It's definitely fun to try all the new beauty trends and products that seem to always be coming out, but when I'm at the store there are a couple products I KNOW are good and will always pick up. A lot of them I have been using since high school! I really believe we don't have to spend hundreds of dollars at a time to have the best beauty products, you just have to find what works best for you. Keep scrolling to see the products I've been using for such a long time that I can't help but recommend them!

**if there is any product you want to try out just click the pic to go straight to purchase! :)

This is hands down the beauty product that I have been most loyal to since I was a teenager. This mascara is amazing! I don't know the science/magic behind it, but it just lifts and curls eyelashes so well, and holds all day. When I was a cashier at Target in high school, it literally happened more than once where a woman coming through my check out line asked what mascara I was wearing, and came back through my line again to buy it. 

I am SO grateful my mom had me start using a daily moisturizer with SPF when I was 13. Not only because I am super pale and avoided a lot of sun burns, but because I feel it has played a large part in avoiding wrinkles. 

Also a high school goody! The pencil + gel combo is very subtle but you really notice a fuller eyebrow. Plus I love that they are combined in one product so you don't have to go searching for two products!

This is a really mild, fresh face wash that I love for the mornings because I really feel like it activates my skin and wakes me up. Even hubby likes to use this stuff everyday.

Another Target cashier story! So this guy came through my line and told me his lips were so chapped and asked if there were any chapsticks at the counter, and I pointed to the few I had behind him. He handed me a Burts Bees tinted chapstick to ring and I handed it back to him because it seemed like an emergency lol. As I was finishing up the transaction he put some on, and I was astounded to look up and find he had bright red lips! I couldn't bring myself to tell him he had not bought ordinary chapstick, or maybe he knew and liked it? Either way that guy left with some fierce lips. I love this stuff because it is super moisturizing and gives really great, subtle color.

I stumbled across this tinted moisturizer when I was looking for a less expensive option to the Nars products (it hurts to pay that much for makeup!) and this one is so much more bang for your buck. It's great to smooth out any roughness or redness and just give your skin tone a more even look. Plus it has SPF!

The OG. I know I've talked before about how great this stuff is, and how closely it resembles much more expensive moisturizers (ahem La Mer) but I just love how full and moisturized my skin feels in the morning after applying over night. Nightly staple at our house!

Another great, long-lasting higher end makeup dupe! Milani makes an incredibly similar blush to very popular Nars "orgasm". The color lasts all day and a little goes a long way, so the product lasts a long time!

I've always loved the Hermes Oran sandals, but they hold their value and it is really hard to find a pair used pair under $400. Sorry, just not at a point in my life where I can justify that. Steve Madden has a pair of dupes that retail for around $60, so when I found this pair at Target FOR UNDER $20 I had to get them!

They have a super similar "H" band across the top of the foot, plus they are really comfortable (the sole is squishy!) I bought my usual size 8.5 and they fit just perfect, but maybe I should have gone up to a 9. If you are between sizes I would recommend going up.

You can shop them down below! I would recommend picking them up now, sizes are selling out! These are such a cute sandal for spring and summer. I'm already planning all the outfits for Europe this summer I can wear with them!

I've also linked my super cute "hello" welcome mat below. Under $23 and prime, so free fast shipping!

You've probably seen a million posts on Instagram with the #liketoknowit hashtag with bloggers telling you to screenshot the post if you are interested in buying any of the products they are wearing. When you purchase any of those items, you are actually using unique link of the bloggers that gives them commission when you purchase. Liketoknowit is actually a par to the bigger RewardStyle program that provides bloggers and influencers with unique links on millions of clothes, shoes, bag, home items, and more that they can share on their blogs and social media. Whenever you click through those links from the blogger and make a purchase, they get a cut. 

You have to apply to be a part of this program, but you don't need to have a million followers to be accepted! Heck, they accepted me. ;) HERE is the link to check it out!

ShopStyle is very similar to RewardStyle in that they provide unique links that you make commission off when someone makes a purchase. But what I like about ShopStyle is that they also pay for the number of clicks you get! In my opinion ShopStyle is better because it's easier to tell when items you want to share are sold out, and I feel the links you make for your followers are more user friendly. You can apply to be a part of ShopStyle HERE.

Heartbeat is a free site that connects influencers and brands, whereby they provide brands a platform and influencers the ability to receive free items and/or get paid to post! You receive emails regarding open campaigns and a link to apply. They have a lot of fun restaurants, tv shows, and brands to work with! While most campaigns are for an exchange of product, there are still many paid campaigns, and your pay rate is calculated depending on your social media following. You can sign up for Heartbeat HERE.

Ambassadher is a lot like Heartbeat where they connect influencers and brands for either product exchange or pay, but one thing about this one is that they want you to pay for membership in their program. One thing about that though is that Ambassadher does receive more quality paying campaigns, so if this is something you are very interested in you can easily make your membership money back + more. However, you can still sign up with Ambassadher without paying to be a member, and occasionally they send out campaigns that do not require membership. You can check out Ambassadher HERE.

Ads are probably the easiest way to make money of your blog! My favorite ad program is Adsense because they pay the highest for views/clicks and they use the content in your blog to generate similar ads, so you don't have to worry about any weird stuff showing up on you site. I've tried to use other ad sites, but I wasn't happy with the drastic change from day to day in what they would pay and the quality of the ads. You can check out Adsense HERE.

If you are following along on Instagram, I went away for a little girl's trip to Santa Barbara over the weekend (my first time there!) and we had the most beautiful time! I picked up the cutest little spring dress at a great price for the trip so I wanted to share my outfit details + what we did in case you are looking to plan your own SB trip!

I took the Amtrak Surfliner from Los Angeles, which is the most amazing train ride that takes the California coast between SoCal and NorCal. You get the most breathtaking beach views! The train was pretty nice and clean, and there were a lot of big groups having a great time, so it would be a lot of fun to take this for a weekend with a group of friends. The Santa Barbara train station was located really close to the beach and downtown so you can plan to walk straight to wherever you were going once you set foot off the train. 

We were only there for one night so we spent our time exploring downtown, the beaches, and eating our way through a couple really good restaurants. We ate lunch at the Sandbar, which is a really fun Mexican restaurant with yummy food and drinks! A lot of the restaurant is out on a patio so it's a great place to enjoy the weather, people watch, and enjoy a frozen marg.

For dinner we ate at Chucks Waterfront Restaurant, which is out on the water next to a boat dock. I recommend sitting on the patio! You have a great view of the water, plus we got the most fun table with a fire in the middle! We had seafood and steaks, which was all really yummy. A great place to chill and watch the sun set!

Below you can find the cute dress I wore, along with my favorite classic bag and a few slides on sale that are really similar to the ones I'm wearing above! (The ones I'm wearing are from Banana Republic but no longer in stock :() I really loved this dress because it's a high quality linen blend dress with cute buttons and a nice sturdy belt, plus even though I wore it on the train for a couple hours it didn't wrinkle! This is so surprising for a linen dress! I've also linked the best selling apple watch band below that looks just like the Hermes Apple Watch band! I've had mine for a couple months and it still looks brand new, and I get so many compliments on it. Shop everything below by just clicking the pic!

Honestly, I am a reallyyy simple person when it comes to makeup. I only wear tinted moisturizer because I gave up finding a foundation that matches my skin. I have no idea how to contour. I can finally curl my lashes without causing a lot of pain. You get the idea. 

Recently one of my favorite bloggers, Rachel Parcell, shared her favorite lip stick + lip pencil combo and I had to try it out because I love a natural, rosy lip and I loved how full they looked!

The lipstick color is called "creme cup" and the lip liner is called "soar".  You can check them out below!

I've been using this combo every day since I got it because it's so natural, but really defines the lips and makes them pop. The lip liner is really close to my natural lip color so it just makes them more full, and the lipstick adds a pretty pop of pink. 

The greatest thing about this new lip combo? I didn't have to pay a dime for the lipstick! MAC has this great recycling program called BACK TO MAC where you bring in 6 old, empty MAC containers to be recycled and you get a completely free lipstick! You can even send them in to receive free lipstick through the mail if you don't have time to get to the mall. I have been religiously using MAC's tinted brow gel for years and had been saving them up for this occasion. So easy right?? Just use your MAC products as usual, save them, and get free makeup! You can read more about MAC's recycling program HERE.