Hello all, this post has been a few years in the making. I have been compiling an ongoing list of my absolute favorite things. Life hacks, new products, beauty secrets, the list goes on. This post has taken me so long to make because I wanted to give every product a very thorough trial time period, years in some cases. Of course, there are many many things I use every day and really like. But this list is only saved for the things I absolutely love. The things that I “need” in my 1st world life. (I do get a kickback on a few items but that’s only because I couldn’t help but sign up, I love it so much.)

Now, why am I sharing all these secrets with you with little or no benefit to me? Well, I really just wanted to be nice and I enjoy it when someone is able to give a good quality gift that’s really appreciated. And also I’ll have my husband proofread this before I post it and he’ll be able to see my Christmas list of things I need to be restocked. Win, win! And listen up any of you guys reading this, most of these would be fantastic stocking stuffers.

I hope you find some new favorite things for yourself, a friend or your business. Now, onto the list…

Evy’s Must-Haves 2019 Edition

Beauty

1. Dry Shampoo – Hopefully you’re already on this wagon, but if somehow you’re not it. will. change. your. life. Over the last few years I’ve tried many different brands and honestly, there’s only been a very few I haven’t liked. I’ve found that the cheaper ones compare pretty well with the more expensive ones I’ve tried. Right now my go-to is Not Your Mothers and it can be found many places. You can also make your own, but that’s a different post. Basically, it helps with styling and lets me go way longer in between hair washing so it’s better for my hair in the long run.

2. Telephone Cord Hair Ties – These kinda dumb looking things have changed my life in a small way but changed none the less. I no longer have ponytail creases when I put my hair up, thanks to these little guys. And my hair doesn’t get all tangled and rip out from my hair tie when I take it out. You can get clear or find your hair color or go all crazy color for that matter.

3. Wet Brush – This new brush design is amazing. I will never go back. I have long hair and I think I acquired my high pain tolerance from all the hours of painful brushing out of tangles growing up. No pain with these babies. I can go straight from wet hair to tangle-free in a few strokes. There are different brands that are designed the same way and I haven’t noticed a huge difference in them.

4. Croc Clips – One of my hairdresser friends said she can’t believe how many people don’t know about these. I use them every day to hold my hair in place, out of my face while curling, styling or putting on makeup. Of course, I found some blue ones at T.J.Maxx. I have two sets I use but I have a lot of hair.

5. Ambre Blends – This is going to be one of the more pricey gifts on this list. But remember I wouldn’t’ tell you about it if it wasn’t life-changing. A little back story, my husband does film production during the week when we’re not shooting weddings. One day he came home and smelled amazing. He was all excited to tell me about a fragrance company he was shooting a commercial for. He had gotten a little test bottle and sprayed just a little bit on himself the next morning. I kid you not I could smell it all day and he wasn’t even in the house! So the next day I told him to get some for me to try. I fell in love. There are a few blends for you to try but they’re all in a similar family of fragrance. They have a test set you can get before you commit to a whole bottle. So the true test, would I actually still smell good after a 12 hour sweaty wedding day? I can’t tell you how many times someone has hugged me at the end of a wedding day and said how great I smell. It works! I’ve even had people over the counter at Panera ask if I was wearing Ambre Blends. (Tim I need some more, please.)

6. Fake Nails – I’ve been using these guys for years as my perfect french nail secret. I don’t have time to go get a real manicure so $5 and 10 minutes later I have a great set of nails. I use them for weddings, photoshoots, on days when I feel like just looking a little more put together.  It depends on how many dishes you do and if you bite your nails I suppose but mine stay on for about a week. I do trust the Kiss brand and haven’t ventured out to try too many others. (Pro Tip) I actually normally get two boxes and with the extra nails in each set I’m normally able to get three sets from two.

7. Eyeliner – Eyeliner is one of the top three makeup products I use. I also have really oily eyelids so I’ve been using waterproof mascara and eyeliner for most of my adult life. I ran out of my normal one a few months ago and decided to see what else was out there. Long story short after some scientific experimenting I ended up loving this new one I found by Benefit. It stays on and doesn’t bleed.

8. Bass Farms Lotion – This is a local company that has some great stuff. I’m really picky when it comes to my lotions. I hate feeling greasy. And my husband has this skin condition and he practically lives on this lotion. It’s the best he’s found in all his years of looking.

Life Hacks

9. Chatbooks – I’m sure if you’ve been around Instagram at all you’ve seen Chatbooks or have already signed up. But just in case you haven’t I’ll tell you that I love the peace of mind it gives. If Instagram went away tomorrow I’d have the last 7 years of my online journal not online but in print on my coffee table. The ones I get aren’t the highest quality but any printed picture is worth more than no printed picture. I check-in on the app once a month before it goes to print and it magically appears at my door a few days later. It’s the best way I’ve found to automatically make sure memories are getting printed for you to keep. (I do get $10 off if you use my link on this one.)

10. Misfit Market – This is more of a recent thing for me but so far I’m really enjoying it. I heard about companies that deliver unusable produce to your house because it can’t be sold in stores due to cosmetic defects. I tried to sign up for some boxes but no one was delivering to my area yet. In walks Misfit Market, the first company to actually deliver to my house. We get a big box of totally organic fruits and veggies delivered to my house every two weeks. I did price checking and on average I’m getting $70 worth of stuff for $40, shipped. We enjoy getting better products at a better price. I enjoy it coming to my door. And I also enjoy getting a few things I wouldn’t normally pick out. It’s making me get creative and add some more variety to our meals. All the produce has been great quality and some things I don’t even know why they’re there because they look totally fine. (Use my link to get 25% off your first order.)

11. Thieves Lozenges – I’m not going to go into the whole essential oils thing on here but I did want to share my most favorite way to keep sickness at bay. Young Living Thieves Lozenges. I’m not going to try and sell anything I’m just going to say I pop one of these things in my mouth the first day I might be getting sick and I don’t get sick. You can also find these online other places but they’re more expensive. (I am not a doctor and make no medical health claims.)

12. Thieves Hand Sanitizer – It’s pretty straight forward I love having these around everywhere. Especially with kids. I’m not keen on the antibacterial stuff (You can read about it here and many other places.) so I really like this as an alternative. (Tim can you put lots of these in my stocking, thanks.)

13. I wish I had one of these on my wedding registry but I didn’t discover the wonderfulness of Immersion blenders till about five years into my marriage. There are two or three blenders that I rarely use down in my basement because this little guy does the trick for 90% of my needs now. I don’t have a ton of counter space in my current kitchen so being able to store this in the cabinet is perfect. And even if it did break on me it’s so cheap I’d just go buy a new one. I love these and of course, I got it in “my color”.

Business

14. Comfiest Camera Strap – Enough said. When I first started using this strap I didn’t even know my camera was on sometimes. (So be careful, haha) It distributes the weight nicely on your shoulder and it just feels like a shirt. Go get one. I have a “scarf strap”.

That’s it for now! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season and that this list can offer some help with your wish list.