Friday, July 24, 2015
Today is the Big Day
If you stopped by yesterday you might have read that I was starting Lupron Depot as a way to treat my severe stage 4 endometriosis. The stars aligned just right and I should be getting my first dose today! I was actually expecting to have to wait till next week, so this was a very happy surprise. I'm obviously very nervous and anxious right now so there's no plans for an actual beauty blog post today. I may be feeling less anxious and more able to focus later on Friday (I write and queue up all my posts the night before they are published) so there might be one up later, but no guarantee. I'll write about how the actual first treatment goes in next week's Thursday Thoughts, hopefully everything will go smoothly and I'll feel fine. But for right now I need to focus 100% on my health and getting through this, so regular posts will resume on Saturday. Thank you.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Thursday Thoughts
Another Thursday is upon us! This week has been a whirlwind of emotions and things so I'm just going to dive right in. I'm linking up with Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for her weekly Thursday Thoughts.
I know I've mentioned that I've been experiencing some health issues and that they've been impacting my ability to put out a new blog post. Finally after a few months of back and forth to my Doctors, testings, and dealing with my insurance company I have been approved to start a form of chemotherapy to treat my stage 4 endometriosis. For those not familiar with endo, basically the inside of my uterus is growing everywhere in my pelvic cavity. I have been in crippling pain for a while now and it finally reached the point where I either tried the Lupron or end up in the hospital. I should be starting it sometime next week, just depending on how slow the pharmacy is to send the stuff to my Doctor. Fingers crossed in two months I will start feeling better and be able to actually function without being heavily medicated. Hopefully I'll be able to put up a blog post every day, but if there are missed days this is why. All I ask is that you please have patience with me while I go through this difficult period.
If you follow me on Instagram you already know this, but I finally got brave and tried that chemical peel I received in my Birchbox the other month. I want to know why nobody told me how gross and full of dead skin my face was. The amount of nasty stuff I scrubbed off, you guys would not believe it. Nasty. Once all the dead me goo was washed off I was left with the nicest looking, softest skin ever. I am seriously impressed with the Real Chemistry peel and YAY my face didn't melt off. So two thumbs up!
You know how most people have a bucket list of things they want to do or places they want to visit? Well I have a bucket list of weird food I want to eat. I finally got to cross frog legs off that list, and let me tell you they were tasty! Like a mix between cod and chicken in both flavor and texture. They were crispy fried with a super good sauce drizzled on them. Now to just find some place local that sells snails. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
Yeah, my no buy lasted like a week. I got some extra cash and promptly headed to Ulta for some goodies. The nail polishes were $2 a piece and all the NYX products were buy one get one half off so all total this came to under $20 once I used my coupon. The color correcting palette review should be going up sometime this weekend, with the rest being reviewed probably in August once I play with them some more. My will is weak, I couldn't say no.
I know I've mentioned that I've been experiencing some health issues and that they've been impacting my ability to put out a new blog post. Finally after a few months of back and forth to my Doctors, testings, and dealing with my insurance company I have been approved to start a form of chemotherapy to treat my stage 4 endometriosis. For those not familiar with endo, basically the inside of my uterus is growing everywhere in my pelvic cavity. I have been in crippling pain for a while now and it finally reached the point where I either tried the Lupron or end up in the hospital. I should be starting it sometime next week, just depending on how slow the pharmacy is to send the stuff to my Doctor. Fingers crossed in two months I will start feeling better and be able to actually function without being heavily medicated. Hopefully I'll be able to put up a blog post every day, but if there are missed days this is why. All I ask is that you please have patience with me while I go through this difficult period.
If you follow me on Instagram you already know this, but I finally got brave and tried that chemical peel I received in my Birchbox the other month. I want to know why nobody told me how gross and full of dead skin my face was. The amount of nasty stuff I scrubbed off, you guys would not believe it. Nasty. Once all the dead me goo was washed off I was left with the nicest looking, softest skin ever. I am seriously impressed with the Real Chemistry peel and YAY my face didn't melt off. So two thumbs up!
You know how most people have a bucket list of things they want to do or places they want to visit? Well I have a bucket list of weird food I want to eat. I finally got to cross frog legs off that list, and let me tell you they were tasty! Like a mix between cod and chicken in both flavor and texture. They were crispy fried with a super good sauce drizzled on them. Now to just find some place local that sells snails. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
Yeah, my no buy lasted like a week. I got some extra cash and promptly headed to Ulta for some goodies. The nail polishes were $2 a piece and all the NYX products were buy one get one half off so all total this came to under $20 once I used my coupon. The color correcting palette review should be going up sometime this weekend, with the rest being reviewed probably in August once I play with them some more. My will is weak, I couldn't say no.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Aromatherapy at its Best
*I received this free for product testing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*
If you've been reading this blog for a while then you know I'm a big fan of essential oils not only as an ingredient in homemade bath goodies but for the aromatherapy aspects of various oils. I've reviewed lemon, peppermint, and tea tree oil on this blog before, so it was only a matter of time before I reviewed some lavender oil. GoPure was kind enough to send me a bottle to test out and play with, so my long overdue post on what might be my favorite essential oil is finally going to happen.
Lavender oil is obviously an essential oil made from lavender, and the GoPure version is 100% pure and natural. Traditionally lavender is used to calm and relax people, though it's been showing up more and more lately it seems in just about everything. Lavender just smells good, so I don't blame cleaning product companies for wanting to scent their products with it. What would you prefer your toilet to smell like, bleach or lavender? I've been know to put a drop or four in my toilet after a night a taco binge eating.
I personally like to use lavender in bath products, either by making bath bombs (recipe coming soon) or just putting a few drops in my bath water. I've been under a tremendous amount of stress lately so the calming scent has become a stable in my routine lately. I actually keep the bottle on my desk so that I can smell it whenever I sit down to work. I'm also working on a few aromatherapy diffusers to do a tutorial on, which will eventually be on the YouTube channel that is starting to stress me out.
I've used and reviewed the GoPure brand before and I'm really pleased with the company and the quality of their products. They are a USA based company, which means I'm shopping local (local as opposed to having something made and shipped from China). And this particular product has been fantastic and I literally have nothing bad to say about it. The size is good for the price (it is currently unavailable to purchase, I will update this if that changes), there's no weird added ingredients, the design of the bottle is fine (love the built in dropper), and it smells and works great. If you are in the market for some lavender essential oil I recommend this one for sure. And if you like lavender stay tuned for various projects over the next month using this wonderful essential oil.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Oodles and Oodles of Zoodles!
*I received this free for testing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*
I have been attempting to eat healthier lately, which can be difficult when you love to cook and bake. Mmmm cupcakes, they get me every time. One thing I keep seeing over and over on my personal Facebook feed and Pinterest are these noodles made out of veggies, like zucchini and carrots. While this was an intriguing notion the thought of cutting up veggies into noodles was way to much work and I promptly began ignoring the recipes. Fast forward to earlier this month and I was given the chance to test out and review one of those nifty gadgets that turns zucchini into noodles. I'm never one to turn down a nifty gadget so here we go.
First impression is that I'm an adult sized 10 year old who is easily amused by strings of zucchini and will promptly dance around the kitchen pretending to be Cthulhu. Second impression is that the Spiralizer Vegetable Slicer does what it says it does, it turns veggies into noodles. Now full disclosure I've only tried zucchini with it, I keep forgetting to pick up other veggies to try it out on. What can I say, I prefer zucchini (and my in-laws had a bumper crop this year so I haven't had to actually buy any). In a nut shell, you take your veg of choice and put it into the slot you want (thicker noodles vs smaller noodles), then start turning. The slots have little knives and act like a cheese grater basically, shredding the veg into lovely ribbons to be consumed at your leisure.
While making the zoodles (zucchini noodles) was really simple, making a tasty dish with them required more forethought and planning than I had originally thought. Zucchini noodles release stored up water once they are cut, so I recommend letting them sit on some paper towels for a bit unless you want your beautiful spicy Thai peanut sauce to end up a watery mess by lunch time. The clean up was a bit more work than I had anticipated, this particular model doesn't come with a little brush to get all the bits off so you either have to wash it right after use or stick a knife (or finger) down into it to fish all the dried zucchini bits out because you were a bonehead and forgot about it till the next day when you actually had time to do dishes. Luckily this is top drawer dishwasher safe, and I have a husband who isn't anemic and prone to bleeding for an hour if cut so he got stuck cleaning it.
I actually really like this device and have been enjoying using it for quick summer salads/pastas. I saw a suggestion online to use it to quickly shred veggies for your stir fry so I'll be testing that out once its below 100 degrees here and I can actually stand at my stove without melting. If you would like to purchase this device you can find it on Amazon for $12.99 with free Prime shipping. I'm going to explore Pinterest some more and see what else I can whip up using my spiralizer, the avocado cream zoodle pasta recipe I found the other day sounded heavenly. If you do zoodles, what do you like to mix with it?
I have been attempting to eat healthier lately, which can be difficult when you love to cook and bake. Mmmm cupcakes, they get me every time. One thing I keep seeing over and over on my personal Facebook feed and Pinterest are these noodles made out of veggies, like zucchini and carrots. While this was an intriguing notion the thought of cutting up veggies into noodles was way to much work and I promptly began ignoring the recipes. Fast forward to earlier this month and I was given the chance to test out and review one of those nifty gadgets that turns zucchini into noodles. I'm never one to turn down a nifty gadget so here we go.
First impression is that I'm an adult sized 10 year old who is easily amused by strings of zucchini and will promptly dance around the kitchen pretending to be Cthulhu. Second impression is that the Spiralizer Vegetable Slicer does what it says it does, it turns veggies into noodles. Now full disclosure I've only tried zucchini with it, I keep forgetting to pick up other veggies to try it out on. What can I say, I prefer zucchini (and my in-laws had a bumper crop this year so I haven't had to actually buy any). In a nut shell, you take your veg of choice and put it into the slot you want (thicker noodles vs smaller noodles), then start turning. The slots have little knives and act like a cheese grater basically, shredding the veg into lovely ribbons to be consumed at your leisure.
While making the zoodles (zucchini noodles) was really simple, making a tasty dish with them required more forethought and planning than I had originally thought. Zucchini noodles release stored up water once they are cut, so I recommend letting them sit on some paper towels for a bit unless you want your beautiful spicy Thai peanut sauce to end up a watery mess by lunch time. The clean up was a bit more work than I had anticipated, this particular model doesn't come with a little brush to get all the bits off so you either have to wash it right after use or stick a knife (or finger) down into it to fish all the dried zucchini bits out because you were a bonehead and forgot about it till the next day when you actually had time to do dishes. Luckily this is top drawer dishwasher safe, and I have a husband who isn't anemic and prone to bleeding for an hour if cut so he got stuck cleaning it.
I actually really like this device and have been enjoying using it for quick summer salads/pastas. I saw a suggestion online to use it to quickly shred veggies for your stir fry so I'll be testing that out once its below 100 degrees here and I can actually stand at my stove without melting. If you would like to purchase this device you can find it on Amazon for $12.99 with free Prime shipping. I'm going to explore Pinterest some more and see what else I can whip up using my spiralizer, the avocado cream zoodle pasta recipe I found the other day sounded heavenly. If you do zoodles, what do you like to mix with it?
Monday, July 20, 2015
Musings on Manicures
I do a fair amount of manicures and pedicures per month thanks to this blog and my need for lovely nails. My weekly manicures range from the super simple to the awe inspiring masterpieces themed around some event that is coming up. This gives me a lot of time to really think about nail art and what works and what doesn't, so I though today we'd do something different and just talk about nail stuff.
One of the things I have noticed is that the brighter colored nails get more compliments than maybe a complex but neutral colored manicure. I don't know if that's because the jewel tones and glitter polish just attract the eye more but those are always the designs that have people stop me in the store to compliment me on them. The only exception to this is when I did the little paw prints manicure, that was the one that EVERYBODY loved and I really need to revisit on this blog. So if you want the flash but not the time think about a jewel tones polish with an accent finger in a complimenting glitter like I did in the picture above,
One thing I've noticed is that the polish brand really makes a difference. The Ulta brand surprisingly is my favorite out of all the brands I've tried, with Essie being my second favorite. More often than not I can get Ulta polish on sale for $2 and they last the longest out of all my brands. I've had a manicure last almost a full week with just regular top coat, that's super impressive. I've started picking up another bottle every time I go into Ulta now, pretty sure I will own every color by the end of the year.
Nail polish is a nice way to express my creative side in situations I may not be able to normally, and it has become a way for me to bond with my son as well (he loves having his toes painted). Doing dozens and dozens of different manicures can get difficult at times and have taken a toll on my nails, but I am greatly enjoying going them and can't wait to show you guys a new design next week.
One of the things I have noticed is that the brighter colored nails get more compliments than maybe a complex but neutral colored manicure. I don't know if that's because the jewel tones and glitter polish just attract the eye more but those are always the designs that have people stop me in the store to compliment me on them. The only exception to this is when I did the little paw prints manicure, that was the one that EVERYBODY loved and I really need to revisit on this blog. So if you want the flash but not the time think about a jewel tones polish with an accent finger in a complimenting glitter like I did in the picture above,
One thing I've noticed is that the polish brand really makes a difference. The Ulta brand surprisingly is my favorite out of all the brands I've tried, with Essie being my second favorite. More often than not I can get Ulta polish on sale for $2 and they last the longest out of all my brands. I've had a manicure last almost a full week with just regular top coat, that's super impressive. I've started picking up another bottle every time I go into Ulta now, pretty sure I will own every color by the end of the year.
Nail polish is a nice way to express my creative side in situations I may not be able to normally, and it has become a way for me to bond with my son as well (he loves having his toes painted). Doing dozens and dozens of different manicures can get difficult at times and have taken a toll on my nails, but I am greatly enjoying going them and can't wait to show you guys a new design next week.
Friday, July 17, 2015
NYX Highlight and Contour Pro Palette
Sometimes makeup is like a spell from our fairy godmother, it elevates and transforms us to something extra special. Whether its the really good concealer for our acne and under eye circles or that bronzer than gives us the vacationed on the beach glow, makeup paints our faces in whatever light we choose. One of the most well known ways to transform our face is to reshape it with some contouring and highlighting, and makeup companies have met that demand by producing all in one palettes. Most of the ones out on the market right now are pretty expensive, from $40 to $50 on average, so when NYX released their own palette my wallet let out a cheer.
The NYX Highlight and Contour Pro Palette features 8 different highlighting, correcting, and contouring powders for the wonderful price of $24.99. Now I never pay full price for anything so I waited till a sale and used a coupon so I only paid like $12 for mine, which is an amazing price for a palette this size. There are 4 bronzer colors, two highlighters, one yellow powder for under eye circles, and a matte nude color to either highlight with or set your makeup with. There is a great selection of colors and finishes, which is something I appreciate. One of the bronzers has some shimmer to it, the others are a matte finish. One of the highlighters is a champagne shade (my favorite), while the other one is more of that traditional silvery beige highlighter.
Because these are powders they are a little bit easier for a contouring newbie (like me) to use, since you can blend the crude out of them if you get a little to heavy handed with your brush. They are a bit powdery, but if you are gentle with your brush it isn't to bad. They all blend fairly well, though some took a little bit longer than others to make look good. And the pans actually pop out, so you can refill your palette as you finish certain colors up or create a custom palette with the shades available that aren't in the palette (these are available here).
I am really enjoying this palette and I've been using it almost every day since I bought it. I'm so glad my favorite high quality but low priced brand finally put out a highlight and contour palette, it really does make it ten times easier to contour your face when you have all the correct tools to do it with. If you want to get one for yourself NYX is sold online, at Ulta, and Target.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Thursday Thoughts
Oh no, is it Thursday already? I need an extra day or three this week I swear, I am so far behind on everything. So let's get this post started shall we? As per my usual I am linking up with Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for her Thursday Thoughts link up.
We are now back from our trip out of state for the funeral, and slowly getting unpacked and back into our usual routine. My kiddo is now worried that every car trip is us going to a funeral now, so it's been a difficult week emotionally here. How do you explain things like funerals and death to a 4 year old?
Do you ever get something that is both totally ridiculous and totally awesome at the same time? My Grandparent's bought me a Snackeez cup and I seriously love this thing. A drink cup that also holds some snacks for me? Sign me up! The spawn got a Ninja Turtle one, he's pretty excited about that. I will never go back to a non-snack cup cup again. Best thing ever.
Did anybody else get a free little bottle of It's a 10 miracle leave in spray from Ulta this week? I love when they give me free goodies, just gives me an excuse to run in and grab "a few things". I'll actually be stopping in today, so keep your eyes peeled for new goodies on my Instagram. I know I said I was on a No Buy but I got some extra funds and some stuff I want is on sale so I'm breaking my ban. What can I say, I have no will power. And it's for my blog, so I don't feel super guilty about it. Speaking of which, I'm just about done testing out that NYX contour palette I picked up the other week so you should see the review up this weekend at some point.
I recently acquired enough yarn to open up my own shop, so I've set the challenge to finish some sort of object (like a scarf or a hat) a week until Christmas. The purple infinity scarf in the picture is for myself, but I've got about 1/5 of another scarf done as of Wednesday, hoping I have at least half of it done by the end of today. And I have 3 rows of another scarf started, so my goal is off to a rocky start right now. Anybody a knitter or crocheter? Should we start a Best Beauty Yarn Club?
We are now back from our trip out of state for the funeral, and slowly getting unpacked and back into our usual routine. My kiddo is now worried that every car trip is us going to a funeral now, so it's been a difficult week emotionally here. How do you explain things like funerals and death to a 4 year old?
Do you ever get something that is both totally ridiculous and totally awesome at the same time? My Grandparent's bought me a Snackeez cup and I seriously love this thing. A drink cup that also holds some snacks for me? Sign me up! The spawn got a Ninja Turtle one, he's pretty excited about that. I will never go back to a non-snack cup cup again. Best thing ever.
Did anybody else get a free little bottle of It's a 10 miracle leave in spray from Ulta this week? I love when they give me free goodies, just gives me an excuse to run in and grab "a few things". I'll actually be stopping in today, so keep your eyes peeled for new goodies on my Instagram. I know I said I was on a No Buy but I got some extra funds and some stuff I want is on sale so I'm breaking my ban. What can I say, I have no will power. And it's for my blog, so I don't feel super guilty about it. Speaking of which, I'm just about done testing out that NYX contour palette I picked up the other week so you should see the review up this weekend at some point.
I recently acquired enough yarn to open up my own shop, so I've set the challenge to finish some sort of object (like a scarf or a hat) a week until Christmas. The purple infinity scarf in the picture is for myself, but I've got about 1/5 of another scarf done as of Wednesday, hoping I have at least half of it done by the end of today. And I have 3 rows of another scarf started, so my goal is off to a rocky start right now. Anybody a knitter or crocheter? Should we start a Best Beauty Yarn Club?
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