For the love of Lippy's Haul

Do Not Come Between a Girl and Her Lippy's!

 

I have to be honest....I <3 Lippy's! Everytime a new line of lip products comes out I get too excited and pick up most of the colors without reserve!  Lipgloss, lipstick, lipbalm, liquid lipstick...the excitements the same.  In the last couple months a few different new releases have caught my eye but alas I am not in a position to purchase everything I want.  This for one has taught me what colors I lean to but also sometimes trying a shade or two first is good to know if I'm going to really appriciate the formulation.  I recently hauled a few of the new formulas in a couple shades and thought I'd share with you guys :D

 

 

As you can sort of see I picked up from top left clockwise: Maybelline Colorsensational the elixir gloss, L'Oreal extraordinaire liquid lipstick, Rimmel  show off lip lacquers, Revlon colorburst lacquer balm and matte balm, Rimmel Stay glossy lipglosses, and lastly a Wet and Wild lipstick

 

 

From left to right, top to bottom: Revlon Matte Balm in Standout and Striking, Rimmel Show Off in Stellar and Nude Eclipse, L'Oreal extraordinaire in Rose Symphony, Maybelline elixirs in Hibiscus Haven and Caviar Couture, Rimmel stay glossy in black diva and wet n wild vamp it up lipstick, Revlon matte balm in Unapologetic, Revlon lacquer balm in Provocateur and Demure.

 

From left to right, top to bottom: 

  Rimmel Show Off in Stellar and Nude Eclipse, L'Oreal extraordinaire in Rose Symphony, Maybelline elixirs in Hibiscus Haven and Caviar Couture, Rimmel stay glossy in black diva and wet n wild vamp it up lipstick, Rimmel stay glossy in Non-Stop Glamour and Revlon matte balm in complex, Revlon lacquer balm in Provocateur and Demure.

Heres my natural lips to start out with...they were a little stained from pink lipstick yesterday lol

 

Rimmel Lacquer Balm in Demure is a really awesome pink sheened nude that I would say is an awesome color to just toss in your bag for a go to smooth on shade. All these lacquers also have a light mint smell, which I like makes me feel fresh!

Revlon Lacquer Balm in Provocateur is a candy apple blue based red, it is a really easy fun way to wear a red lip if you prefer non-matte.  I am in love with all the Revlon lippys to be honest.

 

Revlon Matte Balm in Complex is a very sophisticated way to wear a nude, it would look good if you're going for a retro feel I feel like.  It does highlight the dryness (you can see where my lip has actually cracked from dryness) of your lips so exfoliation is key with the mattes.  

You'll have to start to forgive my application on some of these as my lips got drier and I hurried a little (look at my poor piercing stone coved in lip product lol).  This is Revlon matte balm in unapologetic which is a very intense reddish hot pink reminded me of MACs impassioned.  I think this is a fun color to wear for a pop of color, it definitely wouldn't be an easy color to pull into your clothes and accessories as it's so quite unique.

Revlon matte balm in Striking is a true red to slightly orange red shade that I am also in love with, if you want a fast everyday red look along the matte family this is it! If you're down with reds of every texture picking up this one and the lacquer balm in provocateur is well advised if I do say so myself :D

Revlon matte balm in standout is a much deeper red, it feels a little more dramatic and night time like with my skin tone.  I still like it but it wont be one I reach for constantly in the day time, also I had put lip balm on a bit b4 this picture cause it didn't upload the first time so it looks decidedly less matte, an idea if you want to add a bit of sheen to these :)

Rimmel show off in nude eclipse is an example of how this formula can make most colors look amazing.  Usually I'd find this too 'concealer' like and I wouldn't wear it but the sheen and texture of it makes it more wearable, I would still work hard to pair it with the right complimenting makeup but this makes this color wearable for me.  Also these have a very plastic smell but I don't mind it too much.

I do believe the Revlon balms and Rimmel show off are my favorite two new formulations.  I would love to find the show off formula in the reds! (naturally right!?) this is Stellar which is similar to unapologetic except this formula is much more amazing.  It's a bright pink with red tones and is very fun and POW!

This is the L'Oreal Extraordinaire in Rose Symphony which I managed to talk myself into only one because then I could get one of the new shadows also :D although I think it looks absolutely beautiful on, lovely color, nice shine, I find it has a tacky plastic feel on the lips.  It wears very unevenly too, and the smell is very melony which I didn't mind but some may dislike.

 



 

The Maybelline elixirs are much more comfortable in my opinion but I think I will use them mostly as lipstick topping gloss, with the exception of perhaps Cavair Couture here and there.  In the tube it looks like an extremely dark vamp shade but on the lips it turns into a beautiful berry gloss.  I think it can be used on it's own for sort of a soft fall or winter shade, maybe night for spring or summer.

This shade I picked up specifically to be a layer gloss, it reminded me so much of Candy Yum Yum lipstick from MAC.  It's Hibiscus Haven and is a clean, bright blue based pink which I still could see wearing it on it's own but on lipstick is amazing!

This is that color over Candy Yum Yum and you can really see how they pop together <3

Rimmel stay glossy in Non-Stop Glamour is just a shimmery nude color that I would definitely pair over nude lippy shades to add shine and shimmer and just AAAAHHHHHH lol I love me some shimmery gloss!

The Black Diva shade I bought with the intention of possibly layering to either darken reds or really really vamp my dark colors.  Maybe around Halloween I'll pick up one of those cheap black lipsticks to play with.

 In the mean time this is wet and wilds vamp it up which is dark as can be and really should be used with a lip pencil, I couldn't find a dark vamp red for the life of me so maybe using a black liner with this lipcolor will have to do.  You can tell how uneven my application was as my lips where dying! lol

 Here is the two of them together which is definitely extremely vampy and fun!

 So that's all loves I hope you enjoyed I was not a fan of the L'Oreal liquid lipstick but I'll be gunning for some amazing shades from Rimmels show off line!! <3 <3 <3

P.S. I can actually say I'm in love, not sure where to wear it but <3





Top 12 Favorite MAC Lipsticks

Much Love MAC <3

I have a kind of MAC obsession, it started with the Venomous Villains collection and hasn't ended yet.  Here I chose some of my favorite MAC lipsticks, if I was between similar permanent or limited edition shades I picked the permanent shade but still love some of the limited edition colors!

 

Bare Again Sheen Supreme, Innocence, Beware! cremesheen, Saint Germain amplified, Costa Chic frost

Viva Glam Nicki satin, Candy Yum-Yum matte, Runaway Red satin, Scarlet Ibis matte

Rebel satin, Prince Noir matte, Plumful lustre, Rocker matte

 

 

First this is my natural lip color with only baby lips in clear...I will admit my lips got redder and sore by the end of all this swatching!!

Bare Again is a sheen supreme and has by far the glossiest finish of all these lipsticks.  I love this one as a very fast easy neutral lip.  If I don't want to reapply 2+ products it's easy to throw this in my bag!  It doesn't change my lip color a ton, just neutralizes the pink a bit and evens the tones.

Innocence, Beware! is a cremesheen and therefore has another slightly creamy, glossy finish.  This is hands down one of my favorite colors!  It is one of the first MAC lipsticks I bought with the venomous villans collection.  I even bought a 2nd repromote when I finally could.  I like to pair it with Devisly Stylish lipglass which was part of the collection and also limited edition.  It makes a very light natural lip which looks a little pinker on me.

Saint Germain is amplified finish and very pigmented, similar to Viva Glam Gaga but that being a lustre that is much more sheer.  It is a very light blue pink which I love for a unique statement lip, most people think of bright or deep colors for statement lips but this is a cool switch.

Costa Chic is a frost and one of my go to coral colors.  I really like a few colors such as Betty Bright, Cut a Caper, Flamingo, and Ever Hip that are all similar to this family.  This though is a permanent and can be paired with a lot of coral lipglasses.  I was between including a peach or a coral lipstick but I find myself loving coral lipsticks from MAC.  Corals are my LOVES for summer!

Viva Glam Nikki is a satin and this is obviously the first one.  It is a bright coral pink and this picture does NOT do the shade justice.  I love pairing it with the matching lipglass and is once again a more unexpected statement lip.  Very fun and summery.

This was so difficult for me.  This color is one that I missed a few times and ended up buying every known dupe in man kind for, most being very similar but this is the one and only Candy Yum-yum which is now permenant at MAC.  It is a matte shade and such a vivid blue pink that it still shocks me!  When I compare it to other bright pinks it's blue tones truly make it look worlds brighter.  It's not an everyday color and it's not for the faint of heart but it's easy to fall in love with this color!

Runaway red is a beautiful slightly darker red.  It is a satin and actually in the tube looks much darker though it glides on much more true red then the dark hue it appears.  I love this color for a red that isn't quite 'red' but is definitely a red lip, it screams SEXY! lol to me atleast.

On the other side of red is the orange toned Scarlet Ibis, a matte color I LOVE this color.  I wear it summer, winter, it looks more interesting then a regular red but still has a classic feel.  I believe L'Oreals la laque in I laque you a lot is similar but not a matte shade, I like the matte effect of this lipstick so much.

Rebel is a berry, or pink toned color that was ALL over youtube and blogs for a while so I gave it a whirl and got what all the fuss was about.  If you don't want a color that is purely red or pink this is it.  A good fall color it has a satin finish and isn't as drying as some of the matte deep colors.

 

This is NOT the best picture of Prince Noir, blurry and around my lips was so red and dry it was hard to get to look smooth. Usually this isn't the case but worn on it's own it is still fairly unforgiving with a matte drier texture.  This is my favorite full on vampy color.  Blackened red it just makes me feel dark and myserious, if done with a smokey eye you have to be really subtle so as not to over do the two together.

Oh how I love love this color, Plumful which is a lustre is one of my fall my lips but better colors.  It adds a bit of a plummy pink tone to my lips but the lustre keeps it sheer and natural looking.  I pair it with electrolush lipglass for a very 'done' natural look.

This picture is deceptive, no that I see it close to Rebel it looks the same though it is Rocker which is a matte (think I put too much lip balm on as I was so dry by this point) Rocker is a deepened red, it makes me think if Runaway Red and Prince Noir shacked up and had a baby this would be the offspring.  It is a vampy red whichout being too dark or too deep, it's good for if I want another sexy color and feel like going farther from a true red then Runaway red.  It doesn't have any real pink/berry undertones like Rebel does so it's odd it photographed that way, you can see it's differences best in the hand swatch!

 

 

I really love MAC and hope I've shared some true love with you guys <3

I have long looked at other permanent colors and even the special editions that they release but I usually do have something similar so I can finally pass on a lot of the colors :D

 

Goodbye Lovies!!

 

 

Nail boutique

Rose Love!!

 

I did my nails and thought I'd share the results...I was inspired by this how to pin:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/37576978113642269/

 

 

 

The colors I used were Essie sand tropez as a bass, Ciate dangerous affair and mistress for the red roses, Essie off the shoulder and perky purple for the pink roses.  Kiss nail art paint for the silver glitter polish and Essie mojito madness for the leaves.

 

Ignore the dry skin! really need to break out my Lush Volcano foot mask!!

For my big toe I used Essie Lilacism as the base and Essie Splash of Grenadine, Ciate cabaret for the purple roses, Kiss nail art paint for the silver glitter polish again.  Essie mojito madness again for the leaves and Ciate cabaret for the rest of the toe nails.

 

Food Lovin'

When A Woman Loves her Food:

 

Ok, no lie I absolutely love food!  Eating it, even preparing it.  With living with my parents (with a kitchen in remodel to boot!) I've lost some of my freedom in the kitchen but I still do get space to do my own thing.  I try to eat fairly healthy and though with the abundance of new years resolutions dedicated to eating better I would share my thoughts and some basic recipes! :) Also I am not going to lie I don't make New Years Resolutions because I feel like it's easier to make resolutions throughout the year based on the ebb and flow of life!

 

Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking, SALAD!? Everyone knows it's good for you and blah blah blah but no one really feels a drive to eat them.  What I found with salad is I'm happiest if I play with them, for about a month or so every time I went to the grocery store I would try to think of something good to add to my salads.  This included diverse healthy extras such as tomatoes, carrots, avocado, peppers, ect.  On this particular salad I have Oscar Meyer carving board chicken (this and the turkey is my stand by processes meat which isn't great but isn't the worse either), plain almonds, carrots, feta cheese, tomatoes, shrimp, almonds, avocado, and light raspberry vinaigrette which I can NOT rave about enough.  I use to always use balsamic vinaigrette which I still like but the raspberry adds a great sweet kick!  One mistake a lot of people make is making an amazing salad and then drenching it in heavy dressing which can add up to 200 calories on it's own (at that point give me a McDouble!!).  On the side I have some strawberry greek yogurt for a sort of dessert, if I had fresh fruit it'd be in there!  I use yogurt as a snack or dessert since it has a lot of sugar in it and I try to watch mainly three things inside my calorie intake: salt, sugar, fat!

 

 

Ok that post was quite long but salads are something I've grown passionate about!  Here we have some homemade gumbo! Yum! I try to substitute healthy alternatives when a recipe calls for certain things so here I used no salt added chicken broth, whole wheat flour, extra olive virgin oil, cut up and grilled chicken, Andouille sausage (I would now skip this it's high in fat and TOO spicy for me!), shrimp, celery, peppers, tomatoes, and onions.  For my carb I just used whole wheat bread with goat cheese on top (I LOVE THIS!).  This is something I would eat for lunch or dinner :)

 

 

I really wish I had a picture of the finished product here but these were the ingredients for a parmesan pasta and salsa side dish I made, focusing on quality ingredients.  The parmesan pasta had whole wheat pasta, greek yogurt cream cheese, buttermilk and shredded parmesan.  The salsa was made with heirloom tomatoes, onion, and green, red, yellow, orange (not all pictured) peppers. I made this for a girls night of wine and pasta and my only advice is it doesn't reheat well so make just enough :D (also I just google for recipes, I find a few and combine them a lot to get something different!  Though I really should start writing them down!)

 

Here I have jambalaya which is using pretty much the same ingredients as the gumbo but instead of whole wheat flour it contains quinoa which I substituted for the white rice the recipe called for.  One way I save money is by making things with similar ingredients or incorporating the extra ingredients into a whole different dish.

Yum, breakfast!  I'm actually kind of a hobbit, I usually eat two breakfasts :D  basically by eating two small breakfasts I keep myself full longer and don't feel overly full the first go round.  This one is what I'd have if I was only having one and a snack to make it to lunch.  The whole wheat toast has goat cheese on it again and my new obsession of boiling an egg is eaten with it.  I am in LOVE with the baby bell mini cheese rounds which I get in light, at 50 calories they're a great snack or little added bit to meals.

 

This is a kind of splurge diner for me, I LOVE potatoes!! To a point where relatives joke about it!  But I don't love the skin which is the healthiest part and I like it with just butter, salt and pepper.  It's not something I eat everyday (though I totally would if it was healthier) and I tend to save it for a day I need an extra bit of comfort food.  The chicken is oven baked friend chicken (who knew that was a thing) which I coat either with an egg (healthier) or buttermilk (less healthy), whole wheat flour, and sometimes Kellogg crumbles.  I should add that spices are my drug of choice for food, it takes anything blah and makes BAM! amazing! I may do a whole post on my seasonings (is that odd?) if I can find the box.  On the side I have carrots and a little light ranch for dipping, because I had to feel better about myself a little!! Actually adding a vegetable to every meal is a really good goal, especially different colors.  The way I look at it the more colorful foods you're eating the more diverse the nutrients you're ingesting (this does NOT apply to skittles unfortunately).

Yum, lunch time!  (These aren't in any order if you noticed!)  This is a whole wheat pita (though I also use whole wheat wraps in the same manner), inside I put either goat cheese or garlic hummus (just a small spread of either on one side), avocado, peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, turkey or chicken meat, and spinach.  I should add that the peppers are not the spicy kind, they just add more flavor and color really :)

 

Ok quick foray, since I don't have a picture of it I use to take protein shakes after a real workout session.  This meant going to the gym and putting in the real time, not just when I was semi lazy and did a few things at home.  In my protein shakes I usually used skim milk and some EAS soy protein powder in chocolate from Wal-Mart.  I will be the first to say that I don't know much about the powders out there and would recommend doing your own research if you choose to go down that route.  Now the above was not very pleasant but when I needed it quick it worked, IF I had the time I would sometimes add PB2 (powdered peanut butter AMAZING), greek yogurt, or greek yogurt caramel ice-cream.  Sometimes I also substituted the skim milk for no sugar added almond milk which had less calories and with the PB2 tasted pretty darn good.  Ok now that that is out of the way I went down the green smoothie route (which is on pause as my parents don't have a blender out right now) I looked up lots of recipes online so just play with what you think you'll like.  I used frozen kale (putting the kale in the freezer helped it last longer and taste better, also I really liked breaking frozen kale leaves off for some reason lol), pineapple, banana, coconut water, and strawberry honey greek yogurt.  I thought this was a great for an energizer as the fruit was naturally a carb.  Also it's a sneaky way to get just a little bit more leafy greens into your day!

This is a healthy dinner for me, lemon lime fiesta salmon (the portions a little big though) on a bed of quinoa, blackberries and a small spinach salad with only peppers, tomatoes, balsamic and feta cheese on top.  This is just trying to eat as balanced as possible, add some skim milk and I've hit every food group (not counting the tiny bit of feta already there)!!

Another breakfast and a half.  Here I just cooked the egg and put it on my goat cheese toast.  The side is strawberry honey greek yogurt and some berries added in, once again it's like dessert! yum!

 

This is a Kala just got done working out and want's to eat a lot!!...but doesn't want to ruin her workout!  One way I fill up when I'm just craving food, food, and more food is with water based foods.  The celery and cucumber have a lot of water in them to fill me up and the protein and fat in the peanut butter along with the complex carbs in the whole wheat bread will keep me full as well as help rebuild muscle.  Peanut butter I tried to find the healthiest option and haven't used any lately but my gal pal from high school said you can mix the PB2 and water and it's much healthier!  I haven't tried it so I can't say if it tastes good but the more options the better!!

 I thought I'd throw this cool thing in here, I saw this at my local grocery store.  You can make your own organic peanut butter!! I think this a really cool natural idea and can't wait to try it sometime.

This one is very sad looking but tastes better than it looks!! It's also a great take to work lunch.  It's tuna (pouch sealed in WATER), lettuce or spinach, light mayo, on whole wheat bread.  Plus some sunflower seeds on the side (I was probably craving something salty).  I thought I would hate tuna but have found it's one the simplest healthy things to throw on my sandwiches!

Oh boy, this is the kind of diner I grew up with yum yum.  Who can blame me for making it when I started cooking for myself? basically it's filet mignon, pasta roni pasta, and peas.  Ways to make this a little healthier would be homemade pasta, or at least whole grain pasta with a light store bought sauce and a leaner cut of meat.  All in the all the portions are not too bad though and it's got a lot more vegetable then the bad stuff ;)

Here's another love that's a bit of a fat/calorie buster.  BURGER TIME!! I've changed how I make these a bit since this picture. I don't use the prepackaged burgers I buy the meat myself and add seasonings make it into patties and freeze what I'm not making in the next day.  I make 4 burgers from a pound of meat so obviously they're about 1/4 lb burgers each.  I put spinach and tomatoes on the burger to add some vegetables and also I just really like them on there :)  Now instead of cheddar cheese I use pepper jack which has more flavor and is usually less processed.  All on a wheat bun of course and a small bit of no sodium added ketchup :D

 

That pretty much wraps up PLENTY of my food choices.  One tip I've found lately is if you count calories (which I try to keep track of at the very least) it's good to know an approximate daily amount but not to get too hung up on those and instead focus on a weekly total.  This way when you go out to eat/drink one day with friends or family you don't have to write off the day as a failure, especially cause this can add to making worse decisions.  Just look at is as maybe go for a longer walk the next day, extra half hour at the gym, or maybe really asking if you need that dessert the next day.  Most of my eating changes came from finding recipes I could experiment with and playing with foods I knew I liked before finding healthy substitutes.  If you keep an eye out for creative blogs or aps you can also score info on things you never knew about.  For instance my friend (PB2 girl lol) found some squash spaghetti, literally spaghetti made from squash! I haven't tried it yet but I never ever would have guessed something like that existed and hey if it's good I found a keeper, if not it's on to something else new!!!  I know this is a long post (and I also typed it twice because I lost it the first time!!) but I am PASSIONATE about food, particularly eating it ;)

 

 

Where ever you are smile everyday (Sunny or not!)

 

Bye Loves!! <3 <3