Smashbox Try It Kit

Hey guys! I hope your having a great day - Sept. is almost over and that means November will be here soon, and that means Black Friday will be directly after that! My favorite holiday(s) are coming up Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years! But my absolute fav is Christmas. I went to DG yesterday and there was so much X-mas stuff already! Yay! I am def. getting ahead of myself. Lets go on to my Smashbox stuff:

Smashbox Try It Kit $19

I have wanted this forever, it has been on my wishlist for some time now and I was so exited to try it out. For $19 I dont think you can get any better than this. Even tho they are all mini's, I think it is worth it.

Face Primer: This has a silky texture, just like L'Oreal's Magic Perfecting Base even tho this is a gel. however, I think this might work better to fill in pores and all that. Like I mentioned before, with the L'Oreal primer, I dont think I was using enough of it - so I am using a little more with this stuff. I only have so much of it but I def. think I can get my money's worth out of it.

Eye Primer: I have tried a few so far: Mark's, Elf's & Jesse's Girl and I must say, this is the best one. I think it can double as a second concealer for the lid because it is pretty pigmented- although if you have redness, I think a concealor on the lid before the primer would do you better. ("do you better"?- where's your mind Erica?!) The consistency of this stuff is different than anything else I have tried. It isn't oily (like mark.) or silky like Jesse's Girl. It is the exact opposite of the way the Jesse's Girl one feels. Much more dense, I guess would be a good description. I went to an 8 hr work day and my eye makeup was still there by the end of it, so the primer did it's job too- that's a plus.

Eye Liner: I am not sure if this is kohl, but it does look like one anyway. Either way, I personally have used better ones. Mark has a really good kohl liner that will last longer and is much more pigmented than this one is. I just feel like it takes so many strokes on my water line to even show. Lining my lid I didn't seem to have a problem tho. Fair warning, it does run off of where I lined & onto the side of my eye. You can never have too many back-ups tho, right? I sell Mark if you wanna check the liner out! or anything else for that matter!

Mascara: I like my mascara's to lengthen and this one creates more volume than it does lengthen. However, it is a really nice mascara because it has a thicker consistency and it hasn't ran down my face yet. It is a really good mascara, but I guess this just depends on what you look for in a mascara. If your looking for a good volumizing mascara, then you have come to the right place.

Lipgloss: Obviously sheer, but it has some sparkle to it. I think it gives a very light touch of pigment, so if you wore it by itself, it would look natural. It smells delicious, real brown sugary sweet like.

Overall: I really love the eye primer & the face primer. Eye Liner isnt the best & the mascara is a good one, but it depends on what your looking for. Lipgloss is good too. I think it was worth the $19 to try it out. I think they could have got away with just doing 4 products, so trying all 5 for under $20 is a great opportunity.

Ill give this 4 out of 5 stars and that is only because I am not highly impressed with the liner. It's not the worst, but I like my liner to stay in place and when I am applying liner into my water line, it would be nice to see it.  The liner isn't something I will re-purchase.

swatches (obviously)

My Mark Store

have a great day!!!!

My Current Obsession

I have been eying this lipstick for some time now.  It reminds me of the pink lipstick my Barbie used to wear. I can say that it looked really flattering on her, even with her hair chopped off in all different lengths. You guys know my obsession with pale/baby pink lips, right? Colors like Tokyo matte lip cream (Nyx) that is the color that is similar to Turkish Delight (Nars). my absolute favorite. and in one of my last FOTD's I mentioned about how I can't break loose from those colors, because I love them so much.

Then I found this color. I think it has some baby pink qualities and I think it is a perfect transition color from summer to fall. It's a little bit deeper, and takes that pastel/pale pink color up a notch..or 2.

Nyx Narcissus- Sitting next to all of her lipstick sisters and cousin's, she stood out the most. If I ever lost her, I don't know what I would do. ... I'd probably move on, get another clone but there would be a 15 minute period there where I would just be inconsolable. (Austin Powers reference)  I think this is the best color from Nyx...for now, of course!

The lipstick taste so delicious too- it has a fruit flavor

here's a swatch- no flash, just natural light

ok I have one beef and one beef only- the actual product is so soft that when applying it, it seems to scrape to the side of the tube, cause the lipstick to get all effed up- ka ka's

I am sure you will be seeing this in some FOTD's because I dont care if I have a major smokey eye, I will wear this bold lipstick! 

What's your favorite fall lipstick? What about nyx lipstick? Thanx so much for reading!

Light Healthy Lunch Idea(s)

So recently I have been experimenting with different snack's or light lunches I could eat that are healthy so I can stick to my healthy lifestyle. The first one im going to talk about is sweet, savory, creamy, juicy & crunchy: all matching up to create a perfect snack. High in fiber, calcium, & vitamin c. I think it's a great lunch idea because it's high in Vitamin B-6 which is what gives you energy. 

So what I did was layered the following: 

Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits - 120 calories & 35 calories from fat in one serving. 1 serving is 6 crackers. You can use your favorite triscuit's but the nutrition facts might be different. I love these ones because they have a little bite to them from the pepper.

-Good Points: Has 8% iron & 12% dietary fiber. (this is based on a 2000c. diet.) It also has no sugars or cholesterol.  

-Bad Points: I feel it's a little high in sodium at 135mg. I dont know what that means, all I know is that on the nutrition label, that is highest number. Something tells me that's not good. 120 calories seems like a lot for only 6 crackers. That's why this lunch is perfect because when you layer everything up, your not going to feel like you wanna eat the whole box of triscuits.

Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese Wedge

again, feel free to use your favorite flavor. If you have never had these cheese wedges, they are basically like cream cheese. One wedge is 35 calories & 10 calories from fat. Not bad.

-Good Points: They have 8% of your daily calcium intake and has 0 grams trans fat. It also has 2% Vitamin A.

-Bad Points: They have 5 mg cholesterol and 210 mg. sodium. again, the highest number on the label

Bartlet Pears  -any pears will do. 

-Good Points: This is going to be where you can get your Vitamin B-6, which is where you get energy. Pears also have 3.1g. of your dietary fiber. Obviously they are high in vitamin c. Lots of Vitamin A too-

-Bad Points: Even though pears are around 100 calories a piece, I don't think that is necessarily bad because there aren't any "bad" calories in them. Calories are basically just energy. So there aren't any reason's to not eat a pear.

The muffin you see on my plate is an On-the-Go Banana Walnut Muffin from Eye It Try It. They are pretty freaking good. I recently bought whole wheat flour so this was the first thing I made with it. I added some dark chocolate pieces in place of the cacao nibs which I light weight regret because I feel like it took away from some of that bran-muffin flavor. Along with some "I cant believe its not butter" butter, it makes a perfect snack. Or even a breakfast muffin.

You see that little walnut sticking right outta the top of the muffin?! The muffin has a boner.

Whole wheat is better for you than white flour because it isn't as processed as the white flour. (white flour is bleached to make it white.) When they process white flour, all of the nutrients are basically stripped out of it. Whole wheat are complex carbs, which take longer to break down in your system, causing you to be fuller, longer. Because they take longer to break down they also don't just become fat on your body. Complex carbs are whole grain.

Other Examples of Complex Carbs: quinoa, oats, cereal (whole grain), brown rice, whole wheat pasta.

So there's my 2 cents on a healthy lunch idea (or a snack) & why complex carbs are better for you. I think this could also be a great before workout snack, since it gives you energy and all. I wanna know what are your idea's for a healthy snack or lunch? tell me in the comments! Thanx for reading!

Hit Pan & Empties

L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base- As my very first face primer, I thought it was pretty good, but I do hope there are better one's out there than this. The formula has a whipped cream consistency & has a really silky feel to it. Once this stuff is applied, it dosen't feel too heavy or make my face feel even more oily (than it can get)- it feels really light weight and nice. With that said, I just don't think it gives my face an even texture or fills in large pores. It is kind of expensive for such a small tub ($14 for .5 oz) and because of that, I was only using a dime sized amount and I don't feel like it was doing a great job filling in my pores. Perhaps I wasn't using enough...? If I wasnt using enough, then I think you should be getting more for your money. Other people LOVE this primer, so maybe that was the problem. With or without this stuff, my face make-up stays on for the same amount of time.

Rice Face Wash from Bath & Body Works- I bought this face wash like 7 years ago. It was recommended to me at the store because I do have acne prone skin. When I first bought it, I didn't like it. The reason for that was because I would tend to get it in my eyes and it fucking burned!!! I was using Proactiv in conjunction w/ this back then, just an Fyi. I just used it up recently because it was my "back-up" face wash. I can't really say that it helped with my acne and it was a bit expensive at around $20. Does it clean my face? yes. However, I think you can find something just as good, that is much cheaper, that if you do get in your eyes, it's not a big deal....unlike Rice. No Dice.

Ouidad Styling Spritz- I bought the whole package about 2 years ago. It came with the shampoo, gel, the spritz & also a how-to book with some clips to use when your styling. I do have wavy hair which I can curl just by scrunching & blow-drying , so im always on the hunt for different products that help natural curls. With that said- I loved this spritz! I always used this along with Suave Mousse (which I love) the first day. This stuff, first of all, will hold my curl and make them more defined along with adding some volume. It dosen't make my hair sticky either. On the second day, I would just spray some of this in my hair and blow dry upside down while scrunching and it made my hair look just as fabulous as the day before- in fact, I think I liked day 2 better!  If you like the "wet" look, I wouldn't recommend this to you, because that isnt what it does. I personally dont like it, so this stuff is perfection.

Avon's Clearskin Blackhead Eliminating Daily Astringent- I really like this toner because whatever makeup or dirt I did miss when I washed my face, this stuff takes it off and makes my skin really clean which is exactly why I buy a toner. I know that some toner's can be drying and I dont think this one is, but again I have oily skin. If you have dry skin, you may wanna check into it. Also, this stuff does burn (which can be a sign of drying) if you have an infected pimple or anything like that which I kind of like because I feel like it's killing bacteria and cleaning deeper. If your sensitive to that burning sensation I cant say I recommend it.  

what's on the bottle?

Cashmere Lotion- I am in love with stuff. The small size (which is the hand cream) was $10- that's expensive. With that said, I am buying this again once I have the money, but this time im gunna go with the butter that comes in the tub. I think this is the only lotion I am willing to shell out a lot of money for, because I love the scent. It smells buttery & creamy. The scent will linger on your skin for half the day too. Next time your at B&BW, take a whiff of this! And oh yeah, it moisturizes too, that's def. a plus!

p.s.- this picture of the Cashmere Hand Cream was actually taken when I first got it- I took a pic of it but it didnt come out very good! sorry guys!

Mark. Keep it Going Long Wear Liner & Shadow in Entourage- The one I have has a matte black side and a silvery/white side with a bit of sparkle. The black I used all the time, as a cream liner, and I absolutely loved it! It didn't dry out until just recently and I bought it in January. Now on to the white side....It was absolutely drying from the first day. It didn't go on smooth like the black side- it just kinda clumped up- no matter if I used my fingers, a brush, or whatever. I think the reason for that has something to do with the sparkles inside- it just didn't work out for me. I since then bought the Wet -n- Wild cream liner for $4 in black- so I got the one color I wanted- a matte black. The Mark. one runs up to $10 and half of it dries out quickly. I do think they are comparable- WnW and mark.'s black side I mean. Both creamy and nice.

Almay Dial Up Mascara & Liner- This was a 2fur- I got both in one pack. The liner was okay. I dont think there was anything special about it- just a standard black liner. I prefer a kohl liner (Loreal Kohl Liner is great!) as it is much more creamy and dosen't tug at my eyes like some liners can....*cough* As for the mascara, again, it was pretty standard. Nothing special about it. The whole dial up thing just controls how much mascara actually gets on the brush so it's a bit gimmicky. I dont think it held the curl on my lashes like I expect out of any mascara. I like a mascara that defines, separates, & elongates. This stuff just put a bunch of the product on my lashes and they weren't looking "full"...just clumpy. I recommend Mark.'s Scanda-Lash if your looking for the same things out of your mascara.

OK So there's all my empties- What have you guys used up recently? let me know in the comments below! Have a great and thank you so much for stopping by!

NOTW - Wine & Ribbons

How clever is that name- Wine & Ribbons. I think my nails look more like a Christmas Gift so feel free do this manicure around Christmas, or, you can be like me, and just go for  it now...in the beginning of October!.....ok maybe im lying...I have a confession- I did this look and took these pictures in July- I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this now either, I wanted to wait until later in the year. But it's my blog and "I do what I want!" (in the voice of Cartman) 

-The deep wine color is by Orly, and it's called Moonlit Madness. I put 1 coat of it and I don't think anymore coats would be necessary, if your going to do the rest of the layers. You will be putting on 2 other nail colors and also a rhinestone so even if you feel like you need another coat, I don't recommend going for it. Your nails will look extruded from all the layers of polish

-For the rest of the nails (excluding the thumb) I did 2 coats. I obviously didn't do the bow on each nail, so for the rest of them- 2 coats would be plenty

-L.A. Colors in black to outline where I wanted the bow

-L.A. Colors in white to fill in the bow

-And to stick on my massive rhinestone right in the middle of the bow, I used nail glue which worked pretty well.

**You can also probably stick it on right when the polish is wet, but i dunno how long it would stay on.

I thought this NOTW would be good because the Orly color is pretty fall-esq. Deep Red is a color i have been seeing on everyone's nails this season!

Whats your favorite fall nail color or trend?

So yeah there's my nails of the week...of July! haha I hope you guys enjoyed this post, and as always, thank you so much for reading!

FOTD: What Do You Think of Pink Shadow? Birthday Look!!

A famous makeup artist once said “Pink is the one color that makes everyone look pretty instantly, and it will work with everyone's skin tone. It's very girlie and very ballerina, a very youthful, almost childlike look.”- Bobbi Brown

 I have seen and heard from so many beauty girl's, guru, whatever- that pink is a really hard color to pull off- a lot of people say that it can make you look tired....You be the judge!


I do have a lighter complexion, so when I first began to experiment with pink I figured maybe that was why I thought I could pull it off. Well, then I got really tan, and I realized that I could still pull it off. Even tho im not tan anymore.....I guess you just have to test it out to see how it will look best on you.


The pink I am using is a really cool toned pink- It's a punky pink. It's a color called luvstruck from Mark. Here's a picture of it from a while back when I reviewed Jesse's Girl Primer. 

Since I have a cooler complexion, this color works for me. However, I like the way warmer colors look on me too, that my cool tones shouldnt be able to pull off. so if your a warm tone- I think this certain color (luvstruck) would work for you too, with the right colors to accompany it. Inspiration for the look at the bottom!

Before I go on and on about this pink party im throwing (for my birthday!!! today's my b-day!) I wanted to show you my hurr. This is next day hair. The day before this, my hair had pretty tight curls but I think I like the next day better. Sometimes I curl my hair this way the night before because I know I want waves. I used a spiral curling iron for this and it works pretty well for the Kim Kardashian waves I got goin on. If you would like to know a little more about how to achieve these locks, let me know in the comments and I would happily do a video for you guys (:

products I used (hair): 

3 in 1 hair spray: it is amazing! holds curls, leaves your hair softer instead of crunchy

L'Oreal Hair Putty near the roots to lift em up just a little bit.

 

 

 

Face:

-Revlon Colorstay Foundation

-Maybelline 24/7 Concealer

-Laura Gellar Baked Blush in Honey Dipped (contour)

-Blush - A really pretty light pink (off brand) I think it is a really beautiful color for lighter skin tones, like myself

-Highlight- Covergirl Shadow that the name wore off of. It's a light biscotti shadow color that works fine for a highlight. In fact, it's very comparable to top right color i have pictured here:

 Blush I used pictured above

Eyes:

-Jesse's Girl Shadow Primer

-Nyx Jumbo Pencil in Milk

-Revlon Cream Shadow in Wild Orchids. the middle purple color which is the one closest to the lightest color in the palette (it creases tho so im not too sure if I recommend this)

-Pink- Mark. Luvstruck

-Purple- Mark. Rebel (outer v)
-Physician's Formula "for blue eyes" shimmer shadow. I used the lightest blue in the palette to put along my bottom lash line to open up my eyes a little more

-Liner: Physician's Formula Shimmer Stick liner in Black (not very shimmery, which im cool with)

-Wet n Wild Cream Liner in Black

-Mark. liquid liner

Lips:

same as usual- NYX Tokyo matte cream and Maybelline Born With It Lipstick- anybody have any good suggestions?- a light pink lip color? 

and like I said, inspiration for this look: Elf Eye shadow in Punk Funk and Michelle Phan's Birthday Look

What do you guys think about the pink? love it or hate it? 

 

ok yeah so now I challenge you to try a pink shadow! I think it's flattering and I dont think it makes me look tired -so all in all, Bobbi Brown 1 Guru's 0. Sorry Guru's, yah no I love yah! If you wanna try this little challenge that I totally made up off the top of my head, please link, link, link!! 

As always, thanx for reading (:

Erica's September/Season Favorites 2011.MOV

Since I haven't done a favorites post in a while, I figured I would sum this one up from July through September- my season favorites. Since I have never done a video before, I figured now is as good as time as any! So please tell me what you think (:

Season Favorites:

3 in1 Hair Spray - practical yes at $3, but also the best hair spray I have used! It holds any curls and also makes my hair soft

Ocean Potion Moisturizing Aloe Lotion- Yes it rhymes, and maybe that's one of the reasons I love it (: I can't say it made my tan last longer because that isn't what I used it for. I love the scent of it! It smells like an orange dreamsicle! yum!

Bath & Body Works Creamy Body Scrub in Hawaii Coconut- I love scrubs and I always feel like I need one just because I hate when I dry off and there's all the little dead skin cells (bleck!) but I really love this because it really does make my skin softer, longer. And it also suds up and that's what sets up above other ones.

Clinique Smoldering Plums Palette- I love that this came with a matte color! I have been seeing matte eyes everywhere! I love this fall trend!

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo- Can you tell I love this? A really beautiful color soft nude pink color. It can be a bit drying but I find it does stick to my lips and if I put the following lipstick over it, it keeps my lips soft.

Maybelline Lipstick in Born With It- Another I am obsessed with! This and Tokyo make a great pair!

left to right: tokyo underneath born with it. tokyo. born with it.

Non-Beauty Favorites:
 

Tone It Up Community: For anybody who dosen't know of Katrina & Karena and you like staying healthy and on-track, there community is a must! There, you can log all of your meals & workouts. They also have groups where people can go on there and share a healthy recipe or a great work out, and it is really amazing! There blog, which is http://toneitup.com/ , is also a good place to get ideas.

Food Blogs: Kinda goes along with the one above, as they are all healthy & delicious blogs! some are vegan, like Oh She Glows, (she has some pretty amazing baked goods on her site!) Some are gluten free, like Edible Perspectives. For a full list of healthy food blogs, just go over to the right sidebar, and under where it says "skinny bitches", you will find a list of great blogs!

T.V. Shows! Even tho I was so sad about Kardashian's, Teen Mom, & Rivals being over, a slew of new tv shows are on! I am loving...

-Real Housewife's of Beverly Hills- Never thought Kyle and Camille would be friends and it's nice to see that they are, but im sure you guys know the rest of the drama this season! Taylor is a train wreck...it's sad, but also necessary, to see it playing out. I hope she is ok these days.

-Kendra- I couldn't wait for this one to come back on, baby Hank isn't a baby anymore! who dosen't love Kendra? 

-Little People Big World- I didn't even know they were coming back for a new season, I am so glad they did! I love that show, they are such an inspiration! I also love the whole family! If I knew them, I think we would get along really well. Plus, Jeremy- holy shit! he grew up! I would def. get along with him! haha

-Sister Wives- This might be my favorite one. It is so interesting to me to see how they live. Being from Ohio, I have never experienced polygamist people- On the other hand, I can really relate to the family because I have been on trial for something I didn't do, like them. Both trials (mine and theirs) are dismissed for know, but they are both trying to be appealed and I know exactly how they are feeling. I personally dont think mine is going to go anywhere (pray for me). But out of the wives, I like Mary the best- Whose your favorite Sister Wife? 

So there yah have it! I know my video isnt the greatest: the lighting, the sound, me "trying" to show you products (fail!) but I am just getting the hang of it and if anybody has any tips for me I am all ears! and oh my god- thats what my voice sounds like?! haha anywhoo- anybody know about editing videos? as always, thanx so much for reading!