A Pair and a Spare

Not too far below this middle-aged, round, Mom-Bod surface is a smoking hot core of divine womanly deliciousness and I’m willing to bet that your core is made of the same. The gift of aging comes with its share of wins and how should I put it, modifications.  I’m here for it all though!  So today just in time for the big day of love, I’m tapping into that core to discuss my love for all things shoes.  Especially those that sparkle. 

Now I have to disclose that Hubby buys 95% of my shoes and 100% of the fun sparkly shoes so please give him all the credit.  Every time a box enters the house I play coy and say “ George, you shouldn’t have, stop wasting money on shoes for me”. But what I’m really thinking is OMG I love them!  Don’t Stop! I will also add that most of these shoes are NOT made for walking. I repeat, NOT made for walking.  They are made for drop me at the door so I only walk to our table and will be seated for the rest of the night.  Crazy right?  You’re probably thinking why not get more practical shoes?  Well beauty isn’t practical and sometimes I want to feel down right stunningly breathtaking with my shoes I will not be walking in. You feel me?

For me as a plus size woman, shoes have always been that extra something that worked when the stores didn’t always have the right size or fit in clothes. For some reason the shoes always worked. I love how they transform your posture. Your walk turns into a strut.  You’re no longer walking like a cowboy, as my grandmother would say, you’re taking dainty steps.  I love the femininity that comes with a high heel too, especially the look of my arch. If your feet could purr, high heels would certainly do the trick.

 So to get your juices flowing and inspire the sexy in you, I am sharing with you a handful of my favorite glass slippers.  I wish I could rank according to favorite but there is no such thing.  My shoes receive equal opportunity favor in this house.  I am not necessarily a label person, I like what I like, so what you see is just my personal preference for whatever mood I may be in that day.

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 Now that you’ve met the family, I hope you were entertained and inspired to bring your sexy this month even if it’s in the smallest way.

Until next time,

-K

Bath & Body Pop-Up Shop!

Hey everybody,

Seems like I haven’t chatted with you all in a while! My oldest son graduated this month and now that we have finally gotten all the celebrations done, I can focus on my new baby. Well this baby is actually a toddler now but whatever! My new baby is not an actual child, its my bath and body treats.

I love taking recipes from pinterest and tweaking them to make them my own. I have been making things for several years now, but never did I think of selling anything. I usually make them for myself or gifts for others, but never retail. This is a brand new area for me. My dear high school friend said to me “Where is your product line?….the packaging and the label are perfect! I would totally buy it!” I sat back and thought hmmmm. She may be onto something. So I took it to my hubby in a joking manner highlighting my known flakiness when it comes to my long list of hobbies and side hustles. He knows me best. He knows I love people but only in small doses. He knows I will love something and then put it down for a while after I get all the real life experience out of it. Expecting him to not be on board, shockingly he said “ Just do a Pop-Up shop! Make a set amount and when you sell out that’s it!!” Omg! That’s brilliant!! He’s Brilliant!!! And off I went to create my little empire.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I love all my hobbies but this one allows me to rely solely on me. Not someone else’s ideas, budget, judgement, just me. I love that. My friend Ashley said “Kim, let me ask you a serious question. Will you stick with this after the pop-up shop? How do you see this going?” And I thought, let’s just see how this goes and I’ll tell you later. Although my knee jerk reaction was YESSSSS! ABSOLUTELY! I have learned from my other hobbies that you don’t know what you don’t know and its best to just go with the flow. So! That’s the back story. Now own to the fun part!

POP-UP SHOP DETAILS

Launch Date: Monday, June 7th

Time: 12:00 Noon EST

Where: Online - www. thegracioushostess.com - There will be a tab labeled Shop!

Payment: Paypal Only (at the moment). Of course you can message me for cashapp, zelle, etc.

Delivery: There is a shipping charge, but I do offer free local Savannah delivery

PRODUCT DETAILS

The products we’re offering this go round are bath truffles, bath salts, body wash, body butter, soap, shimmer oil, healing butter, and beard balm. I’ve included a few of my favorites below.

Green Tea Body Wash

Strawberry Bubbly Bath Truffle

Berry & Rosewater Soap

Bronze Shimmer Body Oil

Lavender Grapefruit Bath Salts

Oatmeal Honey Soother Soap (Eczema Friendly)

I hope you find something you like and thank you to everyone that has oooohed and ahhhh a photo for me throughout this whole process. You will never know how encouraging you really are! Who knows? If this goes well, maybe we can make it a permanent thing! Here’s Hoping!

Until next time,

-K

9 Things to Wear Before the End of Summer!

The summer months are quickly passing us by and school is beginning to start. Soon we’ll be feeling the crisp air of fall. WELL, here in Savannah, its still hot as ………let’s just say its really hot. Since we have a little while before it really cools off, let’s talk about some of the things I truly enjoy about the hot weather. Here I’m highlighting 9 cool things to wear before summer ends!

Bold Earrings

Earrings from Ginen Wrap by Sophie Patel (www.ginenwrap.com) $25

Both earrings are from The Gilded Stone (www.thegildedstone.com)

Multi -Color $32

Tortoise Moon - $28

Bright Headwraps

Headwrap from Ginen Wrap by Sophie Patel (www.ginenwrap.com) $35

Chunky Wedges

Wedges from Aldo $29

Glowy Palettes

This look is Pat McGrath’s Mothership V - Bronze Seduction palette $125

Another great one is the Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet $49

Both palettes have a special duochrome shadow that’s a gamechanger!

Flesh Tone Swimsuits & Alluring Waist Beads

Swimsuit by Asos $24 for both pieces

Cover-up from Fashionova Curve $20

Waist beads I stole from my niece but Amazon has tons!

Nude Flip Flops

H&M $12

Sassy Straw Bags

Leopard Bag from Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse $20

Straw Clutch from Amazon $12.99

Statement Eyeglasses

Eyeglasses from Amazon $16.99

These are my fun picks for the summer so pardon me while I go sit in my backyard in my swimsuit. LOLOL!!!

Until next time,

-K

Glow-Up 101: Skincare

I have a confession. I’m 43 years old and I could be one of the last people that DOES NOT have a skincare regimen.  When I tell you I’m rough around the edges, I mean it.  My routine consisted of using regular anti-bacterial dial soap that lays on the sink all day, followed by whatever body lotion I have at the moment. I know, I know, I should be ashamed of myself!  And to add to it, I have frequently gone to bed with a face full of make-up.  I’m sure you’re cringing by now so I decided to grow up and adopt some sort of a routine before my face decides to rebel.

The Basics

Alright, so before I jumped headfirst into buying stuff, I did a little research for the simplest steps to a thorough skincare routine and find out why we do them. I was pleasantly surprised because the steps were all steps that I am currently familiar with. 

Step 1 – Cleanse – This helps rid your skin of all the oils, make-up, toxins and grime from the day.

Step 2 – Tone – This removes any debris left behind and helps neutralize the skin’s natural ph.

Step 3 – Exfoliate- Removes all the dead skin cells (doesn’t have to be done every day)

Step 4 – Serum – This step allows deep penetration of nutrients and is usually done at night.

Step 5 – Moisturize – Protects and adds the moisture back into your skin

Trial and Error

Once I got the steps down, I really wanted to see what was out there before I committed to any particular product.  I gathered samples when I ordered things from Ulta and Sephora and I would frequent the aisles of TJ Maxx. They had a ton of different products and the prices were friendly. Use this time to see what type products and brands agree with your skin.  I ended up tossing a few due to my skin’s reactions. 

Honorable Mention

After looking at a few items I committed to two different moderately priced brands because they provided a “starter kit”. I loved this because it gave me a chance to use the whole line of products together before purchasing them individually. 

Murad – Start Bright Here

This was highly effective especially for removing the dark spots, but it was a little too harsh for my skin. I began breaking out around my mouth with fine bumps on two separate occasions, so I stopped using this one immediately. I will say it really began lightening those spots so if your skin is a little less sensitive, you should give it a shot.

Mario Badescu - All is calm

I’m enjoying this group of products. I was shocked that the enzyme cleanser doesn’t create bubbles, so I have to constantly tell myself that my face is clean even without bubbles…. Lololol.  I will say that even though there were only five different products, it felt like there were sooooo many steps.  I’m a simple girl and really felt I needed to also look for something more realistic that I would be able stick to.  The products here were all great though, especially the toner, face mist and night cream.  My skin felt so nourished.

The Winner Is…

After testing out the various products and routines I’ve finally landed on one drugstore find.  Cetaphil is great for sensitive combination skin like my own and the regimen is more manageable for my lifestyle and pockets.  The cleanser makes bubbles and the moisturizer isn’t too greasy.  I also picked up this Biore’ toner because I loved that part of the skincare process. 

I will continue to indulge in the occasional face oil, mist and night cream but for a standard skincare program I think this three-step process will suit me just fine.

Thanks for listening and until next time,