Cheap skate zombie!

I'm a little crazy for special occasion make up trials, which normally means Halloween or horror events for me. I'm also a single mom, which means I save my expensive make up for the actual event and find cheaptastic ways to create what I want for my trials. I can't believe I've never done zombie make up before. Of all the costumes I've worn... In my effort to find a cheap way to create a zombie I stumbled upon a fun technique someone had done in an effort to create a burned skin look, I couldn't resist it.
What is so very genius about it is that it will cost you about $5 if you already have make up, if not around $20 on the least expensive side.(As in you get the supplies at a drug store or stick with Walmart or Target, NYX has some pretty inexpensive make up that comes in a variety of colors depending on the season)

What I used to create the skin and wounds:

Liquid Elmers washable school glue and cotton balls. Done.

I also used, Hard Candy's concealer pallet ($8 at walmart)
A translucent powder (I used a cheap one from walmart, I think it's around $3)
Red lipstick(I used Urban Decay Revolution because that's the only red lipstick I own. Any red lipstick will do)    
A reddish/brownish (brick colored) eyeshadow (I used Glamour Doll Eyes Lovers Lane)
A dark purple eyeshadow (I used MAC Fig. 1, again because that's all I had in that color, but you can find dark purple pretty much everywhere)
A Yellow eyeshadow (I used MAC Sun Blonde, which I think was limited edition)
And a clear lip gloss that's free of glitter, preferably unscented/unflavored, if you have a scented one just make sure it's not mint or menthol since it'll be near your eyes.

Obviously I used more then this if you include my eye make up, but for the basic zombie wound, this is what I used. You can do your eye and lip make up any way you'd like. Also if you get one of those cream make up pallets they sell during Halloween at walmart, or target around you wouldn't need the red lipstick, yellow eyeshadow, or even the purple eyeshadow, which would be much cheaper then buying the shadows and lipstick separately. Make sure you also pick up a little brush set, I actually use a $1 plastic crayola paint brush set for children, cream make up and glue is really hard to get off brushes and the cheaper they are the better if you have to throw them away.

First you'll want to make sure your face is clean and dry, skip the primer or lotions.

Then you want to put a small amount of glue either on the back of your hand or on a little plate and spread a thin layer on your face where you want the wounds. Allow it to dry or use the cool setting on your blow dryer and blast it for a few seconds. Apply a second layer and let it dry. Then spread a third layer very thinly and let it dry until it's tacky.

Then take your cotton ball and dab it in the tacky glue so that little bits of fluff stick to it. Press down slightly with your finger just so there isn't random cotton ball fluffs sticking up. At this point you'll want to let it dry completely. Throw another layer of glue on top of the cotton so it's not fluffy. Let it dry completely before you move on.


You should look like you're growing fluffy mold on your face until you paste it down with glue.

Once it's entirely dry, cover your face, including the wounds, with a concealer that's a little lighter than your skin tone. Brush translucent powder all over your face. You don't have to go stark white, so many people do this and it looks awful. Just go 2 shades lighter then your normal skin tone, trust me, it will look so much better then paper white.



When you do this for an actual event try to remember to use your zombie make up color on your neck, chest, and arms if they will show. Don't forget your ears and lips.

Use the yellow eyeshadow and brush it around the edges of each wound, under your nose, and under your eyes extending it slightly downward past your eye socket. Don't be afraid to go heavy on this. 


Yellow it up!

Taking the purple shadow, brush this very lightly on the wound areas and extend it slightly outside the edges. Also use this to make shadows under your eyes, don't forget to brush it slightly upward around the inside corner of your eye. Make it darker in the inside under area and slightly lighter towards the outside. If you aren't doing eye make up, also brush this on your lids and up to your brows. DON'T USE BLACK!! Everyone always makes 2 black circles around their eyes as dark shadows, it looks like a sad panda attempt, don't be a sad panda, use purple and don't go too heavy. You can always add more color if you feel like it's too light, it's much harder to scrape a layer away. You'll also use this color to contour, I don't do that until I'm completely finished because I always forget but, this would be the time for you to lightly brush some purple under your cheek bones and on your temples. Don't go crazy heavy on your first attempt, build it up until you hit the right amount of shadow you want. 



Sleeping is for squares

Use a tweezers to pick a small hole and tear from there to create your wound. Pull the inside edges of your tear up slightly on the inside so you create a small pocket for each wound. The pocket is very important.



It's a nice start to a wound 

Take the red lipstick and put some on the back of your hand, mix in some of the red/brown eyeshadow. Use this on the inside of each wound and into the "pocket" you've created, be sure to get this on the underside of the "skin" as well. An easy way to do this is to paint a generous amount of your lipstick mixture into the pocket and push down on it right away, a nice amount of color will transfer to the "skin".


Also dab some of that red lipstick around your wounds if you want them to look a little fresher

Next, dab the clear gloss liberally on the inside of your new wounds and sparingly on your new dark circles.  If you're using fake blood, forget the gloss on the inside of your wounds, pump your skin pockets full of  whatever fake blood your choose and let gravity make you much more grotesque. Although, I used gloss and my lipstick mixture out once and by the end of the night it had melted and dripped down my face in a disgusting curdled blood way. It was fantastic. I'm just saying you don't always NEED fake blood to get a juicy wound.


It's so exciting!

And you're done. If you'd like to splatter yourself with fake blood now would be the time, do it outside and facing away from your home though. I like to use red body paint as far as blood splatter goes. Add a tiny amount of water to make it a little easier, dip a paint brush in it (don't wipe off any extra you want it dripping wet) and in one fast movement, make like you're going to hit yourself in the face with the paint brush. (Just stop before you actually do.)  If you want to do your eye make up or lipstick, the time to do this is right before you splatter. 



Ignore that wound on my neck, it started to peel because I was moving around too much while it was drying and I was too lazy to glue it back on. Which you totally can, add a little more glue underneath the peeling edges and press back down.

 Here is another zombie trial I did using the same technique just to give you some more ideas!

 

 

Let me know if you have any questions

 

 

Have fun!

and

Enjoy!

So Tired.... Chella Anti Fatigue Eye Mask Review

I decided to test out Chella's anti fatigue eye mask. I believe I received this in a past test tube, meant to try it, and saved it for "the right time". It's about 11pm and I'm so super tired, why is this not the most perfect time to try out an anti fatigue eye mask? All I'm going to do is watch dvr'd episodes of Degrassi and surf around on Pinterest trying to find new random food stuff, because I'm pretty sure the only thing I love as much as my child, is food. It's possible that I love food more then I love me, or my make up, or my dogs... Scratch that, I do love food more then my dogs, I would totally cook and eat them if we were starving to death. Although one is skinny and crazy, and the other is a fattie mcfatkins, I'm not sure how good we'd eat on them. Back to the anti fatigue eye mask. I just have to say that I had to search, on my hands and knees, in the dark, for 20 horrifying minutes while sliding my hand back and forth blindly under my bed. Which reminds me that I totally need to clean out underneath my bed. My child has decided that tonight is the night for her to sleep in my room, and not knowing where this eye mask ended up exactly, I needed to hunt for it, but quietly and stealthy so I didn't wake the nugget in the process.

So the directions for the eye mask is that you open the neat little foil packet containing 2 not so little eye pads, you then open the little single serving eye goop container, squeeze it all in over the pads, and then let it soak it up. I squeezed all the goop in the little tray and it was quickly absorbed by one side of my eye pads. I had to swirl it around a bit and let it sit for about 4 minutes before it all soaked in. So then I'm supposed to pull these pads apart and slap them on my under eye area "like a second skin", the package says. I find that wording a little creepy, but rock on I guess. It did not go on "like a second skin", it folded on itself and got stuck together, and it's super slippery so I had a hard time trying to unfold it. I ended up with one slightly folded and it created an edge, which I'm totally cool with. The eye pads are also super long, they go from the inner corner of my eye all the way out to my hair line, do I just have a small face? I lined it all up, it felt like I had just put a cold jellyfish on my eyes, but after a couple minutes it literally felt like I had nothing on there at all. I did have a slight problem with the eye goop coming out of the pads and running down my face, but I just rubbed it into my cheeks and it all worked out. I just have to say, there is absolutely no smell to this. I even put it so close to my nose that the tip dipped into the eye goop, and I still couldn't detect a smell. It didn't dry up over the course of the 30 minutes I left it on. (Because I was finishing the new Degrassi episode and telling Tristan on tv that the love note was a trap! Alas, they never listen to me, those pesky tv highschoolers) In fact, it was still super full of eye goop, it seems a shame to waste so much product, I feel like I could stuff these in a ziplock baggie and use them again with all the remaining goop, but that hardly seems sanitary. Although I did just wash my face with my clarisonic, so I'm certain my skin is about as clean as it gets, but still.

After my time was up I wandered into the bathroom to remove my eye pads and was shocked to discover that they had "melted" into my face. You could barely even notice they were there. This would be a lovely treatment to do on an overnight flight, if you're concerned with being discreet. I peeled them off, no problem, I can not get over how they feel though, like the way a jellyfish looks in the water, how you'd expect them to feel, delicate and soft but paper thin and slightly gelatinous... Kind of ishy actually. I did, however, notice a slight improvement with some dark circles that decide to bloom on my face after 9pm. Now, the website claims after 4 weekly treatments you'll see "a reduction of under-eye puffiness, fine lines and dehydration." I feel like these would totally be worth a try and at $30 for a 4 pack, which equals out to $30 for a month's supply if you're only doing a once weekly eye mask like they recommend, it's a pretty decent deal compared to other eye masks out there. You can find Chella anti Fatigue Eye Mask HERE

**I received this sample through New Beauty Test Tube that I paid for with my own money. I always give my true and honest reviews, I am not paid to write good or bad reviews of products**

Pasta Salad!

It just occurred to me that I promised a pasta salad recipe about a month ago and totally forgot about it. I meant to take photos when I made it for my mom's work party, obviously that didn't happen. I came across this somewhere... I'm not sure, possibly in a magazine or one of my many cookbooks. I have no idea. I've since memorized it because I make it fairly often. Here's what you'll need.

1 regular sized bottle of fat free italian dressing
1 1/2 cup of light miracle whip
1 box of spiral noodles
1 cauliflower
1 orange pepper
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
about 5 carrots

So you'll want to cook the pasta, drain, rinse,and set that aside to cool. (I like to rinse mine in cold water because I'm super impatient.)

Cut up your veggies except the carrots. For the carrots, wash and peel them. Then, using a veggie peeler, just run it down your carrots so you get super thin "slices". Put everything into a large bowl, larger then you think you'll need so that you can mix. Wisk your italian dressing with your miracle whip in a smaller bowl until smooth. Pour a generous amount of the dressing mixture over your veggies and mix with your hands. Toss the noodles in there with the veggies. Pour the remaining dressing over the top and mix with your hands until everything is coated. Cover and refrigerate.
You should have a decent amount of dressing in the bottom of your bowl so just give your salad a good stir before serving.

Obviously you can omit or add any veggie you'd like, sometimes I throw some broccoli in there, or fresh peas. Other times I like to mix in some cooked shredded chicken (awesome way to use up left over fried chicken, just remove the skin before you shred it.) and make it a meal.  It's super easy peasy and you can customize it any way you'd like!

Enjoy!!

July Test Tube Reviews and Photos

The Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector was actually something I've been seeing in magazines for about a month now and have been wanting to try but always forgot to pick up when I was at the store. So it worked out really nicely that it was in this test tube, in a full size no less!  It retails for about $9.99 - $11.99 depending on where you go. You can check it out online right  HERE.  It comes in 4 different shades, Fair, Buff, Light, and Medium. All of them look fairly light though. I'm normally fair when it comes to skin tone shades, but I received the Light and it seems to blend in seamlessly.  It is on the yellow side, which normally makes me look like I have jaundice, but it works nicely under my eyes and doesn't show a yellow tinge once it's blended in. It has an interesting applicator, a flow-through brush with a twist up dispenser, the product does come through the side of the brush (like every other flow-through brush applicator in life) but it's still super easy to use. It says to rinse the brush under water but be careful not to get water in the product, I however, simply wipe it clean with a baby wipe and spray it with a little alcohol. Done. Clean and sanitized.  The coverage seems buildable, but starts to get cakey after the second layer as it is a bit thick. I found that you need to blend it out right away because it dries super quick and is almost impossible to blend it afterwards. I apply and blend one eye before even applying to the other eye and that seems to have solved the problem for me. It neutralizes dark circles very well, better then the concealer palette I was previously using and is awesome as a primer under eyeshadow. It says that it also de-puffs and treats under eye bags, but I don't really have puffy eyes, so I haven't noticed a huge difference on that front. I'll definitely be buying this when I run out. Awesome product! Hopefully they'll be coming out with a couple more shades so women who are darker then a fair to medium skin tone can try this out as well.

Applicator brush, obviously I've been using this.

A sloppy swatch, that's my wrist/hand, although it kind of looks like a foot.

The next thing I tried out was the Mally High Shine Liquid Lipstick Pen. These retail for $20 on the Mally Beauty website and you can find that HERE. I received Blossom but there are 22 shades available. It looks much darker on the website then it does in my photos or in person. It's more of a shimmery mauvey pink. The website says it's "A High Performance, full coverage lipstick that gives you a perfect, full color finish with awesome shine." I found it more of a gloss then a full coverage lipstick. I had to apply several layers to make mine opaque and by then it was globbed on to thickly it didn't look nice at all. It was a little hard to swatch because every time I threw another layer on there it would pull the first layer off. It wore nicely though, I got about 4 hours out of it.  It has a strong scent, but it smells wonderful in the tube, when applied it takes on a the smell of almost a halloween lipstick. You know the kind, the black waxy ones you get at walmart in the halloween isle next to the delicious costume lashes.  I actually like that smell because it brings back memories of dressing up as a child. It's an unusual smell though for any other make up brand. The color is nice in the tube and in the swatches but on it looks more like a shimmery frost then a glossy lipstick on my lips. I haven't been a fan of frost lipsticks since middle school so it was definitely a turn off for me. I actually think these might be nice in a brighter color, like the fushia or summer peach. I wonder if blossom is a little too close to my natural lip color so the shimmer just stands out more. I would be willing to try another color if they were on sale, $20 is a little too much for me when I wasn't super impressed in the first place. I was overall disappointed with this product, I'm a HUGE fan of her Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Eyeliners and the Evercolor Shadow Sticks, so I had high hopes for this as well. It certainly won't stop me from trying any of her other products.

 

This is the second (actually it's the third) tube of LashFood eyelash conditioner I've received through New Beauty. Which is interesting because I use it all the time and just when I'm about to run out I end up with another tube from them. Thank goodness too, because it retails for about $120. You can check it out for yourself HERE. I have a confession, I'm probably the only one who notices though, honestly. The lashes on my left eye are much shorter then the lashes on my right eye. I have no idea what happened but one day it seems they all broke off and left me with stump lashes. When I noticed, the only lash growth system on the market was Lastisse, and the warning of "May cause brown iris pigmentation in eyes that can be permanent" freaked me the F out. I'm not even going to underdramatize that. The thought of my blue eyes turning brown was creepy. All I could think of was the time my science teacher told us that most people's eyes, regardless of color, turn brown when they die.So anything that changes your eye color like that seems way too unnatural to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to brown eyes or contacts that change your eye color, it just doesn't sit well with me that something would actually change the pigment in your eye. I'd still be weirded out by it, if it said it changed your eyes to green as well. Ok, all that being said, I lived in shame with my one eye of stump lashes. When I remember to use the LashFood eyelash conditioner on a regular basis, I start to notice my lashes looking longer and more lush in about 3 weeks of continual use. However, it takes about a month after I stop using it for my lashes to go back to how they were before.  It has a little brush, like a liquid liner brush that you paint the product on with. It's extremely easy to use. The product has no smell either, which is really nice. Who wants to paint something on their eye that has a super strong perfumed scent? And what's the point there anyway?

Overall it's a fantastic product that really does wonders with my sparse lashes, I would keep a continual supply of this on hand if I had the money to spend on it. It's a shame that it's so expensive.

Next up is the Lumene Firming Night cream. I used this for 2 weeks religiously, every night, just on my forehead where I was noticing some fine lines appearing. I must raise my eyebrows alot in my life, probably directly related to my working in customer service for 15 years. Two weeks were enough for me to see a mild improvement, my forehead was noticeably  smoother and my foundation no longer settled into anything that you could see by looking at me. I used this as well as the Neutrogena facial serum I also received in this test tube.  It retails for $22.99 at walgreens. You can check it out HERE. It has little to no smell and is absorbed in about 30 seconds. It's a little on the thin side as far as night creams go, but it doesn't leave that super heavy feeling afterwards. Overall it's an awesome night cream, if it makes my fine lines less noticeable after 2 weeks I can only imagine the awesomeness after a couple months. 

I love the Neutrogena  Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum. And I love the little squeeze bottle with the pump dispenser. Love it! It has a pleasant scent that disappears fairly quickly and it absorbes into the skin super fast without any residue. Combined with the Lumene cream I saw a noticable reduction in the fine lines appearing on my forehead in 2 weeks of using it. I'll definately be purchasing this when I run out.
It retails for $20.99 on the Neutrogena website but I'm betting you can find this at walgreens, target, or walmart for a little less. Of nothing else you'll save on shipping. You can check it out HERE.

This is the second sample of Smashbox Photo Finish primer I've received from New Beauty. While I feel it's a lovely primer and does it's job very well, I don't like it. I use it under costume make up or when I'm doing test make up, when I don't want to use my regualr primer. It dries out my skin, and since I already have dry skin, this doesn't work for me. I bet it would work really nicely on normal to oily skin though. The first time I used this, I arrived at work for a 9 hour shift, only to find out our air conditioner died on us. Oh did I mention it was 90 degrees outside and I'm a cook? Of all the days to test out a new primer right? But by the end of the night my hair was frizzed so badly it resembled a lion's mane, my shirt was soaked in sweat, but my make up still looked fantastic. So, as a primer, this is wonderful. For me and my dry skin though, not so much. I'll pass on buying a full size, which retails for $36 on the SmashBox website HERE but I think you can get it at Sephora for about $29. 

Jane Iredale Tantasia retails for about $36 and you can check it out HERE. I had high hopes for this, like I do with all self tanners. I was excited to test out a new one, I keep hoping to find one that tans the vitiligo spots on the inside of my mother's wrists, but so far, no luck. I tested this one on the inside of my forearm. It went on smoothly and I liked that I could see where I was applying it. I let it dry and went about my day. However, it wore off after about an hour. I thought maybe it would develop or something but I had no such luck. There was nothing but my ghostly white skin looking back at me in the morning. I was very disappointed. Maybe I didn't apply it right, I thought. So I tried again, on the top part of my forearm. Again, it wore off in about an hour. I'm not trying it again. Either my ginger skin can't be stained by a self tanner, or this just isn't right for me. The smell, however, is awesome! It's all citrusy and delicious, which is a strange thing to say about a self tanner scent. I wish it would have actually tanned my skin for longer then an hour because the color was exceptional for my skin tone, but sadly, this won't even be kept around in my "maybe I'll use it within the year" bin. 

Ahava Time to Hydrate Essential Day Moisturizer retails for $8 for a travel size to $39.50 for a regular size which comes in a little tub and not a squeeze bottle like this sample size here. You can check it out HERE.
There isn't really much to say about this, it's a moisturizer, it isn't any more or any less then my other moisturizers. It didn't magically fix my dry skin but it didn't irritate it either. The only thing that makes it stand out is that it smells like jasmine to me, which is a fantastic smell, I'll probably throw this in my purse for on the go and call it a day. I will not be purchasing this only because I own about 10 other moisturizers and I don't feel like there is anything super special about this.

The Hydroxatone Instant Effect On the Go Singles retail for $69.95 on their website for a tube. I couldn't find the singles on their site but did find them on Amazon for $44. You can check out the Hydroxatone website HERE. The promise is that in 90 seconds you see a reduction in fine lines, crow's feet, wrinkles, and under eye bags. (although I'm a little confused on the crow's feet and under eye bags considering there is a large warning on my box telling me to keep away from my eyes.)  I'm 27 so I don't have wrinkles yet but I do have some fine lines on my forehead that I previously mentioned. I ripped my packet open and succeeded in getting the product all over my hands, I wish it had a perferation so it would tear easier but it's not really a huge deal. I put a little more then I thought I should use on my forehead and massaged it in, then held my face still while it dried. I leaned in super close to the mirror and to my surprise the fine lines were gone Not reduced or noticeablly smaller, just gone. Absolutely lovely! I did notice that it left a very shiney area though, so I'd recommend going about your normal beauty routine after you apply this, or atleast throw some powder on top to minimize the waxy shine left behind. I also noticed that it feels like I've got tape on my forehead every time I lift my eyebrows, a very strange sensentation but not something you can see. My movement isn't hindered at all. Overall I'll use this for events, but probably not on a regular basis. I will keep it in mind for when I'm a little older and my fine lines become actual wrinkles. It's a wonderful product and really nice to take the guess work out of how much to use by putting it in single packets. I'm not sure how many "wrinkle emergencies" I would have that would make me need this "on the go" but I do appreciate the single packets. 

And last but not least, It's a 10 Miracle leave-in product. This retails for $14.59 on amazon.
You can check out their website HERE.

You can also use their store finder if you don't want to purchase this over the internet. I had been seeing alot of buzz about this product over the past couple weeks so I was excited to try it. While it did soften my coarse, curly, animalistic wolf hair, it left a greasy feeling, almost like I had coated it in wax. Also the smell was so awful, strong, and lingers afterward that I had to wash it out after an hour. I would not want to be out and about and have this scent linger after me. I will not purchase this product, nor will I use up my bottle. I'm certain I'll end up throwing this in the trash. It's a shame that the scent is so bad.

Well that was everything in this season's Test Tube, let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for reading!
You can check out New Beauty Test Tube HERE if you are interested in receiving your very own. 

*New Beauty Test Tube is a sample box that I purchased with my own money, everything in this review is my own and true opinion of the product, I do not get paid to write glowing reviews.*

July NewBeauty Test Tube

So, pretty much the only sample company I buy into anymore is NewBeauty's Test Tube. They have never done me wrong. Ever. I generally love everything they throw in there, but even when I don't like one or two things it's still completely worth the money. Plus, I love that it only comes 4 times a year which keeps me from getting to bored with it.

This month's tube contained the following:
Olay Professional ProX clear complexion renewing lotion (sample size)
Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle repair Serum (full size)
Lumene Firming Night Cream (sample size)
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer (sample size)
Hydroxatone Instant Effect 90Second Wrinkle reducer on the go singles (15 packettes I couldn't find the packettes online so I'm not sure if this is a full size or not)
Ahava Time to Hydrate Essential Day moisturizer for normal to dry skin (sample size)
Lash Food Eyelash Conditioner (which is the 2nd bottle I've received from Test Tube and it's a sample size)
Jane Iredale Tantasia self tanner (sample size I also want to say it smells deliciously like citrus)
It's a 10 Miracle Leave-in Product (sample size)
Mally High Shine Liquid Lipstick in the color Blossom (full size)
Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector (full size)

And as usual I got the $10 off a $60 order, $25 off a $125 order, and $50 off a $200 order discount cards for www.SpaLook.com. Which I almost never use, but they did enable me to order a clarisonic and a couple of the cleansers at a wicked discount. As a single mom, I just don't normally make really large beauty purchases aside from my once a year stocking up order from Urban Decay. I'm also kind of a loyal beauty brand whore so I rarely stray from my tried and true brands. Which is why I love the Test Tube, it lets me try out other brands that I wouldn't normally buy. I've actually discovered a couple favorites this way. Miracle Skin Transformer is one that I originally got as a sample in Test Tube and have since incorperated it in my daily routine. It's AMAZING, no joke.

I'll get some individual photos, swatches, and reviews up in a couple days. i tested some of these out while I was on vacation this past week, but there are a couple that I haven't gotten around to trying. I'm hooked on the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector already, it's wonderful!  Reviews and photos to follow!

Sweet Balsamic Dressing

Kraft sweet balsamic dressing is my new cooking obsession. I bought it for the first time because they make these adorable tiny bottles of it and sell them for a dollar at my local grocery store. I ended up buying the sweet balsamic, regular balsamic, and raspberry balsamic. I had no idea what to do with it but for some reason sweet balsamic sounded delicious.
It just so happened that I read a recipe, that I would never make in my entire life, in my food network magazine that used sweet balsamic over chicken. I devised a plan. I ended up making a gravy type sauce out of it along with the chicken, and served it over noodles. I was hooked.  I haven't made a gravy type sauce out of it again, but I do like to stew meats in it, half dressing, half water, and just let it simmer for an hour or so. I've used it with chicken, throw it in beef stew, in the crock pot with a roast, over pork chops, and as a sauce for fish. 
My favorite way to use it so far is with chicken.


1 small bottle of Kraft sweet balsamic dressing
3 normal sized chicken breasts (or chicken boobies as we call them in our house) cut into strips
8 large carrots, peeled and cut up into medium thick pieces
2 medium sized onions (cut in half and thinly slices)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat your oil in your pan, throw your chicken and your onion in, put a lid on it and let it cook just enough so the chicken is just cooked on the outside. Pour your dressing in, and fill the bottle with water, pour that in as well. Add your carrots. Put the lid back on and cook on high for about 30 minutes. If the liquid is reducing to fast or you have issues with it boiling over turn your burner down.  Stir occasionally.
after 30 minutes, take the lid off and turn it back on high, let it cook down until the liquid is just a thin layer covering the bottom. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving. Done!

Super delicious, only a couple ingredients, and very easy to make!

Serve it with potatoes, rice, noodles (don't cook the liquid down as much and you'll have a tastey "sauce" to serve over noodles! If you do this throw a pinch of dill in there before serving. Trust me! It sounds weird but it'll be delicious!), whatever your heart desires.
I like to serve mine on the side with a large salad. Peppers (orange and green), cauliflower, lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots, with a blue cheese dressing. YUM!
I've never had leftovers of this, but I bet it would taste delicious cold over a salad for lunch the next day.

Enjoy!


**All Kraft dressings were bought with my own money, I was not given these products by Kraft nor was I paid or asked to provide a review good or bad. **

Target Summer Sample Bag

I got my Target summer sample bag a week or so ago. I opened it up a couple days ago, and squealed with delight to discover that there was a sample of Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in the exact color Emma Stone is wearing in the ads in my magazines, Peach Parfait! I've been wanting to try it so badly because it looks beautiful on her and being a pale skinned ginger myself (she's a red head in the ad) it seemed to be a fantastic idea. Plus peach parfait is an adorable name for a color. I pulled it out of the bag to use it and left the rest to lay on my coffee table for several days.
The deal is that Target has released these cute little free sample bags for Spring and now Summer, I would venture to guess that they will do the same with Fall and Winter. Like Target Style on facebook to find out when they come out. It's a little free sample treat from them to you.

The summer one is teal with a cute print on it and is fabric, as opposed to the spring bag which was pink and orange striped and made out of a plasticy type material. Inside was a sample of Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock Spf 70 (I believe I mentioned being a pale skinned ginger, so spf 70 rocks my world), Aveeno Living Color color preserving shampoo and conditioner for medium-thick hair, Fructis Color Shield fortifying shampoo and conditioner, Tresemme Split Remedy split end shampoo which came in a lovely little sample bottle instead of the normal foil packet, and a booklet of coupons for all the items I had samples of and then some, of course only to be used at Target. I'm certain I can make my way over there for $3 off the lip butter.

I'm not totally sure why I was clenching my fist so tightly...

The Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter was nice, it had a pleasant smell, not unlike a soft vanilla, and decent color payoff. It was much more shimmery then I expected though. Like a pixie flew by hit my lips with an extra dose of pixie dust the second looked away from my mirror. It also lingers after you attempt to wipe it off. It left my hand and face all sparkly. It literally looks exactly like it does on the card, which gives me hope that the rest of them look the same in life as they do in the picture. I got about an hour of wear out of this one, either it has a little more staying power when you apply it from the tube or it's meant to be more of a gloss then an actual lip color. It disappointed me slightly on that front, but not enough to make me not want it. 


The Neutrogena sunblock is a little on the liquidy side and has a very strong smell that reminds me of a cross between sweet pea bath and body works lotion and my grandmother. It's not unpleasant, but I'm not a fan of super scented sunblocks, smells seem to intensify in the heat. I put this on me and my daughter. The scent seemed to disappear after about 30 minutes although she made the comment that it smelled like grandma. My daughter has really sensitive skin and can't use most sunscreens without irritation, I'm pleased to say this one worked out just fine for her. It felt less greasy then our normal sunblock and "dried" pretty fast, leaving our skin dry to the touch, for the most part. I went out and dug weeds in our garden for about an hour or so, needless to say I was a sweaty mess, normally sweat and our regular sunblock means I feel like an oil slick if I touch my arms or legs but with the Neutrogena sunblock it pretty much felt like nothing more then sweaty skin. No oil slick with this stuff! I will be buying this for our vacation this summer!

I'm not going to do a review on the shampoos or conditioners, I feel like you can't effectively get a feel for it when you have about a palm full of each, which for me and my mess of thick hair is less then I need for a one time use. I generally go off of smell, weather I like it or not, price, and then if both of those work out nicely then I'll buy a bottle and test it out. I also don't have color treated hair or split ends so it's kind of pointless I guess.
I will say that the Tresemme shampoo smells just like Tresemme products, sort of a clean pleasant smell. The Aveeno Living Color smells like shampoo, like the strong shampooy smell of a clarifying shampoo. And the Fructis smells like Fructis normally does, like a fruity creamy smell. Obviously prices depend on where you buy it and how large of a bottle you get. Check out your local grocery store or Target for these.

*These are my honest and true opinions, I received this for free thanks to a free sample promotion from Target, I do not get paid to give good reviews.*

Summer means Smores Bars!

I'm not a huge sweets fan, but I could eat these all day every day. I get tons of requests for these once it's summer. The best part is around the end of June, beginning of July, all the ingredients generally go on sale and you can get everything for $5 or less. 

2 6packs of plain hershey chocolate bars (I think it works out to 6 of the giant bars if you go that route)
2 bags of mini marshmallows (I used 1 large this time but minis work out so much nicely and you can get better coverage.)
1 box of graham crackers, I like the honey but if cinnamon is your thing go for it!
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar (more or less depending on your taste. start with 1/4 cup and go from there)
Melted butter, like a quarter to half a stick. 
A foil lined greased pan. No size requirement. I've used every size, I generally use a large rectangular pan but you can use a smaller one and just add more layers. (Foil line that shit, trust me! Melted marshmallow is AWFUL to try to wash off. Plus you can just pop the foil out, wrap it up, and then your bars are mobile without fear of losing your pan.)

If you use a small pan half the amount of graham crackers I said above. You don't need a super thick crust.

Working in batches put your graham crackers in a plastic ziplock and crush until fine crumbs. This takes some time, you can totally get the kids involved. Fine crumbs are what you're after but it's ok if you have a couple chunks in there. 

Transfer all crumbs into one ziplock. Add sugar, mix it around. Pour in melted butter 1 tablespoon at a time until all crumbs are saturated with butter. You don't want it all liquidy in there, just so all the crumbs are wet, it'll form like a paste. When you squeeze a chunk in your hand you want it to stick together. That's how you know it's wet enough.

Reserve about a handful of crumbs in a small bowl. Press the remaining crumbs into a foil lined, greased pan, bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 350.  

Take it out but leave oven on, let cool for 10 minute. In the mean time unwrap your chocolate and open your marshmallows

Layer chocolate, pack them in loosely, you don't want HUGE gaps between chocolate, but small gaps are fine.   Pour a thin layer of marshmallows over that, pack another layer of chocolate on top, pour the rest of the marshmallows over the top.

Sprinkle the reserved graham cracker crumbs over the top and press down on the entire thing lightly. 

Pop in the oven, checking every 10 minutes, until the top marshmallows are golden brown.

Let it cool completely before you cut into it or you'll end up with molten lava marshmallow on everything! I speak from experience yo, it sucks and it's painful.  Make sure to cover it after it's cooled, it can sit on the counter, no need to refrigerate. 

I hope ya'll love it!!

Bic Soleil Savvy Razor

I just want to say first that, normally shave with a 5 blade men's razor. It's amazing. I haven't used a woman's razor in quite a while, but I gave this one a whirl!

My first impression with the Bic Soleil Savvy razor was that it was adorable with it's pink sparkley handle. I found the concept interesting, 1 disposable razor handle and 4 refills, the entire thing to be thrown in the trash when the cartridges are used up. It seems a little wasteful to be honest, but interesting non the less. It does make it ideal for travel. The retail price is $7.49, so less then what I pay for refills for my Hydro.
To be fair I ditched my 5 blade razor and stole a (Unused!) random 3 blade disposable from my mom. The brand doesn't matter, but it's not a Bic brand disposable. It also has a "vitamin strip" and a pivoting head. I used the same shaving cream on both legs. I normally lotion my legs after I shave them but this week I've decided to forgo that. Hopefully I don't turn into a lizard.
I shaved one leg with the Bic razor and my other leg with the "Other" razor. I have to say, I wasn't expecting much difference but there was. The Bic leg is so super smooth, no nicks, no cuts, no tugging or pulling, perfection in the form of a smoothly shaved leg. The other leg I had some problems with, I ended up with a cut at the back of my ankle and 2 on my knee. It felt so scratchy as I was shaving my leg. In the end it's not as smooth, there are places that are still kind of prickly and it almost feels like it does after you dry shave, that pins and needles feeling. 

As far as stubble goes, there was no difference on either leg. the other razor didn't get as close as the Bic razor, but the next day I had the same amount of regrowth. I shaved again today and I ended up giving in and shaving my other razor leg with the Bic razor after I had already shaved it with the other razor. I couldn't stand the stubble it left behind. The Bic razor took care of everything the other razor left behind with minimal effort. The vitamin strip doesn't have a smell that I could tell, which is lovely because normally they smell like baby powder and it annoys me to no end.

Over all it's a decent razor. It does exactly what it's supposed to, give me a close shave, pivots like a pro (which is a feat because most "pivoting" disposables don't really pivot very nicely), it's adorable, the vitamin strip doesn't have a strong smell if at all, and it's lovely for the price. 4 blade refills for under $8? You can't beat that!  I don't think I'll give up my regular razor for this one, but I will keep it on as a travel razor. You can't beat that convenience! 

I want to conclude this with a neat little shaving factoid that was in my information packet along with the Bic razor...  I guess I never thought of this and it was interesting to me.
"Shaving removes dead skin cells and the superficial layer of skin. While the process is healthy, it reduces your skin's defenses for a couple of hours. Shaving at night gives your skin time to recover it's strength and suppleness to resist irritation. "

You can check out the new Bic Soleil Savvy Razor at feelthesoleil.com or their facebook at facebook.com/BICSoleil

I received this product sample from BzzAgent for review.
This is my honest opinion of this product. I do not get paid to give a good review.

Summer favs! So far...

I've got a couple things that have really worked their way into my summer routine this year. Although with the weather, it's a little less summer and a little more monsoon season. But with our lack of snow last winter, we do need the rain. I don't want to see any more giant, empty, dried up pits where our local lakes used to be. Plus I love selling bait to all the hottie fishermen, so a lack of lakes tends to put a crimp in my people watching.

I looked in my cabinet this spring and noticed that I had about 20 different varieties of tea. I decided right then and there that sun tea was my drink of choice this summer.
In case sun tea is just a Minnesota thing and I'm totally unaware of it, here's how you make it. get a large clear pitcher, fill it with water, throw in tea bags to your taste (I use about 10 in a gallon jug), put it in the sun, throw a lid on it to keep the bugs out (a paper plate works nicely for most sized pitchers), and wait several hours, pour over ice, enjoy.
I've lived up to that by constantly having this awesome gallon pitcher in my fridge full of sun tea. I've had mostly winners and only a couple losers (Orange spice and Raspberry/Mint I'm looking at you.) but one winner in particular was Celestial Seasons Candy Cane Lane tea. (It's a holiday one, obviously) It had somehow gotten stuffed in the back and forgotten. Which is a feat because I LIVE for holiday tea flavors. I bought it because it had the most lovely scent, like sugary, marshmallow, minty candy canes.The taste as a hot tea is delicious but nothing extraordinary.  But as an iced tea... Oh My! Best mint tea I have ever tasted! It has a very sweet, subtle mint taste, like you soaked candy in your tea. Actual candy canes have a much stronger mint taste then this tea, so don't expect it to be super minty like Bigelow's Plantation Mint, which is extremely minty. You can easily throw a couple extra tea bags in your sun tea pitcher and it won't overpower it. But in the end it's my most favorite tea. I had resolved to stock up next christmas when it comes out again but when I looked it up I discovered you can buy it online year round!  Pretty sure I'm placing my order today. You can buy your very own right here. It's amazing and you will love it if you love mint tea. Bigelow's Earl Grey tea is AMAZING iced as well. It's one of my most favorite teas, hot or cold, so I ended up with an economy sized box and decided I needed to make sun tea with it. the result was so delicious it should be illegal. Once in a while I'll make a single cup and pour it over ice when I don't feel like making an entire pitcher. Ok, when I'm too lazy to make and entire pitcher.

The second thing I'm in love with this summer is Bath and Body Works Tangelo Woods body wash. It's like Orange Earl Grey tea in a body wash. It has mandarin and bergamot oils in it and it's amazing. The scent explodes in the shower and makes the entire bathroom smell fantastic but it doesn't linger on your skin, and I love that. I hate taking a shower and 10 hours later still smelling a faint hint of the soap I used mingling with my perfume. I like the scents in my shower to stay in my shower. I like that my shampoo and conditioner scents don't linger as well. I have far to many lovely smelling goodies to have to compete with a body wash. Also Tangelo Woods reminds me of a manly smell so it might be a tad strange to wander around smelling like a men's cologne all day considering I'm a woman. But I used to use some kind of awesome soap from Lush that made me smell like patchouli all day long and when I was married I used my husband's deodorant to the point where I bought myself one so we didn't have to share, so it wouldn't be the first time I wandered around smelling a little manly I guess.

I'm obsessed with the new L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer. I mix this shit with my foundation and it's magical what it does to my skin. I have constantly rosy cheeks (thank being a ginger for that one I suppose), so I really just wear foundation to even that out and make me look like a normal human being, not some creepy overly rosy cheeked doll.  This just makes everything go on super smooth and adds just a touch of "light". I wouldn't say a shimmer but just something special to my normal make up. It looks more dewy then anything. Very lovely. If you wear make up, I highly recommend this.

Fructis sleek and shine shampoo, conditioner, and the smoothing milk have changed my life for the better. If left up to it's on devices my hair looks like a cross between a stray long haired cat, a wolf, an alpaca, and Side Show Bob from The Simpsons. No joke. It's awful. This whole little "system" has calmed my ungodly thick wolf hair down so much it even amazed my mother. I've never worn my hair down in it's natural state, and thanks to Fructis and lets give a little credit to Merida from the upcoming movie Brave, I wear it down and natural all the time. Summer time is not a time that I want to spend an hour and a half straightening my hair just to look presentable, so this is a rather lovely addition to my whole routine. And it smells like apricots! Which is a plus plus check in my book, such a wonderful smell!

I've got to throw in Super Miracle Bubbles brand bubbles. Because I can get them at walmart in GIANT jugs for like $2. No joke, I found a gallon, a freaking gallon jug of bubbles for $2. If life gets more fantastical then that I don't even want to know about it. Especially since me and the nugget are massive bubble blowing freaks. Once in a while in the winter we bust them out and blow them in the kitchen, but then it ends with me having to mop so we don't do it as often as we do in the summer. I love being able to blow bubbles outside with the kid! 

There are also the usual summer favorites, watermelon, popsicles, China Glaze nail polish in Pink Voltage (of which I buy 2 bottles every single spring to last me through the summer), sprinklers, the electric clipper for the dogs, and painting outdoors (FINALLY!). OH! And this super amazingly delicious pasta salad recipe I discovered somehow, but that'll be in the next post. The suspense!

**I purchased everything I talked about in this post with my own money. I always state my honest opinions on products and do not get paid to give good reviews.**

I'm kind of a horror freak. I also hate most purses unless they have Hello Kitty or fringe on them. so I started painting them. I'm telling you, this is much much easier then you would think. All you need is a steady hand, paint (obviously), some brushes of all different sizes to suit your needs (I often only use 4 because that's just how I roll and I'm too lazy to sort through 10 different sized brushes), and some purses!

More often then not I'll change the color of the purse so the original color doesn't normally matter. The texture and the shape are what makes me need them or not. My only requirement is that they have to be plastic or a stiff leather, I can't have a purse that's flopping all over the place and creasing when my paint is still wet. Or creasing when it's dry because that would cause it to chip off before I can clear coat the shit out of it. I use a regular matte multi purpose craft paint, it's just what I have acquired the most of in my life and I enjoy using it. I suppose you could use any type of paint you'd like. Unless you're painting on a fabric purse, then Use A Fabric Paint! It won't work to clear coat a fabric purse like it does with a stiffer plastic or leather one and all your paint will chip off the second you start to move it around. You will set yourself up for a failure. I like to draw my design out with a white pencil first, just as a guide line. Be careful with that though, sometimes the white will shine through when you're all done and you'll have to go over it 50 more times. I speak from experience. Then I paint it up. Simple, yeah?
You don't have to paint zombies or spiders on your purse, you could use a stencil and paint some flowers, or ants, or pumpkins...Whatever suits your mood at the time! You can find alot of really great purses at your local thrift store just waiting to be given a second life! Many of them are under $5.
When I'm totally done with them, I put like 5 or 6 (or 10) coats of a glossy clear coat spray paint. I like to use the indoor/outdoor gloss, crystal clear, Rustoleum spray paint. It's super easy to use and the smell diminishes after a couple days.
*On a side note, Rustoleum now makes a clear coat for fabric things such as chairs and crap, I haven't tried this yet but I just wanted to let ya'll know about it*
I like to clear coat on a sunny day, set the purses out in the sun for 10 minutes to warm up before spraying. I know it says on the can not to let it dry in the sun, but I've found that keeps the purse from getting too stiff, I let them dry in the sun for about a half hour and then bring them inside the garage. I stick a folded up dryer sheet in all of my finished purses and set them in the garage for about a week. This pretty much takes care of the spray paint smell, I mean of course if you hold it up to your face and take a deep breath like some weirdo creeper you'll get a small whiff of spray paint, but who does that? No one is going to be able to smell it if you carry it out. I've actually gone out with my zombie one the day that I clear coated it and no one could smell spray paint, I normally give them a week just to be sure though. I spray everything except the zipper, if your purse is shaped in a way that you will inevitably spray the zipper, cover it with a piece of tape. It will stick and be exceptionally hard to open if you clear coat it.
The end result should look all shiney and beautiful, the outside will be waterproof, and the paint underneath should be uv protected as well from fading. (hence the reason I use indoor/outdoor clear coating)

I hope this inspires you to customize your own purse/wallet/shoes/jackets/luggage! Good luck!

Enjoy!

The Restored Spring Horse!

One of my very first "restoration" projects came in the form of a sad neglected spring horse that I found at my local Thrift Store. I bought it for $35 plus tax, used all my strength to toss it in the back of my mother's SUV, and giggled the entire way home. You couldn't have paid me to stop smiling at that point. I almost didn't buy it because it didn't have a ground base and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to figure out how to mount it in the ground, that it would sit gorgeous and useless in the back of my garage. My dad spied it and instantly had a plan, which is actually in action as I type this. The cement slab is drying in my yard right at this very moment, begging for a handsome spring horse to be bolted into it.  All in all I spent about $80 total, including the price I paid for the horse to begin with, to jazz it up.  I've heard you can find these at flea markets for a little cheaper then what I paid for mine. Hopefully I'll find another this year! Anyway, it took me about a week to do everything, mostly because I had to work. I put in maybe a solid 12 hours sanding, spray painting, driving to the hardware store, eating popsicles with my daughter, and cutting stars out of tape. My tip: wear a mask when you're sanding. It doesn't matter if you are up wind from it on a blustery day, it will still end up all over your face.
I'll go to pictures at this point.

 

There she is! Obviously you want to pick one that's structurally sound. I knew I'd probably have to replace the rusty bolts holding it all together but the rust on the actual spring area was just cosmetic. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, turn it over, pick it up, look at the bolts and rusted areas closely. Bolts are a couple bucks at a hardware store and can almost always be replaced. But the actual structure would cost much more, if you can replace it. Another thing to note, I had noticed on my horse that someone had cut larger holes in the bottom of the spring, where it would meet a ground base, so I had to take that into consideration. Would there be a solution to that? Turns out we just used some washers and larger bolts.

 

So I removed it from it's base in order to sand down the actual horse which is plastic. I basically sanded it so that I would have a smooth surface to spray paint over. I wasn't trying to get every shred of paint off but enough to make it smooth. However, after I started it was a mad house! The original color was red and the eyes were yellow, but on top of that was blue spray paint, red flat paint, black, red, black, yellow, red. There were about 4 layers of paint on any given part. More on the black hooves and tail. Horrible. But after about 6 hours of sanding it was good to go. 

I primed it, not only would I see if it was raised up in places, but also so that my midnight blue would be as blue as it possibly could be.

I hadn't painted an eye at this point, but I had taped off the saddle blanket and the reins before I sprayed it blue. I wanted a crisp white base for the silver. And those areas are silver, it just looks white in the sun I guess. After it had all dried I taped around those areas and used a paintable silver on the reins, threw some stripes in the hair, and a spray silver on the saddle blanket. The lesson I learned this day was, don't use your favorite, perfectly sized, paint brush with metallic outdoor paint, because it won't wash off and will ruin your brush.  I ended up using squares of tape and just cutting stars out of them directly on the horse. Then spraying a gold spray paint on that. It was super liquidy and I ended up having to touch it up. So, if you spray a can of spray paint closely onto a paper plate (outside!) it'll stay wet and you can use a paint brush to go back over mistakes. It was a lovely discovery for me. I'm certain some spray paint veterans are slapping their foreheads right now.

 

 

An eyeball! Basically it's finished and almost ready to be mounted back on it's base. Which I used an electric sander for. It took my dad about 5 minutes to finish that. I'm majorly accident prone, so I generally stay away from electric tools that can rip my skin off. My dad was nice enough to let me use his sander, so I was nice enough to not risk getting blood on his garage floor, and just let him do it.  I spray painted the base black and the foot area silver. All that was missing was about 5 coats of outdoor clear gloss. Which I used on everything. (the horse, foot hold, and spring) Also, make sure you use all outdoor paint if your project will be outdoors. It just saves you peeling in the end.

My daughter's new beautiful spring horse! 

 

A nice side by side. Before and After.

 

My point here is that with a little time and a will to work on it, this was a pretty easy peasy restoration project. It took about 12 hours out of my life, not including digging the hole and pouring the concrete slab we decided to bolt it into, and it was a pretty minimal strength/endurance project. Cutting out stars requires very little, artistic wise, so even if you don't consider yourself "artsy" you can do this.

All I needed was sand paper, medium grain
A medium sized flat paint brush
Painters tape
A box cutter
and spray paint

I hope this inspires you to start a project today!

Enjoy!