elastics. Those little suckers are all over my bathroom. They spread like glitter.
In this post I’m going to share a few tips that I’ve put together from my experience with these tricky elastics.

Beachy waves with barette trend, long blonde hair

1. Find a no-snag brand. This tip is self explanatory. Less breakage= happier hair.

2. If you aren’t sure which size to use, go with the bigger size and just wrap it around the hair one extra time. This will prevent them from breaking mid-way through you Saturday at the farmer’s market when you’re half way through drinking your overpriced latte
 
long blonde hair crown braid

3. Give the band a little stretch before you use it. I find that this makes the bands less likely to snap when securing your hair.

long blonde hair with boho braid and celestial hair barettes

4. Removing these bad boys can be tricky when they are buried in your hairdo that went from perfectly messy braid to rat’s nest during brunch with the girls. This happened to me at my wedding and it took a good 30 minutes to remove the pins and elastics. MY ULTIMATE TRICK to removing clear hair elastics is to plug your curling iron in and just touch the elastics with it. They snap right off. Easy, done and done. For me, this prevents so much breakage and frizz in my hair.

long blonde hair with braid and hair glitter

I’ve added some of my favorite elastics and hair products below for the perfect boho braid. These are affiliate links.

pearl hair barettes

MORNING ROUTINE BREAKDOWN- CREATING A PEACEFUL MIND

I am a morning person. I think this habit was created from all the early morning swim practices in high school. Either way, I’m a morning person and the rest of my day relies heavily on the tone I set for myself.

I received quite a few questions from my previous post on increasing productivity without killing creativity, so I thought I’d address them here.

I’m giving a detailed breakdown of my morning routine. These are precious hours when I feel like I get my best work done. I understand not everyone is a morning person, but I’m sharing what works for me.
5:30-6:00: Wake up. I am a light sleeper and a loud, abrasive alarm in my worst nightmare in the morning. My body is used to waking up at this time, so I’m usually up before it goes off. Keeping this alarm quiet keeps my heart rate low and allows me to get up without a panic.

I like to open all the blinds to let the light in as soon as the sun comes up. Light is so important to me when I know I’m going to be inside most of the day.

James will take Archie out in the morning and start the coffee. He doesn’t need to get to work as early as me, so he takes the lead on this.

6:00-6:30: I head to the bathroom to get ready. I usually have my clothes laid out the night before so I don’t have to worry about finding an outfit in the morning. My main things I like to do before getting dressed:

  • Ice roll my face- this feels so refreshing in the morning
  • Sip a room temp. glass of water while I get ready- sometimes I feel a little dehydrated from the night or not getting enough water the day before.

6:30-7:15: I visit with James and sip my coffee. We talk about the day ahead and what else we need to accomplish for the week. With the recent move and the wedding less than two weeks away, we have had a lot more going on.

My planner and to-do lists from the day before keep my head organized here and prevent me from running around frantically first thing in the morning. (No promises for later on in the day.)

The overall goal of my morning routine is to feel calm and positive about my day ahead. I am a very anxious person, so this helps keep things under control.

I don’t have any kids, but I’m sure this routine will change drastically when I do.

For now, this is a time of the day I cherish and like to take full advantage of. Let me know on my latest post what your favorite part of your morning routine is.

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HOW TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY WITHOUT KILLING YOUR CREATIVITY

Sometimes I have a hard time focusing when I have a million ideas in my head at once. I think this is the curse of many creative-minded people. I will think about the other smaller tasks the whole time I’m working on something big and important. Because of this, I used to find myself jumping form one task to another and not working as efficiently as I could. If I did make myself batch work and do similar tasks in one sitting, I found my creativity would suffer later on when working on a different type of project.

I have tried a few things over the last year and a half and I’m going to share what has worked for me.

  1. Do something that makes your mind happy first thing in the morning. This calms my anxiety I may have about upcoming tasks. For me, this means getting up early and taking my morning slow. I like to sip my cup of coffee at the perfect temperature and visit with James before we both head to work. Being able to take my time when getting ready for the day and making my lunch is something I have to go out of my way to make happen, but this calmness helps my overall daily workflow.
  2. Batch work. This means that I will concentrate on answering all of my emails in one sitting, then move on to something else instead of spreading my mind in 15 different directions as soon as I sit down at my desk.
  3. Keep your favorite planner/notebooks close to where you are working. As a creative-minded person, I tend to have lots of random thoughts and ideas that I immediately want to immerse myself into. We all know this is not possible during most work days. When I do have these thoughts, I simply note them down on a list or in my planner so I can revisit them later. This lets me think freely without feeling like I’m blocked in, but still have the ability to concentrate on the task at hand.
  4. Use the monthly view in your planner or a desk calendar, not just the daily view. When I think of something I need to do, I used to flip right to the day and schedule every minute. Now, I write that task/event in the little squares in the monthly view and schedule the details later that day when I have time. This prevents any time waste when scheduling less-important things or getting caught up in the nitty gritty.
  5. At the end of the day before I go to bed, I like to repeat what we talked about for the morning. I do something that puts my brain at ease. This could be reading a book for 15 minutes or writing down any last minute thoughts for the next day. This is especially helpful for people like me who have some of your best ideas when you’re in the middle of your shower or about to fall asleep.

 All of these little adjustments to my day have made a significant difference. I feel like I found more of a balance. When I sit down to work on a creative project or something fun, my brain is still able to think creatively and is not run by rigid ideas and parameters.

What are some daily things you do to help keep your brain in balance? Please share with us all on my latest Instagram post!

WHY YOU NEED A BEAUTY FRIDGE

I guess NEED is a bit overkill in this situation, BUT this hack is a serious game changer.

For Christmas James gifted me this adorable pink mini fridge. Knowing my love for La Croix, this was a great gift. However, it got better.

WHAT DO YOU USE IT FOR?

Put your eye pads, face masks, oils, serums, etc. in your little fridge. It makes the ritual of your skincare routine feel that much more luxurious and refreshing.

I keep mine on my bathroom counter where I get ready in the morning for easy access.

I like to add cold into my morning routine so this was worth taking up some of my precious counter space (apartment probs). Cold is supposed to help with swelling and reduce any puffiness.

This little luxury is affordable and come on… how cute is this little guy?!
You can buy your beauty fridge here!

TIP: I only turn the power on when I know I am going to be using the products I want chilled. I will turn it on at night when I go to bed, and use the products in the morning. I’ll unplug it for the remainder of the day to save power.

If you have a beauty fridge, send me your cute pictures! I’d love to see how you use yours, and I’m always on the hunt for new skincare tips.

You can shop what I have in my beauty fridge!

This post contains affiliate links.