Urban Decay XXX Shine Cooling Lip Gloss

This is one of my current favorite lip glosses! It is a bit sticky but I love the tiny hint of color it gives. It looks great just by itself or over a nude lip liner. The regular price is $16, but a few months back I was able to get it on HauteLook for about $7, I couldn't pass up that bargain! Click here to take a look at the other shades Urban Decay has to offer ...

Not a great pic of the color, but you can see once a thin layer has been applied,
it gives a nice hint of a pinkish-red tone :-)

P.S. Everyone should sign up for HauteLook! :-)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 2

So Day 2 of this Song Challenge is "Your least favorite song" ... Not sure if it means a song I really dislike or a song that I think is lame? So I decided to post a song I really could care less for ... I didn't want to post the video, because the song was played out years ago and its kind of annoying now ...

The song I chose is "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (theme song to Titanic as we all know)

I'm not going to lie, I really loved the movie at the time and the song too, but the radio stations played the crap out of this song! And I had a friend who was super obsessed with the movie and soundtrack (I think she still is) ... Anyway, it got really annoying, and now by some miracle when I do hear it I change the station right away ... Sorry Celine!

Stylish Blogger Award

Hola Chicas Lindas! I received the Stylish Blogger Award!
Thank you Priscilla from MakeupJunkie88. Check out her awesome blog!

The rules are as follows:

1. Thank and link back to the person who sent the award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award recently discovered bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Ok so 7 things about me....

1. I love to watch the Special Features on DVD's. Mainly ones that have special effects and makeup and cool deleted scenes (LOTR, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, etc)

2. I'm a borderline vegetarian. I would choose veggies and cheese,
or rice and beans over a big honkin' piece of meat any day! (but I don't mind chicken :-)

3. When I do eat meat, and I have to cut and prepare it, I get really
grossed out with the bits of fat I have to cut off :-P

4. When I drink I either get really sleepy or dance my ass off (depends where I'm at :-)

5. I think I've seen Pride and Prejudice at least 100 times o_0 (the one with Keira Knightley)

6. I'm a sucker for Betsey Johnson jewelery!

7. The only fast food burger I'll eat is from In-N-Out! :-D

I'm passing the award to the following ladies:

871Sher
Adrienne Adore's
All Things Rachy
Confessions of a Shopaholic & Mommy of 2
KittyVixen85
LoveBLENDnBeauty
Wrinkled Dollar
TheLipJunkie
Steal My Heart My Lovee
The Makeup Goddess Guru

30 Day Song Challenge

I found this Tag on Zxenarea's blog (Beauty, Fashion, & Health :-) I thought this was a cool 30 day challenge because if it was up to me, I'd do anything to listen to music all day and chill ... Most likely I won't be doing this in 30 consecutive days, but definitely throughout the weeks if I don't have makeup or food pics to post. ... Soooo scroll down for Day 1 !
ou want to join in too, here is the list of the full 30 days!

day 01 - your favourite song

day 02 - your least favourite song

day 03 - a song that makes you happy

day 04 - a song that makes you sad

day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone

day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere

day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event

day 08 - a song that you know all the words to

day 09 - a song that you can dance to

day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep

day 11 - a song from your favourite band

day 12 - a song from a band you hate

day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure

day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love

day 15 - a song that describes you

day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate

day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio

day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio

day 19 - a song from your favourite album

day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry

day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy

day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad

day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding

day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral

day 25 - a song that makes you laugh

day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument

day 27 - a song that you wish you could play

day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty

day 29 - a song from your childhood

day 30 - your favourite song at this time last year

day 1 - your favorite song

This was so hard to pick because I have a ton of favorites, but the first one that came to mind was Just Like Heaven by The Cure ... Enjoy the awesome video! ;-) LOL

My 'Natural' Look ...

I've been doing this look a lot lately. I wake up not necessarily late, but not early enough to play with any fun eye shadow colors I have :-/ But thats okay, I don't like to waste my fun makeup for my boring office job. This is what I generally use:

Eyes:

MAC paint pot in Groundwork
Sephora Creme Caramel Shadow #11
Loreal Paris eyeliner (sometimes no eyeliner)
Maybelline Great Lash mascara

Face:

Stila Tinted Moisturizer/Maybelline FitMe Fdn. in #310
MAC concealer in NW25
Set with MakeUp Forever HD powder
A rosy or peach blush, here I'm using WetnWild Mellow Wine (blended it with Stila Cheek Color in Hint because I put too much of the Mellow Wine, oops!)


Lips:

NYX lip liner in Natural
MAC lipstick in Fast Play
NYX Sheer Gloss in Vintage

Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Just joined bloglovin' ... Not sure I know what I'm doing :-/

Amber Lights and Inglot Greens

Went to a nice dinner the other night with the boyfriend and I wanted to play with my makeup since I rarely get to during the week. I used quite a few colors but mainly MAC Amber Lights and a dark Inglot green color. Here is the list of everything I used:

Eyes:

TFSI
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
Lid - MAC Amber Lights
Outer corner/Crease - Inglot AMC Shine #44/MAC Ground Brown
Inner 1/3 area (above lid) - Inglot AMC Shine #32
Highlight - MAC Malt
Tear duct - MAC Shroom
Liner - Loreal Paris Lineur Intense in Carbon Black
Mascara - Maybelline Great Lash mascara
Bottom waterline - Stila Kajal liner in Onyx

Face:

Stila Tinted Moisturizer in Dark/Maybelline FitMe in #310
NYX blush in Terra Cotta
Inglot AMC highlighter in #83
Set with Makeup Forever HD powder

Lips:

Urban Decay XXX Shine Lip Gloss in Guys <3 Betsey
(gives a nice reddish pink tint, but a little sticky)

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray

This stuff really works. I've sprayed it on before going out and I come back and my eyeshadow and blush are still on! (Click here for a description from Sephora) My lipstick usually wears off but thats usually from eating tacos after a night of drinkin' ;-) I have been using it for work lately, and when I get home my makeup still looks fresh. Usually, I feel like my makeup wears off at the end of the work day, but then again I usually do not bother to touch up during the day :-/ Anyway, it is a bit pricey though, around 32 bucks or so with tax.

After this one runs out I plan on trying the Model in a Bottle setting spray. It's 18 bucks, but its 2 oz smaller than the Urban Decay spray. So far I love the Model in a Bottle eyebrow sealer and lipstick sealer, so I'm sure the setting spray works great too. For the time being, you all should give this a try. UD also has a setting spray for oily skin, and one that gives your skin a dewy look. You can find them on Sephora and the UD website of course :-)

Food Wishes aka Chef John ...

I haven't had the time to try new recipes or make some home cooked meals because of school and homework, so I thought I'd share a link to one of my favorite food blogs. His blog is called Food Wishes, click here to check it out. Seriously, this man is awesome! He makes some good stuff, some simple and some not so much, but he has a ton of recipes to try! One of my favorite simple ones is called an Inside Out Grilled Cheese sandwich (see pic above). Thats right, cheese on the inside and cheese on the outside! I've tried it and I pretty much fell in love with it ;-)

Seriously, you have to try it!

Moroccan Oil ...

I'm probably late on the bandwagon for this product, but my sister gave me this cool gift bag of Moroccan Oil products that she got at an event she attended. I LOVE this stuff! It smells so good, and it helps with frizzy or fly away static-y hair. I haven't tried the oil treatment or shampoo and conditioner, because the bag came with those as well, but I am definitely going to use them! So far I really like this styling cream. My hair is really straight and fine so this stuff adds extra shine. I just put a little dollop in my hand and smooth it out throughout my hair. This product is a bit pricey, but it looks like some websites like Amazon offer some decent deals.

Sorry bad picture quality, this was taken with my phone :-/

Here's a better picture of a different day that I used this stuff.

It may not work for everyone as is the case with a lot of products, but personally I love it!

Hope some of you can give it a try, thanks for stopping by! :-)

New favorite Eyeliner!

So when I did some drugstore makeup shopping for the event I volunteered for I actually came across some products that are now some of my favorite! One of my new favorite products is 'Loreal Paris Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner'. I was watching a youtube guru's (MakeupbyTiffanyD) video and she recommended this eyeliner so I made sure to look for it!


Turns out I love it more than MAC's Penultimate eyeliner in Black. I mean Penultimate is a good eyeliner, but I feel like the tip dries out fast and then it loses its sturdiness (is that a word?) over time. To be honest I've only had this Loreal one a few weeks, so I have yet to see if it dries out fast or not. I have a feeling its going to last me a while (or at least I hope so!) Hope you guys get a chance to try it! :-)

LA's Prom Closet/Beauty on a Budget!

This past weekend my BFF and I volunteered for an organization called LA's Prom Closet. This organization helps underprivileged girls with everything they need for prom. They get a dress, shoes, accessories and get to attend workshops throughout the day. My friend and I were fortunate to participate in this event and hopefully provide some useful tips to these girls for their prom day. Our workshop was called 'Prom Beauty on a Budget'. We gathered all the drugstore make we had and even got a few extra things we didn't have. We wanted to show these girls that you do not need to use expensive department store brands to look good :-) Some of the brands we used were E.L.F., Rimmel, Milani, Maybelline, Loreal, NYX, Wet n' Wild, and AVON.

We had some eyeshadow application diagrams and a list of simple steps. We got to demonstrate on a few of the girls but we couldn't take pictures because the media was also there and not all the girls had permission from their parents to get photographed.

Oh well, Here are some pictures of our workshop table:

Me and my BFF Dee

This is what I used on my face: Maybelline FIT me! Foundation #310,

Rimmel Smokey Noir palette #001,

Rimmel Lipstick in Dreamy #140 and lipliner In Tiramisu #050,

and a NYX blush in Terra Cotta

I was already a fan of NYX, but all these other brands are great too! The Rimmel palette only had one color that was useless (the lightest color). I loved the lipstick and lipliner! And now I'm a fan of Maybelline foundation. It has a good amount of coverage and doesn't feel heavy. So it was a win-win day. I got to help others and try new products that will now be on my favorites list :-)

Aji ... pronounced 'Ah-He' :-)

I LOVE THIS STUFF!! It has a perfect amount of heat from the jalapeno and habanero that I added, and the lemon juice with tomato and cilantro give it a fresh taste .... Sounds like I watch the Food Network too much, LOL

Anyway, this 'Aji' is generally considered a South American type of salsa I guess. Peruvians have another type of Aji thats made with tomatillos and avocado I think, and its also spicy and delicious!! ..

My boyfriend is Colombian and his aunt makes this soup called "Sancocho", and I love it! (I hope to learn how to make it someday) ... You make this on the side and each person adds however much they want to their bowl of soup. And it makes the soup so much better, and really helps clear up your sinus' if your congested ;-) If you're not a spicy food person I wouldn't recommend it but if you are, you must try. I usually make it when its cold outside and I'm craving a hot soup. I usually make a veggie soup because its fast and easy, but its mostly good for broth type soups.

Here are the ingredients for about 1 1/2 cups:

3 Roma tomatoes (you can use any kind though, thats just what I had on hand)
Half of one bunch of cilantro
3 green onions (green and white part)
Juice of one lemon and one lime
One medium jalapeno
One Habanero chile
Salt to taste

Just mix it all together! You can bring down spicy-ness with more tomato :-) Enjoy!

Stila Smudge Pots

I love me some Stila smudge pots! I've gotten these over the years and I've always gotten them on sale, because regular price is about 18 bucks for the regular size, not that bad considering the size, but I just happen to wait until they are on sale :-) The mini ones I purchased as a set during Christmas. They last forever! I like the black Stila smudge pot a lot more than MAC's Fluidline in Blacktrack, it's a lot creamier and glides on nice and smooth.

The blue and purple ones I have are pretty much the same as the Barbie collection Stila had, but I think the purple one I have has more glitter bits ... Anyway, here they are:

Left to right: Bronze, Black, Gray

Left to Right: Pomegranate, Cobalt, Ultraviolet

They are really fun to wear (the bright colors) when you don't feel like doing eyeshadow and just want a pop of color on your eye. Hope you guys give them a try!

Alice In Wonderland & Betsey Johnson Inspired ...

I finally sat down and watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I don't know what took me so long to watch it. I was on vacation when it came out in theaters and I just never got around to going, but I recently borrowed the DVD and I loved it! I've been a Tim Burton fan for a while. Some of my favorites are Beetlejuice, Batman (the first one), Big Fish, and Edward Scissorhands. He's so macabre and weird, and I love it!

Anyway, after I watched the movie I decided I was going to bring out my Urban Decay Alice palette that came out last year. Of course like many other palettes I've purchased, it got put into the bottom of my makeup case after a few uses. I wish I could have everything on display every morning so I can be sure to use everything I have, that would be amazing!

Below are the colors I used from the palette, along with some other MAC colors, details below ...

One more thing, I used this Betsey Johnson necklace for inspiration as well.
One of my favorite accessories that I got as a gift from my gal pals from work :-)

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
MAC Bitter on lid
UD Alice Palette - Absolem on top of MAC Bitter
MAC Cranberry in crease and blended up
UD Alice Palette - Queen mixed with MAC Cranberry
UD Alice Palette - Curiouser blended into crease
MAC Yogurt and Shroom for highlight
Eyeliner - Stila Smudge pot in black
Bottom Liner - MAC Cranberry e/s mixed with UD 24/7 liner in El Dorado
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Black

Face:
Smashbox Anti-Shine
Smashbox Photofinish Primer
Stila Tinted Moisturizer (Dark) mixed with MAC Face & Body Foundation in C4
MakeUp Forever HD Powder
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Gold Deposit (applied lightly on cheeks)
Inglot Highlighting Powder in #83

Lips:
Rosebud Salve from Sephora (my lips needed some healing after a few days with a cold :-/ )

Versatile Blogger!

I'm happy to say that this is the second time I've received this award from a fellow blogger. The first time I got the award it was from Tribute Books Mama (if you're a bookworm, check out her blog!)

I am very thankful that something I enjoy doing as a hobby is enjoyed by others :-) THANK YOU BETTY! Betty has two blogs actually and I love them both ... Betty's Eats & Dressing Betty

When you get the Versatile Blogger Award

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog in your post. Tell seven things about yourself and award seven recently discovered bloggers and contact the bloggers to let them know they received the Versatile Blogger Award.

Seven things about me ...

1. I'm only about a month and a half away from my MPA degree ... and my dream is to establish my own nonprofit organization in the future. It won't be easy but that is my ultimate goal!

2. I can sing almost any Disney song (at least the popular ones) and I don't even have any kids!

3. I love chicken flavored Topramen soup :-)

4. My favorite thing to make is Cheese potato casserole ... full of carbs and so delish!

5. I want to visit New Zealand and do the Lord of the Rings tour ... yup I'm sci-fi/fantasy dork ... and a visit to Hogwarts @ Universal Studios in Florida is also on my list!

6. I'm a sucker for English accents, or Scottish, or Irish

7. When I was little I wanted to be a Librarian because I loved going to the library with my dad ...

And here are seven bloggers that I have recently discovered and they are all awesome :-)

1. Artizta Makeup

2. It's Classy Fashion

3. Makeup Monster

4. The Good, Bad, & Fabulous

5. BlushingLoves

6. Two Birds

7. La Coloropata (its in Spanish, but it gives you an option for translation ;-)

Foodie Friday - Starring Feta Cheese!

I had the best feta cheese sandwich from a Cuban bakery called Portos. It's really popular in So. Cal. They are famous for their pastries and cakes, which are always delicious! I never used to like Feta cheese, I used to think it smelled like feet :-/ LOL ... but now I love it!

So the sandwich consisted of feta cheese, fresh basil, vine ripened tomatoes, olive oil, Italian dressing, and red onions, on a baguette (YUM!). I think it would be pretty simple to recreate at home, but I have yet to try it ... Hope some of you try it!