Faces Sparkle Dust Eye Shadow Review

I love Faces Sparkle dust eye shadow! In fact many people who stop to ask about my eye shadow get referred to Faces because they are one of my favorite brands of eye shadow.

The sparkle dust eye shadows I currently have are:

Gold Sparkle Dust

Purple Sparkle Dust

Vanilla Sparkle Dust

Pros:

*Many beautiful colors to chose from

*Very pigmented

*One jar of eye shadow can last a long time because a little goes a long way

*Coverage can be built up for as much or as little as you want

*Great quality

*Gives off a beautiful shimmer effect

Cons:

*There are not many Faces stores in the GTA

*Because of the fine particles of the shadow there can be a lot of fallout if you are not use to using loose eye shadow

These eye shadows cost $10 dollars per jar which is a great price since they last a very long time. They also come in a stacked tube where you can get a wider range of colors.

For more information on these eye shadows you can visit the Faces website at: 

https://www.faces-cosmetics.com/cart/productsmainknew.asp?mainid=133&productcat=95&subid=95&menu=64&

Gold and Green Makeup look

Today I decided to add a pop of green to my favorite gold eye shadow. Gold is a beautiful color and it goes well with so many colors.

To get this look I used:

Eyebrows: 

*e.l.f. eyebrow kit in medium

Eyes:

*Urban Decay eye shadow Primer Potion

*Entire crease area eye shadow-aubergine by e.l.f.

* Outer Crease eye shadow:-Blackout from the Naked 2 palette

*Above crease eye shadow- Tease from the Naked 2 palette

*All over my lids- Faces gold sparkle dust

*NYC liquid eye liner for the top lids

*Brow highlight- Half Baked from the Naked 2 palette 

*Bottom waterline- Revlon Color Stay pencil eyeliner 

* Below water line (outer corner)-Ruby kisses emerald eyeliner

*Inner corner highlight-Faces gold sparkle dust

*Maybelline Rocket mascara 

Face:

*Concelaer- MAC Pro long wear concealer shade NC 45

*MAC Studio Fix foundation shade NC 45

*MAC Studio Fix powder shade NC 45

*Blush- MAC mineralized blush shade Lovely Joy

* Contour : el.f. contour and blush duo

*e.l.f. makeup setting spray

* Cheek bone highlight- Lorac Tantalizing Bronzer 

Lips:

Kiss New York Lipstick in Raisin 

Brown/Taupe Nails

Hi everyone, weekend is finally here!! I usually wear bright colors but I thought I would try something a bit different this weekend. This is the first time I am wearing a color that is so neural other than clear nail polish.

This color is by Color Essence, it is called Walk of Fame.

I'm not sure what I think of it yet, Ill have to see how it looks out in the sunshine tomorrow.

Purple and Pink Makeup

Hey everyone! Today I decided to put two of my favorite colors together and do a purple and pink makeup look.

What I used:

-For the crease I used this dark purple from the Costal Scents 88 Shimmer Palette. I also used some of this color under my lower waterline for a purple shadowing effect

-Above my crease I used this pink from the Costal Scents 88 shimmer Palette 

-All over my lids I used the color YDK from the Naked 2 Palette 

-I darkened the outer corner with a touch of this color called Blackout from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette 

-Under my brow bone I used Foxy from the Naked 2 palette as a matte highlight 

-I lined my top lids with the Elf cream eyeliner 

-Then I  lined my bottom waterlines with the eye pencil by Essence called All I Want 

On my lips I am wearing Revlon's Berry Haute lipstick 

I decided not to wear mascara today which is usual for me

I also used:

-MAC Prolong wear concealer in the shade NC 45

-MAC Studio Fix foundation in the shade NC 45

-e.l.f. All over face stick in the shade Pink Lemonade 

NYC Individual Eyes Palette Review

I picked up this quad eye shadow palette on a whim and it was on sale for just $3.00. I like purple and pink eye shadow so I decided to give this palette a try.

These palettes have colors that are geared towards specific eye colors; for example there are palettes for blue eyes, brown eyes and green eyes. This particular palette is called Hot Couture and the palette is suppose to be well suited for green eyes. Although I don't have green eyes I did not like the colors in the palette for brown eyes.

This palette is a great idea in theory. It comes with 4 colors that compliment each other well to create one or several different looks and it conveniently comes with a cream  eye shadow primer and a highlight. The beige color on the left is the primer and the white color to the  right is the highlight.

Although I like the colors I don't think these shadows are of good quality. They do not show up very well and they go on almost transparent by themselves. Without a primer the purple shade is hardly visible. I need to use a lot of shadow to get a nice color pay off. I also do not like that the black shadow has sparkles in it, I don't think it goes well with the other shades.  

swatches 

The eye shadow primer is mediocre at best, it does not work very well with these eye shadows because the shadows are not great quality so the primer does not bring out the colors enough. 

I also do not like the highlight. It is a cream highlight which I find hard to work with, it looks a bit messy after you wear it for a while because the cream smudges easily.

Based on my experience with the quality of this palette I will not be buying any more of these in the future.

Keurig Mini Plus Review

The Keurig mini coffee maker is the newest addition to my family’s morning routine. I love the delicious flavored coffees and the ease of making a specialty brew at my convenience.  

The cost of the Keurig mini is $99, it brews one cup at a time and the specialty coffees can be purchased for as little as 70 cents for a single K cup. You can also buy boxes of your preferred flavor from various brands.

Some of my favorite flavors are:

Wolfgang Puck’s Jamaican me Crazy

Timothy’s Hazelnut

 Gloria Jean’s French Vanilla

Pros:

-Fast

-Does not drip

-No coffee grinds to clean up

- K cups come in many delicious flavors

- K cups come in stronger brews

-Compact size

-Brews coffee very fast

-Everyone can have individual flavors

-Comes in 4 colors

Cons:

- Machine did not come with K cup carousel holder

-Some of the K cups are expensive

-There are not many retailers that sell the K cups individually if you want a variety of flavors

-The cord is very short

If you would like more information about the Keurig Mini you can visit the website at: 

http://www.keurig.com/brewers/mini-plus-personal-brewing-system

The Health Benefits of Spices: Fitness Magazine

I found this interesting article in the April issue of Fitness Magazine on the health benefits of spices. Since I love using spices in cooking, especially when they do wonderful things for my overall health I thought I would share some information from the article.

(All the information in this post is from Fitness magazine) 

How to Create an Effective Budget

By: Amanda Anne Ali

At some point in life, everyone must learn how to budget. It took me 27 years, but finally I admitted to myself that I just could not continue to spend freely and "shop away my life" as I like to say to my family and friends. It is not an easy thing to put into practice, and I must admit that I was terrified to actually confront the reality of my financial situation. There are countless ways to budget, and after googling it extensively and reading financial articles and books, I have come up with the method below that has been working well for me.

Note: The month before you start your budget, use the time to observe your spending habits. Determine your sources of income for each month, transportation habits (how often you put gas/the average amount of gas you use, how much you spend on public transportation), how often you buy staple toiletries and groceries etc. Remember, this will change each month but you need to determine the average in order to create a budget.

Materials: You will need a notebook that is exclusively dedicated to your budget.

Your budget will be set up in three main parts:
A) Sources of Income
B) Monthly Bills
C) Monthly Expenses

Set up your budget as follows:

Summary
Usually summaries come at the end, but I like to do the summary on the first page of the month so that I can quickly see the results when I look back through the months. Here is what the summary page should look like:

	Estimate	Actual
A) Source of Income	$	$
	-	-
B) Monthly Bills	$	$
	-	-
C) Monthly Expenses	$	$
	=	=
Results	$	$

Once you determine your estimate numbers for each of the three sections, you can enter it into the appropriate space under the "estimate" column and calculate your budget amount for the month. The formula is as follows:

A) Source of Income - B) Monthly Bills - C) Monthly Expenses = Estimated Budget for the Month (Results)

Add a comments section on the bottom but leave it blank for now. At the end of the month you can quickly write down your unexpected costs, what you did well on and what you need to improve.

A) Income

Part 1: Sources of Income - Estimate
-List all of your estimated sources of income such as pay cheques by date.
-Add up the total and write the number under "Total Monthly Income Estimate." This is the number your budget will be based on.

Part 2: Sources of Income - Actual
-In the second half of this section, you will list all your actual sources of income for the month as you receive it.

B) Monthly Bills

Part 1: Monthly Bills - Estimate
-Write down all of your monthly bills by due date. For example, you would write down any credit card payments, phone bills, mortgage payments, gas/hydro/water bills, bank account fees, cable/internet bills, insurance bills etc.
-Add up the total and write the number under "Total Monthly Bills Estimate.”

Part 2: Monthly Bills - Actual
-In the second half of this section, you will list all of your actual monthly bills as you pay them for the month.

C) Monthly Expenses
Part 1: Monthly Expenses - Estimate
-Create a chart like the one below breaking down your budget by category. These are just the categories I use each month, but feel free to add anything you like. Make sure you are budgeting but still being realistic based on your needs. Leave the "actual" column blank and fill in the numbers at the end of the month.
-Add up the total and write the number under "Total Monthly Expenses - Estimate."

Category	Estimate	Actual
Groceries / Food	$	$
Gas / Transportation	$	$
Medical / Dental	$	$
Personal Care (toiletries, makeup etc.)	$	$
Entertainment (restaurants, books, movies, outings etc.)	$	$
Gifts	$	$
Savings	$	$
Clothes / Shoes / Accessories	$	$
Miscellaneous (lottery tickets etc.)	$	$

Part 2: Monthly Expenses - Actual
-Divide each page into half and write the name of a category as the title (you can use a whole page for each category if you feel like you will need more space). Do this for each category on your chart in Part 1.
-Write down the amount you spent and what you spent it on under the corresponding category each time you make a purchase. This is the hard part, but in order for your budget to be effective you need to keep track of every dollar that you spend. I keep all of my receipts and enter them at the end of the day or whenever I get a chance. I also use my online banking account to get my purchase information when using my debit card. Make sure that you are not going over what you budgeted for each category.

End of Month Tally:
Step 1) Add up the total in Section A) Part 2 and write the number under "Total Monthly Income - Actual) and record it in the appropriate column on the Summary page.
Step 2) Add up the total in Section B) Part 2 and write the number under "Total Monthly Bills - Actual" and record it in the appropriate column on the Summary page.
Step 3) Add up the total in each category in Section C) Part 2 and write the total for each category in the "actual" column of the chart in Part 1. Write the sum of the numbers in each category and write it down under "Total Monthly Expenses - Actual." Record this number in the appropriate column on the Summary Page.
Step 4) Do the calculations:  A) Source of Income - B) Monthly Bills - C) Monthly Expenses = Results for the month.
Step 5) Compare this final number to the number in the estimate column. Determine how much you are over or under your monthly budget and write down any comments.

Adjust your budget as you see fit each month. It is eye-opening when you actually see where all of your money down to the last penny is going. Don’t get upset or discouraged if you are over your budget; just make a goal to do better the next month. The hardest part is actually starting, but once you get going it can be life changing!

Easy Dinner or Lunch Idea: chicken salad

I don’t feel like making anything big for dinner tonight, I just want to plop down and relax. I made an easy chicken salad sandwich.

I purchased my roasted chicken at Highland Farms, which is my local grocery store. The whole chicken was $7.99. You can purchase a chicken, make a chicken, or use leftover chicken from a previous night’s meal.

You can have this chicken salad as a sandwich or you can have it on its own, it is completely up to you. 

This is my own recipe so you can add amounts of each ingredient to suit your individual preferences.

What I used:

- 2 roasted chicken breasts (without Skin) shredded or flaked using a fork

-Green Onion

-Celery (1 stalk)
-Sprinkle of garlic powder

-Baby spinach chopped (I used organic spinach)

-Cheese (whatever kind you prefer) diced in very small pieces; low fat cheese is a healthier option

-Black pepper

-An all purpose seasoning mix. I like Mrs. Dash original but today I used Olde Thompson hot and spicy seasoning. (make sure you watch the salt content if your seasoning has salt in the ingredient list)

-A very small dash or pinch of curry powder

-Pepper sauce or tobasco sauce, to taste (optional)

-Mustard about 1/3 teaspoon

-Chopped red pepper (optional)

-Low fat mayonnaise

 I had my sandwich with fresh strawberries and mango.

March Beauty Favorites

Lipstick and Cosmetic organizer:

I have been looking for an ideal solution for organizing my lipsticks for a while and I came across this organizer at Winners for $12.99 I am using it primarily for lipsticks but the compartments also allow you to store other makeup items such as blush or single eye shadows. Although it isn't enough space for all of my lipstick it does help me find what I am looking for with ease. 

Cover Girl Lipstick (#335 Embrace):

I seem to have a slight obsession with purple toned lipsticks this year. I love this Cover Girl lipstick because it is just the right shade of dark purple with undertones of deep pink and berry hues. The lipstick has a slight shimmer effect when the light catches your lips at certain angles. I do find that after a few hours after most of the lipstick has come off it tends to dry out my lips so I would suggest using a bit of lip balm underneath it.

Color Essence eyeliner in #14 called All I want:

Applying a light colored eye liner on your bottom waterline can make your eyes appear bigger, brighter and more awake. White eye liner is usually a good option for lighter skin tones, but if you have a darker skin tone white eye liner can look very harsh and may not produce the desired effect. Using a tan or beige eye liner on darker skin tones is a better option. This eye liner by color Essence is great, it goes on creamy and lasts a long time. 

Vaseline Total Moisture Coco Radiant Body Cream: 

This body cream is light and has a thinner consistency but it goes on smooth and leaves my skin soft and hydrated all day.

Refuge Perfume:

You can find this perfume at Charlotte Russe clothing store. This perfume has a light sweet scent that is perfect for everyday use. This is one of my favorite perfumes because the scent gets better as the day wears on and none of the notes in the perfume are over powering. I also think this scent is very feminine. 

Other Favs this month:

Sandals: By Mossimo Supply CO.

Style: Waylon

I vowed that I would no longer purchase shoes that hurt my feet or that are impossible to walk in. I love heels but I have a closet full of shoes that I don’t wear because they cause me pain in some shape or form.

I find that wedges are usually the most comfortable type of heels and I have had some luck in the past with sandals purchased at Target. I bought these sandals at Target for $30.00. They are comfortable, the straps are very soft and they stretch a little so they are not rough against the feet.

Ginger Peach tea by Bentley’s

I have to admit that I am not an avid tea drinker, herbal teas being among my least favorites. Up until now the only teas that I have enjoyed are the creamy milky Chi teas and the Kasmiri tea served at my favorite Pakistani restaurant which also includes milk and other spices. My sister and my friend introduced me to this ginger peach tea one night and I got hooked! I love the light fruit scent and taste of the peaches and I can barley taste the ginger at all. This tea is a white tea and it is it a specialty in the Chinese Province of Fujin dating back to the Ming Dynasty. You can purchase this tea at Homesense or Winners in the food section or look for it online.

The Glass Castle by Janette Walls:

The Glass Castle is the best book I read in the Month of March. It is about a young girl’s journey with her very unorthodox family that travels all over America. With an artistic but irresponsible mother and a care free but alcoholic father Janette often finds herself trying to feed and fend for herself; struggling through life and living in less than sanitary conditions. This book is a very interesting memoir about family, poverty and survival that I would definitely recommend. 

Best Movie I saw in March:

Identity Thief was the best movie I saw in March. It was funny and a great date night movie.