My Latest Obsession

Well...
Up until yesterday, I hadn't spent any money on makeup...ZERO!! But then yesterday happened...and I fell off the wagon! BUT, I didn't fall too far...

So it seems that I have my own makeup styles that come and go in waves: I get so fascinated with one look that I keep doing variations of it until I get hooked on something else. Right now I'm loving neutral eyes with a super color saturated pout! While I probably have 100 different lippie (combination of lipsticks, glosses and stains) I just couldn't help myself yesterday! Walking around Five Below, I ran across a Black Radiance display and immediately fell in love!! I've always heard great things about this brand but have never tried them. At $2.99 a pop, I figured I'd give em a shot! I bought an Ice Angel Lipgloss in Scarlet and a Liquid Lip Color in Succulent Plum!







Then, I just so happened to stroll into Ulta where they were having 40% off NYX products...glosses were like $3.59! I was going to get two until I remembered that I had a $3.50 off a $10 coupon on my phone...that's almost like getting one free! How stupid would I be if I didn't use it??? So I bought an Xtreme Lip Cream in Buttery Nude, a Glam Gloss Aqua Luxe in Do The Hustle and a Soft Matte Lip Cream in San Paulo!



All in all, 5 glosses for less than $15! Not too shabby, huh??

Can't wait to try these out and hopefully do a review! Until next time...

Well, well, well...look who the cat dragged in!

Alright, so it's been well over a year since I've blogged about anything...

Although I've thought about coming back time and time again, I just couldn't find the motivation to do so...until now! I've only just now realized how important blogging is in my life. Everyone needs an outlet sometimes and, even if no one reads it, this is min! While I cannot guarantee posts will be published daily or even weekly, I can at least commit to monthly! I actually have 5 or 6 posts wrote up and almost ready to go (picture-less) from last fall but I think I'm going to just scratch them and start anew today!

Whatdoya say, huh?

Easy Morning Makeup

So I've been getting a lot of questions lately about an easy morning makeup routine. For days where I should put a face on but really don't feel like going through the whole she-bang, this is my go-to...5 items and I'm out the door! 

Step 1: Starting with a clean, moisturized face, apply a tinted moisturizer or BB cream (not a fan) with your fingers to even out discoloration. Stila has an awesome oil-free tinted moisturizer with SPF 20 that comes in 10 shades ranging from fair to deep. If spending $34 for a tinted moisturizer isn't in the cards for you, you could always make your own by mixing tiny amounts of whatever moisturizer and foundation you have on hand.

Step 2: Well groomed brows frame your eyes, making you look awake so make sure you fill in sparse areas with a brow pencil or powder (eyeshadow that match your brows works great too!). If you have unruly brows, tame them with a brow gel or clear mascara.

Step 3: Wake up your eyes with 2 coats of black mascara to your top lashes.

Step 4: Add glow with some blush! Nars' Orgasm is universally flattering but at $28, might not be accessible to everyone. A great alternative is Hot Mama by theBalm, $19.

Step 5: Finish with your favorite lip gloss aaannnddd you're done!!

O-M-G!! Happy Blog-iversary to Me!!

(You liked how that rhymed, huh?? I know you did!!)

I have been on here ALL day and don't know why it didn't dawn on me until now that a year ago today, I published my first blog post...!! One. Whole. Year. Wow, how time flies!! And I owe it all to one person: Danae AKA Le Thrifty Madre!!!

 

And thank you to you too, followers!! Thank you for being an audience to my rants, commenting and being generally helpful when needed!! To another year...



My wedding cake cherry has been popped!!

My family has been blessed to have had 3 weddings this year! And I was fortunate enough to have been the Maid of Honor for 1 and cake maker for the other 2!! Back in March I wrote a post about Mujer's* wedding (remember Wedding Day/Dottie's Birthday Night?) where I played her right-hand girl. Well in June, our cousin Marlon married his long-time girlfriend Amanda, and I got to pop my wedding cake virginity!!

The cake!

Top tiers...

Close-up of the top

 

Two months later, his older brother Chris married the love of his life! Click here to see the cake I did for his wedding and how I made it!

*For those of you who may be new to my blog (or may have just forgotten), Mujer is what I call my mom

Pillow Wedding cake

On August 11th, our cousin/brother/uncle married the love of his life! The cake I made for them was probably the most difficult, and beautiful, cake I've made to date. Since it was my first time making a shaped cake, I took progression pics chronicling the process.

Day 1: Bake all layers twice and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight. Color fondant to desired shade(s).

 

 

Day 2: Level all layers. Crumb coat then frost bottom layers and let set

 

 

Cover in fondant and trim edges; trim cake boards if needed

 



 

Carefully, flip over bottoms. Frost and/or fill then place top layer on

 

 

Just as before, crumb coat, frost, set and cover with fondant. Make quilt design with a ruler

 

 

Add tassels and buttons to bottom tier; pipe trim

 

 

Stack tiers and anchor with dowel(s). Add embellishments to top tier and cover all tiers with edible pearls

 

 

Shape bow and let set overnight

 

 

Day 3: Carefully remove bow from form, cover middle with a strip of fondant and secure on cake...DONE!!!

 

 

 

 I absolutely loved the end result and I hope you did too!!

 

Makeup Challenge: Hello Kitty and Flounder

I'm into makeup, it's no secret. I have hundreds of pictures saved to my laptop and phone for inspiration (or to flat-out copy) and the collection grows damn near daily! My friends have even got into it by posting cool makeup looks on my FB page! But when it comes to actually putting it on, I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Maybe only working one job right now and spending most of my time at home has something to do with it...

A few of the looks posted to my FB page got some major attention from friends and co-workers, so much so that I was getting challenged daily from multiple people to recreate the look on myself...and soon!! The looks were a little extreme (read: NOT FOR DAILY WEAR) but I tried a few of them anyway. I can always find the flaws but overall I think they turned out pretty good! Ok, enough! Without further adieu:

HELLO KITTY

The inspiration! (I have absolutely no idea who this image belongs to...sorry!)

 

My version! A few flaws but not bad!

 

 

FLOUNDER

 

This look belongs to Sarah C. You can find this look and more from her at MakeupBee.com

 

My interpretation! Clearly I don't have as much eye space as her but I made it do what it do!!

 

So far I'm pleased with my re-creations and look forward to doing more!