Waterl<ss: My Secret to Going a Week Without Washing My Hair

April 20, 2020April 24, 2020by Rachel ProchnowLeave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Waterl<ss.

If you are anything like me, then you dread washing your hair because you know a long, damaging session with the blow dryer looms before you.

I’ve tried many a hair product to maximize the time between washes, but I haven’t found one that compares to Waterl<ss. If you’re not familiar with Waterl<ss, it’s a hair care company based out of Cape Town, South Africa created by a small group of scientists who wanted to create non-wash products that actually work. They put the products to the test during the water crisis in early 2018! I love partnering with brands that have awesome principals, and Waterl<ss celebrates diversity with lines for all different hair types. They are also passionate about water conservation! Their three-step system to maximizing the time between washes is so effective because it makes your hair look, feel, and even smell fresh-like you washed your hair that day. They want your hair to look just as good on day three as it does on day one. You know me, I go 4, sometimes even a full week without washing my hair. I do it using Waterl<ss’ full regimen of products. Also-think about this-the less you wash your hair, the less damaging heat you put on it. I am convinced this has helped my hair grow so long and healthy.

Making your hair look clean

Waterl<ss’ first step is their dry shampoo. Their No Residue dry shampoo stands out above the rest because there is no residue. You know how some dry shampoos leave your hair looking grey or chalky? Waterl<ss has absolutely zero of that. My roots are a light brown/dark blonde and so I am always cognizant of that-I mean who wants to walk around with grey roots?! Waterl<ss has solved this problem and simply leaves your roots looking clean.

Making your hair feel clean

You know that feeling after you deep condition your hair? The ends are soft and smooth. It’s hard to get that feeling without actually deep conditioning your hair. I know usually around day 2-3 of me forgoing washing my hair the ends begin to get a little brittle. But Waterl<ss has developed such a great solution to that! Their Weightless Smooth dry conditioner leaves your hair shiny, smooth, and soft-feeling like you just deep conditioned it. I always apply the dry conditioner to the mid shaft of the hair down to the ends, avoiding my roots or places near the top of my scalp.

Making your hair smell clean

Your girl loves to work out. I work out every single day. I also love hiking and pretty much doing anything active. But I don’t want to have to wash my hair every single time I work out-if I did that I would be spending an hour a day blow drying-nobody’s got time for that! Waterl<ss’ third and final step is their hair fragrance. This makes your hair smell fresh and clean without being overly “perfumey.”

Waterl<ss’ system has completely transformed how much heat I use on my hair and how often I need to wash it. Their products are so effective and thoughtful. I love being able to go hiking or work out knowing I can go without having to wash my hair afterwards. Their three-step system has perfected making your hair look, feel, and smell so fresh and clean!

The Waterl<ss Collection is available online at Target!

faith

5 Ways to Battle Jealousy

February 5, 2020by Rachel ProchnowLeave a Comment

We all know the girl: the girl who seems to glide through life effortlessly. Her laugh draws others in. She’s the one all the guys want to date and all the girls want to be her best friend. Everything just seems to be handed to her without any effort on her part. It’s annoying when she wins prom queen and gets a full ride to college all in one week. As you watch her charmed life unfold, it’s easy for jealousy for sneak it’s way into your mind and heart. It’s easy for the enemy to begin to embed seeds of doubt into your heart as you begin to want what she has. I’ve found some really helpful tips to battle the green monster of jealousy over the years and wanted to share them with you.

1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE

This is the best way to battle jealousy. When you know that you are so secure in your identity as a daughter of the Most High, everything else fades into the background. Walk in the power and the strength that you are His daughter, embrace your identity as a princess and you will stop worrying about how perfect everyone else’s live may seem. Seek God every day. Make him your focus and your priority; jealousy will fade.

2. FOCUS ON LOVING HER

As Christians we are called to be lights to those around us. That means loving others even when it is hard. Instead of seeing other’s successes in a negative way, celebrate with her! Be genuinely happy when something goes well for your friend. Show her Christ’s love. Put your energy into finding ways to love her rather than tear her down.

3. STOP THINKING OF YOURSELF

It’s really hard not to be self-centered. But sometimes we need to be told that we are not the center of the universe. Whenever we get feelings of jealousy, its because we are focusing too much on ourselves. Sometimes we need to step back and ask God to help us not look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). We should be exhibiting humility to those around us. The Bible actually tells us to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). When we keep this mentality, it keeps jealousy at bay and helps us rejoice when others succeed.

4. DO NOT GOSSIP

It’s so easy to pick apart tiny flaws people have when we want to feel better about ourselves. It’s easy to scrutinize a picture and talk about how she edited it and she’s not that pretty in real life. I know I am guilty of this. Whenever you feel the urge to tear someone down by gossiping, remember who you are representing.
You are representing Jesus.
Jesus loves you and He loves her.
Don’t tear down someone else to make yourself feel better. Besides talking bad about someone else only makes you look insecure and it doesn’t make you any better!

What is beautiful is being confident enough to acknowledge someone else’s intellect, talent, or beauty and knowing that it doesn’t threaten yours at all.

5. JEALOUSY AND FRIENDSHIP CAN’T CO-EXIST

There’s nothing that kills a friendship more than jealousy. You shouldn’t compete with your friends. Instead you should encourage and lift each other up. You should allow and encourage each other to be the best versions of yourselves. Proverbs 17:17 says a friend loves at all times. Keep that mind. Focus on loving your friends and bringing out their best.

Jealousy is something all girls have to battle. We all struggle with it. Whenever you feel it sneaking up on you remember these five tips and most importantly, remember who you are. Remember that you have been called to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. And remember that you are always representing Christ.

Radically,
Rachel

faith

How I Plan & Stay Organized with Dayspring

June 3, 2019by Rachel Prochnow3 Comments

She pressed the brand new planner against her palms, she felt the magic of this little planner tingle in her hands.

This is going to be her year.

The year that she has all her stuff together.

The year she’s gonna actually keep a planner and stay 100% organized.

The year she’s going to be ridiculously efficient and accomplish every goal she sets her mind to. Visions of a 4.0 dance to the forefront of her mind, that promotion she’s been vying for sneaks into her minds eye. Trips abroad. She would finally get to to go to Cinque Terre, Rome, and Venice. And she’s gonna hustle until she gets there.

YES she decided.

This is it.

This is my year.

Softly she heard a tiny voice in the back of her mind gently whisper, “Is it your year, or is it about something bigger than you?” She felt a lump begin to form in the back of her throat.

If you’re anything like me, you are juggling about six balls in the air at a time.

And you thrive off of it.

You love having your hand in tons of different projects because its exciting and challenging. It brings out your dynamic side and gives you the opportunity to be flexible! Everyday brings a new adventure. But there can be a shadow side of that fast paced sprint. It can be a lack of organization and a lack of keeping yourself grounded in what really matters. I am so excited to partner up with Dayspring and Studio 71 to tell you just how i have managed to keep all the projects thriving (your girl works three jobs and this past year I traveled over 15,000 miles), stay organized, and most importantly keeping my spiritual walk in check!

1.Keep Your Eyes Focused on What Matters

When you’re a hustling boss babe, it is so easy to become caught up in the checklists and the satisfaction of ticking off those little boxes. There is something insanely gratifying when you get to check a box amirite?!? Dayspring and Studio 71 get that and so they have created a planner that not only allows you ample space to create your lists and work through them, but also have truth and scripture laced throughout the planner. So you don’t lose sight of who is the author of your story! Not only does this planner have check lists and day by day lines, goals where you can record and track your progress, they also have a month to month calendar that is so helpful for planning ahead (Europe anyone??).

2. Planning with an Open Hand

Proverbs 16:9 says man makes his plans, but the Lord establishes his steps. Making plans and getting after them is such a good and beautiful thing, but it’s so important to remember to hold every single plan with an open palm, fully surrendered to God. It can be tempting to feel like we’re in control, but these little nuggets of truth throughout my favorite planner constantly remind me to surrender and hold everything, every checklist, every plan, over to God.

3. When Times Get Tough

My absolute #1 favorite thing about my DaySpring and Studio 71 Planner is this little page in the back titled, “Hope.” This page details any issue you or a friend might be dealing with. Anger, insecurity, love, and prayer are just a few of the ones listed. Each topic comes with a set of corresponding Bible verses that help you know what God says about these subjects. Whenever the stuff hits the fan-the first-the absolute first place we should be running is Jesus and His Word. This planner makes that incredibly easy. There have been so many times where I’ve sat down for a conversation with a girl and had one of these subjects has come up and its so helpful to know where you can look in scripture together to find truth. You can also use this as a topical Bible study to learn about what God says about each of these subjects!

You’re a busy lady, between work, school, social life, and travel-you’ve got tons of things going on at once. It’s so important to recognize that planning goes hand-in-hand with trusting God. Believing that He holds your future and every plan you could ever possibly make. That’s what I love about this planner. It allows you to make those plans, stay organized, but also turns your heart to what is most important: your walk with Christ. The gentle reminders throughout gently encouraging you to open your fist that is clamped around that plan and give it over to God. There was so much love and care put into crafting this journal. Women and men worked on it who care and that is so evident to me from the impeccable design, to the beautiful scripture throughout, to the “Hope” page that points us to Jesus!

So girlfriend, as you make your plans for the future, I want to encourage you to make them confidently and boldly, but also with a heart fully surrendered to Jesus, the Author and perfecter or out faith.

Love ya like a sister,

Rach

P.S. I 100% recommend this planner and you can get it here!

faith

Why You Should Stop Letting Instagram Control Your Life

May 17, 2019by Rachel ProchnowLeave a Comment

The two friends analyzed the picture, brows furrowed in concentration.

“But do you think it’s Instagram worthy?” asked the taller of the two. Her small, brunette friend grabbed her iPhone and held it close to her eyes, scrutinizing every detail.
“Yeah, for sure. Your hair looks awesome. Plus that app we found to add makeup makes your skin flawless, you will definitely get at least 200 likes.”
Triumphant, the willowy blonde hit share.
The next hour was marred with compulsive glances at her phone.

She bit her lip, she had only gotten 24 likes and it had been up for 45 minutes: an awful like-to-minute ratio.

She turned to her friend, “Should I take it down? I’ve barely even gotten any likes. How many people have already seen it? Do you think people will notice if I take it down at this point?”
Her friend fell silent, a sympathetic look crossing her face.

We have have the need to feel loved, to feel accepted. Deep within our souls, we long for validation.

We want to be liked.

That longing is normal. I mean, who doesn’t want to feel loved or cared about? The rise of social media has made of all highly aware of just of how popular we are among our peers. The number of likes you get on a picture, the number of followers you have on Instagram, or the number of views you get on your snap story has enabled us to quantitatively determine our popularity.
I know I’ve struggled with this.
The scenario I described above is pretty much a conversation I’ve had with my friends countless times. It’s only been over the past year that I’ve realized that the number of likes I get or the number of followers I have does not determine my worth. In fact, it has zero correlation with my worth.

My worth is found in Christ.
Your worth is found in Christ.
He never changes.
He never gives up on you.

Isn’t that truth so much better than finding your value in the hands of the social media landscape? Whose whims change on a daily basis?

We all have that need to be accepted.

The need is rooted deep within us.

It stems for our need for Christ. Our souls long for completion through an intimate relationship with Him. It’s actually not really about the number of likes, views, or followers.

It’s something much, much deeper than that.

What you truly want is to be accepted and loved unconditionally.

To be fully known and fully accepted.

To lay yourself bare, flaws and all, with every facade stripped away, to have every horrible thing you have ever done exposed-and still accepted and embraced.

That is shocking, compelling, and radical love.

That type of love and acceptance can only come from having a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, who loves you regardless of your Instagram following. Whenever I struggle with my identity I always recall 1 John 3:1, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” And that is what we are!
We are children of God.

Just let that sink in for a second.
When you walk around with that kind of power at the forefront of your mind, does it really matter how many people have viewed your Instagram Story?
Jesus Christ died for you.

When you are armed with that truth, who cares if you get 15 likes or 1500?

Social Media can be a really good thing. It’s fun to share exciting things happening in your life with your friends. And it can connect friends from all around the world, building friendships and connections has never been easier.

But it can be a negative thing when it controls what you do or when you compulsively check to phone to monitor the number of likes you receive. I challenge you to examine your relationship with social media. Does it dictate what you do? Do you find yourself tying your identity with who likes your picture? Or how well a post performs?

Instead of being focused on your social media accounts, dig into the word of God, grow into your identity as the daughter of the Most High. Spend time praying and drawing near to Him. He promises, “you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Find a good book that challenges and grows you as a Christian. Understand that your worth stems from Him and Him alone.

We’re in this together sister,

Rach

faith, fashion

Spring Wedding Guest Dresses Under $50

May 2, 2019by Rachel ProchnowLeave a Comment

Wedding season is officially here! And that means different dress codes and different outfits for each wedding.

That can be daunting-sometimes the dress code being more casual to others being black tie! It can also get pretty pricey as you shell out cash for each different wedding. So don’t worry girlfriend-I have compiled a list of my favorite wedding guest styles and they’re all under $50 so you can look bougie on a budget!