An Inside Look: Fashion and Beauty Resolutions for 2013

photo credit: pixmac.com 

Earlier this week we talked about how starting a new year helps us reevaluate certain aspects of our lives. Before the new year started, I am sure many of us were thinking of what areas we wanted to focus on changing, whether it be in our personal or business lives. One of the first resolutions that I am sure we all have in common is wanting to live a healthier lifestyle. To help you get an idea of how you can achieve becoming healthier, please feel free to read more on this subject {HERE}.

Another resolution or goal that is worthy of mentioning revolves around this website. Let me explain.

The Daily Fashion and Beauty News was created at the beginning of 2012. Now that a year has passed, during the last few weeks we have taken a few days to sit down and brainstorm - focusing on what our readers are interested in. The first task we accomplished was creating a vision board and a blogging "to-do" list. I can honestly tell you that our list of resolutions/ideas is long and very detailed.

Concentrating on these resolutions created with this blog in mind, I wanted to share some of these with you. Why? Simple. You are an extremely important and critical part of my blogging life, therefore I want to get your honest opinion and feedback being that without you this website would really be nothing. YOUR opinion MATTERS the MOST! 

So, to get things started, here are a few topics that are going to be featured during 2013:

• Product Reviews {personal favorite beauty products, apparel purchases, spa treatments, books, nail polish, ect.}
• DIY Posts {do-it-yourself skin/hair care posts}
• Get the Look {makeup tutorials, outfit/style features, collage trends, shopping posts}
• Battle of the ..... {similar to Battle of the Beats these posts will be comparison articles on similar brand products}
• Lifestyle {topics covering health and fitness, home decor, food posts}

Now it's Your Turn: In addition to these ideas, what do YOU want to see featured here on the blog during 2013?

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Your Better Life starts this New Year 2013!

Happy New Year Beauties! It's the first day of 2013!!

There's something about starting a new year that gets everyone {young or old, male or female} in such high spirits, that it becomes very captivating. A new year is a new beginning - a fresh start - a time to work on our personal goals and resolutions. Many of us {myself included} have made a resolve to make sure that this new year we begin on a healthy note.

Making the resolution of becoming a healthier person involves many things, such as, making changes to our diets, drinking more water {this is my #1 goal!} and more importantly, beginning a new work out routine. Creating a realistic exercise routine can seem daunting, however having a resource available to guide you during your workouts can certainly help keep you on track.

That's when Your Better Life comes into the picture.

Your Better Life is a website dedicated to help you attain your personal health goals. There are several programs and challenges that you can join. For example, during the past few weeks I have been trying out their "In a New York Minute" pilot challenge. The focus of this challenge is to help the user remain physically active while at work during a four week period.

You maybe thinking to yourself, "How am I supposed to work out, if I am at the office?" Easy.

When you join the "In a New York Minute" {or any challenge} the system gives you certain activity options that can be completed during working hours. You can take a break-time walk for 15 minutes {during your lunch hour, perhaps}, desks stretches, drinking eight glasses of water, motivating a co-worker or friend to join you on your walk, and by taking the stairs instead of riding the elevator.

I told you that it would be easy, right? I wouldn't lie to you! Okay, now that you have a short list of activities, what's next?

After you complete any of these daily activities, you log back into Your Better Life website to submit which activity was completed on which day, allowing you to easily keep track of your progress. This way you can determine where you are in the challenge. There are several "trackers" available to help you monitor your activity, fitness, nutrition, hydration, and weight. That covers basically everything that you need in order to stay on track with your health/fitness routine!

One last important point to point out about the Your Better Life wellness site is, that you are not alone. There is an option included in the Challenges where you can find a "Buddy". I personally like the idea of having someone to "workout" with {even if it is only virtually!} because it helps with your motivation, and helps you become more accountable which in the end will certainly help you obtain your new years resolution..in a New York minute!

For more detailed information about the Your Better Life please visit their website {HERE}. You can also read about the creator and founder of Your Better Life, Tom Watson {HERE}.

Disclosure: I participated in the You Better Life Campaign through Sublime Media Connection in exchange for an honest review. In no way was I asked to give a positive review. As such all opinions are 100% my own. To see a full detailed disclosure for this website, please visit my Disclosure page.

Now it's your turn: What are some of your new year's resolutions/goals? Is getting healthier one of them?

Bring in 2013 with the Latina Lifestyle Bloggers {Photo Challenge}

Hello to all my dearest Beauties!

I hope that your holidays were filled with love, happiness and many blessings. As we move forward into a New Year, I wanted to use this opportunity to invite everyone to join the Latina Lifestyle Bloggers in our first photo challenge of 2013. 

Event Dates: January 1st - January 31st

What do you need to participate in this photo challenge?
A camera – Yes, a camera is necessary! Any camera will do – your smart-phone camera, a DSLR camera, iPhone, Ipad...anything that can take a decent looking photo. Just make sure that you are able to upload the photo so you can share it via social media.

Okay, so you took the photo, now what? 
Share it, please! We want to see and share your creativity!

Where can you share your photo?
Twitter - Upload your photo in a tweet - write a creative caption - tag it with hashtag #llblogphotooftheday and share. {for a chance at being retweeted tag @latncookndiva in your tweet!}
Pinterest - Upload your photo - pin it to one of your boards - describe your pin then tag it with #llblogphotooftheday
Facebook - If you have a facebook fan page or personal page please feel free to upload your photo there. Just make sure you tag @LatinaLifestyleBloggersCollective and {llblogphotooftheday}.
Instagram - Take your photo - tag it using #llblogphotooftheday - Hit share.
Your Blog - If you have a blog or a website, you can add your photos to your feed or in a blog post ...it's your blog so you can choose how you want others to see your photos! Please use tag #llblogphotooftheday

IMPORTANT:  You MUST use #llblogphotooftheday when sharing your photo via social media. If the hashtag is NOT used, your photo will not qualify to be entered in the grand prize drawing. {See following paragraphs for details}

Note: If you are unsure about using Instagram, then don't use it. It is NOT mandatory to use Instagram in order to participate in this event. You decide where and how you wish to share your photos!

You have shared your photos via social media, now what?
Submit your photo to us by filling out a simple form. {HERE}
You are allowed to submit one (1) photo for each day you are participating in - So, the more active you are in taking photos, the more chances you have of winning!

Why fill out this form if your sharing the photo via social media?
Because there are going to be prizes for participating in this event! After the event closes on January 31st, we will be selecting FIVE (5) Grand Prize Winners*. The winners will be selected by using radom.org - This will ensure that EVERYONE who SUBMITS their photos will have a fair chance at being selected as a winner.

What type of prizes are up for grabs?
A bottle of wine provided by one of our sponsors, Vino Latino
Aveeno Skin Care products
CoverGirl Cosmetics.... and more items are being added, so please stay tuned for a complete list coming soon!

What if you forget what the daily prompt is?
No worries! Just come back to this blog post and catch up by referring to the top photo. If you like, please fell free to save the photo onto your desktop this way you have the photo with you to refer back to it anytime you need to!

Now that you're excited and worked up, let's recap:

• Take photo for the prompt of the day 
• Share your photo via social media using hashtag #llblogphotooftheday
• Submit your contact information to be included in the Grand Prize Drawing

Final Thoughts: 
We really hope that after reading these super easy guidelines you are excited to join us in the upcoming Bringing in 2013 with Latina Fashion Lifestyle and Beauty Bloggers Photo Challenge! All of us are looking forward to having this photo challenge. Who knows, you just might make some new friends, connect with lost friends or just have fun being creative with your camera!

*Important!
The five (5) grand prize winners will be selected during the first week of February 2013. Once these have been selected, they will be notified via email. The selected winners will have five (5) business days to submit their shipping information - if this is not received, we will have no other choice but to assume the individual does not want their prize, therefore we will select another winner. If you are among those who are selected as winners, please note that the prizes will be shipped during February - please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. This photo challenge event is not part of Instagram or any other social media outlet. For questions, suggestions or if your are interested in sponsoring a prize please send an email to rosamaria (dot) sanchezpellot (at) gmail (dot) com

Now it's your turn:  Are you excited to join the Latina Lifestyle Bloggers 2013 photo challenge event?  Do you have your cameras ready?