Lifeway Kefir

I received a chance, thanks to Influenster, to try the Chocolate Truffle, Raspberry, and Vanilla flavors of the Lifeway Kefir drinks. The kefir itself has a strong tang to it, like a greek yogurt flavor. It is milk shake thick, pourable but still thick in consistency. It's not unpleasant, but it's almost like drinking yogurt.

You can find the Lifeway Kefir website HERE. You can also find a $1.00 off coupon when you buy 2 lifeway products. The definition of Kefir on the website is "Kefir is a cultured probiotic beverage similar in taste and texture to drinkable yogurt, and made from milk fermented with kefir cultures. Originating over 2000 years ago in the Caucasus Mountains-where many people live well over 100 years-kefir has been associated with a long list of health benefits."  I think that sounds actually pretty gross. Fermented milk product. It took a little bit to get over that description so that I could bring myself to try it. I still try not to think about it while I'm drinking it.

This is what they have to say about it on the site, "A fermented milk product, Lifeway Kefir is similar to drinkable yogurt but far more probiotic. While yogurt contains only two to three strains of “live and active” cultures, Lifeway is packed with a unique blend of 12 probiotic cultures."

It boasts that it may help stimulate digestion, lose weight, enhance immune system, alleviate lactose intolerance, IBS, Crohn's, and colitis.
In addition to all of this some of the bottles also say they are 99% lactose free and gluten free which is nice for those people with allergies or special diets. I try to stay away from certain dairy products to keep my skin clear so I appreciated the lactose free part of it.

 I tried the chocolate truffle first, being the chocolate fan that I am. It was sour, bitter, and not a single hint of chocolate flavor. I poured a little out and shook it like there was no tomorrow, thinking that maybe there were some chocolate bits on the bottom that didn't get completely mixed up. I ended up with a whisper of chocolate but it was still full of bitterness, it just wasn't very good. The more I thought about it the less appealing chocolate yogurt flavor seemed, although this isn't yogurt it just tastes like greek yogurt.

The Raspberry was delicious! The Kefir has a strong greek yogurt flavor (although it isn't yogurt) so fruit flavors work really nicely with it. It had a tang with a nice raspberry sweetness behind it. It's a lovely flavor to drink straight in a glass with no add ins. It was sweet but not too sweet, no hint of sourness at all which was lovely after the chocolate truffle flavor.

The Vanilla was perfectly fine. It wasn't amazing or super delicious like the raspberry, but it wasn't disgusting like the chocolate. It had less tang/sourness then the other flavors and more sweetness from the vanilla. It had a strong vanilla flavor, unlike the raspberry and chocolate who's flavor was a background note, vanilla was the prominent flavor here. I enjoyed how versatile this was, I put it in my morning smoothie in place of almond milk, which resulted in a creamier slightly thicker smoothie, and it was fantastic to pour into a bowl of granola in place of almond milk.

YUM! You could use Vanilla or Raspberry this way, depending on your taste, I like the taste of my granola so I prefer vanilla.

I would be very willing to try more fruit flavors from lifeway and will keep an eye out for the frozen kefir which I so desperately wanted to try. My local grocery store only stocked the drinks, much to my dismay. I loved the vanilla flavor in my granola and if I want a creamier morning smoothie, I know where to go. 

*I received 1 Lifeway Kefir product free and 2 discounted Lifeway Kefir bottles complements of Influenster for testing purposes. These are my true and honest opinions, I do not get paid to give good reviews. *


If you would like to sign up with Influenster or learn more about them you can find them right HERE.

Ipsy July Beach Beauty Glam Bag

 

As usual this arrived in my mail box in a beautiful metallic magentaish padded envelope. My first impression of the Beach Beauty Ipsy glam bag is how freakishly adorable the actual bag is! It's a long cylinder shaped zipper mini make up pouch made of clear pink plastic type material. It says "Ipsy ...beauty by you" on the side of it in white. It is raised from the material, and looks painted on, but when I scratched the shit out of it when my nail it didn't budge which is nice. It also has a matte silver zipper handle on it, which is a cute touch.

First up we've got

Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof spray 3.4oz full size $18.95 (although Ulta has a buy 2 get 1 free sale going on right now online)
You can find this HERE. This is a "high-performance humidity resistant spray that promises to leave your hairstyle intact, removing any chance of humidity attacking mishaps." I received a travel size canister, 1.4oz. I generally stay away from sprays because my hair is so thick, it's normally leave in conditioners for me and that's about it.
I'll review this hopefully this week, we haven't been having very many humid days so it's been pointless to try this out.

bhcosmetics California Collection eyeshadow sample trio $9.95 on sale now or $17.95 normally for each eyeshadow/blush palette.
You can find this HERE.  I received a small trio of eyeshadows from each of the 3 collections within the California Collection. We have Hollywood a deep grape purple from the BH Hollywood palette, San Francisco a darkish sandy brown with a shimmer from the bh San Francisco palette, and Malibu a shimmery gold from the bh Malibu palette. They don't sell these separately but they come in a palette that includes 4 blush and 16 eyeshadow colors. The full size palette folds out and includes a mirror, but folds back up into a neat little box as well which is cute for travel.
Hollywood wasn't nearly as dark as I wanted it to be and had a super chalky texture when applied, although it looks gorgeous in the pan, it was almost impossible to build up into a solid color. San Francisco and Malibu had better color pay off and a creamier texture. San Francisco applied with an almost metallic sheen and blended out to a golden light brown. I found it interesting that, like Hollywood, this was also a different color then what I was expecting it to be from looking at the pan.  Malibu didn't disappoint at all. I only needed one swipe for a decent amount of color, it blended out nicely, and went on smooth as butter. It was also the exact color on my lid as it is in the pan, which I love. There is nothing more frustrating to me then to buy an eye shadow color that looks lovely in the pan only to find it's almost a completely different color on my lid.
Overall, I would pass on the chalkiness of Hollywood, but that palette was my favorite on the website, it's really just one color in 4 blush colors and 16 eye shadow colors. San Francisco reminds me of a slightly lighter version of YDK from Urban Decay, which is my go to neutral, the palette is my least favorite though. I do love Malibu, and the palette reminds me of summer time. They are definitely worth a look and you can't beat the price!

From Left to Right, Hollywood, San Francisco, Malibu.

Coola Mineral Sunscreen $36 for 1.7oz
You can find this HERE. Or rather you can find what I think this is there. My tiny bottle says tinted moisturizer while this only says moisturizer. I'm just not sure, but if this isn't it, then it isn't on the website yet. Who knows. Wouldn't be the first time I received something from Ipsy that wasn't on the actual company's website. This says "Keep the sun and environment at bay with this SPF 20 broad-spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreen, a tinted, light Rose scented, Titanium Dioxide based formula (for those who are Zinc sensitive) made with 98% natural ingredients. Organic Acai Oil - high in Omegas-3/6/9, Vitamins B1/2/3, plus antioxidant Vitamins C and E - delivers a powerful defense against aging. Organic Sunflower Seed Extract promotes elasticity while organic Linseed Oil, containing Alpha-Linolenic Acids, reduces redness and irritation. The phyto-protector Plankton Extract rejuvenates, as organic Cucumber Extract c alms skin."
So basically it's a sunscreen that promises to improve your skin as well as protect it. You can't help but love that!
This blended into my skin despite not matching my skin tone. I didn't notice any coverage what so ever though. Even my normal tinted moisturizer has a slight amount of coverage. My skin didn't feel any more or less moisturized after a full day of wearing this, nor did it look or feel any different, and I had to wash my face twice to get rid of the waxy feeling residue. This has a fairly strong scent to it as well, not bad but not fantastic, it's almost a medicine type scent definitely not a light rose scent. It also left my face shiny which isn't uncommon for a sunscreen though. I wouldn't buy this, because I like my normal higher spf $10 sunscreen, I'll leave the skin nourishing to my face creams.

Pop pouty pop crayon on top, Coola mineral sunscreen on the bottom.

POP Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Fuchsia Flirt $25 for 6
You can find this HERE. I could only find them being sold as a kit of 6 different lip crayons. They look like chubby pencils, however when you twist the base, it moves the crayon up instead of needing to sharpen it. If you've ever tried to sharpen a chubby lip pencil, you'll know what a pain that is.
I loved the color of this! It is bright but slightly muted on my lips, it was super easy to put on with the pointed tip and chubby sides, it went on smoothly, and the color was opaque with only 2 swipes of the crayon.  However, it settled into my lips and made them look freakishly wrinkled. The color basically settled into the creases in my bottom lip and after about 20 minutes that was all that remained, bright pink lines on my bottom lip. Not a good look. I'll pass.

Demeter Roll On Perfume Oil in Salt Air .29 oz for $10
You can find this HERE. The scent description is "Imagine a perfect sea breeze on the perfect beach at your favorite tropical island. Now you have the perfect description of Demeter's Salt Air."   I love Demeter fragrances, they are priced wonderfully and they come in a HUGE variety of scents from Angel Food to Fresh Hay to Pipe Tobacco to Tangerine.
This isn't my favorite scent but it isn't horrible either. It smells salty, with like a sea breeze air freshener type scent underneath. It's pretty strong, but as it dries it becomes more subtle. I wouldn't buy this for myself, but the Demeter website is definitely worth a look!


If you would like to receive your very own Ipsy Glam Bag you can sign up HERE! It's $10 a month and each monthly glam bag has a theme of it's very own right down to the mini make up pouch. You also take a beauty quiz when you sign up to help personalize your glam bag.

Enjoy!


*Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty sample bag that I paid for with my very own money. I do not get paid to give good reviews*

Vacation and new reviews!

Well, after 2 weeks of up at the lake fun times, it's wonderful to be home. Don't get me wrong, I love being at the cabin with my family. We have a fantastic time, fishing, mini golf, shopping at the touristy shops, riding through the woods on the 4 wheeler, swimming, taking the boat for a spin around the lake, pizza at the bar.... all good times! But, I never fully appreciate how much I love being home then when I've been away for a while. I love my house, and yard, and life here. I like being at the cabin, but I love being at home. Although, after 2 weeks of wonderfully cool lake breeze weather it was awfully hard to come home to 90 plus temps.

Just wanted to update, I guess I'm not sure if anyone reads this or gives a hoot. But I've got some awesome reviews coming up!

I was chosen to review Lifeway Kefir for Influenster, which is interesting. I'm a kefir novice and, to be honest, the name sounds gross but I'm up for the challenge. I received some coupons in the mail and ended up checking it out at the grocery store today after we got home. They only had the drinks and I was slightly disappointed, the card I got had ice cream on it and I really wanted to try that. Well, life is full of disappointments right? Haha! I ended up getting 3 different yummy sounding flavors. It's lactose free too so I can drink it which makes me super happy!

I also received my July Ipsy glam bag, Beach Beauty! So watch for that one! The bag itself is so super cute!

I also received my July Love With Food box, although I'm not sure I'm going to be reviewing that one, It does have some super yummy looking stuff in there though. I know last month's was full of random gross things and seaweed chips which were so disgusting looking, smelling, and tasting that I just couldn't review that shit.

I'll also be making a new food network cake, Pina Colada cake for July!

Quite a few things to be typing up for this month with 2 weeks left in it, hope you're just as excited as I am!

I'll leave you with a picture of a big ass turtle and my dog enjoying a boat ride... I hope ya'll are having a wonderful summer so far as well.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bars

These are all the tastes of glitter and rainbows and happiness. Delicious. Lets just talk about them for a second. First you have a thick sugar cookie crust, then a layer of creamy white chocolate spiked cream cheese, and all of it's topped with a fantastic strawberry spread. I based this recipe off of THIS Betty Crocker recipe. Which is interesting that it turned out so good, because I just made a cake off of this website and it was horrible. I went back to my food network cake recipe. I've never known vanilla cake to taste like corn bread before, but the recipe I found totally did. Back to the strawberry bars.

I basically followed this recipe but tweaked it a bit. I feel it's a crime against nature to use boxed mixes for cakes and especially cookies so I used a home made sugar cookie recipe, doubled the cream cheese recipe, and just did my own thing with the strawberry spread. So here is my new and improved recipe for what Betty Crocker calls Strawberries and cream dessert and what I call Strawberry cream cheese bars.

Start with the crust, which is a sugar cookie recipe I found in my grandma's recipe box, I'm sure she clipped it from a magazine at some point but that could have been any time between now and 70 years ago so who knows.

2 3/4 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
Dash of Salt
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
2 Sticks Butter at room temperature
2 Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla

First, line your baking pan (I used an 8X11 pan but if you'd like to use a larger pan double your sugar cookie recipe) with tin foil and spray it with a cooking spray or grease it with some butter, whatever you prefer. Set it aside and Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

So you mix all of that together. Use an electric mixer, it takes less time and gets everything blended nicely. Took me about 3 minutes on high with my electric mixer. It might look crumbly, so you'll want to add a bit of water, one teaspoon at a time and mix after each one. Until you get crumbles that are sticking together. A good rule is to take a small handful and smash it in between your palms, if it flattens and sticks together into one solid crust, then it's ready. If you add too much water it will be much too doughy, just add a tiny bit of flour to even it out.

Working quickly, handling the dough as little as possible, dump it into your baking dish and firmly press it into the bottom in one even layer. You need to do this quickly because handling it will warm the dough up and make it super super sticky. If you find your dough has become freakishly sticky already, pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Pop that in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes or until you can tilt it sideways and get no movement and it's slightly golden on the edges.

Let it cool for at least 30 minutes.

Yes, that is a finger hole in the middle of my crust. You don't have to do this unless you also have a nosey child who feels the need to poke a hole in your crust as well.

Prepare the cream cheese!

2 packages of cream cheese. Whatever brand you'd like. At room temperature.
2 cups white chocolate. I used white chocolate almond bark, about 4 squares, you can always add more if you want more of a chocolate taste. You could also use white chocolate chips which would be easier to melt and measure.

Melt your chocolate either in a sauce pan over medium/low heat or in 30 second intervals in the microwave. Stirring constantly over the stove and after every 30 seconds in the microwave. Melt it until only small chunks remain, take it off the heat, and stir until smooth. This prevents any chance of burning it.

Throw your cream cheese in there, and using an electric mixer, mix it together on high until creamy and well blended.

Scrape this out over the crust and spread an even layer. Put this in the fridge and let it chill out for about 30 minutes to an hour.


The Topping! Almost done I promise!

Strawberries, I used frozen, about 5 handfuls is good.
1 cup sugar, add more if you prefer your topping on the sweeter side. I recommend 2 cups if you'd like it really sweet. I prefer mine a little tart.
Flour
water

(If you'd like to skip this step you could use a nice, thick, strawberry jam instead. This would also work with any other fruit if you want to change it up, blueberries would be fantastic over this as well)

Throw your strawberries in a sauce pan on medium low heat. Add a little water, a little less then 1/4 cup. Put a lid on it and let those berries simmer until soft. Mash them with a potato masher or spoon. If you feel you need more strawberry juice add a little more water at this time.

Add the sugar, and cook about 15 minutes, stirring often. Don't stray too far, if your heat is up too high it likes to boil over so watch out for that.

After the 15 minutes you'll want to throw a little cold water in a measuring cup, about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup. Add about a half a cup to1 cup flour to this. You'll want it pourable but not water thin either. Wisk the flour/water like there is no tomorrow! Until there are not flour chunks remaining, you'll want it very smooth.

Turn the heat under the strawberries up to high and wait for it to boil. Then pour the flour mixture in while constantly stirring until your strawberry mixture is thick. (you may or may not use all the flour mixture)

Remove from the heat and pour over the cream cheese bars. You may need to spread it out with a spatula, just make sure it's evenly covering the cream cheese.

Throw it back in the fridge for at least an hour. Until cold and the topping is set. It should be soft but holding together.

The nice thing about the foil is when you're ready to cut the bars you can pop the entire thing out and you won't have to worry about ruining any by trying to scoop it out of the pan. The sides will be exposed and it will be easy to pull apart.


I hope you try this recipe out! I know it seems like a lot to do but it's not very time consuming, Most of the time is waiting for it to cool. And it's sooooo good!!

As always Enjoy! 

Summer Favorites!

Now that the clouds have sort of parted here in the midwest, just kidding! Actually we are now enjoying our "summer" by being flooded out with more rain then we normally see in... well... ever...  But, it's officially summer according to the calendar, and at least it's not cold anymore! (Well, the warm days outnumber the cold days at the very least.) I feel like it's time for summer favorites!

 

Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula deep conditioning protein pack $1.22
You can find this HERE. I find it at Target stores that have an "Ethnic" hair care section.  I love that these are large enough so that I only have to use one on my ungodly thick and long hair, but it's still a single serve package. However, if you have short or thin hair you could probably get 2 uses out of this so that's a bonus! All you do is shampoo your hair, massage this junk in, distribute it evenly (I finger comb it through), and chill out for 10-20 minutes, then rinse. I like to follow up with my normal conditioner, but it's totally up to you. I use this once a month and do a coconut milk wash twice a month, it seems to help my hair from getting too out of control in the summer time. Oddly enough, I don't have a huge issue in the winter with dry hair. This is amazing though, one use leaves your hair super moisturized, soft, and lovely. It smells like coconut and has a pourable lotion type thickness, not quite as thick as a bottled conditioner but not as thin as water. My warning is not to upend the entire package into your hand at once. It will run all over the place and you'll just waste it, which would be a shame because your hair needs this.

Banana Boat Baby Tear Free Sting Free spf 50 broad spectrum sunscreen  $7.99-$10.99
You can find this HERE. I buy it at our local Walmart, but you can also find it in some grocery stores, and Target. For me and my daughter, who have milky white skin that would rival a creature living under a rock in a dark cave, sunscreen is a must. My daughter also has exceptionally sensitive skin. Bug bites create huge welts, certain lotions cause rashes, and most sunscreens cause her to break out in hives. This caters to her sensitive skin and protects her from the sun. This is freakishly thick, much like a thick body cream, odd for a sunscreen I think, but nice. It's white so it is easy to see where you've applied it. I like that it's tear free, I don't have any worries about it next to her eyes. I use this as well and have never had a sunburn while using this no matter when I've applied it, before we leave the house, after I'm already in the sun, or right out of the water. Of course, it's best before you go out into the sun, but it's never let me down. It is slightly greasy looking after it's applied, but I've never had a problem skin wise afterwards.

Yaby concealer in buff cc008 $4.85
You can find this HERE. I got this last month in Ipsy's Glam Bag and have been in love with it ever since. It goes on exceptionally creamy and it's super blendable. It covers like a thick concealer but feels lightweight, a thin layer will cover even the most stubborn blemishes or dark circles. This color matches my skin tone freakishly well, as I said in my review of it before, I wish I could find a foundation that matched my skin tone this well! But no, I have to mix foundations to match my apparently weirdly colored ginger skin. Once this is on and set with a small amount of powder it doesn't budge until you wash it off, which is awesome for a summer concealer.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm  $34.00
You can find this HERE. I love this. It adds just a sheer wash of color, but somehow covers my red cheeks and blemishes It also improves my skin tone, as long as I continue to use it daily. Which I don't all the time, but I definitely notice an improvement when I use it several days in a row. It doesn't seem to shift with sweat, even if I haven't sealed it with powder. It also has an awesome mint scent and a cooling tingly effect on my skin. It lasts forever. Because it's a thinner formula, you only need a small amount to cover your entire face. I could see this easily lasting an entire summer, which is extra nice considering the price.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin $18.00
You can find this HERE. As usual with anything Urban Decay, this eyeshadow is super creamy, highly pigmented, and super blendable. Sin is a pinkish champagne with a hint of shimmery awesomeness. This is fantastic for a wash of color with a little brightening action, without the heaviness of full on eye make up. It's really nice with or without liner and lovely from lid to brow. I get a full 10 hours of wear out of it, without primer, before it starts to disappear from my lid. I generally like to apply this with my finger, from lashes to brow, throw some liner on, top it with mascara, and go. So easy.

Avon Extra Lasting Liquid Eyeliner in Black E02 $8.50
You can find this HERE. This has a thin, slightly curved, sponge applicator, much better then a brush because it has no chance for the bristles to come apart and cause any weird second line that you never wanted to create. The curve at the end is perfect for an effortless cat eye effect, it requires no skill at all. This makes a clean line, thick or thin, and doesn't move an inch once it's dry. It also lays down solid color with one swipe, as opposed to gel liner which can spot as it wears off the brush. The only thing I don't like about it, is when you wash it, it come off in weird little chunks. It's almost as if you could wet it and peel it off in one strip. Which is odd, but I can easily deal with that for something so awesome.

So I tried several times to get a picture of the entire tube of this but my camera kept focusing on the tube itself and not the lettering and they kept turning out super blurry. Although the tube isn't what I love about this, it's the awesome sponge tip applicator above.

Avon Super Extend Extreme Mascara in Black  $9.50
You can find this HERE. This comes in regular and waterproof. I've never had an issue with the regular formula smudging with sweat and I don't wear mascara to the beach, so I don't see a point for the waterproof formula in my life. I have shorter lashes on my left eye then I do on my right for some reason. A cruel cosmic joke if you will. So mascara tends to accentuate that problem. This formula does exactly as it promises, it makes your lashes appear longer, mine actually look even after I apply this. The brush has shorter rubbery bristles, so it's easy for those of us who are creeped out about putting huge mascara brushes near our eyes. It really only needs one or two coats to be opaque and cover all of the lashes. It dries quickly and doesn't budge until you wash it off. It is easy to remove with soap and water as well.

It has these little strings in there that adhere to your lashes, which makes them longer, literally, not just appear longer.

Secret Outlast Clear Gel Deoderant  $6.97 for a 2 pack
You can find this HERE.  I got this in my Influenster Spring Fever box. I normally never use gel deodorant, but this converted me. It only takes one swipe, it dries clear so there isn't any white marks to contend with or those stupid white chunks that accumulate when you sweat a lot. It smells clean and fresh but isn't overpowering, I can't smell it once it's applied which is nice considering some of them are so perfumed that they fight for dominance with your other scents. This is amazing. Amazing. So fantastic for the heat of summer.

Bath and Body Works Scented Candle in Lemon Mint Leaf / I got mine 3/$10 I'm not sure how much they are normally.
It would appear that these are not on their website so you'll have to go into a Bath and Body Works store to find this. I do wonder if they were discontinued, which is totally normal for B&BW to do to me once I find a delicious scent. You can find their website HERE.
I'm a little crazy over lemon scented anything, the scent reminds me of summer and makes me happy, so it was such a fantastic find. It literally smells like the lemon balm we plant on our deck. Very lemony with a hint of minty goodness. It is also a really lovely shade of pastel green, and the packaging is adorable. I have another mini candle like this and it lasted about 10 hours. I haven't lit these yet, but it would be odd if they didn't last the same amount of time give or take.

So there you have it. Do you have any summer product favorites? Lay them on me, I'm always looking for a new something to try!
Enjoy!

Ipsy June "on the wild side" glam bag

This month's glam bag featured an adorable little make up pouch covered in leopard print with a neon green zipper. It's super cute! Much cuter then the chevron easter egg colored pouch last month.

 

 

 

As usual, it came in an awesomely bright pink padded envelope which contained not only my glam bag but also a card telling me the product names and the percentage off I can get them if I check out the coupon codes at Ipsy.

It included:

Starlooks Lip Pencil in Bare   $12
You can check this out HERE. I tried to swatch this and it broke the second it touched my skin. It tugged and pulled like crazy. I'm not sure how this will work on my lips then, but it is a lovely nude color which would wear nicely under a lot of lipsticks or even a shimmer or colored gloss. It went on super creamy after I sharpened it myself, apparently that first bit was the only part that was stiff. It was completely opaque with 2 swipes and is a light mocha color on my lips. It's too dark for me to wear alone but when worn under some of my brighter lipsticks it darkened them up a bit, which would be awesome for a more muted fall look. It lasted several hours, but it felt thick underneath a lipstick. I'm not sure if I like it or not. On the one hand, I love that it was so creamy and easy to apply without several passes. But on the other, I'm not a fan of how it felt on my lips under lipstick.

NYX Mosaic Powder in Silk    $7
There are 12 different mosaic powder cases with 5 colors inside each, you can check them out HERE. I took a chunk out of mine to see if the mosaic pattern was just a top layer and the colors go all the way through to the bottom which is awesome, a lot of the time you see patterned cosmetics and it's just a print on top which wears down after the first use. This swirls together to get a nice orangey pink, much like the bottom left hand color. I attempted to swatch the colors separately but they were so hard to get any color to show up and because of the shimmer combined with my pale skin, I couldn't get my camera to pick up a full swirl swatch. It didn't go on as dark as I had expected and left a slight color that looked just fine on my fair skin. This would actually work nicely as a subtle bronzer for me.

J. Cat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette in SPC106   $4.49
There are 12 Sparkling Cream Palettes on the J. Cat Beauty website HERE. I'm a huge fan of 102 and if I were a couple years younger, when I wore glitter more often, I'd totally buy it. On a scale of 1 to Drag Queen my love for glitter ranks right up there with the magical drag show we used to go see in the cities every week. I'm completely in love with glitter and it kills me that I'm getting older. (Is it still appropriate once I turn 30? Do I care...) This is a really interesting product. I'm used to loose glitter and stick with one brand so I don't branch out much. I've never seen a cream glitter before. Maybe I've been a hermit with my loose glitter for too long. I dug into one of these colors and found the amount of glitter on the top is consistent throughout. It's creamy and easy to apply with a finger, with the sponge tip applicator included in the palette, not so much. It was hard to get a solid glitter out of these without caking it on, so it would be nice over a solid color and a few sparkles on top. It would also work really nicely as a liner with an angled brush.

Cailyn Line Fix Gel Liner in Iron    $21
There are 13 different colors of this gel liner. You can check them out HERE.  I received one in Iron. Which is more like a gunmetal grey metallic that appears to have very fine silver glitter in it. I think this would be fantastic to use with a dark smokey eye, a nice change from the expected black liner, or even use as a base underneath dark eye shadow colors. It's exceptionally creamy and blendable. It applies really smoothly, no snagging or gaps, and is opaque with one swipe.  It dries in about 20 seconds and after that it's unyielding. I actually had to wash my swatch hand twice before I had fully removed it all. The brush included is nice, I like that it's fully detachable from the lid so that you can clean it but still cover your gel pot. Overall this is a pretty fantastic gel liner.

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter pencil    $18
This comes in one color and you can check it out HERE. This matched my skin tone extremely closely, which is lovely. It adds a hint of highlight but blends in almost seamlessly. I used it on my brow bone, my cupids bow (the dip in the middle of your upper lip), and down the bridge of my nose. Because it matches my skin tone, I also used it as a concealer when my daughter had hidden mine and I was in a rush to leave the house, it covered wonderfully. It didn't budge for a full 10 hours, until I washed it off. It's exceptionally creamy, blendable, and one swipe of the pencil is all you need. I didn't notice even the slightest greasy residue or shine from it either. I also love that it highlights without shimmer. I love shimmer and glitter as much as a unicorn, but sometimes shimmery highlights end up looking a bit greasy in the summer time and that's a look I'm not going for.  Because this blended in so nicely it was exceptionally hard to get a swatch on my skin. If you look behind the Chella pencil you'll see it faintly on my hand.

As usual, if you would like to receive your very own Ipsy Glam Bag you can sign up HERE! It's $10 a month and each monthly glam bag has a theme of it's very own right down to the mini make up pouch. You also take a beauty quiz when you sign up to help personalize your glam bag.

Enjoy!


*Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty sample bag that I paid for with my very own money. I do not get paid to give good reviews*

Awesome Flea Market Find! Sally Hansen Salon Effects!

So, as we do every Saturday morning, we found ourselves at the flea market near our home. Normally it's ungodly hot and we don't generally go into the small buildings turned shops, rather we stay outside and walk through the sea of awnings. Today, however, it was chilly and overcast so we ended up browsing inside. The last shop we walked into was full to bursting with beauty products at ridiculously discounted prices. I was in heaven and had to exercise all of my restraint in order not to spend every last penny in my pocket. I did find something I couldn't resist though. In the very back corner was a bin full of Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips. I started to claw my way through them hoping to find a design that I couldn't live without. I ended up stumbling upon a bunch of Halloween themed strips, much to my delight. I'm crazy about anything Halloween themed, the cheesier the better honestly. I ended up with 4 boxes, and at $2 a piece how could I say no? I picked 3 Halloween themed ones and one beautifully delicate flower pattern that in no way suits my normal tastes but it reminded me of my mom and made me smile so I couldn't turn it down.

I ended up with "How Corny" a shimmery candy corn pattern on a silver background

I'm sorry for the flash in all of these, I had a hard time getting it not to reflect on the outer package and didn't want to open them all at once.

"Numbskull" which has a black skull and crossbone pattern on a white background

"Patch-O-Lanterns" which has orange jack o lantern faces on a black background

and Good Morning Glory which has a purple flower pattern on a white background.

Again, sorry for the flash, I had a really hard time with this one I think because the colors are so light as well.

The Halloween themed ones are from their 2012 Halloween collection and the Morning Glory one is also from a 2012 collection. So they are a little out of date but I'm not going to be picky.
I like the polish strips because my nails are naturally very soft and the polish strips are pretty flexible so they bend with my nails instead of crack like normal polish does. These normally last a couple weeks on me, depending on what I'm doing and if I give them time to fully adhere to my nails before getting my hands wet. I also love me some nail art and lets just face it, I do not have a steady hand. I'll never be a brain surgeon and I'll never be able to paint fun little pictures on my nails. These are about a 6 on the difficulty scale to position, but once you get them in place the rest is smooth sailing. 
Each kit comes with 16 strips, such an odd number, but you can totally cut the others up and use them as tips if you'd like, which is what I do. It seems a waste to just throw them away really. They also come with a little wooden stick to push back your cuticles, a mini file one smooth side to smooth your nails, half a rough side to shape your nails, and half a medium/smooth side to trim the nail strips. And there is a set of instructions.

Just to show how nicely everything is packaged

As I said before, you can cut these any way you'd like, you could do stripes, tips, or cut them diagonally to do a half nail polish/half design. These say to start with a clean nail, but they will stick to nail polish as well, it just doesn't last as long. If you do put them over nail polish make sure to slap a couple layers of top coat over it to help it stay on. I do that even when I just use the strip itself just to help protect the design. Although you don't actually "need" a top coat, these are pretty shiny on their own. Another fun tip is to run one of your nails or the edge of the wooden stick (just be careful not to rip the strip!) along the edges to help seal it down.

So in the end it should look something like this!

You can find these at Walmart and certain drug stores, Target has the Kiss polish strips which are fantastic as well. They retail for about $8.50 normally.  If you'd like to check them out on the Sally Hansen website you can do so HERE.

Enjoy!




**I purchased these with my own money, these are my true and honest opinions, I do not get paid to give good reviews**