Growing Up.

Figured I haven't done a personal post in a while. I've been going through an emotional rollercoaster lately with a lot of family drama, stress around my Step 1 exam, and just struggles of daily life. By no means do I have a miserable life. I'm grateful for everything I have and all the experiences I've gone through. But I do wish I could fix some parts of my life.

I know my weight has been the one thing I've struggled with constantly. But even that's starting to come under control now. I'm happy to say that I haven't gained any weight and have acquired a lot of great new habits recently.

I do wish that I was better at forming relationships, though. Ever since I was little, I never really had a constant group of friends. My family moved around a lot during my elementary-middle school years and I never really had the chance to develop blooming relationships. I kind of almost regret that now because I'm having such a hard time forming true relationships now. Not only have I never had a real relationship or a real boyfriend, I've never really had true friends either. Everyone seems to be so great at making friends, but it's really challenging for me. I'm a really nice person, everyone always says that, but when it comes to being a good friend, I'm really shitty. I'm not very disclosing about the personal issues in my life to anyone, which makes other people hesitant to divulge their issues to me. I think about everyone I know who has amazing, lasting friendships and all of them are such good listeners who always know what to say and are so empathetic. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to be like that. I'll always be the awkward, quiet girl who says the wrong thing at the wrong time. And as I grow up, I realize that I can't change that about myself. I just have to learn how to accept it. I'm seen as this quirky, quiet girl who says funny stuff occasionally but has a ton of acquaintances. Yet, if I had to list people in my life who I think would be great bridesmaids or would stick their neck out for me, I hesitate. My best friend from grade school, who coincidentally happens to be one of my oldest friends, doesn't really keep up with me anymore. Sure she has a crazy busy life, but our dinner date last year kinda made me realize how far we'd drifted. Most of our dinner was full of awkward silences and no real chit chat. Just talk about our old school friends, a topic we had nothing much to discuss. And it hit me. We no longer have inside jokes, share similar hobbies, hell we don't even share similar friends anymore. I can't really call her a best friend anymore. She's always going to hold a special place in my heart and will always be my oldest and kindest friend who I know I can turn to for anything, but I know she's found other, better friends and doesn't really think of me the same way I think of her.

And I guess thats part of growing up. I need to realize that everyone changes and moves forward and I wish I could do the same. I'm still stuck on wishing she was my best friend and that we were more like sisters than friends. But it's too little too late for that now. We're friends at best. Nothing more. It really hurts me that I'm the only one who wants to even initiate a hangout. I knew that if I stopped texting her periodically, we would have a total fallout. We would probably never talk again. And that really really hurts me. I've tried to tell myself that she's busy and probably doesn't have time to talk to anyone, but no that's not really true at all. I can't really call her out on that because I have found other friends too and hangout with them way more, but at the same time, I wish our friendship meant something more than just a periodic awkward dinner date and more than a one-sided relationship.

So I think this time I'm done for good with her. If she realizes she misses me or wants to hangout with me, she can say something. As for now, I think we've lost any hopes of resurrecting our relationship. I'm very happy for her and I'm glad she has real friends who genuinely care about her. I wish she saw me as one of those, but I can't force anyone to change their minds. I wish I could tell her about all the shit I'm going through right now with my family issues, but I can't. How can I spill those intimate details to someone who doesn't even care to listen or care about even texting me once in a blue moon to talk? Whatever, I guess I'll always be the pathetic high school loser in her eyes and her cool new friends are better. But I need to grow up. It's so sad to see she has to be another friend I eject from my life, but so be it. Maybe we can catch up sometime in 5 years, if she even realizes I exist.

NOTW: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Lacey Lilac

Ahh late update on the nail color for this week, but it's a pretty one! This week is Sally Hansen's Xtreme Nail Wear in Lacey Lilac. It's a really gorgeous pastel purple. I picked this one up last fall when it was on sale at my local grocery store. I must say, it's beautiful and a great choice this week since spring has been in full bloom. It has been a little chilly here, but super sunny skies. I put this on Tuesday but haven't gotten a chance to write about it until now.

It's so funny, this nailpolish is only $3 or $4 and has an amazingly good formula but yet I keep forgetting about it! This is one of Sally Hansen's not so popular polish lines, but it is so stinkin' good! First off, I love the brush and how evenly and precisely the nailpolish goes on. It's a small flat brush (unlike the larger brush in their Insta-Dri line) that applies the polish perfectly and I barely have to wipe off any nailpolish lines around my fingertips. Second, the color is so shiny and glossy even without a topcoat. Also, the color lasts a crazy long time. Like I said, I don't wear a topcoat usualy and this nailpolish lasts a full week. I put this on about 4 days ago and there are absolutely no chips except a few on my index finger. Definitely less than other formulas like Revlon, L'Oreal, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, etc. I would even say it compares if not surpasses some of my Essie and OPI shades. So, this has definitely become my favorite nailpolish line! I have a few other colors in the Xtreme Wear line, but not that many. Hoping to pick up a few more this year!

Pink Glosses for Springtime ♥

Spring has definitely been in the air here recently and so I thought I'd share my favorite lipglosses for the season. As you guys probably know by now, I'm obsessed with lip products, especially lipglosses. And since pink happens to be my favorite color, it makes sense why I have a bajillion pink lipsticks, glosses, balms, etc etc. In this post, I've just singled out some of my favorite pink glosses that I have been reaching for the most recently. There are a ton of other pink-colored products I love (hello Naked 3 Palette, Revlon lip butters) but those are maybe for another post. 

I've definitely been reaching for a pink gloss nearly everyday for the last month or so because they look so natural on the lips and can be worn with any eye or face look. When I'm in a rush or don't know what to wear, I reach for a pink warm-toned color. Of course, some pink lipglosses are brighter than others and can't be worn on a daily basis, but I still love those glosses in my collection and wear them when I want to feel extra fancy or pink :)

Here are my favorite pink glosses swatched below:

Lancome Lip Lover in Framboise Etoile, Urban Decay Naked Ultra Nourishing Lipgloss in Lovechild, BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Rebel, Revlon ColorBurst Lip Gloss in Strawberry, NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches & Cream, NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel

Lancome Lip Lover In Framboise Etoile -- a really pretty berry-pink color bordering on magenta. Definitely reserved for sunny days with very little eye makeup :) I just have a (quite large) sample of it, but it's definitely one of the best lipgloss formulas I've tried in a while. 

Urban Decay Naked Nourishing Lipgloss in Lovechild -- cool-toned pink with hints of purple. I don't look all that good in cool-toned colors, but this lipgloss in an exception. It's a very sheer gloss so the cool tones don't overpower and make me look vampy like they usually do. Again, love the formula of these glosses! They hydrate my lips and surprisingly last quite a while.

BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Rebel -- subdued medium pink-mauve. Hands down, my FAVE lipgloss this season (and probably for every season!) Again, this is one of those colors that are listed as being cooler in tone, but it looks SO beautiful on my lips! The purple doesn't show up much on my lips so it looks more of a dusty rose on me. This has definitely become my favorite natural colored lipgloss and it's probably going to be one of those "take and apply whenever" shades in my collection. I can probably run out the door with this gloss and apply it whenever, even without a mirror. And I can't say that for a lot of glosses! However, I will say that it's a very dupable color and probably not worth $18 since I can guarantee that nearly every lipgloss line has a similar color. Butttt, I will definitely keep repurchasing this particular brand because the formulation is so moisturizing, lasts quite a while for being a gloss (~1 hour I'd say), the smell and taste is amazing but not overpowering (like a white chocolate peppermint, mmm), and the color is a dead on perfect MLBB for me. Oh and as another bonus, absolutely no sparkle or shimmer at all, which makes this gloss a total winner for me. 

Revlon ColorBurst Lipgloss in Strawberry -- a warm-toned hot pink. This is one of those shades I would never have considered buying because it is so bright, pigmented, and sparkly. However, I actually really really like it! It reminds me of a perfect sunny summer afternoon. Definitely going to be wearing it a lot more this summer!

NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches & Cream -- a very bright bluish-pink. I use this shade mainly when I want to switch things up and wear more of a Barbie-pink kind of gloss. This is a super pigmented gloss, so I only apply one coat and then sheer it out as much as possible so I don't look cray.

NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel -- a light peachy-pink. I finally got a baby pink gloss! This is probably the lightest pink in my collection, but I've really grown to love it! Again, it's one of those glosses I can grab when I'm in a rush and apply it later without a mirror. I reach for this quite a lot mainly because it feels so incredibly comfortable on my lips and it contains no sparkle at all, which makes it perfect for every occasion. It's so hydrating and literally melts onto my lips (just like the name suggests). And it's sheer enough so I don't look crazy wearing a light gloss with my dark skintone.

New Ulta & Sephora Goodies!

So I ordered some stuff from Sephora & Ulta that I needed to buy and I ended up getting wayyyy more stuff than I needed. Part of the reason is because I was ordering online and ended up adding more stuff to my cart to meet the $50 minimum...hence all the stuff! But, a lot of the stuff I really did need, especially the hair and face stuff. So let's get to it!

Daily Routine Stuff

*Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser -- my favorite face wash recently! I ended up buying two bottles since I go through about one a month now that this is my daily and nightly face wash.

*Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-In Conditioner -- oh my gosh I have been wanting to try this stuff for literally forever now! My old Organix leave-in treatment ran out and I saw this was half off at Ulta and so I haddd to buy it. I absolutely love it so far!

*Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream -- a little curl-defining cream to make my hair frizz free after showers. Planning on using this after spraying on the leave-in conditioner

*Not Your Mother's Knotty to Nice Conditioning Detangler -- I got this as a detangling spray for dry hair on days my hair is feeling tangled

*Simple Sensitive Skin Solutions Cleansing Facial Wipes -- These babies are my favorite makeup-removing wipes! They're so wet and excellent at leaving my skin fresh and clean at night. I sometimes don't even wash my face after and I have yet to breakout

Makeup

*Coach Poppy Flower Perfume -- I got this perfume because it was recently discontinued and Sephora had it for 50% off. I've tried samples of the regular Coach Poppy and fell in love at first spritz! I've been looking for a new perfume and couldn't bear to shell out $95 for the Roses de Chloe, so I felt this would be a great replacement for it since they're both florals. I do love a good rose perfume but for now this will do. It smells soooo divine, kinda like a bouquet of flowers and it's perfect for springtime. It's much lighter than the Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb (my go-to perfume for the past 2 years), but I think it's going to have great lasting power despite its light fragrance. Definitely excited to try this!

*BareMinerals Try Believe Love Kit in Golden Tan -- I did it! I FINALLY BOUGHT MY FIRST FOUNDATION! After debating about it for over a year, I caved in and bought a foundation -- of course, mineral one. I was in between the new Tarte airbrush foundation thing and BM but I decided to go with BM since they have some amazing foundation sample kits for a good price. I might do another blogpost about my first impressions, but so far I really like this foundation although I do have some quarrels with it. Overall though, I love it and I'm glad I went with a mineral foundation over a liquid one. It is a little tricky to apply but I think with a couple more tries, I'll be golden.

*Sephora The Event Entry Palette -- yes, it's the beautiful glittery envelope-like thing in the picture above! So beautiful! I wanted to actually buy this last winter for my mom as a Christmas present, but I ended up choosing another palette since this one has 4 cool gray-black shades which I knew she wouldn't use. It was on sale at Sephora for $5 and I could not pass it up. It comes with those 4 gray shades and also 4 warm brown shades (a cream, light brown, medium brown, and dark brown - all with shimmer). I think it's such a pretty little eyeshadow compact for everyday travel and pretty good quality too!

*Revlon PhotoReady 3D Volume Mascara -- I needed a new mascara for the springtime and since Revlon was BOGO1/2 I decided to get this one again. I have tried it before and it does a really good job of volumizing and separating my lashes. Not a cult fave, but still a goodie!

*Revlon ColorBurst Laquer Balm in Ingenue -- a really pretty, creamy nude lip balm. Really excited to try this new formula out! 

*NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Smokey Look -- a gorgeous tea-rose lipgloss. I've fallen in love with their Butter Glosses, so decided to try this formula too!

*Sephora Lip Gloss in Red Jelly -- I got this for $5 on Sephora and oh my goodness it is so yummy! Super shiny and great for a natural lip color. Smells great and goes on very juicy on the lips.

*Urban Decay Naked Lipgloss in Lovechild -- got this for a 100 points on Sephora just because I wanted to try it out and see if they live up to the hype or not. Haven't tried it yet but definitely excited to! 

*Lancome Lip Lover Gloss in Framboise Etoille -- VIB sample in a beautiful raspberry color. I actually don't have many lip products in this color because it's not really my favorite, but it is really beautiful!



Whew! That's about this for my makeup and beauty haul, but I did pick up some fashion/accessory goodies for the spring that I'll be posting in another blog. My wallet must definitely hate me, but you only live once, right? ;)

Recipes To Try! -- Week of March 17th

Recently, I've been inspired to cook and prepare meals/snacks by all of the great recipes on Pinterest as well as the huge hole in my wallet and my expanding waistline from all the eating out I've been doing. I've actually prepared some great meals for the week and got ingredients to make some fun snacks for a weekly movie night with my friends.

Egg Salad Sandwich -- a delicious way to amp up my weekday lunches instead of boring old turkey & cheese

Creamy Spinach Parmesan Pasta with Chicken -- creamy pasta dinner this week! 

Buffalo Bean Dip -- Saturday move night snack

Decorated Cupcakes -- I recently purchased an open star tip for decorating. Can't wait to try it this weekend!

Thai Curry Chicken with Potatoes -- I have some potatoes that need to be used up soon and just repurchased my favorite curry sauce, so I think this would be a great way to use my chicken, curry sauce, veggies, and potatoes! Yummy and hearty dinner idea for next week.

Weekend Decor & Monday Night Baking

Happy Tuesday! So, despite doing barely any work the past few days, I have managed to get a few "projects" done, which in retrospect have actually helped my mental health since I feel a lot more relaxed, calm, and fulfilled now. 

First off, I FINALLY put up Christmas lights on my headboard like I have been meaning to do for like three months now. I just found a box of white lights from Christmas and decided to loop them around my headboard. Note: the picture does not do these lights justice at all!

They look a little bit gnarly as they are right now, so I may re-arrange them around the posts or straighten them out a bit, but I really like how these are looking so far! My bed is right in the center of my room, and I would definitely say that it's "the focal piece" of my room. The camera didn't capture just how beautiful these look when my lights are off, and they would make a great reading light or a soft light for when I'm trying to relax a bit before bedtime. Super excited I finally put these up! I may try to find some heart-shaped lights or colored lights this summer to maybe jazz things up a little bit, but for now, these plain white lights are definitely staying.

Next, I did some cooking this weekend (my weekly Sunday night baking was a Monday night baking this week). Let me just start off by saying that I have found my new pasta sauce love. Ohhhhhhh my, I picked up the Classico Seasonal Selections Creamy Spinach & Parmesan pasta sauce over the weekend from Walmart and I am IN LOVE.

It tastes so fricken amazing, it's not loaded with too much fat, and it doesn't have a crazy high amount of salt. That being said, it isn't the healthiest pasta sauce in the world, but for how it tastes, it's not bad either. I've grown tired of my monotonous regular marinara sauce and thought this would help jazz up my dinners this week while keeping things somewhat healthy. It's so creamy and delicious, but what I love is the spices in this sauce. It has a bunch of Italian spices I don't even dare try guessing, but they really hit the nail on the head with not going overboard like a lot of other pasta sauces do. This is definitely my new favorite pasta sauce brand. In fact, I went out the next day after using this to purchase another Classico Sauce. My grocery store didn't have this sauce, so I ended up getting the Classico Vodka Sauce, which I'm sure tastes just as amazing.

As for what I made with this sauce....ehh that was kind of boring. I basically tossed some red onions, chicken, and whole wheat penne into the sauce and topped it off with mozzerella cheese. Nothing too fancy, but the pasta sauce was definitely the star of the dish.

As far as the nutritional value of this dish, each serving has roughly 430 calories, 13g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 49g carbs, 29g protein, 430mg sodium and a pot of this dish makes 7 servings and takes roughly 30-45 mins to make (boiling the pasta and all). Not bad at all considering this dish tastes like heaven! A little more carb-heavy and fat-heavy than I would like, but it's much better than eating a plain-jane pasta&marinara sauce dish, feeling discontent, and trekking up to the hospital cafeteria to get a burger and fries. So yeah, this dish may just become a dinner staple. And even my mom liked it, who usually hates Italian food! Big kudos right there.

NOTW: Revlon Parfumerie Apricot Nectar

My apologies I didn't clean the unclean lines around my nails before photographing! 

So this week,  I thought I would get a little spring-y and put on a bright coral-peachy polish. I decided to try my new Revlon Parfumerie Nailpolish in Apricot Nectar, which is a really pretty light peach shade. These are some of the newest nailpolishes in the drugstore market and I believe they are part of the Revlon permanent collection of polishes. I gotta say I like the formula overall, but there are some things that could have been better. For one, the polish initially applied streaky and uneven. After 2 more coats, it did even out and gave a shiny, opaque finish. Also, it took about 3 coats to get it to the opacity I like and the polish was a little runny and not as creamy as some of the other nailpolish brands I've tried. The standout feature of these polishes, however, is the light fragrance it has once dried (hence the name Parfumerie). I actually think it makes these polishes kinda unique! I'm not sure if all of them have a different scent, but this one smells like bubblegum/fruity candy once it's dry. Not really like an apricot, but close! And really delish! I was a little afraid because I didn't want to have a heavy scent on my nails or have an acetone+fruit fragrance on my nails, but I think Revlon did a really good job with the scents! It's light enough that you have to pretty much hold your nails up to your nose in order to smell any fragrance. Also, the packaging of these polishes deserves a mention. It has a black knob-shaped top which makes it looks rich, elegant, and sophisticated. Definitely prettier and more elegant than the normal plastic polish tops. Looks beautiful on my vanity and makes these polishes standout in my nailpolish box.

So overall, although I don't love the formulation completely, I love the innovative idea of the lightly fragranced polishes. The fragrances are light enough and don't interfere or make you smell overpowering in any way. The packaging of these polishes is beautiful. It would look so pretty on my dresser as a decoration. Plus, the color selection in this collection is amazing, so I may pick up a few more shades! Love love love this polish. May become my new obsession.

My Favorite Spring Beauty, Fashion, Health Links!

So April is almost here and time is literally flyingggg. I'm not sure what the official date of the beginning of spring is, but it sure feels like spring is coming to Pittsburgh really soon! And I'm actually really really excited. I'm usually not one of the ones obsessed with springtime (it's actually been one of my least favorite seasons in the past), but I'm really excited this year because the winter was quite long and terrible here this year. It's nice to finally see some sunshine and a bit of greenery come back. Plus, with the hum dum glums that go along with Step 1 studying, it's nice to think that a new, bright, cheerful season is coming up soon!

So here I've compiled a series of YouTube videos from my favorite beauty gurus that really get me in the mood for springtime and is full of really useful tips for looking and feeling your best this season. I haven't really organized them in anyway. The general ones are at the beginning, followed by beauty hauls, makeup tutorials, outfit ideas, and health/fitness tips in that order. Without a doubt, these are my go-to videos for when I'm feeling a little glum or uninspired and these manage to turn my mood around instantaneously. Plus, it's nice to have a spot where I have my video/inspiration collections, kinda like a video Pinterest? I don't know. I'm slightly weird if you can't tell :)

But anyway, here are the videos in the playlist. Of course, I'm probably going to add to this playlist as more spring-related videos are posted, but here they are for now:

General/Randoms

Morning Routine - StilaBabe09

I ♥ Spring Tag - MissGlamorazzi

Beauty

Spring Haul - MissGlamorazzi

Spring Haul - Kellylovesbeauty

Natural Makeup Tutorial - MakeupByTiffanyD

Spring Makeup, Hair, Outfit - MissGlamorazzi

Natural & Glowy Makeup Tutorial - MakeupByTiffanyD

Fashion

Spring Clothing Haul - Casey Holmes

Spring Outfit Ideas & No-Heat Curls - Bethany Mota

Spring LookBook - Tanya Burr

Spring Hair, Makeup, Outfits - Bethany Mota

Spring Outfits - Bethany Mota

Spring Haul & Styles - MakeupByTiffanyD

Spring Floral Outfits - Bethany Mota

Health/Fitness

Starting a Healthy Life - Breelovesbeauty

Tight Tummy - Breelovesbeauty

Bikini Body Ready Tips - StilaBabe09

Boosting Happiness - Breelovesbeauty

Breakfast Ideas - Breelovesbeauty

I <3 Spring Tag - Miss Glamorazzi
Spring Outfit Ideas - Miss Glamorazzi
Get Ready With Me -- Miss Glamorazzi
Soft Lilac Eye Makeup -Amarixe
Spring Fashion Tips - Tiffany D
Fresh Spring Makeup - Tiffany D
Spring Green Makeup Tutorial - Tiffany D

Wet&Wild Comfort Zone

A few months ago, I posted about my obsession with this palette. Well, I since have purchased it and I've been using it literally every day this past week. I gotta say though that I have mixed feelings about it. I pretty much have a love-hate relationship with most of these shades that's actually a little frustrating. First off, the pros: the quality of these shades is absolutely AMAZING. They last all day, they're super buttery, very pigmented, true to color, don't fade or crease...they're literally a dream to work with. W&W really did an amazing job with the formulation and I have no complaints with its quality in the least bit. They're also super cheap...I think I only paid like $5 for this palette and it has a lotta product and will probably last me for a good while.

My problem with this palette is the color range. The colors in not only this palette, but all of the other trios Wet & Wild has are quite boring, monotonous, similar, and in a nutshell: not really up my alley. Here are some swatches from my most used shades (the 2 browbone shades, the eyelid shade on the left, the crease shade on the left, and the definer shade on the right).

Left to right: left browbone, left eyelid, left crease, right browbone, right definer

The first and fourth shades (the two browbone shades) are super light and make me look washed out so I can't really wear those on my lid. The second shade (eyelid) is a salmon-toned gold, which is kinda useless to me since I have my Naked 3 palette that has much better rose-hued shades. The last swatch (definer) is weird because it's quite sheer and doesn't really show up on my eyelid for some reason, even with a primer...I don't know it's weird. Looks pretty in the pan, but not so pretty on the lid. The only shade I really like is the third one (crease), which reminds me of Smog from Urban Decay, which was my favorite shade in the Naked palette. However, I recently purchased the NYX Dream Catcher palette which has really gorgeous bronze/copper eyeshadows that I would opt to use over this shade. So pretty much, this palette is kinda useless to me since I have other palettes with similar shades. I'm kinda disappointed because I wanted this to be a staple, "everyday reach-for" palette, but I don't think this lived up to those expectations for me. I can't really say any of these shades are unique or that I'm going to reach for this palette on a daily basis. Plus, as far as transportation goes, the palette is a little large and bulky and not so easy to fit into my makeup bag. However, I will say that this palette is the closest rival I've found to the UD shadows in terms of quality of the shadows. And for that reason alone, this palette is excellent.

So there you have it: my lil' dilemma with this palette. I'm not bashing the palette in any way since the shades are such amazing quality for a dirt cheap price. I really wish they had more trios or 8-shade pans in more diverse shades. I would love to see a totally matte trio or a golden trio or even a bronze trio. At the moment, literally all of their trios look the same with a really dark shade that I have plenty of, a really light frost shade that will definitely make me look washed out, and a super vibrant color that I will never use. None of their trios have interested me at all, which is a shame since the shadows are so amazing in terms of quality. I don't know though, maybe I will give one of their trios a try and see how I feel about them.

Anyway, I am going to give some of my other palettes a try and review them at the end of next week. So keep an eye out! Next on my to-review list is my NYX Dream Catcher Palette and my Naked 3 Palette. Maybe even throw in my Tarte Eyeshadow Palette from the Tarte of Giving gift set I got this past Christmas. I do want to invest in a small, portable eyeshadow duo or trio that I can just literally throw in my bag or have as a "reach-for" product when I'm pressed for time. I'm thinking of buying a matte quad from Physician's Formula for those kinda days because matte shadows are definitely more natural and effortless compared to shimmery shadows, and I already have plenty of shimmery neutral shadows in my stash so it would be useless to buy more. I also have my eye out on a BareMinerals duo with two brown matte shades, but I don't feel like dropping $20 on another eye product. Don't know though! I will definitely post once I make up my mind!

Travel Beauty Must-Haves

The other day, while packing for a weekend trip home, I was inspired to blog about some of my travel must-haves. I've been coming home so often that I've become a little bit of an expert at quick packing at the last moment. Here I've listed some of my absolute must-have "need to bring with me" beauty items. Of course I bring more things than these home, but these are just my beauty, makeup, hair products I bring every single time I go somewhere.

Here is my beauty bag. It's this beautiful royal purple bag I got a couple of winters ago from Victoria's Secret. It was one of their special holiday gift sets that came with perfume and stuff. I was on the market for a new makeup bag and this definitely fit the bill (and came with yummy perfume goodies!). I love using this as a makeup bag because it's really the perfect size. It's large enough to hold all of my essentials, but still fits comfortably into my duffel bag, backpack, gym bag, suitcase, etc. Plus, it's gorgeous and hard to miss while digging in a stuffed bag.

Here are my essential makeup items. Some of this items are staples in my travel bag since I bring them every single time. These include my bareMinerals Correcting Concealer, UD Eyeshadow Primer Potion, LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub, and Clinique All About Eyes Rich Eye Cream. And then I always pack an eyeshadow, mascara, blush, nailpolish, and a couple lip products that vary with my mood and season. Now I've been tame here and only packed one blush, eyeshadow palette, and two lippies. Usually I manage to somehow cram like 4 or 5 of each into my makeup bag. I've been getting better though and only packed a few things this time (wooo self control!).
I chose to bring my W&W Eyeshadow Palette in Comfort Zone (it's bulky I know, but I am on the lookout for a nice compact neutral eyeshadow duo or trio) since it has a nice mix of neutrals and vivids. For blush, I brought my mini sized BareMinerals Loose Blush in Golden Gate because it's tiny, natural, and very versatile. Mascara is my usual L'Oreal Voluminous Full Definition. Definitely need a mascara popped in there. Ah and then my lip products -- I usually pack at least one lip gloss and one lipstick/tinted balm since I can never predict what I'll be in the mood for. This week, I chose my new obsessions -- Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait and Benefit Ultra Plush Gloss in Coralista. And lastly, I usually bring one nailpolish in case I have some downtime or get bored and want to paint my nails. I chose one of my new polishes, the Revlon Parfumerie Nail Polish in Apricot Nectar since it's super bright and puts me in the spring mood (and also smells like spring in a bottle!).

And lastly, some non-makeup beauty items. These don't go in my makeup bag, but rather somewhere in my duffel bag.

I literally only pack two makeup brushes when I'm going home or somewhere closeby -- one flat eyeshadow brush since I usually just do a one-color eye look when I go home, and then my blush brush. If I'm traveling for a weekend getaway or something longer, I obviously pack more eye brushes (a crease brush, liner brush, eyebrow comb) and multiple face brushes. I used to just throw them in my makeup bag, but I thought that was kinda unhygienic, so I now stow them in this little brush carrier I got during a Black Friday sale at Sephora last year. Super gorgeous and sparkly...and convenient of course!

I also make sure to pop some of my ultra hydrating Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Cream for my forehead area, which gets really dry in the wintertime. For body spray, I'm obsessed with my Pink body sprays. I usually end up bringing along my Warm & Cozy scent because it's just so delicious and cozy! Lastly, I always have to bring my staple hair products -- Organix Argan Oil of Morocco Spray and the Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum. These two products combined ensure that I'll have soft, touchable hair all day. Oh, and I try to remember to bring some sort of jewelry in case I have an impromptu event I need to go to or need to look nice for some reason haha. 

So that's about it! Like I said, what I pack in my beauty bag really depends on the occasion, but these are just some of the essentials I always bring along on 75% of my trips (usually just back home to visit my parents for a few days). 

Refresh Button

So yesterday I pretty much hit rock bottom and decided it was about time I hit the refresh button on my life. I've been killing myself working nonstop for like 18+ hours. For some people, that works out just fine, but not me. Especially since I'm on my computer most of the time when I'm studying, either looking stuff up or making tables/flashcards.
I figured that it was about time something changed. The constant go-go-go thing had me eating junk food every night, migraines daily, insomnia, and overall just an incredibly high amount of stress. Not good at all, for my waistline and for my mind. I had been getting about 3-5 hours of sleep per night, which just left me dysfunctional in the morning.

So, this morning is the day I hit the refresh button. I went to bed a little earlier than normal last night after taking 1 Tylenol PM to ease my headache and lull me to sleep. The result = I got a glorious 7 hours of quality sleep. I woke up really refreshed and reviewed some Pulmonary stuff. Now I'm eating cereal and blogging. So far, a pretty nice day. No headache, stress, or anything.

The real test is going to come later today. It's a long day for me, since I have my ICS class from 8-10 and then another long class from 1-5pm. That and I'm behind on my studying schedule by about a day. I'm going to try my very hardest to work in between those classes and get at least the FA section of Musculoskeletal/Derm annotated, read, and finish making tables/flashcards. Sounds easy but it's a pretty tall order. I also want to get the Fungi section of Microbiology finished, but it's only 3 pages so that should be fairly easy. All that and I want to be in bed by 12pm sharp. That means leaving the library around 11:30pm and being in bed by 11:45pm. Whew, tall order I know. We'll see how it goes.

Also, as the second part of my refresh phase, I want to start eating healthier. Enter, LC's 7-Day Skinny Jeans Re-Boot. Basically, it's a week of clean eating. Drinking lots of water, exercising 30 minutes per day, eating cleaner food. And that should take a lot of water weight off and leave you fitting into your skinny jeans. For me that means:
1. 8-12 glasses of water a day (or around 3-4 bottles of water in my lil' Love Pink tumbler)
2. Less than 2000 mg of sodium per day (bonus points for under 1700!)
3. Exercising 30 minutes a day (whether that means pilates, elliptical, walking, whatever...just workout!)
4. Only 2 cups of coffee per day! One in the morning and one in the afternoon is ideal
5. Oh and also, EAT REGULARLY. I feel like this is 50% of what contributes to my headaches. I skip meals and then once the evening hits, my head is pounding and I get cravings to eat junk food. I'm hoping eating regularly and eating well really helps with this.
6. Lastly, sleeping 7+ hours is crucial. I'm hoping to sleep at the very very very least 6 hours, but 7 hours would definitely be ideal.

I'll be sure to post the results of my 7-Day cleanse :) hoping to fit into my Aero dark wash skinny jeans!

NOTW: Maybelline Color Show Brocades Lavishly Lilac

So while painting my nails the other day, I had a genius idea and figured I'd start doing a "Nails of the Week" kind of post every week. I usually paint my nails once a week or every other week if I get lazy, so this would be a great way to show some of my recent polish picks.

For this week, I decided to use the nailpolish I received this past Christmas. It's actually really really really gorgeous! I literally cannot stop staring at my nails. Plus the color is so unique. It says it's meant to be a lilac, but it seems more silvery with a touch of purple to me. And it has pretty good staying power as well. I painted them on Saturday and it's still looking great right now, even without a topcoat. 

Plus, this is the first official spring nailpolish I've used this season, soooo bring on the brights and pastels! :D

March "Must Use" Products

So I was going through my makeup drawer the other day and realized that there were SO many products I had accumulated throughout the past few months that I really needed to start using more. So I figured that for the month of March, these should be my new kinda "reach for" products. Of course, I'll probably still mix and match with my old faves (Tarte Dollface blush, heellllooo could never give that up) but I really want to try using some new things this month. With spring around the corner, I figured it was time to use more colors and it's just an excuse for me to start wearing bright shades and clothes. Although the weather has been clearing up a lot more, it's still a little chilly and so I probably won't be breaking out my spring clothes for at least a couple more weeks. But you can clearly see that my makeup routine will be significantly brighter this month since nearly everything in my stash for this month is pink or purple.

So what's in my "must use" stash?

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette 
I got this palette back in December, on the day that it was released to Sephora stores. Sooo December 6th. I actually haven't been wearing it at ALL since I figured it was a more appropriate palette for spring and summer. And boy am I glad I saved it for this season. The colors are all very pink-toned or mauve-toned, which I knew, but the amount of pink/purple undertones in each eyeshadow make it kinda hard to use it on an everyday basis. At least on my skintone, the colors definitely look pink or purple. I still love the palette though because I love wearing colorful makeup, but for everyday this palette  most likely won't be the one I reach for. I do want to use it frequently this month, maybe for days I go out or want to jazz up my eye look.

BareMinerals Eyeshadow Duo in The Flashback
This product is another eyeshadow palette I bought a while back and haven't been using. The reason is mainly because the shadows are SO pigmented that the silver kinda makes me look a bit washed out. I used to love silver eyeshadows when I was younger, but since my color is warm-toned, the strikingly metallic cool-toned sheen of the eyeshadow make it hard for me to use. But again, it's gorgeous and I'm sure I can tone down the color by dusting it on with a crease brush rather than patting it on with a dense brush. I may even try using it in my crease? We'll see, but the palette is definitely beautiful so I want to use it more frequently this month.

Clinique Chubby Eye Stick in Portly Plum
It's probably been a year since I got this and I've been looking for an excuse to wear it, but I've unfortunately been neglecting this little beauty for a while now. It's such a beautiful royal purple color and it looks gorgeous on the crease. I initially got this for an all-over color and it does work well for that if you sheer it out, but still I think it would be more everyday-friendly to wear on the crease.

Tarte Mineral Bronzer in Hotel Heiress
I use this not really as a bronzer, but rather as a highlight/blush. Probably sounds crazy but I really love the glowy, fresh, and awake look it gives me. I used this a lot last fall but I want to start using this again since Step 1 studying exhausts the crap out of me.

BareMinerals Loose Powder Blush in Golden Gate
Recently got this and tried it a few weeks back and fell in love. Super pretty coral-peachy color blush and it would look great this time of the year! It has to compete with my Tarte Dollface, which is slowly becoming my new obsession but since this blush is so beautiful it actually has a fighting chance! Just takes a bit more effort to apply this baby, but it looks so natural and lit-from-within that it's totally worth the extra minute.

BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Smooth Talker
Not really my favorite lip gloss, but I figured since I shelled out money to buy it, I should use it at least a little bit. The main reason I don't like it is because it has gold glitter in it, but I think layering over a lip butter or another lip product will make it stand out and look a lot more better.

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Strawberry 
This lip product was featured in my monthly favorites, but I really want to wear it more this month! It's the perfect balance between sheer-natural and crazy pigmented. You would think it's super pigmented based on the tube, but you can really sheer out the color to make it look like a more natural pink color on the lips. Love love love this gloss! Just wish it smelled like strawberries too! That would be absolutely amazing.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Sugar Plum
One of my lipsticks from this fall, but I want to wear it some more this spring because it hasn't been getting much love from me recently. Super pretty color though and definitely an everyday plum color :)

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait
Last but not least, I'm so fricken excited for this!!!!! I got this lip butter for the spring and I opened it the other day and omg I'm already in love with this. It's SUCH a pretty color! It's natural and I can wear it every single day if I wanted without looking like I'm wearing a lot of makeup. It fits in perfectly with my skin tone and looks like a MLBB kinda shade. My previous favorite lip butter shade was Pink Truffle, which was a more rose-pink-brown color but this is probably going to be its replacement for the spring at least. It's a MLBB peachy shade. It has pretty sparkles in it that make me look super glow too. It would look beautiful with a golden blush and a shimmery eye. Super excited to wear it this month and possibly even do a makeup look with this soon :)

Springtime Decor!

Woo spring is finally almost around the corner! I took this morning off to sleep in, clean my room, catch up on some organization, and put out my springtime decor! I'm definitely glad I did so, because I feel so much more relaxed now and ready to tackle another rough week of school! There's just something about cleaning and organizing that refreshes my brain. I love coming home to a clean, organized room and get more studying done when my room is tidy. 

I also love spring because of all the colors. While fall and winter are usually full of darker, toned down colors, spring and summer are so vibrant and I have an excuse to brighten up my room even more! I will admit, I have a hard time decorating my room for fall and winter because everything is so bright and pink, but it makes it really easy to decorate for spring/summer. 

I put out some new items I picked up from JoAnn fabrics over the past few weeks and re-organized some stuff on my desk and especially my dresser. I definitely love the changes and compliment my decor even more. First thing I'm most excited about is my new pitcher with daisies, lavender, and bright yellow stems. I found the pitcher on sale (from the Valentine's Day clearance section) for only like $5 I believe. I've wanted a decor pitcher for SO long now and was super happy that I was able to finally get one! It definitely looks very polished and spring-appropriate. I filled it with hot pink daisies and other little stems I found. It looks like spring in a little can! Love love love. Definitely brightens my room up a lot and cheers it up (if that makes any sense). I also want to try growing my own plants this year so we'll see how that goes. Maybe a little later this month or in April.

Next, I moved my little Hello Kitty picture holder from my dresser over to my desk. I had it picture-less for a really long time, but I decided to put some pictures up. I put up one from my trip to Paris a couple summers ago, a picture of me and one of my best friends from high school, and a picture of our trip from NYC. I'm going to replace the middle one with a picture from my birthday dinner last year, but I have to get it developed first. Again, the colors in the base are so bright and pretty, I love it. And I love that whenever I glance up, I see pictures of some of my favorite people and favorite moments of life. Oh! And I also got a little ceramic bunny from JoAnn. Thought it added a little kick of Easter :)

Next, my dresser. I totally re-organized it. It doesn't look like it, but I shifted nearly everything around. For one, I put the pitcher of flowers on the opposite side, so they're not getting crowded and forgotten in the corner. Next, I condensed my makeup brushes to fit into my "Macchu Pichu" cup my friend got me a while back. And then my jewelry lady is in the other corner where my flowers used to be. I'm really liking this change because now all my jewelry is together and my flowers are more viewable than they were before. And my little bottles of daily-use products (deodorant, body spray, eye cream) are front and center. I might get a little dish to hold those in the future, but for now I think they look fine as they are.

Not much changed on this side, except I removed the hearts on my closet door and replaced them with some random butterfly, flowers, and hearts stickers I found at JoAnn. They look lame from far back, but they look nice up front. Not sure if I'll continue to do that for the next season though, I might revert back to putting magazine cutouts there instead since they look better in my opinion. But hey look, my floors clean!




Oh and lastly, I picked up a bunch of sweatpants from Walmart! Yeah not the chicest place to shop, but they had sweatpants on sale for $3 each....hard to resist. I have one pair I bought last year and oh my gosh they are SO comfortable! Definitely had to pick up a few more for this next brutal month of studying. Gonna be so comfy in the library! :) Oh and the pink sweatshirt on the right was also only $3 and looked really comfortable. So I snagged it for days I felt a little lazy and wanted a cozy bright sweater.

So that's about it. I did change some stuff around in my living room (added yellow daisies to replace the Christmas poinsettias that were initially there), but nothing that exciting. I'm definitely loving the new re-organization and decor and it's just all so happy and pink! :) Probably will be keeping most of these up all the way through summer, so probably wont' be decorating as much these next few months until fall :)

Sunday Baking: Egg White Muffins

So since I have recently been doing nothing but sitting in my cave for Step 1 studying, I've been really missing doing fun stuff like cooking, baking, decorating, SHOPPING, etc. I even have been neglecting watching beauty videos and keeping up with my fav beauty gurus! Crazy, huh? 

So this Sunday when I was feeling a little stressed, I decided to make the most of my snow day (I was stuck at home) and do some baking. Instead of making something sweet like last week (made chocolate chip muffins!), I wanted to make something more savory this weekend. So after perusing Pinterest and deciding that I needed a grab-and-go hot breakfast option, I ended up to making egg white muffins with turkey sausage, spinach, and cheddar cheese. And boy are they delish! However, there is much room for improvement and I can see ways for improvement and variety next time I make these.

For starters, I used frozen chopped spinach which in retrospect I shouldn't have used because it was liquid-y once thawed. I think that's why my egg muffins turned out a little liquidy/slightly soggy. Next time, I will definitely be using fresh spinach to remove that liquid factor. Next, I chopped up some turkey sausage and put them into each muffin cup. Definitely glad I did so because they give it a little zesty flavor and add more protein. Since this dish was a last minute decision, I didn't have very many other things to put into my muffins except some shredded cheese. Once I poured the equivalent of roughly 1.5 egg whites into each cup, I sprinkled on some cheddar cheese on top of each muffin cup. 

Like I said, definitely impressed with the way they turned out but I already see some things I can improve on next time. For one, I plan on using fresh spinach instead of frozen spinach to remove that liquid-y ness. Second, I cooked these for 20 minutes this time and they were a little bit undone (but still good enough to eat), so next time I will leave these in there for a full 30 minutes. The turkey sausage is definitely a keeper, but I want to add some onions and peppers next time to give the muffins a little more flavor. I also want to somehow tweak this recipe so that it has less sodium. Right now there's about 230mg sodium per muffin, which isn't too bad but I can only eat one at a time. Ideally I would like them to have less than 150mg sodium per muffin. On the bright side, each little muffin packs only 75 calories and a whopping 10 grams of protein! 

Definitely love this recipe though because these muffins are SO easy to make and because they make a portable delicious hot nutritious breakfast on busy mornings! And they're super versatile. The options are endless with these -- adding more veggies, different cheeses, different meats, sauces, etc. I will definitely be making more of these in the future, possibly even as early as next weekend! :)

Oh and I'm also considering making each Sunday evening a baking/cooking adventure to destress a little bit and to prep meals for my busy, busy, busy weekdays!

February Favorites! ♥

Ahh I've been SO bad at posting this month! Things have gotten a little crazy busy with Step 1 studying. I've pretty much been wearing my "no makeup makeup" look nearly everyday, which is basically just concealer and maybe some gloss or blush. And then studying 10-12 hours per day which has literally left me with no time to do anything fun.
Anyway, I have discovered some new products this month that I've been using on the days when I haven't had to rush out of the door in the mornings. I love them all mainly because they look so natural and sheer when applied. And a lot of non-beauty favorites this month, too!

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface

Photo credit = www.jessbeez.blogspot.com

NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel 

Photo credit = www.missnattysbeautydiary.com

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Strawberry

Photo credit = www.wieniawski.blogspot.com

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Spray

Photo credit = www.reikouken.blogspot.com

ELF Eyebrow Brush/Comb

Photo credit = www.swirliciousbeauty.blogspot.com

Helios

Photo credit = www.boomkat.com

Bath & Body Works Stress Relief Body Wash in Sandlewood Rose

Photo credit = www.mybathhouse.com