FOTD Featuring the Hollywood Palette from BH Cosmetics

Hello again lovelies!! Today I've just got a quick look the I put together featuring the Hollywood palette from BH Cosmetics. I decided to go for a very bright and feminine look tonight, really focusing on pinks for a super girly look. I'm going to try to get a couple more looks up this week featuring this palette, and yes, I know I said that last week about the Malibu palette. But last week my darling daughter destroyed all my mascaras and I had to go to the store to pick up more. A moment of silence for my poor lost mascara.... And on to pictures. And yes, I am wearing my workout clothes with full makeup. What of it?

Face Products Used: e.l.f. Essentials Cover All Stick in Apricot Beige; NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Mont Blanc; Mary Kay Mineral Powder in Ivory 2; hot pink blusher, bronzer, and highlight from the Hollywood Palette.

Lip Products Used: MAC Lip Pencil in Embrace Me (I do believe this color was discontinued); a shimmery cool pink lip gloss from the Sephora Collection Color Daze Blockbuster makeup palette.

Eye Makeup Used: The silver, matte fuchsia, matte purple and white eyeshadows from the Hollywood palette; red/brown eyeshadow from the Sephora Color Daze Blockbuster palette for my brows; Sephora Collection Long Lasting 12 HR Wear Eye Liner in Glitter Black; Maybelline Falsies mascara in Very Black; Rimmel Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil in Pure White; Sonia Kashuk Full Glam Eyelashes.

I was super pleased with the quality of the blushers in the Hollywood palette. I used the bronzer to contour my nose just a bit and it looks so natural. The highlight showed up better than I had anticipated, my skin is so fair that highlights generally don's show up worth a damn on my skin, but this one did. And I applied it a little heavier than I probably should have lol.
And I wanted this look to be very bright, but also very wearable, so I kept things pretty toned down for a more everyday practicality. I'll for sure post an EOTD later this week with some of the more crazy bright colors, I'll even try to get pictures in steps for a tutorial. It's been ages since I've done a proper tutorial.. But anywho, I hope you liked this look and if you'd like a chance to win this palette as well as the other 2 California Collection palettes *Click Here* to enter my giveaway. I hope you're all having a gorgeous week!! Til next time!

BH Cosmetics Hollywood Palette

Hello lovelies! I hope you're all off to a great week, my husband actually has a few days off, so I'm definitely off to a good start. :)
But today I'm going to be walking you through the Hollywood palette from BH Cosmetics' California Collection. This is the second of their palettes that I've tried, and so far I am very pleased with their products. Now, this palette is selling for $18 and comes with 16 eyeshadows and 4 blushers. This is a very bright palette, and the colors are very Hollywood.

Alright, now I love the packaging that the palettes from the California Collection come in. They chose great colors in the packaging that reflect the colors used in the makeup, and the package art is just fab. They put a little sleeve on the outside with the same imaging from actual palette. It doesn't really serve a purpose, but it looks nice I suppose.

The palette has a magnet to hold it closed, and the magnet is quite nice, so no worries if you toss it in your purse for touch ups. As you can see, the palette has a little mirror for touch ups and the blushers are in the middle with the shadows on either side. The mirror is a bit small, but for just doing touch ups it's pretty perfect.

I was so pleased with the blushers in this palette. The colors are well suited for my coloring, and they are highly pigmented. The light pink gives a very healthy girl-next-door wash of color to your cheeks, and the dark pink is loaded with glitter and great for an evening out. This highlight is also totally awesome, it shows up really well and really makes my cheekbones pop. The bronzer is one of those great almost-matte super natural looking shades and I'm in love with it. It's probably my new favorite bronzer. All of these blushers applied with ease and are soft but not to the point of fallout. 

Hollywood palette blusher swatches

The eyeshadows in this palette are super vivid and bright, and there's a even blend of shimmer, glitter, matte, and metallic shades. They all swatched well, though the pink/melon shadow on the bottom right of the set on the left was a bit harder to work with than the rest of the shadows.

Eyeshadow swatches from the left side of the Hollywood palette

Eyeshadow swatches from the right side of the Hollywood palette

Overall, I am extremely happy with the quality of this palette. The packaging is adorable, I'm in love with the blushers, and the eyeshadows are totally fun and gorgeous. I'm particularly fond of the matte lime green shadow and the matte fuchsia shadow, they're just SO bright.
And again, this palette sells for $18 at BH Cosmetics' website, or you could enter to win this palette as well as the other 2 California Collection palettes at my giveaway *Here*
I hope you guys enjoyed this little look at the Hollywood palette and have a great week! Later this week I'll have up a look or 2 or 3 featuring the shadows and blushers from this palette. Til next time!

Healthy Recipe 1: Kale Soup

Hello again lovelies! I've asked on my Facebook page, and there is some interest in me posting once a week on general health. I think that being healthy and beauty are pretty directly related, so I've decided to start doing this weekly health post. Eating healthy and exercising are obviously good for you, it promotes heart health as well as just the proper functioning of all your organs, but it also helps you look better. And I'm not just talking about losing weight, a balanced diet and exercise routine will make your skin more radient as well as your hair and nails. It also helps people feel more confident, and let's be real, confidence is a HUGE part of looking good.
So today's post is going to be a super healthy recipe that I came across a year or so ago. This is a recipe for kale soup, though you could probably substitute the kale for Swiss chard or collard greens. Some people find kale a bit bitter, but I think it's awesome in this soup. And kale is one of those super foods, it's loaded with so many vitamins and minerals and it has been theorized to help prevent cancer. Yeah, it's awesome. Kale is also known as borecole, I know that I do have readers all over the world and I don't presume to know what you call your greens, so those are the 2 names I found for kale. If you'd like to read more on how awesome kale is *Click Here* and read up on what WebMD has to say about this awesome green.

Now this recipe is great for promoting a healthy heart and a healthy waistband. This is loaded with veggies and could easily be made a vegetarian/vegan recipe by using vegetable stock instead of chicken. And if you're worried about the flavor, I know a lot of people don't like veggies very much, it's delicious. My husband hates vegetables, but he will wolf this soup down. Also, the measurements for the spices are approximated as I don't really measure my spices, I just add to taste. Also, prep time will vary from person to person. There's a lot of vegetable chopping involved, so if you have a food processor or a slap chop or something it will dramatically decrease your prep time.

Kale Soup

Prep time: Approximately 30 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large bell pepper, chopped (I use orange because it makes the soup brighter, but you could use whatever you like.)

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups diced red potatoes

6 cups kale roughly chopped or torn into bite size pieces (1 good bunch of kale is generally 6 cups worth)

1 - 16 ounce can of white kidney beans (also called cannelini beans) rinsed and drained

4-6 cups of low sodium chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Approximately 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, and basil.

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes until lightly browned. Add bell pepper, carrots, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Add potatoes, kale, beans chicken stock, salt, pepper, and spices and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add additional stock or water if soup becomes too thick. Let sit for about 5 minutes after cooking and serve. Enjoy!

This is a really easy recipe and it does make for quite a bit of soup. And this is one of those meals where you can eat pretty well as much as you want without feeling any guilt. It's just so good for you!! And it doesn't cost much to make either, I think all the ingredients for this meal cost less than $10, and that's assuming that you don't have potatoes, onions, stock, garlic and carrots at home. I do hope you'll try this recipe out and let me know what you think. And if make variations of the recipe I would LOVE it if you shared your variation with me. But I've got a Pilates video calling my name, so I'm wrapping this business up. Love me some Pilates... Til next time!

FOTD Featuring the Malibu Palette from BH Cosmetics

Hello again lovelies! Today I've got a look that I put together using my Malibu palette from BH Cosmetics. If you want this palette so you can recreate my look *Click Here* to enter my giveaway where I'm giving away this palette as well as the 2 other palettes from the California Collection. I will list the products below, and I hope you like this look! Fair warning, this one is picture heavy!

Face Products Used: NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Mont Blanc; e.l.f. Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter; the pink blusher from BH Cosmetics Malibu Palette; the white highlight from the Malibu Palette.

Eye Products Used: The metallic blue, dark blue, brown/mauve, gold, and light tan eyeshadows from the Malibu Palette; Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Black; Rimmel Kajal Kohl Pencil Liner in Pure White; Sephora Collection Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara in Black; Sonia Kashuk Full Glam Eyelashes; a medium brown eyeshadow from the Sephora Color Daze Blockbuster palette for my eyebrows.

Lip Product Used: Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush.

Hair Product Used: HealthySexyHair Soy Renewal Beach Spray.

This look is a bit day time wear, but it would be great for an evening out. I'm going to be doing a more day time appropriate look using the Malibu palette tomorrow or later this week, and I'll add a quick bit on how well they wear throughout the day and such. I know I was going to do a full review on this, but I covered most everything aside from the longevity and such in my initial thoughts post, so a review post seems kind of redundant. And then next week I'll be covering on of the other palettes, and the week after that I'll do the last of the California Collection palettes. So what do you want to see first, the Hollywood palette or the San Francisco palette? Let me know in the comments, and the palette with the most shout outs will be first. Hope you're all having a great start of the week! Til next time!

Ipsy Glam Bag July 2013

Hello again lovelies! This is a bit of a late night post, so I'm going to keep it rather short. But yesterday I received my very first Glam Bag from Ipsy, and I'm really excited to show off what I got. I'm sure you all know what Ipsy is and about the Glam Bags and such, but if you don't basically you sign up with Ipsy at their website and fill out your info to get the Glam Bag. It's $10 a month, and you get a cute little bag with various beauty items. This is my first bag, but from what I can see it's well worth the $10. If this is something you'd like to get involved with, you can use my referral link *Click Here* and get started with Ipsy. But let's get on to what's in the bag. :)

HealthySexyHair Soy Renewal Beach Spray

derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub

Coola Mineral Sunscreen

HealthySexyHair Soy Renewal Beach Spray - This is a "Beach look conditioning & texturizing spray with argon oil." I haven't used this yet, but it does have an interesting scent. I'm not really sure if I like the smell or not, but I have a really strong sense of smell so I'm probably the only one who cares. People have been raving about argon oil, so I'm pretty excited to give it a whirl.
derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub - From the packaging, "This award-winning exfoliator helps diminish the appearence of fine lines, wrinkles, and acne scars. Leaves skin youthfully radiant." I also haven't used this product, but I rubbed it between my fingers just to get a grasp on what to expect. It has a really nice consistency, the exfoliants in it are of a very fine grit similar to sand. Maybe finer than sand. In the jar it smelled slightly of peppermint, but it left a faintly lemon scent on my fingers that I found quite pleasant. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't say if it's a face, body or all-over exfoliator, and being that I'm not familiar with this product I'm going to have to look it up.
Coola Mineral Sunscreen - This is a broad spectrum SPF 20 facial sunscreen. It's unscented, and it really has no scent. None. Color me impressed. I put a little on my face and it feels really nice, it's very light and slightly moisturizing. This is also organic.

BH  Cosmetics California Collection Sampler

BH Cosmetics California Collection Sampler - Inside

BH Cosmetics California Collection Sampler - This sampler comes with three eyeshadows, one from each of their California Collection palettes. I have all three of these palettes, and the eyeshadows are quite nice and pigmented. I actually got the idea to get all of the palettes from the Glam Bag Spoiler of this item.

Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush

Pop Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush - Swatch

Pop Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush - This is a lip crayon similar to Clinique's Chubby Sticks or Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. The color is really pretty and has nice pigmentation. It has a light minty scent, but I can't smell it once on my lips. It's really moisturizing, and I like it quite a bit.

That concludes the items in my very first Glam Bag from Ipsy!! I think I got a lot of cool items, and best of all it's stuff that I probably wouldn't go out and buy on my own (aside from the eyeshadows lol) so it has me outside my usual comfort zone. The pink translucent bag they come in is really cute as well and would be great to throw in my purse with all my to go makeup safely tucked inside. I have had nail polish explode in my purse before, and let me just say it sucked. Definitely use a travel pouch for my makeup now. And again, if you're interested in joining, I'd love for you to use my referral link *Click Here*
Well, I'm off to bed, I hope you all had wonderful weekends! If you haven't, don't forget to enter my giveaway, it's all three of the BH Cosmetics California Collection palettes! *Click Here to Enter My Giveaway* Til next time!

BH Cosmetics Malibu Palette - First Impressions+Swatches

Hello again lovelies! As I'm sure many of you know from my giveaway I recently purchased all three of BH Cosmetics' California Collection palettes. And, because I'm a tease, while my giveaway is active I'm going to be doing a lot of teaser posts for these palettes. The first of which I am doing today and it is my initial impressions of the Malibu palette with some swatches. I'll have a full review up later as well as some looks featuring the palette.
But on to the details of the palette! The Malibu palette, as well as the other palettes in the California Collection, sells for $11 (US) at BH Cosmetics website. And in each palette you get 4 blushers and 16 lovely shadows. So it's quite a good deal price wise.

The palette comes in a little sleeve with the same design that the palette has on it. It's Malibu themed, and I think they do a pretty good representation of the vibes there. I've only been to Malibu twice, but this hits the memory pretty well.Totally cute, right?

The palette itself has magnets to keep the sides folded up, and the magnets are quite strong so I'm not worried about it flopping open on me. The sides open to reveal the eyeshadows and a pretty little scene like the one from the sleeve and the outside of the palette. That middle bit opens up to reveal the blushers and a mirror.

The mirror is a nice size for when you're out and about, and I really like the way the colors are all displayed. The only thing I don't like is that the colors don't have names. But being that BH Cosmetics is really all about the palettes it's pretty understandable. I do like how they divied up the eyeshadows; it seems to me like the shadows on the left are more day-time colors, whereas the colors on the right make for nice evening colors. And really, all of them make fabulous beach colors, which is what you generally think of when you think Malibu.

Blushers from the Malibu palette

This palette comes with four blushers, and there's a little something for everyone in their choice of colors. The pink blusher is pretty universal and I think it would look good on most any skin color. Next to the pink blusher is a really neat metallic blusher that could probably be used as a bronzer depending on your skin. The metallic blusher seems like it's probably going to be a titch too dark for mine and other very fair skinned people, but I haven't worn it yet so I suppose we'll see. At the bottom left is a very light highlight with some subtle gold undertones. It's very pretty and I think it would look good on most anyone, I have seen someone with quite dark skin wear it and it's lovely, gives a very pretty glow. And the bottom right is a bronzer, very light tan. And I mean very light! In my opinion it's really more of a highlight for anyone that has pigmentation to their skin. Like, with my fair skin I could probably use this as a highlight or an all over bronzer for a healthy glow. But I think this would be a gorgeous highlight for someone with dark skin! And they swatched really nice, very soft and easy to work with but not so soft that you end up losing product.

Malibu palette blusher swatches

All of these blushers were super easy to swatch, and they blended out beautifully. I really like the pink, it's matte and gives a very natural and gorgeous look.

Eyeshadows from the Malibu palette

Alright, there are 16 eyeshadows in this palette and they're a good mix of shimmer, matte and metallic colors. I love all the blue shades, some of them are really pretty.

Swatches from the left side of the Malibu palette

Swatches from the right side of the Malibu palette

These shadows were swatched over primer and went on quite well. The matte dark blue was the only shadow that didn't apply fabulously, but even that one I found to be quite manageable. The shimmer/metallic shades applied the easiest, which seems to be a theme in most all eyeshadows, and all of them look amazing. 

This is my first time using BH Cosmetics, and I've got to say that I'm pretty pleased. This palette is super cute and has a gorgeous selection of colors that are quite pigmented and blend out well. I'm really glad that I decided to give these a try. 

And if you like this palette why not try to win this and the other two California Collection palettes on my giveaway. This giveaway is live until 12 am EST on August 16, 2013, so make sure to get those entries in!! :)

BH Cosmetics California Collection Giveaway

And this concludes my first impressions for the Malibu palette. I kind of got carried away and it's really more of a review, but what can I say? I really like it and I talk way too much lol. Good luck to those of you participating in my giveaway, and I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! Til next time!!

My First Giveaway!!! Featuring BH Cosmetics!!

Hello lovelies!! Today I have for you my very first giveaway!!! I had planned on doing a giveaway for 150 followers, but I was a little broke at the time and just couldn't figure out what I should giveaway. Then I was going to do a giveaway for my blog's 1 year anniversary which was just a little while ago but again, I had no idea what to giveaway. I'm really horribly indecisive...
BUT, I was trolling around the internet and I came across these three palettes from BH Cosmetics. They were bundled together on sale, and when I saw them I knew I had to have them. Which led me to believe that you guys would probably want them too. These are the California palettes, Malibu, Hollywood, and San Francisco.

Alright, now all three of these palettes are being given away to one lucky winner!! I was going to give away one palette to 3 separate people, but the shipping would have killed me being that this IS an international giveaway. Yay!!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Alright, that about sums this up, make sure to leave me your email address or Twitter username in the comments so that I can contact you if you win. And I did buy all three of these palettes for myself so you can expect my initial impressions and full reviews up before the giveaway is complete. I'm a tease, what can I say? I wish you the best of luck and I really do hope you enjoy these. Til next time!

Midnight Madness EOTD

Hello again lovelies! I hate to say this but I don't see my erratic posting ending any time soon. I miss the days when I was posting all the time, but my husband has seriously been working around the clock. And when the husband works all the time I have to watch the kiddo all the time which means I don't have much time for you lovely ladies (and the occasional gentleman). I've been so stressed out I can barely think, not even gonna lie. My husband is working out of town all the time lately, like I can seriously count on 2 hands the nights that my husband spent at home in the past month. And to add to it, my daughter is pissed that her daddy is gone all the time and refuses to go to bed at night. Like seriously, it's 1am and my kiddo is sitting here next to me while I'm typing this. I've tried laying her down a million times, she just won't have it. And this is the norm nowadays, hopefully in a month or two things will mellow out a little and I'll be back to regular posting.
But on the upside, I have some fun news for you guys! Last week I placed an order for some bitchin stuffs and I will be doing a giveaway, my first giveaway btw, as soon as the stuff gets delivered. Shipping is backed up because of the holiday in the States last week, but as soon as the stuff is in I will let you guys know. I'm going to have the giveaway open for a month and it will be international!!
Also, fun business, I signed up to get the Ipsy Glam Bag and I will be receiving my first bag this month!! I am so stoked about this, it's the perfect way for me to buy outside of my comfort zone.
But I'm rambling, so tonight I have a new look up. I had a hard time figuring out what to do, so since it was around midnight I decided to do a very night themed look. So I hope you guys enjoy it!!

 

Eye Products Used: Light, medium and dark blue eyeshadows from my Sephora Color Daze Blockbuster Makeup Palette; Medium purple eyeshadow from the Sephora Color Daze palette; Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Pure White; Sephora Collection 12 HR Long Wear Eyeliner in Glitter Black; Sephora Collection Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara in Black; e.l.f. Cover All Stick in Apricot Beige; Sonia Kashuk Full Glam Eyelashes; red brown eyeshadow for my brows from the Sephora Color Daze palette.

Do excuse the slightly blood shot eyes, it's really late. And I just have to say that OMG that Rimmel liner is totally bitchin. I haven't done a review of it yet, but it'll be coming soon. This is the first good white liner I've used. But I'm rambely again, so I hope you guys like this look but I need to get some sleep before I just go on forever about white liner. Have a lovely night/morning! Til next time!!