Favorite Find(s) Friday

It's been a HOT minute since i've written about a "favorite find friday" (which is a series i started about 4 years ago. haha!) but i have a few things i want to share and today just happens to be a friday so why not!?!

1.R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo this guy is a little pricey ($22.48) compared to my other favorite (Batiste which is usually around 7.00) BUT... after my friend said that it has lasted her for months and months i figured it was worth a shot. GUYS!!! no white cast. NONE. so, those of you that don't like that about batiste, or have dark hair need to get this! it smells amazing and works great and i will keep you updated about how long it really lasts!

2. this front door. i die.

3. we got this light for above our kitchen island and i'm in love! it's a statement piece without being overbearing. it's modern, and unique, and sleek and sexy and i'm just all heart eyes over here. plus, it's cheaper than most of the other options we were considering because you usually need more than one pendant light above an island, but this guy really long so it's all we needed for our larger than average island! pictures of it installed in our new kitchen soon to come!!

4. this tumbler has been my ever constant companion ever since my bff gave it to me for my birthday a few months ago. i have some Stainless Steel Drinking Straws coming in the mail because im a sucker for things that match, and you know... it will look cute. haha! i only use mine for water, but it keeps the ice all day long so i bet it would be great for sodas or smoothies. hot chocolate, or coffee. you know. anything.

5. this beautiful unique abstract painting that i wish was in my house right this second.

6. our about page for the blog. cause, i worked so hard on it, and it's finally updated and seriously i think it's cute and funny, and worth writing here on this list so you all know about it. :)

you wanna know what's NOT my favorite... picking out a back splash for our kitchen. it's the next step in our remodel and i cannot pick out what i want for the life of me. i want something that would fit in our mid-century modern kitchen, but i also want it to be unique, and sorta quirky, and inexpensive, and basically i have made too many decisions so far through this process that my brain has decided to quit on me now that we are almost done. any suggestions or ideas in the comments box below would be much appreciated.

Favorite Find Friday: Key Case

This week's item is an old style key case.

my husband purchased mine from a small store while he was in canada, so sadly i do not have a direct link to buy one identical to mine, but... i have found a few similar ones. here are their links 1/2/3/4 and finally here's one that's almost identical to mine. or if none of those styles work/suit your taste, just try looking up "old style key case 6 lobster clip leather" on either google or amazon.com that's how i found most of the links above.

if your anything like me, you have lots of keys, a big purse, and only one hand because the other is carrying your child, or carseat, or groceries. and sometimes all three! this is not a good combination people. opening my car, or my front door is sometimes a huge struggle because i cannot find my keychain fast enough in my huge purse, or, once i do find it, then i struggle to pick out the right key, especially in the dark.

while this item is not saving you hours of time, i love this product enough that i highly doubt i will ever use any other style of keychain. not only is it vintage inspired, which is always fun, it is sleek and smooth, it keeps the keys from jingling and making noise, scratching the other contents of my purse such as sunglasses, phone, and even sometimes breaking my makeup, it's easy to find because it has a very specific shape and texture, and... best of all it keeps my keys organized and easy to access at all times with only one hand!

^^i don't know if this is the correct way to use it, but i like to take one or two of the clips/hooks that i use most frequently, such as my car and my house, and flip them on the outside of the pouch when i clasp it closed, this way, all of my i-have-to-keep-them-with-me-but-i-hardly-ever-use-them keys are tucked away on the inside, while my frequently used ones are outside of the pouch easy to access.

anyway, although i do not have a giveaway for you this week, i still thought it was worth sharing because it is so unique and such an unknown style of keychain that i thought you would like to know. sharing helpful information is exactly what the internet is all about anyway, right? do any of you have or know of a simple, unique item or product that has helped you out that you didn't know existed? if so, id love to hear about it in the comments below!

also... thanks for being patient, but the winner of the lilash givewaway is Michelle Thomas!! she has been contacted already and will be receiving her lilash this week! congratulations! and thanks to all that entered!

Favorite Find Friday: LiLash Giveaway

LiLash is a eyelash growing serum that you apply like a clear liquid eyeliner daily. if you haven't heard about it, then your really missing out. i started using it about a year ago, and it has been the single biggest improvement to my self confidence in years! sadly, i heard the company has been sued by Latisse and so they cannot sell to the usa anymore, but, i am giving away a 3 month supply (techincally, but it lasted me 6 months) to one of my followers (an 80.00 value!) the only reason they cannot sell in the usa is not because their product is bad, but only because the formula is too close to latisse and so there are patent issues. (but it seems like their website still works so, i don't know. maybe they won the settlement.)

Application Process

here's my story about this product:

i was a new mom, and i was obsessed with how long my baby daughters eyelashes were. they were the kind of lashes that every single person said "oh my, look how cute she is! and those lashes! who did she get those from?" cause really. if you looked at mine, then you knew that they couldn't possibly have come from my genes. before i continue, you have to know that i have never been a big believer in products. i had tried the hair growth shampoos and never saw results, heck, i had even just tried the simple volumizing shampoos and never saw results, i have been a hairdresser for 6 years and 90% of the time, my clients didn't see any real dramatic results either, with acne creams, face serums, body lotions, potions, etc so, for the most part i just gave up on thinking that anything like that would really work. well, i would soon be proven wrong because we had this receptionist at my salon that had the longest lashes i have ever seen, and because of my line of work, even the best application of fake lashes, or eyelash extensions, i can still tell if they are real or not. so... i knew hers were real and complimented them basically every time i saw her. one day i asked about what mascara she wore, and that's when she told me that it wasn't just because of her mascara, that it was all due to this product. "LiLash". so, i promptly went home and researched it, and read reviews, and figured, what the heck, she had great results, and swears by this product, so i will give it a try. well, the store that i went to didn't carry lilash, but they had another product, "Lash Genesis" that was 5.00 cheaper, and the cashier said it worked exactly the same, so... i bought it. bad idea. i used it for a few months, no results, and it irritated my eyelids.
thinking that i had been proven right, that no growing product would ever work on me, i gave up on the idea. well, as a few months went by, a few other stylists at the salon also started using lilash and we even started selling it to our clients at the salon. i instantly saw results in my co-workers, and their clients. so, i decided to buy the actual right product this time, and give it a shot. well, it took me a few weeks longer that the average girl at my salon to see results, it took me 6 weeks instead of 4. but, at 6 weeks it was like a switch went off, genuinely waking up one morning and noticing a dramatic difference, probably 2 cm of growth overnight. no joke. well, that continued to happen, and people started noticing my eyelashes growing saying "have your eyelashes gotten longer?", and then as they kept growing people would compliment them, a first for me to hear someone else wishing their lashes were as long as mine, and then as they kept growing more and more, i had random strangers at the mall asking who did my eyelash extensions. and i had the pleasure of correcting them and telling them about this product that was not anything close to eyelash extensions. still to this day i get people that assume i have eyelash extensions... it happened yesterday. and they are always so amazed when i tell them that they are all real, and all mine!

 so... that's my story, as soon as i heard about the issue they were having with latisse, i went and stocked up on this product because i am sooo scared to try something else, i have had periods of time when i forget to use it, or get lazy and i have seen them get shorter during those periods of time, and it usually takes about 1.5 weeks of using it again to get them back to my normal extra long length. using the application like it says to on the bottle, i noticed an obvious difference with both thickness and length (my lashes easily doubled, actually, probably tripled in length) on both upper and lower lashes.
to me, it is 100%, no doubt, worth the money. also, as a way for me to justify the cost, i now use the cheapest mascara. my 3 favorites are e.l.f. ($3) wet-n-wild ($2.50) and jordana ($3) instead of the pricey mascaras i was using back in the day with my stubby stubs. because, my lashes have more than enough volume and length, that using a perfectly formulated expensive mascara is no longer a necessity for pretty lashes.
i now looove doing my makeup, mostly because i love to put on mascara, it brought fun into my daily makeup routine, and made me WANT to get ready. which proves how awesome this product is, because being a mother of a one year old at the time, i did not want to do anything besides all my mom duties. on more than one occasion, i have done my makeup and still walked around in a robe all day. but, like i said in the very beginning of this post, having long eyelashes has been the single biggest improvement to my self esteem because instead of looking in the mirror and seeing my flaws everyday, i look in the mirror and am still so amazed everyday that those are MY eyelashes, and instead of leaving the mirror frowning with a splotchy red face from picking at my imperfections, i now leave with a smile. i tell myself, "who could be looking at my zits, or freckles, or wrinkles, etc when they have these big fat long lashes to look at instead." :)

^^sorry about the crappy quality picture as my "before" i promise i tried to find a good one, but back in the day, i wasn't proud of my lashes so i didn't take any pictures up close of my eyes. also...today is not my best mascara day, so sorry about the weird clumps. i thought about taking my makeup off and doing it again for this post, but that's not real. and i want you guys to see what they look like without any editing, either on photoshop, or physical editing before the picture was taken by making sure every hair was perfect.

also, as a tidbit of information, besides tons of clients at our salon, and other hairdressers that i personally know, my mother, and mother in law are also using it regularly and saw the exact same results as me. so... if your still skeptical, all you have to do is look up the hashtag #lilash on instagram and you can see tons of people all races, genders, and ages, who have seen results.

This is probably my biggest "favorite find friday" and as you know, i buy all of these products to giveaway with my own money at full cost, and give them away not because i'm sponsored, but only because i genuinely believe that these products are wonderful and its worth sharing the good info. because this giveaway cost me so much money, i am going to ask more of you in order to win it. i would love to give this product to someone who helps me share my blog with more people.

to enter: first you have to be a follower of this blog, either on google, or on bloglovin.
next share any image from this post on either your facebook by copy and pasting the link onto your wall. or on twitter/instagram by either screenshotting my instagram picture, or any of these pictures on the blog about this giveaway and posting it on your account with a comment about the giveaway i am holding. (if you do not have any facebook, instagram, or twitter, then you can still enter by commenting below, telling me about how you plan on sharing this giveaway with your friends.) and finally, come back here and comment below with your email, and how you entered. for example: "keepupwithusjones@gmail.com and i entered on instagram" i am going to let this giveaway go on for 2 weeks and will be announcing the winner on my next "favorite find friday."

if you have any questions or comments about the product, then feel free also: there are lots of other products similar to lilash, including: latisse (you need a prescription) neulash, rapidlash, revitalash, flash, and more, but i like LiLash the best because of it's fairly reasonable price compared to some others, little to no side effects, (i have heard of some people using lilash and getting darker eyelids in the area where the serum is applied -a redish tint- but thats it!) and consistent results. but, if you do not win the giveaway, and would not like to purchase this brand, i would recommend trying Neulash as the most similar product, and you can get it at Nordstrom.

picture from howdoesshe.com

here are a few other reviews i've found about lilash:
1/2/3/4

Favorite Find Friday

it's Bayli's birthday on monday. she's turning two (already?!? ahhh). you might have seen me post some super girly, party sparkly stuff on my instagram account recently. we are so excited. and while i know that i am going way overboard for a birthday that is not going to be remembered, and one that we won't even be able to control. cause seriously, when a group of 7 little girls ranging in age from 1-3 get together with candy, sparkles, flowers, and gold. there's no controlling them. i still think that it's worth it, even if it's just an excuse for me to get the crafting bug out of my system.

i've had this idea for a "favorite find friday" blog post series for a while, every once in a while i come across a product that i just cannot believe i haven't known about my entire life, well, this is one of them.

Gnome Sweet Gnome Shop birthday candle holders. 

they are so cute and trendy, and not just for kids parties. even though i am 23 i'd love to have one of these on my birthday cake or cupcake. they really make any dessert look special, and now that i think about it, for all you healthy eaters out there. you could just put this little guy on the side of your dinner plate and then you'd still feel all special without having the temptation of all those yummy calories underneath your candle. i bought three of these at the bijou market in provo a few months ago. i am a sucker for anything sparkly and gold, so these just spoke to me. i really wanted to buy all of them, i walked around the market holding about 10 in my hands trying to pick my favorites (i'm really wishing i had gotten a unicorn). it was very hard. anyway... they are totally affordable and i just feel the need to share their awesome-ness because they're pretty great.

so... i am going to give one lucky reader one small elephant birthday candle holder from their shop. all you have to do is comment below with your email address. for an extra entry, you can also enter through instagram by following me on instagram and commenting "i want it" (or something like that) under the picture i posted today of the candle holder. -my account profile is @valerijones- that's it! easy right! winner will be chosen and announced in next week's favorite find friday post.

be excited for next weeks "favorite find friday" it's gonna be a good one.

*none of these "favorite find friday" posts are sponsored. i purchase the items i giveaway with my own money at full cost. all opinions are my own.