I'm aware that I litterally just published a SnapChat Secrets post but I just stumbled upon another beauty routine that's too goo not to share.

I happened to randomly jump on an Instagram Story that contained a great tip on how to create a glowing visage.  The secret was revealed by Jazzma Kendrick, a gorgeous model who made headlines earlier this year for her on and off again relationship with Italian boyfriend Christian Vieri.  She's also been linked to Naomi Campbell's ex billionaire boyfriend.  But we're not here to discuss her love life, we're here to learn her three step foundation routine that gives her this crazy glow.

I've been taking full advantage of the lower humidity in recent months. This means lots of curly hairstyles that don't require heat to last all day.  Last week, I played around with setting my hair on large drinking straws and loved the result.  That day, I pretty much swore off flexi rods forever!

The next day, a video came into my life that reignited my love for flexi rods again.  Our nasty breakup lasted only 24 hours thanks to fate's divine intervention.

I remember the good 'ol days of Instagram where celebrities generously offered us glimpses into their personal lives.  Nowadays, Instagram feeds mainly consist of carefully selected images that don't really represent true life.

In the past, one might stumble upon a beauty tip revealed by one of our fave icons.  Once Instagram became a revenue-generating platform, things changed.  Luckily for us, Snapchat is here to save the day.  The nature of the app invites everyone to share what they are doing at that very moment.  As a result, celebrities are back to spilling their secrets.  I've screenshotted a few of these gems as I came across them.  Allow me to share a quick roundup of my favorite beauty secret reveals yet.

I've been on this kick in 2016 where I stalk celebrity makeup artists for glimpses of their favorite technique/product that they swear by.  So far, I've learned a lot of little helpful tips from Beyonce's artist, Sir John.

Recently, I learned of Mario Dedivanovic who responsible for Kim Kardashian's flawless looks.  The minute I found out who he was, I searched for his Instagram.  After a bit a scrolling, I stumbled on a pic that immediately caught my eye.

December 26th.  Today marks the official start of the last week on 2016. It's probably the most important week of the year.  Why?  Because it's crunch time.  Over the next week, you have the opportunity to create a clear line of demarcation that will separate 2016 from the year that lays ahead.

When most people discuss the New Year, they typically are referring to celebration plans for December 31rst.  For me, the January 1 represents a new beginning.  I love creating a distinction between this year and the next.

Establishing a clear starting point for the new year isn't as simple as saying that you "want things to be different in 2017."   Because guess what, 2017 will be exactly the same as this year unless we do something to differentiate it.

The other day, YouTube recommended a video that I immediately clicked on upon reading the title.  Allegedly, this single ingredient when taken before bed had the potential to help you lose weight and build muscle while you sleep.  You may recall that I once talked about another technique that promotes fat loss while sleeping.  But that one can be a bit uncomfortable.  The method this guy suggested was much more doable.

Essentially, he urged us to make a simple tweak to our evening routine which could ultimately pay off big time.

Welcome back.  Time for another installment in our Drink Your Effin' Water series.  This is where I share a gentle reminder to everyone to stay consistent with your water intake.  It all started when we learned that quite a few supermodels and other beauty icons consume as much as a gallon of water a day to stay flawless.

I keep bringing up the topic of drinking enough water daily because all of us need to be reminded of all the goodness that awaits us if we keep up with our water intake.  For those who aren't aware, here are just a few of the incredible benefits.

// Hydrated clear skin
// A happier scalp (less flaking)
// Promotes faster hair growth by delivering nutrients to the scalp.
// Improved mental focus
// Improved digestion.

The list goes on. But what if I were to tell you that there's yet another benefit that could rival all the others on the list.

Hey guys. It's been a while since I've done a "Happy Endings" post dedicated towards the creation of your healthiest ends possible.  I was inspired to write this article after a recent encounter with one of my old loves.

A few years ago, I learned of a modern miracle breakthrough technology that would bless certain hair products with the ability to actually repair split ends.  It seemed almost too good to be true until I tried it myself.  Upon discovering that Nexxus offered a full line of products infused with the special ingredient that could "mend" split ends, I went all in.

This morning, I took a long walk and recorded a voice memo of my progress achieved in 2016.  Prior to making the recording, I usually listen to a previous memo from an earlier month.  Since this is the final month of the year, I took some additional time to reflect on the common themes of the year.

 I realized this morning is that my biggest struggle of the year is staying consistent.
If I need to reach an outcome, I get laser focused and expend loads of mental/physical energy to make it happen.  Once it does, I take my hands off the wheel and let things go into auto pilot.  We all know what happen next.  The outcome that I've worked so hard to achieve starts to breakdown which causes results to rapidly decline.  Before I know it, I'm right back to where I started and all of my efforts were wasted.

What's missing is the consistency that creates sustainable results.

I'm almost too ashamed to say this, but I don't currently own a pair of boots.  The excuse I tell myself is that it doesn't really get that cold where I live.  For me, boots represented another method of staying warm in cold weather.  Yes, the are meant to help keep us warm, but they offer so much more than an additional layer of protection. A beautiful pair of boots have the ability to transform your entire look.

I've never really been tempted to step outside of my comfort zone and purchase boots until now.

The over the knee trend has finally brought me out of hiding.  There's something intriguing about the juxtaposition of the shorter top (or dress) and the ultra tall boot. It's magical.  Every time I see someone rocking a pair of full-length boots paired with a shorter length top, I do a double take.  The woman who sports this look is bold, super confident, and has amazing style.

Truth be told, I'm probably not yet ready to step out of the house in an oversized chunky sweater and over the knee boots.  But, I'd totally rock them with some black leggings or skinny jeans (like in the pic above).  Sometimes wearing leggings as pants doesn't look as put together as we would like.  But add a pair of boots and your casual look is instantly taken up several notches.

I'm actually quite shocked at how affordable some of these boots are.  They are definitely going on my wish list.

Every year, I go on a semi-annual rant on scalp health.  Feel free to check out an archive of my scalp related posts here. As someone with chronic scalp issues, I long for the day when I can truly enjoy a healthy scalp once and for all.  Let me tell you, the struggle is real.  During the summer months, I'm constantly looking for ways to remove the excess buildup from sweating.  In the winters, my dermatitis flares up which means lots of flakiness and extreme shedding.

I've tried various DIY scalp concoctions like whipping up my own sugar scalp scrub.  That was a complete fail for me as I battled endlessly to get those tiny sugar grains out of my hair.  There was that one time that I did a bentonite clay mask but something went horribly wrong.  It over stripped my hair and set off a chain of events that lead to a heart-wrenching setback.  From that day forward, I swore off at home scalp detox and set search for a professional product that would create real results once and for all!

That day has finally arrived.

Every so often, I'll watch esthetician training videos on Youtube for a better understanding of how to use the professional facial tools I've amassed over the years.  This weekend, I invested over an hour to watch a woman painstakingly conduct a multi-step facial.

After thoroughly cleansing the client's skin,  she began the exfoliation process.  But instead of reaching for a granulated product, she grabbed a papaya enzyme complex mask and applied it using a skin brush.   She explained that the mask interacts with the enzymes in the skin to begin the dead skin cell proliferation process.

Once the mask fully covered the client's face, the woman gave her a soothing facial massage.  After the massage, she did the unexpected.

It's been a while since we talked about creating financial freedom.  And with the new year fast approaching, I figure that it's time to get refocused.  Today we discuss the topic of engaging in income generating activities (IGA).

Generally, this terminology is thrown around in the network marketing (or multilevel marketing) industry.  Basically, income generating activities refer to the actions we take that have a direct impact on our current (or future) income. When you're trying to build a business, there are 1001 things that need to be done.  Only a percentage of those actions are directly connected to your earnings.  Typically, people who do well financially with their businesses are those who invested adequate time on income generating activities.

This idea of focusing on income related activities is extremely powerful.  It has the ability to increase our financial results by 10X.  If your income remained pretty consistent in 2016.  It's probably because you weren't actively seeking out income producing actions.   Sure you probably had a busy a year.  But many of those actions didn't have a lasting impact.  In 2017, let's try something different.

We're back with another feature of legendary Instagrammers who deserve an immediate follow.  Today, we have Nikisha Brunson.  She's a contributor for the Urban Bush Babes, a mecca for lifestyle and natural hair inspiration.

The moment I stumbled onto her feed, I knew I was in for a treat.  At first glance, I could easily tell that Nikisha isn't just here to post an endless array of selfies.  Her feed is chock full of valuable content. And, best of all,  it's a perfect mix of style, natural health, & fitness inspo.  Of course, there are a few beauty tips sprinkled in as well.

This morning, I did something that I haven't done in a long while.  It was long overdue but it had to be done.  Today I refreshed my shower water softener.  I bought this thing years ago after learning about the damaging effects on hard water on the hair.

Back then, it seemed like whatever I did, nothing could make my hair behave.  Even though I deep conditioned like mad, my hair still remained stiff and dry.  Not long after applying moisturizer, my hair seemed dry again.  Not to mention how dry and itchy my skin felt after stepping out of the shower.  I had to do something. Finally, I came to the conclusion that my water was the culprit and I had to act fast.

I've gone and purchased another facial tool.  This one might be one of my all time favorites. It was an impulse purchase made immediately after stumbling upon this short video on Instagram.

A video posted by ValGarland (@thevalgarland) on Nov 22, 2016 at 9:30am PST

The moment I laid my eyes on this little facial rollers I was enamored.  I wondered if it had any other special qualities beyond the rolling & massaging capabilities.  Turns out that what I was looking at was far superior to any cordless facial tool I've ever known.

This morning, I took on the tough challenge of stalking the Instagram accounts of various Victoria's Secret Models.  Leading up to the runway show, these beauties undergo a regimented diet and beauty routine to ensure they are flawless for the televised event.  My job to was uncover  the hidden mysteries of how they stay ready.

One of the beauties that I happened upon today was Lameka Fox.  I scrolled through her feed desperate for glimpses of her favorite beauty treatments.  One of her posts, in particular, stopped me dead in my tracks.

The other day I attended a social gathering comprised of aspiring entrepreneurs.  Midway through the event, some of us were asked to share our goals for the upcoming year.

When the question was asked of the group, I thought about how the meaning of the word "goals" is slowly changing.  Whenever I come across an aesthetically pleasing image on social media, I'm almost certain to find a comment where someone classifies the situations as #goals.

It seems like labeling something we aspire to as "goals" is commonplace.  There's nothing wrong with that, but I feel like this newly evolved definition is possibly setting us up for failure.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show just wrapped up.  Usually, around this time, journalists scramble to interview the models to discuss their pre-fashion show beauty routine.