NYX Matte Lip Cream and Mega Shine Gloss Review

I've seen lots of reviews and swatches for the Matte Lip Creams and I really wanted to try them. I had read on another blog that they are pretty drying but I just wanted to see for myself, and yes its true :-( I wore Antwerp the other day and although it applied really smooth, my lips started to feel dry after about 10 - 15 minutes. I applied some gloss that I had in my bag so that it wouldn't look so cracked, but you kind of have to keep reapplying. The color also seems to be somewhat of a lip stain. Which can be good or bad depending if you like that kind of thing, I didn't mind it because even though I ate my morning yogurt and banana the color was still there. So I guess the pros of the lip creams would be the smooth application and the lasting color, but the con would definitely be the drying of your lips. I'm determined to wear the lip creams because I love the colors, so I'm going to attempt to maybe try them with a creamy lipstick under or lip balm and see what happens.

As far as the Mega Shine Glosses go, I love them. The Natural color would look great with other nude lipsticks and the Juicy Red color is almost clear but has a tiny hint of a pinkish red, pretty similar to my Urban Decay XXX Gloss in Guys <3 Betsey.

L to R: Matte Lip Creams in Amsterdamn and Antwerp,
Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Natural, and Juicy Red

Matte Lip Cream: AmsterdamMatte Lip Cream: Antwerp

Mega Shine Gloss: Natural

Mega Shine Gloss: Juicy Red

Mini IMATS Haul

This weekend I was very fortunate to get to go to IMATS for my 3rd time in a row! I can't believe that pre-sale tickets sold out online, thats crazy! I was considering not going because I had already gone to the Makeup Show in February and I've been trying hard to not spend so much on cosmetics. I've been doing a lot better, but I still get an itch when I see a sale. For instance I recently got items from the MAC Surf Baby collection, and I just ordered the Tarte True Blood inspired palette, I know I don't need it, but I'm a big True Blood fan! Anyway, I didn't go crazy at the convention this year and I'm perfectly content with what I purchased, yay!

My friends and I were pretty much done after an hour and a half, plus it was my boyfriend's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) competition the same day and I wanted to make it in time for his first fight :-)

Here are some pics and some swatches of what I got:

2 NYX concealers, 2 NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams,

2 NYX Mega Shine Lip Glosses, and 1 Studio Liquid Liner in Electric Blue

From left to right, top to bottom: Liquid Liner in Electric Blue,

Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp,

Matte Lip Cream in Amsterdam,

Lip Gloss in Natural, and Lip Gloss in Juicy Red

88-palette in Warm Colors

A few Miss Adoro Lashes

Cute Brush Belt for $10 bucks!

Some awesome samples from Sigma Beauty and Too Faced!

These are swatches of the mini sample palette from Sigma.

It includes one color from each of their new palettes (Dare, Bare, and Flare)

The pic isn't that great, but the shadows are pretty pigmented,

and they'd look even better over a base.

Reviews on the products coming soon!

Grilled Eggplant

I think this is a super easy recipe for a vegetarian, or for someone trying to include more veggies in their life :-) Get a medium eggplant, cut slices about 1/2 inch thick or thinner if you'd like. Drizzle each slice with olive oil.

For the breadcrumbs on top (for some crunchy texture), I mixed Italian breadcrumbs, shaved parmesan cheese, parsley and some finely chopped garlic. Just mix it all together.

Heat and cook the eggplants on each side for about 2 minutes, sprinkle the breadcrumbs on one side and kind of pat them down so they stick, add more olive oil if necessary (I didn't do the eggs, flour, breadcrumb thing, it takes to long and is a bit messy). Flip it over so the crumbs can toast, then add more breadcrumbs on the other side with the same method. I kind of just invented as I went because we had to eat the eggplant before it went bad and I had leftover breadcrumb mixture, so some of the crumbs are bound to come off when you flip. They did come out delicious though, with a salad on the side (any kind you like :-)

Classic Books

During middle school, high school, and even college there are always specific books that we have had to read for assignments and what not. At the time, I didn't mind reading them, but I hated that we had to over analyze every single detail of certain books like Lord of the Flies, The Good Earth, Grapes of Wrath, The Odyssey, Fahrenheit 451, etc. However, I actually would love to read classic novels like these again. I read The Good Earth recently and I felt like I appreciated it more now that I'm older. Are there any classic novels that you have read or would like to read??

Some of the classics I would love to read are:

Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My Antonia by Willa Cather

... and so many more! My father was a book worm too, so its one of my favorite traits that he passed on to my sister and I :-) Below I attached a link to a website that lists the 100 best novels to read. I just googled it, so some websites have different lists, but I thought this was a good one. Enjoy!

100 Best Novels

Top 10!

Last week I was awarded the TOP 10 AWARD by Beauty by Krystal. Thank you for always commenting and supporting my blog, and for giving me this award!

The Rules:

- Link Back to the Person who tagged you - Beauty by Krystal

- List your 10 Favorite Products

- Nominate 10 other Bloggers

My top 10 favorite products:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Sephora Shadow #11 in Creme Caramel

Model in a Bottle Brow Sealer
Stila Tinted Moisturizer
Too Faced Papa Don't Peach
Make Up Forever HD Powder
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
Loreal Lineur Intense
Chapstick (I can't live without it!)

Top 10 bloggers:

871Sher
Adrienne Adore's
All Things Rachy
BeautySpot
Chica Bloggerista
Hell Notes for Beauty
Kajal Couture
Nerdy Girl Makeup
Oooooh Pretty
The Lifeaholics

Mexican Sopes

Pronounced 'so-pez', these are one of my favorite things to eat. My mom usually makes them from scratch, but this last time she came to visit we bought some already made ones from the market and just fried them a little. Still good, but not as much as her homemade ones. We added beans, cheese (queso fresco/fresh Mexican cheese), lettuce, sour cream, and salsa. Most people add meat or chicken, so whatever you like best. I can't tell you step for step how to make them as I still haven't officially mastered how to do it :-( I'm used to just being my mom assistant when she makes these. BUT click here for a recipe I found online that looks pretty authentic.

Enjoy!

Summertime Blues

I don't know where summer is, this weather is crazy. It's cold and cloudy in the morning and by the time I leave work the sun is shining. Its still not hot enough to be called summer, at least not where I live :-(

I decided to use some summer shadows and colors just to brighten up my day, since we're stuck with June gloom. Here are the looks I did, they're simple yet again, I don't wear much on weekdays when I go to work ....

For this first look I used:

MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot
Sephora Shadow #11 Creme Caramel
Milani Berry Amore Blush (yup I used Blush on my lids :-)
Nars Blush in Orgasm mixed with Laguna,
and Albatross Highlighter (pics don't show it the way it acutally looks :-(
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Binge
Sephora Long Lasting Liner (thin line) in Navy Black

For this second look, I know it looks similar but I used a few different things:

MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork
Sephora Shadow #11 Creme Caramel
MAC shadow in Rule
MAC shadow in Shroom for Highlight
Sephora Watrerproof Flashy Liner in Flashy Green (teal color)
Loreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black

I hope to be able to do some fun and jazzy looks this weekend so I don't bore you guys. Oh and look at these earrings I found at TJ Maxx. They are cheese shaped and Betsey Johnson, for only $16.99 :-D They're so cute I wanna eat em'! LOL

Bar Celona

If you're ever in Southern California you may want to check out this little place. It's a restaurant and also a bar/lounge type of place it's called "Bar Celona", they serve tapas, wine, etc. I went this past Saturday to celebrate my graduation (yes I'm still celebrating! :-) I had a lot of fun, and hopefully I will keep celebrating the rest of the summer! Here are a few pics ...

My friends from Highschool

My boyfriend's cousins/My roommates :-)

The Boyfriend making sure the alcohol doesn't go to waste ...
More friends ...

I didn't take pics of my makeup but here is one of my roommate and I right before
going to sleep. I did her makeup too, yay!

Delicious Italian Lunch

Last Saturday I had lunch with some friends and we all brought something, so it was somewhat of a small potluck. I made stuffed mushrooms (for recipe click on 'Stuffed Mushrooms' below). And I also made Sangria. My friends made veggie lasagna, mushroom & artichoke pizza, and a dessert called Hazelnut Semifreddo. Everything was delicious!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Veggie Lasagna

Mushroom & Artichoke Pizza

Sparkling Cider Ice Cubes with Blackberries

Fruit used for Sangria: Green Apple, White Peach, and Orange.
Blackberries are from the ice cubes...

For our next gathering we are planning to do a brunch with mimosas, crepes, quiche, etc. So stay tuned! :-)

Don't Take My Word For It ;-)

Yes I stole that line from Reading Rainbow :-) I used to watch it all the time when I was little, I was a little Mexican nerd. Anyway, one of my other favorite things to do besides play with makeup and eat, is read. I'm so happy that school is done and I don't have to read textbooks anymore, I get to read for fun! I'm currently reading two books. I usually read one at a time, but there are so many books I want to read I thought I'd try alternating days ... Here are the books I'm reading:

I watched the movie first and I loved it, I <3 James McAvoy! I'm almost halfway through the book and of course it is much more detailed, so far so good :-)

I had heard for quite some time that this is a good book, and so far I'm on Chapter 8. It's a sci-fi story that takes place in the future of the U.S. I'm hooked so far on this one too! It's
currently being made into a movie so I wanted to get a head start before it comes out, there's two other books!

I generally don't stick to one genre when I read, but I do tend to stick to fiction. Some of my favorites that I've read are:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Help by Kathryn Sockett
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (He's so weird, I love it)

What are some of your favorite books??

Stila for Bebe

It's always fun to play with palettes in your makeup stash that have been neglected over time. I bought this Stila for Bebe palette years ago, and it has really pretty pastel colors. Purple, Green, Blue, and a Fuschia Convertible Cheek Color. Unfortunately, the green color somehow broke and I didn't bother saving it because I have another similar pastel green, and I was getting annoyed because I kept getting green dust on all my other products in my case.

Anyway, I decided to use it two days in a row. Here are some pics:

Using the Blue color and MAC Texture in the outer corner...

Using the Purple color as a all over wash, and MAC Yogurt as a highlight.

Liebster Blog Award

Last week Lisa of Ms. Prettyful Girl awarded me with the Liebster Blog Award. I had never heard of this award, so I thought it was pretty cool.

Here is a bit of history and the general rules of the award:

It is said that the Liebster Blog Award started in Germany with the intention to highlight smaller blogs that are less known. (Blogs of less than 300 followers).

It is a blog that you accept with the intention of paying it forward. When you accept the award, you choose 3-5 other blogs that you feel are deserving of more subscribers and pass the award on to them. It's not mandatory, but it's just a nice thing to do :-) I'm always discovering new blogs so it's good to get the word out and help other bloggers get discovered as well ...

Here are some recently discovered AWESOME bloggers:

1. Moxie Artistry
2. Nerdy Girl Makeup
3. The Cheshire Cat

Have a great Monday everyone :-D

Foodie Friday - Herbed Zucchini Soup

I'm a big soup whore, I love me a good soup! This one is super easy to make, I know it looks like pureed baby food, but its actually quite tasty. Click here for the recipe: Herbed Zucchini Soup

You may have to add more salt and pepper to your liking. I added a bit of Chicken Bouillon, about a tablespoon (Knorr brand, or whatever brand you like) because it just makes everything better! I also toasted some sourdough bread with some butter, yum! Enjoy!

Mini Sephora Haul :-D

I know in general I complain about work. BUT for the most part, most of my coworkers are cool, except for a few crazies, ha! For my graduation my department gave me a $75 dollar gift card to Sephora!!! Now I don't think I'm allowed to complain about work at least for a few weeks :-P This is what I got. The NARS blush palette put me a little bit over, but I was willing to pay just a little extra because I've never purchased NARS before!!

I got a Sephora Face Primer, Tweezerman Tweezers,

Sephora eyeliner in Navy Black, and a NARS blush palette.

From left to right: Orgasm Blush, Albatross Highlighter, Laguna Bronzer

MAC Surf Baby Mini Haul

I've been trying my best not to buy any makeup because the IMATS Convention is right around the corner, but I had to get a few things!!

This is what I got from the MAC Surf Baby Collection

My Paradise Surf Baby! Cheek Powder
Lipsticks in Hibiscus & Mocha
Lipglass in Krazy Kahuna (See pics below)

From left to right: Krazy Kahuna Lipglass, Mocha, Hibiscus

Here I'm wearing the cheek powder, Mocha lipstick, and Krazy Kahuna lipglass on top.

Not the best pic, the dumb flash washes it out :-/