Hey guys! I have come a long way from the first day I started doing yoga and I still have a lot to learn yet (so bear with me!). However, I have also learned so much already and I would like to share a very easy or, at least "try-able", Sun Salutation that I created that anyone can do; inside and outside! I also added a couple of my favorite poses! All of my friends ask about how I do yoga, so I wanted to show you all what I normally go through during a practice. I will take you guys through step by step and teach you the proper way to do each pose. I hope you guys enjoy! 

If you are new to yoga and you're asking me, "Natalie, why are we saluting the sun?", well I'll tell yuh! A Sun Salutation is a flow sequence of postures or asanas, in Sanskrit, that are done to improve your flexibility, strength, and overall mentality. For many cultures, light has been a very vital symbol that represents self-illumination and energy. Many years ago when yoga was created in India, the sun was one of the most influential parts behind it. Hindus would honor the "eye of the world" by doing these postures. It connects you with the earth and your conscious self. There are many different variations of the Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation), so here is mine:

01. Child's Pose (Bālāsana)

Normally, we start out yoga with Child's Pose. It gets you grounded and ready to start your Pranayama breathing that you do with every posture. Our instructor will tell us to spread your knees out wide and stretch for the top of our mats to keep this pose as active as possible. Sink down to your depth and you will really feel this in you hips because it is a great hip opening posture. 

***Remember: You always inhale as you go up and exhale as you go down in postures***

Mountain Pose is one of those poses that you always come back to throughout practice. You want to inhale and reach tall and lift your chest up as you gaze forward. 

03. Forward Fold (Uttanasana)

Next is Forward Fold. This one, you exhale as you pass through heart center and reach for your mat. A little bend in your knees helps to stretch out your leg muscles.

04. Halfway Lift (Ardha Uttanasana)

After Forward Fold, inhale to Halfway Lift. Place your hands on your shins and pull your shoulders back in line, while making sure you keep a flat back. If someone were to put a cup on your back, it shouldn't fall off!

Okay, the hard stuff. Not many people love this part. This is just your average plank. You need to make sure you do it right, though! You are in a push up position really but, you need to make sure that your shoulders are stacked over your wrists, your gaze is straight down at your mat, you engage your core by sucking in your abs, and make sure your booty is not coming over your head.

06. Plank to Mid-Plank (Chaturunga Dandasana) 

I wanna say that I have done about a hundred Chaturungas in my time and to be honest, they aren't my favorite. You put a lot of pressure on your elbows, but doing this protects your muscles and your arms. So make sure to exhale and pin your elbows into your side body and lower down halfway (hence, Mid-Plank). Also, keep your knees lifted at all times and your toes are tucked under. 

07. Upward Dog (Urdhvamukhasvanasana)

Ahhh, the "back-cracking" posture. Inhale from Mid-Plank and rise to Upward Facing Dog. Still, keep your arms stacked over your wrist, keep your knees lifted, and your gaze up. Hopefully, you'll get a nice craaaaack as you do this in your back and it feels really good. 

08. Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Now, you exhale and plant all fours down onto the mat. This is a great releaser pose to take a couple breaths. Fold over and make sure to look between your legs. Try to reach your head to your stomach to activate your core. You can "walk your dog" and bend each leg to get some blood flowing and stretch them each out. I like to do this when it's my first Downward Dog of the practice. 

Inhale your right or left leg high and get ready to go down into Front Lunge! It's important to raise your leg up high and flex your toes so you can really bend into the lunge. 

Exhale and sweep your right or left leg through to your hands. Keep your knee stacked over your ankle and make sure the leg that is not bent is straight and lifted, as well. 

Using your balance after you just lunged, inhale and lift up. Keep your back leg straight and your foot lifted. Align your front leg so that it is stacked and is not internally rotating, or in other words, make sure your front knee is straight with your foot. Bring your arms up high just like you did in Mountain Pose and lift your chest. 

I think everybody knows Warrior pose. A lot of people think of this pose when they think of yoga and I don't know why! 

You want to exhale, and whichever side you are on, pivot your front foot parallel to the front of your mat and drop your back foot. With a generous bend in your front leg, it is vital in this posture to not lean forward as you bend. I got into the habit of reaching forward and that's not the right way! Instead, stack (so many stacks!) your torso over your hips and reach your arms out wide as you gaze over your middle finger. 

All you have to do is repeat on each side and you've just passed your first yoga practice with me. This is my Sun Salutation! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed making it! 

13. Salutation Seal (Anjali Mudra)

Always end with a Namaste and put your hands together to seal your practice and acknowledge the presence and strength you have gained. Namaste pretty much means, "I bow to you", and that's why you do it! Whether you improved on a posture or just tried a new one, accepting your practice and bowing to your teacher shows the most honor and respect! 

My Favorite Poses

This is one of my favorite poses because you feel so free doing it. A cool breeze and the sun on my face never felt so good! Inhale and spread your legs out wide and point your toes to the corner of your mat. Be free!

This mouthful-of-a-pose is really great to stretch out your legs! You go right into this after Star by inhaling and putting your arms out wide and "pigeon-toe" your feet inwards (which I forgot to do LOL). 

Then, you want to exhale and slowly lower down to your mat vertebrae by vertebrae, while also puffing up your chest as you do this. You can reach for whatever is accessible to you; whether that be your knees, shins, ankles, or your mat! If you want more of a stretch, move your legs closer together. 

You will be here for a while during a yoga practice so, you can stretch out your arms one by one or put your arms behind your back and connect your hands to open up your chest, too! To get out of this pose, do exactly what you did as you went into it; put your arms out wide and slowly rise back up. 

16. Headstand (Sirsasana) 

This is probably one of my greatest achievments in yoga. I never EVER thought that I could ever do an inversion (going upside down) in all of my yogi history. This takes a very long time to do but, you will get there eventually like I did! 

Start off by planting both hands on your mat and spread your elbows out wide like you're doing a wide push up. Place your head a little bit above them. It is important with this posture to always look forward to protect your neck and to concentrate, as well. Next, you play with bringing your knees into your body by using your ab strength. It helps to flex your abs and engage your core as you do this pose. 

Once you have successfully balanced both your legs into your body, begin to lift your legs up into the air. Try to make them straight but, then again, you're doing a freaking headstand anyway. Have someone snap a pic, too! If you fall, always tuck and roll!

I love doing this pose so much. It literally feels like you're flying! You need a lot of arm strength and core strength but, hey—that's yoga. 

Start by planting your hands like you were doing with the headstand. You want to spread your knees and hips wide like a frog! 

Using your very strong muscles, plant your knees onto your elbows like a shelf. Lean forward, while looking forward, and lift off your toes one by one until you start to balance. It helps to use a block underneath your head if you are afraid of falling. I've done it way too many times so don't be afraid to reach your depth!

18. Crescent Moon (Chandrasana)

Crescent pose is really nice to do at the beginning of your practice. It helps to stretch out your side body and your shoulders. To do this, start in Mountain Pose and interlock your fingers except your pointers (Prayer Grip). Extend up really high and bend right or left as far as you can! I can't go very far but, I have seen people transform into an actual crescent. Remember to look up the way your bending, too. 

19. Standing Bow Pulling Pose (Dandayamana Dhanurasana)

I wanted to give a little shout out to my photographer for this post; my best friend, Ellaby, who also is a beauty blogger and lover of yoga! Go checkout her blog here. 

To do Bow, lift up your left or right arm, sort of like a half Mountain Pose in a way. Catch your left or right ankle on the outside of your foot. Slowly lean forward, while kicking into your Bow and reaching forward as you do so. Look forward and Ta-da! 

20. Namaste

Yoga has taught me so many great things over the past couple of years and I cannot explain how happy I am to be able to share my passion with all of you! I hope you guys can at least try my Sun Salutation and become self-proclaimed Yogis like me! This is my variation and obviously I have a lot more to learn. Yoga has so many benefits and I think everyone should be doing it. It makes you mentally and physically stronger and better. If you guys would like to check out some yoga related things, here are some links:

Corepower Yoga Studios (my studio) 

You can get a free week trial, students and teachers get a member discount, and it's just a great community of yogis to practice with!

Yoga With Adriene (favorite online yoga channel)

I love Adriene's channel so much! I don't find myself doing yoga videos a lot because I am a part of Corepower already, however, I do love to watch her videos when I want to learn new postures and flows!

What I Am Wearing:

Lululemon Racer-back in Static Blossom

Lululemon The Reversible Mat 5mm

Nike Victory Compression Sports Bra 

Nike Pro Compression Shorts 

Lokai Bracelet (review here)

Fit Bit Flex 

This Memorial Day weekend is going to be quite the adventure; I am headed off to San Francisco! I will be taking many pictures and will be doing a follow up journal-type-post sometime next week or two once I download everything. I am so excited to visit California because it's my first time! Anything i should do while I'm there?

Namaste, Nat

Hello lovely people! After using a ton of powders over the past couple weeks, I have found the perfect five that I absolutely love to use. Powder foundations and pressed powders are great for oily skin (like mine) and also for setting your liquid foundation. I sometimes prefer to simply put under-eye concealer on and dust powder all over my face when I don't have enough time to apply a whole face of makeup. I have a lot of favorite powders and it looks kind of weird that I have so many—I guess they just pile and pile in my makeup collection, and that's so okay! 

I am going to give you guys the full, in-depth, scoop about the best powders that I have discovered. Some are: more coverage than others, more expensive than others, and some are translucent and some are not. It just depends on your preference and that's why I'm here to share them with all of you!

Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in Translucent Extra Coverage - This is a new find that I recently added to my collection. I heard Tati, one of my favorite beauty gurus on YouTube, always rave about this powder and I wanted to know what was up! So far I have been using it for about a week now and I really love it. I have the shade Translucent Extra Coverage so it's a bit more thick than the normal translucent. They also have a number of other shades that you can match to your skin-tone if you don't prefer translucent powders. I have really liked using a translucent powder over my makeup so I'm not like caking a bunch of makeup on. Plus, it doesn't cover any other face makeup you already put on.

With this powder specifically, I have noticed that my makeup lasts all day without getting oily at all. It's getting hotter and hotter as the months lead into summer and my skin just gets shinier and shinier. This powder prevents any speck of oil. My skin also feels incredibly smooth after I pat it into my skin. There's a little drawback and that's because it does give off a very musky scent but, I think that it adds to the whole aesthetic of the powder; it looks like something you would use in the 50s in a little ceramic powder jar! Besides that little detail, I love how it comes with a little puff! It's so helpful and doesn't make a mess at all. I really recommend this loose powder if you are looking for a great oil-free one!

Laura Geller Balance-n-Brighten Baked Color Correcting Foundation in Medium- At first, I thought this was some mosaic bronzer since it looked so colorful and gold-ish. To my surprise, it wasn't. But, since I was a little pale when I got this in the Laura Geller Beautifully Nude set, that you can read about here, I have been using it as a way to darken up my face a bit. Over the past week, I have been outside a lot and I think I have tanned enough to start wearing this as actual foundation. 

I really liked this powder, as it's my first of Laura Geller's collection, and I think it's really nice to use on those really lazy days when you don't want to bother applying a face of liquid foundation. During the summer, I kind of lay off the full foundation routine and go lighter with just a powder and this is great for that.  

Covergirl Ready, Set, Gorgeous Fresh Complexion Powder Foundation in #105-110- Covergirl has been like my go-to makeup brand ever since I first started makeup. I have loved their powders for a long time now so i thought I could include two of my favorites. This one is from their new line, Ready, Set, Gorgeous. I did a more detailed review of it a while back, here. This one is similar to the Laura Geller powder because it's not translucent and it's more full coverage. It's another great foundation powder to use when you don't want to use liquid foundation. It covers up pretty much all blemishes and keeps my skin matte for the most part!

Covergirl Clean Pressed Powder in Creamy Natural- This powder brings back so many memories from when I was in middle school because it was pretty much the only makeup I was allowed to use back then. My mom would hand down her old Covergirl powders (kinda ew) to me and I would get to use the rest of it. This is a very light powder and works to really set your liquid foundation. You can wear it without any other makeup for a really extreme natural look, which I normally have done over the past years.  

Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder in Transparent- It's a classic in the beauty guru/lover world and I have to add this to the list because it's just so good. It's another great translucent, pressed powder, and it really does what it says; it keeps you matte! It comes in seven other shades so you are more than likely able to find one that best matches your skin! This one is very easy to travel with and to use as a touch up because it's so thin and light. I think I have another one of these powders in my travel bag because I use it all the time, everywhere! 

I know I have a lot of powders but, they're all so amazing! I highly recommend these to anybody looking for a new powder to add to their collection. I use powder almost every day and it's become a staple in my morning routine now. I can't leave the house without making sure I'm all matte and oil-free! I hope this helped anyone in need of a new powder to try. I also hope you all have a great start to summer because today was my last day of final exams and I am ready to break free! Summer is finally here at last and I can't wait to see what journey it brings to my blog! 

What's your absolute, holy grail, powder? Any I need to try next?

Xoxo, Nat

Hello everyone! I wanted to do a post about something a little different than what I normally talk about. We all get caught up in everything around us and we are constantly in a routine. I always forget to remember what really matters and to stop worrying about the little things. Having a small case of anxiety, I set myself up in a trap of negative thoughts about something that I did or something that I should have done. This won't be a post about anxiety though, because I know that it's different for every person that has it. This post is going to share some things about how to make your "stressful" life a little bit better. 

I'm no expert. Let's get that known, but as all humans, I do get caught up in the whole "hustle and bustle" of things. I worry about other people and what they're doing way too much. I know that this may or may not resonate with everyone, and that's fine, but it's important for us to stray away from the things that people are doing. If someone is succeeding at their job or achieving their dreams, good for them. We can't focus on the success of others and let that guide our own futures. I want people to be proud of what they have done and not compare it to someone who has done way better than them. 

Comparing ourselves to others can become a huge issue. Especially with young girls; I see it at my own high school and in the media. Teenage girls are exposed to expectations that they have to look up to. I feel as though that some girls are pressured to live up to the beauty standards in media or at school and are forced to look a certain way by our society. For example, girls might compare themselves to models such as Gigi Hadid or whatever her name is. Doing this can be detrimental and very unhealthy because it can lead to self harm and an increased amount of body image issues. I think everybody has insecurities and flaws, but when we start to look at people who are "better" or "more beautiful" than us, we get obsessed with this ideal and begin to shut down. One step to stop comparing ourselves to others is to learn how to love yourself. Love your flaws, love your traits, love what yo' mama gave ya!

Hi friends! I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. A lot of my friends have been having graduation lately at my high school. I only have one more week left and then SUMMER! I have to keep in mind that my final exams are this week, too. How is it for you guys? Do you have any final exams? If so, please go check out my Final Exam Survival Guide that I wrote about a couple days ago if you need any help!  

I love beauty sets. I am obsessed with a great deal for makeup and whenever I get the chance to try one out, I am always super excited to review it for you guys! I bought this one this past weekend and could not wait to open it up and test all of the products. I am going to do a full review of each of the products that came in this set and also link them individually if they are sold separately. All of the products in this kit are full-size, so you really are getting a deal. I have never tried Laura Geller so I was really curious to see what this Beautifully Nude set was all about!

The Baked Balance-N-Brighten Color Correcting foundation was pretty cool to be honest. At first glance, I thought it was like a bronzer or a highlighter, but it's not! I was really interested in this type of foundation because I don't think I have seen anything else like it. Since I am still a little light from the winter, this shade is a bit too dark for me. However, I have been using this as a bronzer and it looks really nice! It's just a shade darker than my natural skin tone so I think it should be great for an all over foundation in the summer. 

This set also comes with a pretty nice sized brush. However, I don't think i will really use this because it is a bit weird. I think it would be a nice travel brush because it is double-sided. I just don't really understand the sponge tip on the other end. It's a nice thing to have, but it's kind of useless in my opinion. 

I was really excited when I saw this in the kit because it looked so pretty on the box! The Color Luster Lip Gloss was really amazing. I mean this shade is called Cookie Dough. COOKIE-DOUGH. Natalie, does it smell like cookie dough, though? Yes it does my friends, yes it does. This lip gloss is extremely moisturizing and does not crack or stick to your lips. It's not matte, so if you are looking for a matte lip gloss, I suggest you check out the Lip Pops Waterproof Lip Gloss. I'm not a fan of wearing lip gloss, but I love the natural taupe-pink shade and the feel of this lip gloss. Maybe I'll wear lip gloss more often now!

I was a bit skeptical when I saw this mascara. Because of the wand, I was a bit concerned about the quality of it. I tried it once I got home and to my surprise, it is a really great mascara! It separates my lashes and gives me a great amount of volume. I was worried because the wand was really thin and skimpy. It's actually a really nice, black mascara. There's no flaking or clumping either. You can build it up for a more dramatic look, too. 

I love baked eye shadows and when I saw that this little duo was in the set, I knew I had to get it. I don't know what about baked eye shadows I love so much, they're just so great! Maybe it's because they are creamier and more pigmented? Well, this Baked Color Intense Shadow Duo in Dolce/Raisin is beautiful! I just swept Dolce all over my lid and blended Raisin into my crease. It looks very pretty and glowy, too. I have been loving pretty champagne shades for this season; it really brightens up your look!

All of the swatches are beautiful. You can't really see the foundation...because it's close to my skin tone, but all of the others are really nice. 

A very nice thing that was included in this set was the Spackle Under Make-up Primer. I like to use pore-minimizing primers more, but I am really excited to try this one out! I have heard that it's really great for making your foundation application really smooth and to make sure it stays on all day. I read that this primer also contains Aloe Vera which is pretty great! 

Hi everyone! I have a very pretty makeup look for you all. It's sweet and simple! I have been trying to use up a lot of the makeup that I have and I am experimenting with different looks all the time now. I have loved the rose-golden look for the spring and I want to share it with all of you.

It's very humid where I am and I don't like wearing a huge amount of makeup when it's like this. If you are anyone who needs a "sweat-free" or "oil-free" and simple makeup look, you're in the right place!

For eye shadow, I have been obsessed with this Lorac Bohemian Bronze Palette so much. It's a beautiful palette and it's great when you want to achieve a pretty gold-smokey eye. I love Lorac's eye shadows. They're always so extremely pigmented and creamy. They're also great eye shadows to blend and create looks with. I like to use the top left shade as a base all over my lid and then I use the top right shade in my crease. I try to stray away from black, but if you are looking for a more intense smoked out eye look, you could also include the bottom right shade in the crease or use it as a liner and smudge it out. I did a full review of this palette here.  

For the face, I love using my L'Oreal True Match foundation. It has pretty nice coverage, but you don't need much to get it. It has SPF which is great and it's very easy to build, too. They have a ton of shades to choose from so it's really easy to find the one that matches your skin tone!

I like to top off my foundation with a light, matte powder. The Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder is my all-time favorite powder to use for this type of look. Especially if it's kind of humid out, it leaves your skin matte and oil-free all day! I like to use a big Real Techniques powder brush and just apply it all over my face.

Another fan favorite is this Hoola Bronzer by Benefit. I love it so much. It's a very great bronzer and leaves a nice glow on your skin when you use it. It isn't too orange and doesn't have any sparkles and nonsense like that. It's a classic bronzer and works great with this summery look!

I love this blush by Tarte in the shade Blissful. It's one of my favorite blushes that I have ever owned! It's a great, warm peach shade and gives just the right amount of color to the cheeks. 

This Multi-Task brush is great for blush, bronzer, and powder! It came in the Travel Essentials kit and I used to use it for powder before I bought the big orange powder brush by Real Techniques. 

I always reach for this mascara now and I think I need to go out an buy the full size! Benefit's Roller Lash is amazing and you don't even need to curl your lashes before you use it. It gives just the right amount of volume and length, as well.

To top the look off, I like to use this Beauty Rush Lip Gloss by Victoria's Secret in Pink Lemonade. The best part is that it smells and tastes just like lemonade! It's delicious! However, I wouldn't advise you eat makeup. This lip gloss gives off a great shine and adds a little color to your lips. I carry it with me everywhere when I want to touch up my makeup. I'm not exactly sure if they still sell this specific lip gloss, though. I'm sure it's on Amazon somewhere, but I linked the actual Beauty Rush lip glosses so you all can check them out! 

I hope you guys liked this makeup look and it gives you some inspiration on new things to try out with your makeup! You don't have to always have new makeup in order to create new looks. Be creative and see what others are doing around you! I always read other people's beauty blogs for inspiration. If you guys have any other tips and looks you like to do this time of year, please let me know in the comments!

Xoxo, Nat